2. Department.
The county’s community ser-
vices director Jacobo Martinez
coordinates task force meetings
and reports, as well as leads what
can only be described as illegal
dumping tours.
Earlier this month, Martinez
led a group of nearly a dozen
people ranging from elected offi-
cials to community members on
a tour of Monetery Park on the
county’s east side.
While the area is home to
hundreds of people, there is still
a lot of open land between clus-
ters of homes. Those open areas
are being filled in with all man-
ner of trash and debris.
Before the group departed,
they met with Martinez to talk
about illegal dumping, specifi-
cally why they thought people
went into the desert and left their
trash.
On hand for the discussion
was Belen Magistrate John
Chavez, New Mexico Rep. Kelly
Fajardo, Brenda Wilson with
the New Mexico Environment
Department, Diana Good the
health promotion specialist with
the Los Lunas Public Health
Office, County Manager Jeff
Condrey, county code enforce-
ment officers Johnny Mirabal,
Carl Rael and Brian McBain,
MeadowLakeresidentTomMraz
and Bart Regelbrugge, with the
Valencia County Kiwanis Club.
The area they were going to
tour was only one small part of
the county, Martinez told the
group, and only one small part of
the problem.
“This is everywhere — on the
east side, the west side, behind
Tomé Hill,” Martinez said.
While the trash consists of
everything you can find in a
house, there was one odd trend
in the dumping that was noticed
by code enforcement officers out
in the field. In some areas, the
dumpers are actually organizing
and categorizing the trash.
“They’ve put all the tires in
one area, the furniture in anoth-
er,” he said. “It’s very ... odd.”
Why do people dump?
The group began firing off
answers to Martinez’ question
— ignorance, lack of education,
they don’t see anything wrong
with it, learned behavior, they
don’t see the detriment of it,
lack of access to legal dump-
ing options and no legal conse-
quences.
Mraz has lived in Meadow
Lake since 2006. In that time, he
has gone to court six times with
his neighbor on the trash allowed
to accumulate on the property.
While not illegal dumping per
se, the result is the same — the
attraction of vermin and insects
and possible spread of disease.
“They don’t see anything
wrong with having trash in their
yard,” Mraz said. “All this time,
the most that’s been done is a
$50 fine.”
Mraz said he was frustrated
that the magistrate dismissed
the charges without having the
defendant enter a plea.
Chavez, who was not the
judge who heard Mraz’ case,
said as a magistrate, he cannot
dismiss charges brought against
someone by a code enforcement
officer.
“The officer can if they feel
the person is remedying the
problem,” Chavez said.
McBain said code enforce-
ment’s end goal is to get the
property clean, whether it’s
someone’s backyard or an illegal
dump on the mesa.
“In the case of illegal dump-
ing, we’re going for the fine.
By the time it goes before a
judge usually the trash has blown
everywhere or more has been
added,” McBain said. “We want
the message to be ‘This needs to
stop.’”
Fajardo said the most frequent
complaint she hears is that there’s
no follow-up by the county.
“Once you cite these people
into court, what happens?” the
representative asked.
The officers explained the
alleged offender gets three notic-
es, 30 days apart, telling them
to clean up the property or get
ready to see a judge.
Mirabal said about 80 percent
of people contact the department
when they get the first notice.
“The other 20 percent will go
to court and see if they can call
our bluff,” he said.
McBain said the department
does have success in getting
properties cleaned up, but fre-
quently, as soon as one case is
resolved, two more emerge.
“Once somewhere looks
good, it seems like all of a sud-
den, ‘Oh there’s a problem over
there.’ We do have some repeat
offenders,” he said.
He worked one case for
months, got the property clean,
only to have the owner wait a few
weeks then begin piling up trash
all over again.
“So we start again,” he said.
He directed the conversa-
tion back to why people dump
illegally.
Chavez said he personally has
found it very frustrating to wait
for hours at Conejo with a load
of trash only to have the facil-
ity shut down due to equipment
failure.
“Yeah, I took my trash home.
But you see all this stuff on the
side of the road, and I’m sure
people wonder, ‘Am I the only
sucker taking my trash home?’”
the judge asked.
He drove down to the Belen
landfill but it was closed due
to flooding. In the end, he took
his trash home and waited until
another day.
When Conejo is closed, resi-
dents can use the Belen landfill
but they have to buy a punch card
at city hall first — something
they can’t do on a weekend.
