New judge assigned in co-op lawsuit
Another judge has been recused from the Socorro Electric Cooperative’s lawsuit against its member-owners, and a hearing set for Tuesday, Aug. 10, will have to be rescheduled.
On Tuesday, Aug. 3, Socorro attorney Lee Deschamps filed paperwork on behalf of Charlie Wagner of Magdalena to recuse 13th Judicial District Court Judge William A. Sanchez.
It’s the second time in less than a week Deschamps had a judge recused on the case on behalf of a client.
Representing Charlene West, one of the few named individually as a defendant in the case, Deschamps had Judge John W. Pope recused on July 30.
The case has now been assigned to Judge George P. Eichwald in Sandoval County.
The hearing originally set for next Tuesday has not been rescheduled. That hearing involved a motion to have the case moved to the 7th Judicial District Court in Socorro, filed by Socorro attorneys Polly Ann Tausch and Thomas Fitch, who were acting on their own behalf as member-owners of the co-op.
It’s convoluted case that essentially has the rural electric cooperative suing the people who own it. Defendants in the case are “all unnamed member-owners of the Socorro Electric Cooperative,” which include approximately 13,000 individuals, businesses and public and private entities.
Wagner is a member of the co-op’s board of trustees, which voted to file a lawsuit asking for a declaratory judgment and injunctive relief from three bylaws adopted by member-owners at the co-op’s annual meeting in April. Although Wagner is a member of the board of trustees, he has been an advocate for transparency and his answer to the lawsuit was done in his capacity as a member-owner.
All three bylaws being challenged address transparency of governance. They call for the board of trustees to abide by the Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act, allow for member-owners and the press to attend monthly board meetings and permit them limited access to co-op books, records and audits.
The board chose to file the lawsuit on the grounds that the new bylaws are unworkable, unreasonable and violate state law. The co-op initially filed the case in Valencia County because district court judges in Socorro County could potentially have conflicts of interest as defendants in the case.
Contact T.S. Last