Socorro’s Mayoral election date unclear

With the City of Socorro’s now-former Mayor’s recent resignation, it’s unclear when the city will permanently fill the spot and officials said a new state law is complicating the matter.

Former Mayor Trini Lopez resigned earlier this month because he said the city is breaking election laws by extending his and others’ terms to November 2013 without bringing the issue to the voters. It’s an allegation echoed by State Rep. Jose Rodriguez.

But a Socorro Spokesman said they’d have to bring the issue of extending the terms to the voters if they were moving to four year terms which they’re not doing now.

The city, said Spokesman Dave Garcia, had to extend Lopez’s term to 3 and a half years, this one time, because of Senate Bill 100.

Garcia said the state law that doesn’t require counties to pay for off-year elections of cities like Socorro, which means that to save money, Socorro has to move its election to general election dates, when the county does them, too. The State law also allows the moving of election dates to allow troops stationed in Iran and Afghanistan to vote once they come back.

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