District 3 choice will take a while longer

Filling a months-long vacancy for District 3 on the Tucumcari City Commission will take a while longer.

Because of what he characterized as a “misunderstanding,” Mayor Ralph Moya said during a special commission meeting last Wednesday the city again would take applications for the open seat through 4 p.m. May 17 and advertise it in the Quay County Sun.

After that, Moya said the commission would place filling the vacancy on its May 25 meeting agenda.

Moya said even those who submitted applications for the position earlier this year must re-submit them “to make it as fair as we can.”

After the meeting, Moya said a city staffer assumed earlier applications for District 3 would be “rolled over” to the current round.

Moya declined to name the employee, saying “I don’t want to throw him under the bus,” and again labeled it a “misunderstanding.”

City manager Paula Chacon, interviewed in her office after the meeting, also described the situation as a misunderstanding.

She said job applications to the city usually are kept for six months in case other positions open. Chacon said, however, the process of filling vacancies is different for elected officials such as the city commission.

Chacon said no applications for District 3 were received before the most recent April 20 deadline. She surmised previous applicants didn’t apply again because they assumed they would be reconsidered. Chacon said one of the three no longer is interested in the position.

District 3 has been without a commissioner since December, when Ruth Ann Litchfield unexpectedly resigned due to health reasons. Litchfield also had been mayor. Moya, who was mayor pro tem, took over as mayor after Litchfield stepped down.

The commission in January voted 3-1 to appoint Matt Bednorz to the District 3 position from four candidates who included Randi Eidsmoe, Joe Barnett and Steve Farmer.

But Bednorz did not live within the district, and Commissioner Christopher Arias filed a lawsuit to block Bednorz from being seated.

Bednorz, who never was sworn into office, withdrew from consideration.

Last month, Arias said the commission should have reconsidered the three other candidates instead of requesting applications again. He said he was “disgusted by the inaction” and added that “personal allegiances and loyalties” kept them from making an appointment that night.

Fellow commissioner Paul Villanueva subsequently accused Arias of breaking the law when he took his commission seat for District 4 in 2018, noting Arias had listed a different place of residence on his declaration form. Arias admitted earlier this year he rented a home outside District 4 in late 2018 but moved back into the district and has stayed there since.

During public comments at a commission meeting in mid-April, resident Tonya Rigdon criticized the commission’s infighting and lack of action in appointing a commissioner.

“It sounds like you have someone else in mind you want hand-picked,” she said.