Avila settling in as interim city manager

Las Cruces Bulletin

New Interim City Manager Daniel Avila said he gets reminded “at least five times every day” that he’s got big shoes to fill as he replaces City Manager Robert Garza, who retired May 27. Avila took over as interim city manager May 31. So far, he said, “everything is going awesome.”

Avila’s appointment as interim city manager is for a period of 90 days, and can be extended for up to six months, as the city continues its search for a permanent replacement for Garza.

Like Garza, Avila is a professional engineer. He has been in the engineering, construction and management field for more than 30 years.

Avila was named Las Cruces assistant city manager and chief operations officer in June 2015. He worked previously as a resident construction engineer for the Federal Aviation Administration; a road and

AVILA bridge construction engineer for the Texas Department of Transportation; a design engineer for the City of El Paso; and as a project engineering and construction manager, chief technical officer and vice president of engineering and water operations for El Paso Water Utilities.

As assistant city manager and COO, Avila earned a salary of $117,000. He will receive a 10 percent pay increase while serving as interim city manager, raising his salary temporarily to $128,700.

Avila did not apply for the city manager’s full-time, regular position.

A native of El Paso, Avila has a degree in civil engineering from the University of Texas at El Paso.

Avila is a member of the board of directors of Memorial Medical Center, Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority, Las Cruces Utilities and the Metro Narcotics Agency. He also is a member of the International City Management Association.

For more information, visit http://www. las- cruces. org/ en/ departments/ administration/ city-manager.