Good, in her capacity of health
promotion specialist, is with
the New Mexico Department
of Health. Recently assigned to
the Los Lunas office, she said
she wanted to familiarize her-
self with the community and its
needs. She said she tried to visit
the transfer station on N.M. 6,
west of Los Lunas, just to view
their operations.
“They wanted $20 for me to
come in, no trash, just to come
in. That was steep for me,” she
said.
“So is it maybe just too
expensive to dump in Valencia
County?” Martinez asked the
group.
Several nodded, indicating it
very well could be.
Mirabal made the point that
some people treat their trash dif-
ferently, saying he knows several
people who don’t dump illegally
but they also don’t dump or have
their trash collected every week.
“I know people who will col-
lect their trash for a year then
take it to the dump,” he said. “It’s
just how they’ve always done it.”
That is part of the ‘but we’ve
always done it that way’ attitude
that Martinez and the task force
are trying to change.
What are the solutions?
The easy answer to the ille-
gal dumping problem is there
really aren’t any easy answers,
something the group became
quickly aware of as they toured
Monetery Park and El Cerro
Mission.
Piles of tires, animal carcass-
es in various states of decay,
building materials, strange fiber-
glass hulks seemed to stretch to
the horizon. Several stops along
the way gave the members of
the group a close-up view of
the problem and its proximity
to homes.
In one instance, trash had
been dumped within sight of the
Conejo Transfer Station.
Several people in the group
suggested that people sentenced
to community service be put to
work picking up trash. Martinez
said there are two main stum-
bling blocks to that idea.
The first is that much of the
area where the dumping occurs
is on private property and due to
the state’s anti-donation clause,
the county isn’t allowed to per-
form work on private property
without some kind of compensa-
tion.
There is the chance for those
doing community service to
clean up county-owned prop-
erty, Martinez said, such as
the 120-acre airport the county
recently realized it owns on the
north side of El Cerro Mission.
While the county owns the
property, that leads into the sec-
ond issue that makes Martinez
hesitant to just start handing out
gloves and trash cans — just
what are people going to be
cleaning up out there?
A recent letter from Good to
the county, which was includ-
ed in the county’s emergency
reapplication for a Community
Development Block Grant, out-
lines the health hazards to illegal
dumping.
“The collection of prob-
lematic material” creates “the
potential for life-threatening dis-
eases such as plague, Hantavirus
and West Nile virus caused by
rotting animal carcasses, mos-
quitoes breeding it tire pools,
rodent droppings prevalent in
the mattresses and sofas ... ran-
dom chemical leakage from
possible meth production waste,
heavy metals from electronics
and petroleum products poses
contamination risks for soil and
water at the very least.”
Her letter says the situation
has reached “a critical stage of
unacceptability,” pointing out
that pets can carry infectious
fleas back to homes and chil-
dren can come in contact with
these dangers when out look-
ing for a place to play, as well
as adults walking in the area
can be exposed and spread any
contagions.
Earlier this year, the county
submitted a CDBG application
to clean up the illegal dumping
at the air strip and surrounding
area. The application was initial-
ly rejected, but the administra-
tion received word from the state
asking the county to resubmit
the application as an emergency
project, due to the severity of the
situation. There’s been no word
yet if the second application was
accepted.
Martinez said the county, like
any property owner, takes on a
certain amount of liability when
someone does work on its prop-
erty.
“We have to make sure the
clean up is done property and
protects the people doing the
work,” he said.
The county has been awarded
two small grants from NMED to
help clean up some of the illegal
dumping. The massive amount
of tires being dumped wasn’t
lost on the administration, so
they applied for and received a
scrap tire amnesty days grant
for $19,000.
The funding will be used for
educational programs to teach
people how to responsibly dis-
pose of tires as well as cleaning
up the unwanted tires. In the
near future, the county will hold
amnesty days — six all total —
when people can bring in tires
at no cost.
The other grant is for about
$7,600 and will be used to clean
up illegal dump sites. It’s not
much, Martinez says, but it’s a
start. A large part of the money
will be used for roll-off contain-
ers and equipment to clean up
dump sites along Monterey Park
Boulevard as well as roll-offs
for free dump days around the
county.
Martinez has budgeted funds
for education, signs and to pub-
lish the names of offenders.
Good suggested placing signs at
the cleaned up areas encourag-
ing people to keep them clean.
