Santa Fe Association of Realtors takes 'mansion tax' case against city to state high court
—Santa Fe New Mexican
The Santa Fe Association of Realtors is continuing its legal challenge to a City of Santa Fe excise tax on high-end home sales. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports the so-called “mansion tax” is in the state’s court system once again.
The Santa Fe Association of Realtors is now appealing the ruling that put the tax into effect.
The New Mexican reports the plaintiffs in the case, which include the association, along with individual plaintiffs Kurt Hill and Richard Newton, filed a petition in the New Mexico Supreme Court on Dec. 16.
The appeal asks the state Supreme Court to reverse the Court of Appeals ruling that the plaintiffs lacked standing to contest the tax. It also asks the court to “resolve the merits” of the case.
The 3% excise tax on home sales of more than $1 million, the proceeds of which would go into the city’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund, was approved by voters in 2023. Before the election, the Realtors Association filed a lawsuit attempting to block it from taking effect.
In May 2024, a district court judge ruled against the city, days before the tax would have started, siding with the plaintiffs in stating it violated state law prohibiting municipalities from taxing real property.
The city appealed the ruling, and in late October, the Court of Appeals overturned the decision and lifted the injunction, allowing the tax to take effect immediately. The Realtors association signaled at the time it was prepared to appeal again.
The ballot measure approving the tax was supported by a large majority of voters. Outgoing Mayor Alan Webber has cited the tax, sponsored by City Councilor Jamie Cassutt and then-City Councilor Renee Villarreal, as one of his major accomplishments while in office.
The New Mexican reports the Santa Fe City Council approved a $3.07 million transfer into the fund at its last meeting of the year Dec. 10 after city officials announced the city had been significantly underspending a committed $3 million annually that it has dedicated to the fund in the last five fiscal years.
Navajo police arrest suspected drunken driver after deadly crash ahead of Christmas parade
—Associated Press
In northeastern Arizona, Navajo Nation police said a suspected drunken driver struck bystanders who were waiting for a Christmas parade to start, killing one and injuring three others.
The crash happened Monday evening in Kayenta, just south of Monument Valley, as spectators gathered for the annual community-sponsored parade. The Navajo Police Department’s Kayenta District had officers patrolling the area, but the driver accessed the parade route and hit the bystanders and damaged parked vehicles and other property.
The driver was arrested, but authorities did not provide any details about the suspect or the victims.
Family members said the person killed was a young boy and that his mother, her fiancé and his grandfather were the ones injured. A GoFundMe was set up Tuesday, with the family saying “this unimaginable loss” has left them heartbroken.
The Navajo Police Department says the investigation was ongoing. The Navajo Nation prohibits the sale or consumption of alcohol, with very limited exceptions.
NM attorney general announces $9M multi-state settlement with Kia, Hyundai over car theft
—Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez on Tuesday announced a $9 million multi-state settlement after he and 34 other attorneys general sued car manufacturers Hyundai and Kia for allegedly building vehicles without proper anti-theft technology.
For years the National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked Albuquerque as the worst city in the nation for car theft. Officials blamed Hyundai and Kia, in particular, and said viral videos showed how easy it is to steal those compared to other vehicles.
As part of the recent settlement, Hyundai and Kia will pay up to $4.5 million to customers whose cars were recently stolen or damaged and will pay an additional $4.5 million in penalties to states across the U.S.
Both manufacturers will equip all vehicles sold in the U.S. with industry standard anti-theft technology and offer free ignition cylinder protectors to people who drive eligible models.
“Consumers should never have to worry that their vehicle is an easy target because manufacturers failed to include basic, industry-standard safeguards,” Torrez said in a statement. “New Mexicans rely on their cars every day, and when companies cut corners, it puts families and public safety at risk.”
Residents who previously downloaded software updates but still had their cars stolen on or after April 29 are eligible to file a restitution claim, Torrez’s office said. Hyundai drivers can do so online at HKMultistateimmobilizersettlement.com and Kia users can do so online at customercare.kiausa.com/SWLD or by phone at 1-800-333-4542.
Torrez first signed on to a letter to Kia and Hyundai in 2023 and urged the manufacturers to immediately remedy the problem. Torrez and 22 other attorneys general characterized the companies’ recent moves — which included software updates on affected vehicles and ignition cylinder protectors for the cars that couldn’t download the software patch — as insufficient.
“The recent announcement of a customer service campaign – not a recall – which combines warning stickers, longer alarms and a software upgrade, is positive news but less than is called for under the circumstances. Our concerns with the adequacy of the newly-announced measures are informed by your companies’ slow response and lack of acceptance of responsibility for the crisis over the past few years,” they wrote. “Your companies’ decisions not to install anti-theft immobilizers as standard equipment on certain vehicles sold in the United States has caused ongoing consumer harm and undermined public safety in communities across the country. It is well past time that you acknowledge your companies’ role and take swift and comprehensive action to remedy it.”
