Central issue on Gila diversion is ignored

By Bill Hume / Albuquerque Resident

PUBLISHED in the Albuquerque Journal: Monday, January 19, 2015 at 12:02 a.m.

http://www.abqjournal.com/528264/opinion/central-issue-on-gila-diversion-is-ignored.html

When it comes to the Gila River issue facing the New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, the Albuquerque Journal is focusing more on a side show than on the reality at the center.

Instead of offering information and opinion on the ISC's deliberations on what, if anything, should be done in carrying out this state's options under the Arizona Water Rights Settlement Act of 2004, it has focused on maneuverings cynically undertaken only to divert resources and attention from the real questions.

Norm Gaume, a former ISC director, filed a lawsuit alleging violation of the Open Meetings Law in an effort to stop the ISC from making any decision before a deadline at the end of last year. It was a brazen attempt to win the game by stopping it on a technicality until the clock ran out.

When the court didn't go along, the ISC sought costs from Gaume.

The Journal ran an opinion column by writer John Fleck making clear that he thought Gaume's claim might have merit and the ISC move was designed to stop citizens from seeking redress under the Open Meetings Law.

Then came "Stream commission's suit a slap to transparency" (Jan. 10), an editorial pile-on written solely on the basis of the opinion column that had already castigated ISC for its move.

Clearly, environmental interests unsure of their ability to block Gila River water harvest proposals on the merits of the underlying ecology were Gaume's silent partners in his thwarted move to win by legal filibuster.

The Journal should search its legal advertisements and news stories for an open meetings notice by any subcommittee of any entity of local, county or state government. It has always been generally recognized that subcommittees aren't subject to notice of meetings. It will find, however, countless stories describing major financial or policy decisions formulated in subcommittee for action by the parent body.

Of course, the Journal doesn't know first-hand what has gone on over the years among the Gila subcommittee, the commission itself and environmentalists, because it only sends somebody to report on ISC meetings when someone tells them something controversial is coming up.

ISC has worked very diligently to conduct a decision-making process that is open to anyone who wishes to participate. Representatives of the environmental community have been involved all along.

Perhaps the paradox of the watchdog Albuquerque Journal chiding a government agency for attempting to recover taxpayer funds spent unnecessarily needs no further discussion.

One thing seems obvious: the Journal should lead in seeking a binding answer to the question posed by Gaume's lawsuit. Every Open Meetings-compliant public body has a vital interest in the outcome.

I must observe that having worked with the ISC and its staff in my tenure in Santa Fe, I found them to be among the most ethical and public interest-motivated people with whom I have ever been associated. Having worked many more years at the Albuquerque Journal, I would say the same of my former colleagues there. Concluding the Journal has been duped is the most charitable analysis I can put on its conduct in this matter.

And there is a hanging chad concerning the lawsuit: The Journal raised holy hell years ago when former State Sen. Manny Aragon represented private school bus companies in an action against a state agency. Aragon, it was argued, held legislative authority over the state agency and so it followed that he could not ethically be an advocate in a legal action against that agency.

Why, then, no concern about House Minority Leader Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, representing Gaume against the ISC?

This debate should have been focusing on the benefits of additional water balanced against the ecological consequences of harvesting that water. Instead, the real issue has been obscured by cynical pettifogging. The people of New Mexico deserve better from New Mexico's leading news source.

Bill Hume is a former Albuquerque Journal editorial page editor.

Disclaimer: This news source owner knows this letter writer and respects him. This opinion piece was found in a web search.