To say there has been more turmoil than usual at the City of Española the past couple of weeks would be a gross understatement. It seems to have come to a head beginning week before last when Española Fire Assistant Chief John Wickersham was put on leave for six days with pay.
The drama carried over last week when, during the Tuesday City Council meeting, City Manager Eric Lujan was allowed to resign. If this sounds familiar, it’s because it is. Mayor John Ramon Vigil fired former city manager Jordan Yutzy and former finance director Robert Corabi in September 2024, citing poor work performance. Yutzy has since sued the city.
Lujan, however, was allowed to resign rather than be fired. He signed an agreement with the city that will ensure he has a job for the next three months at his salary of $109,000.
The agreement says Lujan cannot sue the city and in turn, they will not bring any civil suits, charges or complaints against him. In response to inquiry, the city will say he voluntarily resigned and won’t disclose the conditions leading to his separation.
Sounds like a pretty sweet deal — and it is. Lujan will now become the special projects coordinator and will be in charge of the Silky Way, Miramontes, Oñate, Coronado, La Joya, East Pueblo, State Road 76, Ranchitos and Santa Cruz Park and NMDOT projects. He will also help with the centennial anniversary celebration and coordinate and work on behalf of the city in connection with matters involving the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration. He will no longer accrue annual leave, sick leave or vacation. He must also directly report to Vigil, which means the council will have no say in what happens where he’s concerned.
Lujan has been the city manager since Sept. 26, 2023. Before that, he worked as a financial consultant for government clients in New Mexico. He also worked for the New Mexico Department of Transportation and Santa Fe County.
His tenure in Española hasn’t been without issues, however. In May of last year, Lujan got into a heated argument with North Central Solid Waste Board Member Dino Chavarria. The two faced off during the meeting after Chavarria made a remark about the city and it appeared it might turn physical. Luckily, it didn’t.
Then in March of this year, he called police to remove a man who argued with his girlfriend at a mariachi concert at Northern New Mexico College. Española City Police arrived and one officer was seen and heard on camera saying that the call was “all Española movidas.”
But despite his lack of decorum, his demonstrated hot temper and whatever happened to get him ousted from the city manager’s position, he’s being kept on as a city employee and at a great salary, too.
This makes us question exactly, how his new position is being justified when the city recently announced they are under a hiring freeze and everyone knows the budget is a mess. In fact, during the May 28 Finance Board meeting, it was announced that $125,000 is needed to fund city elections and the city clerk’s budget only has $43 toward the elections.
Not to mention, the city is planning a centennial celebration later this year. Apparently they have money for parties, planters outside of city hall and to keep Lujan at his current salary, but don’t have the funds for elections, more police officers and park upkeep — unless said park is on the West Side, where the mayor lives.
Lujan probably never should have been hired in the first place and if he was going to be “let go,” his tenure should have ended and not been turned into a six-figure-per-year position that was created to help him transition to retirement or another job elsewhere.
It seems that those who genuinely care about and try to help the city and its residents get punished, while those whose actions are often questioned and are often caught doing wrong get rewarded. As the police officer in the March video said, “It’s all Española movidas.”