Village residents concerned about roads, law enforcement

The Village of Magdalena meeting on Tuesday May 27 included the approval of the preliminary budget, approval of the ICIP and concerns from the Mayor Richard Rumpf and local residents.

Public Input

Public Input was voted to be moved up the agenda before the mayor’s report.

Linda Montoya, a resident of Tenth Street, said her street hasn’t been graded in two years and was the worst in town. “It’s a school bus route. It’s the only access out of town if Highway 60 is blocked, and it’s a route to the clinic,” Montoya said.

Collette Foard said she reported to the village over a year ago about an exposed water line and the poor condition of Tenth Street and was ignored.

“Tenth Street is an absolute disgrace, and the fact that it is an access road, in addition to 107 and the health clinic, the town ought to be embarrassed by it, because it’s pathetic,” Foard said.

Ray Martinez told the village that he requested to be on the agenda with three road items. After filling out the proper forms, he was denied and told the mayor was already working on the roads. He said that in 2018, an MOU was signed between Socorro County and the village that said the county would blade 5.5 miles of road for $1,000, but the MOU expired without the village utilizing it.

Terri Winchester requested that Mayor Richard Rumpf talk to Marshal Captain Brian Waterman about speeding through town again.

“All of us sat there this weekend (at the farmer’s market) watching him as he goes from one end of the town to the other exceeding the speed limit,” Winchester said. “If they’re going to write tickets for people speeding. They need to follow the speed limit.”

Sandy Julian, former mayor of Magdalena, expressed concern about the recent break-ins and urged the village to find money to hire law enforcement for 24 hours a day coverage.

Mayor’s Report

After the comments, Rumpf stated he was being targeted due to the misinformation and hate being spread in the village.

“I’m at the point I do not do any business in Magdalena because I’m tired of the dirty looks and snide remarks.” Rumpf said.

He reported he was verbally assaulted in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Socorro, two village employees had their tires slashed, the county manager spreads false information and that people spread false claims on social media about the marshals giving tickets unfairly.

“The headline of the paper, ‘Lack of proper approvals in village audit’. Now, why couldn’t that have been ‘Congratulations to the staff of Village of Magdalena for having a perfect audit’? This is poor journalism,” Rumpf said.

He said he’s doing his due diligence and getting an ulcer and losing sleep over it.

He said in the last 30 days, “I’ve had between 14 or 15 people come up to me and compliment me on all the stuff I’ve done for your village.”

Later in the meeting during the public hearing, Foard, a business owner, criticized the mayor for saying he would not shop locally.

“You really might want to stop and think about that,” Foard said, “If you’re getting to a point that you feel something, then that might be the indicator that maybe this job is not for you.”

Rumpf said she was taking what he said out of context and that he would not tolerate disrespect.

Budget overview

Michael Steininger, financial officer of the village, reported on the interim budget for 2026 and said he was concerned about the rising costs of payroll.

“This is the third year at least in a row that the water department is scheduled to lose money,” Steininger said.

He reported that utility funds were running negative this year, with the water department projected to lose $135,000 next year. He said solid waste, which had been breaking even, was scheduled to lose about $8,000 next year.

He suggested the need for rate increases and better enforcement of payment ordinances.

“Nobody likes to discuss it, but I don’t know the last time you did a rate increase,” Steininger said.

He noted that while the general fund can cover utility losses, it cannot do so indefinitely.

He reported four budgeted police officer positions, with two currently filled and one being discussed for hiring. He said he has not received confirmation that there will be a law enforcement retention and recruitment money this year.

“I’ve heard some people say that the money is being renewed again. I’ve heard others say that it was canceled due to the widespread abuse that was going on with that recruitment and retention money.” Steininger said.

He also responded to a question on the lodgers’ tax and encouraged the village to spend it because the statute puts a two-year limit on spending the lodgers’ tax.

ICIP

The trustees held an open hearing to discuss the Infrastructure Capital Improvement Plan (ICIP) priorities for 2027.

Rumpf reported that the top priority is upgrading the Benjamin Well, estimated to cost $1.2 million, with $900,000 currently allocated. The second priority is replacing water lines on both sides of Highway 60, estimated at $10-15 million, pending an engineering study. The third priority discussed was the sewer system, estimated at $3-3.5 million, followed by improvements to Tenth Street.

Rumpf also requested $750,000 from state legislators to renovate the Family Dollar for the municipal complex, which would house the marshals’ office and utilities department, but he said the funding was not approved.

In other business, the public safety officer position to be paid out of the general police funds was skipped after Winchester questioned the accuracy of the agenda item. The village approved the hire of Damien Ibarra of Socorro as a marshal deputy to respond to calls at night, and the last of the retention money was voted to be dispersed to Marshal Michael Zamora and Captain Waterman, with a no from Trustee Dawson.