[Editor's Note: This is the seventh of a series of articles on the June 11, 2024 Commission meeting and the June 13 regular meeting. It continues the work session review of the regular meeting agenda and decisions made at that meeting.]

Photos and article by Mary Alice Murphy

The June 11, 2024 Grant County Commission work session continued with the review of the June 13, 2024, regular meeting.

The only elected official report at the regular meeting came from Sheriff Raul Villanueva. He commended everyone who had responded to the Rodeo Road fire on June 1. "Fortunately no one got hurt. We did have an evacuation plan in place, and the (Grant County Veterans Memorial Business and) Conference Center was open for evacuees. Law enforcement knocked on doors to tell people they needed to evacuate. I commend staff for putting their lives on the line every day. I also commend Deputy Mize for helping save a life at the Mimbres Senior Center."

He said his department was getting ready for the rodeo and to participate in crowd control. "A lot of activities are happening and it keeps my guys busy."

With no other elected official reports, the commissioners approved the minutes at the regular meeting. They also approved the expenditure report.

Under new business, during the review of the agenda at the work session, Procurement Officer Veronica Rodriguez presented the trasnfer/deletion report, which recommended sending three vehicles to auction. Commissioners approved the report at the regular meeting.

At the work session, County Manager Charlene Webb continued the review of the regular meeting agenda. The next portion addressed agreements.

The first Agreement A-24-15 considered the work and financial plan with the USDA for Wildlife Services. "You asked to table it, and requested that the contract and not have changes from last year's contract. There were no changes from last year, but sections 4C and 4D have been amended at your request."

She said the new language stated that foothold traps would be used only under certain conditions and M-44 are not being used anywhere in New Mexico. She also said that the actual time reported by the agent does not show his travel time or when he is doing tech assistance.

"Brandon Jones is not making $107 a hour, as alleged, but if you have questions, you should contact his supervisor, Mr. Fajardo," Webb said. "The livestock grazing fee the county receives is transferred from the General Fund to pay for Jones' services. The only taxpayer funding put toward this service is $5,000. It is a federal contract. And Mr. Fajardo did get permission to add the requested language."

At the work session, District 5 Commissioner Harry Browne questioned the contradicting language. He noted that the section 4D language stating the M44s are not being used in New Mexico immediately follows the language that says M44s are being used.

Webb said the language is standardized. "Mr. Fajardo cannot get authorization to change anything. He can only get authorization to add language."

Browne noted it was another example of government being not sensible. "An actual human can see it is internally contradictory. I just feel the government should be able to make modifications. It makes no sense. I appreciate you got the non-lethal language in. My guess is he is not reporting the non-lethal methods being used and is only reporting the lethal methods. Since we don't hear about the non-lethal methods, it looks like they are not using them."

He also argued that if you take the salary and divide it by the number of hours in the report, "it is $107 an hour. It's incredibly frustrating that things haven't been figured out. Why can't APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) and USDA figure it out?"

District 4 Commissioner Billy Billings said: "I think our monkeying with the contract has made it worse, not better. I also want to point out some of the misinformation we heard during public comments, such as 'this is the coolest summer we will ever experience in our lifetimes.' I also would ask Glenn Griffin to quit heckling me. I could go on with the misinformation, such as this contract is only helping ranchers. I have a ranch, and I could do without Wildlife Services. Brandon Jones is the one who got the lion that killed a human in Pinos Altos several years ago. He has gotten lions that were in the Mining District. Otero County got rid of Wildlife Services and it hasn't worked out well for them. Now they can't get it back in. A resident of White Signal had a bear in a tree that scared them. Brandon told them to put their dogs in the house or garage and the bear would leave. They did so and the resident told me the bear left. Brandon spends a lot of time outside of going places. We've spent a lot of minutes this morning listening to misinformation ."

District 1 Commissioner and Chair Chris Ponce noted that the commissioners, when Javier "Harvey" Salas was still commissioner, "we took out the M44s and foothold traps. I understand what commissioners Browne and Billings are saying, but the state passed Roxie's law which bans M44s and foothold traps on public land. It says in the contract, they will follow all state and federal laws. It may be $5,000 of taxpayer money, but the rest is all from the Taylor Grazing Act fee. Why do we have to go through this every year? If you live in Grant County, you can't expect not to have your house attacked by woodpeckers, same as if you live in Grant County, you can't expect not to be broken into. It's not only ranchers that have damage."

Ponce went on a rant, including when laws go into effect, "you have to let law enforcement know about the situations and let them enforce the law. It doesn't matter if Brandon gets paid 10 cents an hour, they will find something else to complain about. All I can say is, we follow the law."

District 2 Commissioner Eloy Medina agreed the contract is a "hot topic. In part D, it talks about public lands. Do private lands have anything?"

Webb said Wildlife Services does not use M44s on any land. She noted the Taylor Grazing Act fees go to the federal government from the use of government grazing allotments, then through the state "to us. We have no control over the fees or their amount. Every contract we've gotten this year has gone up in price. Mr. Fajardo told me this contract went up less than anyone else."

She said the county expects about $18,000 from Taylor and then $5,000 transferred from the General Fund, and about $7,000 from a roll over of what was not used last year. "We've been rolling over every year."

Medina asked what would happen if the contract were not approved.

Webb said the county would be responsible for handling predators and the like. "Otero County tried it and it blew up in their face."

Medina said it could have an impact on Grant County citizens.

Billings said: "Not to belabor the issue, but I'm familiar with what will happen if you let people take things into their own hands. If someone calls a trapper, he may kill more animals. It's better to kill one animal, so as not to disrupt the balance of nature. I don't want to see people take responsibility. More lions and coyotes will be killed. I think Brandon does a good job. I do have concerns about disconnects with the higher-ups."

Commissioners tabled the issue at the regular meeting.

The next article will continue with discussions and decisions on the other agreements, resolutions and bids and requests for proposals.

To read the previous articles, please visit: https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-part-1; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-part-2 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-part-3; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-part-4 ; https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-and-reg-mtg-061324-part-5; and https://www.grantcountybeat.com/news/news-articles/grant-county-commission-work-session-061124-and-reg-mtg-061324-part-6