Officials discuss code of conduct

A discussion of whether the Tucumcari City Commission should adopt a code of conduct according to guidelines of new state legislation Thursday turned on whether parts of the code would stifle dissent.

At a public work session before Thursday’s regular commission meeting, City Manager Britt Lusk showed commissioners a preliminary draft of a code-of-conduct ordinance, using material gleaned from similar codes adopted in Hobbs, Alamogordo, Silver City and Roosevelt County, as well as from New Mexico’s Government Conduct Act.

District 1 Commissioner Ralph Moya, who frequently raises objections and pointedly questions proposed commission actions, expressed concern such a code could be used to silence commissioners with minority opinions.

The proposed code, Moya, said, would be “a way to control” commissioners.

He pointed out rules that require courtesy and, as Alamogordo’s code of conduct requires, “civility and decorum in discussions and debates.”

Moya asked, “Who’s going to police the code? The majority, not the minority (of the commission).”

Lusk said he understands where Moya is coming from, but behaviors such as “calling out staff and name-calling” should not be allowed.

“We should enforce these rules, and I think an ordinance should be adopted,” he said.

Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield agreed.

“We need to follow some rules of courtesy,” she said. “There will be differences of opinion, and we don’t want that to be pushed down.”

Moya advised that commissioners read carefully the proposed code-of-conduct ordinance.

Other commissioners seemed to agree and delayed further discussion on the proposed ordinance until the June 13 public work session.

During the “items from commissioners” portion of the regular meeting, Moya refrained from his usual list of several issues.

He said the code of conduct discussed in the work session is “trying to limit commissioners.”

His silence Thursday, he said, “will be the kind of control they would like.”

Other commission actions

In the regular meeting that followed Thursday’s work session, the commission

n Approved the addition of $37,440 from the city’s salary budget to the city’s contract with M&M Golf to manage the city’s golf course, bringing the total of the contract from $46,000 per year to $83,440. The additional money would allow M&M Golf to hire golf course maintenance employees. Without the added cost of employee benefits, Lusk said, the amended contract will save the city $6,000 per year. The commission voted 4-1 to approve the amended contract. Moya abstained from voting.

n Released the Tucumcari Mountain Cheese Factory from the requirements of a Local Economic Development Act agreement reached in 2014. The agreement included $141,830 in LEDA funds to assist in financing water quality-enhancing facilities to allow expanded production for the cheese factory. The Greater Tucumcari Economic Development Corporation board of directors found the cheese factory had met all the requirements of the contract in terms of jobs and performance reporting. The cheese factory also received $1 million in state economic development funds in 2014 to help finance a $4.5 million expansion.

n Approved an increase in the mileage reimbursement for city employees who use their own vehicles for travel from 44 cents to 54.25 cents per mile to comply with state law that requires reimbursement at the Internal Revenue Service-allowed rate. Lusk said most city employee travel is in city vehicles and is not reimbursed. The commission approved the increase on a 4-1 vote, with Moya voting against it “as a protest,” citing potential effects on city budgets.

n Approved budget adjustments totaling $233,326 in cost reductions, which city finance director Rachelle Arias said was due to actions of city department heads to control costs.

n Approved two park use permits, one for St. Anne’s Catholic Church to use Dunn Park for its Stations of the Cross observance on April 19, which is Good Friday. The other, for the Tucumcari High School Class of 2019, to use city softball fields May 18 for kickball and softball games during Senior Week.

Opportunity zones

David Brenner, owner of the Roadrunner Lodge motel, gave a presentation on “Qualified Opportunity Zones” in Tucumcari designated by the IRS to encourage economic development and job creation in “distressed communities.”

Most of Tucumcari, Brenner said, is in a designated opportunity zones because 25 percent or more of the population live in poverty.

Maps that Brenner included show the zone includes nearly all of the city south of a line running northeast from Five Mile Park to Railroad Avenue and on to Maple Avenue, with an area around downtown Tucumcari excluded.

The IRS, he said, offers capital-gains tax deferrals and reductions for investors who make investments in the zone that increase economic development and job creation.

The opportunity zones were designated in April 2018 as part of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.

Manager items

In his city manager’s report, Lusk said signs have been ordered that will prohibit right turns from First Street to Main Street for northbound truck traffic to avoid further damage to the Knights of Columbus building, which has been struck many times by trailers.

He said city staff members are preparing to apply for clean-water grants from the state’s Clean Water State Revolving Loan Fund Program, and the city is progressing on claims from recent high winds.

District 5 Commissioner Todd Duplantis noted residents have been reported sewer odors in several areas.

Litchfield said she has learned Coronado Park is open only on Saturdays to residents seeking to dispose of bush cuttings and tree limbs, because some had been using the property to dump old furniture, which is not legal.

“It costs you $10 to take stuff to the dump,” she said, “but if you get a ticket for illegal dumping, that’s a $300 fine.”