EDC’s Top ten stories of 2009
As we begin a new year, El Defensor Chieftain invites our readers to take one last look back at 2009 with a review of some of the biggest stories to occur in Socorro County.
It was a year that brought stories of broad interest, from the bitter dispute between the Socorro Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees and its member-owners to the more palatable tale of a San Antonio man’s claim to fame as New Mexico’s “Green Chile Cheeseburger King.”
While some of these stories will be left in the past, others continue and are sure to be among the top stories of 2010.
Listed in no particular order, following is a review of the top 10 stories of 2009 as selected and reported by El Defensor Chieftain editorial staff.
Buckhorn Wins Burger Battle
It started as a news story that Bobby Olguin, owner of the Buckhorn Tavern in San Antonio, N.M., and his famous Buckhorn Burger — a traditional New Mexico green chile cheeseburger — would be featured on a segment for the Food Network. It turned out to be an hour-long episode of “Throwdown with Bobby Flay” and a whole lot more in the aftermath.
The Food Network brought a crew to New Mexico in June under the guise that it was filming a chile festival at the Bosque del Apache Visitors Center. But instead, Bobby Flay showed up to challenge Olguin to a green chile cheeseburger cook-off.
Although attendees were sworn to secrecy until after the episode aired, rumors were that judges had deemed the local burger better than the one cooked up by the celebrity chef from New York City.
Articles on the burger contest appeared in the Albuquerque Journal three consecutive days and Duke City television stations drove down to San Antonio to do stories on New Mexico’s Green Chile Cheeseburger King.
The Bobby Flay episode aired in July and it became official that Bobby Olguin’s burger had won, bringing heaping helpings of publicity to the Buckhorn — and New Mexico by extension. So much so that Gov. Bill Richardson declared Friday, July 24, Buckhorn Tavern Day in New Mexico. The governor even made a trip to San Antonio that day to present Olguin the proclamation and taste a Buckhorn Burger for himself, afterward he declared it “the best I ever had.”
Olguin’s victory also inspired Richardson to create a Green Chile Cheeseburger Trail, which the Department of Tourism is using to promote the uniquely New Mexican sandwich, and to hold an annual green chile cheeseburger contest at the State Fair.
The story didn’t stop there. In August, the State Fair board announced that Olguin had been bestowed the honor of serving as Grand Marshal for the State Fair parade in Albuquerque. He accepted the tribute and on Sept. 23, he rode in the back of a convertible car and waved to an adoring crowd along the parade route.
Socorro Electric Cooperative Turmoil
Carrying over from 2008, the highly charged dispute between the Socorro Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees and the co-op’s member-owners was an ongoing story in 2009.
After media reports brought to light expenses totalling more than $275,000 the board of trustees incurred in 2006, a co-op reform group formed in 2008. The reform group succeeded in getting several reform measures passed at the District 5 meeting that would bring them to a vote before the general membership at the co-op’s annual meeting. The resolutions called for reducing the number of trustees from 11 to seven, redistricting to make for more equitable representation and assurances that the board would conduct its business with more transparency by adopting the rules outlined in the Open Meetings Act.
But co-op members never got a chance to vote on the changes to the bylaws. First, the board of trustees had them removed from the annual meeting’s agenda, due to a technicality. Then, at the annual meeting in April, the resolutions were prevented from being brought up under new business through actions of the trustees.
Board President Paul Bustamante never recognized a motion to appoint someone to act as chairman at the meeting. Instead, after announcing there was a quorum, he acknowledged board Vice President Harold Baca, who made the claim that a quorum no longer existed. After a count of the members present was conducted, the meeting was brought to a halt before it started.
Many co-op member-owners were angered by the actions of the board and the hostility that grew caught the attention of the Public Regulations Commission, the state body charged with regulating rural electric cooperatives.
PRC officials came to Socorro in June to conduct a public forum. While both trustees and their supporters, and those who called for reform, had the opportunity to make their points, little was accomplished at the meeting. PRC Chairman Sandy Jones and Commissioner Jason A. Marks said the PRC had limited jurisdiction over co-ops and all they could do was urge greater dialogue between the board and the member-owners.
