Two months after a stormy dispute between Española Mayor Alice Lucero and former city clerk Heather Velasquez drove the latter from her post in City Hall, the mayor has found a familiar, and politically connected, replacement.
Tessa Jo Mascareñas, an Española native, is the daughter of former Rio Arriba County sheriff Joe Mascareñas; both she and her father have served alongside Lucero on the Board of Directors of the La Puebla nonprofit Hands Across Cultures, of which former Santa Fe County commissioner Harry Montoya is the CEO.
Tessa Jo Mascareñas was the only applicant for the unadvertised job, city records state.
When asked if her father’s influence played into her getting the position or if she knew she was the only applicant, Mascareñas said she didn’t want to get into the background.
“(The mayor) didn’t hire my dad,” she said. “She hired me for what I could do.”
Lucero said she heard that Mascareñas was interested in the opening and was impressed with Mascareñas’ credentials, not her connections.
Mascareñas previously worked as an ethics administrator for former secretary of state Mary Herrera starting in 2008, her resumé states. She used Montoya as a personal reference for that job, Secretary of State’s Office records show.
Before that, she worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory as a records manager.
Mascareñas said although she had a rewarding experience at the Office, it was nice to come back and put her work skills to use in the community where she grew up. The city clerk is also in charge of running municipal elections, and Mascareñas said she has seen elections from the administrative side and has seen other city clerks in action.
“I’m going to make sure all elections are conducted according statute,” Mascareñas said.
Mascareñas will also be responsible for ensuring the city’s public meetings are conducted according to statute and for providing public records as required by law, one of several issues over which Lucero and Velasquez clashed. Mascareñas said she has experience with the state Inspection of Public Records Act and the state Open Meetings Act, pointing to her experience at the Laboratory and training courses from the state Attorney General’s Office.
The City Council approved Mascareñas’ appointment March 29, and she started working at City Hall Monday.
District 4 Councilor Cory Lewis said he hadn’t heard too much about the mayor’s appointee, but what he had heard had been positive. He said the decision to hire her wasn’t really the Council’s.
“It wasn’t really up to us,” he said. “It was the mayor’s appointment. We just ratified it.”
District 4 Councilor Robert Seeds took issue with the city not advertising the job posting. He said he didn’t vote for or against Mascareñas’ confirmation.
“These people want conflict, and I didn’t want to give it to them,” he said.
Lucero said she didn’t advertise the job because she didn’t want people applying for the sake of applying and wasting both her time and theirs. She said she was very specific about the type of person she had in mind but would not provide details on what type of person that would be like.
District 1 Councilor Dennis Tim Salazar said Lucero told councilors prior to the confirmation vote she e-mailed them Mascareñas’ resumé but no one received it. Salazar said the mayor attempted to send it again Monday, but Mascareñas’ resumé wasn’t attached.
“If I didn’t get it, I doubt (the other councilors) got it,” he said.
Salazar said he did get to look at Mascareñas’ resumé in Lucero’s office before the meeting, but said unless the other councilors did the same, they probably didn’t get to review it before voting. He said he also would’ve liked to see more applicants.
“People deserve the right to know about job openings at the city,” he said. “Everybody has the right to submit an application.”
But he said he was impressed with what he’s seen and heard about Mascareñas.
“It’s a good opportunity with her experience to have a shot at this and help us as a city to move forward,” Salazar said.