Going in a new direction
GRANTS, N.M. - The city council covered a great deal of information and made many decisions in their April 12, 2021 regular city council meeting, but the decision that stood out was the decision to end the City of Grants’ contract with former City Manager Laura Jaramillo.
At the beginning of the meeting, while approving the agenda, the council was at odds on whether to keep agenda items three and four, Closed Session: Limited Personnel Matters Pursuant to Section 10-15-1 (H)(2) NMSA 1978 Concerning City Manager and Open Session: Limited Personnel Matters Pursuant to Section 10-15-1 (H)(2) NMSA 1978 Concerning City Manager, where they were on the agenda or move them towards the end. Councilman Fred Rodarte and Councilman Rick Lucero argued that they did not know how long the closed session would be and did not want to keep the public waiting for the rest of the agenda items. On the other hand, Councilman Erik Garcia and Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks wanted to handle the closed session first, with Hicks saying, “that’s why half the people are here…” Mayor Hicks directed the question towards the audience in attendance, to which they responded with an insistent “right now!” With that, the items were kept where they were.
The council officially went into closed session at about 6:22 p.m. Public Works Director Mark Teshima was called in around 6:27 p.m. Mayor Hicks came out of the closed session at 6:46 p.m., Laura Jaramillo went into the room shortly after, and after a long discussion, the council officially came out of the closed session at 8:28 p.m., Jaramillo no longer present. They transitioned back into open session, during which the mayor said, “No decisions were made in there, is that correct?” To which Councilman Erik Garcia responded, “There was a decision… I make a motion that we cancel the city’s contract [with the manager] and move into a new direction for Grants, New Mexico.” The motion was approved by all council members.
“Thank you, guys, very much,” said Mayor Hicks afterward. “On that note, I am going to announce right now… that I’m gonna hire Vanessa Chavez to replace the city manager.” The council decided that they would include an item regarding the council’s approval or disapproval of the mayor’s appointment on the agenda of the next regular city council meeting. Until then, the mayor announced David Chavez as Interim City Manager.
Throughout the rest of the meeting, the council went through, voted on, and discussed items concerning the Grants-Milan Municipal Airport, 2nd Street project, Roosevelt Avenue bridge project, upcoming BioPark and feasibility study plans, large equipment purchases, Grants Police Department’s PSA (Police Service Aid) program and Cibola General Hospital security, and Cemetery Advising Board appointments. The outcomes for these items will be covered in next week’s edition of the Cibola Citizen.
During the comments portion at the end of the meeting, councilman Garcia issued an apology to Mayor Hicks. Garcia started off by saying, “Well today, it was a tough meeting. So, I’ve been on this council now for about a year… The mayor and I didn’t see eye to eye most times, and at times I really was looking away at some of the issues. I am gonna say I’m sorry man. There was a lot of things that when you were telling me and the finance people were telling me, but I was just too green, and I did not understand it.”
Garcia went on to say, “So this last year, as the public has seen me around town, I was visiting departments… I’ve done my homework on how Grants should be growing. So, I think we’re gonna go in a new direction, and we are gonna make Grants a great town. We’re gonna strive to be the safest, cleanest community – that brings money to our town. The council in place right now, the mayor, we have a vision of where we wanna go and I think we just gotta get our finances in place…”
Garcia then brought up the County and gave some background on where they were financially three years ago and where they are today. “I will say, that through the commission and the leadership over there with Kate, they changed it. Their projected rate of money that’s going to be in their general fund by the end of 2021 – take a guess, three years ago they’re at $188,000 – 5.5 million that they’re gonna have in there. Their investment funds are around $6 million. So, kudos to them. If we can get… our finances in place, we’ll start to see Grants grow. We can’t have audits for the last three years in the deficits, it’s kind of not too good. So, with that said, like I said mayor, I was a little green, and I pushed back, and I just didn’t know. But there was a lot of times what you were saying, I should have said ‘yes’, so I apologize sir.”
The mayor responded and concluded the meeting by stating, “My turn – I appreciate that, and I thank the council for taking us in a new direction because that’s where we need to go. Most city managers last an average of five years and then they move on, and that’s what happened here, and I appreciate the council’s vote. And now, we can move forward, and we can start moving this town where we need to get it…” The council adjourned at 9:58 p.m.