The Doña Ana County Board of Commissioners appears ready to take another step toward more open government.
For years, the county provided detailed minutes of commission meetings. That caused many problems, because the clerk’s office didn’t have enough resources to handle the work load. In recent years, the clerk’s office struggled with completing minutes in the time required by the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, leading to repeated violations of the act.
After the 2004 special audit of the county found dozens of violations in 2003 alone, the county hired outside help so the clerk’s office could catch up. Even that wasn’t enough.
The county recently quit providing detailed minutes, and the clerk’s office began producing minutes that include only what’s literally required by the act – brief summaries of the items that were discussed and a record of how each commissioner voted.
That wasn’t enough for some commissioners. Now, they’re scheduled to vote Tuesday on the hiring of an outside firm to produce verbatim transcripts of meetings.
It will cost more money, of course, but it will also make government more accessible by keeping an accurate record not only of votes, but also of what’s said during meetings. Assuming commissioners approve the expense, they’ll be going above what’s required in state law in an effort to make the county more open and transparent.