![\"Las](\"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/LasCrucesCityHall1-336x186.jpg\")
Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>
Las Cruces City Hall<\/p><\/div>\n
The Mercer Group joins the City of Las Cruces in seeking dismissal of the lawsuit. The city filed its own motion\u00a0last week<\/a>.<\/p>\n Las Cruces has released the 11 city manager applications<\/a> it received from The Mercer Group. But the city\u00a0has refused to release dozens more, arguing that the private contractor, not the city, has possession of them so they don\u2019t have to be released. NMPolitics.net argues in its lawsuit<\/a> that the city can\u2019t avoid transparency law\u00a0by outsourcing government services.<\/p>\n The Mercer Group argues in its motion<\/a>, which was filed Friday, that the search firm’s\u00a0contract with the city doesn’t require it to provide the records. And it says the state’s Inspection of Public Records Act<\/a>\u00a0(IPRA) doesn’t apply to the company.<\/p>\n The Mercer Group\u00a0provided the 11 applications to the city that “most closely matched the selection criteria for the City Manager position,” the filing states. “Mercer was not required to provide or disclose to the City any information about applicants who were not included. … The City does not have access to this information under the Agreement or any other arrangement.”<\/p>\n The firm is represented in court by Las Cruces attorneys\u00a0Cody R. Rogers and Joni L. Autrey<\/a>.<\/p>\n State law requires the release of all applications<\/a> for a city manager position, the N.M. Court of Appeals ruled\u00a0in 2009. If the city was running its own search, the\u00a0applications held by The Mercer Group would be in the city’s\u00a0possession and arguably public records based on the 2009 ruling.<\/p>\n Allowing the city to avoid a clear state law by outsourcing administration of its city manager search sets a dangerous precedent, NMPolitics.net contends.<\/p>\n A\u00a0second Court of Appeals case, 2012\u2019s Toomey v. Truth or Consequences<\/a><\/em>, is relevant to NMPolitics.net\u2019s lawsuit. In that case, the Court ordered the town of T or C to\u00a0release video recordings\u00a0of public meetings<\/a> made by a government contractor. The Court also set guidelines for determining\u00a0whether documents held by a contractor are public records.<\/p>\n Those guidelines direct governments consider\u00a0factors including the level of funding for the contractor\u2019s work, whether the contractor is performing a function the government agency would otherwise perform, and whether the contractor\u2019s work takes place on publicly owned property.<\/p>\n NMPolitics.net believes those guidelines require the release of the city manager applications, but the city takes the opposite stance. Las Cruces\u00a0contends its contract with The Mercer Group meets only two\u00a0of the nine factors in the Toomey<\/em> test.\u00a0The Mercer Group agreed\u00a0with the city in its filing.<\/p>\n