Wagner mute on racial accusations
The Socorro Electric Cooperative Board of Trustees censured District 5 Trustee Charlie Wagner at its regular meeting on Wednesday, May 26, based on allegations he made racial and degrading remarks about Hispanics.
The action came after a letter dated April 27, from Paul “Pablo” Martinez, the state director for the League of United Latin American Citizens, was read into the record.
LULAC is a national civil rights group.
Addressing the letter to SEC President Paul Bustamante, Martinez wrote that he had received numerous complaints about Wagner from co-op consumers, accusing Wagner of making derogatory remarks about Hispanics. He goes on to say that he spoke to present and former trustees and viewed a racially charged e-mail Wagner had written.
“In view of these mitigating circumstances, I am completely appalled that this type of conduct and behavior is tolerated by the SEC trustees and the community of Socorro, N.M.,” Martinez wrote in the letter.
Martinez notes that the co-op receives federal funding and is therefore subject to federal regulations. He urged the board to address the issue with Wagner.
“It is imperative that you and the other trustees take immediate corrective action in this regard to minimize your potential threat of litigation and liabilities.”
Martinez wrote that he was compelled to report the matter to the authority that funds the co-op. The New Mexico Attorney General and Justo Garcia of the U.S. Justice Department are copied on the letter.
Following the reading of the letter, several trustees chastised Wagner, who led a successful SEC reform movement that dramatically changes the way the co-op is managed.
Reform measures overwhelmingly passed by member-owners at the annual meeting last month call for the board to be reduced from 11 members to five, that redistricting take place to provide for more equitable representation and limits be placed on the amount expenditures board members can incur.
In addition, three resolutions supporting transparency that Wagner supported passed by wide margins. The board took action at Wednesday’s meeting to challenge the validity of those three bylaws in court by agreeing to request injunctive relief (see story Page 1).
Milton Ulibarri made reference to the e-mail Wagner wrote to Bill Miller, a CPA with the accounting firm that prepares the co-op’s tax forms, which compares SEC meetings to those of the Klu Klux Klan. Ulibarri sarcastically suggested that Wagner, who hails from the South, might have attended a KKK meeting.
Leroy Anaya said it was time for the board to take some action against Wagner.
“We need to do something — suspend Mr. Wagner or do something,” he said.
SEC attorney Dennis Francish interjected that suspension was not an option, as per the law.
“The board cannot do anything but have a vote — a censure — which says we don’t condone him making these kinds of remarks, if true,” he advised.
Leo Cordova asked if Wagner could be placed on suspension temporarily until it could be determined if the allegations were true, but the attorney said that wasn’t an option either.
Donald Wolberg wanted to know if the allegations could put the SEC at risk. The attorney responded that there could be liability issues, should an accuser decide to file a lawsuit.
General Manager Polo Pineda added that the USDA’s Rural Utilities Service, which provides loans to rural and small communities for construction of the infrastructure, had received Martinez’s letter and was interested in how the SEC would handle the situation.
Wolberg asked the attorney if there were any other remedies to explore, and Francish offered a more drastic measure would be to file a restraining order mandating that Wagner not interact with Hispanic employees.
Jack Bruton separated himself from his fellow District 5 trustee.
“There’s two gringos sitting at this table who were raised around (Hispanics),” he said. “I assure you Mr. Wagner is not my spokesman.”
Bustamante, the SEC president, said he had warned Wagner about his loose tongue on many occasions.
“I’ve said to Mr. Wagner to refrain from these kinds of remarks,” Bustamante said. “We’ve been called ‘ignorant,’ ‘stupid,’ ‘thieves.’ I’ve asked him politely before to refrain from these remarks. It’s got to stop.”
“We can’t do anything until we give Mr. Wagner a chance to respond,” Prescilla Mouldin said.
Wolberg asked for a response, but Wagner declined to say much.
“I called an attorney friend of mine on Monday, and he told me I should let you know,,, he advised me not to respond,” Wagner said.
“I think we have to move to condemn because there’s no response,” said Wolberg, who then made the motion to censure Wagner, and it passed unanimously.
Contacted by phone on Thursday, May 27, Martinez, who is soon leaving his post as state director, said he had received at least seven complaints about Wagner. Martinez said he met with several people, including current trustees, former trustees and others in Socorro on April 23, the Friday after the bevy of new bylaws were approved at the annual meeting.
Martinez said the allegations against Wagner were not to be taken lightly.
“My concern was only that if he were making those kinds of statements, they need to cease,” he said. “When we get a complaint like that, we take that kind of stuff very seriously.”
LULAC’s state director said he contacted the Justice Department because he thought it would help to ease racial tensions that exist at the co-op. Martinez said he would support working with the Justice Department to offer Wagner race relations training, which LULAC provides free of charge.
“It might be very positive for him and everyone,” he said. “We want to bring solutions to the problem.”
New Mexico LULAC has been in the news frequently of late. Earlier this month, it protested a border security forum in Las Cruces, contending it was an anti-immigration event. On Wednesday of this week, LULAC called for a federal probe into whether a Hispanic Court of Appeals candidate is being unfairly singled out by the State Supreme Court’s disciplinary board.
In his letter to Bustamante, Martinez wrote that he was appalled by what was reported and called the remarks “reprehensible.”
“The complaints specifically allege that Mr. Wagner has referred to at least one of the Hispanic Trustee Board members as a ‘Chihuahua’ and made other racial or demeaning remarks towards Hispanic Trustees and consumers,” Martinez wrote. “On several occasions, it was reported that he has referred to Hispanic Trustee Board members as being ‘stupid.’ Evidently, Mr. Wagner perceives that those who speak only English are intellectual and that Hispanics are inferior.”
The “Chihuahua” and “stupid” allegations date back to last November when then-SEC attorney JoAnna Aguilar turned in a letter of resignation. In it, she accused Wagner of making the remarks and creating a hostile work environment. She cites Wagner as the reason for her resignation.
In December, co-op accountant Kathy Torres accused Wagner of making a sexually harassing remark during a teleconference concerning IRS 990 forms, the form used to report the amount of compensation trustees receive.
Friction between Torres and Wagner flared up again during Wednesday’s meeting. Bustamante said that Torres complained to him that Wagner was pointing his finger and staring at her while Wagner carried on a rant during a recess in the meeting. Bustamante threatened to report Wagner to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, a federal agency that enforces laws against workplace discrimination.
“I’m not going to take it anymore. A judge can decide on it,” he said.
Contact T.S. Last