By Lynn Janes
On October 24, 2024, the candidate forum for the candidates in the 6th Judicial District Attorney race in the upcoming election on November 5, 2024, took place at the WNMU Besse Forward Global Resource center. The forum had incumbent Michael Renteria and Norm Wheeler facing off.
Nick Seibel, Silver City Daily Press publisher, moderated the forum. The candidates received questions from the audience, Facebook, and the Press writer Juno Ogle. Each would answer the same question and had two minutes.
Each candidate gave a three-minute opening statement.
Renteria appreciates the opportunity to be there and since taking office four years ago he said, “I worked hard to develop a team and mentor a team that would commit themselves to serving the public.” He wanted them to be honest and have integrity. “Our mission is to make sure the criminal justice system works to protect all people.” He said he had a team currently that does a very good job, but they always have room for improvement. When he took office, he had to have a culture change. Some people didn’t like the change. “It is hard to please everyone and actually impossible.” With another four years Renteria said his plan would come into fruition.
Wheeler chose to address the audience by standing up to speak to them. He thanked everyone for attending. “I have had a lot of fun meeting people during this campaign and met some marvelous people.” He asked about people being on social media. He had been posting a lot of information. His campaign has been based on the safety of the community and not republican, democrat or independent. “What can we do to create a safer community?” He had found that all parties wanted a safe community. The crime rate has been increasing in the 6th judicial district. The Silver City Daily Press had published an article addressing the crime statistics that had increased significantly. Wheeler addressed a rumor he had heard that he would come in and fire all the attorneys and he said that would be absolutely not true. He has posted on Facebook and his website a letter of position. It explains exactly what he will expect from his attorneys. He asked all to listen to everything during this forum but verify everything including what he said. He had tried to organize a debate in each of the counties in the district. That would be Grant, Hildalgo and Luna Counties. Renteria had never contacted Wheeler to make that happen.
Why are you running for district attorney?
Wheeler said he had not planned to run again. Two years ago, he had been contacted by Judge Maurine Laney and she asked him to run. He didn’t list any of the reasons but said she had posted a letter on Facebook and done an interview for the Grant County Beat outlining her reasons. He and his wife had fallen in love with the area and had bought property locally in the 1990s. They had lived here in that time except when he accepted employment in northern New Mexico and Las Cruces. Crime has been increasing and the problem lies in the district attorney’s policies and not the employees. “This district could be a much safer place.” Deming and Silver City consistently have been listed as the top ten most dangerous places in the state. “It can be changed.”
Renteria wants to make a difference and said it had been why he ran the first time. “It does mean that not everyone will like you and sometimes you have to deal with conflict.” He said if people would be honest, crime has gone up everywhere. “It effects all our communities. I wish I had the magic pill that stops it all. I do what I can to influence and do what is right.” He said he decided to run again because the district needs consistency and not changing the culture. “It is about hanging in there and being consistent, and I hope that is what I get to do.”
What are the responsibilities of the chief law enforcement officer also known as the district attorney?
Renteria said this has come up a lot and he can’t see in the law that there would be chief law enforcement officer. He went over the information he had found and the responsibilities. “It is important you stand up for your principals. Not everyone does things perfectly. I do my best to mentor and monitor my staff.” He could not micromanage and knew he had to delegate some things to his chief lawyers. Sometimes policies have not been followed and he must find a way to put it back on track. “It is an ongoing process that changes day to day. I hope you realize having consistency is an important thing.”
Wheeler began by explaining the chief law enforcement officer. This person has a lot of power and responsibility to keep the community safe. The policies of the district attorney have a direct effect on the safety of the people. He decides what cases go to court. This person needs effective communication with law enforcement and must make sure they have the training they need to put together cases that can be won. The district attorney needs to have effective communication with the counseling community. All would be needed. “The safety of the community is a direct proportion to the quality of the relationship between the district attorney’s office and law enforcement.” If the district attorney has a bad relationship with law enforcement the community suffers.
As a public servant what is the responsibility of district attorney to the public?
Wheeler said first that fact needs to be acknowledged. As an elected public servant, the district attorney must be accountable to the public. He must know the law, teach the law and work with law enforcement and counseling services to prosecute or make sure the person receives the counseling needed. “I expect to go county to county meeting with the people and finding out their concerns and helping them to develop a safer community.”
