Sunshine is a foreign idea in Sunland Park

Heath Haussamen

NMPolitics Heath Haussamen - The N.M. Open Meetings Act requires that anyone who wants to be let into a public meeting of a government body be allowed in. Here’s the provision in the law: “… all persons desiring shall be permitted to attend and listen to the deliberations and proceedings.” By all appearances, the Sunland Park City Council tried to make that happen during its search for a new mayor. Councilors postponed one meeting after it got rowdy because there were too many people to fit in the room. They found a bigger venue. But their attempt to involve the public still failed. Police blocked the entrance to the larger room at least 30 minutes before the meeting started because the room was full. Many Sunland Park residents and others weren’t allowed to attend the meeting. Among those kept out were at least two residents who wanted to ask the council to consider appointing them mayor. Absent those choices, the city council appointed 24-year-old Javier Perea, who showed up at the meeting with his résumé in hand and walked away with the task of leading the most scandal-plagued city in the state into a new era of ethics and transparency. Read More News New Mexico

Sunshine is a foreign idea in Sunland Park