Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Executive Session Personnel topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Truth or Consequences commissioners vote unanimously to enter closed session on personnel
Summary
Commissioners voted unanimously to move into an executive session at 12:23 p.m. to discuss a proposed reorganization and payroll adjustments; the motion named specific positions and several city employees who may be affected.
The Truth or Consequences City Commission voted unanimously to move into an executive session at 12:23 p.m. to discuss personnel matters tied to a proposed reorganization and payroll-study adjustments.
Commissioners said the discussion would focus on specific positions and individuals named in the motion, including the public service director, public works director and public safety director, and several employees identified by staff.
A commissioner who raised concerns about whether the agenda gave adequate public notice read the statutory definition the body relied on, saying, “Limited personnel matters ... means discussion of hiring, promotion, demotion, dismissal, assignment, or resignation of or the investigation or consideration of complaints or charges against any individual public employee,” citing 10-15-1(h)(2) of the Open Meetings Act. The speaker said they had spoken with City Manager Whitehead and recommended that the motion explicitly list the positions or employees to be discussed to ensure the executive session complied with the statute.
A staff member advising the commission agreed that listing the affected employees in the motion would make the legal basis for the closed session clearer: if the motion names the individuals and the discussion is limited to how those employees would relate to the organizational chart, the executive session would be warranted, the staff member said.
A commissioner moved to remove agenda item H‑2 to executive session “but we're gonna talk specific positions and people,” and specified that the public service director, public works director and public safety director would be discussed. Staff then read a list of employees who could be affected, naming Chief Tavazone and Bo Easley, Chris Reese, Brandon England, OJ Hessler, Alona Nabragal, Diana Null and Mike Kozowski.
After a second, the clerk conducted a roll call and the motion carried unanimously. The commission cleared the room for what the meeting record described as a candid discussion and proceeded into executive session beginning at 12:23 p.m.
No formal personnel actions or outcomes were recorded in the open meeting record; the vote taken in open session was solely on whether to enter executive session to discuss personnel as specified in the motion.
