Non-payment evictions begin Friday in Bernalillo County - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Evictions of people who can’t make rent will be allowed again in New Mexico’s most populous county on Friday for the first time in more than two years.
It’s the end of the ban on evictions for tenants behind in rent, one that the New Mexico Supreme Court imposed in March 2020 as a way to prevent the coronavirus pandemic and ensuing economic meltdown from leading to mass evictions into crowded homeless shelters.
Citing improving job numbers and declining case counts, the Supreme Court decided to lift the ban and set up a new Eviction Prevention and Diversion Program, one that they hope will stave off evictions by connecting tenants and landlords with mediators, and with the Emergency Rental Assistance Program’s $170 million in emergency rent payments.
The court later amended its order to phase out the eviction ban across the state over the next few months, citing low awareness of the emergency rent fund and concerns about whether court staff and legal organizations would be able to handle a potential surge in eviction cases.
While non-payment eviction cases were stemmed during the moratorium, landlords could still legally evict tenants by ending the lease agreement, for example, or illegally by changing locks or shutting off utilities.
On Friday, judges will again hear non-payment eviction cases in Bernalillo County, along with Chaves, Eddy, Lea, DeBaca, Harding, Quay, Lincoln and Otero counties. The rest of the state will follow in the next few months.
Landlords might have previously attempted to evict a tenant in court for non-payment and even convinced a judge that an eviction was worthy, though the Supreme Court order negated any eviction order filed. Those landlords will have to file for eviction again, according to the new Supreme Court order.
There are about 40 eviction hearings scheduled at Metropolitan Court in Albuquerque for Friday, though it does not yet appear that landlords are scrambling to evict tenants now that the stay is lifted.
Neither Eviction Lab at Princeton University nor NMEvictions.org, two sites that scrape and analyze eviction data, have detected spikes in eviction filings in Albuquerque, according to their websites.
It’s not clear when or if a spike in evictions could happen, experts told Source New Mexico, and they had a couple theories as to why Albuquerque isn’t seeing one yet.
For one, landlords stymied in their efforts to evict for non-payment might have found another way over the last two years, said University of New Mexico law professor Serge Martinez. Or they might be waiting to see how the new process works.
“Anybody who has been trying to get rid of a tenant has had lots and lots of different opportunities over the last two years, and the moratorium was not really keeping that many people in place at this late stage of the game,” Martinez said.
And perhaps emergency rental assistance funds are finally making it out the door, keeping landlords paid and tenants housed, Martinez said.
“There’s not going to be this buildup that is released when the moratorium is lifted, because all that pressure has slowly and slowly leaked over the last two years,” he said.
Thomas Prettyman, a housing attorney for New Mexico Legal Aid, also said it’s possible landlords are waiting until April 1 to file, though the order does not appear to require them to do so.
There also has not been a spike in evictions in Curry and Roosevelt Counties since February, according to the Eviction Lab. Those were the two counties where the ban was lifted first as part of a pilot program.
Barry Massey, a spokesperson for the state Administrative Office of the Courts, also said officials could not begin to speculate whether there will be a surge in evictions.
HOW NON-PAYMENT EVICTIONS WORK
When a landlord notifies a tenant that he or she is three days behind on rent, a tenant has three days to pay up to avoid being evicted in court. After that, a landlord can file to evict a tenant, and a judge has seven to 10 days to set a hearing date.
Prettyman, in a recent public service announcement, recommended tenants attend their hearings if all possible to potentially get additional time.
If a judge rules in the landlord’s favor, the court will give a tenant three to seven days, or perhaps longer, to get out of the residence.
If a tenant doesn’t leave within that time, the landlord can get a writ of restitution and deliver it to the sheriff’s office, which will force a tenant out.
Prettyman, in an interview, recommended that tenants behind in rent apply now for the Emergency Rental Assistance Program, saying that a landlord might back off an eviction attempt if he or she gets paid back, regardless of where the money comes from.
US taps $420M to boost water supplies hit by climate change — Susan Montoya Brown, Associated Press
Federal officials slated millions of dollars for rural water projects in several states, with the Biden administration looking to shore up infrastructure needs made more urgent by long-term drought conditions that have been exacerbated by climate change.
The U.S. Interior Department announced Thursday that $420 million will be spent on projects in New Mexico, Minnesota, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Iowa. The work includes construction of water treatment plants, pipeline connections, pump systems and reservoirs to provide drinking water to rural and tribal communities.
