Gallup Council Debate Erupts After Sarah Piano Pulls Library Board Appointments

Councilor Sarah Piano, District 3, removed two Library Advisory Board nominations from the Feb. 19, 2026 consent agenda and forced public debate that ended with Mayor Marc DePauli’s nominees Rebecca Bertinetti and Ben Welch confirmed by a 3-2 vote. Mayor DePauli, Councilor Linda Garcia (District 1) and Councilor Ron Molina (District 4) voted to approve the appointments; Piano and Councilor Asamoa-Tutu voted no.

Piano told the council she pulled the item because of concerns about the selection process and transparency rather than objections to the candidates themselves, and she urged the council to schedule a review of the city ordinance that governs Library Advisory Board appointments. Piano said she had harbored similar concerns “last time” she voted on LAB appointments and described the debate as making her feel like she was “having [Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.]”

Octavia Fellin Public Library Director Tammi Moe addressed the council before the vote and framed the issue in operational terms. Moe said, “This isn’t about who is worthy of serving, it’s about who is ready for the work this season demands. If the mayor’s nominees are appointed, I will absolutely work in partnership with them, and I trust they will serve with integrity.” Her remarks were intended to reassure councilors that library staff would collaborate with any newly confirmed board members.

Under the City of Gallup ordinance in effect, the mayor nominates Library Advisory Board members and the city council must approve those nominations. That statutory framework was central to the Feb. 19 debate as Piano pushed for more openness about how nominees are selected and asked the council to consider whether the ordinance or the mayoral practice should be revisited.

The narrow 3-2 margin and Piano’s public call for an ordinance discussion came against a backdrop of similar municipal disputes elsewhere. In Prattville, a separate library-board fight produced a 5-2 council vote to reappoint Doug Darr and to appoint Don Bethel, a controversy that followed an earlier county appointment that broke with local tradition and prompted resignations and accusations that a board had been “stacked.” Prattville Council President Lora Lee Boone warned leaders there that “we’re at a crossing point … we’re at a point here where we will be making the decision of continuing our traditional process or looking at a completely new process.”

With Bertinetti and Welch now officially seated on Gallup’s Library Advisory Board, the immediate question for city leaders is whether the council will schedule the ordinance review Councilor Piano requested and how that review might change mayoral nominations, public vetting, or council approval procedures going forward.