Las Cruces Mayor Ken Miyagishima (Photo by Heath Haussamen)
The Las Cruces City Council considers a sheriff’s department investigation involving City Manager Terrence Moore to be a “personal issue” at this point, Mayor Ken Miyagishima says.
“The council’s position is that it’s a personal matter, and they would just like to let the matter continue,” Miyagishima said this afternoon. “Once we get written confirmation that the inquiry is complete, we’ll figure out if there’s anything we need to do.”
Miyagishima’s comments come after the council spent three hours behind closed doors earlier today discussing Moore’s employment. Miyagishima said much of the meeting was focused on Moore’s contract, and said the council is planning to add some “performance objectives” that the city manager must meet.
The council will discuss adding such measureable goals to Moore’s contract during a closed session in April and will probably meet in May to publicly vote on those changes to the contract, Miyagishima said.
The news comes as the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department is investigating two incidents involving Moore and his ex-wife. The sheriff’s department took over what was originally a Las Cruces Police Department probe after the district attorney raised concerns about LCPD investigating a case involving its own boss and urged the transfer.
Terrence Moore
Moore oversees the police chief and, by extension, the police department.
Last year, Las Cruces police looked into injuries Moore’s then-wife suffered in late 2008 and questions surrounding a police report the city manager filed over a prescription-drug incident in January 2009, treating the two incidents as a single case. Las Cruces police closed the case last year without filing charges.
Interim Police Chief Pete Bradley has said the case was dropped because no one, including Moore’s ex-wife, alleged a crime, and police didn’t have probable cause to proceed. Moore has pointed out that no one has alleged “that I’ve done anything wrong.”
The district attorney has said Moore should have been interviewed, and the sheriff’s department says it intends to attempt to speak with the city manager.
Other issues
But the sheriff’s probe isn’t the only reason the council met today. In January, the council met in closed session to discuss Moore’s contract after the city manager came under scrutiny for two issues that had been raised publicly:
• Moore had 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.
• 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.
Following that January closed session, the council announced that it would “revisit certain terms” of Moore’s contract and “offer further clarification where needed,” according to a news release sent out after the meeting.
Moore did not immediately respond this afternoon to an e-mail seeking comment.