SOCORRO, New Mexico (STPNS) -- A Catron County resident has turned to the state attorney general?s office for help after his proposal to lease a tract of land was denied at a county commission meeting.

Ruben Carreon, of Reserve, filed an open records complaint because he wanted a copy of a tape recording from the Jan. 23 meeting, but did not get it.

His lease proposal was denied because the commission members felt it would be unfair to award it to Carreon when Jim Keller, who also wanted to lease the county land, was confused about the due date for proposals.



?At this meeting my competitor apologized to the commissioners that he did not get his proposal in on time,? Carreon?s letter to the AG?s office reads.

?Since the due date was on Monday, the day of Dr. Martin Luther King Day, he said he did not think the county office was going to be open, so he did not turn in his proposal,? the letter continues.

The letter states that Carreon objected, telling the commission the due date had been published in several ways.

?My request was denied, then Commissioner [Ed] Wehrheim proceeded to open and read my proposal? in front of everybody attending? including my competitor,? the letter states. ?He started poking holes in it and disclosing all the information I had provided.?

Catron County Clerk Sharon Armijo said she doesn?t have the equipment to copy the recording of the meeting.

However, in a letter via certified mail dated Jan. 28, Armijo told Carreon that he could either go to her office and listen to the recording or wait for a copy of the minutes of the meeting.

Armijo said Carreon did not include that letter when he filed a complaint with the attorney general under the state Inspection of Public Records Act.

But he did include a Jan. 25 letter in which Armijo stated that she didn?t consider the recording to be public record. She clarified that statement in the second letter.

?These are considered public record,? the second letter from Armijo to Carreon reads. ?As I do not have the necessary equipment to copy these tapes? you can make an appointment? to listen to the tapes or you can wait for the draft of the minutes.?

Carreon said he submitted the proposal to lease county land that was up for bid because he wanted to build a saw mill near the spot where Keller?s K&B Lumber operates.

?There were an additional seven acres [of county-owned land] that were going to be available,? Carreon said.

After the Catron County Board of Commissioners denied his proposal, Carreon said he wanted advice as to what he should do next.

?Since I was denied the recourse of going through the tapes of that meeting? I couldn?t do anything about it,? Carreon said.

Carreon filed his complaint with the AG?s office in a letter dated March 21.

Phil Sisneros, communications director for the AG?s office, confirmed that Carreon filed a complaint under the public records statute.

However, AG staff does not discuss those cases until the office has reached a final conclusion.

The AG?s office gave Armijo a deadline of April 28 to respond to Carreon?s allegations that the clerk violated the Inspection of Public Records Act.