Renteria said making himself accessible to the public. “I meet with the victims. I go county to county and sometimes it is hard to balance that time. It is not that easy all the time. You might offend people.” He spoke to the job having peaks and valleys and his role would not be to make friends with the law enforcement. “I have to check them and make sure they are doing things the right way and following the laws. Making sure they are not bending them.” This had created conflict and has been the nature of the beast.
What are the predominant types of cases you see in our court system?
Crimes have become more violent. Renteria said he had seen a lot of homicides. He had been born and raised in Deming and could not remember a time when they had so many violent crimes. In general, they have too many drug cases. “Drugs are prevalent everywhere, and you have to take a strong position on that.” He added that taking a strong position didn’t mean you had to max them out on the sentence. “We are supposed to be about justice, not convictions. If it were that it would be unethical.” He stressed the law and rules had to be followed and not making it about convictions. “Our office is only one cog in the machine.”
Wheeler said the most insidious crime that happens here has been drugs. “How many of you have had a friend or family member that has been negatively affected by drugs?” He gave the example of drugs having been like throwing a rock in the pond and the effects ripple out. Drug traffickers cause addicts and addicts steal things to pay for those drugs. They rob people and burglarize homes. Drugs have become the scourge of the district. “I am not confusing addicts and drug traffickers. It does not mean that if someone is convicted, they get the maximum sentence.” The legislature has implemented mandatory penalties because of some crimes being so insidious. Drug trafficking has a mandatory first-time conviction of probation to nine years. The second offense the legislature made it mandatory for eighteen years in prison. The current DA office has taken the second offenses and instead of going to trial on them, they have reduced the sentence.
Ogle had a question for the candidates. What is your opinion of the current state of the district attorney office as far as the level of staffing, caseloads, staff morale, etc. ? What changes would you make if elected?
Wheeler could not speak on the caseloads because he didn’t have access to that information. In the past he himself had up to 160 cases along with 35-45 detention hearings a year. He had and would bring in an expert to look at the flow of the office and how everything had been working and what needed to be done to improve the process. He noted that he had not seen some attorneys in the district go to trial in the last four years but applauded one that had done a murder trial successfully. “There are two types of attorneys, ones that work hard not to prosecute and ones that work hard to prosecute. I want the second kind in the 6th.”
Renteria addressed staffing. He currently had ten prosecutors full time and two that contract with them. He checked the case load and said, “We have 1700 active cases, an average of 140 per attorney.” He had gathered information on detention hearings they have had 46 in the fical year, being July 1, 2023, to June 1, 2024, in Luna County. Grant County had 51 and Hildalgo County had 6. They had a success rate of 75 percent to hold them. He said different judges, same presentations have different outcomes. He gave an example of two similar cases in Deming and Silver City.
Siebel said this had been a very common question from the audience. As the district attorney do you think it is important that you prosecute your own cases in certain situations?
Renteria thought it would be important but added that many times conflicts come up. He gave some examples. He had a sheriff deputy involved in a high-speed chase that resulted in the death of an infant. He had coached the deputy in high school. It could not be kept in house, and he requested a neighboring DA take the case. In return Renteria said he has done the same for others. “Conflicts come up and it happens a lot.” He continued to explain conflicts and said it was better to just hand them off and avoid them.
Wheeler didn’t disagree with Renteria on this question. However, he said it goes a little farther and can sometimes be with the staff. “We should be handling our own when it can be done but everything has to be done properly.”
Seibel had a stack of questions that he would be using to ask a version. What is your relationship with local police like? How will it impact the way you do your job as DA?
Wheeler described his relationship with law enforcement as good. He referred to endorsements he had received and posted on social media. The endorsements came from the Silver City police department and the Grant County sheriff’s department. He had support from the other counties as well. In 2016 Renteria had sought and received endorsement from the Silver City police department. In 2020 he had sought endorsement from both the Silver City police department and Grant County sheriff’s department and neither one had endorsed him this time, but did endorse Wheeler. The biggest value to these endorsements would be a positive relationship and having straight up communication. The community benefits from this.