Democratic Socialist launches primary challenge against U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez
—Santa Fe New Mexican
Democratic Socialist Tom Wakely intends to challenge U.S. Rep. Gabe Vasquez in next year’s Democratic primary. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Wakely, who served in the Air Force and worked as a union organizer, ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Texas twice. He moved from San Antonio to Deming, N.M., in 2021.
Wakely said his priorities would include pushing Medicare for All, taxing the wealthy and protecting Veterans Affairs health care from privatization.
Covering Southern New Mexico and stretching up to include a portion of Albuquerque, the 2nd Congressional District seat has been held by Vasquez, who is from Las Cruces, since 2023.
The 2nd Congressional District is the state’s only swing seat and Vasquez won his general elections by narrow margins. Vasquez has at times positioned himself as more moderate than his colleagues Reps. Melanie Stansbury and Teresa Leger Fernández, both of whom represent much more safely Democratic districts. The primary election is June 2, and the general election is Nov. 3. Wakely needs at least 584 signatures of registered voters to get on the ballot. He has until the state filing day, Feb. 3, to collect signatures.
Santa Fe Mayor-elect Garcia names fire chief to interim city manager role
—Santa Fe New Mexican
A week and a half after Santa Fe City Manager Mark Scott announced his resignation, Mayor-elect Michael Garcia announced the appointment of his interim replacement while also filling two other positions in his new administration on an interim basis.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reports Brian Moya, chief of the Santa Fe Fire Department, will be taking over as interim city manager. Marcos Martinez, the city’s senior assistant city attorney, will serve as interim city attorney, while Deputy City Clerk Geralyn Cardenas will take over as interim city clerk.
Moya has served as the city’s fire chief since December 2021. He has been with the department since 2002.
Moya will replace Scott as city manager. Scott, who was hired in February during the final year of Mayor Alan Webber’s tenure, announced his resignation in a Dec. 12 email to city councilors and senior city staff members after walking out of a City Council meeting a couple days earlier during a dispute with Garcia, who serves on the council.
In his letter, Scott said he would continue to work remotely for the city through Dec. 31, although he would not accept his salary during that period. He said Deputy City Manager Andrea Phillips would serve as the acting, on-site city manager during that time.
City Attorney Erin McSherry had already announced she was leaving after receiving a Fulbright U.S. Global Scholar Program award, while City Clerk Andréa Salazar announced her departure at the Dec. 10 City Council meeting.
All three interim appointees will remain in place while the Garcia administration conducts a review of permanent leadership needs, according to the release.
New Mexico trains non-lawyers to help immigrants navigate legal system
—Natalie Robbins, Albuquerque Journal
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions is offering a training program for non-lawyers looking to provide legal assistance to immigrant workers.
The 40-hour program, funded through a $25,000 private grant, coaches legal professionals who aren’t attorneys on how to help non-citizens with naturalization and work permit applications, said Leonardo Castañeda, director of NMDWS’s Office of New Americans.
The department is seeking to train more professionals to be able to help with what Castañeda says is an increase in immigrant workers of all statuses seeking legal counsel.
“I think there have been so many changes to rules around immigration that I think a lot of people are confused,” Castañeda said.
Access to affordable legal services is one of the biggest barriers to citizenship or legal status for New Mexico’s nearly 131,000 foreign-born workers, he said. Some may qualify for humanitarian visas or green cards, but may not know how to start the application process and don’t have a legal professional available to help.
“There’s certain processes on immigration law that, in theory, you don’t need an attorney, but they’re still very complicated legal processes,” Castañeda said.
NMDWS just completed its first training with 12 people, he said, and the department has plans to launch a new cohort soon.
The training is required for non-attorney legal professionals, such as paralegals, to become certified through the U.S. Department of Justice to provide immigration services, including naturalization and work permit applications, according to a news release.
Participants don’t need to have a specific job within the legal profession, Castañeda said, but do need to work at an organization that has DOJ accreditation or is working toward it.
“There is a dearth of low-cost legal services for immigrants … who really do have an avenue of relief, but don’t often have access to legal services, either because there are no immigration attorneys in their communities or because they can’t afford them,” said Marcela Díaz, executive director of Santa Fe nonprofit immigrant rights group Somos un Pueblo Unido. A paralegal with the nonprofit recently completed the NMDWS training.
Díaz said she hears from immigrant workers, particularly in rural parts of the state, who think they may have a legal pathway to citizenship, but don’t know where to start.
“There are so many folks in New Mexico (who) are in a range of statuses that could avail themselves of some form of relief if they had access to the legal help and the legal services that they need,” she said.
Immigrants make up around 10.2% of New Mexico’s population and 12.8% of its labor force, according to an analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the American Immigration Council, a nonprofit advocacy group.
