Southern New Mexico Common Cause (SNMCC)
Meeting Minutes for
Wednesday, October 15, 2003
Citizen Charter Review Committee – P. Banks
There will be a mayoral debate on the suggested changes to the Charter. The event will be Thursday, October 23, 2003 at 6:30 p.m. at the Eastside Center. Information was sent out to Sun News, the Bulletin, and the radio stations.
Each mayoral candidate can attend. Each will draw for their place in the debate. There will be opening statements, brief explanation of the proposed changes as well as the current amendment. Then each candidate will have the opportunity to state whether they support the proposed amendment or not and give an explanation why. There may be time for rebuttal.
Monitoring Public Meeting – J. Asche
Doug’s report was e-mailed to the members for their review. He also stated that the laptops have caused a concern due to potential “secret voting.” The Council members also discussed the $6 million swimming pool and MMC.
The Board is currently working on updating their policies and also creating a grievance policy. Mainly because employees have a fear of reprisal if they file a grievance. The meetings are still paperless although they have realized this has caused some problems because there are no paper copies available at the meeting, everything must be accessed via internet or a copy can be purchased prior to the meeting.
The County is currently reviewing the trash policy. Previously a $12.00 a month fee was charged to the county who do not have waste disposal. They may review this policy and bring it back for County citizens. On a better note, the County has placed five kiosks around the county to assist county citizens in seeking employment. There is also personnel stationed at each kiosk to offer assistance.
There is an event to aid in the Presidential search. Although it appears that they are not open to the public because the meetings are at the President’s residence. And, the entire Board will not be present at all times, this may be a violation of the open meetings act.
Memorial Medical Center – W. Jenkins
So far eight firms have expressed interest in touring MMC, seven have completed their tour, one will be completed on Friday. The timeline has now been extended to January of 2004. This will allow to further discuss the various options for MMC, they are also seeking a group of qualified citizens to advocate for the present public. With these discussions each advocate would need to show how to meet all criteria for the hospital.
The financial statements for MMC were received and being passed around for review.
In reviewing the MMC issue, SNMCC will work on educating the public about MMC. SNMCC will review the consultant’s revised plan and go from there. Although one issue to keep in mind is that the consultant’s plan is flaws since the hospital is already owned by the public, this will be discussed further.
A group of SNMCC members will review the plan: R. Gurley, J. Kadlecek, M. McCamley, R. Gutierrez, R. Garcia, C. Welch, G. Bigelow, and J. Asche. A session will be set up soon and Lupika will be asked to give a presentation on what will happen next with MMC.
State Common Cause Meeting – G. Bigelow
There will be a dinner and meeting on October 18, 2003.
New Business
a. AARP – SNMCC will be added as a co-sponsor to discuss the issues of Medicare and prescription drugs
b. January SNMCC Annual Luncheon – the luncheon will be tentatively scheduled at Meson de Mesilla. Bob Johnson will be the speaker.
c. Convention Center Open records Issue – a citizens’ groups has come together to review the sites for the Convention Center.
Closing
· Next meeting will be Wednesday, November 19, 2003 at 11:30 a.m.
· Meeting was adjourned at 1:15 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by,
Vanessa Quiroz
Secretary
Signature and date of Board Approval