Renteria admitted that his relationship with Grant County local law enforcement has been strained but not in the other counties. He had pushed the bar with them. “I don’t make them happy all the time because I want to make sure we are following the law.” He said he had not sought any endorsement; they came to him. In talking to people , he found not having that endorsement had been a positive and people said they would support him because of it. He said there had been a lot of propaganda about him. “It was biased and misleading information about him and was one-sided.” He added again he had not sought any endorsement and thought it would be the wrong thing to do.
As district attorney do you plan to invite law enforcement to your office to staff cases together and what does that mean? What are the advantages and drawbacks?
Renteria said that had been another propaganda thing. The practice in the past, to his understanding, had been to let people in and out. This had concerned him, and they have been let in but in a separate conference room. It happens the same when I visit law enforcement. “I have to wait to be let in.” Law enforcement officers have not been denied coming into the office and conferencing with the attorney. He wanted things tighter and more structured. Some problems have happened between staff and law enforcement, and he wanted to eliminate that. “There is a lot of dynamics at play.” He didn’t want to share the specifics because he wanted to protect his employees.
Short answer, yes. Wheeler quoted Ralf Waldo Emerson. “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you are saying.” He pointed out what Renteria had just said was not true. Renteria sought the endorsement of the Silver City police department and Grant County sheriff’s department in 2020 and they both told him no and they would be endorsing Wheeler. What you find about law enforcement will be they expect district attorneys to tell them the truth. “We can’t lie to them. We have to be impeccable.” He pointed out Renteria said that. “What you do speaks so loudly I can’t hear what you are saying.” After he won the last election the law enforcement officers from both departments had taken out ads in the Silver City Daily Press saying Renteria had lied about the endorsements. Pictures had been taken with Wheeler and some Silver City police officers. Renteria targeted those officers to prohibit them from testifying in trials. He had done a similar thing with a deputy that had done that ad and would not let him testify in a murder trial.
Although it is important for a district attorney to have a good working relationship with police it is also important to have enough distance to hold them accountable when they do wrong. How will you balance that delicate relationship?
“This is a natural flow” Wheeler said he has that relationship in every single case whether it be a law enforcement officer, victim, witness, etc. It would be a natural thing after 42 years of experience. “When you are straight forward and honest with people, they learn that you will not put up with, to be blunt, crap. You will hold them accountable.” Wheeler ended saying some people should not be in the occupations they have chosen.
Renteria said it was the biggest issue in Grant County. “Holding law enforcement accountable turns them away from the ones that are professional, trained and have a degree in the law. It is head butting.” His opponent wants to please and you can’t do that. Renteria said Wheeler had been part of the past regime and the officers didn’t like the change in accountability. The district has ten law enforcement agencies and counting federal they have fifteen. “I’m only struggling with one or two of them because of these issues. It is not across the board.” He added that, “Accountability is the hardest thing to do with people with some kind of authority. I’m not good at appeasing or keeping people happy, it is a struggle.” He felt it to be more honorable to keep the bar high and push it up. “Accountability is one of the things, as far as law enforcement authority is a struggle because it is a mentality that is embedded, and it takes time to change it.”
Ogle had a question for the candidates. She alluded to them both speaking toward endorsements. How important is it to have endorsements? What endorsements have you had?
Renteria said he had not sought endorsements. “I hope my accomplishments would speak for themselves.” He thought it would be a slippery slope because it could be thought of as lobbying and that would be against the law. Renteria said endorsements might mean a lot to some, but he didn’t think he should try to pursue. “It is better to do things right and not try to appease people or try and make them happy.” He reiterated he had not sought any endorsements by law enforcement.
Wheeler said, “If there is any importance it is when a person or entity sees something they think will help the community and have a positive outcome.” He has been proud by Judge Laney’s endorsement. She wrote an amazing letter about why things had to change. She sat as a magistrate judge for two years under this district attorney office. He encouraged people to read that letter that said a change would be needed to straighten things out.
This question came from the online audience. What is your position on law enforcement as victims of crime and the applicability of the victims’ rights act? What do you plan to do to support law enforcement and securing justice for the community?
