The New Mexico Environmental Law Center has filed a lawsuit against the Doña Ana County Commission over a closed session that occurred at the September 19th meeting where Project Jupiter received the greenlight for the IRB.
According to court documents, the NMELC alleges that the board of commissioners broke the Open Meetings Act by entering a closed meeting without proper notice and without the needed specificity as to why they did so.
Staff Attorney for the NMELC Kacey Hovden said that this lack of transparency has been a major point of concern among county residents when it comes to Project Jupiter.
“On August 26th, that was the first time in writing that we saw anything around Project Jupiter and that gave 23 days for the public to wrap their heads around this massive project coming to their community and what it could mean for them meanwhile decision makers had months in advance,” Hovden said.
During the meeting two major ordinances were passed which included key incentives for funding Project Jupiter. NMELC says that since these decisions were made in an allegedly flawed meeting, they should be voided.
“What we are asking the court to do is to uphold the meaning of the Open Meetings Act and to void the two ordinances that were adopted that day on September 19th because they were adopted in a meeting that was held in incompliance with the Open Meetings Act,” Hovden said.
NMELC also says that they hope that any funds already distributed will be returned as a result of the lawsuit.
