Roosevelt approves right-to-work notice of intent

PORTALES - The Roosevelt County Commission voted 4-0 to approve the notice of intent for a right-to-work ordinance at Tuesday's meeting following an approximately 30-minute public comment session which featured speakers both for and against the proposed change.

Supporters of the right-to-work ordinance pointed to the increased freedom it gives to workers while opponents said the ordinance would be bad for labor unions.

"Right-to-work is really a union-busting measure. That's all it is to de-fund unions so they can't do what they do," said Brian Tremko, a representative of the Southwest Regional Council of Carpenters.

Tremko also cited a study from the American Journal of Medicine that purportedly shows a correlation between right-to-work states and lower life expectancy.

"There's a direct correlation between good health care, wages, poverty and right-to-work well impact that; it will impact your families," Tremko said.

On the other side Paul Gessing, president of the Rio Grande Foundation economic policy think tank, said that right-to-work policy is one of the major factors for Texas' "juggernaut" economic status.

"All right-to-work means that unions can't demand you pay dues or join them as a precondition of employment. There's nothing out there that's killing unions by preserving workers' ability to choose whether to join or not join," Gessing said.

The ordinance will now come back before the commission at its July 24 meeting for a vote, at which time the public will have the opportunity to give input.

Commissioner Dennis Lopez abstained, citing a need for more information and a desire to reach out to the New Mexico Association of Counties for some advisement before voting.

Also at Tuesday's meeting (all votes 5-0):

• Following an approximately hour-long executive session, the board approved a new contract with County Manager Amber Hamilton.

Hamilton said the new five-year agreement runs through June 30, 2023 and includes a 8.8 percent raise, bringing her annual salary to $92,500 after it was previously increased to $85,000 in 2016.

• The board re-approved a burn ban resolution that was previously put in place in 2014.

Portales Fire Chief Gary Nuckols said, "based on the little precipitation we've had we've still got a lot of dry fuel out there, a lot of hot days ahead of us and we anticipate we'll see fire behavior."

Hamilton said the resolution needs to be re-approved by the commission every 45 days and if the county does receive significant rainfall, a meeting can be called to halt the burn ban.

• The board tabled a decision regarding whether or not the city should join a class action lawsuit regarding the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Act.

Hamilton said the county receives a small amount of money from the federal government each year as a result of the PILT Act and that she and county attorney Randy Knudson need more time to do research before they can give the board a recommendation on whether or not the county should join the class action suit.

• The board approved three separate agreements with the New Mexico Department of Transportation for approximately 46 miles of road improvements in Portales.

The county is responsible for 25 percent of the project costs - about $344,000 - and NMDOT will pay the remaining 75 percent - around $1.03 million.

• The board renewed the county's contracts with Randy Knudson of Doerr & Knudson, PA for legal services and Tamara Peel for misdemeanor probation and DWI compliance services.

Hamilton said the county will need to go out for procurement of both contracts again next year.