“Maybe this is the dorkiest
idea ever, but just plant a sign
— tell people, just because we
cleaned this up doesn’t mean
you get to dump here again,”
she said.
Mraz said he would like to
see a lot of the grant money put
into education efforts.
“We need to educate the
kids,” he said. “The parents are
set in their ways; it’s too late for
them.”
During the debriefing after
the tour, it was agreed that
the small grant would have to
be squeezed for all it’s worth.
Martinez said he was going to
ask Waste Management to waive
the tipping fees for the county
when it brings in its roll-offs.
At the end of the day, McBain
summed it all up.
“This is our community,
too. We all live here. We have
made it our goal to help improve
things. We’re not here just to
bust you,” he said. “I think even-
tually, people will start policing
themselves. You are willing to
call us on your neighbor but
when are you going to be willing
to help your neighbor?”
Local Valencia County News-Bulletin6A August 28, 2014
Dumping
from PAGE 1A
Julia M. Dendinger-News-Bulletin photo
JUST OFF MANZANO EXPRESSWAY, within sight of the busy highway, lays a welcome mat in the des-
ert. Beyond it are pieces of a sectional sofa, black plastic sheeting and other unidentifiable pieces
of household trash randomly dumped along a dirt road in unincorporated Valencia County.
Perhaps someone you know has given his or her time and energy to a church, an organization or a
cause for many years. Maybe he or she has volunteered at a school, worked one-on-one to make a
little part of the world a better place. Maybe it was a one-time-only effort, saving someone’s life.
We’d like to hear his or her story.
Nominate your friend as Citizen of the Year or as an Unsung Hero. Stories about those chosen will be
written in the News-Bulletin’s annual Locals section in October. One of these nominees will be
selected as our Citizen of the Year. We’re looking for people who are not being paid for their work
and whose motivation is to make Valencia County a better place.
Call Clara Garcia at 864-4472 to make a nomination.
Or write a nomination, with your name and telephone number, and e-mail it to
cgarcia@news-bulletin.com or mail it to the News-Bulletin, 1837 Camino del Llano,
Belen, NM 87002. Deadline is 5 p.m., Friday, Sept. 26, 2014.
Nominate an
unsung hero
4. his address and other personal
information was right there in
the trash bags.
“We do put on a pair of
gloves and dig through bags to
find evidence. We want three
pieces of corroborating evi-
dence and we take pictures,
document the site,” McBain
said.
After the arraignment,
Garner said he had no problem
going to pick up his trash.
“I made a bad decision, ask-
ing my friend. It’s my responsi-
bility. That is not how I handle
my business,” he said.
An officer at the New
Mexico Central Correctional
Facility, Garner said he works
four 16-hour days, and since he
is between trash haulers right
now, he thought asking a friend
to help out wouldn’t be a big
deal.
“That was a mistake. It’s
been taken care of,” he said. “I
mean, I work at the prison; I
don’t need this kind of thing.”
Even though they don’t have
to, the officers make it a point
to come to the arraignments.
Chavez said having them pres-
ent in the courtroom gives them
the chance to talk to the defen-
dants if they haven’t already.
That morning in court,
McBain was constantly on his
feet, in and out of the court-
room, talking to the defen-
dants, making sure they had his
phone numbers and understood
what was expected of them.
“The goal is to get the prop-
erty cleaned up,” the judge said.
Chavez was one of several
county residents and elected
officials who took a tour of the
Monterey Park area on the east
side of the county last month
and saw firsthand just what
gets dumped in the desert. The
judge said the experience didn’t
really change how he viewed
the illegal dumping cases that
come before him.
“We still have to go by the
county ordinances,” he said.
“But if they don’t make any
effort to cooperate, I won’t
have any remorse in imposing
the whole $300 fine.”
Division I Magistrate Tina
Garcia said the courts part-
nered with the county several
years ago to establish what was
dubbed “environmental court.”
One day a week, usually
Monday, the magistrates in Los
Lunas hear all the nuisance
violation cases, which range
from weeds to illegal dumping.
“I’ve actually seen very
few illegal dumping cases. I
think the reason for that is,
while in some cases the offi-
cers can find pieces of mail
with a name and address, when
it’s white goods or a sofa, it’s
hard to identify and prove who
dumped it,” Garcia said. “I’ve
noticed the officers have a hard
time prosecuting some of the
illegal dumping cases; I don’t
think they’ve had a lot of luck.”
