Rio Rancho Governing Body Work Session – August 18, 2026
Rio Rancho Governing Body Work Session – August 18, 2026
The City of Rio Rancho Governing Body held a work session on August 18, 2026, to review the 2026 Municipal Officer Election and receive a traffic safety update. The meeting included detailed presentations from the City Clerk and Police Department, followed by council discussion. No public comment was taken. The council extended the meeting to 5:45 PM.
2026 Municipal Officer Election Review
- City Clerk Noelle Davis presented a comprehensive overview of the election process, which took place March 3, 2026, with an April 14 runoff for mayor. The city ran its own election, using 15 voting locations for the general election and the same for the runoff. Actual costs totaled $550,373.78, a 1,132% increase from $45,000 in 2018, driven by new state requirements and reduced county support. The budget was $450,000.
- Challenges included: difficulty hiring election officials, loss of staff to county (which pays better), confusion over permanent absentee voting (only for state elections), and increased precincts due to voter turnout. The DNC's decision to move the 2028 presidential primary to February 15 could conflict with the city's March election.
- Councilor Tyler expressed support for plurality voting to eliminate runoffs and suggested putting any changes to voters. Councilor List opposed consolidation, citing the 2012 voter-approved voter ID requirement (66% support) and argued the state is pressuring cities to consolidate. Councilor Mann proposed a citizen survey to gauge public opinion on consolidation and plurality.
- City Manager and Deputy City Manager noted that consolidation to November elections is a governing body decision, not a voter question. They discussed timing of a citizen survey (approx. 3-4 months) and the potential for state legislation to force consolidation. The council directed staff to explore plurality options through the upcoming Charter Review Committee and to monitor state legislation.
Traffic Safety Update
- Captain Cassadi presented three programs: Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs), Automated Speed Monitoring, and the June Traffic Enforcement Operation.
- ALPRs: Deployed 19 fixed units since 2021. Recovered 74 stolen vehicles, 50 stolen plates, and made 85 arrests in 2022-2023. Stolen vehicle reports decreased 48% from 214 in 2022 to 103 in 2025. The system also aided in locating missing persons and solving homicides, bank robberies, and shootings. Safeguards include 30-day data retention, required case number for searches, quarterly audits, and compliance with Senate Bill 40 (effective July 1, 2026) which restricts data use and sharing.
- Automated Speed Monitoring: Transitioned from eight mobile vans to ten speed towers in 2024-2025. Citations increased from 18,736 in 2024 to 38,391 in the current year. Revenue is used for police vehicle acquisition. Three new towers on State Road 528 (orange-red for visibility) supported by NMDOT. Since installation, zero fatal crashes on 528 compared to six in 2025. Councilor Tyler expressed support for wrapping all towers in high-visibility color, estimated cost $15,000-16,000.
- June Traffic Enforcement Operation: Focused on 528, Southern Boulevard, and Unser. Conducted 1,458 stops, issued 1,630 citations (433 for speeding, 210 for uninsured motorists, 167 seatbelt, 153 cell phone, 38 reckless/careless). Made 41 DWI arrests and 20 other arrests. Crashes reduced 13.5% overall, with no fatal or great bodily harm crashes during the operation compared to five fatalities and four great bodily harm crashes prior.
Key Outcomes
- No formal votes were taken. The council will consider plurality voting as a charter amendment through the 2027 Charter Review Committee.
- Staff will explore expediting a citizen survey on election consolidation and plurality, potentially in late 2026 or early 2027.
- The city will continue to monitor state legislation regarding the 2028 presidential primary date and potential forced consolidation.
- For traffic safety, a budget adjustment may be proposed to wrap speed towers in high-visibility color. The automated speed monitoring program's revenue will continue to fund police vehicle acquisition.
Meeting Transcript
Councilor List, would you lead us in the pledge? And to the Republic for which you stand. One nation under God, indivisible Liberty and Justice Brawl. You may be seated. A reminder for all in the in the chambers, please silence all electronic devices when attending governing body meetings. For the record, I will announce the names of the governing body members when I say your name. Please acknowledge your presence by saying present. Councillor Debson. Present. Councilor Lynentine. Present. Counselor Tyler. Councillor Mann. Present. Councillor Calbreath is excused. Councillor List. Here. A reminder that public comment will not be taken at this work session. Items up for discussion. First item is the 2026 municipal officer election reviewer. Ms. Davis. Good afternoon, counselors. I can honestly say I thought when I submitted my canvas, I was done ever having to think about this again. But here we are. So let's dive in and enjoy ourselves. Shall we? So the municipal officer election occurs on the first Tuesday of March. Um of March in even numbered years. So this past March on March 3rd, 2026, the municipal officer election contained the following items. We voted for the mayor. Congratulations, Mayor Weimer. Council districts two. Councilor Lynentine, congratulations. Councillor Tyler, congratulations. And Councillor Colbreth, congratulations. So per the city charter, um, an April 14th runoff was required for the Office of the Mayor, since uh none of the candidates obtained more than 50%. So here's where we get into the fun stuff. So while the voting for the March election began in February 2026, Deputy Clerk Lucero and I actually began working on the election in January of 2025. So we began reviewing the election code and working to determine on the number of voting set locations needed based on the currently designated precincts in Sandoval and Bernalillo counties. However, we also needed to account for the precincts that would split based on the number of voters in the last two general elections. As many of you recall, 2024 had a record turnout for presidential for the presidential election. So the number of elections would determine the number of election board officials, election workers for each site, and the equipment and supplies that we would need for the election. So throughout January and February, a budget of 450,000 was determined based on 13 to 15 voting locations, dependent upon the number of precincts that split due to the voter turnout. So any precinct that had more than 750 voters was analyzed by the county because they actually determined this. And those counties, or I'm sorry, those precincts then were split. So as we were preparing things, we knew we would need at least 12 because that's what the current precinct count determined, but we didn't know how many splits we'd have. And so I had identified by combing through the attendance or I'm sorry, the voting results for each precinct that we could have anywhere from six to twelve precincts could possibly split. But again, that's a decision made by the county, and then the county has to submit that to the Secretary of State. They have until December 1st of odd numbered years in order to determine that, but I had to plan for our election.
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