Reformists were able to claim victory in October, however, when three incumbents in District 3, Baca, Juan Gonzales and Herman Romero, were defeated in district elections by Donald Wolberg, Prescilla Mauldin and Luis Aguilar, respectively.
In addition, trustee Charlie Wagner, a supporter of reform measures, was reaffirmed in the District 5 election and a bevy of resolutions dealing with reform were passed and are to be brought to vote during the 2010 annual meeting.
At the board’s final meeting of 2009, SEC employee Kathy Torres accused Wagner of sexual discrimination, and alleged that he made some comments during a conference call two weeks earlier.
Meanwhile, the board of trustees hired two additional attorneys in 2009.
Paul Kennedy was hired early in the year and now represents the co-op on issues of redistricting, bylaws and policy. The year closed with the trustees hiring Dennis Francis, who previously represented the co-op.
These additions bring the SEC’s team of attorneys to three. JoAnna Aguilar, who began the year as the co-op’s only lawyer, turned in an undated letter of resignation in November. But within two weeks of submitting the letter to board president Bustamante, she was hired by the board to handle contracts, employment and regulatory issues.
More drama occurred at board of trustees meetings, when police were called to three meetings during a three-month span.
One incident involved co-op member Charlene West, a leader of the reform group who had a temporary restraining order filed against her by members of the board of trustees in 2008.
After dropping a bunch of plastic grapes, symbolizing “sour grapes,” on a table in front of trustee Gonzales before a November meeting, District Judge Matt Reynolds amended the restraining order to restrict West from attending anymore board meetings.
Although the police were not called, a bizarre incident occurred during the Dec. 9 meeting. Frustrated that he was being interrupted, trustee Gonzales walked out during the middle of the meeting and muttered the word “monkeys” to a group of co-op members as he left.
Clifford Charged with 38 Counts of Forgery
Socorro resident Phillip Clifford, 50, was initially charged with eight counts of forgery, a third-degree felony, on June 3 after law enforcement officials uncovered hundreds of bogus money orders and forged bank checks. That tally rose to 38 counts of forgery and 224 counts of conspiracy to commit forgery by the time he entered a not guilty plea on Sept. 1.
Clifford is accused of serving as a middleman in an international scam conducted by a Nigerian-based company.
The investigation also turned up $7,000 in counterfeit cash.
It was an alert UPS driver that tipped off police about the coming and going of a large volume of packages and envelopes from Clifford’s residence. Police allege that Clifford would receive packages of fradulent checks and money orders, and then distribute shipping envelopes containing two money orders, a blank check, shipping documents and instructions for depositing the funds into personal bank accounts.
Police said envelopes were sent to nearly every state in the union and potentially involves millions of dollars.
The United States Secret Service, a division of the Department of Treasury, was also involved in investigating the case.
Clifford was incarcerated in the Socorro County Detention Center on a $500,000 cash bond. His attorney, Steven Kortemeier, requested that Clifford be released during a hearing in District Court, but Judge Kevin Sweazea denied the motion, and added that the number of charges were “by far” the most he’d seen in one case.
If convicted on all charges, Clifford faces up to 450 years in prison and $1.3 million in fines.
A jury trial has been set for Feb. 1, 2010.
Alamo Navajo Coumminity Gets a Mini-mart
The opening of a convenience store may not sound like that big a deal to some, but for the people in the Alamo Navajo community it most certainly is.
Progress has come slow to Alamo, an isolated island of the Navajo Nation with a population of about 2,000 tribal members living in the far-off reaches of northwestern Socorro County.
It wasn’t until 1982 that a road connecting Alamo with U.S. 60 at Magdalena was paved. The road that is the most direct route to the “Big Rez” still has lengthy dirt sections that can be washed out by the weather. Residents routinely had to make a 60-mile round trip to Magdalena, or 120-mile jaunt to Socorro to purchase necessities like food and gas.
Although the Alamo Navajo School Board Inc. has made progress in developing services in the community, there was virtually no retail trade in Alamo — except for a jewelry manufacturer and a few other home-based businesses.
