County Commission Faces Wage Theft Claims and Concerns Regarding ICE Facility, But Avoids Decision on Firefighter Pensions

The December 13, 2023, regular meeting of the Torrance County Commissioners addressed the costs of the 2023 elections, the retirement of DWI Prevention Coordinator Tracey Master, firefighter pensions, road conditions in the mountainous regions of Torrance County, and the Torrance County Detention Facility Contract before moving on to other ancillary matters. Following the meeting, the Commission went into executive session to address litigation related to former County Clerk Yvonne Otero.

Election Costs

County Clerk Linda Jaramillo advised the county commissioners that the total cost for the 2023 elections was $49,420. Jaramillo told the commissioners that the New Mexico Secretary of State's office would reimburse the county for that amount, with $40,000 already allocated to the county.

DWI Prevention Coordinator Claims Wage Theft Against the County in Retirement Statement

Tracey Master spoke during the public comment period about her time in county government as the DWI Prevention Coordinator for the county. Master began her statement by addressing those who had spread gossip regarding Master's health matters, which she made clear were not public business. Master also said that she learned that her annual leave had been miscalculated for the last 18 years and that Torrance County had not compensated her for the 214.45 hours of vacation leave promised to her. Master said she asked if she would be compensated now that an audit had uncovered the error, and was told that she would not because those hours did not carry over into her final year with the county. "This is unacceptable," Master asserted, "and it is nothing less than theft. I encourage every single Torrance county employee to demand an audit of their annual leave because if it can happen to me, it can happen to you."

Shifting gears, Master talked about the impact of the help the Torrance County DWI Prevention Program received. She said the support she received from Torrance County staff, community members, colleagues, agency partners, and business owners was why the DWI Prevention Program was successful, and Master thanked them for their help.

Commissioners Fail to Take Action on Firefighter Pensions

After the public comment portion of the meeting, the county commissioners returned to the matter of firefighters when they addressed whether the Torrance County Fire Department would be able to utilize a Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico (PERA) retirement benefit plan that would essentially allow for firefighters to retire earlier than they would if they remained on the retirement benefits plan utilized by Torrance County's administrative and office staff. County Administrator Janice Barela went over the firefighter retirement benefits plan proposed for the fire department, eventually joined by County Commissioner Sam Schropp, who said that going to a new PERA plan for firefighters would be an attractive incentive for getting qualified candidates for the Torrance County Fire Department. Barela noted that the county matched from 11.65% up to 20.20% of employee contributions to the current retirement plan. Two of the proposed plans would increase employer contributions to 22.9%. Barela said that the total increased cost for the county if it switched firefighters to the proposed PERA plan would be $62,773.97 across 14 firefighters. Schropp added, "... we can advertise that as part of the compensation package as we are making offers to people. So while that's a hit for the county, in the long run, it's going to make us more attractive in - in getting qualified candidates."

Commissioner Ryan Schwebach responded to the proposed retirement plan by expressing concern that a new fire plan could allow firefighters to retire at 25 years instead of after 30 years of employment. County administrator Barela stressed that the county commission needed to finalize the decision-making process before a PERA deadline on March 4, 2023. As the firefighters would need to vote on the new pension plan, Barela explained, they would need to get the process done thirty days before that PERA deadline.

Upon hearing that there was a deadline for their decision, Commissioner Kevin McCall stopped the discussion of the new pension plans, saying, "I will speak up and say I do not feel comfortable today voting on this as what you stated it's... I can't reverse it after it's been passed. ... So maybe I need to be educated a little more. And it's... that's all I'm saying is I don't understand it well enough today to vote for this comfortably."

Commissioner Schropp attempted to counter McCall's attempts to defer the decision-making process, citing that the financial data underpinning the proposed change to the firefighters' pension was made available to the commissioners before the meeting.

Commissioner Schwebach decided to table the matter. Schwebach was interested in discussing a "history of the wall around the fairground and the arena" in Estancia. The county commission devoted roughly the same amount of time - 20 minutes - to the history of the wall around the county fairground as it did for the firefighter pension issue.

Commissioners Address Road Conditions in Mountain Communities

Commissioner Schropp raised an issue before the committee regarding road conditions in the vicinity of the land grant communities, and how it was leading to school closures for the Estancia Municipal School District. Schropp asked Estancia Superintendent Cindy Sims to speak on the matter. Eventually, County Road Superintendent Leonard Lujan and Estancia School Superintendent Sims agreed that Lujan or a member of his staff would look at the land grant community road conditions with either Sims or a member of the school district's transportation coordination staff to determine what road repairs were needed.

Commissioners Reject Non-Profit's Claims Regarding ICE Facility

Schropp next discussed the Torrance County Detention Facility and communication Schropp had received from Innovation Law Lab representative Ian Philabaum, the non-profit's Director of "Anticarceral" (anti-prison) Legal Organizing. Schropp said, "I read the email authored by Ian Philabaum and then the included reports cited in the email, and to me they read like the fundraising letters I get from the ACLU, SPLC, and various other groups seeking funding."

Schropp noted that the non-profit's claims regarding the Torrance County Detention Facility not having enough personnel staffing each shift was checked and considered false. Schropp's statement comes shortly after the ACLU of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) sued the operator of the Torrance County Detention Facility based on claims that prisoners were exposed to a sewage leak in the facility. Schropp stated, "The Torrance County Board of Commissioners will make the decision on whether or not to renew the contract with [the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency and CoreCivic] based on credible personal accounts and objective reports." Commissioner Schwebach and Commissioner McCall joined Schropp in this statement.