Tonight’s Town Commission meeting has been cancelled.

Reason given is lack of a quorum due to two Commissioners being out of town and presumably unable to call in. I’ve taken advantage of the lull to catch up on reading. 

First, a brief wrap-up for the previous meeting: 

• It appears that salaries and benefits for two of the three positions mentioned on the agenda have already been accounted for in the budget. 
• The Animal Control position will require some reshuffling of finances. 
• The Commission is still trying to pretend that holding individual Commissioners responsible for remarks made on the record during meetings is not only indecorous, but that attempts to hold them accountable constitute impermissible “personal attacks” which will not be tolerated. 
• Meanwhile, we are waiting to see the Commission’s choice to fill the vacancy in District 5. It seems there is no shortage of applicants, but how many of them are even minimally qualified and live in the district?  

I’ve heard a lot of questions about the so-called “leak” of confidential information regarding the Berrenda Pipeline proposal on social media. 

• The town’s reaction is typical of local government caught out in an embarrassing situation: Discredit the messenger and ignore the pertinent substantive questions raised by the leak. 
• Who leaked the information, by what means, and for what reason?  
• Edgewood’s town government has a long history of shooting itself in the foot; this situation may be nothing more than the nasty intra-factional quarreling which erupted soon after epCorE’s Glorious Revolution of 2021. 
• It is a long, difficult, and expensive road between buying paper water rights and water out of taps; it is way too soon to either fully embrace or reject the proposal.
• When Commissioners characterize legitimate questions as attempted sabotage, then the public has every right to question not only the proposal but the Commissioners’ motives.  

From my current Edgewood-specific reading list:

• This profile of the town’s fifth town manager in five years, Kelly Hamilton, makes for interesting reading. 
• I will leave it to readers to draw their own conclusions, but the latest agenda/packet for the Lodger’s Tax Advisory Board also contains information about the news outlet which published the profile of the current Town Manager. 
• And, last but not least, this July 22 update from Reboot Edgewood helps explain why the questions about the feasibility of returning to county governance continue to gain support.  

Town Commission Agenda and Packet for 2026 08 11

 The agenda and packet for Tuesday’s meeting have been posted at the town website. 

• As has become customary, the agenda features multiple items for the closed session (Agenda Items I.1-4): Two concerning lawsuits (MESD I.1, Bassett I.4) and two land acquisition proposals for a park (I.3) and the proposed firing range site for the Edgewood Police Department (I. 2).
• There are proposals for adding two full-time employees; one for the Police Department and the other for Animal Control. (Agenda items G.1 and G.3)
• There are also proposals to reduce the size of the Economic Development Advisory Board (Agenda item H.1) and another to enter into an agreement between MESD and the town to fund a School Resource Officer (Agenda item G.2)
• Item G.6 concerns filling the vacant District 5 position and the packet includes a proposed set of questions to be asked of applicants.  However, none of them pertain to the specific experience and skills most needed for the position. The question on views about the U.S. Constitution is not new; in the past it has been interpreted as a thinly-disguised effort at inserting a narrow interpretation of partisan politics into town government.
• Agenda item G.5 concerns creating a new position in the financial department. It is not clear from reading the agenda request form whether this proposal would add a new employee or re-assign a current employee.    

Upcoming meetings (updated with links added)

The Agendas and Minutes page at the Town website is currently showing four upcoming Meetings:

• July 8: Two advisory Committees: Parks & Rec and the Economic Advisory group  both of which have posted agendas.
• July 14: Town Commission meeting. [Agenda & Packet link]
• Also on July 14: The Town Commission meeting will be preceded by an informational meeting on the Berrenda Pipeline proposal. [Agenda] 
• July 16: the Planning & Zoning Commission has a preliminary agenda which was posted well in advance of several land use public hearings which appear on it. [Agenda] [Packets: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3]
• My take on the FAQ section at the bottom of the Berrenda Pipeline page is that the language has been curated so as to tease and create a bandwagon effect; it conceals more than it reveals. 
• Based on its past performance and now some chatter from the usual sources, I have little confidence in this governing body’s ability to get past the inevitable hype that always accompanies such proposals.
• While not as immediately urgent as was the Fire/EMS JPA, this proposal could either be a much needed advance for the area, or just another in the long series of the pipe-dreams which have beguiled Edgewood’s Cargo Cult since before 1999. 