Wheeler started with an example. Recently an issue has been going in a court case. When watching the body cam evidence two officers went to execute an arrest warrant. The target of the warrant would not come out of the building. Eventually he does come out with a knife and goes after the two police officers at the same time telling them to shoot him. He had been fortunate to not get shot. “Recently in some propaganda Renteria put out he claims that they have expanded their victims’ advocates to include victims of all crimes except police.” Wheeler said police can be attacked and battered but will not be covered under Renteria’s definition of a crime victims act. “Looking at the statue it says if you are a victim of an aggravated assault, which is what the case is that he referred to above, you are entitled to rights under the crimes victim act.” The charges in that case had been aggravated assault against a police officer.
Renteria, “I am astounded you can make an allegation, and it makes it true. Where is the proof?” When he took office, he said he had made it clear to all his staff that, “There is a victim in every crime.” No matter the crime you always have a victim. He started with the technicality of the law and said Wheeler had not been presenting the whole story. Renteria referred to what he had said as “bar bitching”. He continued with some explanation. “I have never said officers were not victims. I said, if you look at the statute it does not fall under the definition. I didn’t write the statute.” He went back to, “Every time there is a crime there is a victim.” He repeated it again. “They need to be supported like any other victim.”
Seibel said he had to look up what the next question he had received meant. As district attorney would you ever Giglio an officer?
When you speak about Giglio in his office Renteria said it would be a very serious step. It means they have a problem with honesty and integrity. He would protect the community. Renteria continued that sometimes officers lie and don’t testify truthfully. He had a drug case when he started, and the defense attorney came to him with a video. They watched the video (body cam), and it didn’t match the report. It had been complete dishonesty, and they would have had problems in court. He said the problem had come up in a few counties. The DA has to be careful taking this step. Once they Giglio an officer it ruins his career. He had addressed these problems with the law enforcement academy to make them aware.
Wheeler agreed with Renteria on this issue. He had said earlier that some officers should not be officers. If not telling the truth, they deserve the consequences. He took it a step further. The same logic applied to attorneys. “Attorneys can’t go into a court room and lie.” It would be a breach of ethics and would have to be reported. “I can’t ignore it. We have to police our own.” He referred to an Illinois case. It had involved an attorney, who had not done anything wrong but didn’t report his friend that had. “People have to be honest, is that so hard? You can’t win at all costs. It is not justice.” Attorneys must be impeccably honest and if not, they need to be turned in.
Siebel announced that the questions had to address both candidates and if their question had not been asked that would be the reason.
This is an audience question with a personal side tag added on by Siebel. I have heard that attorneys have their hands tied because of the law and/or the judges. How do you respond to that way of thinking? Seibel added he had worked with an editor that said you had to do plea deals because juries in Grant County would not convict. What are your thoughts?
Wheeler said he had heard it said by a district attorney he would love to do something, but he didn’t hold the keys to the jail. “The district attorney absolutely holds the keys to the jail. No one goes to jail without movement of the district attorney.” He gave the example of someone shooting someone in the room with plenty of witnesses. To keep him in jail the DA must file a petition. Someone violates their probation; a DA must file a petition and several other examples.
Renteria totally disagreed with Wheeler. He said judges had the authority to jail people and let them out. If the DA’s office wants someone arrested, they have to do an arrest warrant and have it signed by a judge. Law enforcement can arrest people. If he had keys to the jail, he would keep more of them in. “I don’t have that. When you file a petition, you have to have a hearing. At that point the DA must prove they don’t have any conditions to let him out and that has been hard to do. We file petitions but are just not successful sometimes.”
This came from the audience and Siebel said they had not addressed the second part of the last question. What is your opinion on the necessity of trials?
To be straight forward Renteria said if they didn’t have plea deals it would bottle neck the whole system. For him to say he would take everything to trial would be misleading. The hardest part would be proving intent in a homicide trial. Jury instructions and trials will be the most complex and confusing. Juries have a hard time understanding. “Convicting in a trial is a totally different thing.” He would not promise to take every first degree to trial and not reduce the charge. “It is hard to get juries to convict. Plea agreements are a necessity.”
“I would not say you take everything to trial. Some crimes are so insidious and heinous they must be taken to trial.” Wheeler wanted to compare his last murder trial to Renteria’s but didn’t and cited the Grant County cases. An average of 800 felony cases get filed in the 6th judicial district annually. In 2021, eight of those had been taken to trial, in 2022 nine of them went to trial and in 2023 four went to trial. “Trials are tough, but you have to learn how to do them.” He added “you don’t always win but every case you don’t take to trial you will not win.”
