The board of directors for the Greater Belen Economic Development Corporation (GBEDC) today accepted the resignation of its executive director.

Claudette Riley is leaving the GBEDC to concentrate full-time on her husband’s business after several years with the private, nonprofit economic development group. Her resignation was effective March 1.

With Riley out, the GBEDC, a state-supported program of the New Mexico Certified Communities Initiative, is considering how to move forward.

Other than voting on several administrative measures, the board decided to make Andrew DiCamillo, the director of the City of Belen Planning and Zoning Department, the GBEDC’s acting director.

The GBEDC is one of three Belen-based economic organizations, a list that includes the Greater Belen Chamber of Commerce and the Belen MainStreet Partnership.

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Belen Mayor Rudy Jaramillo has given the city’s human resources manager additional management responsibilities while the city government transitions to a new city manager.

Mary Lucy Baca took on the additional responsibilities today at Jaramillo’s direction, as Jaramillo continues to consider an appointment to the city manager vacancy.

“I have accepted only on the basis that it would be temporary,” Baca wrote in a memo to city employees.

A draft agenda for Monday’s regular city council meeting includes a closed session during which Baca and the city manager’s position will be discussed.

According to the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, the mayor and city councilors can meet behind closed doors to discuss “limited personnel matters,” which includes promotion and hiring, among other things.

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Belen City Councilor Wayne Gallegos, the previous city council’s mayor pro tem, was again elected mayor pro tem during the first meeting of the Jaramillo administration.

The former city council, which included councilors David Lopez and Terese Ulivarri, met first tonight to conclude its business and adjourn for the last time. Then the new city council met.

After the newly elected mayor and councilors were sworn in, Councilor Mary T. Aragon moved to have Gallegos elected as mayor pro temp. Councilor Jerah R. Cordova seconded. The vote was 3-0.

While the city council has four seats, one seat was vacated prior to the vote when Mayor Rudy Jaramillo was sworn in.

Jaramillo will likely nominate someone to replace him on the council during next Monday’s regular meeting, and the three city councilors will vote to approve or disapprove the nomination.

Tonight’s meeting agenda included a reorganization of city government — the appointment of an interim city manager, as well as a police chief, fire chief and airport director. Jaramillo, while still a councilor during the former council’s meeting, moved to strike the reorganization from the agenda.

Right now, the city manager’s position is vacant because former City Manager Sally Garley’s resignation took effect today. The other appointed positions remain filled by the Torres administration’s appointees.

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The City of Belen might be in violation of the Open Meetings Act (OMA) because the city council hasn’t approved a required OMA resolution since October 2008.

According to OMA and the October 2008 OMA resolution, the city council is required to pass such a resolution every year in order to be in compliance with state law.

The purpose of the requirement is to help maintain an open government by clearly defining procedures for public notice of meetings and restrictions on how and when special and emergency meetings can be called, among other things.

Councilor Jerah R. Cordova today requested a copy of the city’s most recent OMA resolution and was given the October 2008 resolution.

Should that be the most recent OMA resolution, the city has been in violation of state law since October 2009.

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City of Belen employees have in recent years signed confidentiality agreements to protect the privacy of their fellow employees and citizens, but the agreements also leave open the possibility of punishment for disclosing information that’s not necessarily sensitive.

For example, city employees haven’t been allowed to publicly disclose information about the financial condition of their departments, according to a sample agreement obtained by Councilor Jerah R. Cordova.

The agreements also protect information in workers’ compensation claims and medical records.

The list of “confidential information” that shouldn’t be disclosed is accompanied by vague language that curtails employees’ ability to speak to the public, such phrases as “is in no way limited to” and “other related information.”

“Confidential information is not to be discussed outside of City of Belen offices for any reason or with co-workers, except in a required job-related situation,” the agreements read.

According to the agreements, a violation could result in disciplinary action, including termination.

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Mayor-elect Rudy Jaramillo hosted a meeting on Friday afternoon with Councilor Wayne Gallegos and councilors-elect Mary T. Aragon and Jerah R. Cordova to discuss Tuesday’s election and how to make cooperation happen.

During the private meeting at Pete’s Cafe in Belen, the four officials conversed about the need for cooperation during the first major transition in city government in 12 years.

According to state law, the city government has 21 days from Election Day to organize itself, appointing a city manager, police chief, fire chief, and airport manager.

During that 21-day period, a city councilor also will be appointed to Jaramillo’s seat, which will be vacated tomorrow night when Jaramillo is sworn in as mayor.

Gallegos called for a prudent and smooth transition, a sentiment shared by all.

