Closed county meetings on road disputes draw criticism

Issue tied to regional water system focus of discussions with federal, tribal officials

Santa Fe County commissioners will meet with federal, state and tribal representatives this week at the Capitol to discuss road disputes with four pueblos, but the meetings will not be open to the public, a move criticized Tuesday by an open-government advocate and a top state legislator.

The commission has voted not to appropriate money for the Pojoaque Valley regional water system unless the road disputes are resolved. The planned water system is a result of a settlement in the decades-old Aamodt water rights lawsuit, and those attending the meetings Thursday and Friday will include representatives of parties to the settlement.

The president of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government said barring the public from the meetings will violate the state Open Meetings Act, which requires meetings of government bodies like the Santa Fe County Commission be open except under limited circumstances.

House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, also objected to the meetings being closed.

“My fear is it’s just going to add to local concerns [by some Pojoaque

Valley residents] that they’re not engaged, they’re not heard, they’re not part of the conversation,” Egolf said. “To have a closed-door meeting with all the county commissioners, it just seems to me it has some risk of exacerbating the worries of people who live in that part of the county.”

In excluding the public from the meetings, the County Commission is citing state statutes that authorize closed-door meetings to discuss litigation or threatened litigation, as well as acquisition or disposal of water rights or other property. The county said no final action will be taken at the meetings.

Meeting attendees, in addition to commissioners, will include representatives of the U.S. Department of the Interior; the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation; the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs; the State Engineer’s Office; and the pueblos of Nambe, Pojoaque, San Ildefonso and Tesuque.

Commissioner Henry Roybal, whose district covers the northern portion of Santa Fe County, said he had been under the impression that at least portions of the meetings would be open to the public. He said his preference had been that the meetings be entirely open but said the Interior Department pushed for them to be closed.

County spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic said closing the meetings was a “collaborative decision.”

The road disputes center on the pueblos’ claims that some county roads infringe on their land. Property owners have said questions about the legal status of roads have lowered their property values.

Roybal described the talks between the county and pueblos as not fully developed. He said the meetings would offer the pueblos the opportunity to present their position on the disputed roads to the county and other parties to the Aamodt settlement parties. He said he was optimistic a resolution to the issues could be reached soon.

“We’re hoping we can nail down exactly what it is they’re asking for, what it is they believe,” Roybal said. “We need to determine what they feel are in trespass versus what the county feels and go back and forth. … We need to make sure we’re on the same page as far as those beliefs.”

Pojoaque Pueblo. Gov. Joe Talachy said he will attend the meetings. “I’m hopeful that both parties can work together to come up with a resolution that’s equitable to all,” he said.

Other pueblos didn’t respond to messages seeking comment.

Greg Williams, a lawyer and board president of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said the meetings did not appear to be subject to the exceptions in state law that allow closed government meetings.

“I don’t know why the commission would be going to such lengths to keep the public shielded from this; it’s obviously something the public has an interest in attending,” Williams said. “The commission shouldn’t be trying to come up with ways to keep the public out. They should be doing whatever they can to make sure the public has access.”

Democratic state Rep. Carl Trujillo, a party in the Aamodt suit whose district includes part of northern Santa Fe County, said he was surprised not to receive an invitation to the meetings.

“I do believe the state has a stake in these meetings,” he said.

Dave Neal, an El Rancho resident who opposes the Pojoaque Valley regional water system, said the closed meetings reminded him of the negotiations for the Aamodt settlement. Too often over the course of the yearslong settlement process, Neal said, objectors to the system were shut out of important conversations.

“We feel like we’re at this again,” Neal said.

The cost of the water system has been estimated at $253 million, in 2024 dollars. The federal government will provide most of the money. The state will contribute an estimated $72.5 million and the county portion has been pegged at up to $36 million.

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation is tasked with designing and constructing the system. The agency is proceeding despite the road disputes, said Kathy Dickinson, the bureau’s water system project manager.

“We are working under the assumption that by the time we get ready to construct next summer that these issues will be worked out,” Dickinson said Tuesday.

The project is mandated to be substantially completed by the summer of 2024.

Editor’s note: New Mexican owner Robin Martin is party to the Aamodt litigation.