Council sends proposed internal-audit contract to legal committee; mayor's nomination pulled for review

Mayor Tim Jennings moved forward a pair of related items on the council agenda Wednesday: a professional services contract to provide the city’s internal-audit function and his nomination of Judy Sharper to serve as the city’s internal auditor. Councilors voted 10–0 to refer the contract (agenda item 21, renumbered 2A) back to the legal committee for review before the council takes final action. Council members also agreed that the mayor would withdraw and later re-submit his nomination of Judy Sharper after legal committee work to align the contract language with the city code. The referral followed roughly an hour of public and council questioning about whether the city’s code allows the governing body to fill the statutorily listed appointed office of “auditor” by contract instead of by hiring an employee. Councilor Moore told the mayor she was “concerned...that we’re hiring a, not an individual, but we’re hiring a company,” and asked whether other applicants had been considered. The mayor and staff said the full-time employee recruitment produced no qualified applicants after more than a year of posting and that the contractor approach was discussed with the state auditor’s office. The nominee, Judy Sharper, spoke to the council and described her background. “It’s a pleasure to stand here today,” Sharper said, listing prior experience as a public accountant and as an internal auditor and chief financial officer at the New Mexico Military Institute. She said a city special audit finding on hiring an internal auditor could be reduced if the council appoints an auditor promptly. Councilor Halverson, Councilor Corn (Cornyn in some documents), and others pressed staff and the city attorney to reconcile several code sections cited during the discussion: chapter 2 provisions (including references to section 2-33 and section 2-91) that name appointed officers and describe how the auditor relates to the treasurer and governing body. Deputy counsel and staff said city legal staff had reviewed the contract and revised it, but several councilors said they wanted the legal committee to examine the ordinance-to-contract alignment publicly to avoid the appearance of irregular procedure. The council’s action was procedural: the council referred the contract back to legal and agreed the mayor will withdraw and later re-submit the nomination after the committee’s review. No appointment or contract award occurred at the meeting. Ending — next steps City staff said they will place the contract and related code questions on the legal committee agenda for the next week and the mayor said he will renominate Sharper after legal committee recommendations. The council discussed a special meeting option to expedite the hiring once legal alignment is complete; however, councilors noted statutory notice requirements that could delay final appointment and contract execution.