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January 25, 2012 -

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January 23, 2012 -

Mr. Ortiz's lawyer, Ms. Sanchez Armijo entered a Motion raising Competency and Bind over to District Court. An Order was issued for Competency Determination. Another Order was issued for Competency Evaluation. A Notice for Transfer Order re: Competency issued. A Notice for Title Page Transcript issued.

Translation: At the eleventh hour before this Thursday's trial, a Competency Evaluation in District Court was requested and granted. Papers are headed to District Court to start that process. The ruling will be handed down to Magistrate Court sometime in the next few months and a new trial date will be set probably in about six months.

There could be a lot said about competency, incompetency, the dragging out of the legal process, and the burden placed on witnesses who have to keep adjusting their schedules and lives.

Ortiz Hearing Update - the court documents

Jan 21, 2012 - Former co-op GM loses appeal (D Chieftain)

January 11, 2012 -

Last night's meeting was an irritating and boring replay of the same old trustees hanging on to their power to the detriment of the coop and members. Middle school antics and insults. We will get rid of this mess but it will take the courts and enraged members to do it.

There is an article that you should read in the January 11, 2012 "Chieftain" - "Socorro Electric Co-op trustees deny district meeting proposal". It riffs in a different way on the topic in my last communication which is posted on the "Cynic" in which I give a bit more background on the issue. .

State law 62-15-7 Bylaws reads: "The original bylaws of cooperative shall be adopted by its board of trustees. Thereafter bylaws shall be adopted, amended or repealed by the majority of the members present at any regular annual meeting or special meeting called for that purpose, a quorum being present. The bylaws shall set forth the rights and duties of members and trustees and may contain other provisions for the regulation and management of the affairs of the cooperative not inconsistent with this act."

The bylaws of the Socorro Electric Coop have been altered to make it almost impossible for the members to "adopt, amend, or repeal" bylaws - only the trustees can do so. Such action is "inconsistent with this act." It is also a clear violation of member's rights.

January 10, 2012 Reorg. meeting agenda
January 11, 2012 -press release

Most recent videos

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Voting for officers (17min)
Discussion and approval of attorney contract (13min)

January 8, 2012 -

Dates to note: The SEC Board is going to hold its "Reorganization Meeting" (Election of officers and committee appointments) on Tuesday, January 10, 2012. Since the same trustees are still on the board and in the majority, don't look for any surprises.

On January 26, 2012 at 1 p.m. at the Magistrate Court , 102 Winkler, the trial of Xavier Ortiz is scheduled. Does anyone want to place a bet on the trial actually taking place?

"The Chieftain" has changed its website and in the process deleted the Share function that I used to send a direct link to everyone by email. From now on I will have to direct you all to an article headline on either the www.dchieftain.com or this website. In case it was missed there was a very good write up of the 12/28/11 meeting entitled "Coop hires new attorneys" and the cynic has the tapes of the meeting posted. The law firm has an excellent reputation and extensive experience with coops. I wonder how they are going to react to the Socorro board's antics.

Speaking of antics: The board has made up a bunch of new bylaws knocking down the bylaws passed by the members in 2010 and setting up a ballot for the 2012 Annual Meeting with those infamous "options." Remember those. They are also blocking having "vote by mail" count to the quorum and trying to keep the members from presenting bylaws for a vote. Trustee Wagner tried to get the board to set up Special District Meetings where the members could pass bylaws for consideration at the annual meeting. Pres. Bustamante refused stating that there wasn't time to organize such a meeting although the Annual Meeting could be held any Saturday in April or May. The board set April 14th, the earliest possible date and told Charlie that he should have raised the issue earlier. Two things about this statement - Charlie has been raising this issue for years because of the mysterious change from Annual District meetings to every four years. There are no minutes tracking this change; it just happened and Charlie has been questioning it for almost as long as he has been on the board. The second thing is how fast the infamous "Informational Meeting" of 2010 was set up. Don Wolberg brought up the idea in December, 2009, the board loved it and the meeting was set for March, 2010. It was a two hour rant by Trustee Wolberg explaining that the members didn't know what they were doing when they passed the bylaws in District Meetings that were it be voted on during the Annual Meeting the following month. Only 71 folks including SEC staff members attended this meeting which was put together in less than three months but the members can't have a District meeting!

The members are going to have to rise up again as they did in 2010 and act to get a voting by mail quorum and other safeguards to protect themselves from this board. Some members are talking about drafting their own 5 trustees districts to oppose the one drafted by Don Wolberg and motioning from the floor of the Annual Meeting. There are a lot of things that need to be addressed by the members.

January 8, 2012 press release

Older 2012 news items >>> Here

The seating arrangement at the SEC board.

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Mountain Mail (newspaper) Magdalena News (Facebook) Public library Foodies The Grizz Project Village website My Magdalena 87825 Census fact sheet

NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Mountain Mail (newspaper)
Magdalena News (Facebook)
Public library
Foodies
The Grizz Project
Village website
My Magdalena
87825 Census fact sheet