Judge denies mayor’s motion to dismiss lawsuit

Judge Bryan Biedscheid denied Friday the motion filed by Gurule-Giron’s attorney Carlos Quiñones. Gurule-Giron was not in the Santa Fe courtroom.

The lawsuit, filed in late March by Las Vegas City Councilors David Romero and Barbara Casey, alleges that actions taken by Gurule-Giron are “not in compliance with provisions of the Municipal Charter.”

At issue is the employment of City Clerk Casandra Fresquez. In February 2019, Gurule-Giron sought to remove Fresquez from her role as city clerk. Gurule-Giron then placed Fresquez on paid administrative leave, which the suit contends was done “inexplicably.” At a special meeting in late February, the council voted 3-1 against a proposal to remove Fresquez.

However, Fresquez was not allowed to return to work, and when city councilors questioned why, Mayor Gurule-Giron allegedly said she had no intention of allowing Fresquez to return to work and that she would remain on paid leave “indefinitely.”

Councilors Romero and Casey are representing themselves in the lawsuit and are asking the court to issue a declaratory judgment, a legal judgment where the court determines the rights of parties, but does not order an action or award damages.

In court Friday, Quiñones argued the suit should be dismissed because he contends that Romero and Casey are acting as individuals, not as city councilors.

“The petitioners, as two individual city residents, have no standing to bring this declaratory judgment of action,” Quiñones told the judge.

Quiñones further argued that the Las Vegas City Council had no authority to go forward with the lawsuit under the Municipal Charter or New Mexico law because they are acting as two individuals, not on behalf of a quorum of city councilors.

Judge Biedscheid asked Romero and Casey why the lawsuit hadn’t been filed by a majority or quorum of the council. Casey responded that the council didn’t want to violate the state’s Open Meetings Act by having three or more councilors meet in private. She also said the council had asked the city attorney to provide guidance, but the request was blocked by Gurule-Giron.

“The mayor stopped her,” Casey told the judge. “Further, the mayor said, ‘If you don’t like what I’m doing, take me to court.’ That’s why we’re here.”

Casey said the suit was essentially about the mayor’s abuse of power.

“The council has not been able to place anything on the agenda,” she said. “The mayor controls all agenda requests. She has not honored any requests for any of the councilors to place anything on the agenda for the last four years, and we have not been able to bring up issues that are of importance to our community.”

Judge Biedscheid asked Casey to clarify whether she and Romero were suing Gurule-Giron as individuals or as city councilors, and whether they were suing Gurule-Giron as an individual, or in her capacity as mayor.

“We are bringing this forth as councilors, and we are suing the mayor in the capacity as mayor,” Casey responded.

In his ruling, Judge Biedscheid denied the motion to dismiss the suit, but did require the caption, or introductory clause, of the suit to be amended to note that Romero and Casey are acting as city councilors, and that they are suing Gurule-Giron in her capacity as mayor.

Judge Biedscheid also ruled that Fresquez and the other city councilors must be served a copy of the petition so they can provide input if they wish.

At Judge Biedscheid’s suggestion, Quiñones agreed to draft the order and submit it to Romero and Casey for review within 14 days. The judge granted Romero and Casey five business days to review and respond to the draft.

Romero and Casey told the Optic they were pleased with the judge’s ruling.

“I’m very happy,” Casey said. “It’s not easy going up against an attorney that has about 20 years experience.”

When asked about the six felony charges filed against Mayor Gurule-Giron in connection to an ongoing investigation into allegations of bid-rigging, fraud and abuse of power, both Romero and Casey said Gurule-Giron should resign immediately.

“It’s an embarrassment to the community,” Casey said. “It’s a disappointment to the community, and it’s a shame that taxpayers are the ones suffering for the actions that the mayor has taken.”

“The important part,” Romero said, “is the details in the attorney general’s report. What worries me is there’s other individuals — I think — that were involved in this, and that’s something that should be looked at.”

Casey said citizens of Las Vegas should know that the business of the city will continue regardless of the mayor’s legal troubles.

“The council has been thinking about ‘what if,’ and we’re at that point right now,” Casey said. “We already have employees in every department that can take over and do what needs to be done if other people involved with the wrongdoing are removed.”