ASCMV moves on searching for a new director

The Animal Services Center of the Mesilla Valley Board of Directors took a major step in recruiting a new director for the area’s animal shelter. 

The board, comprised of Las Cruces city councilors, Doña Ana County commissioners and community members, voted to establish a subcommittee and hire an outside search firm on a 6-1 vote. 

The move launches a search to replace Clint Thacker, who served as ASCMV’s executive director for 10 years. Thacker left the post in December for a similar job out of state. 

“For me, the most important parts of this are one, that we’re able to do it in a pretty expeditious fashion but not so expeditious that we don't have ample participation,” said Becky Corran, a Las Cruces city councilor and ASCMV board member. “But I also think we might need a conversation about where we see community input in all of this.” 

For about an hour, the board debated the merits of hiring a firm to conduct the search. All the members wanted a new executive director quickly. But some on the board felt that the city of Las Cruces’ human resources department could handle the search without spending money on an outside firm. 

Jess Williams, who was appointed to the board by the city to represent the community, championed the idea of keeping the search in-house. Williams said he was involved in the last two searches for an ASCMV director. Both searches were in-house and yielded good directors, Williams said. 

“The city’s HR department does have a national reach,” Williams said. “They’re fully capable of posting this in ways that are going to get fully qualified candidates.” 

But Williams' confidence wasn’t enough to alleviate concerns about unqualified candidates.

Corran said that recent city searches for niche high-level jobs left her less than impressed with the candidates. Despite high salary offers, she said those searches yielded unqualified candidates. 

“It seems like something we need a headhunter for,” Corran said. 

Williams still voted against hiring an outside firm, but the decision received support from the other six. According to information presented at the meeting, the decision could cost the shelter around $25,000. 

Williams will also serve on a four-member subcommittee that will lead the search and work with the interim director to hire a firm. The other members are City Councilor Becki Graham, County Commissioner Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez and community member Gennifer Gates. The board said they formed the subcommittee to expedite the process.

Next, the subcommittee is tasked with finding bids for a firm, approving a job description and deciding how and when the public can provide input on candidates. For Thacker's hire 10 years ago, the final three candidates held town halls to discuss prospectives, problems and solutions.