New Mexico’s population growth over the last five years was driven almost entirely by immigrants, according to a September report from NMDWS, leaving the state reliant on foreign-born labor.
“We know that immigrants can be a part of so many different emerging industries, and so it just makes sense that the Department of Workforce Solutions would be supporting workers in this way across the state,” Díaz said.
Federal judge orders funding restored for school mental health services for 5,000 NM students
—Patrick Lohman, Source NM
A federal judge last week ordered the federal Education Department to resume funding mental health services for more than 5,000 New Mexico students, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Monday.
Torrez was among 18 attorneys general nationwide who sued President Donald Trump’s administration in June over the Education Department’s abrupt late-April announcement that it would cease funding multi-year federal grants to expand the number of mental health professionals in high-need schools.
Congress in 2022 approved more than $1 billion for the effort in the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act after the school shooting in rural Uvalde, Texas, that year that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
The legislation aimed to place 14,000 counselors in schools nationwide and showed early signs of success. According to early results of a study Torrez’s office cited from the National Association of School Psychologists, participating schools saw a 50% reduction in suicide risk, as well as better attendance and improved engagement between students and staff.
School districts in seven New Mexico counties, including Silver Consolidated School District in Silver City, received funding through the program. Another recipient was the Central Region Educational Cooperative, a group of rural school districts in central New Mexico, according to court records.
The congressional legislation enabled the districts to re-apply for the funding every year based on their performances and other federal requirements, according to Torrez’s office.
But on April 29, the Education Department issued boilerplate notices to recipients, saying that they were discontinuing the funding because the program reflected the “prior Administration’s priority preference and conflict with those of the current Administration,” according to court records.
The lawsuit Torrez and other attorneys general filed argued the Education Department’s basis for ending the program was illegal, saying differing political priorities are not adequate reason to stop funding a program Congress approved.
On Dec. 19, U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson in the Western District of Washington granted the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment, agreeing the Education Department had acted unlawfully and ordering parties to agree on a timeline for the department to legally consider each grant recipient’s application for renewal.
She concluded in her ruling that nothing in the law allows “that multi-year grants may be discontinued whenever the political will to do so arises.”
U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM), who spearheaded legislation creating the counseling program, called Evanson’s ruling a “major victory” in a statement.
“It restores funding that never should have been taken away in the first place,” he said. “School-based mental health services are essential to helping our kids learn, stay safe, and succeed.”
Torrez in a statement also touted the ruling as proof that, “No one—regardless of politics—wants to deny our kids access to the mental health support they need to learn, grow, and thrive.”
Bill to improve federal relations with NM land grants passes committee
—Leah Romero, Source NM
A federal bill introduced by U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) to strengthen federal and local land grant community cooperation in New Mexico passed through its first committee last week.
Luján introduced the New Mexico Land Grant-Mercedes Historical or Traditional Use Cooperation and Coordination Act in April to establish better communication and cooperation between the federal government — specifically the U.S. Department of the Interior and Department of Agriculture — with land grant communities and the New Mexico Land Grant Council.
The council works as a liaison between land grant communities or pueblos and local, state and federal governments. New Mexico currently recognizes 27 land grant-mercedes under state law as “political subdivisions of the state.”
According to a statement from Luján’s office, the federal bill would require a memorandum of understanding between the two federal departments and the New Mexico Land Grant Council to “clarify agency processes that qualified land grant-mercedes may use” when seeking authorization for historical or traditional use of federal public lands. The bill also notes that the federal departments must communicate with tribes when the MOU is “entered into, extended, renewed or revised;” describes procedures to ensure land grant-mercedes, the council and tribes are able to contribute to agency land management planning decisions; and requires the DOI and USDA to “evaluate” the impacts of federal land use planning on historical or traditional uses of the land.
“I’m proud that my legislation to strengthen cooperation between the federal government and land grant communities, which are an essential part of New Mexico’s history and culture, has passed through committee and is one step closer to becoming law. These communities have cared for our land for generations, and preserving that connection is crucial for our land and cultural heritage,” Luján said in a written statement, adding that the bill will also help preserve the land and cultural traditions for the next generation.
New Mexico Land Grant Council Program Manager Arturo Archuleta told Source New Mexico that the council has worked with Luján on this legislation for over a decade, beginning when Luján was a U.S. representative. He said they have had success in the past with passing the bill through each chamber, but not with enough time to pass during the same Congress.
“We’re hopeful now that it passed early on,” Archuleta said. “We still have a whole other year to hopefully get it to the floor of the Senate and over to the House.”
He said the bill’s intent is ultimately to ensure the federal government takes traditional land uses into consideration, including livestock grazing, fuel collection, gathering of traditional herbs and community cemeteries.
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández, who represents New Mexico’s 3rd Congressional District, is leading the legislation in the House of Representatives and said in the news release that “land grant communities represent farmers and ranchers, families, and elders,” who “care for and sustain our lands.”