By Rodd Cayton
Bernalillo County Treasurer Tim Eichenberg is taking the county to court over question of whether he can hire his choice for deputy, or if county ordinance should forbid the choice.
Eichenberg, elected in November, has filed a lawsuit seeking to declare a county ordinance invalid, which would allow him to have the sole authority in hiring a deputy treasurer.
Former County Clerk Linda Stover was sworn in Jan. 1 as Eichenberg’s deputy. Her term as clerk ended the previous day.
Eichenberg says commissioners have impugned Stover’s integrity and attempted to bully her into quitting.
County commissioners then launched an ethics investigation, claiming a violation of the county’s code of conduct, as it includes a requirement that former elected officials wait at least a year after leaving office before they accept employment or consulting work with the county.
The investigation concluded with commissioners voting to send a complaint against Stover to the Bernalillo County Code of Conduct Review Board. The board announced Tuesday that it will meet on April 4.
Eichenberg said Tuesday an opinion from the office of New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez establishes that his ability to choose his deputy supersedes the “cooling-off period” included in the code of conduct.
However, he said, the commission’s actions have led him to try to get a judge to clarify the law in the dispute.
The board and Chair Eric Olivas are named as defendants.
The lawsuit states that Olivas, from the dais during a County Commission meeting, “instructed the Bernalillo County Manager to cease payment of Linda Stover’s salary and benefits in a transparent attempt to intimidate and harass Linda Stover into resigning her position, which would deprive Treasurer Eichenberg of his chosen deputy.“
Olivas said that statement is one of several in the filing that are “hyperbole, if not patently false.”
Olivas said that he has in the past noted that a former elected official could volunteer with the county within a year, but could not be an employee or paid consultant.
The lawsuit also says Olivas “publicly accused Linda Stover of breaking the code of conduct, and implied that her prior employment as elected county clerk made her subject to ‘bribery and corruption,’ in a transparent attempt to intimidate and harass Linda Stover into resigning her position.”
Olivas said the complaint was filed in response to a concern about a possible breach of ethics.
“I think Treasurer Eichenberg continues to flout the law and treat ethics as an option, and not a way of operating,” he told CityDesk ABQ Tuesday. “The average citizen of the county understands this is about good government and rational ethical safeguards.”
Olivas said the County Code of Conduct Review Board hearing and the court proceedings should resolve the issue.
“I respect the process,” he said. “I believe we, as the county, have a very strong case.”