Bernalillo County commissioner admonished for misleading colleagues

Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa has been found to have violated the Bernalillo County Code of Conduct in December for not being truthful to her fellow commissioners about suggesting edits on a county job description.

The Bernalillo County Code of Conduct Review Board found that Barboa violated the code during a May 2023 commission meeting when she said she had not done anything related to the behavioral health deputy county manager job description — when she had previously proposed edits.

The commissioners voted on a resolution that authorized Barboa to serve as behavioral health leadership liaison during that May meeting.

The behavioral health deputy county manager position still has not been filled, and at an annual salary listed at almost $160,000 in the job posting, whoever is hired would be one of the highest paid county employees.

The review board decision said that “allowing colleagues to be misled by inaccurate statements and failing to correct or withdraw them is counter to the level of integrity, respect, and responsiveness required of elected officials,” and admonished Barboa, but found no further need for action.

The review board decision also noted that disputes between public servants “should be resolved at the lowest possible level,” and in this case the issue could have potentially been addressed before being brought to the review board.

Commissioner Steven Michael Quezada made the code of conduct complaint in September. Quezada has a history of making ethics complaints against his fellow commissioners and previously made a complaint about Barboa that was dismissed.

In a statement released last week, Quezada said he was thankful for the review board decision.

“Holding everyone in our government accountable is vital to maintaining trust in our public institutions, regardless of the individual involved,” Quezada said in a statement. “Elected officials should always show honesty and integrity. Commissioner Barboa’s actions regarding her involvement in the hiring of the Deputy County Manager for Behavioral Health has affected how the community trusts its leaders.”

Barboa also wanted to thank the ethics commission, who are all 10 volunteers. Barboa said that she believes Quezada has been frivolous with ethics complaints.

“It’s clear to me that (Quezada)’s just doing whatever he can to weaponize this ethics commission,” Barboa said. “This ethics commission was put in place to prohibit county commissioners from nepotism or cronyism. It wasn’t to be this ‘I got you moment’ for county commissioners that are trying to really make a change.”

Cathy Cook is a news reporter for the Albuquerque Journal. Reach her via email at ccook@abqjournal.com