Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Supreme Court reverses Montaño decision

Clara Garcia News-Bulletin Staff Writer; cgarcia@news-bulletin.com

Santa Fe Less than a week after a district court judge ruled that Salomon Montaño was not a qualified candidate to run for the State Representative District 8 seat, the New Mexico Supreme Court reversed the lower court's decision and ruled that his name will appear on the June 3 primary ballot.

District Court Judge Pro Tem Mark Macaron had disqualified Montaño, who is one of two candidates running for the Democratic nomination, as a candidate last week in a decision saying that he was not qualified because he didn't live in the district. Montaño maintained that while he does own a house outside the district in Bosque, his primary residence is in Belen, which is in the district's boundaries.

The Supreme Court reversed the decision on Monday, saying "it is preferable for the voters to decide election issues rather than the courts," said Montaño's attorney, Tibo Chavez Jr.

According to the order, all five members of the Supreme Court including Chief Justice Edward Chavez, and Justices Patricio Serna, Petra Jimenez Maes, Richard Bosson and Charles Daniels concurred with the decision to reverse the lower court's decision.

"That was my contention all along," Montaño said Tuesday. "I totally agree with their decision, and I think I could represent the district in a very good manner. I think a lot of people will be delighted that I will be running because of my experience, and I've already received many calls from people supporting me."

Montaño said that he has no animosity toward the people who challenged his residency and hopes that they'll now, after the Supreme Court's decision, realize that he's a qualified candidate and eligible to run in the district.

The Supreme Court made its ruling after hearing arguments by Chavez and Michael Doyle, who represented Tony Orr, Fermin Lopez and Frank Pando, who challenged Montaño's residency. They contended that Montaño was not a qualified candidate because he did not live at 208 Becker Avenue and actually lives at 54 Montaño Road in Bosque.

Doyle said he was disappointed with the court's ruling and still believes Montaño is not a qualified candidate. He says that this was the last step in the process, and there is no other recourse.

"There's no other appeals; there won't be another hearing," Doyle said. "This case now leaves it wide open to have houses in different districts and people can pick and choose where they want to run (for election). I really think it is now up to the legislature to define the law — it's very problematic."

Chavez said he felt that the facts at trial clearly showed that Montaño has been a resident of Dist. 8 since 2003 and that he has lived in his Becker Avenue home and that he's voted there in four elections. He says his client decided to move to Belen because it was more convenient for his appraisal business.

Montaño has been temporarily staying at his other home in Bosque while caring for his son, who is recovering from a recent surgery.

"It was wonderful to have the Supreme Court to review this process so quickly," Chavez said "The Supreme Court had reviewed all the trial testimony and exhibits before coming into the courtroom and had a lot of questions for me and for the attorney for the challenger.

"We're very excited (about the ruling)," Chavez said. "It was a lot of work in a very quick process to go from preparing for trial, through trial, preparing for appeal and presenting in a matter of a week. In my 26 years, I've never seen the process work so quickly."

The Belen attorney said he's grateful that the Supreme Court recognized that the case had to move quickly in order for the ballots to be printed.

Valencia County Clerk Sally Perea said the company that is printing the ballots had waited to print the State Representative Dist. 8 Democratic primary ballot until the Supreme Court made its ruling. She said that once the court made its decision, she gave the company the go-ahead to print the ballots.

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