Doña Ana county manager objects to expanded job evaluation

The Doña Ana Board of County Commissioners voted to allow county employees and elected officials a more significant role in the county managers’ performance evaluation, setting the stage for a dispute between the commission and its lone employee.

The commission voted on Nov. 28 to add a comment box to a survey taken by some county employees during County Manager Fernando Macias’ yearly evaluation. Macias said he was not opposed to that. The commission also voted to allow elected officials – such as the sheriff, the clerk, and the assessor – to have a role in the evaluation. Macias said he was opposed to that.

“I’ve been evaluated; this would be the sixth time. Elected officials, other than the county commission, have never been part of the process,” Macias said. “I have no objection to having everyone else (county employees) able to comment.”

Macias added, “But I will absolutely object to the evaluation by other elected officials. I’m not going to go into it in terms of public discussion, but every commissioner here has access to elected officials, and they already know what their views are,” Macias said.

Macias, the county’s top executive, is set to be evaluated by the commission in December as part of his amended employment contract with the county. Part of his contract stipulates that Macias must agree with the evaluation process, which is typical in municipal executive contracts.

Signed 2022 CM Contract Dona Ana County by Justin Garcia on Scribd

Macias' contract awards him a $205,288.22 annual salary and states his term of employment lasts from Jan. 7, 2018, through Jan. 7, 2026.

Macias, who's been county manager since 2018, has no authority over the elected officials, including the commission, sheriff, clerk, and assessor. He does have authority over their staff and all staff working for the county. How much authority was a matter of dispute between some board members and Macias.

Macias described his role as administrative and said his only authority over elected officials’ staff was ensuring that county policy was followed.

Commissioner for District 5 Manuel Sanchez and District 3 Commissioner Shannon Reynolds disagreed. They said that Macias’ role is more encompassing and impactful.

“(Macias) still signs off on those (hiring decisions), which in my opinion makes him directly responsible for those hiring, promotional decisions, pay raise decisions,” Reynolds said, adding that those choices affect morale and the department’s quality.

Sanchez and Reynolds were joined by Commissioner for District 1 Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez, who initially suggested making the changes. Commissioner for District 4 Susana Chaparro and Commissioner for District 2 Diana Murillo voted against adding the employee and elected official’s input.

Nelson Goodin, the county attorney, told the commission that Macias might pursue independent mediation to resolve the dispute. In response, the commission set a deadline of Friday at noon for the county manager to officially state whether he opposed the approved changes.

The full consequences of either move are unclear. If Macias and the commission cannot agree on an evaluation process, the commission may seek to find a new manager or yield their desire to include elected officials in the process.

Macias has come into conflict with county officials in the past. Most notably, County Sheriff Kim Stewart accused Macias of unfairly meddling in her staffing decisions during the pandemic.

More: Doña Ana County sheriff and manager battle over work-from-home policy

Process criticized by the whole board

While the board was split about the decision to amend the process, all five members lodged concerns about getting to this point.

“The (Commission) is put into a situation where we did not have time to fully vet, to fully evaluate and have discussions on this process,” Sanchez said, adding that this was a “recurring theme.”

Chaparro and Murillo echoed Sanchez’s sentiment.

“It’s just disappointing,” Murillo said.

Evaluation is a typical process and includes “feedback from County Commissioners, direct reports, indirect reports, and the County Manager,” according to slides presented at Tuesday’s meeting.

The evaluation would include scores to provide a reference point for Macias’ performance.

Justin Garcia is a reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached via email at JEGarcia@LCSun-News.com

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Doña Ana commissioners approve expanded job eval for county manager