Friday’s meeting is the only time the four can meet privately and unannounced because they don’t make up a quorum until the two new councilors are sworn in tomorrow night.

After the swearing in, all meetings of a quorum of elected city officials will need to be open to the public or announced as a closed executive session.

Cordova sought to have a Valencia County News-Bulletin reporter present for Friday’s meeting. The idea was nixed.

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The council meeting packet distributed to the councilors for tomorrow’s meeting includes the agenda, the election results to be approved by the present city council, and an email from the district attorney’s office to City Manager Sally Garley.

The meeting is at 6:00pm at Belen City Hall, located at 100 South Main Street in Belen.

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The City of Belen canvassed the municipal election tallies on Friday morning, confirming Tuesday’s results that brought a new mayor and two new councilors into office in Belen.

Rudy Jaramillo was elected mayor, edging out Tibo Chavez Jr. by just seven votes. Mary T. Aragon and Jerah R. Cordova took the two council seats by comfortable margins.

Kathy Savilla retained her seat as municipal judge, winning absentee voting, early voting and all four Election Day precincts.

MAYOR
558 – Rudy Jaramillo
551 – Tibo Chavez Jr.
321 – Wayne Gallegos
096 – Arturo Sais

COUNCIL
717 – Mary T. Aragon
687 – Jerah R. Cordova
626 – David A. Lopez
434 – A. Terese “Tinky” Ulivarri
005 – Randy J. Garley

JUDGE
678 – Kathy Savilla
505 – Gilbert Garcia
337 – Eleuterio Roy Gonzales

The results will be certified by the Belen City Council tomorrow night during a special meeting that will include the adjournment of the present city council and swearing in of the four newly elected officials.

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During the past 15 months, Valencia! was dedicated to bringing you news and information about Valencia County, starting as a scrappy blog and developing into a respected journalistic enterprise.

At its peak, Valencia! received more than 2,500 hits per day, a number that makes us proud.

I want to personally thank you for reading our articles. I also want to thank our many supporters — the people who advertised, the citizens who emailed tips and all the public officials who didn’t mind the scrutiny.

Because I was elected to the Belen City Council this week, Valencia! will cease to operate as a Valencia County news and information website.

As a city councilor, it would be difficult to cover the public officials I will work with, not only in Belen but throughout the county. As a journalist, I don’t feel it would be ethical.

Starting next week, Valencia! will be redesigned and become an open government website paid for and maintained by me as an elected official dedicated to open government.

Transparency and accessibility are essential to good government. This open government website will give Belen’s residents and business owners a way to see what their government is doing each day. It’ll also make it easy for citizens to contact me with their comments, concerns and criticisms.

The open government website will provide as much information as possible, everything from the city’s budget and planning documents to proposed ordinances and public notices. It will be updated immediately as information becomes available.

For a limited amount of time, you will be able to access the website with the same web address — www.valenciavoices.com — but it will also have a new web address: www.betterbelen.com.

Jerah R. Cordova
Reporter and Publisher
Valencia!

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Belen Mayor Ronnie Torres was honored tonight by the City of Belen for his tenure as mayor, in addition to his many years of community service during the past couple of decades.

“We recognize Mayor Ronnie Torres for his vision for our city and for his efforts, dedication and hard work in fulfilling that vision,” Councilor Wayne Gallegos said, reading from a proclamation declaring today as “Mayor Ronnie Torres Day.”

Last summer, Torres decided not to seek reelection to a fourth term as Belen’s mayor.

Gallegos, when reading the proclamation, said Torres would be remembered most for the annual Miracle on Main Street Christmas festival and electric light parade.

Torres was also responsible for major projects like constructing the Belen Community Center and Multipurpose Park, building the fire substation near the Reinken Avenue overpass, and expanding the Belen Public Library.

“He’s done many good things for the community,” said Councilor Rudy Jaramillo.

He also began reconstructing Becker Avenue as the “Heart of Belen,” intended as a redeveloped city center. During his tenure, the city began major improvements to Camino del Llano and annexed 6,000 acres for the development of Rancho Cielo west of Los Chavez.

“The man is fantastic and has just a kind heart,” said Councilor Terese Ulivarri.

Torres, who spent two years on the Belen City Council prior to serving 12 years as mayor, said he couldn’t have done all he did without a council that backed him and a staff that supported him.

“If you want a good team, you have to surround yourself with people much more educated than yourself,” Torres said.

Even though he won’t be mayor next week when a new mayor is sworn in, Torres said he won’t be too far away.

“I wish you guys the best. Continue doing what we’ve been doing. I’m a phone call away,” he said.

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