This question came from the online audience. Tell us about your relationship with the current judges in Grant County and your thoughts on them.
Wheeler had practiced in four different judicial districts since 2016. “I have seen some fascinating judges.” He believes he has a good relationship with all the judges in the 6th judicial district. He felt this district has been lucky to have the judges they have. They all have their quirks. You must learn how the judge likes to do things. The better you become at reading the judge the better success you have.
Renteria said his relationship with the judges would be one of mutual respect. “I have regard for the position and the people that fill them.” He pointed out something Wheeler had said. He had been at four different districts in four years. “I am thinking wow.” He said again he had not sought endorsements but had received one from half of the DAs in the state and some had been from where Wheeler had worked. Renteria said he heard Wheeler say he had done grand juries in Taos. Renteria said, “That case went south.” The DAs meet quarterly to discuss strategies with the legislature. “I never asked for that endorsement from the DAs. I think it reveals a lot.”
Seibel said he had several questions from the audience about relationships. How important is the support staff in the district attorney’s office to be a successful DA?
“Crucial, vital, no lawyer worth his salt can do anything without having a proper legal staff.” Renteria said, “We have a great group and get better with each year.” He spoke to being like a coach and finding the right buttons to push. “Support staff is the backbone to any law firm.” The DA’s office would be the same as a law firm. He had seen others blame the support staff and he said that should not be done. “I am very fortunate to have the support staff I do have.”
Wheeler agreed with him. “You live or die based on the quality and relationship of your staff.” He added that the other things he had said had been BS concerning the number of district attorneys he knew and supported him. He had not provided anything in writing with anyone’s name on it to substantiate the claim. He had contacted the DA at the 1st judicial district and asked about the endorsement and she had said he had solicited one, but she would not. Wheeler had contacted the DA from the 8th judicial district, and he said he had not endorsed him either. “Let him produce the names.”
The audience had a question. It had to do with quality of the employees in the office. How will you attract and keep quality employees?
Wheeler said you must treat them as human being and not scream at them. “I invite you to speak to the people in the district attorney’s office now.” He had posted a letter of position he encouraged people to read. He has had people asking if he would have openings and he told them to wait until the election. He has worked with some great attorneys that have expressed interest in coming to this district if he would be elected. If the ones here now want to work with him that would be great but ultimately, they will have good attorneys. “I promise you this: we will have attorneys that will go to trial and protect the community.”
Renteria said, “It is interesting to me that my opponent is mentioning the attorneys are safe.” He asked people to look at his social media. Wheeler had posted photos from the spring DA conference of him and some award-winning attorneys and said they would all be welcome to come work for him at the 6th judicial district. His staff had seen it, and he said they didn’t feel comfortable. “It is hard to find good people because of location and how rural we are. It is hard to draw them down here.” Lordsburg had been hard. He has had people that commute, and one did from El Paso. Renteria referred back to what he called propaganda about two lawyers that had recently left. The propaganda had said they didn’t get along and Renteria said, “That is not true. They were just advancing their career.”
Do you believe in restorative justice and if so what kinds of cases do you feel would benefit from it?
Renteria believes in restorative justice. Recently they had used it in a case that had to do with a vehicle accident that resulted in death. He could not remember what highway it had happened on. “We saw the opportunity to put the two together, surviving spouse and accused defendant. It had been healing and positive.” The man who had run into them had been impaired medically. “It was a hard session but, in the end, it had worked out and had helped.” They try and do it with juveniles, but he said it would be a little harder.
Wheeler said, “It is a fascinating term. The goal of every single case is some form of legitimate positive closure. I guess that can be called restorative justice.” This has become second nature after 43 years. It must be part of the consideration in every case. Wheeler shifted to, “He is trying to pit me against the office, and nothing could be further from the truth.” He spoke to the post Renteria talked about. He also brought up that one of the jobs he had quit had to do with the support staff being lazy and out of control. “It is my law license on the line.” He had been called and ask ed what they could do to get him to stay, and he suggested a person come in and evaluate the office and see what they needed to do to fix it, listen and do what they said. It had led to the awards, and he had been there. He said they would not come but they would certainly be welcome.