Since these cases are few
and far between, what will curb
the illegal dumping in Valencia
County?
Garcia said, unfortunate-
ly, if someone is willing to
break the law they will take the
chance of getting caught.
“That’s true with everything
though — seat belt violations,
texting while driving, speed-
ing — they’re going to take the
chance,” she said. “I think the
fine and jail time would deter
some people but those people
are probably not violating these
ordinances to begin with.
“When it comes down to
illegal dumping it’s so hard
to prove, show and catch who
did it.”
The No. 1 thing that could
be done to curb illegal dump-
ing is more enforcement and
regular patrols of areas known
for dumping; something Garcia
admits the county might not be
able to afford.
“I think if people see a law
enforcement presence, there is
less opportunity to do this,”
she said. “But the county is just
so big and spread out, there are
lots of opportunities and places
for people to dump.”
McBain said he and his fel-
low officers are ready to do
what is needed to stop the prob-
lem.
“Like I said, we’ll pick
through bags of trash to find
evidence, whatever,” he said.
“To us, illegal dumping is ille-
gal dumping, whether it’s on a
private road or not. We’ll check
it out.”
Once an illegal dumping
case makes it to court, code
enforcement officer Johnny
Mirabal said judges do want
to see the property cleaned up
and work to that end. That can
lead to delays and frustrations
though.
“Usually a judge asks are
they making progress, and
since we’re under oath, if
they are, we have to say yes,”
Mirabal said. “But we are rare-
ly asked how much progress
they are making. Then we can
get things dragging on for six
months or more.”
Mirabal added that the offi-
cers will ask the judge for a
continuance on the case if the
defendants are making good
progress.
Sometimes there is no prog-
ress at all and the case ends
with a sentence. Mirabal said
the last illegal dumping case
he had in magistrate court, the
judge ordered the person to
clean up the trash.
“They didn’t and now
there’s a bench warrant out for
them,” he said. “And the trash
is still there six months later.”
Local September 4, 2014 7AValencia County News-Bulletin
Dumping: Courts have a hard time deciding on guilt
from PAGE 1A
Northcutt: Mayor to nominate
from PAGE 1A
Shooting: Defense attorney asks judge to lower bond; defendant wants to see kids
from PAGE 1A
Police said Aquino had gone
to the apartment he once shared
with his wife, Maria, on Jan. 28,
2013, to drop off two of their
three children at the La Villa
Belen Apartments on Aragon
Road.
While dropping off the chil-
dren, who were 8, 10 and 12
years old at the time, Aquino
and his estranged wife began
to argue.
After the shooting, police
said Maria Aquino told them
her husband purposely shot her
in the stomach, according to a
criminal complaint.
The complaint said the
woman told police at some
point, her husband tried to have
sex with her before she was
shot, but Pio Aquino told police
the gun discharged accidentally.
In an interview with police,
the couple’s 12-year-old daugh-
ter said her father took out the
gun from his waist area and
pointed it at her mother’s head,
following an argument that
started in one of the bedrooms.
The girl told police that she
went to hide in a bathroom and
shortly after heard a loud bang.
She came out to find her mother
lying face down in the living
room.
“(She) stated she grabbed her
phone and began calling 911,
but saw that Pio had already
began calling,” the complaint
states.
The 10-year-old boy said his
father “forced his way” into the
apartment when the children
were in the process of being
dropped off. He told police he
thought his parents had a physi-
cal and verbal altercation in
the bedroom. He said he heard
a “loud thump” and then the
sound of his mother trying to
catch her breath.
At some point, the two
adults came out of the bedroom
and the boy said his father told
the woman that “he was going
to take the kids and kill them,”
and later said he was kidding
and that he loved them.
According to the complaint,
the boy said his father grabbed
his gun after the two began
arguing over keys. He said his
father asked his estranged wife
“if she wanted to be scared” just
before he reached for his gun,
the complaint said.
The boy told police his father
grabbed his gun for the second
time and “quickly pointed the
gun at Maria, who crouched to
avoid being shot.” The couple’s
son said when his mother fell
to the ground, his father began
yelling for someone to call 911.
The complaint said the boy
was standing next to the woman
when she was shot. The boy told
police the incident was “not
the first time” his father had
pointed a gun at his mother.
Before this incident, police
were “not aware” of any other
violent incidents between the
two parties, but according to
the criminal complaint, officers
found an order of protection
against Pio Aquino that had
been filed a month prior in
Valencia County District Court.
