City meeting delayed due to lack of quorum

The Tucumcari City Commission postponed its work session and regular meeting last week after it failed to have a quorum.

The work session was rescheduled to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 30, with the regular meeting at 6 p.m., both at city hall.

Mayor Ralph Moya and Commissioner Paul Villanueva attended the sessions last Thursday, but commissioners Mike Cherry and Christopher Arias were absent.

Arias was in Dallas for job training, and Cherry was recuperating at home following an traffic accident in southern New Mexico the previous weekend.

Moya said after the work session adjourned it was the first time the city commission failed to have a quorum in his eighth year in the seat.

The commission is more susceptible to lacking members for meetings after the sudden retirement of Ruth Ann Litchfield in December due to medical reasons.

The commission was scheduled to discuss selecting remaining applicants for Litchfield’s District 3 seat or place another advertisement for the opening. Four applicants applied for the seat in January.

Commissioners also had on their agenda accepting a letter of removal from Matt Bednorz from the seat after the commission appointed him in January. Bednorz later was found to not reside in the district, and Arias filed a lawsuit to block his appointment.

Other items likely for Thursday’s agenda:

— A resolution authorizing the city manager or Tucumcari Senior Center director to pursue the possibility of a new multi-generational facility;

— A resolution on a lease buyout by Father’s Forge church;

— A resolution to approve the fiscal-year 2022 audit;

— Second-quarter budget adjustments;

— A change order on the Tucumcari Convention Center’s north wall;

— A Rural Violent Crime Reduction Initiative;

— A lease for a bulldozer at the landfill;

— A request for proposals for an evaluation committee recommendation;

— A Law Enforcement Protection Fund application for FY2024.

During the work session, commissioners were set to discuss the FY2022 audit, its quarterly financial report, acquiring a bulldozer for the landfill and and update from interim police chief Patti Lopez about the Tucumcari Police Department.