Year in Review: Local fought the law and the law won

Tucumcari’s nuisance law, which seeks to enforce yard and building standards in a city riddled with abandoned, deteriorating buildings and weed-choked lots, survived opposition in 2017 that included an attempt to recall all city commissioners.

Keith Hayes, 74, owner of Hayes Trucking and Concrete, responded to the city’s attempt to enforce the ordinance on some of his properties by seeking a recall of all the sitting commissioners.

He succeeded in obtaining enough signatures to force a recall election for three of the commissioners, coming short of the needed petition signatures on a fourth. The fifth, Todd DuPlantis, District 5, had not been appointed when Hayes took out the recall petitions.

In the June 12 recall election, however, Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield, who represents the city’s District 4; District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya; and District 2 Commissioner Amy Gutierrez survived the recall effort—by large margins for Moya and Litchfield.

When the 336 votes were totaled, 63 voted against Moya’s recall, while 21 voted in favor; 120 voted against Litchfield’s recall, with 12 voting for it; and 47 voted against Gutierrez’s recall, with 34 voting for her recall;

District 4 Commissioner, Mayor Pro Tem Robert Lumpkin, avoided recall because too many signatures on the petition against him were found to be invalid.

Since the election, Fourth Judicial District Gerald Baca has ruled that Hayes is guilty of city charges against him in three court cases related to alleged violations of the nuisance ordinance in 2016, except those dealing with keeping inoperable vehicles on his properties. The judge ruled the city did not prove the vehicles were not operable, according to court records.

A date for sentencing in those cases has not been set, court records show.

“We will comply with what we can and what we feel is right,” Hayes said.

Court records show antagonism between Hayes and the city goes back to at least 1996, when Hayes sued the city to stop enforcement of a city order for Hayes to clean up asphalt and concrete from his property.

Hayes said he was recycling the material for sale, bringing him in excess of $10,000 a year. The case was dismissed in 1999.

Hayes announced his intention to recall the commissioners in late January 2017 after he had been fined $645 for violating the nuisance ordinance on four properties. Hayes told the Quay County Sun he wanted the recalls because commissioners did not put the needs of residents first.

City commissioners said then that Hayes was seeking vengeance for the nuisance law fines.

City commissioners and officials said at the time city officials had made numerous requests of Hayes over 20 years to clean up his property on Railroad Avenue.

As of Thursday, the property remains strewn with unused semi-trucks, trailers, cement trucks and other heavy equipment, much of which is shows rust.

Hayes said there is no violation, because the property is zoned for heavy industrial use.

In February, Hayes argued that the city needs economic development and said that would not be affected by weedy lots.

City Manager Jared Langenegger said the nuisance ordinance was established to address properties overgrown with weeds in an effort to make Tucumcari more appealing for potential business.

District 4 Commissioner Robert Lumpkin urged the commission in late January to return authority over penalties and fines in the nuisance ordinance to the city’s municipal judge, as had been done before the current nuisance ordinance was passed in 2016.

But even District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, who had voted against the ordinance when it was proposed in 2016, supported the current enforcement system using zoning officers and defining fines and penalties in the ordinance.

Langenegger argued that the city judge had allowed too many delays in orders to clean up property, and that little had been done to enforce the standards.

In addition, Langenegger said, the city is willing to work with persons who have been notified about violations, but who may not be able to correct them due to economic circumstances or disability.

Later in February, the commission informally agreed to cut fines in half in the nuisance ordinance, but did not cut fines until May. The commission also changed the ordinance in May by making ordinance violations a criminal rather than civil matter.

Other changes included eliminating fines for persons or agencies that try to delay enforcement of penalties against property owners for nuisance violations and eliminating a requirement that owners insure vacant buildings.

Through the first half of the year, however, both sides of the recall effort campaigned vigorously.

City commissioners put out campaign signs and literature. Keith Hayes and his wife Corrine knocked on doors and placed advertisements in the Quay County Sun.

In their campaign literature, the Hayes’ attacked the nuisance ordinance as interference with property rights, and said the city had done too little to attract businesses to town and had neglected maintenance of city streets, among other allegations.

In April, Langenegger took the unusual step of replacing his usual report to the commission with a statement that opposed the recall, defended the city commission’s recent record on street maintenance and economic development, and supported the nuisance ordinance.

After the meeting, Hayes called Langenegger’s statement “a lot of blue sky” and said “A lot of (Langenegger’s statement) does not pertain to Tucumcari in general,” adding that many residents are displeased with the city’s interference on their personal properties.

After the election results were announced in June, Hayes struck a conciliatory note.

"I appreciate all those who came out to vote and (I) congratulate the commissioners on their victory," he said, adding that he hoped the recall effort would help the commission work on viable issues, not cosmetic ones.

Litchfield said the main thing that needed to happen was to put the ordeal behind them and "get back to work."

"I appreciate all of the phone calls from my constituents and residents of other districts," Litchfield said. "We don't need to dwell on this issue, we need to move past it and get to work on moving Tucumcari forward."

Moya expressed gratitude for voters’ support, and said the only way Tucumcari can improve is for residents to stop fighting each other and work together to move forward.

He added, however, “I will not allow anyone to intimidate me to try and influence my decision as a commissioner. I work with the other commissioners for the greater good of the city."

Gutierrez said, "I truly appreciate the voters support. They (voters) recognize that we (commissioners) are working hard to improve the city."