Las Cruces city councilors have voiced their support for ending the Select Committee Ordinance after an investigation found alleged Open Meetings Act violations stemming from the rule but don't expect any changes happening at this upcoming meeting.
The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government sent a letter to the city council and staff alleging that the city’s Public Safety Select Committee violated open meetings laws.
Specifically, the letter alleges that the committee operated without city council's knowledge in the beginning, illegally acted as a policy making body, held closed door votes, and failed to provide public notice.
Christine Barber, executive director with NMFOG, said that the investigation was sparked by a call to their helpline that triggered a years-long investigation. After looking through hundreds of pages of documents and 5 years of recorded meetings she said that there was evidence of violations.
“Members of the Public Safety Select Committee discouraged the rest of the city council from talking about some pretty big public safety and law enforcement topics and literally said ‘You can't discuss this now our committee discusses it first. If we decide that it is an ok thing and we believe it to be appropriate, then you can discuss it.’ That is breaking the law,” Barber said.
There are strict guidelines around when a committee can hold meetings that are not open to the public. If a committee is acting as a fact finding body and passes recommendations to the city council, that is allowed, but Barber said that dictating what gets discussed, on top of never sending recommendations to the city council, crosses the line.
Barber also said that the list of topics that the committee had a hand in is long.
“Rewriting ordinance on domestic violence and police oversight board, drafting requests for proposals, RFP’s, for police auditing services so what auditor is going to be hired by the city. Also one for a crisis response unit, discussing tons of police policies, use of force standards, mental health exams, crisis intervention procedures, deliberated on issues related to homelessness, speed enforcement, fentanyl, gun safety, the police case closure rates and they also discussed pending litigation. All of that is well beyond what a committee should discuss,” Barber said.
The investigation done by NMFOG also calls out the Select Committee Ordinance in the city. According to Barber, the ordinance allows the mayor to create a committee and then tell the city council and does not require the public to be informed.
Concerns about transparency were even raised by city council members while this committee was in existence. In April of 2023, then Mayor Ken Miyagishima recommended the public safety committee discuss a topic and if they give it a “thumbs up” then it will go to city council. Councilor Johana Bencomo responded at the time calling for more transparency.
“What I hear is that there is a huge lack of transparency and access to information and your suggestion is to take the decision to a committee that meets privately. I feel like that only adds to the confusion about why these decisions are being made privately behind closed doors when we should be having a community wide discussion around what is best for our community,” Bencomo said in 2023.
In an interview with KRWG Public Media, Ken Miyagishima defended the committee and said they did not violate any laws and were not secret.
“At no time was a quorum of the City Council present. In fact a lot of the time it was just two city council members which two council members are allowed to meet anytime that they choose. In fact, I have to go back to the other committees, that is how they all work. As long as there is not more than a majority which is four, council can meet with whomever they choose to and as long as it is posted that is basically what took place,” Miyagishima said.
When asked about the decision-making power of the committee, Miyagishima said that no final decisions were made.
“It is my understanding that the Attorney General's Office looked at it and said there was no violation and if members of the public still wanted to discuss things, they could still bring it forward to the city council and if the majority of the city council wants to move and have a work session on it then we will have a work session on it and we did that. We had that exact scenario on the police review board,” Miyagishima said.
After the investigation was completed, many city council members at the next council meeting voiced their concern over the ordinance that makes committees like this possible. Councilor Cassie McClure suggested repealing the Select Committee Ordinance and other councilors and the mayor said that they would be in favor of doing so.
Barber said that she is happy to hear support for this idea.
“I am very heartened to see the city is going to get rid of this bad piece of legislation. That should not have ever seen the light of day,” Barber said.
The next city council meeting is on June 15th, but according to the agenda, no vote is scheduled on repealing the ordinance.
