Alamogordo council approves agenda, moves into closed session on city manager hiring

Mayor Sharon McDonald called the Alamogordo City Council to order at 5:30 p.m. on March 7, 2026, and the council unanimously approved the meeting agenda before adjourning into a closed executive session to discuss the hiring of a city manager.

The approval came after Mayor McDonald asked for a motion to adopt the agenda. "Do I have a motion to approve the agenda?" she asked; Commissioner Mark Tapley moved the motion and a commissioner identified earlier in roll call as Commissioner Al Hernandez seconded. The clerk announced that the vote passed 7–0.

Commissioner Warren Robinson offered the invocation before the business began, asking for guidance for "citizens in Alamogordo" and concluding, "This is what we ask in Jesus' name. Amen."

After approving the agenda, Mayor McDonald announced a motion to "adjourn into executive session or executive closed session in compliance with 10 dash 15 dash 1. H 2 and M s a 19 78 as amended to discuss limited personnel matters. Hiring of the city manager." The motion was recorded in the meeting as moved by Commissioner Steven Burnett and seconded by Commissioner Hernandez; the council took a vote and the meeting was adjourned into closed session at 5:34 p.m. The open transcript does not include a full roll-call tally for that executive‑session motion.

No discussion of candidates, terms, or final hiring actions occurred in the public portion of the meeting; those matters were named as the subject of the closed session. The council did not take public votes on the city manager hiring while in open session.

The meeting record in the transcript cites the statutory authority for a closed session verbatim as stated by the mayor. Any further action or outcome from the executive session was not recorded in the public transcript provided.