Las Cruceans who think that the only people who threaten the rule of law and democracy are Trump, his lawyers, his sycophants, and his MAGA hordes are not paying attention. There have always been millions of Americans and there are now thousands of Las Cruceans who—actions speaking louder than words—undermine American democracy, its principles and values, and its Constitution. Trump has given them permission to out themselves after years of repression by respectability. Here, four years ago, members of City Council, dominated by pseudo-Progressives, outed themselves by voting to amend an ordinance for selected committees, accepting a charter for a committee known as the Public Safety Select Committee (PSSC), and tolerating its operations in secret and in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA). Just one of those actions. (Note: Progressives a century or so ago stood for open government.)
To enable its secret operations, the committee has never published notices of its meetings, its agendas, or its minutes. It was once listed on the City’s website of boards and commissions; when listed, its entry provided a “purpose” and a “description,” but no “contact.” Some months ago, contrary to the charter (I.a), the listing was removed from the website. The PSSC is so secret that Mayor Eric Enriquez and all Councilors have twice refused to answer my questions about whether the committee still exists or has been renamed, repurposed, or terminated. Their refusal to answer such simple questions raises some serious questions and suggests some serious skullduggery.
The charter of this secret committee states that its purpose is “to provide the mayor and city council with information and advice on the goals and objectives stated in the City Charter or the City’s strategic plan” (I.a). My review of many IPRA records discloses none indicating that the committee has done so. If it has not been doing what it is chartered to do, what has it been doing instead? Or have its three City Council members (one is the Mayor) been securing the approval of the other four Council members for policies, programs, or funding with a rolling quorum? Or have they avoided a rolling quorum by using the City Manager as an intermediary to secure this approval?
The charter also states, “The term of the select committee shall not exceed one year or the amount of time necessary to complete the specific established goals and objectives of the committee” (I.c). This secret committee has existed for four years, from early 2020 to at least early 2024. Its meetings have addressed, among other topics, cannabis, crime, domestic violence, homelessness, mental health, and excessive police force. The City Manager could and should have addressed them or developed proposals to Council for policies or programs to address them. They are obviously topics appropriate for public discussion at City Council public meetings or working sessions. Yet the PSSC has had no “specific established goals and objectives”; without them, it could not and did not solve even a part of one of these problems in a year or in a reasonable period of time implied by the charter. This committee has thus violated its charter. Why has it not occurred to any Council member, the Mayor included, to comply with the charter, that is, obey the law of its own creation? Why has Council outsourced its responsibilities to an unaccountable, illegitimate directorate to run the city by deciding important matters behind closed doors and then hiding those decisions from the public?
Nothing in the PSSC charter authorizes closed meetings. Moreover, OMA has requirements for informing other members of City Council and the public of closed meetings. The relevant passages from the New Mexico Open Meetings Act Compliance Guide (p. 32) state:
2. Closed Meeting Outside an Open Meeting
The Law
If any meeting is closed pursuant to the exclusions contained in Subsection (H) of this section, the closure: ...
(2) If called for when the policymaking body is not in an open meeting, shall not be held until public notice, appropriate under the circumstances, stating the specific provision of the law authorizing the closed meeting and stating with reasonable specificity the subject to be discussed, is given to the members and to the general public.
Commentary
A public body may sometimes need to meet in a special meeting to discuss only a matter that is covered by one of the exceptions defined in Section 10-15-1(H) of the Act. Under those limited circumstances, the public body must give notice of the meeting to its members and to the public in accordance with its policy regarding notice of special meetings or as may be reasonable under the circumstances. Such notice must state the exception to the Act or other legal authority that authorizes the closed meeting and must state the subject to be discussed with reasonable specificity. When noticed properly, these closed meetings may take place without having an open session before or after the meeting.
Instead of following state law, the PSSC has justified its closed meetings by citing on every agenda a passage in the Las Cruces Municipal Code: “In accordance with LCMC Chpt. 1, Div. 6, Sec. 2-174, et seq., this meeting is not a public meeting and does not include a quorum of elected officials or representatives.” The citation refers only to the Oversight Committee, which is explicitly designated as a management committee not subject to OMA. PSSC is not so designated; it is not even mentioned. Nothing in the cited sections of the LCMC authorizes PSSC secrecy, and, even if something did, the LCMC does not supersede OMA.
However, some records, redacted or withheld on the basis of attorney-client privilege, suggest that the city may have tried to establish the PSSC on grounds which exempt it from the letter of OMA. The City Attorney may have given the PSSC legal advice to its liking so that Council members on the PSSC can plead that they acted on the advice of counsel. Such deviousness insinuates that the intentions or operations of the PSSC, if within the letter of the law, were not within the spirit of the law, and might not have been in the public interest. In short, all PSSC meetings have violated OMA by a failure to give public notice.
