County finances, board appointments, and possible prisons’ closure
CIBOLA COUNTY, N.M. - The Cibola County Board of Commissioners approved joining the McKinley County Electric Generating Facility Board. The commissioners considered possible residents to represent the county on the MCEGF board. County Manager Kate Fletcher had received numerous applications; she boasted to the commissioners about how qualified the applicants were.
Manager Fletcher explained that they needed to appoint four members, but also, depending on the passage of NM House Bill 5, currently going through the state legislature, the county commission needed to appoint one more member “contingent on what the bill, House Bill 5, does.”
In the end, they appointed Michael Brown, Robert E. Castillo, Clemente Sanchez, and Bryan Rychener along with Wilford Rincon as the fifth member contingent upon the passage of
House Bill 5.
According to Commissioner Ralph Lucero, if the bill passes, the board will consist of five members from McKinley County, five from Cibola County, and three appointed by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
Commissioner Lucero brought up another proposed bill currently that could have a major impact on Cibola County.
House Bill 40 has passed its first committee in a 3-2 vote, and it essentially will make the pri vate ownership of prisons unlawful, closing many private prisons throughout the state. Cibola County is home to three prisons – two of those are privately owned.
“We need to do something because you’re talking about losing another 350 jobs in this area,” said Commissioner Lucero. Manager Fletcher, as well as the rest of the commission agreed and added, “We need to oppose this bill… if you know anybody that is willing to get on the phone, this is the time, now.”
“You know, we lost about 110 jobs at the Tri-State [Generating Plant, Thoreau]; then we lost probably about another 70 or 80 jobs from the [Marathon Petroleum Refinery, near Gallup] … and then now another 350 people hit. We might as well just be called ‘Ghost Town Grants, New Mexico’,” said Commissioner Lucero.
Finance Manager Paul Ludi chimed in and commended State Representative Harry Garcia and State Representative Patricia Lundstrom for speaking in opposition against the proposed bill and encouraged residents to continue calling and emailing government officials.
County Manager Fletcher and Finance Direc tor Ludi presented the Budget and Finance reports. While going over the general fund growth from 2017 through what is projected for 2021, Finance Director Ludi commented, “We’re on track guys. I want to commend the leadership of the governing body, and [Manager] Kate. You guys have done a great job. We are sustainable; we’ve got growth in our general fund.”
The public may access these finance and budget reports on the finance department of the Cibola County webpage.
(Technical difficulties caused the audio of Facebook Live to stop functioning at the 9:22 mark of the stream; it started working again at the 13:53 mark.)
The commission approved Resolution 21-15 FY21 Budget Adjustment No. 5 and Resolution 21-16 FY21 2nd Quarter Report, which Finance Director Ludi had explained during the financial presentation.
Commissioners called the Jan. 28 meeting to order via Facebook Live and approved minutes for the last three special commission meetings, Dec. 8, Dec. 22, and Jan. 14, 2021. The public can make their comments known by emailing jphoracek@co.cibola.nm.u s no later than 4 p.m. the day prior to the meeting. There were no public comments for last week’s session.
County Offices will be closed on Monday, February 15, for President’s Day.
Upcoming meeting
Thursday, Feb. 25, regular monthly meeting, 5 p.m., commission chamber room, 700 E. Roosevelt Ave., Grants. Visit cibolacountynm.com or call 505-287-9431 for more information. View the monthly meetings at https://www.facebook.com/CibolaCountyCommission/