Estancia Stonewalls Records Request for 74 Days, Faces AG Complaint

ESTANCIA - On Friday, April 24, 2026, the Mountainair Dispatch filed a formal complaint with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office alleging that the Town of Estancia had unlawfully withheld public records sought pursuant to an Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request for more than two months. This public records request pertained to the alleged basis for termination of Wolonsky, who the town has since rehired as Fire Chief.

The complaint, assigned reference number NMDOJ-ECS-20260424-8af6, alleges that the Town of Estancia constructively denied a nine-category public records request submitted February 9, 2026, under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act, NMSA 1978, Sections 14-2-1 through 14-2-12. Over 74 days, the town produced no substantive responsive records, granted itself three extensions without adequate statutory basis, and provided written communications that the Dispatch contends reflect a deliberate minimization of its legal obligations under state law.

The complaint is the latest in a series of formal actions taken by members of the public against the town over transparency-related issues. Town Clerk Veronica Navarrette has already admitted to at least one of these legal violations on the record.

The Records Request

Wolonsky informed the Mountainair Dispatch of his termination on February 9, 2026. That same day, the Mountainair Dispatch submitted a written IPRA request to town administrative employee Laura Acosta seeking:

• Records pertaining to the termination of Wolonsky and his employee performance and human resources files;
• records related to violations of New Mexico and US Department of Transportation regulations alleged against the town in 2025 and 2026;
• current employee, telephone, and email rosters;
• email correspondence, SMS messages, and telephone records for Mayor Runnel Riley only as related to his duties as mayor, including telephone and text message records associated with the town-owned cell phone provided to Riley, number 505-705-0044; and,
• emails sent or received by former Town Clerk Amanda Gallegos, who had alleged ties to an entity doing business with the Town of Estancia, on her official town email account during the one week she was employed by the town.

An anonymous source with direct knowledge of the matter told the Mountainair Dispatch that Mayor Riley cited Department of Transportation violations as one basis for Wolonsky's termination. That claim was never made on the record by town officials, and no records confirming or refuting it have been produced. That source has been given anonymous status due to substantiated concerns regarding retaliation by elected officials of the Town of Estancia.

Acosta acknowledged receipt of the request on February 10, 2026, and indicated the town would respond within 15 calendar days, by February 24, 2026, the statutory deadline under NMSA 1978, Section 14-2-8.

Three Extensions, Zero Records

The town did not meet its own stated deadline. What followed over the next two months was a series of delays that the Dispatch contends constitute constructive denial of the town's obligations to produce public records under NMSA § 14-2-11 (1978).

• On February 23, 2026, Acosta cited "volume and scope" and requested an extension to March 12, 2026. No records were produced.
• On March 10, 2026 - two days before that extended deadline - Acosta delayed again, citing "volume" and being "out of the office." She set a new deadline of April 16, 2026. No records were produced.
• On April 13, 2026, more than 60 days after the original request, Acosta issued a third extension, this time citing "coordinating with counsel," a justification that had not appeared in any previous communication. No records were produced.
• On April 15, 2026, the Dispatch sent a formal written communication memorializing the timeline, stating that constructive denial of the town's obligations under IPRA had occurred, and proposing a good-faith resolution: a rolling production schedule under which two non-complex administrative categories of documents would be produced: current employee and telephone rosters and Gallegos's emails. The Dispatch offered to wait until close of business on April 17, 2026 for the start of production of documents and for Estancia to reach out regarding its rolling production of documents to the Dispatch.

What the Town Produced

The town's response to that offer arrived the following day and fell short of what was requested in nearly every respect.

On April 16, 2026, Acosta provided two documents: a 2018 list of town office telephone numbers and a 2022 contact list for the former mayor and administrative employees. No current rosters were provided. Instead of communicating a production schedule with the Dispatch, the town clerk sent an email dismissing the requests for records.

Town employees had confirmed to the Dispatch that current rosters exist for multiple town departments, including a fire department roster - a document of obvious relevance given the circumstances of Wolonsky's termination and the fire department failures documented at the April 21, 2026, meeting of the town's Board of Trustees.

In the same communication, Acosta admitted that access to Gallegos's email records was "not currently available" because she had submitted a request to obtain that access only after receiving the Dispatch's April 15, 2026, communication, 66 days after the original February 9, 2026 request was filed. It is unknown if the Town of Estancia has destroyed these records.

That same day, April 16, 2026, newly appointed Town Clerk Veronica Navarrette sent a separate written communication to the Dispatch. After sarcastically commending the Dispatch for its "broad knowledge of statues [sic]," (it is believed Navarrette meant "statutes"), Navarrette stated that records would be produced only "as time permits." She also noted, in response to an unrelated IPRA request regarding the town's financial audits, that the town lacks policies and procedures to address audits by the New Mexico State Auditor, that the town provides no policies and procedures to incoming town clerks, and that she considered a request for documents sent to the town by Office of the State Auditor of New Mexico, the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration, the US Internal Revenue Service, and the US Department of Justice (to include US Attorney’s Offices) regarding town finances, policies, and procedures for only two years to be overly-burdensome.

