Bosque Farms council meeting cleared after objections

BOSQUE FARMS — For the second time in less than a week, a Bosque Farms Village Council meeting became highly contentious, this time causing the mayor to clear the room of attendees.

At a special meeting Monday evening, the discussion of whether the mayor’s seat should be on the November ballot generated enough outcry from the more than two dozen residents in attendance that Mayor Chris Gillespie eventually ordered them to leave the meeting.

The election proclamation for the upcoming local election was one of numerous action items left in the lurch after last week’s regular meeting was canceled shortly after it was called to order.

Bosque Farms Village Councilor Erica De Smet alleged Gillespie and Councilors Ronita Wood and Tim Baughman had participated in what’s known as a “rolling quorum,” in violation of the state Open Meetings Act, to remove an action item from the agenda for the Thursday, June, 26, meeting.

As a cautionary step, the council voted 2-0 to end the meeting, moving time-sensitive action items to a special meeting held June 30. De Smet filed an OMA complaint with the New Mexico Department of Justice, the agency which handles such complaints, on June 25.

At the June 30 meeting, village Deputy Clerk Shaline Lopez presented the proposed election proclamation for the November 2025 Local Election to the council. Local governing bodies are required to submit an election proclamation to the Valencia County clerk, spelling out what positions need to be on the upcoming ballot.

Lopez said this year’s proclamation was for two at-large council positions — Councilors Michael Cheromiah and Tim Baughman.

De Smet said she would like the council to include the mayor’s position on the proclamation in order to put it on the November ballot, since Gillespie was appointed to the position and not elected.

“There is a new state law and in this scenario if a mayor vacates the position, it goes on the ballot,” De Smet said. “My suggestion would be to give the vote back to the people.”

Gillespie was appointed as mayor by the council in April 2024 after Mayor Wayne Ake stepped down due to health concerns. Ake was elected as mayor in November 2023.

When Gillespie was appointed, state statute specified mayors appointed to vacancies would serve until the end of the term, which in this case would be until the end of 2027.

During this year’s legislative session, the law was amended as part of House Bill 298 to only let appointed mayors serve until the next local election, as is the case for the majority of other vacancy appointments to governing bodies. The next local election is in November.

“When people voted in Mayor Ake, it was left to the people. Mayor Gillespie was placed by a majority vote of the council, and that’s fine,” De Smet said. “I would like my fellow councilors to put the position on the ballot.”

Gillespie was appointed to the council on a 2-0 vote by Baughman and Wood. Cheromiah recused himself from the vote because he was interested in filling the position and De Smet did not cast a vote.

Gillespie said he was going to ignore De Smet’s statement, saying her suggestion was not part of the resolution for the proclamation and not on the agenda.

“... and remind you, I own this agenda. I’m asking for the resolution to go to the county as stated,” Gillespie said. “There’s no discussion and no reason to change anything on the resolution.”

De Smet pointed out the agenda item was to “review and take action” on the resolution, so changes could be made, to which Gillespie insisted they could not.

Audience members began objecting, asking why the mayor was voting on something he had a conflict of interest in, to which Gillespie responded he wasn’t voting on the resolution unless there was a tie. He told the people at the meeting comments weren’t being allowed and if they didn’t stop he would clear the room.

De Smet said the council should let the people decide, which was met with applause and cries of support. At that point, the mayor asked Police Chief Andrew Owen to clear the room of spectators.

Objections of “this is our village” and “you don’t own this room” were heard as the room emptied.

The councilor continued, insisting the resolution could be amended by the council. Lopez said a resolution can be amended, “but I’m not sure if it’s legal to amend this one in this way. Are you saying you can amend this to put any position on the ballot?”

De Smet said the council can put the mayor’s position on the ballot.

Village attorney Mark Jarmie weighed in, saying the question he had to look at was whether the new law applied retroactively, and after reviewing other state statutes, the New Mexico Constitution, case law and consulting with the general counsel for the New Mexico Municipal League, “my interpretation is that it should not be applied retroactively.”

The resolution for the election proclamation with the two council positions was approved on a 3-1 vote, with Wood, Cheromiah and Baughman voting in favor and De Smet against.