But that changed in June, when Alamo proudly opened its T’iis Tsoh Mini-Mart. With officials from the Navajo Nation on hand and local leaders out in force, a grand opening was held June 30. The entire ceremony was broadcast live on KABR, the community’s radio station that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009.
It was a long time coming. The project was 10 years in the making, beginning with a feasibility study in 2000. A $150,000 rural development grant was secured from the U.S. Deaprtment of Agriculture for design and engineering. The Navajo Nation Economic Development Department came up with $1.3 million and the Alamo Chapter donated the land.
Sandia Oil Company came onboard as the tenant, and entered into a unique agreement with the Alamo Chapter for a Bureau of Indian Affairs-approved business site lease. In all, it took more than $2 million to complete the project.
Global Structures was awarded the bid to build the facility. Work at the site began early in 2009 and the mini-mart opened for business June 18.
Alamo residents may now purchase gas, fresh fruit and vegetables, and other food products at the store or buy ready-made items from the deli.
Another amenity is the addition of post office boxes. Residents can now post and receive mail at T’iis Tsoh Mini-mart and no longer have to drive to Magdalena for that service.
T’iis Tsoh also includes a laundromat, but that part of the building won’t be open until work on the community’s sewer lagoon is completed.
The Village of Magdalena went dry for three days in March when a well pump burned out and had to be replaced.
The malfunction at the Trujillo well occurred over a weekend and it wasn’t until Monday, March 23, that residents noticed a drop in water pressure. Pretty soon, almost the whole town of approximately 1,000 people was without water.
An emergency response effort brought more than 1,300 bottles of water and 300 bottles of Gatorade, as well as a tanker truck of non-potable water, to town and officials made sure the elderly and homebound had their needs met.
The incident forced the closing of schools and several businesses around town.
A part to fix the pump had to be shipped in. Although repairs were completed the day after the problem was discovered, it took another day for the water pressure to build back up and water service wasn’t fully restored until Wednesday, March 25.
The Village had to deal with another problem in June when a waterline break was discovered beneath a newly paved parking lot at the school.
Residents again lost water pressure, but it was restored later in the day.
When it rains it pours, when it comes to water issues in Magdalena, and the Village suffered several other setbacks with efforts to resolve water issues later in the year.
Village officials made drainage issues and replacing the telemetry system at the well a priority on its capital improvement plan, but grant money earmarked to address those matters has been frozen until the state’s budget dilemma is resolved.
The Village had hoped to receive some federal stimulus money that could be put toward the projects, but that failed to come through.
In an effort to get the projects moving forward, Mayor James Wolfe and the village board of trustees scrambled to get a final application for capital improvement funds done on time to beat a Dec. 15 deadline.
H1N1 Virus Causes
Stir Throughout County
In May, swine flu swept through Socorro, which resulted in the closing of schools and city offices.
Two cases of H1N1 influenza were confirmed in Socorro teenagers on May 4, which brought the total number of confirmed cases in New Mexico up to three at that point. Socorro Consolidated Schools were ordered closed until May 10, and all athletic activities and after-school practices were suspended.
Students enjoying what they thought was a week off were taken aback when the schools were re-opened on May 7.
The City of Socorro closed Finley Gym and the Socorro Public Library, and locked the doors to City Hall, although staff were working inside. This prompted an angry letter to the editor from an irate citizen who accused city officials of turning public buildings “into private havens for the more privileged members of society” and referring to the city offices as “Fortress City Hall.”
New Mexico Tech countered the scare by limiting access to public gathering places, including the gym, swimming pool and the Fidel Center, dubbed “Fortress Fidel” by the angry letter writer. However, Tech officials made the decision not to close the university during what was the last week of classes before final exams, since no cases of swine flu had been found within the campus community.
According to a Dec. 23 update from the New Mexico Department of Health, in 2009, there were 50 deaths in New Mexico from swine flu. Only one was from Socorro, that of a 73-year-old man with chronic medical conditions. Of the 964 hospitalizations related to H1N1 influenza in 2009, only 16 were in Socorro County.