Agenda and Packet for 2026 06 23

If the agenda and packet are reliable indicators, it seems that with the public aspects of the JPA fracas behind us, town meetings are falling back into the usual pattern.

• The agenda is fairly short and seems innocuous but with this Commission you never know. 
• Approval of minutes, departmental reports, two closed sessions (water and personnel), and a mystery item called “utility billing presentation,” but as we have come to expect for the past few years there is no supporting documentation in the packet for the mystery item.  
• The important item will be the selection of someone to sit in the coveted seat of “Mayor” which could be routine if they’ve already made the decision, or entertaining if they have not.  
• It will be interesting to see if attendance remains high as it has for the past few months or returns to the usual few sitting in the back. 

Two agendas and the packet for 12/23/2025 Updated

It appears that this event has been cancelled and tentatively rescheduled to Dec. 30, 2025. The first agenda is for the 5:00 pm swearing-in ceremony of newly elected/re-elected town officials. For those who have asked why this takes place before 1 January 2026: State law calls for newly elected officials to be sworn in within a certain number of days following the town’s receipt of the official certifications of election results.  

The second agenda and packet is for the regular 6:00 pm meeting. The items of interest following the consent agenda and departmental reports include:

Item G: which consists of a series of 8 public hearings required to complete several zone changes previously approved by the Town Commission, but for which the Planning Office failed to include the important follow-up of also amending the Town’s official Zone Map. The situation resulted in a situation for property owners akin to a clouded title for a vehicle or real estate. 

Kudos to the town employee who discovered the problem in October of this year and took prompt steps to correct the oversights. Unfortunately, the town incurred more legal fees required for researching the extent of the problem and giving advice on the proper way to correct the situation.  The omission highlights the need for the town to hire qualified employees in all departments. As has been the case for much of the last four years, the new Commission Manager government tried to blame the omission as having been begun during the “The Preeeevioussss Administrashun.” That dog won’t hunt: The blunders first manifested after the change in government.  

Item H: New Business which includes the proposed purchase of new cassettes for the wastewater plant, a change order for the West Venus paving project, and recognition of service for departing Town Commissioner Filandro Anaya. There will also be a discussion and possible action regarding the town’s ongoing problems with meeting IPRA requirements.

Item I: Various legal matters to be discussed during closed session featuring two personnel matters and three of the current suite of lawsuits in which the town is currently involved (Santa Fe County, Campbell Farming Corporation, and Berg et al).  

For those who are concerned about the town’s continuing high legal bills, there are several ways the town can correct the problem by (1) avoiding cronyism and hiring qualified employees, (2) hiring a Town Manager capable of effectively overseeing the activities of each department, (3) electing at least three Town Commissioners who won’t involve the courts in their political differences of opinion, and (4) hiring a legal firm specializing in advising local governments. 

The firm of Robles, Rael, and Anaya served the town well for many years during the tenures of Mayors Calkins, Stearley, Hill, and Bassett. Unfortunately, the first iteration of the Edgewood Town Commission did not appreciate their custom of dispensing prudent legal advice, and so that bridge may have been burned.  

Upcoming Activities: Tuesday January 6, 2026 at 5:00 pm will be an opportunity for the public to meet with Town Commissioners in the meeting chambers at Town Hall.  

Edgewood P&Z meeting: Thursday September 18, 2025

Hat tip to the regular reader of the blog who suggested I take time out from other things to review the latest PZC publication.  

You can download or view the agenda/packet at the town website. The packet for this meeting is more substantive than those published in the past few years. In another change reflective of best practices advice, the town appears to have resumed publishing staff reports in advance of meetings.  

