More Details Emerge of Cloudcroft Mayor Resignation During Special Session Days Before Major Christmas Parade

The holiday season of Christmas is supposed to remind us of our humanity and to bring us together for peace and harmony. The village of Cloudcroft, New Mexico government is anything but peace and tranquillity, as the most recent village trustee meeting ended abruptly,  with the resignation of Mayor Craig Turner. He is embroiled in a disagreement with fellow trustees over governance standards and policies and on how to hire and maintain an effective village management team. 

As the village of Cloudcroft, that has marketed itself as “New Mexico’s Christmas Capital” prepares this weekend, December 7th, for its annual Christmas parade; the village trustees are far from jolly. 

The Cloudcroft Reader has released an audio file in their reporting of Mayor Craig Turners resignation via a recording from their reporter seated at the special session meeting…

https://www.cloudcroftreader.com/p/mayor-turner-resigns

Interestingly the Village of Cloudcrofts live stream of the special session cuts off and the audio of the mayor’s resignation did not broadcast to citizens watching the live stream…

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1BXFfCJPfi/?mibextid=Le6z7H

The village has been embroiled in cleanup and turnover of staff attempting to clean up the village finances. There has been an ongoing dispute within the village trustees on pay rates and expectations on city leadership. The village trustees were meeting in special session due to the resignation of yet another city clerk, who resigned feeling overwhelmed and overworked verses the pay per village insiders. 

The administration of Mayor Turner has been one of hands on leadership to clean up missed tax filings, missed debt and village loan payments and fiscal compliance issues uncovered in the early stages of his term. 

The mayor and trustees then have faced turmoil of mass resignations of the village clerk, most police officers and other key personnel as investigations began into accountability of village finances and operational standards. As the police department stabilized findings of fiscal accountability issues were uncovered. 

Mayor Turner explained in the explanation of his resignation that he has “been there countless hours hands on since being elected” and that he was at an impasse with fellow trustees on decisions around how to maintain staff. The mayor reflected upon his past experience as a “pharmaceutical industry executive” and that he felt that level of training was needed for the village clerk and that the public deserves similar standards for village staff. He suggested his fellow trustees disagree with his assessments and agenda.  He said that he feels the democratic wonderful process and a necessary part of governance, and thus since he felt he was no longer going to be effective, without their support, he had no choice but to resign. 

Both AlamogordoTownNews.org and the Cloudcroft Reader have run a series of articles over the last year, concerning the controversies and issues uncovered concerning the village governance and financial situation under the leadership of Mayor Turner…

Cloudcroft Police and Village Clerk Resignations: Behind the Scenes and the Path Forward 

Discovers Budget Concerns in Cloudcroft

Is the Cloudcroft Village in Crises with More Staff Resignations?

Getting the Cloudcroft Village House in Order by the Cloudcroft Reader

Cloudcroft’s Murky Accounting by the Cloudcroft Reader

Streaming and podcasts of AlamogordoTownNews.org on KALHRadio.org is seeking interviews and further updates

Village trustees appear to be in shock and disbelief over the mayor’s resignation and are reviewing options.

A trustee stated, that the “village will announce a special session to discuss next steps to governance on Monday and have an official announcement.

Stay tuned for further coverage…

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