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. 

14 Days and Counting…

  …Because we still have at least five days until the ordinance ratifying the Fire/EMS JPA which was passed last night becomes effective. I say at least five days, because last night’s vote becomes valid only after the ordinance has been signed. Commissioner Rariden did state last night that it was his intention to do so immediately following the meeting. 

Last night’s meeting yielded some interesting comments both from the public and Commissioners: 

• Despite several requests from Commissioner Rariden to use the second round of comments during the public hearing only for remarks about the ordinance under consideration, most of those commenting merely used the opportunity to peddle their own agendas. 
• This included three former town officials who ought to have known better, but their behavior serves as a partial explanation of why things went so wrong with the Commission/Manager government from its beginning in 2022.  
• It is a good sign that the calls for a forensic audit of the town’s finances will continue.
• Commissioner Taylor’s remarks near the end of the meeting indicate to me that he understands the need for more of the public to be involved in local government, but it is also clear that he does not understand the inherent difficulties in governing commuter towns in general and Edgewood in particular.  
• He has a lot to learn, and his self-proclaimed disdain for government won’t be helpful.  

18 Days and Counting…

…Because some of the Town Commissioners are betting that once Mike Rariden leaves, the town government will be able to resume the grifting that led to the collapse of the Fire/EMS JPA. 

• Will Rariden’s replacement be another independent thinker, or will the Commission install a sock-puppet willing to barter the town’s future in return for the power over other people and their money that goes along with the position?  
• Their gamble is that most of those who showed up to protest their plan to cobble together a DIY Fire Department will be mollified by the new JPA, go back to their daily routines, and allow the Town Commission to return to its regular programming. 
• Will their assessment be correct?
• Is Edgewood ready to begin a new chapter, and like the group which has formed around the concept of Reboot Edgewood, start thinking seriously about the future and the tough choices that will be required to get us there?

32 Days and Counting…

 …Because even the scanty early minutes available at the town website reveal the extent to which newly formed Town Commission made a habit of governing by a series of dodgy Budget Adjustment Resolutions, law-fare, and closed sessions. 

• When the money to cover legal fees and vanity projects started running low, someone’s covetous eyes landed on all that money which had been budgeted for the Fire/EMS JPA. 
• From there it was an easy step to concoct excuses as to why that money should not be going to the county when the Town Commission had its own ideas about how to run the town. 
• The Fire/EMS JPA is arguably the single most important of the town’s budget items because Edgewood has neither the tax base nor the institutional depth required to provide Fire/EMS services on its own. 
• The arrogance displayed by town officials in imagining that the town could not only stiff Santa Fe County by not paying for services received, but could duplicate services in a matter of months is astounding.  
• The collapse of the JPA has, at least for now, served as a wake-up call to Edgewood citizens to start paying more attention to town government. 

51 Days and Counting…

… Because in 2021 a group of soon-to-become Town Commissioners said, “Vote for us and stop the train wreck!” Turns out they were the train wreck disguised as a Federalist debating society that opens its meetings with a prayer and two pledges. 

Remember that Locomotive Flying off Into the Chasm from those campaign flyers? It was a powerful image and no doubt swayed the vote, but today it looks more like an instance of unintentional prediction. 

• One person said to me after the collapse of the JPA became public, “If the town had bought out EPCOR, all that would have happened was that we’d be paying our water bill to ourselves instead of a foreign corporation, and the employees would get new shirts with the Town Logo. Losing our Fire/EMS services, now that’s a real train-wreck!” 
• In the town’s early days, Council meetings were heavily attended even when the agendas were routine. The Community Center was a place where you could meet a variety of people from the different groups that make up Edgewood. After the meetings, the best discussions happened in the parking lot. Very often the discussions ended with a handshake and a civil agreement to disagree before we got into our vehicles to take different routes home. 
• That doesn’t happen much any more. Instead we have social media as the playing field where people don’t talk to each other, they talk past each other. The more proficient users have recruited proxies that start different sub-groups which act as “agree and amplify” repeaters. It’s not all that difficult to map the virtual terrain or even to ID those using fake names. 
• Those tactics are effective at getting people elected, but all too often those who are best at campaigning turn out to be not so good at doing their jobs once elected.  
• There are even indications of who may have created the flyer which mysteriously appeared inside the meeting chambers on April 28. 
• That flyer had a faux town logo, a “dummy” QR code and was made up of an amalgam of stock photos and a bunch of “boo you” scare taglines. “AI slop put together by amateurs!” was one of the reactions I’ve seen. Another, more common reaction, was “Good grief, my tax dollars are paying for that frivolous BS???”
• The sad part: someone may have tricked the town into a violation of the Governmental Conduct Act (GCA) and left one or more employees to take the blame. 

