‘We’re all getting our acts together’

CIBOLA COUNTY, NM – The Cibola County Board of Commissioners held a regular meeting on Thursday. July 22 at 5 p.m. The agenda was approved with a minor adjustment of switching item nine “Reports,” with item ten, “Presentation.”

Before approving the June 24 and July 6 meeting minutes, a citizen addressed the board with a petition to put a speed bump on David Street due to ongoing problems with drivers driving dangerously on that road. The board explained that law enforcement must look into the situation first in order to establish whether it is a general issue requiring a speed bump or a specific issue involving a few particular individuals. Once law enforcement assesses the situation, the board can proceed accordingly. The citizen was told that the board would be in touch with him.

Emergency item eight was added to the agenda on July 22, and it included the consideration of Resolution 21-41, which proclaimed a flooding disaster in the Cubero land grant portion of Cibola County. According to County Manager Kate Fletcher, this issue came up rather quickly due to the increase of rainfall in recent days – rainfall, which led to major flooding and a good amount of damage in Cubero. Crews from Cibola County were sent out to Cubero to try to fix things, block off all roads deemed undrivable, and ensure the safety of Cubero citizens. The board approved the resolution, intended to assist crews in their efforts and planning to keep everyone safe in the midst of flooding damage.

During the FY20 Audit Release presentation, Jaramillo Accounting Group (JAG) partners Audrey Jaramillo and Scott Eliason provided the commissioners with information on the responsibilities of an auditor, as well as information about the county’s and hospital’s audit findings for the past fiscal year. According to the presentation, auditors are responsible with maintaining communication throughout the audit process and provide detailed, well-developed opinions in regard to a government or entity’s finances. However, one clarification that was made was that auditors are not responsible for taking over the government or entity’s finances; the government or entity is responsible for maintaining proper financial care and upkeep.

When presenting the county’s audit findings, the JAP partners also included Cibola General Hospital’s audit findings because, although Cibola County does not own the hospital, the county does own CGH’s real assets, making the two connected financially in certain regards. Therefore, for the fiscal year of 2020, the auditors reported there being three findings for Cibola County, and a total of 12 findings for CGH.

Cibola County’s audit findings have shown improvement over the years, with previous years including around 19 audit findings, last year’s being five findings, and this year’s being three findings. According to Manager Fletcher, by next year, most of this fiscal year’s findings should be resolved. One of the findings will be resolved simply by utilizing a new software, which the county has already started acclimating to. The second finding included a simple mistake of putting some cash in the wrong place, which Fletcher owned up to and said it would not happen again. The third finding, according to Fletcher, will not disappear until the fiscal year of 2023 because of another software that the county is currently using and must continue using until that time. Overall, the commissioners were satisfied with their audit findings and their game plan for how to resolve them moving forward into fiscal year 2021. According to Fletcher, when she first came to Cibola County as manager, everyone was scared of the audit, but now, they look forward to it so they know what they have done well and what they can improve on every year.

“A lot of improvement and a lot of hard work for sure,” said Jaramillo of Cibola County’s finances.

As for the Cibola General Hospital, the findings were not as reassuring; however, CGH CEO Thomas Whelen was reassuring to the board whenever he told them that the hospital was going to work very hard to resolve the findings of fiscal year 2020 by this time next year, and that most of them have already been resolved simply by upgrading to a new software. CGH officials did express feelings of embarrassment in regard to these audit findings, but the board assured the officials not to feel that way and to simply look forward to improving and resolving the issues this fiscal year. Commissioner Christine Lowery expressed an appreciation for the relationship between the county and the hospital. Manager Fletcher echoed this sentiment, adding that she would love to put together a class about procurement for the hospital, to which hospital officials expressed interest in.

“We’re all getting our acts together and we’re going in the right direction,” said Windhorst at the conclusion of the presentation.

During Reports, Manager Fletcher informed the board that Cibola County will be entering the upcoming fiscal year with a starting total balance of $8.9 million. Another positive report from Fletcher included the fact that Cibola County Sheriff’s Office spent 99% of their budget for this last fiscal year, proving to the County that they were worth the money and they would use it appropriately. Fletcher then went over funding amounts for local groups and organizations. After some discussions and voting, the board approved the following: no funding for Grants/Cibola Chamber of Commerce until a new director is hired; $2,550 for Bookmobile; $45,000 for NMSU Extension Services; $51, 917 for Rockin’ 66 Express; $24,750 for USDA; $40,000 for Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation; and $25,000 for Grants Main-Street. After these approvals, Commissioner Lowery emphasized the importance of transparency from these organizations in regard to the funding and how it is being used. She also reiterated that if adequate communication and transparency is not upheld, the funding may be pulled.

Finally, the board swiftly approved the following items: a. Consideration of Resolution 21-36 FY21 Budget Adjustment No. 11; b. Consideration of Resolution 21-38 FY21 4th Quarter Report; c. Consideration of Resolution 21-39 FY22 Final Budget; d. Consideration of Resolution 21-40 FY22 Acceptance of FY 2019-20 Audit Report; e. Consideration of Resolution 21-37 Designating Location of Election Day Polling Places for Statewide Election Conducted 2022/2023; f. Consideration to Use ARP Funding to Purchase the Text My Gov. Program for Cibola County, City and Village; g. Consideration to Fill 1 Cibola General Hospital Board Member Position; h. Consideration to approve requisitions over $20,000 – a.) 2020 Ford Explorer-Melloy Ford costing $36,266 for Sheriff’s Dept.

The citizen approved for the empty CGH board member position was former WOW Diner owner, Stephanie Rivard, replacing Bob Tenacher who reached tenure.

The next regular Cibola County Commission meeting will be August 26, at 5 p.m.