Sunland Park gets a new mayor

The selection of 24-year-old Javier Perea came after others couldn’t ask the council to appoint them because police blocked the entrance when the meeting room filled to capacity.

The Sunland Park City Council chose Javier Perea, a 24-year-old graduate of New Mexico State University, to be its new mayor on Wednesday.

From the Las Cruces Sun-News:

“Perea, a Sunland Park resident, showed up at the meeting with résumés in hand and made a pitch to city councilors during the introductory public comment period. He cited his experience in business, work in broadcasting at KRWG-TV and a degree from New Mexico State University as credentials. And he pledged to change the city government’s direction, starting with its hiring practices.

“…Perea said he worked as a jewelry salesman at Helzberg Diamonds in the Sunland Park Mall up until late January, when he quit because he was considering a job at the University of Texas at El Paso. He said he’d thought about running for a city council position down the road. But, when the turmoil erupted in Sunland Park and the mayor’s position became vacant, he decided to put his name in the hat.”

The 3-2 vote to appoint Perea – with one abstention – came after the council voted 4-2 against appointing Gerardo Hernandez, the man who lost to the indicted Daniel Salinas in the March 6 election. Salinas forfeited the seat because his conditions of release from jail kept him from being sworn in.

Perea’s appointment wasn’t without an open-meetings controversy. From the Sun-News:

“Two other men who had hoped to be considered for mayor didn’t make it into the meeting hall because police blocked entrance after it had reached capacity.”

And from KFOX-TV in El Paso:

“Others, including Jesse Grajeda, said they never got the chance to make their bids to City Council because they were stuck outside.

“‘What about our résumés?’ Grajeda said. ‘What about our information? That wasn’t taken into consideration and it’s just unjust.’”