DOÑA ANA COUNTY COMMISSION

JANUARY 11, 2005

Commissioners Butler, Curry, Evans, McCamley, and Saldana-Caviness were present.

The first order of business was selecting a new chairman.  A nomination and voting process by the Commission resulted in Commissioner McCamley being selected as the new chairman.

A consent agenda of 21 items was passed after removing one item from the proposed list of 22 items.

The item removed for separate discussion was approval of termination of a contract between Doña Ana County and Southern New Mexico Speedway for operation of the track at the county fairgrounds.  A representative of the Speedway presented the commission with a check for outstanding bills the county claimed they owed.  He apologized for their accounting error and asked to be allowed to continue running the racetrack.  He also asked that the racetrack remain open no matter who was chosen to run it.  After a closed session to discuss legal issues the Commission voted to terminate the contract.

An item to appoint a sheriff to fill the vacancy created by Sheriff Hernandez' resignation generated an interesting discussion of who was responsible for the selection.  Roles of the commission, the public, and law enforcement personnel were discussed.  In the end the Commission created and approved a plan leading up to a selection to be made at the February 8, 2005 Commission meeting.

As moved at the previous meeting, the Commission voted to rescind authorization to pursue legal action against the BLM regarding public lands in the Robledos.

Other business included election of Leon Billstone to the ETZ Commission and Michael Allen to the Planning and Zoning Commission.  Commissioners Curry and Saldana-Caviness were appointed to conduct the annual inspection of the Doña Ana County Detention Center.  Commissioner Curry made a humorous reference to the fact that the annual inspection had just been completed prior to the recent disturbance at the facility.

Charlie Welch

Common Cause