69 Days and Counting…

…Because until all parties have signed off on the new agreement, it’s not done.

• Link to a group of documents assembled by Edgewood residents related to the October 14, 2025 Budget Adjustment Resolution (BAR).
• Link to view the October 14, 2025 Town of Edgewood Commission Meeting during which the Town Commission voted unanimously to approve the BAR. 
• Documents which the Town of Edgewood initially released to explain its abandonment of the Fire/EMS JPA.

Why have I added the tag “forensic audit” to this post? Coming soon, links to a similar BAR done in 2024; approved 4-0 with meeting minutes more significant for what they don’t say than what they do. From 2022-2025, the town was not routinely publishing meeting packets, nor was it routinely utilizing its capability for projecting documents during meetings. 

Meanwhile, the town had accumulated a backlog of responses to citizens’ requests for access to meeting packets information filed under the Inspection of Public Records Act. Reasons for the delays were explained as being due to large IPRA requests arising from the town’s involvement in numerous lawsuits. The backlog of “ordinary requests” was finally dealt with beginning in January of 2026. However, the number of lawsuits appears to be increasing. The “official” record of meetings appears to consist of YouTube uploads/livestreams. The quality of the video/audio in the recordings is variable, although there have been improvements in recent months.  

Edgewood in the news

Local Government at its finest?

This story posted in The Independent on February 14, 2025 features a call for a forensic audit of town finances with a special focus on legal expenses. Also mentioned are a need for new roads standards and the difficulty the town is experiencing in fulfilling Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) requests. Another recent story from January 30, 2025 hints at the reasons for the postponement of the Campbell Ranch subdivision appeal as being caused by problems with proper notification of the January 30 public hearing as well as appellants experiencing problems obtaining information in a timely manner.  

My thoughts: Edgewood voters were promised more transparency if they approved a change from a Mayor and Council form of government to Commission Manager. Unfortunately, the town has failed to deliver on these lofty promises during the four years which have gone by since then. The town’s website is a mess. It looks pretty on the surface, but the contents are hard to find and important documents are missing. This state of affairs forces the public to use IPRA to get access to what should be routine information. 

The town has initiated, joined in, and has become the target of an unprecedented number of lawsuits during the past four years. This has diverted money in the budget away from basic services and has increased the burden on town staff to supply documentation regarding these numerous legal adventures. What does the Commission propose? Improve the website, reduce its litigation profile? Neither. They propose to spend money to pay someone else to do the work of town employees.  

The town needs new road standards? Perhaps it would save time and money if the town staff would simply have a look at what is already on the books and see if/where changes are needed.  The “de novo” approach will cost more money and take more time.    

Work smarter or work harder? After 25 years (yea us we threw ourselves a big party) the town government still can’t properly advertise, conduct, or follow through on a simple subdivision hearing? Hint: The office of the New Mexico Attorney General has information designed to help local governments with these important tasks. It’s public information, free to download at the NMAG website, and the language is accessible to the average reader.