“This has been going on for a long time, however, having been unsuccessful for all these months to get my agenda requests submitted. You have the power and the responsibility to cure this,” Harris said.

In a parting statement, Harris said she refuses to be cowed or intimidated by the occupants of the county manager’s office.

Following a review of the request, only the County Manager or a Commissioner may place an item on the agenda.” For items that require Board action or for a longer discussion, requestors must complete an Agenda Request form, found on the Manager’s Forms page. On the county’s website, under the Board of County Commissioners’ tab, it states, “All constituents and organizations are welcome to address the Board during the public comment portion at the start of each meeting. There’s no reason to treat us like this.” You have no right to treat me or any taxpayer like that. “Then they told me I should just be quiet and calm down. “They lied to me and told me they didn’t have public comments,” Harris said, directing her comments to County Manager Hawkes. In the county manager’s office, Harris noted, employees sit behind locked doors and one-way windows and use an intercom system to dictate to taxpayers while making them jump through hoops, various roadblocks, and red tape. We are known as a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. “We don’t have a king, we don’t have a ruler. This is a republic – this is not a monarchy,” Harris said. Noting her frustration, she reminded commissioners and county personnel they work for 18,000 taxpayers in Socorro County. “Every time I come to the manager’s office, they have one reason or another why I can’t be on the agenda.” “I’ve been trying to get on the agenda for about four or five months now,” she said. Harris told Socorro County Commissioners during their meeting last week she had been trying to get on the county board’s agenda, but her efforts were being thwarted by County Manager Michael Hawkes and his office staff. Donna Harris didn’t mince words when she reminded public employees and elected officials that they work for the Socorro County taxpayers.Īlthough she’s lived here for 45 years, Harris considers herself a newcomer and a bit of an outsider in Socorro County.

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