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Volume 58, Number 18
Española, New Mexico 87532
Thursday, January 29, 2015
38 pages, 4 sections 50 cents
Teen Drives into Saints and Sinners
By Wheeler Cowperthwaite
SUN Staff Writer
A 17-year-old Española boy
allegedly drunkenly drove into
the side of the Saints and Sinners
bar shortly before midnight Jan.
24, while patrons were drinking.
Chris Abeyta, who turned 18
four days after the crash, allegedly drove through a fence, a
field and between two closely
spaced fence posts, before slamming into the side of the adobe
bar, taking out the front left corner, according to witnesses, police reports and E911 Dispatch
Center logs.
After he took out the corner of
the building, Abeyta allegedly
ran from the vehicle into the field
between Saints and Sinners and
the Shell gas station, with a bottle of vodka clutched in his hand,
according to witnesses and police reports.
“As I walked up to the scene I
noticed a male sitting down in
the field that was just south of
the building,” Española Police
Officer Victor Grossetete wrote
in a report. “He was being held
by another male. He seemed to
be injured.”
Abeyta allegedly said he drank
the bottle of vodka. He and his
passenger, 14-year-old Bernardita Chavez, were transported to
the hospital.
Ventura Lovato was walking
out of the bar when her left leg
was grazed by the truck, pushing
her to the ground. Dominic Aguilar was walking out of the bar
with her, but he suffered no injuries, Lovato said at the scene.
The people inside the bar suffered no injuries.
Even though Abeyta was a juvenile at the time of the crash,
Española’s newest detective,
Cpl. Daniel Espinoza, relied on
the juvenile’s consent to have his
blood drawn.
“(Officer Jason Gallegos) advised that Corporal Espinoza
said that the juvenile could consent to a blood draw because he
See 'Patrons' on page A3
FBI Eyes
Rodella's
Fund
Wheeler Cowperthwaite
and Barron Jones
SUN Staff Writers
(SUNfoto by Wheeler Cowperthwaite)
Española Police Officer Chris Blea inspects the Ford Ranger Chris Abeyta, 17, allegedly drunkenly
drove Jan. 24 into the corner of the Saints and Sinners Bar on Riverside Drive. One woman said she was
injured when the truck grazed her leg, forcing her to the ground. Both Abeyta and his 14-year-old passenger were transported to the Española Hospital but no one suffered serious injuries.
Former Rio Arriba
County sheriff Tommy
Rodella is still under investigation by the Federal
Bureau of Investigation
for allegedly extorting
money from motorists for
his scholarship fund.
The FBI seized $3,275
from a bank account set
up to hold the money, Jan.
23. The “donations” Rodella allegedly had motorists “contribute” to the
fund happened between
December 2012 and April
2013, according to federal
court documents.
See 'Fund' on page A3
Auditors Issue 'Unmodified' School Board Candidates Have
Opinion on RA County Audit Had Few Brushes with Law
By Ardee Napolitano
By Barron Jones
SUN Staff Writer
Unlike its city of Española
counterparts, Rio Arriba County
officials won’t have capital outlay funds held hostage because
of poor audit findings or missed
deadlines.
Independent auditors from the
Accounting and Consulting
Group, LLP concluded the financial statements Rio Arriba officials submitted for review reasonably depicted the County’s
“financial position” through the
unmodified opinion it submitted
to the state’s auditor’s office.
An unmodified opinion is
considered the best opinion an
external auditor can give. It
means that the auditor didn’t run
into any obstacles while reviewing the records and the auditor
believed the financial statements
submitted accurately reflected
the entity’s financial dealings.
Auditors issued two findings,
which is a significant drop from
the six uncovered in 2013, but
one more than the finding uncovered as a result of the 2012 audit.
The more serious of the two
findings noted the County Treasurer’s Office employees didn’t
properly review the financial in-
SUN Staff Writer
(SUNfoto by Barron Jones)
County Manager Tomas Campos (left) reviews documents
while Commissioner Danny Garcia listens to a presentation given
during a 2014 County Commission meeting. An independent auditing firm issued an unmodified opinion, which means the financial
statements submitted for review accurately reflect the County’s finances.
stitution’s collateral juxtaposed
with the bank balances, to ensure
the County’s money is properly
protected.
“Good accounting practices
require period comparisons between bank deposit balances and
collateral on hand, to ensure public money is safeguarded in the
event of bank failure,” the report
states.
New Mexico law requires any
See 'Audit' on page A2
Some Española School Board candidates have
participated in illegal hunting, driving while intoxicated and traffic violations.
According to online court records, four candidates had to clear cases in various courts. These
include District 1 hopeful Dominic Tafoya, District
4 incumbent Pablo Lujan, District 5 incumbent
Andrew Chavez and District 5 candidate Renee
Martinez.
An Española native, Martinez was booked Dec.
2, 2012 into the Rio Arriba County Detention Center for charges of hunting by spotlight or artificial
light, the County’s online inmate database states.
She was released on a $1,000 cash-only bond
later that day.
