Walt Rubel Commentary: City breaks transparency laws again

Last March, New Mexico State University, Dona Ana County and the city of Las Cruces were all searching for new leaders.

NMSU conducted a national search, attracting applications from college administrators throughout the country. The finalists were brought to Las Cruces for a rigorous and transparent interview process. When regents were unhappy with the first batch of finalists, instead of settling for someone they didn’t really want, they had the courage to start over.

When Valerio Ferme emerged from that process as the university’s next president, there were undoubtedly some who would have preferred another candidate. But the process had been fair and thorough.

Dona Ana County also launched a national search to replace former County Manager Fernando Macias, who will move over to district attorney after winning his election in November. They also received applications from county administrators from throughout the country, and brought the finalists to Las Cruces for a rigorous and transparent interview process. New County Manager Scott Andrews was also probably not the first choice of all involved. But the process had been fair and thorough.

The City Council didn’t bother with any of that. Unlike the regents and commissioners, council members liked departing City Manager Ifo Pili, and were sorry to see him go. So, they let him choose his successor, Ikani Taumoepeau, who was the assistant city manager and had worked with Pili in Utah before following him here.

Which would have been fine if the City Council had simply gone through the motions of discussing the hire in a public meeting. There’s no law that says they have to conduct a nationwide search, or even a citywide search. But they do have to take a vote confirming their decision during a public meeting.

A recent investigation by the state Attorney General’s Office found that, while the City Council approved Taumoepeau’s salary in an open meeting, they never formally appointed him to the position.

City officials engaged in what is known as a rolling quorum. That’s where council members debate issues behind closed doors and reach a consensus before arriving at the public meeting.

It’s a bit ironic that our City Council is caught in a rolling quorum again, given that the original state Supreme Court decision outlawing the practice came from a case filed by former Sun-News reporter Steve Ramirez against the City of Las Cruces some 20 years ago. Current council member Bill Mattiace was also involved in that case.

The city also violated the law by selecting its three finalists in a closed meeting, the report found.

Sadly, New Mexico’s open meetings law is a toothless deterrent. All the City Council has to do is go through the process of selecting and appointing Taumoepeau in an open meeting.

Process doesn’t guarantee results. Maybe Taumoepeau was the right person for the job and will go on to serve the city well for the next decade and beyond. But the City Council’s criminal lack of transparency is alarming.

This was not the only recent violation of open meetings and open records laws. In June the city was ordered by the court to pay $94,945 in fees and penalties for failing to comply with the Open Records Act. 

This is the kind of thing the city’s new oversight committee should look into. Oh, I forgot, it’s been disbanded.


Walter Rubel can be found at [email protected]

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