Seibel said they had received a lot of good questions from the audiences. How will you address the intersection of mental health issues and the criminal justice system? Currently they have efforts to improve the mental health treatment. What is the role of the DA in all of it?
The role of the DA would be not what you would think in this. Wheeler said, “It is an absolute need for the DA to understand and deal with mental illness. People with mental illness should not be placed in jail.” He added it would be a training issue. Officers have to know how to be social workers. When they show up and someone is having a psychotic episode they have two choices, take them to jail or deal with an involuntary commitment. He didn’t think they had done an involuntary commitment since he left. He would retrain the prosecutors on how to deal with those kinds of cases, so they don’t end up in jail. He knew the closure of the behavioral health unit had been a big part of the problem. It can be dealt with, and he had met with Dr. Theresa Arizaga and worked out a way.
Once they lost the behavioral health unit, everyone would agree it had been devastating. Renteria said the first year he had been in office had been when the unit shut down. He had been working with the commissioners to see how they could bring some form of it back. “I know there is a lot of hurdles and impediments with the cost, liability and other things.” Once it went down it impacted the community. He knew of instances when people who needed the help had been driven to Las Cruces. However now they have made it hard to place those people there. The state has been trying to adjust the mental health codes and that will help but without facilities, staff and doctors it will be a false expectation. It will have to go hand-ain-hand to be successful.
Part of the DA’s responsibility is to lobby at the state legislature. Tell us what your plans are for that and what laws you hope to get passed or changed.
Renteria had attended every session, at least half, and said had learned a lot from the other DAs. He used to get lost but now knows the area well and knows where to go and it has been an advantage. The DA should play a role in the legislature. They review the laws coming up and especially the criminal law ones. The DAs split up and go to those hearings and try to be a voice. Sometimes they change when a bill will be heard until 2 am and they still show up. “It is a vital role for us to play and show up and support and fight for the bills that will serve the community.” Some need to be fought for and some against. He pointed out the bail bond reform which had been tweaked and twisted and from what he believed the chief justice had wanted. It had improved some.
Wheeler said currently they have some inconsistencies in the law especially in the area of sex crimes with criminal sexual contact. The felony possession laws have some problems within the statutes. Part can’t be enforced because of how it has been written. He went over one of the statutes he would lobby on. First offense vehicle theft is a fourth-degree felony, a second time it would be a third-degree felony, and a third time would be a second-degree felony. Same thing should happen with felony possession charges. “I am a huge constitutional person. I think certain people should not have firearms.” Wheeler felt they needed to reexamine what has been happening with the detention hearings. He agreed with Renteria on that point. The people had been given some bad information when they voted on an amendment in 2016 to hold dangerous people in jail. The problem, the amendment had been opposite of what it had been labeled. The label of the bill had not been honest.
Although the forum happens in Grant County, the 6th judicial district encompasses three counties and includes Luna and Hidalgo. How will you balance offices in three counties so that all communities feel prioritized?
Currently Wheeler said, “Lordsburg feels like the redhead stepchild of the district.” They had said the investigators had been helpful. It must be a conscious effort to keep it balanced. He has been working in the 3rd judicial district and has had to drive 250 miles a day sometimes. He invited people in 6th judicial district locations that if they feel they have been neglected to contact his office and hold him accountable. He did add that the bulk of cases would be in Grant County so more time would have to be spent here. “A conscious effort just needs to be done to make sure all counties will be equally covered.”
Renteria said the main office has been in Grant County, but he does live in Luna County. He called balancing the three districts a triangle. It entails driving from Deming to Silver City and then Silver City to Lordsburg and Lordsburg to Deming. “I try to do that triangle as much as I can. I wish I could tell you I have it figured out.” Many times, he has things that must be taken care of, and he has not been able to make that triangle. He added that at moment’s notice he could be at any county office within an hour. “I don’t know how to share with you how I have it balanced and figured out. I do what I can to spread it as even as possible.” Wheeler had been right; Hidalgo seemed to always have the shorter end. That would be why “you have to man the offices with people with experience” and he had made that happen in Lordsburg. “It is hard to balance, and I am sure all three counties say I am not there enough. It is a lot of area to cover.”
