By CYNTHIA P. LENTINI
Española Resident/Community Activist
The Unsheltered Committee of the City of Española met Thursday, Oct. 10, 2024. It’s sad when City representatives spend more time in denials and retaliation than on the business at hand: What to do for the unsheltered in the community.
The highlights of the meeting were not presentations of data, facts, reasonable arguments, and planning. Instead, the meeting spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about the alleged BS of social media and the City Manager’s verbal attacks against City Councilor Samuel LeDoux. Sitting back watching and sometimes agreeing were the City Councilor appointees to the Mayor’s Unsheltered Committee.
Tensions run high as our city government and administration is questioned or challenged. What exactly is going on between City Manager Eric Lujan and City Councilor Samuel LeDoux? It’s clear that Lujan is quite aggressive and angry toward LeDoux. This is the same Eric Lujan, City Manager who erupted against Dino Chavarria at a North Central Solid Waste Authority meeting May 16, 2024. For that meeting Mayor Pro Tem Peggy Sue Martinez was present and failed to rein in Lujan. Mr. Lujan has a very public and repeated pattern of losing his cool in what should be a professional setting.
City Manager Eric Lujan is an appointed employee of the City of Española. Hired by the Mayor and ratified by the council. Samuel LeDoux is an elected official – elected by his constituents to represent their interests. Councilor LeDoux is responsible, in part, for the oversight of City Manager Lujan. When corrective action for this appointed position is required, it falls to the vote of the elected council.
While the City Council of Española complains endlessly about the lack of truth on social media – you cannot fail to notice the actions of this city council and its appointees. These actions are indicative of their lack of integrity, reliability, transparency and accountability. City Manager Lujan is given free reign by this Council to single out a fellow councilor, an elected official and chastise with insinuations and veiled threats of retribution, in a public meeting.
Are these the acts of a functional governmental agency? The acts of a professional, a representative of the city, an employee of the City of Española? I wonder if the same would have been tolerated from former city manager Jordan Yutzy, whom this council maligns whenever convenient. Ignore or intimidate, attack and silence are the modus operandi of the Vigil Administration, and no one is immune. This is spread evenly to outspoken constituents, other elected officials and anyone with an opposing opinion.
Accountability does not mean the removal of the City Manager. Why aren’t we proposing corrective actions like – Anger Management and Professionalism Training while throwing in a tutorial on proper comportment of City Appointees. Training perhaps on the responsibilities of a City Manager. City Managers are NOT elected officials. How much longer does Española need to wait for some oversight and accountability at City Hall?