The West is experiencing a more than 20-year megadrought. Scientists say the region has become much warmer and drier in recent decades and that climate change will continue to make weather more extreme, wildfires more frequent and destructive, and water supplies less reliable.
From Idaho and Montana south to New Mexico and Arizona, even soil moisture levels have hit record lows as major reservoirs along the Colorado River have plummeted. Earlier this month, Lake Powell hit a record low, spurring concerns about the ability to crank out more hydropower from the dam that holds it back.
Native American tribes that are finally seeing federal money after years of being underfunded are working to get at water they long had rights to but could not access without funds to build the infrastructure. On the Navajo Nation, tens of thousands of people still live without running water, while tribes in the upper Midwest are awaiting pipeline extensions that would tap into reliable sources.
In all, the infrastructure measure included $5 billion for Western water programs, with 20% of that dedicated to rural projects.
Federal officials said the allocations were based on project plans and significant goals that are projected to be reached with the funding.
The largest share — $160 million — will go toward a project decades in the making that will eventually provide water for about 70,000 people who live in communities along the New Mexico-Texas state line, where the Ogallala aquifer is being pumped at a faster rate than it's being replenished.
The Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority will receive additional money from the Bureau of Reclamation and the state of New Mexico. When combined with matching money from the utility, the total for this year will be more than $228 million.
"This will take us far in the construction of this critically important project," said Michael Morris, chairman of the water authority and mayor of Clovis, a rural community in eastern New Mexico.
Other allocations include $75.5 million for the Lewis & Clark Rural Water System, which spans parts of South Dakota, Iowa and Minnesota. The system is designed to pipe water from the Missouri River to areas as far as 60 miles (97 kilometers) away that have less plentiful resources.
In North Dakota, $51 million will go to a section of the Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program.
More than $57 million will go to the Rocky Boys/North Central Montana Rural Water System, which serves the Rocky Boy's Reservation and numerous municipalities. The Fort Peck Reservation in Montana will benefit from $7 million for the water system there.
Tanya Trujillo, assistant Interior secretary for water and science, was flanked by water managers in Albuquerque when she made the announcement.
"The department is committed to bringing clean, reliable drinking water to rural communities to help strengthen resilience to climate change,"Trujillo said.
Trapping ban to take effect on public lands in New Mexico — Susan Montoya Brown, Associated Press
It will be illegal to use wildlife traps, snares and poison on public lands across New Mexico under a ban that takes effect Friday.
New Mexico is joining a handful of Western states that have limited trapping on public lands, with supporters saying the move will help protect endangered species such as the Mexican gray wolf and prevent household pets from walking into traps amid efforts to promote outdoor recreation and tourism.
The New Mexico measure, dubbed "Roxy's Law," was approved in 2021 following several failed attempts by animal advocates over the years to rein in a practice they have described as archaic and indiscriminate.
Chris Smith with the group WildEarth Guardians was among those who lobbied for the change. He called the law a momentous win for public lands and wildlife, saying it marks a shift away from seeing native animals as a nuisance.
"Native species are critical to ecosystems and cultures alike; and we are finally protecting and respecting them accordingly," Smith said in a statement.
Trapping and snaring triggered emotionally charged debates during legislative sessions and state Game Commission meetings, with proponents and critics often being separated by a rural-urban divide.
Rural residents and wildlife conservation officers had argued that trapping was an important tool for managing wildlife and protecting livestock. They unsuccessfully pleaded with lawmakers to allow more time for rules that were adopted by state wildlife managers in 2020 to work before imposing the sweeping trapping ban.
The law allows continued use of traps on public lands for purposes of scientific research, ecosystem management and rodent control. It also exempts Native American religious observances that may involve harvesting wildlife.
The law does not affect activity on private property or apply to Native American lands.
Violating the statute can result in a misdemeanor, with each trap, snare or poison application constituting a single violation of the law.
Following the 2020-2021 trapping season, environmentalists and animal advocates had counted at least nine dogs that had been caught in privately set traps and snares on public land in northern New Mexico. In February, a dog walking with its owner was caught in a snare and leg hold trap near the community of El Rito.
California and Washington have limits on trapping, but advocates say New Mexico is joining neighboring Arizona and Colorado with more restrictive rules.