On Dec. 20, 2012, former Chama Magistrate
Court judge Joseph Madrid heard her case, which
was then dismissed without prejudice.
Martinez did not return requests for comment.
Tafoya was charged with aggravated DWI in
Española Magistrate Court May 1, 2012 after an
April 20, 2012 drunk driving incident, online court
records state.
He pleaded not guilty before Española Magistrate Judge Alex Naranjo on May 11, 2012.
After asking for a request for disclosure of evidence and witness interviews, Naranjo dismissed
the case without prejudice on Sept. 5, 2012, online
court records state.
Tafoya said although he had some wrongdoings
in the past, the drunk driving offense is irrelevant
with regard to his candidacy.
“I was never convicted,” he said. “I don’t know
why people would be concerned about my past
when they should be concerned about the School
District’s future. The main concern right now is the
kids and the schools closing.”
In 2012, he got two speeding citations that he
had to clear in Española Magistrate Court. Another
came in June 2014.
The five other candidates running for the School
Board’s three contested districts show no infractions on nmcourts.gov.
These include District 1 incumbent Ralph Medina and candidate Yolanda Salazar, District 4
candidates Leonard Valerio and Raymond Ortiz
and District 5 candidate Ruben Archuleta.
Mesa Vista
School Board
There were no significant law infractions in any
of the candidates' recored.
Chama Valley
School Board
Candidates for the only contested position on the
Chama Valley School Board have past court cases
that may haunt their election bids.
While he was studying at New Mexico State
University, Position 1 candidate Tirzio Lopez was
charged with selling or giving alcoholic beverages
to a minor, possession of alcoholic beverages by a
minor and concealing his identity in September
2006. He was 20 at the time.
Lopez was arraigned Dec. 28, 2006 in Las Cruces District Court. After undergoing a jury trial
See 'Most' on page A5
School Board Played Part in Superintendent Hires
This is the final story in a three-part series covering
the many facets of former Española School District
facilities supervisor Mark Chavez’s wrongful termination suit brought against the District. The first week’s
story covered how a contractor landed the job to build
Fairview Elementary School. Last week’s story looked
at several Española businesses who Chavez claims
were given preferential treatment in obtaining contract jobs from the District.
This week addresses other questionable contracts
and focuses on abuse Chavez alleges he suffered while
trying to do his job. He also exposed the way Board
members hire and fire superintendents. The District
has had six in the last five years.
By Robert Trapp
SUN Publisher
Mark Chavez’s October 2013
lawsuit against the Española
School Board was based on his
wrongful termination. His allegations of emotional and mental
abuse by Board members are
complimented by a host of other
accusations regarding large and
small contract awards, forced
hirings and firings and political
payback for those who support
Board members.
The case was settled Nov. 17,
2014 in federal district court,
under a sealed agreement for
$65,000, excluding attorney’s
fees.
Mark Chavez’s attorneys Daniel Yohalem, Richard Rosenstock
and Katherine Murray filed a
motion in U.S. District Court
Dec.
26,
2014
seeking
$339,024.93 in fees, taxes and
costs.
Mark Chavez lays most of the
abuse he tolerated at the feet of
Board member Andrew Chavez.
Mark Chavez cited many incidents where Andrew Chavez ordered Mark Chavez to hire someone, not allow someone to re-
ceive a legal contract or operate
in an illegal manner. Depositions
of Board members and employees also hash out the hiring of
Andrew Chavez’s wife, Jennifer,
to a position for which she held
questionable qualifications.
Yohalem contacted Mark
Chavez with a request to be interviewed. Chavez never responded.
Additionally, two companies
that are alleged to have received
special treatment are ProSec, a
security company owned by former District board member, former county commissioner and
former Jemez Mountains Electric
Cooperative trustee Elias Coriz.
Southwest Design owner John
Paul Romero is also alleged to
have received special treatment
by the Board.
The Board decided in 2006,
the year after Coriz came off the
school Board, to give him a
multi-year contract resulting in
Coriz’s company being paid between $300,000 and $600,000
annually for the past seven years.
“Pro Sec has also been the
subject of numerous complaints
about the conduct of its employees, including allegations that
employees had sex with a student, sold drugs to students and
failed to provide adequate security for students,” the lawsuit
states.
Rosenstock led Andrew
Chavez through the timeline of
the District replacing Akal Security in 2006 and hiring Coriz’s
company.
Coriz came off the Board in
2005 and created his security
company the same year.
“And Mr. Coriz had been employed as a security guard at the
(Los Alamos National) Lab, had
he not?” Rosenstock asked.
“At the time I didn’t realize
that,” Andrew Chavez testified.
Rosenstock asked if Coriz’s
company had any other clients at
the time but Chavez said he
didn’t know.
Rosenstock introduced into
evidence payments the District
made to Akal for the last half of
the 2006 school year. It totaled
$132,000.
He then showed Andrew
Chavez the bid Pro Sec submitted for the 2006-07 school year,
See 'Facilities' on page A4