Town–KCEC Meet on CC: El Prado Sued by Contractor

KCEC and Town of Taos

At a special meeting on Monday, Aug. 8 at 11 am, the Mayor and Town Council will meet with KCEC CEO to consider joining forces at the Command Center for dispatch services. Friction sources state that KCEC dispatchers are expected to occupy 41% of the building, suggesting that the Town might send dispatchers but not cops to the Command Center. No facts and figures have been released to the public for what amounts to a “secret deal” among former cuates of the Hispano Chamber.

On Rate Increases

Sources also say KCEC has finally come clean to the PRC in terms of its GDP (general diversification program)—‘lo these many years after diversification was proposed and implemented. The PRC requires Coops to file documentation re: non-electric side projects. The entity has spent some $10 million in diversification projects and intends to spend another $20 million in Broadband investment.

Apparently, KCEC desperately needs the rate increase because it has been in “technical default” for the years 2009 and 2010 on its loan obligations. In other words, effective management should have anticipated a decrease in revenue, due to the recession that got started in 2007 and accelerated in 2008. Though recommended by interveners and PRC staff, KCEC has stubbornly resisted implementing Trustee expense caps or the liquidation of diversified enterprises—Propane, Broadband/Internet, Command Center, etc.

A rate increase is expected to be granted in some form. Earlier the PRC granted Chevron Mining and KCEC a special rate increase, which according to sources is a wash. Despite the higher rates for Moly Mine, higher expenses will consume the revenue and leave the Coop with neither a negative or positive cash flow. The Moly Mine has always negotiated a “special deal” for itself. Not so the members.

Misrepresentations

Serious allegations of perjured testimony have arisen regarding the expenditure of money for the Command Center at the PRC. Testimony that no electric side money was spent for the construction of the facility in 2009 has been contradicted by the paperwork, including IRS tax statements, according to sources. When the Coop filed an injunction against the protestors to stop the recall of the trustees, the notarization of a signature was allegedly called into question. The state is currently investigating whether or not the primary signatory on court documents was present when the notary signed off, say Friction sources. Notarizing a signature without the signatory present is a third degree felony.

Big Fish at EPWSD

A lawsuit has been filed in district court regarding a disputed contract matter by FS Enterprises against El Prado Water and Sanitation District (EPESD), three board members, a former administrator, and a private party for almost $500,000. The lawsuit claims that EPWSD administrator, Joy Garcia, board member John Painter, private party Chris Cisneros, board member Telesfor Gonzales, and board member Fernando Miera have breached contracts, broken covenants of good faith and fair dealing, engaged in promissory estoppel, and may have been involved in conversion and unjust enrichment.

According to the lawsuit, El Prado Water and Sanitation District is being sued as an entity and the names mention above in his or her “individual capacity as a defendant.”

Time to lawyer up guys and gals.

The complicated pattern of payments and extensions, according to the lawsuit filed on behalf of Frank Santoro by Attorney Lee Boothby, suggests the individuals may have been acting in their capacity as officials but also as individuals. The contractor alleges that he was directed to make improvements by the above-mentioned representatives for the unpaid work, some of which may have benefited the private interests of the board members.

According to a Friction source, aka Flavio, the administrator, Joy Garcia resigned earlier this year and bought out her retirement. While this highly placed source said F&S enterprises had done satisfactory work on a previous contract for the district, Flavio also said the board decided charges for subsequent work were too high and resisted payment.  Allegedly,  the contractor was encouraged to continue without appropriate oversight, according to the Friction source.

The lawsuit includes documentation purporting to be a claim on a state grant of more than $100,000 due F&S but not paid to the contractor. The El Prado source mentioned that “John and Tele” may have ignored strict “conflict of interest” guidelines, when voting on contracts that may have affected the value of their own property. The duo, Flavio said, historically has operated the district as if it were a small business for the sake of efficiency.

(Friction has seen documents purporting to be plats of the Painter-Gonzales property and references to pipes and roads installed on or adjacent to the alleged property. Painter and Gonzales may have been acting in good faith, considering the difficulty of acquiring right-aways in the district. That’s for the courts to decide. Or maybe it’s just a $500,000 misunderstanding!)

El Prado is currently engaged in the hyperactive acquisition of water rights, according to members of the Taos Regional Water Board—due to the Abeyta/Taos Pueblo Water Settlement. The district owes the OSE in excess of 500 acre-feet of water rights for the right to pump ground water for its customer base of 1000 members. The board has incurred millions of dollars in legal fees from attorneys due to the the negotiations of the Abeyta lawsuit, according to statements at a board meeting attended by this writer.

Painter has been the voice of EPWSD, protesting against the formation of the county mandated Taos Regional Water board, an attempt by citizens to monitor water rights transfers. As well he  manages a foreign owned Buffalo Ranch—Cerro Montoso—on the west side of the Rio Grande and protested against a well, drilled just west of the state rest stop at the Gorge–meant to benefit poor and thirsty West Side Mesa dwellers. Out there they call him, Scrooge.

As everyone knows, John is the loyal go-getter when it comes to overseeing EPWSD water rights and construction. It’s hard to believe F&S got away from him. But the district contaminated the Rio Lucero and was recently fined some $4000 for killing fish, according to Friction sources. EPWSD bought the historic El Torreon property in which to house the district offices. The district rents out space to El Meze, Fred’s fabulous restaurant, which includes fresh fish on the menu but not fish from the Rio Lucero.

As a poor rate-paying member of the EPWSD, I must ask where the money came from to pay for El Torreon and how much money is owed to water maven lawyer Jim Brockman? Have the boys been playing fast and loose with the district’s resources? Or is it just because Frank Santoro is “not from here”? We’re only asking.