Santa Fe ethics board sets June 23 hearing, orders prehearing schedule and limited subpoenas
May 12, 2026 | Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico
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The Santa Fe Ethics and Campaign Review Board set a June 23 hearing on May 11 for two pending complaints filed in 2025 and directed staff to issue a written prehearing order specifying discovery and procedural deadlines.
Contract counsel Stephen Ross told the board the matters have multiple filings, including amended responses and counterclaims, and recommended the board set a hearing date and work backward with deadlines so both sides have the same information ahead of the hearing. The chair said the prehearing order would include correspondence obtained through the city's Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) office and would specify a limited number of subpoenas; witness subpoenas will be acted on at the chair's discretion.
The board voted to enter executive session to develop a procedural plan and later returned to public session to announce the June 23 hearing date. The chair said the prehearing order will be developed with counsel and distributed promptly, and the board will list deadlines for exhibit and witness lists and for agreed facts that parties do not dispute so the hearing time is used efficiently.
The chair also offered contract counsel Stephen Ross as a mediator and told parties he would ask Ross to research his availability and include mediation dates in the prehearing order. Parties requested 30 days for document production and additional time to review materials; the chair and counsel said they would try to be reasonable about those timelines.
No final merits determination was made at the meeting for the 2025 matters; the board limited its public discussion to status and scheduling and said any substantive deliberations held with counsel were conducted in executive session as allowed by law.
Contract counsel Stephen Ross told the board the matters have multiple filings, including amended responses and counterclaims, and recommended the board set a hearing date and work backward with deadlines so both sides have the same information ahead of the hearing. The chair said the prehearing order would include correspondence obtained through the city's Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA) office and would specify a limited number of subpoenas; witness subpoenas will be acted on at the chair's discretion.
The board voted to enter executive session to develop a procedural plan and later returned to public session to announce the June 23 hearing date. The chair said the prehearing order will be developed with counsel and distributed promptly, and the board will list deadlines for exhibit and witness lists and for agreed facts that parties do not dispute so the hearing time is used efficiently.
The chair also offered contract counsel Stephen Ross as a mediator and told parties he would ask Ross to research his availability and include mediation dates in the prehearing order. Parties requested 30 days for document production and additional time to review materials; the chair and counsel said they would try to be reasonable about those timelines.
No final merits determination was made at the meeting for the 2025 matters; the board limited its public discussion to status and scheduling and said any substantive deliberations held with counsel were conducted in executive session as allowed by law.
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