If the PSSC had complied with the OMA requirements for prior public notice, it still might have properly closed them. The OMA lists ten categories of exceptions justifying a closed meeting. The Guide’s Table of Contents lists them:
H. Exceptions
Licensing
Limited Personnel Matters
Administrative Adjudicatory Deliberations
Personally Identifiable Student Information
Collective Bargaining
Certain Purchases
Litigation
Real Property and Water Rights
Public Hospital Board Meetings
Gaming Control Board Meetings
My review of many IPRA records show very few of these exceptions. So almost all closed PSSC meetings have violated OMA by failing to confine themselves to these exceptions.
City Council is reviewing this secret “select” committee without thus far making it an agenda item for public discussion. So the Mayor and Councilors are resorting to secrecy in reviewing and redirecting the operations of this secret committee. Their exclusion of the public from deliberations about public safety and basic issues of governance is a hallmark of anti-democratic politicians and anti-democratic governments on the Left as well as the Right.
Unless you are among those opposed to American democracy, tell the Mayor and your Councilor what you think of their anti-democratic practices in chartering a secret committee to run Las Cruces in matters of public policy.
* * * * * * *
I provide three items for those who want to know the details, with pertinent points in bold font: first, the text of the city ordinance for select committees; then, the PSSC “Purpose” and “Description” in its charter. The cited sections asserted to justify closed meetings are too long to include here. The relevant OMA sections have been given above.
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE LAS CRUCES MUNICIPAL CODE (LCMC) 1997, AS AMENDED, CHAPTER 2, ART. 4, DIV. 7, SEC. 2-1101, SELECT COMMITTEES, EFFECTIVE AS OF JANUARY 6, 2020.
The City Council is informed that:
WHEREAS, LCMC Ch. 2, Art. 4, Div. 7, Sec. 2-1101 establishes the mayor’s ability to appoint Select Committees whose purpose is to provide information and advice on City Charter objectives; and
WHEREAS, the mayor determines membership, purpose, duties, and duration of Select Committees; and
WHEREAS, the mayor must notify the city council of the establishment and purpose of select committees; and
WHEREAS, it [is] the desire of the city council to expand the ability to create Select Committees for the benefit of the entire city council to support the goals and objectives of the City’s strategic plan.
NOW THEREFORE, be it Ordained by the Governing Body of the City of Las Cruces:
(I)
THAT Section 2-1101, entitled “Select Committees,” of the Las Cruces Municipal Code is amended to read as follows:
“Sec. 2-1101. -Scope.
(a) Select committees may be established by the mayor or city council to provide the mayor and city council with information and advice on the goals and objectives stated in the City Charter or the City’s strategic plan. The membership, purpose, duties, and duration of the select committees shall be determined by the mayor or the city council and shall be made available to the public.
(b) If the Mayor establishes a select committee, the city council shall be given written notice of the establishment of all select committees. This notice shall include the purpose for the select committee and the names of the members.
(c) The term of the select committee shall not exceed one year or the amount of time necessary to complete the specific established goals and objectives of the committee.
(d) The recommendations of a select committee shall not be binding and are subject to approval of the city council or the city manager in accordance with the city charter.
(e) The city manager may assign appropriate city staff or community members to a select committee for the purpose of providing information, recommendations, or subject-matter expertise. The select committee shall not include more than three members of the city council.
(f) Sections 2-187 through 2 -190 are inapplicable to select committee members.”
(II)
THAT City staff is hereby authorized to do all deeds as necessary in the accomplishment of the herein above.
DONE AND APPROVED this 6 day of January 2020. [Signed by the Mayor]
The operations of the PSSC implied by the “Description” and “Purpose” in the City’s “Boards and Commissions” website entry before it was removed are different from the actual operations of the PSSC. Both statements seem designed to give cover to Council and, while still on the website, deceive the public.
Description
The duties of the Public Safety Select Committee shall include but not be limited to the following: (1) provide input, comment, or recommendations on proposed ordinances, programs, or initiatives involving public safety matters within the City; (2) provide recommendations to the City Council on matters of public safety; (3) provide information, recommendations, or assistance in the development and implementation of various existing and future public safety related programs; (4) encourage, collect, and present resident input regarding public safety service levels and priorities; (5) make recommendations concerning related department budgets and budget priorities.
Purpose
To improve the overall safety and quality of life of the community by providing recommendations to the City Council on safety initiatives, raising awareness of community safety concerns, and to serve as a mechanism for productive discussion on matters of public safety between the policy making body, individuals serving in the area of public safety and subject matter experts.
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