The City of Lovington will be in search of a new city manager following the resignation of Vidal Martinez this week. The resignation prompted the city commission to call an emergency meeting for the evening of Thursday, June 1.
The commission meeting started off with a closed session, forcing the public attendees out of the chamber while the commission discussed the matter among themselves. Following that closed session, the public was allowed back in and the commission openly discussed options for moving forward without a city manager.
Commissioner David Trujillo brought up the logistics of finding a new city manager, speaking from past experience being on the commission during the search that ultimately led to hiring Martinez. Trujillo stated that it would likely take four months and commented that the role most recently had taken the city 10 months to fill.
Though no specific timeline can be guaranteed, the commission seemed confident that this would not take as long as the previous 10-month search. One reason given was the city’s involvement with the Southeastern New Mexico Development District, also referred to as COG (Council of Governments). COG handled the previous job search for Lovington’s city manager and the commission noted the organization would still be familiar with the role and likely able to quickly source potential candidates.
“I’m more concerned about tomorrow,” Mayor Robbie Roberts said during the discussion, highlighting the need to fill the vacancy with someone who would be able to continue conducting city business until a new city manager is officially hired. Two important projects were mentioned to be underway which would need the attention of an interim manager.
The discussion then turned to options for handling city management in the short-term. While typically the city clerk is considered first-in-line for the role, Commissioner Trujillo mentioned that Lovington historically puts the police chief into the position. Multiple commissioners expressed concerns about what elevating a current city department head would mean in terms of opening a void in their own department, but the commission also agreed there would be value in bringing on someone from in-house due to their existing knowledge of city business and personal connections with city employees.
One option discussed was bringing on a part-time interim city manager. Mayor Roberts stated that he had spoken with Dennis Holmberg, a former county manager for Lea County. Holmberg is currently retired but working part-time leading special projects with the JF Maddox Foundation. As such, he indicated to Mayor Roberts that he would only have availability for 3 to 4 hours per day.
Commissioner Trujillo said that the city manager job would need someone full-time, which was met with a lot of nods from the public attendees. The other commissioners seemed to agree as the discussion moved away from considering Holmberg.
At that point, the choice seemed to be clear: Police Chief David Miranda would be offered the position of interim city manager. However, the commission still needed to discuss its options and consider the consequences. Mayor Roberts asked Chief Miranda if he would be willing and able to take on the role, to which Chief Miranda replied, “I will do anything that helps the city.”
Chief Miranda explained that the police department already has a succession plan in place, which would elevate Lieutenant Donald Jackson as interim police chief. This would enable Chief Miranda to concentrate full-time on city management, entrusting the police department to his second in command. “Public safety would not be impacted,” said Chief Miranda.
Though a decision seemed to have been made, Commissioner Scotty Gandy made a point of asking other city staff about their willingness to take on the role, particularly Shannon Lester who currently serves as city clerk and has a lot of insight into the work of the city manager. Lester explained that she would not be comfortable temporarily stepping out of her position as city clerk because of the heavy workload and responsibilities needing her attention in the city clerk’s office. None of the other city staff in attendance expressed a desire to become interim city manager.
Despite a full room, there were no public comments. Most in attendance were city employees wanting to find out who would be running things, if anyone. The commission, in agreement to appoint Chief Miranda as interim city manager, moved to add that as an action item for the next regular commission meeting which will be Monday, June 12.
