An advisory council Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham established last year to help address a crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous people is meeting behind closed doors. That’s a problem, according to the head of a government transparency group.
The governor announced the advisory council in November, a little over a month after New Mexico In Depth reported that her administration had quietly dissolved a state task force working on the issue, a move affected families and other advocates protested. The task force held regular public meetings until it was shuttered.
The seven-member council has met once so far, in March, to organize itself. Asked this week whether it has scheduled another meeting, Indian Affairs Department spokesman Aaron Lopez did not answer. Instead, he wrote in an email that advisory councils aren’t subject to the state Open Meetings Act.
That means they’re not legally required to have public meetings.
But they could. A review by New Mexico In Depth of other state advisory councils show a number have and continue to meet publicly, including at least one Lujan Grisham created.
The council’s “decision to not hold public meetings is related to the sensitive nature of the topics discussed and the need for privacy in handling certain cases,” Lopez wrote in an email Friday.
Asked whether the council will share the location and time of its meetings, Lopez wrote it’s not required to.
Melanie Majors, executive director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, said the public should be able to hear directly what members discuss, partly because those discussions could inform policy.
“If it’s public money that’s being used, it’s for a public agency, then the public should be involved, no ifs, ands, or buts,” said Majors, who later wrote in an email that “it is basically a question of accountability and being transparent.”
A news release last fall said the council would bring together tribal and state leaders, law enforcement, advocates and affected families to “support” the state’s efforts to carry forward recommendations made by the now-defunct task force.
Lopez wrote over email that the council “will keep the public informed and provide any necessary updates” at meetings hosted by the Indian Affairs Department in part to share developments in the state’s response to the crisis.
The next public meeting is scheduled for 10 am Monday. It will be held in Santa Fe in the second floor conference room of 1220 S. Saint Francis Drive and streamed via Zoom.
A notice was posted on departmental social media accounts Thursday morning, with an agenda that doesn’t include a public comment period. New Mexico In Depth could not find a notice on the agency website.
“Generally, community meetings are promoted through local media, social media, community bulletin boards, and direct outreach by” the department, Lopez wrote.
Last year, the department faced criticism for hosting an event for families with missing loved ones on short notice. The agency announced the date and location of Missing in New Mexico Day, which the state is required by law to hold annually, less than a week in advance.
Josett Monette, who now leads the agency, said at the time that officials wanted to “get the notice out as soon as possible” in the future.
Pojoaque Pueblo Gov. Jenelle Roybal and Picuris Pueblo Gov. Craig Quanchello are co-chairs of the advisory council.
Members include:
- First Lady Jasmine Blackwater-Nygren, Office of the Navajo Nation President and Vice President
- Major Nathan Barton, Pojoaque Police Department
- Chief Daryl Noon, Navajo Nation Police Department
- Dawn M. Begay, CABQ Native American Affairs
- Tiffany Jiron, Executive Director Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women
Bella Davis is an Indigenous affairs reporter at New Mexico In Depth, a position made possible in part by the national organization Report for America.
Editor's note: The editor of this publication is a member of the Board of Directors for New Mexico In Depth.
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