Commissioners cleared of ethics charges

In the first test of the Tucumcari’s new ethics ordinance, Tucumcari City Commissioners Ralph Moya and Paul Villanueva were cleared Thursday of charges they had improperly aimed criticism a city employee in public after a public hearing.

City Finance Director Rachelle Arias filed the charges in March based on events that allegedly occurred at the Feb. 13 and Feb. 27 meetings of the commission.

The commissioners decided in two 3-0 votes Thursday to exonerate Moya and Villanueva. District 4 Commissioner Christopher Arias abstained in both votes, because as Rachelle Arias’ nephew, he said he was “too close” to the situation. Moya and Villanueva to exonerate joined Mayor Ruth Ann Litchfield and District 5 Commissioner Todd Duplantis in the vote. Moya and Villanueva voted in each other’s favor but did not participate in votes that involved themselves.

At Thursday’s hearing and vote, Rachelle Arias repeated charges she filed in March that Villanueva had improperly relayed public reports to Litchfield that at the commission’s Feb. 13 meeting, Arias had “rolled (her) eyes at Commissioner Moya and said, ‘Oh, shut up’ to Commissioner Moya.”

The gesture and the utterance were on video recordings of the meeting, Villanueva had said.

Arias, however, said she reviewed the video and “the only time you can see me is when I stand up to discuss the lodgers tax audit.”

Litchfield and Christopher Arias also said they had viewed the video and neither had seen nor heard the behaviors mentioned.

Rachelle Arias pointed out the code of ethics requires reports of employee misconduct should be made only to the city manager.

Moya then mentioned the reports in public at the Feb. 27 commission meeting, Arias said.

While neither mentioned Arias by name, she said, Moya mentioned employees sitting in the front row.

“There were only two of us in the front row” at the Feb 13 meeting, so there was not much choice in who they were talking about.

Arias denied in her statement she had done or said that.

Later, however, she admitted to making an eye-roll gesture toward Litchfield about another matter.

“I did not roll my eyes at Commissioner Moya,” she said.

Arias also said she had looked at her watch and said to the other employee, “Holy s---, it’s been an hour,” referring to discussions at the meeting involving the city’s lodger’s tax board and the city’s contract with a marketing firm.

That comment, she said, may have been interpreted as her saying “Shut up.”

In his defense, Villanueva said he had received phone calls from constituents about the behavior of a city employee and reported it to the mayor.

He said he had no idea who the employee might have been but felt he should inform the mayor.

Litchfield said she had failed to respond to Villanueva’s complaint soon enough and apologized.

In his defense, Moya said at the Feb. 27 meeting he did not mention any employees by name.

“This was reported by the public,” he said, “and I will bring up reports from the public before the commission.”

Because the report was from the public, he said, he did not consider it a personnel matter.

After the sworn statements from Arias and the commissioners, Duplantis commended Arias for her courage in filing the complaint but said he saw no violation of the code by Moya or Villanueva.

Duplantis moved to drop the charges against the accused commissioners, and the motion carried.

Litchfield said, “I don’t want to see any retaliation” based on the complaint. “We’ve got to work together” to resolve major issues the city faces, she said.

Litchfield also praised Rachelle Arias’ work that had resulted in two clean annual audits of the city’s financial recordkeeping.

Litchfield’s praise of Arias and calls for unity were echoed in statements from Duplantis and Christopher Arias.

Duplantis said he was glad the ethics ordinance could “give her the courage” to bring charges forward.

Villanueva said he, too, hoped the commission could work together.

Moya said, “I’m not going to comment on this whole mess,” but urged his constituents to call him with their concerns rather than post them on social media.

He also denied Arias’ charge the commissioners’ actions against her were based on “race and gender.”

“I am not racist,” he said. “I don’t even know her race.”

He also denied gender bias.

“I don’t use Facebook or any of those,” he said, because he does not want to help “spread lies.”

“People should call me,” he said.

Villanueva said he would continue to work for voters.

“That’s why they voted me in,” he said.