Official Election Results

The official results from the city of Rio Rancho’s March 1, 2016, regular and special municipal elections that included three City Council seats, a road bond question, and 11 City Charter amendment questions are:

City Councilors

District 1 City Councilor, Four-Year Term	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
JoAnne C. Dudley	48	81	129
Joshua Hernandez	93	246	339
Jim Owen	117	292	409

*Runoff election required for District 1 between the highest and second-highest vote-getter

District 4 City Councilor, Four-Year Term	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
Marlene Feuer	361	424	785
Ron E. Hensley	166	214	380
Ryan Parra	121	160	281

District 6 City Councilor, Four-Year Term	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
David L. Bency	186	349	535
Chris Balzano	99	132	231
Lonnie F. Clayton	118	143	261
Chris J. Vanden-Heuvel	57	170	227

*Runoff election required for District 6 between the highest and second-highest vote-getter

Road Bond Question

“Shall the City of Rio Rancho issue up to $9,000,000 of general obligation bonds, to be repaid from property taxes, for the purpose of designing, constructing, repairing, preserving, rehabilitating, enhancing and otherwise improving roads?”

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For General Obligation Road Bonds	1,255	2,244	3,499
Against General Obligation Road Bonds	777	1,300	2,077

City Charter Amendment

Questions

Proposition 36

Summary of question: If approved, the Governing Body will be required to establish a review of the City’s Charter every six years. Currently, this is required every five years.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,043	1,840	2,883
Against Amendment	977	1,688	2,665

Proposition 37

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment will modify the requirements that a petition for Charter amendment must meet in order to be approved by the City Clerk for circulation, and provide consistency for the City petition process. In addition, this amendment specifies the time-frame in which any amendment by successful petition would be presented to the voters and thereafter become effective, if approved.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,358	2,503	3,861
Against Amendment	642	998	1,640

Proposition 38

Summary of question: If approved, beginning in 2018, the salaries for the Governing Body would be tied to the City’s mean household income as reported by the United States Census Bureau. The current annual salary for the Mayor is $30,402. The current annual salary for City Councilors is as follows: District 1, 4, 6: $14,328 / District 2, 3, 5: $15,201. The 2013 estimate of mean household income for Rio Rancho reported by the United States Census Bureau was $73,998. Thirty-five (35) percent of this amount is $25,899.30.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	862	1,754	2,616
Against Amendment	1,173	1,783	2,956

Proposition 39

Summary of question: If approved, the Mayor would get to vote on items presented to the Governing Body in the case of any absence of a City Councilor. Currently, the Mayor may only vote in the event of a tie.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,048	1,922	2,970
Against Amendment	977	1,631	2,608

Proposition 40

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment would allow the Mayor to have outside employment only if approved by the Governing Body. In addition, this amendment creates additional responsibilities for the Mayor.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,119	2,118	3,237
Against Amendment	886	1,391	2,277

Proposition 41

Summary of question: If approved, the process by which the judicial branch provides its annual budget and capital program will be formalized.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,497	2,774	4,271
Against Amendment	481	712	1,193

Proposition 42

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment would remove the Governing Body and City Manager from serving as ex-officio members of City board, commissions, and advisory bodies.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,332	2,317	3,649
Against Amendment	640	1,143	1,783

Proposition 43

Summary of question: If approved, language will be removed specific to adopting a resolution to reduce one or more appropriations to reduce an issue regarding any budget deficit. However, the Governing Body may still choose this option as they deem appropriate.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,007	1,758	2,765
Against Amendment	950	1,673	2,623

Proposition 44

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment will ensure that each page of a petition for an Initiative will contain the same information when presented to the public for signature, and provide consistency for the City petition process.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,683	2,997	4,680
Against Amendment	312	504	816

Proposition 45

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment will ensure that each page of a petition for a Referendum will contain the same information when presented to the public for signature, and provide consistency for the City petition process.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	1,700	3,020	4,720
Against Amendment	298	476	774

Proposition 46

Summary of question: If approved, this amendment will remove the Conflict of Interest; Ethics section of the Charter and replace it with language requiring the Governing Body to adopt a related Code of Conduct by ordinance no later than July 1, 2016.

	Absentee/Early	Polls	Total
For Amendment	932	1,831	2,763
Against Amendment	1,049	1,642	2,691

Runoff Election

Because no candidate received more than 50 percent of the total votes cast in the regular municipal election for City Council Districts 1 and 6, a runoff election is necessary per municipal code.
In the runoff election, the candidates will be:
District 1 City Councilor
Joshua Hernandez
Jim Owen
District 6 City Councilor David L. Bency
Lonnie F. Clayton
The runoff election will be held between 35 days to 45 days after the canvass (tentatively scheduled for April 12) of the regular election is completed. The runoff election date will be set by vote of the Rio Rancho Governing Body at their March 9 regular meeting.

Canvass of Election Results

The March 1 unofficial election results were canvassed by Sandoval County Magistrate Court Judge Richard L. Zanotti and certified as official on Friday, March 4. View official canvass in searchable PDF.

Voter Turnout

Of the 56,504 registered voters who could have cast a ballot in the March 1 regular and special municipal elections, 5,647 or 9.99 percent voted.

Swearing-In Ceremony

At 6 p.m. on Monday, March 7 at Rio Rancho City Hall, the following will be officially sworn in and take office:

• Marlene Feuer as District 4 City Councilor

The public is invited to attend the ceremony.

Questions

For election questions, please call the Office of the City Clerk at (505) 891-5004. Rio Rancho City Hall is located at 3200 Civic Center Circle.

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