On June 30, a lively New Mexico Public Employee Labor Relations Board meeting was held in which a State Personnel Office (SPO) representative accused the Board of OMA and PERA violations by the PELRB.
I had previously wrote that the Board had a VERY long agenda for the June 30 meeting, and wondered if it was in error. Well, it turns out Thwait, a mild-mannered yet tenacious slip of a girl, is challenging the Board's practice of publishing notice of its meetings with less than 30 days, as provided for under Section 12(D) of PEBA. In contrast, the N.M. Open Meetings Act only requires "reasonable notice," cf. NMSA 10-15-1(D), which the Sate Attorney General's Office interprets as ten (10) days notice for regular meetings, and three (3) days notice for special meetings, and 24 hours for emergency meetings. See Open Meetings Act compliance Guide (2010).
I had previously wrote that the Board had a VERY long agenda for the June 30 meeting, and wondered if it was in error. Well, it turns out Thwait, a mild-mannered yet tenacious slip of a girl, is challenging the Board's practice of publishing notice of its meetings with less than 30 days, as provided for under Section 12(D) of PEBA. In contrast, the N.M. Open Meetings Act only requires "reasonable notice," cf. NMSA 10-15-1(D), which the Sate Attorney General's Office interprets as ten (10) days notice for regular meetings, and three (3) days notice for special meetings, and 24 hours for emergency meetings. See Open Meetings Act compliance Guide (2010).
However, in light of the recent tension between the State/Governor's office and the PELRB, Member Westbrook asked Ms. Thwait if the Board would likely be sued "if the Board did not do exactly as the State Personnel Office wanted the Board to do." Ms. stated only that she did not have authority to speak on that." See Meeting Minutes. In response, the Board apparently thought it prudent to ratify all prior action taken in the past year.
Thwait also pointed out, as I have previously blogged, that Director Montoya was hired in violation of State law because he had not yet been out of public employment for a full twelve months when re-hired. According to Thwait, Montoya retired effective June 30, and was rehired effective May 25, 2011. Interestingly, no member of the Board, or its AG, offered any response or comment to this defect. As readers will recall, PERA was amended in 2010 to prevent some of the worst "double dipping" abuses.
On a happier note, I have reviewed PELRB files today and can report that Director Montoya is pressing forward full steam ahead, and has beau coup cases scheduled for Status & Scheduling Conference (16), motions hearing (3), or hearings on the merits (3), into the early part of September. Although he is currently out of the office on a Mexican cruise, he clearly intends to do a lot of work upon his return. And, it should be noted, in the month+ since he was re-hired he's also already held 4 status conferences (2 resulted in Posting of Notice of Filing of Representation Petition, the results of the other 2 are unknown); dismissed one case as facially invalid; dismissed one case upon joint motion to withdraw; determined to hold one case in abeyance pending final resolution of the Albuquerque v. Montoya case; and deferred one case to arbitration.
Presumably, the remaining 82 cases pending pending before the Board will be handled equally expeditiously. In the meantime, it will be interesting to see if any losing parties will challenge Director Montoya's orders/decisions at least in part on the procedural grounds that he is without legal authority to take any action as Director, due to his illegal re-hire.
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