In Colorado, a constitutional amendment in 1997 prohibited trapping, snares and poison on public and private land — though 30-day exceptions are granted when landowners show that livestock or crop damage can't be prevented by sanctioned or non-lethal methods. Arizona in the 1990s banned the use of foothold traps and snares on public land with few exceptions.
NM state investment council withdraws $8M in Russian stocks and bonds— Patrick Lohmann, Source NM
State officials voted Tuesday to withdraw $8 million worth of investments in Russian stocks and bonds.
Source New Mexico’s Patrick Lohmann reports that after very little debate, the New Mexico State Investment Council voted unanimously.
The move comes amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, a move encouraged by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham last week when she said any contributions or aid to Russia from New Mexico is quote “unacceptable,” whether direct or indirect.
The council pointed out that the money in Russian markets represents only a fraction of the $36 million the council manages over varied accounts, funds and investments,
The council funds comprise the Nation’s third biggest sovereign wealth fund and contributes about 15 percent to the state’s overall budget.
Bernalillo increases funding for tiny homes — Giuli Frendak, KOB news
Bernalillo county’s tiny home village hopes new funding recently approved by the county commission will breathe new life into the program.
Currently only 4 of the 30 residences are occupied, according to a report from KOB news, but administration said they will use the new money to hire about a dozen more full-time staff members.
The extra hands will help with individual case management, and addressing the behavioral, physical and mental needs of the residents.
They have also developed a new model for how the program will be run, part of which is dropping a 30 day sobriety requirement, although do still have other recovery related requirements.
District 2 comissioner Steven Michael Quezada said he hopes the funds and the changes will be the boost the program needs to make lasting, long-term positive impacts on people’s lives.
Group rebuffs House inquiry into New Mexico election audit - By Morgan Lee Associated Press
A congressional oversight committee indicated Wednesday that the lead contractor in a partisan audit of 2020 election results in New Mexico has rebuffed requests for documents and information about door-to-door canvassing that has raised concerns of possible voter intimidation.
The House committee is investigating potential intimidation by volunteers for a conspiracy group who are going door to door, canvassing voters in Otero County and asking intrusive questions. EchoMail, a private company and one of the contractors previously involved in Arizona's partisan ballot review, has said it won't meet a Thursday deadline to provide information.
The House Oversight Committee had asked EchoMail in a March 16 letter to produce records by Thursday regarding its forensic audit in Otero County, New Mexico. EchoMail responded with a letter denying oversight and any contractual relationship with the volunteer-based canvassing group New Mexico Audit Force, while distancing itself from the audit and providing no further documents.
"EchoMail is not conducting any audit in Otero County and was contracted to solely provide a data warehouse system including professional services," EchoMail CEO V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai wrote.
Ayyadurai's statements contradict numerous documents submitted to local governments and statements by advocates for New Mexico Audit Force at public meetings and Telegram social media accounts, the committee noted in the follow-up letter signed by Democratic Reps. Carolyn Maloney, the chair of the committee, and Jamie Raskin, the chair of a subcommittee on civil rights.
"The Committee intends to get to the bottom of this so-called audit and canvass and the threats they pose to free and fair elections," the committee wrote back to Ayyadurai.
Ayyadurai has advanced conspiracy theories about the 2020 election as well as his own loss in a Massachusetts state Senate race. He did not immediately respond to phone calls Wednesday.
New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, has said that many Otero County residents have been caught off guard when approached by canvassers who are affiliated with the New Mexico Audit Force group and claim in some instances to be county employees.
Contacted Wednesday, New Mexico Audit Force leader Erin Clements said the volunteer canvassing effort is not a "contracted" part of the audit by EchoMail, although Audit Force plans to report its canvass findings and analysis to the county commission and provide periodic updates.
"People have the right to affirm or dispel their suspicions regarding how they feel about their elections," Clements said of the canvassing operation. She denied reports that volunteer canvassers have misrepresented themselves as county workers.
Clements advocated at several county commission meetings for a "forensic audit" of the 2020 election — clarifying Wednesday that she was serving as a volunteer liaison to help the county find a qualified contractor.
"They don't have jurisdiction over what happens in Otero County," Clements said of the House Oversight Committee. "The county has authority over its own elections."
The Republican-led Otero County commission in January authorized a $49,750 contract for a countywide review of election records and voter registration information. It accepted a proposal from EchoMail, one of the contractors hired by Republican Arizona lawmakers to review the 2020 election in Maricopa County. That review in Arizona's largest county produced no proof to support then-President Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election.