As of the filing of the AG complaint on April 24, 2026, Estancia has provided no records responsive to the February 9, 2026 IPRA request.

A Pattern of Transparency Failures

The IPRA complaint does not stand alone. It is part of a documented pattern of open government failures by the Town of Estancia that spans multiple state laws and multiple incidents.

On March 30, 2026, Mayor Riley and multiple trustees gathered without public notice in a meeting in which they swore in Navarrette as town clerk, thereby creating a quorum. It is unknown what other matters were discussed at this meeting, if any. Under the Open Meetings Act (OMA) and Estancia's own municipal code, the town is required to publish notice of the potential for a quorum and an agenda for the event. No agenda was published. No notice of any kind was provided to the public. A photograph of the event was later posted to the town's social media accounts, leading to the Dispatch and other members of the public realizing that the OMA violation had occurred.

The Dispatch filed an Open Meetings Act (OMA) complaint with the New Mexico Office of the Attorney General the following day, March 31, 2026. Other members of the public who learned of the incident confirmed with the Dispatch that they had also filed complaints regarding the OMA violation. These complaints documented the unnoticed quorum and alleged that Mayor Riley had prohibited members of the public from outside Estancia from participating in public comment at town meetings, a restriction that multiple speakers challenged directly at the April 20 regular meeting.

Six days after the Dispatch filed that complaint, Navarrette acknowledged the March 30, 2026 OMA violation on the record at the April 6, 2026 Board of Trustees meeting.

"There was a person who showed up that was not on the agenda to participate, and it created a quorum," Navarrette said, obliquely referencing a member of the board of trustees. "So we violated that. So I do have to self-report to the Attorney General... we violated, and I knew it, and a couple of us mentioned it, but none of us stopped it from happening."

As of the publication of this article, there is no evidence that Navarrette communicated with the Attorney General's office as she claimed she would on April 6, 2026. The town has not published Board of Trustees meeting minutes since November 17, 2025, although the Trustees have approved minutes, meaning that Navarrette's admission during the April 6, 2026 meeting is not available for public review. (The Mountainair Dispatch has recorded and transcribed these meetings.) The Mountainair Dispatch has requested from Mayor Runnel Riley and Town Clerk Veronica Navarrette proof that the matter was referred to the Attorney General's office by the town, but no such proof has been provided.

Why the Records Matter

The records the Dispatch sought in February remain unreleased. Their significance has only grown since the request was filed.

Wolonsky was terminated on February 9, 2026. A source told the Dispatch that DOT violations were cited as a justification. No documentation of those violations has been produced. Lester Gary was installed as acting fire chief in Wolonsky's place. Estancia spent time, taxpayer money, and labor hours preparing for litigation with Wolonsky over his termination, and hired an employment investigator to investigate Wolonsky's termination.

On April 18, 2026, a structure fire on New Mexico Highway 41 exposed serious operational failures in the Estancia Fire Department under Gary's command, including failures in scene control, equipment operation, and violations of federal incident command structure regulations issued by FEMA. On April 21, 2026, the board fired Gary from the fire department entirely, not merely from the interim role, and reinstated Wolonsky. No on-the-record explanation was provided for Wolonsky's termination.

The records the Dispatch requested in February would establish whether the DOT violations cited as justification for Wolonsky's termination (and as justification of the cost of preparing for litigation and an employee investigation) actually exist in a matter in which deception by the town's mayor has already been documented, what Wolonsky's personnel record contains, what communications Mayor Riley sent or received in connection with the termination and his selection of Lester Gary as acting fire chief, and what Gallegos, during her week as town clerk, sent to entities doing business with the town.

Those questions remain unanswered.

Statutory Background

Under NMSA § 14-2-8, a custodian receiving a written IPRA request must permit inspection within 15 calendar days. If inspection is not permitted within three business days, the custodian must provide a written explanation of when records will be available.

Under NMSA § 14-2-11, a failure to permit inspection within the statutory period constitutes a denial. A requester may seek enforcement through the AG's office, and a court may award injunctive relief, statutory damages of up to $100 per day of non-compliance, actual damages, and attorney's fees and costs.

The Town of Estancia was contacted for comment prior to publication. Neither Mayor Riley nor Town Clerk Navarrette responded.

Update: The Town of Estancia Board of Trustees has scheduled a special meeting for Monday, April 27, 2026, at 6:15 PM (Sunday, April 26, 2026 at 13:44 MDT).