On Tuesday, a member of the Anthony, New Mexico Board of Trustees called for the Mayor to step down, alleging of abuse of power, misconduct, and unethically allowing the removal of a public participant during a Board of Trustees meeting.
Trustee member Gabriel Holguin alleged that Mayor Diana Murillo is unfit for her position, citing his own disapproval of how the city has dealt with City Manager Mario Juarez-Infante.
“The current city manager that’s hired right now did donate to the county commissioner because the mayor is also the County Commissioner of Doña Ana County,” he said. “I feel that it’s been a setup to hire this individual. A city manager works for the full board, not just the mayor, but the environment that has been created right now is unacceptable.”
Holguin also said that he’s upset with Mayor Pro Tempore Elva Flores’s decision to have a participant thrown out of a Board of Trustees meeting due to making “silly faces.” But Mayor Murillo said she backed the decision to have the member of the public thrown out.
“She was doing sexual gestures. And under our policies, you’re not allowed to be doing that in a meeting.”
The Mayor denied Holguin’s allegations of abuse of power and misconduct.
“What he’s saying has no ground. There’s no value to what he says. The allegations are false,” she said. “It’s a witch hunt. It’s been like that since [Holguin] started as a Trustee.”
Mayor Murrillo said that she does not intend to step down from her position.
