Las Cruces City Hall (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
The Las Cruces City Council will meet in closed session today to discuss personnel issues involving City Manager Terrence Moore, including concerns that have recently been raised about his travel and an incident in which he had his administrative assistant babysit his kids.
The meeting comes after Councilor Dolores Connor pushed fellow councilors to schedule a private session to discuss the issues.
Moore has been under scrutiny lately for at least two issues that have been raised publicly. He recently reimbursed the city for some costs associated with two business trips he took last year — after a complaint was filed over one trip and an attorney requested documentation about the other.
And Moore had his administrative assistant babysit his children on Dec. 21 – while she was on the clock and being paid with public money – so he could attend a city council meeting.
Connor first asked for the closed session in November – before the babysitting incident – but Mayor Ken Miyagishima rejected her request, and the majority of councilors backed him up in refusing to schedule such a meeting.
Miyagishima suggested at the time that Connor meet with Moore individually.
“I don’t think that this rises to the need for any type of a closed meeting,” he said.
At last week’s meeting, Connor raised the issue again, during council comment at the end of the meeting. At that point, the mayor and two other councilors were no longer present.
“I am disappointed that I’ve been ignored on this subject, and I don’t think it’s something we can continue to ignore,” Connor said at last week’s meeting.
Mayor Pro Tem Sharon Thomas agreed, saying she was “also concerned.” The other councilors present, Miguel Silva and Olga Pedroza, also agreed.
Moore is scheduled to have a regular evaluation in February, but Connor said that’s not soon enough for the concerns she wants to discuss, and the other councilors present last week agreed.
Today’s meeting is at 4 p.m. in the council conference room at city hall.