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Alamogordo commission moves to executive session after dispute over city manager search
Summary
Commissioners debated whether outside offers to fund a search firm and reported contacts between a foundation representative and an applicant had tainted the hiring process; the commission adjourned into closed session under NMSA 10‑15‑1 to discuss limited personnel matters.
The Alamogordo City Commission on March 25 debated the process for hiring a permanent city manager after HR and the mayor raised concerns that outside contacts and select commissioner statements had compromised fairness in the search. The commission voted to adjourn into executive session under New Mexico law to discuss limited personnel matters.
Michelle Osborne, the city’s human-resources director, briefed the commission on the advertised recruitment and screening process. She said HR had scored and screened the applications and that the recruitment had been held open while the commission filled a vacant seat. Osborne said the city had received about 28 candidates and that those files were available for commissioner review.
During the discussion the mayor raised concerns that an outside group had offered to pay for a headhunter and that at least one applicant had been told by a commissioner — and later approached by a representative of the Sacramento Mountains Foundation — that she was not a viable candidate. The mayor said she had consulted outside municipal counsel for guidance and that the interactions risked perceptions of preselection.
Acting city staff and some commissioners said staff and the acting city manager had been put in an awkward position because the acting manager is an applicant for the permanent post. Commissioners debated whether to retain an outside search firm and whether to proceed with internal review; there was no final decision on retaining a firm during open session.
By roll call the commission voted to adjourn into executive session under NMSA 1978, Section 10‑15‑1 (limited personnel matters). The motion to enter executive session carried 6–0. The commission returned to open session only to adjourn the meeting; no hiring decision was made in public during this meeting.
