By Rodd Cayton
An ethics issue that has been working its way through Bernalillo County government could come to a conclusion as soon as Tuesday morning.
The county’s Code of Conduct Review Board will meet at 9 a.m. to discuss an allegation by county commissioners that Linda Stover violated the code by accepting an appointment as deputy to county treasurer Tim Eichenberg the day after her term as county clerk ended.
A county ordinance bars former elected officials from accepting employment or paid consulting work with the county for at least a year after leaving office. Commissioners in December voted to keep the one-year “cooling-off period” in place, citing potential conflicts of interest and a wish to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
Commissioners referred the matter to the ethics board after Eichenberg hired Stover. The commission conducted multiple closed sessions to discuss its options in the matter, prompting the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government (FOG) to file a complaint with the state attorney general’s office.
FOG alleged the County Commission violated the state Open Meetings Act (OMA) by not being specific enough in advertising discussion of the ethics issue on its agendas.
The New Mexico Department of Justice investigated the matter and determined commissioners did properly agendize their discussions of the issue.
Amanda Lavin, the foundation’s legal director, later told City Desk ABQ FOG maintains the county violated OMA by listing on the agenda “discussion of a section of the county code, when the true reason for going into a closed meeting is to discuss threatened litigation.”
Eichenberg, elected treasurer in November, told CityDesk ABQ state law gives him exclusive domain over the hiring of his deputy. He later filed a lawsuit seeking to have the relevant county ordinance declared invalid.