Two never equals four, Kevin Roe said.
Roe is expecting to run for municipal judge in the 2010 city election, despite the position of the city of Roswell that incumbent Municipal Judge Larry Loy doesn’t have to face an election until 2012.
Loy was appointed municipal judge in 2006 when Judge Hector Pineda resigned. He ran in the 2008 city elections, but only to fulfill the two years left on the unexpired term, according to election documents.
“Regarding the question as to whether the position of municipal court judge should be on the ballot for the 2010 municipal election: Based upon documented evidence prepared by the city for the 2008 election, the public elected the current city judge for a term of two years, not four,” Roe said.
“It is the apparent position of the city that NMSA 35-14-4 is the defining statute,” Roe added. “However, that position, in my opinion, is far from correct.
Roe listed these city documents to support his position:
In the December 2007 election resolution, the municipal judge’s term was stated to be for two years.
This resolution was published in the Roswell Daily Record on Feb. 24, 2008, restating that the municipal judge’s term was for two years.
On Jan. 8, as required, Judge Loy filed a declaration of candidacy for a two-year term.
The certificate of candidacy signed by the city clerk certifying the candidates for the court position also stated it was a two-year term.
The ballot before the voters in the election also stated that the municipal judge’s term was for two years.
After the election, the canvassing results sent to Santa Fe somehow stated the term was four years. This is the first mention of a four-year term until the city’s recent decision to remove the position from the upcoming ballot.
(All the documents listed above are public record.)
“If this was a simple error, then the city should correct it and let’s move forward,” Roe said.
“The obvious problem here is that the voters elected the judge for two years. Then after the election the term was changed to four years.”