TAOS— Town Manager Tomás Benavidez— who has worked for the town for the past 10 years, as town attorney and, since 2005, as town manager— was not reappointed by the newly constituted town council Thursday despite a recommendation by Mayor Bobby Duran.
In a unanimous vote, the council voted against the mayor's advice and his subsequent proposal allow Benavidez to stay on a week or so to help bring newly appointed assistant manager, Abigail Adame, up to speed on the most pressing projects and issues that need attention.
Adame has been in her assistant manager's job only three weeks and was not officially appointed until Thursday. She will now serve as interim manager until the town conducts a search to hire a new manager.
Duran said he was "extremely disappointed" by the council's action, adding that he is "very sorry to see Tomás go."
"He was a very valuable asset to the town and has extensive institutional knowledge about the projects and initiatives affecting the town over his 10 years working for the community," Duran said.
Benavidez said he was not surprised by the vote, "just disappointed, because I don't think the councilors treated me fairly. But I saw the handwriting on the wall last year when Councilmembers Darren Cordova and Rudy Abeyta tried unsuccessfully to get me out. With two new councilmembers elected this month I figured they now had the votes to succeed."
Benavidez said he didn't have a contract with the town "because there's no sense in having a contract if you don't have the trust of the people you're serving."
Over the past year, Abeyta and Cordova have been critical of Benavidez. They said he didn't have their confidence and lacked the leadership to move the town forward, but demurred when asked for specifics. There were no specifics Friday, either.
"He serves at the will of the mayor and council so we don't have to give any reasons," newly seated Councilor Gene Sanchez said. "But I will say for myself that we need a business manager who take the town in a different, more positive direction and I didn't feel that he (Benavidez) was the one to do that."
Abeyta said he thought Benavidez was "a great guy personally but I don't think he has the leadership skills to move the town in a new direction. But I wish him all the best for the future."
The second newly seated councilor, Amy Quintana, said she was reluctant to vote against Benavidez without having worked with him and without first-hand knowledge of how he conducted town business. However, she said the other councilmembers convinced her that their attempts to work things out with Benavidez had failed so she voted not to reappoint.
Cordova could not be reached for comment.
Benavidez, who turned 45 on Friday, said he had tried on numerous occasions to get to the bottom of problem between himself and the council, but to no avail.
"Over that time, they gave me a bunch of different reasons, all of which I believe were unfounded, but criticisms were vague and inconsistent. How do you deal with that?" he said.
Benavidez said he will miss the mayor and town employees "because we were a good team and worked together well."
"I take great satisfaction in knowing that I leave the town in good financial shape, that under my leadership we advanced a number of very important projects to enhance infrastructure and better facilities for residents," Benavidez said.
"I've done more good than I've been given credit for, and I don't understand why I got a vote of no confidence," he said.
