The town of Estancia is voting “no confidence” in its current mayor as the community continues to deal with a water crisis.Some residents say this water emergency is also exposing deeper concerns about how the town has been managed.Ben Bosma has lived in Estancia for three years, and he says life now looks a little different, requiring residents to skip car washes and watering flowers to stick to just the bare minimum to get by.”This isn’t the first time this has happened in Estancia before,” Bosma said. “We have water coming out of our tap. We are conserving and complying with the town’s ordinance because of the emergent situation we’re in.”Water is still being brought into town, but for some residents like Bosma, the bigger worry isn’t just the supply, but how the town got here.”They’re saying our system is inadequate to replenish our tanks when water is used. And that was only discovered after a water main break. Regular data compilation, compiling the data, looking at the system by professionals gives you, really, detection. You know, those types of things so you can do preventative maintenance,” Bosma said.Bosma noted that the issues extend to town leadership.”There will be terminations in people without this being this process of our ordinance being filed. So it’s like our leadership is mad at the mayor for doing the same things they themselves do,” Bosma said. “I want to see one of our town ordinances complied with, you know, from the mayor, from the board of trustees, from everybody. There’s a personnel problem.”Mayor Runnel Riley spoke with KOAT from the hospital, where he is recovering and has been on a 45-day leave of absence due to health complications.”This is at least the third time, maybe the fourth time I’ve been hospitalized,” Riley said. “Just follow the rules, what we’re supposed to do, account for every penny and things go good.”Addressing the criticism from the town council and residents, Riley defended his approach.”I’m stubborn. I’ll be honest, you know, I’m not going to quit insisting that everything be transparent above board where we know where every penny of taxpayer money is going,” Riley said.Riley stated that the biggest roadblock to addressing the infrastructure is misappropriated funds and uncertified audits.”The appropriated money for that, well, you cannot access it until you have a clear audit. And so we hired an audit company out of Albuquerque,” Riley said, noting the goal is to “get us back to at least point zero.”According to Riley, the town should be receiving that clean audit in just a few days, which will allow them to access the funds needed to drill a well.
The town of Estancia is voting “no confidence” in its current mayor as the community continues to deal with a water crisis.
Some residents say this water emergency is also exposing deeper concerns about how the town has been managed.
Ben Bosma has lived in Estancia for three years, and he says life now looks a little different, requiring residents to skip car washes and watering flowers to stick to just the bare minimum to get by.
“This isn’t the first time this has happened in Estancia before,” Bosma said. “We have water coming out of our tap. We are conserving and complying with the town’s ordinance because of the emergent situation we’re in.”
Water is still being brought into town, but for some residents like Bosma, the bigger worry isn’t just the supply, but how the town got here.
“They’re saying our system is inadequate to replenish our tanks when water is used. And that was only discovered after a water main break. Regular data compilation, compiling the data, looking at the system by professionals gives you, really, detection. You know, those types of things so you can do preventative maintenance,” Bosma said.
Bosma noted that the issues extend to town leadership.
“There will be terminations in people without this being this process of our ordinance being filed. So it’s like our leadership is mad at the mayor for doing the same things they themselves do,” Bosma said. “I want to see one of our town ordinances complied with, you know, from the mayor, from the board of trustees, from everybody. There’s a personnel problem.”
Mayor Runnel Riley spoke with KOAT from the hospital, where he is recovering and has been on a 45-day leave of absence due to health complications.
“This is at least the third time, maybe the fourth time I’ve been hospitalized,” Riley said. “Just follow the rules, what we’re supposed to do, account for every penny and things go good.”
Addressing the criticism from the town council and residents, Riley defended his approach.
“I’m stubborn. I’ll be honest, you know, I’m not going to quit insisting that everything be transparent above board where we know where every penny of taxpayer money is going,” Riley said.
Riley stated that the biggest roadblock to addressing the infrastructure is misappropriated funds and uncertified audits.
“The appropriated money for that, well, you cannot access it until you have a clear audit. And so we hired an audit company out of Albuquerque,” Riley said, noting the goal is to “get us back to at least point zero.”
According to Riley, the town should be receiving that clean audit in just a few days, which will allow them to access the funds needed to drill a well.
