Belen Mayor Ronnie Torres said tonight that he won’t be running for reelection in 2010.

A citizen at a Rio Communities Association meeting asked if the mayor was planning to run for the county commission.

“I’m not running for anything,” Torres said. “I’m not even running for mayor.”

Torres has been mayor of Belen for 10 years and spent two prior years on the city council.

“I think there are other people who can grab the baton and keep on running,” he said. “Sometimes you tend to slow down. Sometimes you get to be dragged down by people who attack you constantly.”

Torres said he’s served his time as mayor, proud of his accomplishments but understanding Belen needs more work.

While Torres says he isn’t running for any elected positions, he would like to continue serving Belen as a councilor.

“I would like to stay on as council,” he said, “because there’s still too many things I want to do.”

The only way to become a councilor other than by election is by appointment. He could be appointed if one of the four councilors runs for mayor, wins and then appoints him to the newly vacated council seat, a possible outcome of behind-the-scenes political negotiating between Torres and one of the mayoral candidates.

Councilor Rudy Jaramillo has said he’s running for mayor. Jaramillo ran against Torres in 2006, in what became a very bitter and disputed election.

Several individuals close to Councilor Wayne Gallegos said he’s planning to run for mayor. Gallegos hasn’t publicly confirmed it.

The mayor’s term ends in March 2010.

This page was published on June 16, 2009 at 9:26pm and is filed under Archive.