Alamogordo residents petition for vote on anti-abortion resolution passed by City

A petition was started to take the City of Alamogordo's anti-abortion resolution to a referendum, meaning it could go before voters in special, mail-in election.

The resolution in question was approved by the the City Commission during an Aug. 2 special meeting that declared the City a "sanctuary for the unborn" seeking to ban the medical practice of abortion and other activities commissioners believed could put fetuses at risk.

Alamogordo resident Ashlie Myers spearheaded the referendum, seeking to put the resolution on the ballot as she felt the people of Alamogordo were ignored when commissioner approved the motion.

Myers and the New Voices Otero team have until Sept. 1 to collect enough signatures to trigger a referendum.

Myers was at the corner of White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street Sunday, Aug. 28 through Thursday, Sept. 1 gathering signatures.

She was at Oasis Creative Design on Saturday, Aug. 27 and at the White Sands Boulevard and 10th Street corner on Friday, Aug. 26.

As of Friday, Aug. 26, the petition had a quarter to half of the needed signatures, Myers said.

"We started calling people (Aug. 25) and have had tremendous, overwhelming support," Myers said. "Every single person that I've contacted have said they're coming (to sign the petition)."

Myers said she has called people but did not conduct door-to-door canvassing due to recent controversy from another group seeking to question elections results.

More:Alamogordo Commissioners approve abortion opposition, now a 'sanctuary for the unborn'

Beginning in February, New Mexico Audit Force began a door-to-door canvas in which they were trying to verify the voter rolls according to New Mexico Secretary of State records the organization obtained.

Shortly after the New Mexico Audit Force canvass began, state governing agencies including the Office of the Lt. Governor, New Mexico Attorney General's Office and New Mexico Secretary of State's Office all began receiving complaints about the Audit Force canvassers.

The New Mexico Attorney General's Office set up a hotline to report voter harassment and/or intimidation during the ongoing door-to-door canvass.

More:Congressional report says Otero County was taken in by 'grifters' spreading election misinformation

Commissioners accused of 'ignoring majority' in approving anti-abortion resolution

One of the reasons many people have given to wanting to sign the petition is that a majority of the public comment before and during the special meeting on Aug. 2 were against the resolution declaring Alamogordo a sanctuary for the unborn.

"(Most of the people Myers spoke with) felt like the majority were ignored and that's not how you're supposed to govern," Myers said. "You're supposed to represent all of your constituents and when the majority of your constituents that are at a (city commission) meeting say, 'we don't agree with this resolution,' representing your constituents means you oppose the resolution."

After four hours of public comment, mostly from the side against the resolution, the Commission voted 5-to-2 to declare the City a sanctuary for the unborn and on a 6-to-1 margin to support the Otero County resolution declaring the County a "sanctuary for life."

There were 187 people spoke or had statements ready at the Aug. 2 meeting, and 82 were in favor of passage of the resolution while 105 opposed.

On Aug. 6, the Saturday following the special meeting, New Voices Otero held a protest on the corner of 10th Street and White Sands Boulevard.

The resolutions and protest came after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe V. Wade June 24.

Otero County unanimously declared itself a "sanctuary for life" at its July 14 regular meeting, a move similar to the City's resolution.

District 3 Alamogordo City Commissioner Karl Melton put the resolution city's resolution forward that declared Alamogordo a sanctuary for the unborn, aiming to make take an action similar to the county's

The measure was approved down gender lines with the two women on the commission voting against it.

These two were Alamogordo City Mayor Susan Payne and District 5 Alamogordo City Commissioner Sharon McDonald voting against the measure.

Payne voted against it because she did not think this sort of thing was a function of city government.

Should the city petition succeed, the measure would go to a mail ballot that would cost the City of Alamogordo $25,000 to $30,000 from the City's General Fund, City of Alamogordo Finance Director Evelyn Huff said.

However, "there is not currently any money budgeted for election expenses," Huff said, a point Melton said was not made clear to voters by supporters of the petition.

"The activists who want your signatures are not telling you the full story,"' Melton said. "There is no money budgeted this year for municipal elections, so if this petition receives enough signatures, the petitioners would force the City to take away funding from important city-funded services.

"Given Alamogordo’s recent election results, the voters would likely decide to keep the Sanctuary City for the Unborn resolution on the books if a special election is called. So, I ask those who are considering signing the petition, is it worth it to take away at least $25,000 from the City budget for a special election that will likely not change a thing?"

Although the Otero County Clerk's Office handles the regular local elections, municipalities "are responsible for the cost and it would be held as an all-mail election," Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes said.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.

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This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Alamogordo residents petition for vote on anti-abortion resolution