David Mann is Rio Rancho’s newest District 4 councilor. The Governing Body voted 4-2 Thursday to confirm Mayor Paul Wymer’s pick, closing out a monthlong process that turned into a pointed debate over whether Mann’s day job — general counsel for Rio Rancho Public Schools — creates conflicts with a council seat.
Councilors approved the appointment during the July 23 meeting, and Mann was sworn in immediately afterward. “I’m grateful for the trust that was placed in me by Mayor Wymer for nominating me,” Mann said after taking the oath. He also pledged to make himself available to District 4 residents who didn’t get a vote in the process: “Please reach out and connect.”
Councilors Bob Tyler and Jeremy Lenentine cast the two dissenting votes, both citing Mann’s role as RRPS’s lead attorney as too entangled with city business to manage cleanly. Tyler argued the position — not a coaching gig or a classroom job, but the district’s top legal counsel — would force recusals more often than council could tolerate. Lenentine and Tyler also pointed to Mann’s own paper trail: an email withdrawing from consideration over the conflict, followed by a later request to rejoin the process, calling the reversal a red flag for a city council seat…