The House committee said it has indications that the contracted audit and canvassing are intertwined, citing a podcast appearance and Telegram posts involving New Mexico Audit Force and David Clements, a former public prosecutor and advocate for "forensic audit" reviews of the 2020 election who is married to Erin Clements.
"The significant discrepancies between your claims and the multiple filings and statements by New Mexico Audit Force — as well as your apparent admission that EchoMail used data from the door-to-door canvass — reinforce the Committee's need for the documents we requested," the committee wrote to Ayyadurai.
Nearly a year and a half after the 2020 general election, the U.S. continues to grapple with bogus claims surrounding Democrat Joe Biden's presidential win. Ballot reviews have been conducted across the country, from Arizona's Maricopa County to Pennsylvania's Fulton County.
Trump and his allies have falsely claimed that voting systems or ballot tallies were manipulated to steal the election from him. Judges across the country, of both parties, dismissed those claims. Trump's former attorney general William Barr said a month after the election that there was no indication of widespread fraud that could change the result.
An Associated Press review of votes cast in battleground states contested by Trump also found too few cases of fraud to affect the outcome.
Growth slows for endangered Mexican gray wolf population - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
There are now more Mexican gray wolves roaming the southwestern U.S. than at any time since the federal government started to reintroduce the endangered species, wildlife managers said Wednesday.
The results of the latest annual survey of the wolves show there are at least 196 in the wild in New Mexico and Arizona — the sixth straight year that the wolf population has increased.
But officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the population's growth in 2021 was tempered by higher-than-average pup mortality. Life was made more difficult for the wolves because of a persistent drought that has resulted in low precipitation and scant snowpack, the officials said.
Fewer than 40% of pups survived through the end of the year, though more breeding pairs were recorded in 2021.
"We are happy to see the wild population of Mexican wolves continue to grow year after year," said Brady McGee, coordinator of the Mexican gray wolf recovery program. "The service and our partners remain focused on recovery through improving the genetic health of the wild population and reducing threats, while also working to minimize conflicts with livestock."
Ranchers continue to have concerns about livestock killed by the wolves, saying efforts to scare the predators away from livestock — by horse riders, non-lethal shots fired from guns and flags put up on fences near cattle — have not been effective enough. Feeding caches for the wolves are also set up by officials to lure wolves away from livestock.
State Rep. Rebecca Dow sent a letter to McGee earlier this month about two separate livestock kills on a grazing allotment in her district. The Republican from the small city of Truth or Consequences said Wednesday that she learned about ranchers forced to camp out on their property to protect their herds.
"Ranching is a way of life in our district and the release of these wolves without proper management is taking away from our community's right to earn a living," said Dow, who is seeking the GOP gubernatorial nomination.
Unlike wolf reintroductions in Yellowstone National Park and elsewhere in the northern U.S., wildlife managers in the Southwest must deal with a climate that has encouraged a year-round livestock calving season, meaning wolves can prey on the livestock year-round instead of several months of the year.
The rarest subspecies of gray wolf in North America, the Mexican wolf was listed as endangered in the 1970s and a U.S.-Mexico captive breeding program was started with the seven remaining wolves in existence.
It's estimated that thousands of Mexican wolves once roamed from central Mexico to New Mexico, southern Arizona and Texas. Predator eradication programs began in the late 1800s. Within several decades, the predators were all but eliminated from the wild.
There are currently about 380 Mexican wolves in more than 60 zoos and other facilities in the two countries. In Mexico, the wild population numbers around 40, officials have said.
The wolf recovery team placed 22 captive-born pups into seven wild dens in 2021 as part of a cross-fostering program aimed at boosting the population's genetic diversity. Officials said two of the pups have since been captured and collared and that the effort to determine how many survived will continue this year.
The team also documented 25 wolf deaths in 2021. Officials rarely release many details about those cases that involve illegal shootings.
Environmentalists had hoped the U.S. population would have topped 200 in 2021. They have been pressuring the Fish and Wildlife Service to release more captive wolf packs and to allow the predators to establish new packs in areas beyond the current recovery zone in southwestern New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
Environmentalists have said that the southern Rockies and the Grand Canyon area would be suitable wolf habitat.
"The disappointing lack of significant growth is a sign that this recovery paradigm is not working," Chris Smith with the WildEarth Guardians group said in a statement.
