Commissioners agree to raise jail boss' salary

CLOVIS — After a slight delay, Curry County commissioners on Tuesday unanimously agreed to raise the salary of Adult Detention Center Administrator Mark Gallegos to $90,000 a year.

The item had been included on a consent agenda, used to approve multiple routine agenda items not expected to spark debate among the commission, but was pulled from the consent agenda and placed on the regular agenda at the request of Clovis resident Jose Griego.

Commissioners then unanimously approved the pay increase in a separate vote.

County Manager Lance Pyle and members of the commission praised the work of Gallegos in securing a Certificate of Accreditation by the Adult Detention Professional Standards Council of the New Mexico Association of Counties for the Curry County Adult Detention Center in November.

“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, what he has done to attain accreditation through the state of New Mexico is short of outstanding,” Commissioner Chet Spear said. “We were told when I first got here that we can’t get accredited because of the building. He’s proved us all wrong, you can get accredited through hard work and good leadership. I think he’s worth every penny.”

Pyle said he had no concerns about giving Gallegos a raise just a few days removed from an incident at the detention center in which an arrestee briefly took an officer hostage and later shot himself, adding that Gallegos and his staff always do an “outstanding job,” including with their the handling of last week’s incident.

Gallegos was hired in January 2016 at a salary of $80,000 and was making $83,636 a year prior to Tuesday’s raise.

Pyle said the county is working to secure a three-year commitment from Gallegos to remain with Curry county.

Commissioner Angelina Baca was not present at Tuesday’s meeting.

Also at Tuesday’s meeting:

• Davtek Inc. Owner Randy Kamradt updated the commission on the construction of the Broadview Fire Station. Kamradt said construction should be completed by mid-March.

• The commission unanimously approved a contract with Milk Members, Inc. for the construction of a deceleration lane on Curry Road 4 to provide access to the milk shuttle yard to be built across from Southwest Cheese. The contract provides no cost to the county.

• The commission unanimously approved a resolution making a permanent change to the county road department schedule. The commission had previously adopted a trial period for a four-day work schedule for the road department in November and decided to make the change permanent.

“We’ve done the trial period and have not had any issues with it,” Road Superintendent Dennis Fury said. “The staff appreciates it and they like it, we’re able to monitor their tasks better and with all being on the same work schedule, we were able to team up and get some projects done.”

• The commission unanimously approved an application with EPCOR water for the installation of fire lines to provide water to the fire sprinkler system at the Adult Detention Center addition at a cost of just under $32,000.

• The commission unanimously approved a resolution expressing support and opposition for several bills being discussed during the current legislative session.

The commissioners issued their support of Senate Bill 102 and House Bills 21, 69, 137, 257 and 283 and their opposition to Senate Bill 69 and House Bill 185.

• The commission unanimously approved a resolution to authorize the application for the Local DWI Grant and Distribution Program in the amount of $187,014 for fiscal year 2019.

• The commission unanimously approved the Curry County committee and board assignments for 2018.

Commissioner Seth Martin was added to the Information Technology Committee and selected to fill the vacancy left by former Commissioner Ben Smith on the Burlington Northern & Santa Fe Committee and the Subdivision Committee.

The Cannon Air Force Base Acquisition of Real Property Committee was removed. Spear, who was a member, said the committee has not met in over three years because there has been no need.

Commissioner Robert Thornton was selected to fill the vacancy left by Smith on the Fair Board and Martin was selected to replace Thornton as the alternate.

Baca was selected to fill the vacancy left by Smith on the La Casa de Buena Salud Board.

Facilities Maintenance Superintendent Ben Roberts was added to the Fleet Accident, Road Advisory, Risk Control, Subdivision and Treasure’s Investment Committees.

All other committees kept the same assignments as 2017.

• The commission unanimously approved a resolution issuing support for the city of Clovis master water assurance plan.

• A proclamation was issued declaring February to be American Heart Health Awareness Month.