Village of Magdalena
Suffers Water Woes
The Village of Magdalena went dry for three days in March when a well pump burned out and had to be replaced.
The malfunction at the Trujillo well occurred over a weekend and it wasn’t until Monday, March 23, that residents noticed a drop in water pressure. Pretty soon, almost the whole town of approximately 1,000 people was without water.
An emergency response effort brought more than 1,300 bottles of water and 300 bottles of Gatorade, as well as a tanker truck of non-potable water, to town and officials made sure the elderly and homebound had their needs met.
The incident forced the closing of schools and several businesses around town.
A part to fix the pump had to be shipped in. Although repairs were completed the day after the problem was discovered, it took another day for the water pressure to build back up and water service wasn’t fully restored until Wednesday, March 25.
The Village had to deal with another problem in June when a waterline break was discovered beneath a newly paved parking lot at the school.
Residents again lost water pressure, but it was restored later in the day.
When it rains it pours, when it comes to water issues in Magdalena, and the Village suffered several other setbacks with efforts to resolve water issues later in the year.
Village officials made drainage issues and replacing the telemetry system at the well a priority on its capital improvement plan, but grant money earmarked to address those matters has been frozen until the state’s budget dilemma is resolved.
The Village had hoped to receive some federal stimulus money that could be put toward the projects, but that failed to come through.
In an effort to get the projects moving forward, Mayor James Wolfe and the village board of trustees scrambled to get a final application for capital improvement funds done on time to beat a Dec. 15 deadline.
Shaddock Accused of Molesting Alamo Student
Former Alamo school behavior specialist, Mark Shaddock, 44, of Magdalena, was arrested and charged July 29 with molesting a 15-year-old Alamo Navajo Community School student.
During a Sept. 3 arraignment hearing, Shaddock pleaded not guilty to 13 felony charges, ranging from kidnapping to criminal sexual penetration of a minor. New Mexico State Police say these acts occurred during a five-day period in late June 2009.
During an Aug. 12 preliminary hearing in Magistrate Court, the alleged victim said she yelled and screamed to stop Shaddock’s advances, but “there was no one to hear.”
New Mexico State Police Officer Greg Valentino also testified during the preliminary hearing that Shaddock had told him that he and his accuser were at her house alone on three occasions. Shaddock allegedly told Valentino that any physical contact had been initiated by the girl.
Seventh Judicial Deputy District Attorney Stacey A. Ward said during the hearing, “This man abused the fact that he was a school counselor. She trusted him to a great degree and he abused that trust … This was a terrified young child.”
Earlier in the year, students from the Alamo school accused Shaddock of acting inappropriately with the alleged victim during an April 30 to May 1 field trip to the University of New Mexico.
The students claimed that Shaddock and the 15-year-old student were holding hands on the bus, and that they disappeared for several hours during the trip.
An investigation was conducted by the school board concerning the field trip allegations, but Alamo Navajo School Board Executive Director Michael Hawkes said that interviews with Shaddock and the alleged victim did not substantiate the accusations.
The parents of the alleged victim sent a letter to the El Defensor Chieftain, published May 20, which also refuted the claims.
In the letter, the father of the girl said, “It’s a false allegation.”
However, other incidences led the father of the girl to become suspicious of Shaddock, and he filed a complaint with the Magdalena Marshal’s Office on July 21. This prompted an investigation by New Mexico State Police, which led to the pending charges.
Shaddock is facing three counts of kidnapping (second-degree felonies), three counts of criminal sexual penetration of a minor (second-degree felonies), two counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor (second-degree felonies), four counts of child abuse (third-degree felonies) and one count of aggravated stalking (fourth-degree felony).
If convicted on all counts, Shaddock could face up to 115 years in prison and more than $100,000 in fines.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Feb. 8, 2010, in Socorro District Court.
City of Socorro Addresses Landfill Issues
Plans for the construction of a new landfill have suffered strategic setbacks over the last few years from problems in the permitting process.
