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The Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners took a step toward filling the soon-to-be vacant county manager position this week.
As part of a seven-hour meeting on April 9, the board accepted a presentation from a search firm hired in February to find candidates for a new county manager.
The board voted in December to end Fernando Macias’ contract one year early, after Macias and the board failed to agree on terms to evaluate his performance. The board wanted to allow other elected officials, such as the sheriff and county clerk, to give input about Macias’ performance. He did not.
The county manager is the sole employee managed by the elected commissioners.
In February, the board hired Robert E. Slavin Inc. to launch a national search for Macias’ successor. The board suggested it would pay Slavin about $25,000 at the meeting. Board chair Christopher Schaljo-Hernandez told the Bulletin that lots had been happening in the week leading up to Tuesday’s meeting.
“I know that it feels like we’re a little behind the ball on this, but to be honest… we’ve been working diligently to have these in-person meetings with Slavin. I thought that they were so important,” Schaljo-Hernandez said.
Schaljo-Hernandez said the Slavin Firm spent March meeting with the board members, assistant county managers, elected officials and others. Slavin was developing a job profile, which was presented to the board on Tuesday.
Next, Schaljo-Hernandez said the board expects Slavin to have the job description and posting up before mid-April. The posting will remain open for 30 days. After that, Slavin will weed out candidates who don’t meet the basic qualifications. Then they’ll present the board with the first candidate list before the end of May.
Schaljo-Hernandez said he expects the board will interview candidates in June.
With Macias' contract expiring on April 30, the board will also have to appoint an interim county manager. Schaljo-Hernandez said that was being handled by another consulting firm, Incite Network. Schaljo-Hernandez said the firm would supply the board with a list of interim candidates by the end of April.
