NM Supreme Court Upholds Removal of Edgewood’s Mayor – The New Mexico Supreme Court has upheld District Court Judge Maria Sanchez-Gagne’s October 14, 2020, findings and court-ordered removal of John Bassett as mayor of the Town of Edgewood. Bassett was removed for violation of the town’s nepotism ordinance, misuse of public funds, and fraud against the taxpayers.
The judgments against Bassett disqualify him from holding any elected office in the State of New Mexico. Despite knowledge of the court’s 2020 malfeasance rulings, in August 2021, Bassett filed as a candidate for town commissioner in Edgewood’s 2021 municipal election. He is listed as one of two candidates currently on the ballot for Position 4.
READ COURT DECISION: Nov 2021 NM Supreme Court Ruling – Bassett
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READ: Santa Fe New Mexican article on this topic.
In a convoluted action, following Bassett’s October 14, 2020, removal from office, he called and chaired a special meeting of the town council on November 2, 2020. In that meeting, Bassett sought to use taxpayer money to fund legal defense of himself in his personal and official capacities, and for the town to fight enforcing its own nepotism ordinance against Bassett.
Despite protests from Councilors Sherry Abraham and Audrey Jaramillo, who stated the mayor had been removed and it was inappropriate for him to call or chair a meeting of the governing body, Councilors John Abrams and Linda Holle voted in favor of Bassett’s agenda and action items. As each action item stalemated in tie votes, despite being removed from office, Bassett then cast tie-breaking votes in his favor.
The Supreme Court’s decision also invalidates the decisions made at that November 2, 2020 special meeting and states that the town’s law firm, Robles, Rael and Anaya were not legally retained to act on the town’s behalf, or to expend taxpayer money on Bassett’s defense. The court’s ruling has stricken from the record all actions taken by Robles, Rael and Anaya on the consolidated matter on behalf of the town or Bassett since that time.
The Supreme Court’s decision opens a path for taxpayers to seek redress and recovery of taxpayer dollars expended by and on behalf of Bassett for the personal gain of himself or his family members. The original Quo Warranto case, ruled on by District Court Judge Maria Sanchez-Gagne, was filed in February 2020 on behalf of the citizens of Edgewood by a group of concerned Edgewood citizens that included former mayor Howard Calkins (now deceased), Thomas McGill, and Jerry Powers (current commission candidate).
For more background information, see tabs: Latest Court Actions and Fighting Waste, Fraud and Corruption on this website.
