Laredo arts commission asks city manager to pause public-arts manager hire pending committee input

The City of Laredo Fine Arts and Culture Commission voted Thursday to request that the city manager pause the recommendation to hire a public-arts manager until the commission has had an opportunity to review applicants and provide a formal recommendation.

The commission said the request follows committee members’ concerns that the selected candidate may lack required public-art and budget experience, that the commission was not consulted despite serving on the hiring committee, and that standard operating procedures (SOPs) and a final public-art funding report needed to guide a new hire are not yet in place.

Annalisa Perez Gomez, who identified herself as interim library director and said she was reporting on behalf of Maria Solis, said a hiring recommendation has been made and is progressing through human resources; she declined to name the candidate because the process had not been finalized. "It has not been closed," Perez Gomez said of the recruitment timeline and added that the new public-arts manager’s direct report would be the interim library director until a permanent library director is hired.

Commission members described frustration that a candidate was chosen without notifying or receiving a recommendation from the advisory hiring committee, which had spent time interviewing applicants. Several commissioners said some interviewees lacked public-art experience or familiarity with the city's public-arts master plan and that the committee had sought someone who could "hit the ground running." One committee member said at least two interviewed candidates were unfamiliar with the public-arts master plan, and another said the largest budget experience among some applicants appeared to be about $1,500.

The commission also discussed the status of standard operating procedures for public art projects. Staff reported that Art Studio submitted a task-based quote to complete SOPs on Jan. 13 and that the quote requires additional funding before work can proceed. Commissioners voted to incorporate a requirement into their correspondence asking that SOPs and the approved public-art funding report be finalized before hiring and that those documents be provided to any new hire.

On the motion to ask the manager's office to freeze the hiring until the commission can deliver a recommendation, the commission seconded the motion and approved it. The commission instructed staff or volunteers to draft a formal letter to the city manager outlining the reasons for the request and the specific items the commission expects to receive (applicant list or screening summary, finalized SOPs, and the public-art funding report).

Commissioners said they will also press city council members to fill two outstanding commission vacancies and discussed plans for greater council engagement, including making brief reports to council or using public comment to raise the commission’s priorities. The body scheduled its next meeting for Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m.

Votes at a glance: Motion asking the city manager to freeze the recommendation to hire the public-arts manager pending receipt of the commission's recommendation and finalized SOPs — motion seconded and approved by voice vote; no roll-call tally provided in the transcript.