City OKs contract for legal services

The Tucumcari City Commission during a special meeting last week approved a contract for legal services with an attorney who helped make corrections with the city’s cannabis ordinance earlier this year.

During the Aug. 1 meeting, City Clerk Angelica Gray said an evaluation committee looked over the lone proposal from Santa Fe attorney Jared Najjar in the city’s request for legal services. She said the committee determined it scored 90.8 out of 100 in its grading criteria.

The commission unanimously approved the recommendation of the committee, then approved a contract with Najjar. Mayor Pro Tem Ralph Moya did not attend the meeting.

Najjar, associated with the New Mexico Municipal League, late last year flagged errors in the city’s cannabis ordinance — including a section that inadvertently made recreational cannabis sales illegal — and then suggested amendments to the document.

The corrections were made a few weeks before legal recreational marijuana sales began on April 1.

The previous city attorney, Randall Van Vleck, of the firm irked commissioners when he apparently overlooked those errors in the cannabis ordinance.

The commission earlier last month extended a professional services contract with New Mexico Local Government Law one month until bids in its request for proposals for legal services could be examined.

In other business, commissioners officially allowed interim city manager Mark Martinez to make an official overture to the New Mexico Music Commission and its cost-share grant program.

The city’s lodgers tax advisory board had recommended the city apply for up to $20,000 in grant funding, though Martinez said it was more likely that just $10,000 would be available. The money would be used to help book New Mexico-based music acts. The grant would cover 50% of the cost.

Commissioners held a 20-minute closed executive session to discuss candidates for the city manager position. No action occurred after open session resumed. Martinez plans to revert to his previous assistant city manager position once a new city manager is hired.