City Councilor Matthew Ortiz, the attorney for Advantage Asphalt and Seal Coating, put Santa Fe County commissioners and employees on notice Tuesday that he might sue them for defaming and damaging his client.

The company is at the center of an investigation into possible fraud and theft at the county Public Works Department.

In a tort claim notice filed Tuesday and faxed to news reporters, Ortiz alleges that the investigation into irregularities in paving and construction contracts at the county was prompted not by a concerned employee — as county officials have reported — but by disgruntled employees and competitors of his client.

Ortiz further claims that the allegations of an "inappropriate" relationship between Advantage Asphalt owner Anthony Montoya and fired former county Public Works director James Lujan were rumors spread by county employees seeking to advance themselves and the candidacy of certain candidates for the County Commission during the June primary election.

Ortiz said Tuesday he has reason to believe that both Robert Anaya and Daniel Mayfield — who will take office as the new members of the County Commission in January — had people working inside the Public Works department to help spread rumors about his client.

"These allegations and statements made by former and current Santa Fe County personnel were misleading, erroneous, exaggerated and false," Ortiz wrote.

The notice also states that county staff spoke with news media representatives for the express purpose of harming Advantage Asphalt's business.

Ortiz said Tuesday he's researching activities he has heard took place during the primary. "And if we think that Public Works employees are liable not just in their official capacity but in their individual capacity, we are going to go after them."

Neither Anaya or Mayfield could be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon.

The tort claim notice, which is required before the filing of a lawsuit against a government entity, also contains a request for public records of correspondence related to Advantage Asphalt between any of the current county commissioners and current county Public Works Division Director Robert Martinez and county Land Use Director Shelley Cobau. Ortiz said Tuesday he hopes the request will help him prove his case.

Ortiz last Friday filed another document — a motion to quash search warrants served on his client, on the grounds that items not listed on the warrant were seized and items not belonging to his client were seized, among other arguments — which appears to link County Development Review Committee member Jon Paul Romero to the case. Romero lost his bid to become county commissioner for District 1, representing northern Santa Fe County, to Mayfield in the Democratic Party primary.

The motion to quash — which alleges that $400 and a laptop computer have gone missing from the evidence seized from Advantage Asphalt — cites a document titled "Inventory of items seized from: 41A West Saddleback Mesa Road."

Though the sheriff's office hasn't publicly filed an official return listing all the items seized, the inventory cited by the motion appears to be a list of items seized, similar to the lists routinely provided to the subject of a search warrant.

This list includes a reference to a document described on two lines. The first line contains the text: "SFC. CR.84/ Invoice." The next line contains two notations, listed one above the other. The first notation says: "Southwest Designs — Jon Paul." Directly under that is written: "James Lujan $42,300/ $42,300." The description is handwritten and contains two small arrows one that points from "SFC" to "James Lujan" another that leads from "Jon Paul" to $42,300."

Jon Paul Romero, who owns Southwest Design LLC, has done contract work as a designer and project manager for Santa Fe County. He also worked at Rancho Viejo subdivision, where Advantage was contracted to do a significant amount of infrastructure work. He could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

An attorney for Rancho Viejo owners SunCor New Mexico has confirmed that the firm is "aggressively pursuing" a private arbitration with Advantage Asphalt over work done at the development south of the city.

The document to which the list appears to refer was cited by Sheriff's Detective James C. Yeager in his affidavit seeking a warrant to search the home of former Public Works director Lujan, who was fired in May shortly after the investigation began.

Yeager wrote in his affidavit that the document suggested a financial relationship between Lujan and Montoya. He made no mention of Romero in his affidavit.

Sherriff Greg Solano said Tuesday he couldn't comment on individual pieces of evidence at this point. Solano also said he couldn't comment on allegations by Ortiz until the case is heard in court.

Solano did say that the laptop to which Ortiz refers in his motion to quash is still missing. Solano said more than a dozen computers were seized from Advantage Asphalt in last week's search of homes and an office. He said members of a special task force made up of sheriff's office and state Attorney General's Office staff is working to clone the computers as quickly as possible so they can be returned to the company.

Solano said Tuesday that an engineer from the state Department of Transportation has joined the task force temporarily to assist in evaluating some of the roads built by Advantage Asphalt. Allegations have been made that certain jobs contracted out by the county were not completed according to specifications.

Ortiz also mentions in his tort claim notice that Advantage Asphalt never received any sign from the county that there was any problem with any of its work. In addition, Ortiz notes that the firm — which has received contracts from the county and the city totaling more than $11 million in the past few years — also bid on about $1 million worth of work that it was not awarded.

The notice also states that Advantage has outstanding invoices with the county which aren't being paid because of the ongoing investigation.

County Commissioner Liz Stefanics recently directed staff to look into the possibility of withholding payment from any firm involved in the probe. But county spokeswoman Kristine Mihelcic said Tuesday that all of Advantage Asphalt's invoices have been paid, except one related to work on the tennis courts in Pojoaque where work is incomplete. Once that work is completed, Mihelcic said, the firm will be paid.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.