Letter: Leadership, infrastructure and the future of Edgewood

Having been away from Edgewood for a large part of the past few years, I was disappointed to return and find that many of our roads have not been getting timely maintenance and are in poor condition. My neighbors are complaining about road improvements taking place in places where there are few houses, while they eat dust year after year. However, if you watch the town meetings you will hear a series of  glowing reports on road  projects. When mis-steps are acknowledged, they are accompanied by a series of lame excuses. 

At what point will Edgewood residents demand that its town government stop the hype and start dealing with reality? Former Town Councilor and Mayor Pro Tem, John Abrams, offers his thoughts in a recent letter to nm.news. Abrams is one of a very small group of town officials in Edgewood’s relatively short history as an incorporated municipality who has the ability to think long term, and who doesn’t try to exploit the town for personal gain. As such he is not popular with Edgewood’s cargo cult faction. Nevertheless, at several critical points, Abrams has been called on for help when Edgewood’s flashy promoters failed to complete important projects.

Rhetorical Blunder: When prevarication goes wrong.

Spoiler Alert: Quite a few recipients of the SaVe SoutH MounTaiN postcard mistakenly assumed it was the product of EMPAC. In order to get the full flavor of the effort, you had to visit a website featuring pulp-fiction scare p**n, and asking for readers’ contact information without disclosing who it is who is asking. I do not recommend downloading any material from the site given the lack of identifying information.  

One of the foundational assumptions of classical rhetoric has long been that unless it is founded on truth, rhetoric is at best useless— and at worst harmful. The prevarication is the flaw that makes the postcard and its associated website such obvious examples of bad rhetoric. 

The premise that South Mountain is in danger, or that it is “ours” is ridiculous. South Mountain is owned by Campbell Farming. It is technically within Edgewood boundaries, but the process which led us to that point was anything but straightforward. In fact, it lies adjacent to lands bordering North 14 and few, if any actual Edgewood residents have access to or use of South Mountain. How many residents know or care who governs the privately owned land of South Mountain? Edgewood residents already have an abundance of walking trails and open space on Sections 16, 32, and 34. There are more future trails identified in the town’s Comprehensive Land Use Plan. 

The actual worth of the provision in the agreement between the Town of Edgewood regarding future development plans can be evaluated by looking at South Mountain on a topographical map: it is not now and never has been suitable for extensive development. The “highest and best use” of South Mountain always was, and likely always will be as open space. That would have been the case even if Edgewood Town government never came into being, Today, the one pending “minor” subdivision application does not involve South Mountain. 

The “outsiders” referred to at the SaVe SoutH MounTaiN website are our neighbors and many of them shop in Edgewood, which makes it possible for Edgewood residents to enjoy lower property taxes than would be the case if our Gross Receipts Taxes didn’t largely fund the town. One of the most frustrating things about the version of Edgewood which came into being with incorporation is its historical political instability coupled with a propensity for shooting itself in the foot at critical junctures. 

In the usual way of such things in these times, the persons responsible will eventually be doxxed on one social media platform or another. It is only a matter of time. Meanwhile, the Town of Edgewood Planning & Zoning Department  is responding to the prospect of higher than usual attendance by once again trying to restrict access to the meeting room.  

Confirmed: Edgewood is stuck in a time loop: 2,4,6,8. (Possible scam alert)

If you know; you know. If you do not; you don’t need to. 

Note before connecting: The website called savesouthmountain.org asks for contact information without revealing any solid information about who is asking. 

The mailers have gone out for what appears to be a new organization but one that is certainly carrying a familiar message. I still have the paper mailers paid for by Campbell Ranch proponents as well as opponents from the 2002 municipal elections. 

