Help us improve in just 2 minutes—share your thoughts in our reader survey.
Peggy Muller-Aragon recall, Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico (2015)
| Albuquerque Public Schools Board recall |
|---|
 |
| Officeholders |
| Recall status |
| See also |
| Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2015 Recalls in New Mexico New Mexico recall laws School board recalls Recall reports |
An effort to recall Peggy Muller-Aragon from her seat on the Albuquerque School Board in New Mexico failed due to lack of legal representation. The effort started in early September 2015; however, recall supporters could not find legal counsel for their hearing with a district court and withdrew their petition on September 15, 2015.[1][2]
The recall effort originally targeted six of the seven members on the board, all but member Steven Michael Quezada. At issue was the board's $100,000 contract buyout for former superintendent Luis Valentino, which the board approved unanimously. Two months after he took the position, Valentino left the district amidst a number of controversies, one of which was the discovery that then-deputy superintendent Jason Martinez faced domestic assault and sexual assault of a child charges in Colorado. A background check on Martinez was not completed before he was hired.[1][2]
Recall supporters
District parent Jacob Gil led the recall effort. Before he targeted the board, he circulated a petition to oust Valentino from his position. That petition collected over 3,000 signatures. After Valentino resigned, Gil started the recall effort against the board, as he was unhappy with the way they allowed Valentino to leave. In addition to the $100,000 buyout, the board gave Valentino a letter of recommendation. “If you ask a lot of parents in APS, there’s no way they would ever refer him to watching a dog, much less a superintendent,” said Gil.[1]
After Gil found out the New Mexico Department of Education would be in charge of appointing new board members if they were left without a quorum, he focused the recall effort against Muller-Aragon. Muller-Aragon had refused to go into executive session with the rest of the board when discussing Valentino's contract. Though state law allows the board to discuss personnel matter in private, Muller-Aragon said she wanted the process to be more transparent. Gil said that "she alone refused to do her job of being a voice for her constituents.” He also accused her of being too close to Gov. Susana Martinez (R) and New Mexico Secretary of Education Hanna Skandera and of answering to them instead of to voters. Muller-Aragon's campaign was publicly backed by Gov. Martinez, and she received $15,000 in campaign contributions from the governor's PAC. "She works for the governor, and we parents and teachers don’t need that influence on our board of education. Politics doesn’t belong in education," said Gil.[2][3][4]
Recall opponents
When the recall effort was focused on six of the seven board members, all seven members spoke out against the recall effort during a board meeting. "I didn't run for this board to hurt children or hurt the community. I ran because I love APS and I love kids," Duran said. He also implored recall supporters to look at his record and said the board's critics did not understand the agony the board went through because of the controversies with Martinez and Valentino's contract buyout.[5]
Garcia said, "We have been told people are ashamed of us and other horrible things," but he said he was proud of the board and of the district. Duran added, "You can recall us, and you can call a quorum, but guess who appoints? The secretary of education. Go for it." The entire board asked the school district community to "turn anger into motivation and focus on the future."[5][6]
Board members also defended their unanimous decision to buyout Valentino's contract. They said the buyout ensured the district would not be dragged through a "costly and lengthy legal fight with Valentino." Quezada, the one board member who was not targeted for recall, said, “I’m one elected official who’s not a gambler and I won’t gamble with our money.” Muller-Aragon said, "We did what we thought was best for the kids to move on to put the focus back where it should be."[6]
Path to the ballot
- See also: Laws governing recall in New Mexico
Gil and other recall supporters started circulating petitions in early September 2015. They had a hearing with the state's Second Judicial District Court set for September 17, 2015, in order to prove “malfeasance or misfeasance,” which is required by state law. Prior to the hearing, however, their legal representation withdrew from the effort due to a conflict of interest. Gil was unable to find other representation in time for the hearing and had to withdraw the recall petition.[2] If the hearing had occurred and a judge had approved the recall, Gil and other supporters would have had 110 days to gather one-third of the votes cast in the last election. Muller-Aragon was elected to the board in February 2015, defeating incumbent Kathy Korte. Just over 3,000 votes were cast in that election, so the recall effort would have had to collect approximately 1,100 signatures.[3][4]
About the district
- See also: Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
The Albuquerque school district is located in Bernalillo County in central New Mexico. The county seat is Albuquerque. Bernalillo County was home to 675,551 residents in 2014, according to the United States Census Bureau.[7] During the 2012-2013 school year, Albuquerque Public Schools was the largest school district by enrollment in New Mexico and served 94,083 students.[8]
Demographics
Bernalillo County outperformed the rest of New Mexico in terms of higher education achievement in 2013. The United States Census Bureau found that 32.1 percent of Bernalillo County residents aged 25 years and older had attained a bachelor's degree compared to 25.8 percent for New Mexico as a whole. The median household income for Bernalillo County was $48,801 compared to $44,927 for the state of New Mexico. The percentage of people below poverty level for Bernalillo County was 18.0 percent while it was 20.4 percent for the entire state.[7]
|
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here.
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms 'Peggy Muller-Aragon' 'Albuquerque Public Schools' New Mexico recall. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Albuquerque Public Schools, New Mexico
- Albuquerque Public Schools elections (2015)
- Recall campaigns in New Mexico
- Political recall efforts, 2015
- School board recalls
External links
Additional reading
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 KRQE News 13, "Parent looks to oust Albuquerque Public School Board," September 1, 2015
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 NM Political Report, "APS board recall effort over before it even began," September 14, 2015
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Albuquerque Journal, "Recall effort narrowed to one APS board member," September 4, 2015
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 NM Political Report, "APS recall effort now only targets one member," September 7, 2015
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 KOAT 7 ABC, "APS school board president: How dare you judge me," September 4, 2015
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 KRQE News 13, "Albuquerque school board fires back at critics," September 2, 2015
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 United States Census Bureau, "Bernalillo County, New Mexico," accessed September 16, 2015
- ↑ National Center for Education Statistics, "ELSI Table Generator," accessed April 22, 2015
- ↑ Bernalillo County, "General & Primary Results 1996 to Present," accessed December 4, 2014
 |
State of New Mexico Santa Fe (capital) |
|---|---|
| Elections |
What's on my ballot? | Elections in 2025 | How to vote | How to run for office | Ballot measures |
| Government |
Who represents me? | U.S. President | U.S. Congress | Federal courts | State executives | State legislature | State and local courts | Counties | Cities | School districts | Public policy |