Police also recovered the gun
and holster from the residence
that they believe was used in
the incident.
After the judge’s accepted
the plea agreement, Aquino’s
defense attorney, Mark
Ramsey, asked that the court
lower his client’s 100,000 cash-
only bond, saying that Aquino
wanted to see his children, help
his mother and “tie up loose
ends” before he goes to prison.
Sanchez denied the request,
saying he would reconsider the
bond amount only if the victim,
who is now divorced from the
defendant, was approved of the
request.
Hoffman said he would
speak to Maria Aquino, but
Ramsey said he already had,
and that she didn’t want his
bond lowered.
Julia M. Dendinger-News-Bulletin photo
DURING A TOUR of the illegal dumping in Monterey Park, Meadow Lake resident Tom Mraz, left,
discusses the county-wide problem of dumping with Valencia County Manager Jeff Condrey, right.
Northcutt didn’t respond to
phone messages or emails from the
News-Bulletin seeking comment.
Gwinn said he was surprised
when he received Northcutt’s res-
ignation, saying he figured the
stay-at-home dad would “hang in
there until the next election.”
While Northcutt didn’t give the
mayor a reason for his resignation,
Gwinn said several people had
been questioning him about his
residency. According to court and
county records, his home in Rio
Communities had been auctioned
off and purchased by the Bank of
America in early July after it went
into foreclosure.
During an August council
meeting, Northcutt told the coun-
cil and the audience that he did
live at the house in question in Rio
Communities.
“I hope when and if I do see
him, he’ll quantify some of that
stuff, but in the end, it doesn’t
matter anymore,” Gwinn said.
“Honestly, my priority right now
is to find someone who is willing
to serve out the remainder of his
term, which ends in 2016.”
The mayor said he would like
to appoint someone who wants
to move the community forward,
maybe someone who has a back-
ground with the schools.
“I want someone who has been
constantly helping with volunteer
activities,” Gwinn said. “We have
a lot of people who are putting
their time in. Basically, we’re all
volunteers, we’re not getting paid
for anything.”
The mayor said he hopes by the
first council meeting in October
to present the council with his
appointee for their consideration.
He said he also asked the council
during a workshop on Tuesday to
think of names of potential candi-
dates and bring them to him.
Councilor Mary Lee Serna
said she was also surprised by
Northcutt’s resignation.
“I was really saddened by his
resignation. He is a very intelligent
young man and had a lot to offer
our community,” Serna said. “He
did a lot of research and he was an
asset to the community.”
Serna said she gave the name
of Rick Garcia to the mayor to
replace Northcutt. Garcia ran ear-
lier this year for city council, but
came in third to Councilors Frank
Stasi and Cyndi Sluder.
“He’s a very knowledgeable
gentleman and he knows the com-
munity like the palm of his hand,”
Serna said of Garcia.
Stasi said the city needs four
councilors who can work together
as a team.
“I feel that the city is in a place
to go forward as it has been,” Stasi
said. “I look forward to getting a
new councilor in place to go in a
faster direction and we’re working
on that now.”
Stasi said he isn’t sure of whom
he’ll recommend to the mayor, but
he said he wants someone who can
work with the council, someone
who feels good about the city and
to move things along.
“It’s hard when you don’t have a
full governing body,” he said. “We
have to all work together. We have
a lot of people who come out to
clean up the city, who do volunteer
work. I’d like one of those people
because they care about the city.”
Sluder is the only councilor who
was not surprised by Northcutt’s
resignation. She said she had met
with him in Lubbock, Texas, while
he took a 30-day leave of absence
from the council earlier this sum-
mer.
“I prayed with him and encour-
aged him ... and told him that his
family comes first and being a
councilor comes second,” she said.
“I told him that in my mind, ‘This
is where you should be.’”
Sluder said she thought people
in Rio Communities made it hard
for him because he wasn’t support-
ive of the city.
“He was smart, he had so much
to give,” she said. “He was really
intelligent and brought a differ-
ent perspective to the council. I
think he made a wise decision for
himself, for the council and the
community and I was very proud
of him (for resigning).”
Sluder hopes the new councilor
will have some government expe-
rience, saying it’s something the
council currently lacks.
“I hope we can find someone
with the same vision as us in mak-
ing the city grow,” Sluder said.
“We need a council that isn’t split
all the time and has a united atti-
tude.”
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