Op-Ed:

I want to share the order of events for the Food Pantry, a project that the City Council has been in full support of since I was elected. Alice Perez, Director for the Grants and Gallup pantries, wrote a grant for 1.8 million dollars and was awarded this grant funding by the State of New Mexico. The city agreed to be the fiscal agent for the pantry, which is a requirement of the grant. Mrs. Perez made a presentation at the May 19, 2022, City Council meeting. Nowhere in that presentation was the price of the property, nor information regarding a tax lien on the property.

Additional documents she provided at this meeting were a “Property Record Card” from the county assessor. Nowhere on this document is the price of the property or the tax lien. At this meeting we passed Resolution 22-1762 that states under item #4, That the Board of Commissioners (should have stated City Council not Board of Commissioners) directs and designates the City of Grants Manager as the lead and authorized representative to act in all matters in connection with this application.

Mrs. Perez and City Manager Donald Jaramillo worked together on the purchase of the land and building. On November 30, 2022 at a Regular Council Meeting, the purchase of the pantry was on the agenda for Executive (Closed) Session “Sakelares Boulevard Purchase – Real Estate Contract.” At the conclusion of the Executive Session, in open session, I did indeed motion for approval of the purchase of the property for 1.5 million, and it passed unanimously. The public is being misled to believe that at that time the council knew $747,000 of that money was to pay an IRS tax lien. This is not true.

The only document I received prior to the meeting was a forwarded Settlement Statement from Monica McGee who is with the title company who handled the purchase, dated December 15, 2022. Nowhere in that document is there information on a tax lien. As the purchase has been completed, all documents are now public records. Anyone can request them through the Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA). I finally was able to obtain a copy of the “final” Settlement Agreement dated December 28, 2022. On page 2 item 1303 was added “IRS Lien,” in the actual amount of $783,221.19, so who is lying to who here?

I believe that this matter could have and should have been conducted in an open meeting. Was it legal to do it in closed session? Yes, according to the NM Open Meetings Act, certain purchases over $2,500 may be discussed in closed session but must be voted on in open session. Was it okay to withhold from the council and citizens of Grants, that more than half of the purchase price was going to pay a tax lien on the property? Indeed, the State of New Mexico said, “No,” and refused to reimburse the city the amount of the tax lien. This resulted in the city having to transfer money from enterprise funds to the general fund to cover the expenditure that had already been made by the city. The check was cut on December 28, 2022, the date of the “final” Settlement Agreement that the council was not given, for $1,506,653.65.

At a Special City Council meeting on June 21, 2023, item 1.5, Discussion/ Action Approval of Resolution #23-1820 for Budget Adjustment No. 8 was on the agenda. The minutes show the city manager addressing the council at the start of the meeting. They can be viewed on the City of Grants website. In summary, it was then that the manager informed the council and citizens of the tax lien and the fact that the State refused to reimburse the city for the tax lien. The minutes state, “Mr. Jaramillo pointed out the City applied for the grant, with the assumption that the grant would cover 1.9 mill.ion but the pantry was going to find $90,000 to finalize the payment for the cooler but when the building was purchased the state did not reimburse the tax lien which was $747,000 therefore instead of loosing the grant money it was decided to use the grant money for equipment for the pantry such as vehicles, a hoop house, and a large walk-in cooler. He then stated the grant money would have to be used by June 30, 2023.” I wonder, who decided to use the grant money for equipment and spend over $750,000? Isn’t that the council’s job and shouldn’t we have known all about this prior to the meeting?

So, the predicament of the council at that meeting was having to spend out the grant with only 9 days left to the end of the fiscal year; and trying to get a full explanation of the tax lien we did not know about, and where the money that covered it came from. When the manager finished his explanation, he opened it to questions from the council. This is when I tried asking the question, “where are we moving $747,000 from to cover the tax lien and all the spending we are doing today?” The mayor gaveled me and called point of order and refused to allow me to ask the question. I encourage citizens to watch the live feed of the 6/21/23 meeting on the City’s Facebook page. I had to fight to get an answer and the citizens deserved more transparency. Is it open government to withhold information on the tax lien from the council and citizens? Is it okay to say the tax lien was $747,000 in an open meeting, when the actual amount as I mentioned above for the lien was $783,221.19?

I encourage the citizens of Grants to attend council meetings and follow what is going on. You are welcome to address the council at the beginning of any of our meetings. I want to add that the over three-quarters of a million dollars that had to be moved from the city’s enterprise funds to cover the tax lien could have been used on infrastructure. The matter of our failing infrastructure is something that I will be pressing in the council. Most citizens don’t seem to care much about the rodeo arena, 2nd Street Trail Loop or a Biopark. These projects are nice, but this is what the citizens of Grants want. They want their sewers repaired. They don’t want their water turned off multiple times a week. They want their roads paved.

I recently asked the Finance Director, Mr. Villalobos, for information that would show us if we could put at least a percentage of the city Water and Sewer Enterprise funds aside for infrastructure projects, which it is supposed to be dedicated to. Truth is, we constantly move money from these enterprise funds, which produce $4 to 6 Million annually, to the general fund and spend it on the budget and budget adjustments. This is a practice I am hoping we can change and finally take care of the pressing needs of our constituents, the citizens of Grants. At the last meeting of the council the mayor stated that this request for information was “interfering with daily operations of the city.” It is not, but that’s okay, I can do the math.

Any citizen who wants to speak to me can call me at (505) 980-0886, any time with any concern. I will take or return your calls or texts as long as they do not contain personal attacks. The mayor recently posted my personal cell number on his social media and I did receive a couple of calls. One individual commented that I make ugly faces, another said Beverly your the devil. I heard the mayor and his wife have called me evil. Someone sent me a screen shot of a post on his social media about a protest he was holding, and his wife supporting him made a comment, “I’ll take a bitch out if I have to.” This is hateful rhetoric. This is vicious. Citizens of Grants, I heard your calls at the town hall for unity that I too hope and pray can come back to the council. But In order to do so, these types of behaviors must stop.

In solidarity, Beverly Michael City of Grants Council D-4