Hearing in co-op case is next Tuesday
There’s been a time change for the Dec. 14 status hearing for the Socorro Electric Cooperative’s lawsuit against its member-owners. The time of the hearing has been moved up 1 1/2 hours. It’s now scheduled for 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at the courthouse in Los Lunas, where the case was originally filed.
Lee Deschamps, one of the attorneys representing defendants in the case, said the time change was made to accommodate another attorney’s schedule.
Deschamps is also one of a group of lawyers who filed a countersuit against members of the co-op’s board of trustees and four other former co-op officials. That filing also includes a request for class action certification, which would allow the legal team to represent the interests of all of the approximately 10,000 member-owners.
Deschamps made the point that there’s no reason for all those people to attend the hearing.
“They aren’t required to be there, but they are welcome. It’s a public hearing,” he said. “It’s pretty much for the judge to meet with those involved and get familiar with the issues.”
The attorney said the judge might also use the hearing as a scheduling conference “to set a schedule to move it along toward a trial date.”
Judge Albert J. Mitchell Jr. of the 10th Judicial Court District was assigned to the case by New Mexico Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles W. Daniels after all seven judges in the 13th district were either excused by parties involved in the case or recused themselves.
Mitchell told El Defensor Chieftain last month that he tries to move his docket “aggressively.”
“I’m going to try to move this case along,” he said. “There’s a saying, ‘Justice delayed is justice denied.’ I’ve always believed that.”
Socorro Electric filed the lawsuit against member-owners of the public non-profit corporation, who are also its customers, in an effort to block three new bylaws adopted at the annual meeting in April. All three bylaws call for increased transparency with regard to how the co-op goes about its business and were passed by overwhelming margins.
The bylaws:
• Call for the board to voluntarily follow the Open Meetings Act and Inspection of Public Records Act
• Allow members access to co-op books, records and audits, with the exception of records protected by the Privacy Act
• Allow members and the press to attend co-op board meetings and that a portion of the meeting be set aside for public comment. In addition, announcements of meetings are to be made in billing statements and advertised in local newspapers
Though the co-op later filed papers to have the case dismissed, several people filed answers or counter suits against the co-op. Those need to be resolved before the case can be dropped.
While the co-op has begun to implement some of the changes, it has continued to deny requests for records made by El Defensor Chieftain and other co-op members.
In a phone interview last month, Mitchell said the purpose of the status hearing is to get all parties in the same place at the same time, determine what issues are still current and proceed from there.
Mitchell added one of the first things to be addressed at the hearing are procedural matters that he said needed to be sorted out.
While the judge won’t hear new motions, Deschamps said Mitchell could begin to address some of the motions that have already been filed, such as motions for change of venue.
“We’ll try to present stipulations,” Deschamps said. “We intend to stipulate that the case be moved to Socorro, just because it’s easier for people who want to attend to do so.”
Co-op attorney Dennis Francish told El Defensor Chieftain in July that the lawsuit was filed in Los Lunas because judges in the 7th Judicial District Court in Socorro were likely to be co-op members and therefore would have a conflict of interest in the case.
Deschamps said attorneys for the defendants would also push for a stipulation that the case be designated as a class action lawsuit.
“That will simplify things quite a bit,” he said. “Once it’s simplified, that will make moot some of the motions that others have filed, like jurisdiction and proper service.”
Contact T.S. Last