What are your thoughts on rehabilitation programs and prevention in Grant County?
Prevention has always been geared towards making a cut or impact on recidivism. Renteria said it meant reoffenders. They have several rehab programs. He had previously been a social worker and had a bachelor’s degree and worked for CYFD (Child Youth and Families Department) and as a JPO (Juvenile Protection Office). He had also worked as a school counselor and truant officer. He had many experiences he felt helped him tune into that aspect of his job. He went over the programs they had done. “I am proud of what we have implemented and have been trying to.”
“The best prevention program is for the DA’s office to get involved with people’s lives earlier.” Wheeler wanted to do some kind of outreach into the school system. He spoke to doing outreach and prosecuting at a misdemeanor level instead of waiting until people have started committing felonies. The public defender’s office does represent people at the misdemeanor level and the system has missed out on that. The best way to prevent things is to be held accountable and monitor their rehabilitation. If they wait until they have committed a serious crime the community will suffer. “We need to get involved sooner, involved more consistently and help.” Wheeler quoted some statues for the DA’s office and counseling services did not appear in them. People need to be referred to professional councilors.
This has been a politically polarizing moment. What does it mean to you to be running as a candidate for the party you are registered in? What does it mean to be registered as a member of that party? What does that mean in the context of being a district attorney?
Wheeler said, “I believed a political party is a label.” Most prosecutors generally lean to be conservative. “I believe that this is a community safety issue, and I want the entire community to make a decision as to the qualifications of who is going to represent them as a DA.” He wants the entire community to be involved in the process.
Renteria thought it was an interesting question. The last run, the campaign before, he had presented at numerous forums. He thought that judges and district attorneys should be non-party affiliated. The job would not be political. When voting for a senator you have the right to know where they stand on political issues. “For a DA that does not apply. We are tasked with the job of enforcing the law.” He had noticed this year on campaign signs they do not have the party they represent. “I am old school and have been a democrat for 42 years I know the values and things my parents raised me on were pretty moderate. Changing from one party to another party and then saying well it’s a total contradiction. To me it is looking for that edge.” He thought people should pay attention to that. He said he had never said they were a counseling service or mentioned counseling at all.
Seibel wrapped up the forum with the time machine question. If you win and we are back here in four years, what accomplishment would you be most proud of from the past four years?
Renteria hoped he would have a solid base of people who would be in the fight and cause at his office. Solid base meant well experienced and well trained. He wanted to pass the baton on with measurable performance. It would leave the next DA in a good position. Laws change and things evolve so need to be flexible. “You never vacate or let the line in the sand be erased, you always have to be maintaining that line of properness and doing what is right.” He went over the job and what needs to be done.
Wheeler said in four years, there would no longer be a city in the 6th judicial district in the top ten most dangerous cities in New Mexico.
The candidate gave their closing statements.
The easiest way to contact Wheeler would be to go to www.wheeler4da.com. It has phone numbers to call and links to send him emails. He said a question that didn’t come up that he wanted to answer he would address. The facts that came out in the Grant County Beat he wanted people to know where they came from. They came from IPRA (inspection of public records act) demands. Subject to the IPRA. they had recovered three EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission) complaints filed against his opponent One he had paid off $40,000 which had been taxpayer money. Wheeler heard there had been one more. Someone at Renteria’s office has now filled an EEOC complaint against him that he had not divulged. Wheeler had filed an IPRA for that information and some others and had been told it would take until November 4, 2024.
Renteria want to share that you try and keep personnel records private and confidential as possible. They have a risk management agency that dictates how a case or claim goes. It would be no different with him and the one Wheeler referenced. The others he spoke to had been dismissed. Risk management comes in and crunches numbers on the cost of a claim. He said for his end he had not done anything wrong. “Risk management had been a big player in the settlement one. They put pressure on you to consider getting rid of it and settle even though you did nothing wrong.” The agency had put pressure on to settle. He gave the example that when you come into a new office not everyone will be happy and will be disgruntled. He said the articles had been one-sided and by a supporter. “She is not a journalist. If she was, she would have called me and asked me my response. It never happened.” He can be contacted at