Wolves "need better protection and more room to roam and re-establish themselves. U.S. Fish and Wildlife continues to flout the science and bow to political pressure," Smith said.
Federal officials are expected this summer to finalize a new rule that will govern management of Mexican wolves in the U.S.
New Mexico regulators to review coal plant financing dispute - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
It will be up to New Mexico regulators to settle a feud over financing and customer electricity rates stemming from the upcoming closure of one of the last remaining coal-fired power plants in the southwestern U.S.
The state Public Regulation Commission voted Wednesday to clear the way for its hearing examiners to review the case and make a recommendation.
Consumer advocates have said anticipated savings should be passed on to customers of New Mexico's largest electric provider when the San Juan Generating Station closes this fall. They also are concerned that Public Service Co. of New Mexico plans to delay the use of bonds to recover lost investments in the power plant.
Customers will pay back those bonds through their bills over 25 years, but the amount is expected to be less due to lower interest rates on the bonds and because the utility will forego profit on its investments.
The utility had delayed seeking a rate increase in 2020 due to economic hardships posed by the coronavirus pandemic and again in 2021 as part of merger negotiations that are now the focus of a legal battle before the state Supreme Court.
Officials with Public Service Co. of New Mexico, known as PNM, reiterated the company's opinion that it would be more appropriate to credit customers for San Juan-related fees when rates are reconsidered next year as part of a lengthy process before the commission.
The utility also said it already has used shareholder money to fund half of the $40 million in economic development aid aimed at reducing the economic sting of transitioning away from coal for communities in northwestern New Mexico.
PNM Resources chairman, president and CEO Pat Vincent-Collawn said in a statement that the company has worked over the last several years to "do the right thing for customers."
"While our exit from San Juan was approved two years ago, we have been able to delay an increase in customer rates despite investing $1.2 billion throughout this period," she said. "We will always to look at the big picture and continue to propose solutions in our customers' best interests."
Commissioner Stephen Fischmann said he was dismayed with how the case has played out and accused the utility of "keeping the commission in the dark."
"Now we have to scramble to make a decision quickly," he said.
PNM officials denied the accusations, saying plans for how the financing would be handled were outlined during testimony in 2019 in which utility executives said the issuance of bonds would occur with a rate case.
At the time, the utility noted that customers might not necessarily receive an overall decrease in their monthly bills because the utility still needed to recover investments to modernize the grid and to pay for solar and battery storage projects to replace the San Juan plant.
Mariel Nanasi, executive director of the New Energy Economy group that promotes renewable energy said the utility and its supporters told the state Legislature, regulators and the courts in legal filings that New Mexico's Energy Transition Act would bring an end to coal, result in customer savings and increase renewable energy development.
While those goals have yet to be realized, she said she's confident that the hearing examiners will protect the public interest.
It's unclear how soon the commission could decide the matter, but the first of the plant's two remaining units will close at the end of June. The other one is scheduled to shut down at the end of September.
Arizona police ID man killed on I-40 as New Mexico resident - Associated Press
Authorities have now identified a man who was struck several times by vehicles on Interstate 40 near Winslow and died. The Arizona Department of Public Safety identified him yesterday as 39-year-old Adam Michael Tackett, of Farmington, New Mexico.
Department spokesman Bart Graves says Tackett was standing in the middle of the interstate when he was hit Tuesday morning. The incident briefly shut down the westbound lanes.
Authorities had received multiple calls about an object in the roadway.
Graves says it's unclear why Tackett was there. He says some of the man's clothing and sleeping bag were found nearby.
WINSLOW, Ariz. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man who was struck several times by vehicles on Interstate 40 near Winslow and died.
The Arizona Department of Public Safety identified him Wednesday as Adam Michael Tackett, 39, of Farmington, New Mexico.
DPS spokesman Bart Graves said Tackett was standing in the middle of the interstate when he was hit Tuesday morning. The incident briefly shut down the westbound lanes.
Authorities had received multiple calls from motorists about an object in the roadway, including from a semi-truck driver.
Graves says it's unclear why Tackett was in the roadway. Some of his clothing and sleeping bag were found nearby. He was identified through fingerprints.
An Arizona Department of Transportation crew had reported seeing a man wearing dark clothing hitchhiking in the area around 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, but Graves says investigators aren't entirely sure it was Tackett.