Estancia trustees to vote on no-confidence resolution against absentee mayor
The board will also convene in closed session on Riley's status and vote on a new general counsel contract - moves that together point to litigation between the absentee mayor and the town.
ESTANCIA - The Estancia Board of Trustees will hold a public hearing on Tuesday, June 30, 2026, intended to address the status of Mayor Runnel Riley. Immediately following the hearing, the board is expected to vote on a resolution declaring Riley has abandoned his position and expressing a vote of no confidence in him.
Mayor Riley notified the Town of Estancia via email of his intention to take a leave of absence sometime before May 6, 2026. Town of Estancia Clerk Veronica Navarrette refused to provide this email to the Mountainair Dispatch in response to the publication's Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) request.
New Mexico House Representative Stefani Lord, speaking by phone at the board's emergency water meeting last Thursday, publicly called for Riley to resign, saying he had not reached out to her or fulfilled his duties during an active municipal water crisis. The Mountainair Dispatch has previously reported on Riley's absence and his declared intention to sue the Town of Estancia.
The public meeting
A public meeting specifically on Riley's mayoral status will be held from 5:45 to 6:15 PM on Tuesday. Public comment will be welcome during that window, according to statements from the Board of Trustees at the June 25, 2026, special meeting regarding the town's unrelated water emergency. Written comments may also be submitted to Town Clerk/Treasurer Veronica Navarrette at vnavarrette@estancianm.gov, dropped off at Town Hall at 513 Williams Avenue, Estancia, or mailed to Town of Estancia, PO Box 166, Estancia, NM 87016.
The public meeting notice, signed by Navarrette and dated June 23, 2026 - two days before Thursday's water emergency meeting - confirms that the Riley removal process was formally in motion before the water crisis peaked publicly, and likely was to be addressed at the June 25, 2026, special meeting until the water crisis in the town preempted the matter. The two situations have been developing on parallel tracks.
The resolution
The special board meeting begins at 6:15 PM. On the agenda is Resolution 2026-021, which addresses two distinct but related actions: (1) a finding that Riley has abandoned his position and (2) a formal vote of no confidence by the governing body.
Under New Mexico municipal law, abandonment of office is not a procedural formality. A governing body's finding of abandonment can constitute the legal basis for declaring a vacancy — a step with direct consequences for how the seat is filled and how mayoral authority is exercised in the interim. A vote of no confidence is the political complement to that legal finding: it does not itself remove an official, but it establishes the board's posture unambiguously for the public record and for any subsequent legal proceeding. Under NMSA § 3-11-3 (2025), a municipal office becomes vacant upon abandonment. A no-confidence vote carries no independent legal force under New Mexico statute but establishes the governing body's position for the public record and any subsequent legal proceeding.
The resolution's numbering is significant. It was assigned as Resolution 2026-021, before the water emergency declaration, Resolution 2026-022, which the board adopted on Thursday, June 25, 2026. The Riley action was being drafted while the water crisis was already developing. The two situations are not separate: Riley's absence during an active municipal emergency is part of the factual record the board is citing.
The board first convened in executive session on these matters at a special meeting on June 18, 2026, invoking two statutory exemptions - personnel matters under NMSA § 10-15-1(H)(2) (2025) and threatened or pending litigation under NMSA § 10-15-1(H)(7) (2025) - that appear again on Tuesday's agenda.
General counsel
The board will vote Tuesday on a contract with Stelzner, Winter, Warburton, Flores & Dawes, P.A., an Albuquerque municipal law firm, for general counsel services. The Estancia Board of Trustees does not currently have municipal counsel. In past legal matters, the board has sought legal advice from the New Mexico Municipal League, including when it considered accepting an anonymous donation of 134,000 gallons of water for Estancia's municipal pool, a decision that implicated the New Mexico Government Conduct Act's anti-bribery provisions.
Water emergency remains critical
Tuesday's agenda notes that the water conservation advisory issued following the board's June 25, 2026, resolution declaring an emergency remains in effect, restricting non-essential water use.
The board declared a local water emergency on Thursday, June 25, 2026, after confirming that the town's storage tanks held approximately 79,398 gallons — roughly 9 percent of the system's 871,000-gallon capacity and approximately 31 percent of the minimum reserve established by the town's own engineering assessment. Records obtained by the Mountainair Dispatch the morning after the meeting show the situation is significantly worse than the figures presented Thursday suggested. The Dispatch's full coverage of Thursday's emergency meeting details the board's actions and the corrected consumption data.
What to expect
Tuesday's sequence matters for residents who want to participate. The public meeting from 5:45 to 6:15 PM is the window for public comment on the Riley matter. The special board meeting at 6:15 PM is where the votes will be taken. Residents who arrive only for the 6:15 PM session will have missed the public comment period.
The executive session - closed to the public and press - will almost certainly focus on the town's legal strategy for addressing Riley. What the board says publicly after returning from closed session - if anything - and how individual trustees vote on Resolution 2026-021, are two things worth watching closely.
Both sessions are accessible via Zoom at meeting ID 886 7848 8616, passcode 247412.