NORTHERN NEW MEXICO
Jury finds Angel Fire mayor 'knowingly violated' state procurement code in million-dollar marketing contract
Village leadership failed to follow competitive bidding process, signed contract with unlawful prepayment clause
RATON — An 8th Judicial District Court jury has found that Angel Fire Mayor Barry "B.J." Lindsey "knowingly violated" the New Mexico Procurement Code after hiring a marketing agency for the village outside of a competitive bidding process and under a contract that included an illegal prepayment clause.
The New Mexico Ethics Commission sued the mayor in 2024 after investigating a series of complaints that alleged Lindsey and his staff failed to issue a request for proposals seeking competitive bids for the contract, which Lindsey awarded to Carristo Creative Consulting LLC of Albuquerque that year for over $1 million.
Following a jury trial this month before Judge Steven Romero in Colfax County, the jury found on Feb. 17 that Lindsey attempted to circumvent the fair bidding process under an exemption in the Procurement Code that allows a public body to allocate funding for "purchases of advertising in all media."
After the civil suit was filed in 2024, the village canceled the contract and issued an RFP for advertising services for the community, which is home to less than 2,000 full-time residents in the Moreno Valley, roughly 24 miles east of Taos.
“I ran for mayor to serve my community, not to spend two years defending myself in court,” Lindsey said in a statement. “Small-town leaders deserve guidance and communication before they’re hit with a lawsuit.”
Lindsey and his attorneys filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in August of that year, arguing that he and his staff should be granted the opportunity to redress the matter under the Campaign Reporting Act, but were denied.
“New Mexico is full of small towns led by everyday citizens,” Lindsey added. “When state agencies move straight to lawsuits instead of working with local governments, it sends a message that discourages people from stepping up to serve.”
The commission reached a separate settlement with Carristo for repayment of the amounts it unlawfully received under the contract, according to a press release from the ethics commission.
A political newcomer who took office in January 2024, Lindsey cast the tie-breaking vote to award the contract to Carristo, which was named as a party to the civil lawsuit along with several village staff, including Julie Kulhan, chief procurement officer.
The lawsuit also asserted that the mayor and his wife maintained personal relationships with the creative agency, which could not immediately be reached for comment Monday regarding the outcome of the lawsuit.
“In New Mexico, government entities cannot bypass normal competitive procurement requirements and award a no-bid $1 million contract to a public official’s friend simply because a contract is related to advertising in some general sense,” Amelia Bierle, deputy director of the New Mexico Ethics Commission, said in a press release after the lawsuit was filed in 2024.
The verdict follows a court order granting partial summary judgment in favor of the ethics commission in June 2024, when the court ruled that the procurement code was germane to the contract awarded to Carristo and that it did not fall under any allowable exemptions under state law.
“The Procurement Code exists to ensure fairness, transparency, and public trust in government contracting,” Bierle said in a statement. “(The) verdict reaffirms that public officials are accountable when they knowingly disregard those requirements.”
John Miller is the Albuquerque Journal’s northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
