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The Socorro County Commissioners heard a presentation in support of salary raises for elected officials at its meeting on Oct. 8.
Betty Saavedra, county clerk, presented a series of documents of her research to the commission including salaries for those who will take office in 2025 and max salaries signed by the governor for county elected officials.
“I’m asking the county commissioners to consider going up to the max of what the governor has raised for the 2024 cycle. So that would include the newly elected officials that are coming in in 2025,” Saavedra said.
Saavedra requested to be placed on the agenda for the next commission meeting to further discuss the proposed salary increases and get direction from the staff on how to proceed.
Lee Armijo, county sheriff, addressed the commission and said most of the sheriffs he’s talked to are at the max for their salaries.
“I am for the max, not just for me. I may not win the next election, but when you put that into effect, if they don’t, then we’re eight years behind,” Armijo said.
Armijo pointed out that while county employees have been getting around 5% annual pay raises, which amounts to 20% over 4 years, elected officials’ salaries have remained stagnant.
Armijo acknowledged that as an elected official, he is making less than what he was making previously as a captain with overtime.
Julie Griego, county assessor said she is concerned that if the salaries are not increased, it may be difficult to attract qualified candidates to run for these elected positions in the future.
County Manager, Andy Lotrich, said the county needs to ensure any salary increases for elected officials are proportional and affordable, given the current economic conditions and uncertainties the county is facing. He suggested the commissioners direct him and the financial staff to crunch the numbers and come back with a framework for future discussions.
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“The question is not whether they deserve a raise. The question is how much of a raise are we going to be able to afford to give this year and going into the future?” Lotrich said.
Commissioners agreed to direct Lotrich to present numbers and more information at the next meeting.
Manager’s Report
Andy Lotrich updated the commission on his visit to Puerto Seguro Safe Harbor (PSI), where he discussed their shelter needs for adults and teens with winter approaching. He mentioned the possibility of using leftover county COVID-19 relief items to assist PSI and plans to further discuss county support when their budget is finalized.
Lotrich told commissioners he has been working with the road department to address backlog of road concerns and will now approve any overtime. He has also been collaborating with Gail Tripp, the new acting fire marshal.
“We’ve been updating the policies and procedures of the fire departments and slowly getting those aligned to with training being our number one focus. ,” Lotrich said.
He informed the commissioners that three interviews for the road director position are scheduled for October 17. In a follow up, Lotrich confirmed that Arthur “Art” Gonzales retired as the road director effective September 13.
Agenda items
Attorney, Dave Pato, gave an update on New Mexico Ethics Commission (NMEC) ruling against the County Livestock Loss Authority and the amended Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) between Socorro, Catron and Sierra Counties.
“ They (NMEC) said that we can moot out any action that they would have to bring against any individual member of the board, were we to adopt amended JPA providing that members of the CLLA board are prohibited in receiving funding grant financial assistance authority during our tenure as board members, and two that any board member receives funding from the authority led by operation of the Joint Powers agreement, immediately forfeit their position.” Pato said. “And so I presented to today an amended JPA that does just that, incorporating those provisions as well as transfers the fiscal agency from Sierra County supported previously.”
In other business, the commission passed all agenda action items unanimously including renting out an office space in the Annex, the transfer an ambulance to the City of Socorro and allowing the manager to Negotiate with BLM on road maintenance.
The meeting concluded after an Executive session to discuss two personnel matters, Socorro County Flood Plain Manger and Fire Marshal, and a threatened pending litigation of New Mexico State Ethics Commission v. County Livestock Loss Authority members.
Their next meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. on Oct. 22 at the Socorro County Annex.
