Las Cruces City Manager Terrence Moore disputed a claim by the attorney for the city’s two municipal judges that he promised to pay the cost of their legal defense against an ethical complaint, which the city is now refusing to pay.
Melissa J. Reeves, attorney for municipal judges Melissa Miller-Byrnes and Jim T. Locatelli, said during Friday morning’s court hearing that “the city manager originally told the judges their defense would be paid … and then he reneged on that.”
“I’ve never made that type of commitment,” he said. “I don’t have the authority to do so.”
The city manager can spend up to $35,000 without council approval. The judges are seeking more than $100,000.
In addition,
A Feb. 21 letter from the judges’ previous attorney, Jack Brandt of
But Brandt’s letter also goes on to state that Moore told Brandt the city had not yet decided whether it would reimburse the judges, and thanked Moore for an opportunity to argue for the reimbursement.
The letter then goes on to do that.
“That’s the only commitment I’ve ever made, and they confirmed it in writing,”
The city later decided to take Holt’s advice.
The complaint against the judges was filed with the Judicial Standards Commission by the city attorney’s office as part of an ongoing dispute about operations at the city’s municipal court. For more on today’s hearing and the dispute, read the next posting.