Dereliction of duty

GRANTS, N.M. – Three members of the Grants City Council did not show up to the Special City Council Meeting on December 27. Due to a lack of a quorum – a majority of councilors – the city could not legally do business and the meeting was cancelled after one citizen comment. Mayor Pro tem Rick Lucero, Councilor Fred Padilla, and Councilor Fred Rodarte are the councilors who did not show up to this meeting, despite it being scheduled a week in advance. Councilor Erik Garcia was the only voting member of the council present, and expressed his disappointment that the other councilors didn’t make it.

The Dec. 27 meeting was about hiring a new city manager, the City of Grants has been without a manager since the three councilors who did not show up voted to fire former Manager Vanessa Chavez on November 18 despite public outcry demanding they keep her.

Before the meeting ended, Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks made an allegation that the reason behind former Manager Chavez’ firing was that State Representative Eliseo “Lee” Alcon was behind at least one city councilor voting to fire Chavez.

A lame duck council Because three councilors did not show up, the city was unable to conduct its business. There was only one action item on the agenda, and that was to consider rehiring Manager Chavez. According to Mayor Hicks, none of the three councilor’s who voted to fire Chavez in the first place have discussed with the mayor what they would like to see in a future manager.

The Dec. 27 meeting was scheduled a week in advance, it wasn’t until the morning of the meeting that councilors informed the Grants City Clerk they would not attend. The City of Grants has been without a manager since November 18. According to Mayor Hicks, in the time the city has been without a manager it has struggled to continue its day-to-day operations, being successful only thanks to non-elected city employees. Hicks said that the employees are working together to keep things going, despite the uncertainty of the government. Mayor Hicks did not want to focus the conversation on the city’s day-to-day issues, saying that he trusts the city employees to follow through with their responsibility. Instead, he wanted to discuss what he characterized as a dereliction of duty by the councilors who did not show up to the meeting.

“It’s a violation of their oath of office, I mean – why? Why have they done what they’ve done over the last few years?” Mayor Hicks said, “[It] is a fact that [the three councilors who didn’t go to the meeting] have never spoken to me, they don’t speak to me because they are in opposition for what I do, I guess. I don’t know. Its like that one meme that was put out – they [Councilors Padilla, Rodarte and Pro tem Lucero] are the three pendejos, no doubt about it.”

The mayor cannot compel the councilors to attend special meetings, they have no legal responsibility to attend special meetings. The mayor said that he spoke with the city attorneys to see what can be done, but is unable to move forward as his hands are effectively tied by this lame duck government. Why Manager Chavez was fired A large public outcry came when Pro tem Lucero, Councilors Rodarte and Padilla voted to fire then-Manager Chavez. Still, no reason has been given by the councilors for their vote, despite even President Alene Joyner of the Grants-Cibola County Chamber of Commerce asking for a reason.

Then Hicks alleged that Chavez may have been fired because her horse died, and instead of waiting several days to have it buried where coyotes and bugs could attack her pet. She called for assistance and eventually was told that the she could use a backhoe from the city to help bury her pet. “I was a mess” Chavez said, “This certainly wasn’t a favor, considering I paid $200 at first for the service,” Chavez told the Citizen, saying that she had agreed to pay the whole amount for the service. Hicks also asserted that Pro tem Lucero had fallen into a similar situation, where he received a per diem to go for a training, but never went to the training. Lucero denied this allegation on November 17, to which Hicks responded, “then why did you pay the money back?” Lucero did not reply to that question. Hicks said that he is seeking an investigation into the city council to see how they determined to overspend the city budget by $800,000, and to see what the exact reason for their firing of Chavez was. Hicks alleged that the allocation of funds may have come from a rolling quorum, which is illegal in the state of New Mexico. Due to state law and city charter restraints, the city council must vote for an investigation into itself, something Hicks says they will not do. His statements of having an investigation into the council came after he alleged that Councilor Fred Padilla had asked for his permission to vote for then-Manager Chavez’ firing, “You can do whatever you want Fred, because you’re an American” and suggested that the councilor’s vote came as a political attack from State Representative Alcon to get back at Chavez for winning Cibola County during the 2020 election season where she ran against him. The Citizen intended to ask this question of Padilla but a man who answered his cell phone with a voice very similar to his said that Padilla was unavailable. This is not the first time Hicks has asserted that another government force was exerting influence over the Grants City Council, but it is the first time he’s put a name to the accusation. The Cibola Citizen is following up on this allegation.

Councilors that didn’t show up The Cibola Citizen attempted to reach the three councilmen who did not show up for the meeting, none of them responded. Erik Garcia was also contacted but did not respond before press deadline. Mayor Pro tem Lucero did not answer, the Citizen left a voice message requesting that he call back as soon as possible, as of press deadline he has not responded.

Councilor Fred Rodarte did not answer his phone, he has a voicemail box that has not been set up yet. The Cibola Citizen sent him a text message asking him to urgently contact us, as of press deadline he has not responded. When the Cibola Citizen attempted to receive Councilor Fred Padilla’s phone number we were delayed, so we went above the City of Grants and received his number from the Secretary of State’s website, as all public official’s information is public record. The first number Padilla had listed was disconnected; when the second number was called, a man answered and said that Padilla was on his way to Denver, Colorado for medical purposes and would not have a phone to speak with the local newspaper.

What was the Citizen going to ask the Councilors?

The Cibola Citizen had several prepared questions for the councilors, they are invited to answer these questions in written form. If they respond, the answers will be published – unedited.

Question 1. You did not come to tonight’s meeting which was to hire a City Manager, this meeting was scheduled a week in advance, why didn’t you go?

Question 2. Mayor Martin Hicks alleges that you have not spoken to him about why you fired Vanessa Chavez or what you would like to see in the next City Manager. Is this true? Why haven’t you spoken with the mayor?

Question 3. There is currently no full-time City Manager, this is thanks to your vote, what are you doing to help the City find a manager?

Question 4. What is your legitimate reason for firing and then not supporting the rehiring of Vanessa Chavez?

Question 5. City employees have called upon on you to resign, what is your response to that assertation?

Question 6. Have you ever read the Grants City Charter in its entirety, and what does it mean to you personally?

Questions exclusive to Fred Padilla: Mayor Martin Hicks asserted that you had your driveway done by city crews using city money. Is this true?

Can you produce proof that you paid for the work done to your driveway yourself? Mayor Hicks asserted that you voted to fire Manager Chavez because State Representative Eliseo “Lee” Alcon pushed you to do it. Is this true? If not true, why did you vote to fire her?

Questions exclusive to Rick Lucero: Mayor Martin Hicks asserts that you have not gone to City Hall to receive your log in data to do budgetary oversight from home. Is this true?

If true, why haven’t you collected your log in data?

Do you see budgetary oversight as part of your responsibilities?

The Cibola Citizen requests that Mayor Pro tem Lucero, Councilors Padilla and Rodarte answer these questions in written form. The answers will be published without edits, if responses are received.

The next Grants City Council meeting is scheduled for January 3, 2022 at 6 p.m. This will be a special meeting to try and rehire Chavez and begin an investigation.