In 2009, city officials were faced with two possibilities: the first was that the New Mexico Environment Department might require the city to shut down the existing landfill due to a long history of violations and compliance issues; and the second was that the city would be unable to obtain a permit to build a new one. Without a legal landfill in Socorro, trash would have to be hauled out of the county at a considerable expense.
Efforts to appeal the NMED’s 2008 decision to deny a permit for a new landfill were settled in August. The city agreed to drop the appeal and submit a substitute application, and the NMED agreed to an expedited review of the new application when received. The NMED also agreed to allow the city to keep using the existing landfill until full or until a new permit was issued.
Marvin Magee, owner of Magee & Associates in Mesilla Park was hired as the city’s landfill consultant. In addition to preparing the substitute permit application,
Magee will also be submitting an affirmative action plan designed to identify past deficiencies in the landfill’s operation, and spell out corrective actions and preventive measures for the future.
“We’re looking at about mid-January to submit the affirmative action plan, and the middle to end of February to submit the substitute permit application,” said Magee. After reviewing the new application, the NMED will likely submit one or more requests for additional information, after which there will be a public hearing.
“Three things can happen at that point,” said Magee. “They can issue a permit, they can issue a permit with conditions, or they can deny the permit.
I’m fairly confident they’ll issue a five year conditional permit that can be extended for an additional 15 years providing there are no significant violations.”
County Wrangles Over Writ
A 10-month legal battle between Socorro County Treasurer Genevie Baca and county commissioners was settled June 23, after commissioners voted unanimously to accept a settlement related to an August 2008 writ of mandamus.
The writ was based on Baca’s claims that outdated computer software and hardware prevented the Treasurer’s Office from collecting taxes properly.
Judge Edmund “Ted” Kase III issued an order that required the county to upgrade computer software for the Treasurer’s Office, provide maintenance fees for the software and pay for legal counsel involved with the writ.
The commission initially voted to appeal the writ through the New Mexico Court of Appeals.
On Feb. 11, commission chairwoman Rosie Tripp said, “I’d like to see the appeal go on through because I feel like if we lose, it will be setting a precedent.
“I don’t think it is right that an elected county official should be able to sue us because he or she either doesn’t have the funds or doesn’t allow for the funds during the budget process.
“It would be like the sheriff coming to us, requesting a helicopter and then suing us because we don’t buy it.
“What authority then, does a county commission have over the county’s budget?”
“It’s a crying shame,” Baca said, “that I had to go to court and it’s also a shame that the commissioners feel they have to continue the appeal. If I didn’t do what I did, we would have no data with no chance to recover any of it.”
The settlement stated, ” … This joint release will be the last and final word on this matter from the County, the Treasurer, and the County’s and Treasurer’s employees and agents, with no additional comments to be made to the media …”
Details of the settlement were not made public.
Disappearance of Lilly Lopez
Lilly Lopez, 33, who was last seen April 15 and reported missing four days later by her boyfriend, Michael Quintana, is still listed as missing.
The Polvadera resident was last seen by Quintana when he headed to town with a friend after drinking on the night of April 15.
Quintana said the couple had been fighting and he thought Lopez had left for Albuquerque to be with friends and family.
However, an April 19 call from Lopez’ daughter revealed that Lopez was not in Albuquerque. Quintana called authorities and a search began along ditches near the couple’s home in Polvadera.
One of Lopez’ shoes was found on a ditch bank, which expanded the search among the network of irrigation channels between Polvadera and Socorro, and elsewhere.
“We’re still actively pursuing this case and tracking down every lead and tip we get,” Deputy Eddie Padilla said on June 16. “We’re trying to exhaust every possible avenue.”
Deputy Joe Tafoya — who, along with Padilla, heads the missing persons investigation — said investigators have combed hundreds of miles in their search.
“We’ve gone around and searched almost every stretch of the county,” Tafoya said. “I’ve made countless passes through the bosque and gone as far as San Lorenzo Canyon just hoping to come across something that will help us.”
Socorro County deputies continued to search for Lopez for months. Irrigation ditches were drained, several people were interviewed and numerous tips were investigated, but her disappearance remains a mystery.