Grants City Councilors held illegal meeting in 2020
CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. – Between July 1, 2020 and November 12, 2020 the current Grants City council held a meeting where they voted to file a lawsuit against Grants Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks that was never published and the public was not invited to. According to New Mexico State Statute 10-15-1, The Open Meetings Act, any meeting of a government body where a majority of voting members will be present must be published in a newspaper or public building. Further, if said meeting will have a closed session, that closed session must be published in advance.
The Cibola Citizen acquired an email between current city councilors and former Grants city attorneys that declares councilors voted to sue Mayor Hicks in a closed session and did not vote on it in public session as is required by state law. No meeting was ever made public, as is required by state law, about the decision to sue Mayor Hicks.
“We don’t believe that the City Council violated the Open Meeting Act by deciding to file suit against the Mayor in closed session and not voting on it in an open session” [sic.] an email from former city attorneys to city councilors reads.
It is unclear if the attorneys were aware that the meeting had not been published. As an explanation as to why the meeting was not a violation of state law, then city attorneys told the council that they were in their right to sue the mayor during this closed session, rather than voting on it in open session. In this same email, worried attorneys informed the city councilors that, “If the Mayor raises it in his answer to the lawsuit, we can deal with it then and seek a ruling from the court that there was no violation of the Open Meetings Act.”
Through Inspection of Public Records Act Requests, the Cibola Citizen obtained the official record of meetings that occurred between July and November 2020. There was not a single closed session wherein councilors would be discussing a lawsuit against the mayor.
The City of Grants did file a lawsuit against Mayor Hicks, alleging that he had violated the charter and that his lack of decorum was damaging the city. This was during a period of intense conflict between the Grants City Council and Grants Mayor Hicks. At the time this lawsuit was filed, it was during a period of time when, despite not having the authority to do so, Mayor Hicks fired then-City Manager Laura Jaramillo for alleged financial misdealing of taxpayer dollars. He fired her multiple times, each time the city council brought her back, until eventually letting her go, conceding to the mayor’s whims.
Closed Sessions
“In recognition of the fact that a representative government is dependent upon an informed electorate, it is declared to be public policy of this state that all persons are entitled to the greatest possible information regarding the affairs of government and the official acts of those officers and employees who represent them,” NMSA 10-15-1 declares. This particular section of state law is regarded as the “Sunshine Laws” because the state government believes the darkness and corruption of backroom dealings can only be removed from government by the openness of government, hence the official name: The Open Meetings Act. Regarding the city council’s failure to have this meeting published, the OMA declares, “Any meetings at which the discussion or adoption of any proposed resolution, rule, regulation or formal action occurs and at which a majority or quorum of the body is in attendance, and any closed meetings, shall be held only after reasonable notice to the public.” No notice to the public was ever officially made that a closed session would be held to discuss his lawsuit.
Further, the act reads, “Meeting notices shall include an agenda containing a list of specific items of business to be discussed or transacted at the meeting or information on how the public may obtain a copy of such an agenda… Except for emergency matters, a public body shall take action only on items appearing on the agenda.” No notice was ever made of this meeting, no agenda was ever published for this meeting, action was taken anyway, according to city attorneys.
A quorum of councilmen attended this meeting. The Cibola Citizen can confirm at least Councilman Fred Padilla, Councilman Erik Garcia, and Councilman Fred Rodarte were aware of this meeting.
OMA Training
According to the City of Grants Human Resources Department, whom current City Manager Donald Jaramillo told the Cibola Citizen we could not quote despite them taking the interview, city councilors are not required by the city to attend trainings to better understand the law regarding open meetings. The city does not offer any trainings to elected officials to understand the law regarding open meetings.
When asked if there are policies in place to keep councilors in line with the state law regarding open meetings, the city said there were none because councilors are expected to understand the law.
Correcting the issue
“If the City Council is concerned about it, there is a process for correcting an alleged violation of the Open Meetings Act. The City Council would need to hold another meeting, put it on the agenda and vote in an open session to sue the Mayor. We would likely then need to amend the Complaint to note the vote in open session and re-serve the Mayor,” [sic.] the email from city attorneys to city councilors reads. This city council never corrected its decision. Eventually, after argument in court the city’s lawsuit was withdrawn.
Taking credit for the suit
“I told you earlier, I don’t like to disparage anybody,” Councilman Fred Rodarte said, “That’s what the mayor called it, but it was not a suit. We filed an injunction. The injunction came solely about because of his behavior. His behavior was unbecoming of a mayor. He had, by that point, had violated the City Charter on numerous occasions by his actions; by how he treated people; by how he belittled people on the council. I was in there one day talking to Councilor Padilla and I said, ‘[Mayor Hicks’] behavior is not very good at all,’ so I called the attorney. I personally called the attorney, and I asked him for advice. I said, ‘you know,’ I told him, ‘We need to give the mayor the message that his behavior is unbecoming and he needs to curb his behavior.’” Rodarte told the Cibola Citizen, “The council did not reach any decision, okay? … I specifically told the attorney to file that injunction … Yes, by myself. It was not something that we decided upon. In fact, the decision to do that, the attorneys advised me against it. I told them, ‘No.’ I said, ‘We need to give this mayor a message.’ All the message was … was a slap to the wrist, there was no teeth. All we did was give him a message that we did not like his behavior and he needed to curb his behavior. That’s it.” Councilor Rodarte said. “There was no taking him to court or anything like that.”
Councilor Rodarte said, “The other councilors had expressed, okay? Their disappointment, I guess – I don’t want to use a stronger word – at the mayor’s behavior during this timeframe.”
Rodarte said that he took it upon himself to speak to the city attorneys to have this suit filed. Despite what Rodarte said, an email from city attorneys to city councilors appears to show that the council was aware of this decision and voted to file a “suit,” as described in the email by city attorneys, against the mayor.