ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Wednesday and Thursday’s meetings to find Bernalillo County’s next county manager have been canceled.

Both meetings were scheduled to have time for public input – something Bernalillo County Commissioners Steven Michael Quezada and Walt Benson pushed for. Both commissioners also spoke against the search committee, saying it didn’t include members from their districts.

KOB 4 reached out to Bernalillo County to ask about the cancellations. They said the committee met Tuesday and concluded its review of applicants.

The next committee meeting is scheduled for 10 a.m. on June 3, next Monday.

A Bernalillo County spokesperson shared the following statement:

“The County Manager Search Committee met yesterday, concluded its review of applicants, and now plans to schedule candidate interviews next week. This week, the candidates being considered for the position will be posted on the county’s website.

You may recall that the county put out two surveys to gather input on the attributes desired in a county manager.  One survey was for employee input and the other was for the citizens of Bernalillo County.  We received 28 responses from citizens and 79 from employees.  The County Manager Search Committee is under tight guidelines to complete their work, as directed by a County Commission resolution.  With the limited response from citizens and the need to review county manager applicants as soon as possible, additional meetings were not necessary.”

KOB 4 also contacted Commissioner Quezada, who said he was deeply concerned about the search process. He said it wasn’t just the community that wasn’t given an explanation – he also wasn’t given one.

Steven Michael Quezada, Bernalillo County commissioner for District 2, shared the following statement:

“I remain deeply concerned about the search process for the new Bernalillo County Manager. The recent cancellation of the final two meetings of the County Manager Search Committee, without any reason or explanation to the public or to me as a Bernalillo County Commissioner, raises serious transparency issues. From the beginning, the search process has been flawed and appears to be rigged in favor of an outcome predetermined by Commissioners Baca, Olivas, and Barboa. Their participation in an illegal rolling quorum, which is currently under investigation by the NMDOJ, has tainted the integrity of this process. The community has legitimate reasons to be worried about the future of Bernalillo County, and we must demand accountability and transparency to restore trust in our governance.”

Walt Benson, the commissioner for District 4, also shared this statement:

“One of my constituents told me about the cancelled community outreach meetings for yesterday and today. If it hadn’t been for my constituent, I would not have known about the cancellation. The hiring committee canceled two of three meetings without warning and with no explanation,” says Commissioner Benson. “This hiring committee was created through an illegal rolling quorum and is now operating with the same lack of transparency as Commissioners Baca, Olivas and Barboa. If I, as an elected commissioner, don’t trust this process, how can our constituents trust it?

Furthermore, if a manager is hired through this process, will he or she be trusted by the community or is this process creating an unfair environment for them. From the beginning, this has been one of the worst hiring processes I’ve ever seen. From the rolling quorum to the complaint by NMFOG, to the investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice and now with this complete lack of transparency by the hiring committee. It’s been a disgrace to our county. I won’t stand for it and neither should our voters.”