Anthony City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante resigns following vote to not renew contract
The Anthony Board of Trustees voted during its Wednesday meeting to accept the resignation of City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante.
The Board emerged from closed session to unanimously approve the resignation. The Board had previously determined it would not renew Juarez-Infante's contract in June.
Juarez-Infante was appointed as the second city manager for the City of Anthony in 2022 and serves as a part-time employee. His tenure with Anthony will end April 9.
Citing Juarez-Infante's full-time post as the Sunland Park city manager, as well as his potential appointment to the Camino Real Regional Utility Authority, according to Anthony Mayor Pro Temp Gabriel Holguin, the Board went into closed session on Wednesday to discuss his contract. Mayor Diana Murillo informed the Board that Juarez-Infante had tendered his resignation via email. When the Board returned from closed session, Juarez-Infante was no longer at the meeting, according to Trustee Fernando Herrera.
"What we were concerned about when we found out that (Juarez-Infante) joined CRUUA, is that he would be involved in too many jobs," Anthony Trustee Fernando Herrera said.
"We were going to suspend him and not renew his contract in June because he did not inform the Board about being in CRRUA."
The Board will meet in a work session next month to determine if the City of Anthony will replace Juarez-Infante or return to a Mayor-Trustee form of government, Herrera said.
"The City of Anthony has seen an influx of injustices against its residents. If any sitting administrative member elects not to work for the people and abuse its power instead, I invite them to seek employment elsewhere," Holguin said in a statement.
At the time of this article, it's unclear what role, if any, Juarez-Infante has with CRRUA. Holguin could not be reached prior to publication. Juarez-Infante did not return an email from the Sun-News following his resignation, but according to a CRRUA spokesman, "Juarez-Infante is not connected to the CRRUA board." According to the Utility, Juarez-Infante is not affiliated with CRRUA in any capacity.
Lawsuits between Murillo, Trustees still pending
Murillo is involved in two lawsuits that also involve members of the Board.
Murillo filed a lawsuit in April 2023 seeking to remove Holguin from the Board of Trustees, citing Holguin’s removal of items from the board’s consent agenda, his incorrect use of city resources and wrongful involvement in city personnel matters as grounds for his removal..
Related to the lawsuit, the Board of Trustees on Wednesday had a discussion that sought to develop a payment plan between Murillo and the City of Anthony to repay $24,800 for using City funds to pay an Albuquerque law firm for costs related to the lawsuit.
Herrera said Anthony attorney Randy Van Vleck was present on Wednesday and advised the Board it didn't have authority to demand payment from Murillo and that the city manager has the authority to approve any contracts without Board approval. Van Vleck instead suggested the Board vote to deny future payments from city funds related to her lawsuit against Holguin.
Herrera and Garcia are among a number of Anthony residents who filed a lawsuit against Murillo in November 2023 seeking to remove Murillo from office. The lawsuit alleged that Murillo regularly used a city-owned vehicle as a personal vehicle, has forced out groups from public comment, violated state laws regarding public meetings and removed translation services.
"A Mayor-Trustee government would give the Board more of a say," Hererra said. "Before it was the manager and the mayor. Now every decision that affects contracts, money spent and large purchases would have to go through the board."
Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Mario Juarez-Infante resigns role as Anthony city manager
