Legitimate Recall Petition or Harassment?

A petition for the recall of Sandoval County Commissioner Katherine A. Bruch was filed by John Veltri, the leader of the New Mexico Election Transparency Network, asking the courts to rule that the recall action be permitted to proceed.

The acts that were cited were three issues wherein Commissioner Bruch apparently voted against the wishes of Mr. Veltri.  That is not a valid cause of action to file a petition for recall.   As stated by Judge Perez in his Order:

“The facts presented by Petitioner are insufficient to show probable cause that Commissioner Bruch committed malfeasance in office, or misfeasance in office or violation of her oath of office, as those terms are defined in the Recall Statute ….”

Elected officials at every level vote every day on matters before them.  Not everyone agrees with those votes.  If enough people disagree with their elected representative’s votes, they may vote that person out of office at the regularly scheduled elections.  Commissioner Bruch was elected by an overwhelming majority and re-elected with a large majority.  Clearly, the majority of her constituents approved of her performance in office.  And clearly one cannot engage in a recall just because they disagree with that elected official’s votes.

There is not a County Commission meeting that goes by without attacks on Commissioner Bruch from members of Mr. Veltri’s group.  To be fair, this group has also attacked Commissioner Jones, a US Airforce Veteran, with one person calling him a traitor.  And Commissioner Heil has also come under attack for essentially upholding the State laws that supersede Sandoval County ordinances.  We may disagree with Commissioner Heil’s votes on certain issues, but clearly his constituents have supported his positions by electing and re-electing him to office.

So, the question is:  was this legal action just another baseless attack?  One does not need to be a lawyer to read definitions of words and understand their meaning.  This action had no validity from the start.  When you disagree with your representative’s positions, you can vote for another candidate or run for office yourself.  You cannot try to remove them with frivolous legal actions.

The Democratic Party of Sandoval County (DPSC)