The complaint

NM Tech's board of regents has been making it difficult for the public to participate in - or oversee - its activities. Local Socorro resident, Richard Epstein, wrote a letter to the board pointing out that some of its recent behavior is not in compliance with NM's Open Meetings Act, asking for the board to clarify when they might 'set things right' by changing their behavior to comply with the letter of the law.

Epstein points out three specific instances in which he believes the board is not in compliance with the law:

1. The board has been allowing members to call in via telephone, routinely, when the law states that there are only specific circumstances in which this is allowed.
2. The board has been meeting in 'executive session' and having off-the-record discussions with only vaguely worded reasons mentioned in the meeting minutes, whereas the law requires the minutes to state very specifically why private executive sessions have been entered.
3. The Open Meetings Act requires the board to publicly release - and approve at its next meeting - draft meeting minutes of all discussions/deliberations at their gatherings, to be made available for public inspection. New Mexico Tech's board of regents has not been meeting the deadlines for release of draft minutes, nor voting to approve past meeting minutes, in their sessions.

This is a general overview of Epstein's complaint. For the legal rationale behind his complaint, his full letter (adobe acrobat required) is informative.

The board of regents' response

Surprisingly, instead of agreeing to the fairly minor requests in Mr. Epstein's letter, local attorney and Tech board of regents president, Jerry Armijo, responded to Mr. Epstein with a letter saying that the board has no intention of changing its actions and that it does not believe it is doing anything improper with respect to the Open Meetings Act. NM Tech's letter can be read here (adobe acrobat required).

The Attorney General's office initiates inquiry

Based on the letter of the law, an excellent summary (adobe acrobat required) of which is provided by the Attorney General's office, it would appear that Mr. Armijo and the Tech board is on questionable legal footing. However, it will be for the Attorney General's office to decide that - and they have initiated a fact-finding inquiry due to a formal complaint that was lodged in response to Mr. Armijo's letter. While the Attorney General's inquiry is not proof of any wrongdoing, it will get the ball rolling by finding out whether Mr. Epstein's complaints do, as it would appear, have a basis in the law.

Tech's board scrambles to contain damage?

Socorro News read, with interest, the summary (note: scroll to the bottom of the article) of the most recent board of regents meeting in which NM Tech's board of regents adopted a revised resolution affirming the board's commitment to adhere to New Mexico's Open Meetings Act. Was this mere coincidence? Or was this damage control after the Attorney General's office initiated the inquiry? While not conclusive, the timing certainly suggests that it was damage control.

For further reading

For readers who want all the details (or who just enjoy reading "legalese"), the full text of New Mexico's public records laws, including the open meetings act, can be read here (adobe acrobat required).