The Pro-Campbell Ranch message didn’t fare well in the 2002 election which stranded pro-Campbell candidates Brad Hill, Frank Lasky, and Gary Chemistruck in the losing column, and even though it did not immediately end his political career, effectively ended Howard Calkins’ ability to govern. However, a lot of time has passed, and with four of Edgewood’s five Town Commission seats on the ballot for November the campaigning may be interesting. 

Why launch now and not closer to municipal elections? Edgewood’s Planning & Zoning Department mishandled the original subdivision hearing in November, 2024 as well as the March 2025 appeal. Given the significant turnover on the P&Z Commission since the first of this year, there will be a lot of pressure on the town for the May 15 public hearing. Watch for the following possible outcomes on or just before the hearing date: Another postponement/cancellation ostensibly on procedural grounds, a last-minute withdrawal by the applicant, or a failure of the P&Z Commission to assemble a quorum.  

Link added:

I've placed a link to the web page of the Moriarty-Edgewood School District in the Outside Links list in the sidebar. The website contains contact information and is updated regularly with news about meetings and activities. 

Civic Involvement Part 3: The Legal Context

It is helpful for citizen advocates to keep the full legal context in mind when preparing to meet with town staff or speak at a meeting. In this post, I'll share some tips I've learned from watching what works and what does not. The second post in this series covered the general context of how the town operates with regard to legal issues, budget matters, and adopted policies. When focusing on the legal context, you'll want to keep the following hierarchy in mind because there are laws which supersede local ordinances and may place limits on the town's discretion to act in certain matters. 

1. The Constitution of the United States of America plus applicable federal statutes, case law and regulations;
2. The Constitution of the State of New Mexico plus applicable state statutes, case law and regulations;
3. Ordinances of the Town of Edgewood, New Mexico plus adopted resolutions and relevant court orders;
4. Town of Edgewood Comprehensive Land Use Plan. (This document is advisory; it may be cited as a basis for making decisions but the goals stated in the plan are not legally binding.)

Details published for the second Section 16 public meeting:

A new press release was posted at the town website yesterday.  However, the posting appears to contain a typo; I believe the next meeting will be held in the cafeteria of the Edgewood Middle School on Saturday September 21, 2013 from 10:00 AM until Noon. (The posting at the town website says Saturday September 22.)

Based on input received so far, possible new or expanded* uses suggested include:

1. Educational uses; 
2. Recreational trails and amenities; 
3. Public facilities;
4. Healthcare facilities; 
5. Senior housing; 
6. Economic development in the form of a technology center or business park.

If you have other ideas or would like to provide additional input about suggestions already proposed it's important to attend this meeting. The State Land Office hopes to have an updated Master Plan ready for review and approval by the town within six months of the July signing of the Joint Powers Agreement. 

*Edgewood Elementary and Edgewood Middle School are already located on Section 16.  Although there are no immediate plans to build another high school, the Moriarty-Edgewood School District intends to reserve at least 70 acres, and probably more, for future use.  First Choice medical clinic is planning to build a new facility on Section 16, and various entities are discussing the possibility of renting part of the space to another healthcare provider who would operate an urgent care clinic.  The town already has one athletic field and pavilion located on Section 16 and there is more land held by town lease which could be used for further expansion of recreational facilities.  

Civic Involvement Part 2: Legal and Fiscal Constraints

This post is a revised and updated version of an old post in which I summarized a discussion about ideas brought to the council which ended up going nowhere. One of the misconceptions many people have about the town is that because we voted to incorporate, we are free to do as we please.  It's an idea which is inviting to some, but it's not really feasible; town officials have an obligation to the oath of office in which they affirm that they will uphold the U.S. Constitution, the N.M. Constitution, and the town's own ordinances.

Civic Involvement Part 1: Making Your Case to the Town

This is a revised and updated version of a post originally published on one of my other blogs. It was part of a series of posts designed to help people who are unfamiliar with the process navigate land use matters successfully.  Following the page break, I've listed some things to keep in mind before appearing to speak at a meeting or to give testimony at a public hearing.