Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
PORTALES — After 5 1/2 months of searching, the Eastern New Mexico Water Utility Authority seems poised to hire a new executive director at its board meeting Monday afternoon in Portales.
According to an agenda released Friday, first on the list of new business items is an “employment contract for administrator/executive director,” as well as “reclassification of administrative staff/office manager.”
The board met March 9 in executive session to continue conversations with two candidates, Orlando Ortega and Jason Burns, for the position vacated Oct. 1 that drew about 30 applicants.
Office Manager Maggie Chapman has served as the authority’s interim executive director since the departure of Justin Howalt, who left to become Clovis’ new city manager.
Howalt’s outgoing salary was $110,000 annually, but the new hire will be paid based on qualifications, officials have said.
Burns has been Carlsbad’s city projects engineer the past three years and grew up in Clovis; Ortega is executive director of the Roosevelt County Community Development Corp. and was Portales’ mayor from 2002-2010, according to their applications.
Chapman told The News on Friday that an executive session preceding the meeting will concern those two candidates, but a hiring decision could only be reached by consensus vote of the board in the public portion of the meeting.
At that point it would likely still be a couple of weeks until the position takes effect, she said. The position might go by the title of “administrator” rather than executive director, but that is yet to be determined, Chapman said.
Other items on the agenda for Monday’s ENMWUA board meeting, scheduled for 1 p.m. at the Memorial Building in Portales:
• Updates from Chapman on audit results and the Fixed Water 2 project, as well as a financial activities report.
• Appointment of a member to serve on Clovis’ Request For Information (RFI) Water Banking Committee.
• Reports on state and federal activities.
• Report from ENMWUA Chair David Lansford.
