Five vie for open city seat

CLOVIS — The seven current members of the Clovis city commission will consider five candidates on Thursday night to be their eighth.

The commission meeting falls on the 29th day of the 30-day window the commission has to fill the vacancy created when District 4 Commissioner R.L. “Rube” Render submitted his resignation.

Render, elected to the position in 2018, plans to move to Lubbock to be closer to family.

Amy Corbin, Lynn Culberth, Raymond Mondragon, Megan Palla and Stephen Whittington have applied to fill the remaining 13 months of Render’s term. Whoever is appointed is expected to serve until the next regular city election in March 2022.

According to applications submitted to the city prior to the Friday deadline:

• Corbin is director of Clovis Homecare, Inc. and has spent nearly 20 years in Clovis. She wishes to be more involved in the community and has gone from a single mother on government assistance to become director of one of the area’s largest employers.

• Culberth is an inspector senior with the New Mexico Department of Agriculture, and has been with the department since 1985. The lifelong Clovis resident touted his experience working with agriculture and business sectors of the community.

• Mondragon, a former city manager and Clovis police chief, serves as a governmental specialist for the Eastern Plains Council of Governments. He finished third in last year’s mayoral elections, and currently serves on the city’s economic incentive and water policy advisory boards.

• Palla has been a certified public accountant in Clovis for 23 years and has been a longtime member of the city’s economic incentive board. She believes emphasizing retail opportunities in the city, and particularly within District 4, is a key for emerging from the pandemic. Her letters of recommendation include a submission from Render.

• Whittington is a contractor/developer with Whittco, Inc., and was an officer with the New Mexico State Police for 22 years. He fell short by roughly 40 votes in both a 2016 Curry County Commission primary and a 2018 magistrate judge primary.

Other items on the Thursday agenda include:

• A 4:30 p.m. executive session to discuss pending or threatened litigation and the acquisition or disposal of property.

• Four resolutions to condemn and demolish dangerous buildings — at 708 Edwards, 424 and 440 Mercury and 204 Wallace.

• Appointments of a representative from the hotel industry to serve on the city’s lodgers tax advisory board and a citizen member for the water policy advisory committee.

• A request to allow the transfer of 11 liquor licenses from Allsup’s Convenience Stores, Inc., to BW & Gas and Convenience Retail, LLC. Liquor licenses would remain at their current locations. The state’s Alcohol Beverage Control division has given preliminary approval to the change.

• A request to let Shogun Japanese Steakhouse continue to operate under a 2006 waiver that allows it to hold a liquor license despite being less than 300 feet from Legacy Life Family Church.

Since the original waiver, no new churches or schools have moved within 300 feet of the premises. A new liquor license application is required because Steve Yen has transferred a majority stock ownership to his son, Spencer.

• A request to add a second maintenance technician at Clovis Regional Airport.