May 30—LOS RANCHOS — Los Ranchos de Albuquerque’s board of trustees has voted to seek a court injunction to stop a controversial building project in the village.

But Wednesday night’s meeting, the first convened since Mayor Joe Craig died on May 21, signaled a political divide that threatens to shut down action on all but the least controversial matters — or on those issues in which a trustee recuses his or herself or is barred from voting.

There are four trustees on the board. The village mayor does not vote, unless his or her vote is needed to break a tie. And until a replacement is found for Craig, there is no mayor.

“There is no way to break a deadlock,” Bill Chappell, village attorney, said during the meeting, which concluded after midnight.

And if Wednesday’s meeting is a good indication, deadlocks are likely.

Two of the trustees, Gilbert Benavides and George Radnovich, are holdovers from the board in place when the contentious Palindrome — or Village Center — Project at Fourth and Osuna broke ground.

Prior to his election to the board, Radnovich’s company secured the landscape contract with Palindrome Communities, the Portland, Oregon, company developing the project, which is opposed by villagers who object to high-density construction in Los Ranchos.

Trustees Jennifer Kueffer and Frank Reinow, who is also mayor pro tem, were elected in November after campaigning on a platform that championed open space over high-density development.

Craig, elected mayor in November, was a vocal critic of the Palindrome Project. Before his election, Craig, in his role as president of Friends of Los Ranchos, an organization that advocates for open space, was instrumental in filing lawsuits against the village aimed at stopping the Palindrome Project.

On May 2, District Judge Denise Barela-Shepherd, acting on one of those lawsuits, ruled that the process used by the previous village administration to approve the Palindrome Project violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.

‘Unfinished monstrosity’

In response to the judge’s ruling, the village administration sought trustee approval to pursue a court injunction to stop construction on the Palindrome Project. In progress for more than 20 months, the development, which, in part, consists of a three-story, 204-unit affordable-living complex, looms large on the southeast corner of Fourth and Osuna.

Speaking in favor of the injunction during the public comment period, Annette Haynes said she settled in Los Ranchos because she was drawn by the village’s unique charm and appeal, but that the Palindrome Project has distorted that.

“I’m originally from Philadelphia,” she said. “Now, when I look down Fourth or Osuna, I feel like I’m still in Philadelphia.”

Village resident Linda McKee also spoke in support of the injunction. She said the Palindrome Project is a strain on the village’s infrastructure and an affront to village residents who have spoken out against it.

“We must act now to preserve the integrity of the village,” McKee said. “We need to send a strong message that the village listens to its residents.”

Mary Homan, a village trustee from 2004-2019, before the Palindrome Project got the village go-ahead, and now chair of the village’s Planning and Zoning Commission, spoke in opposition to the injunction.

“An injunction will tie us up for two or three years and what we will have is an unfinished monstrosity,” she said. Speaking later to the Journal, Homan said she does not like the project but believed it is unrealistic to think the village could tear it down without becoming the target of a major lawsuit.

“We need to make lemonade out of lemons and see what we can do with the next two phases (of the Palindrome Project),” she said.

The request to pursue an injunction was approved on a 2-1 vote, Kueffer and Reinow voting yes, Benavides voting no, and Radnovich recusing himself because of his connection to the project.

Benavides said he was voting no because he did not think any of the project built so far would be taken down, and he believes stopping the project would make the village liable for millions or tens of millions in damages.

Kueffer said she was voting in favor of the injunction because she was most concerned about how the previous administration was dismissive of villagers’ concerns and that bypassing public input was bad government. She said condoning the action of the previous administration opened up the possibility of future transgressions.

Reinow said it was clear that opposition to the Palindrome Project needed the relief from the court provided by Judge Barela-Shepherd’s ruling and that stopping the project might be a way to get the developer to the negotiation table.

Unappealing

Also on the agenda was an item seeking trustee approval to appeal Barela-Shepherd’s decision.

“Why would you appeal upholding the Open Meetings Act?” village resident Gordene MacKenzie said during public comment.

“Appealing this sends a message to Palindrome that they are still running the show as they were with the previous administration,” said Nancy Nangeroni, also a village resident.

The measure failed on a 2-2 vote, Benavides and Radnovich voting in favor of it and Kueffer and Reinow in opposition.

Deadlock.

Another 2-2 vote resulted in the failure of a request to advertise provisions of Ordinance No. 299, devised by the village’s Citizens Advisory Committee to amend Ordinance 284, a Pilot Project that permitted cluster housing in Los Ranchos in return for the developer giving a percentage of the property to the village for use as open space.

Ordinance 284 resulted in the Chavez-Guadalupe Trail Cluster Development in which 16 homes are to be built on 9.26 grassy acres at the southwest corner of Chavez and Guadalupe Trail. That project, which is still slated for construction, is more upsetting to some village residents than the Palindrome development.

Ordinance No. 299 is intended to result in projects more aesthetically pleasing and more subject to village oversight than the previous ordinance. Benavidez and Radnovich voted to publish the provisions as a step in moving the ordinance to the trustees for discussion and action. But Reinow and Kueffer, while noting merits in the proposed ordinance, voted no, citing the need for more public input before moving forward.

Deadlock.

Another deadlock was shaping up in a vote on the village administration’s request for trustee approval to enter into a contract with the Ward Law Firm to represent the village in pending litigation involving the Palindrome Project.

Benavides and Radnovich voted no, and Reinow and Kueffer yes. But Village Attorney Chappell said Radnovich should have recused himself and disallowed his vote. The measure passed 2-1.

Trustees did vote unanimously for resolutions approving celebration permits for the anniversary of the Gila Wilderness and an “Opera on the Menu” program, both to take place at the village’s Agri-Nature Center.

The next mayor?

A minute of silence was observed in honor of Craig at the start of Wednesday’s meeting. Trustees and members of the public were invited to share their memories of the late mayor.

During the informal discussion period near the end of the meeting, Chappell said there will be no special election to determine Craig’s successor. He said it is up to the board of trustees to appoint a new mayor.

“There is nothing to say how you select candidates,” he said.

Chappell said the board could choose a new mayor from its own ranks or find someone who does not serve on the board. If a trustee steps into the mayor’s job, Chappell said the new mayor is required to appoint a replacement to the board, but that appointee must be approved by trustee vote.

And although there will be no election, Chappell said perhaps the board could find a way to make public input part of the process. He said there is no time limit involved in the selection, but he acknowledged that deadlock could hamstring the process.

“I have found instances where the mayor pro tem served two years,” he said.

Craig was in the first months of a four-year term.