By Kevin Hendricks, The Paper.
David Mann is Rio Rancho’s newest District 4 councilor. The Governing Body voted 4-2 Thursday to confirm Mayor Paul Wymer’s pick, closing out a monthlong process that turned into a pointed debate over whether Mann’s day job — general counsel for Rio Rancho Public Schools — creates conflicts with a council seat.
Councilors approved the appointment during the July 23 meeting, and Mann was sworn in immediately afterward. “I’m grateful for the trust that was placed in me by Mayor Wymer for nominating me,” Mann said after taking the oath. He also pledged to make himself available to District 4 residents who didn’t get a vote in the process: “Please reach out and connect.”
Councilors Bob Tyler and Jeremy Lenentine cast the two dissenting votes, both citing Mann’s role as RRPS’s lead attorney as too entangled with city business to manage cleanly. Tyler argued the position — not a coaching gig or a classroom job, but the district’s top legal counsel — would force recusals more often than council could tolerate. Lenentine and Tyler also pointed to Mann’s own paper trail: an email withdrawing from consideration over the conflict, followed by a later request to rejoin the process, calling the reversal a red flag for a city council seat.
Tyler’s own ties to the district added a layer to the exchange — he coaches baseball at Cleveland High School — though he drew a distinction between a coaching role and Mann’s position as RRPS’s general counsel.
Councilors backing the nomination, including Nicole List who works as a social worker with RRPS, countered that conflicts are rare in practice — several said they’d personally recused themselves only once or twice in years of service — and argued Mann’s willingness to flag the issue upfront showed good judgment, not disqualifying baggage. List said she didn’t see Mann’s situation as different from what any governing body member navigates when outside employment overlaps with city business. Supporters also compared Mann’s brief withdrawal-and-return to a job candidate reconsidering an offer, calling it unremarkable.
Mann fills the seat Wymer vacated May 1 when he became mayor. The city charter gave Wymer 60 days to name a replacement, and the Governing Body’s confirmation came just ahead of that deadline. Mann will serve through the 2028 municipal election, when Wymer’s original council term would have ended. He’s lived in District 4 for more than 12 years with his wife and four sons, and previously worked as deputy county attorney for Sandoval County.
Connect with your councilor
David Mann, dmann@rrnm.gov