Belen council debates its pay, adjusting judge’s salary

BELEN — Should elected officials in the Hub City be allowed to forgo their salaries and donate it back to the city if they choose?

The subject of elected officials’ compensation was discussed at a recent meeting when Mayor Robert Noblin said he was “accused” of making $65,000 a year as mayor. He doesn’t.

City ordinance dictates that the mayor of Belen earns $18,000 a year, while city councilors make $12,000. Both the mayor and council positions are part-time, although they are allowed city benefits such as health insurance.

“As an elected official, and I’m only speaking for myself, we don’t do this for the compensation,” Noblin said. “If I serve the city again, I would not take the compensation as mayor. It’s not required, and I won’t take it. If the council wants to keep it, that’s fine, or we can discuss donating it to a particular project.”

The subject wasn’t set to be voted on at that particular meeting, and could come back to the council for a final decision later.

Councilor Rudy Espinoza asked if the city has researched what other governing bodies do regarding their compensation.

“I’m not sure how it would change what other (councilors) would like,” Espinoza said. “Is there a reason?”

Noblin said it’s an important topic, saying the next item on the agenda was to discuss the municipal court judge’s salary. The city has been exploring the option of closing the municipal clerk because they say the court’s budget has been operating in the red for years.

“I just feel these positions ... I feel it should be voluntary,” Noblin said. “If you choose it’s not something that you need, by all means, elect not to take the compensation.”

“So it’s not an increase or a decrease — just an opportunity to relinquish it,” the councilor said. “I don’t have a problem with that.”

Belen City Manager Roseann Peralta said they could change the ordinance in one of two ways — when they are elected for the term or annually when they are cultivating the city’s budget.

“You can also designate it to a project — earmarked during budget time,” Peralta said.

Councilor Frank Ortega said he would be willing to donate his salary to the Veterans Memorial, but is concerned about health insurance. He questioned if a councilor was utilizing the city’s insurance, could they still use it if they donated their pay.

Peralta said they could keep a portion of the salary to pay for the benefits.

“Compensation was something that I never thought of when I was first appointed to this position,” said Councilor Tracy Armijo. “I agree if we forgo the compensation, then it goes into discretionary funds.”

The next item on the council’s agenda was discussion of the municipal court judge’s compensation, which is, according to Peralta, $45,000 a year.

Noblin said while a committee has met several time to discuss the future of municipal court, the court will not close.

“There were some ideas regarding compensation (for the judge), the use of the car in the possession of the court,” Noblin said.

The mayor also said he has instructed the police chief to cite anyone who weren’t a danger to the community to magistrate court.

“I know there was a municipal court workshop and was there any recommendations on salary or compensation or hours?” Councilor Steve Holdman asked the mayor.

“Nothing,” Noblin said. “It was just on a list of ideas to look at — ideas on ankle bracelets and an updated fee schedule.”

The idea of closing the municipal court was brought to the council last September when the New Mexico Legislature and the governor eliminated criminal fees in all courts. Noblin had brought up the idea in 2020 when he was on the council as he voiced his opinion that the court’s revenue and expenditures were affecting the city’s general fund.

The mayor said while the elimination of the $29 court fee might not seem like a lot, the $125-per-day bill on housing prisoners is taking a lot from the city’s budget.

During the recent meeting, Belen City Manager Roseann Peralta explained there is not enough revenue coming in, especially with the amount of money the city is paying to house people in the Valencia County Detention Center.

Peralta said Judge Keith Norwood holds court three times a week, “but I’m sure he puts in more hours in court.”

“Even if we were to raise the fees, they’re not (enough),” Peralta said. “There’s a lot of options to bring to the table to balance the budget.”

The city manager reminded the council the municipal court is well over $100,000 in the red just for the jail bill.

“We could have used the money for other projects,” she said. “We know it’s not supposed to be profitable, but .... it’s drawing funds away from the police and fire departments.”

Noblin says he’s of the understanding that the state has future plans for all municipal courts in the state.

“We don’t want to close the courthouse but, at some point, we’re going to have to make some hard decisions,” Noblin said.

The council discussed where to go from here, some saying they wanted more accountability from the judge regarding the budget. They also talked about changing the ordinance, regarding compensation, before candidates declare their intent to run for office on Aug. 26.

Belen City Clerk Dorothy Flores said they didn’t have time to meet all the requirements of public notice before the filing date.

While Judge Norwood wasn’t at that meeting, he did attend the following meeting on July 21. He told the council if they had any concerns about the court, they should have asked him to attend the council.

Norwood, who was speaking during the public comment portion of the meeting, said the court is operating according to the city ordinance and the law of the state of New Mexico.

“It seems to appear that some of the information that you’re asking for or that’s being perceived by the public isn’t true,” Norwood told the mayor and councilors. “One of the council members stated that, ‘I want to know who supervised the staff when I’m not there,’” the judge said. “In the organization, there is a chain of command. The alternate judge and the court administrator, if I’m not there, she’s in charge of the court. So we are operating according to policy and procedures.”

Norwood asked that if the council is going to discuss the court, that he would be invited to the conversation.