From the Santa Fe New Mexican. Full article here.
Edgewood woman files complaint against lawyers representing town
By Robert Nott
Aug 3, 2021
An Edgewood woman has filed an ethics complaint against two lawyers representing the town, claiming they violated conflict-of-interest laws in two separate actions involving the town.
In the first case, complainant Karen Kiser says, Edgewood attorneys Marcus Rael and Jessica Nixon represented both the town and former mayor John Bassett in a fraud case in which Bassett was alleged to have diverted public wastewater lines to his family’s property.
In the second instance, Kiser claimed Nixon represented two city councilors in an action brought against them by two other city councilors regarding an agenda item to set election policies for the town.
Kiser filed the complaint Monday with both the State Ethics Commission and the Disciplinary Board of the New Mexico Supreme Court, she said in a telephone interview Tuesday. The disciplinary board has the right to investigate alleged unethical conduct among lawyers.
“I’d complain to President Biden if he’d listen,” Kiser said of her efforts to draw attention to the situation.
Bassett, who was elected in 2016, was sued by some Edgewood residents who wanted him removed from office. They alleged he’d violated state law and a town ordinance by appointing a relative to a planning board and advocating for the extension of wastewater infrastructure to property owned by his mother.
State District Judge Maria Sanchez-Gagne last fall ordered Bassett’s removal from office.
She also said Rael should not be representing both sides in the case, though she stopped short of holding Rael in contempt of court.
The case has since been appealed and petitioned to the state Supreme Court.
Meanwhile, Kiser said Nixon, who works in the same Albuquerque law firm as Rael — Robles, Rael & Anaya — had no authority to represent two councilors as individuals in the case against the other two councilors.
Rael recently drew attention when some watchdog groups filed formal complaints with state offices, including the Disciplinary Board of the New Mexico Supreme Court, against Attorney General Hector Balderas, alleging he has inappropriately given legal work to Rael.
Efforts to reach Rael and Nixon by phone Tuesday were unsuccessful. Rael did not respond to an email request for comment.
As of Tuesday, Bassett was listed as mayor on the town’s website.