For those whose land use interests include the subdivision process and Edgewood’s early love affair with Master Plan Zoning, this agenda ticks several boxes. It appears that the applicant’s packet is not complete, so I would suggest focusing attention on possible discussion by the PZC regarding a conditional approval of the subdivision application. 

Unlike the Campbell Ranch MP, the Hillcrest MP is governed by the current Subdivision Ordinance despite an attempt in 2011 to persuade the town to allow Hillcrest to also use the 1999-9 Subdivision Ordinance. [Although discussions for approval of the Hillcrest MP had begun during the time when 1999-R was in force, a new zoning ordinance was adopted prior to final approval. The 2011 request to use the 1999-R Subdivision Ordinance was rejected on legal grounds: (1) a newer Subdivision Ordinance had been adopted since the MP was approved, (2) neither the approved Master Plan, nor the Stipulated Settlement Order mention use of 1999-R, and (3) the Zoning Ordinance in force at the time Hillcrest was approved called for subdivision applications being processed according to the subdivision ordinance in force at the time an application was submitted.]

The next regular PZC meeting is scheduled for October 16, 2025. 

Town Commission Agenda & Packet for August 26, 2025

The packet can be viewed/downloaded at the town website. With several items listed for the closed session, it may be a long meeting.

June 24, 2025 Town Commission meeting recap

In no particular order, last night’s meeting was significant in many ways. Former President Ronald Reagan used to tell a joke that started out, “It’s ok, we’re from the government and we are here to help you!” 

• Top billing should go to the Water Utility Ordinance discussion which starts at about 30 minutes into the meeting. Do not worry, dear citizen, about that scary eminent domain language. It’s just in there because that’s the template required by the state government according to Mayor Kenneth Brennan. Linda Burke did add an important qualification: it won’t be used immediately. Passed 5-0 with no substantive discussion. 
• The ordinance isn’t all bad: It lays the groundwork for eventually achieving important goals of former Mayors Bob Stearley and John Bassett by requiring a 40 year water plan, and if properly implemented, would allow the town to sidestep the primary factor which has hindered economic development in the past. If it’s mishandled, the town could end up in yet another convoluted legal morass.  
• In keeping with the current administration’s now familiar habit of proclaiming transparency but doing the opposite, Commissioners had been provided with late breaking changes to the proposed solid waste disposal ordinance which were not made available to the public. Fortunately, due to Brad Hill’s concerns that the language threatens the viability of his widely acclaimed nuisance abatement program, the Commission immediately postponed the hearing pending a workshop on the subject. 
• The solid waste ordinance is going to be unpopular; the version made available to the public was garbage (pun intended), and so I wonder if this was some kind of Trumpian opening gambit designed to make version 2.0 less odious. Nevertheless, it raises the specter of yet another town official hired for overseeing the vital task of monitoring citizens’ feeble ability to manage their own trash. Of course, dumpster snooping will be allowed only by a government-approved Sanitary Officer. Freelance dumpster divers would be subject to prosecution. Penalties for such reprehensible, anti-social behaviors have yet to be determined. 
• The social media policy discussion was hilarious. Its adoption will pit boomer-tier, rulebook grammarians against cyberpunk pranksters. My money says that cyberpunks rule with the eventual outcome being the town’s social media accounts devolving into the pointlessness of a sanitized echo chamber. 
• The evening concluded with the termination of an employee upon recommendation of the Town Manager. 
• It is clear that following the departure of three of the original Town Commissioners from Commission Manager version 1.0, most traces of Edgewood’s vaunted hyper-libertarianism are gone. Version 2.0 sees the Commissioners lining up with only occasional token objections to jumping through the hoops necessary for accessing state and federal funds. Stay tuned: This is an Election Year. Commission Manager Version 3.0 will debut come January 1, 2026. If it contains new faces, then the dynamic will change again. Even so, it is clear that Republican or Democrat, Edgewood is learning to embrace big government.