Dear Editor,
At Monday night’s meeting of the Hobbs City Commission, Mayor Pro Tem and Commissioner Joe Calderon ran roughshod over the recommendations of staff in regards to the minimum qualifications for the imminent city-manager search.
While staff reasonably recommended that the job search be broad enough to attract well-qualified persons who are department heads and higher from larger markets and even other types of government agencies, Commissioner Calderon insisted on limiting applicants to those with prior experience as assistant city managers or higher. At one point, he seemed to admit that he attempted to subvert an earlier commission vote by meeting privately with the acting city manager to rewrite the application guidelines. Staff pushed back in a diplomatic fashion, citing transcripts of prior meetings and underlining the fact that any suggestion made in a non-public meeting could not be binding on the city commission as a whole.
It should also be noted that Mayor Cobb jumped right in with the suggestion of tabling the matter, just short of making the motion himself. With a second from Commissioner Pat Taylor, Mayor Cobb’s suggestion turned into a 4-3 vote to kick this can down the road, presumably to further stymie staff and delay the job posting.
It’s not hard to read between the lines here. Commissioner Calderon has made no secret of supporting “100 percent” former city manager J.J. Murphy, who, rumor has it, wants his old job back. Although he began looking for a city manager job outside of Hobbs years before his five-year contract ended, he’s been unable to find work elsewhere and his sweetheart “employment contract” as a special consultant for Hobbs is about to expire. By severely limiting the applicant pool, Commissioner Calderon is indicating that he wants Murphy to be among the stronger candidates for the job, based on the stringent minimum qualifications.
Hobbs is being ill-served by this near-nepotistic attempt on the part of Commissioner Calderon to grease the skids on behalf of his favored candidate. The commission as a whole should implement staff’s recommendations in an effort to attract a wide enough talent pool so that Hobbs gets a new city manager who can break away from the Murphy-soiled past and move the city forward.
Staci Barcuch, Hobbs
A response to the Ten Commandments issue
The recent article regarding the removal of the Ten Commandments at City Hall and the removal of crosses at New Mexico Junior College, has probably irritated many Christians in our county, as it should. As one of those Christians, I too was upset at first. Then I started thinking. The only way Jeremy Woods could know the reason for Christmas and the meaning of the Cross was that someone in his life told him about Christmas being the celebration of the birthday of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For He “is” the Lord and Savior of us all and His birth was necessary for our salvation through His death and resurrection, which we celebrate in a few weeks on Easter.
What has happened to Jeremy Woods is the same thing that happens to all mankind. We fall to sin and the temptation of Satan for we all are sinful and fall short of the Glory of God. This sinful nature is to go against God’s word and faith in Him. Jeremy Woods is being driven by Satan to try and rid faith in God to the expense of God fearing citizens and their “rights” as citizens of the United States.
Removal of anything that stand for, symbolizes, or reminds us of God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be an impossible task. The currency of our United States, states “In God we trust,” so every time money passes through our hands we hold those words in our hands. Look around and every power line pole is a reminder of our Savior by the shape of the “Cross” on which he suffered and died. The road side memorials of individuals who have died on the roads is a constant reminder of our Savior. The birth of any child or any living thing is a miracle of God. Yes, even Jeremy Woods is a miracle of God.
What needs to be done regarding Jeremy’s drive to go against God is to “pray.” Pray for Jeremy. It is plain to see that he has fallen to the temptation of Satan and only our constant prayers will save him. So all Christians and all congregations need to constantly go to our Lord in prayer for Jeremy. May the Holy Spirit work faith in Jeremy to save his soul. Paul, as Jeremy, was against Christ and worked hard against Him, but our loving God worked through the Holy Spirit to bring Paul to faith. There is hope, through prayer, for Jeremy Woods and those who blindly follow him. “Love thy neighbor” is the hardest commandment God has given us along with the Ten Commandments we all break each day. Thank God for our, and Jeremy’s, forgiveness and salvation through Faith in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.
A forgiven, saved sinner
Jay Patton, Hobbs