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LAS CRUCES 鈥� A prominent government transparency advocate is accusing the city of Las Cruces of unlawfully convening a select committee that conducted public business out of public view for years.

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government has notified the city it believes the city violated its own municipal code and the state鈥檚 Open Meetings Act and called for corrective action.

In December 2020, the mayor at the time, Ken Miyagishima, notified the City Council of a newly formed Public Safety Select Committee, according to documents produced by FOG; but the organization alleges it uncovered evidence that the committee 鈥渆xisted and operated months 鈥� and possibly years 鈥� before such notice was provided to the City Council, and that it was previously referred to as the 鈥楥ommunity Mitigation Committee鈥� or 鈥楶ublic Safety Committee.鈥欌��

In a letter from Executive Director Christine Barber, FOG alleges Miyagishima and other former officials referred to the select committee as active during council meetings and in email correspondence in the 12 months before Miyagishima issued the formal notice establishing the body.

The committee might even have existed in some form for several years. In materials from her 2023 mayoral campaign, former City Councilor Kassandra Gandara stated that the city 鈥渆stablished its Public Safety Select Committee in December 2015 to address issues related to safety and well-being in our community.鈥�

FOG claims the select committee met outside of any public proceeding until 2023, without notice or public participation, yet evidently 鈥渕ade substantive policy determinations in closed meetings and, in at least one instance, prevented rejected policy proposals from reaching the full City Council for public consideration.鈥�

In 2022, FOG alleges the committee nixed a proposal for a citizen police review committee in private and then scuttled discussion of the matter in open session.

Participants in the committee, according to the mayor鈥檚 December 2020 notice, included Ifo Pili, who was city manager at the time; city attorney Jennifer Vega-Brown; councilors Gandara and Gabe Vasquez and his successor, Tessa Abeyta.

All of the officials involved have since left the city. Vasquez left office in 2021 and was elected to Congress in 2022. Miyagishima left office at the end of 2023 and is currently running for governor as an independent. Gandara gave up her seat on the council to run for mayor, losing in 2023 to Eric Enriquez, the current mayor. Abeyta lost a reelection bid in 2023.

As for the nonelected officials, Pili resigned in 2024. Vega-Brown was terminated in 2022 and has since filed a lawsuit against the city, which is pending.

None of the former council members commented for this story.

Did committee make policy?

Miyagishima told the Journal the committee was convened for discussion only and that efforts were made to avoid a quorum.

鈥淎s time went on, we wanted to have a little bit more detail for some of the members that were interested, before we took it before the full council,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was never meant to circumvent any kind of rule.鈥�

That would conform with New Mexico鈥檚 Open Meetings Act and the city鈥檚 Select Committees ordinance of 2020, which allows for such bodies to engage in fact-finding without making policy.

But FOG pointed to an email from the city manager鈥檚 office in 2023, calling the committee 鈥渁n integral part of the policy-making process.鈥�

Moreover, FOG said it reviewed council agendas and minutes from 2019 to 2025 and found the select committee did not make presentations or submissions of facts or advice, yet evidently engaged in activities such as drafting ordinances, requests for bids on police auditing services and acted as a gatekeeper, vetting policy suggestions and drawing parameters for public discussions on matters involving police uses of force, mental health assessments for officers, law enforcement, gun safety and more.

FOG also cited statements made by Vega-Brown and City Clerk Christine Rivera in public sessions suggesting the committee discussed potential litigation, attorney-client matters and unreleased audit reports.

In that capacity, FOG argues the committee was subject to the Open Meetings Act, and should have conducted itself in official sessions with public notices, public proceedings, agendas and minutes available for the public.

The New Mexico Department of Justice, investigating a complaint submitted by Las Cruces resident Michael Hays, concluded last October that the select committee was not subject to OMA because it was 鈥渃omposed of less than quorum of the public body and (operated) in a strictly advisory or fact-finding capacity.鈥�

Thursday, the city pointed to that disposition letter as vindication against FOG's claims, but Barber said her organization has produced new evidence that the Attorney General's Office had not considered.

The city was forced to produce records about the select committee after Hays won a public records lawsuit against the city in 2024, stemming from his requests for documents about the committee. The city paid him almost $95,000 in fees and penalties.

鈥淔OG did an amazing amount of work,鈥� Hays told the Journal on Friday. 鈥淭hey not only reviewed all of the 500 documents or so, but they looked at the audio-visual of every council meeting and council work session for about three or four years. 鈥� This letter makes it perfectly clear that despite (city attorney) Brad Douglas鈥� denials, there are records showing that the city was not doing what it should have done with respect to the Open Meetings Act.鈥�

Barber called on the city to repeal the Select Committee ordinance, saying it facilitated 鈥渢he creation and operation of committees that conducted public business outside public view.鈥�

The city rejected FOG鈥檚 conclusions, saying the 2025 DOJ findings concluded the matter. Nonetheless, in a statement to the Journal, the city said it might consider a repeal of the ordinance.

鈥淚f the City Council desires, staff will present the issue of whether to repeal the Select Committee Ordinance from the Las Cruces Municipal Code to bolster public trust in transparency and accountability,鈥� the city said. 鈥淎ny decisions regarding the ordinance would take place in an open meeting.鈥�

Algernon 顿鈥橝尘尘补蝉蝉补 is the Journal鈥檚 southern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at adammassa@abqjournal.com.