Silver City, Museum Society continue work on agreement

(Press Staff Photo by Juno Ogle)

Community Development Director Susan Mittelstadt, right, reads the certificate naming Bruce Coates as the town’s October Employee of the Month during Tuesday night’s meeting of the Town Council. The Silver City Town Council voted to delay considering an agreement between the town and the Silver City Museum Society after a long executive session during their regular meeting Tuesday, in which the council discussed possible litigation.

During the earlier open portion of the meeting, members of the public also expressed their thoughts on museum issues, and one councilor gave a long commentary on the rift and answered another councilor’s comments about her from the previous meeting.

A memorandum of understanding with the Museum Society was on Tuesday’s agenda for the council to consider, but the council unanimously tabled that decision until its Oct. 27 meeting.

The vote came after the council and mayor went into a nearly 90-minute executive session to discuss pending or threatened litigation.

“I am pleased where we are with the draft MOU,” District 2 Councilor Nick Prince said in making the motion to table the document. “However, I do believe there is going to need to be a little bit of time required then for the Museum Society to be able to take the time to review it.”

During public comment, Christopher Saucedo, the Museum Society’s attorney, said he was optimistic an agreement could be reached. He said he had been working with the society on the MOU, and was appreciative of comments on the draft he had received last week from the council.

“I think there’s some momentum. I’m optimistic,” he said. “There’s no reason we can’t get this done. We are all interested in the same thing: That’s making the museum work and supporting the community.”

Salaiz answers Prince

During her council comments, which lasted about 18 minutes, District 1 Councilor Angela Salaiz wondered if the Museum Society had even received the MOU and had a chance to review it.

“We need to distinguish between a document drafted by the town and an agreement that has actually been negotiated and accepted by both parties,” she said. “If this council chooses to advance a document without first obtaining the society’s input, we should be careful not to characterize any subsequent disagreement as evidence that the society was unwilling to negotiate.”

Salaiz also outlined what she said she had tried to accomplish as one of the two council members who volunteered to represent the town in negotiations with the Museum Society after Mayor Simon Wheaton-Smith stepped down from that role in August. Prince was the other councilor who volunteered.

At the Sept. 22 meeting, however, Prince described in his council comments a negotiation meeting with the society as including threats and disrespect, and said Salaiz had not been responsive to his emails attempting to schedule negotiations. He also called on her to not kowtow to society members and to take more initiative to lead.

Salaiz answered those comments Tuesday, saying she had not heard any threatening comments in negotiations, and that Prince had dominated the negotiations, often departing from the issues up for discussion.

“What troubles me most about Councilor Prince’s Sept. 22 comments is that somewhere along the way, this stopped being a discussion about the Museum Society negotiations and became a discussion about me, personally,” Salaiz said.

She said the society had objected to parts of a proposed ordinance that would amend the town code on the museum advisory group, and said Prince had said the society demanded the town violate employment laws, policies and contracts.

“I was asking legitimate questions about the authority council had given us, the requirements of Ordinance 1339 and decisions that could be made by this governing body,” Salaiz said. “Those questions deserved answers. Instead, my responsiveness was questioned, my initiative was questioned, my leadership was questioned, and my independence and integrity were called into question.

“But questioning the person who raises an issue does not resolve the issue itself, and criticizing someone’s leadership does not answer a request for direction from the governing body,” she continued.

In public input, a former museum employee spoke about her experience working under Bart Roselli, the museum director who has been on paid leave since May after public allegations of harassment from two female former employees.

Erin Griffith said she started working at the museum in 2018, and was on staff when then-director Carmen Vendelin suddenly departed just as the museum’s accreditation was coming up. Roselli, the museum educator, became interim director.

She said Roselli stepped into the role and everyone on staff chipped in, with the museum operating on a small budget.

“We did some amazing things under Bart’s leadership. I will never take that back,” Griffith said. “But two things can be possible at the same time. Someone can be a visionary and have an anger management problem.”

She said she had an experience similar to the one former temporary museum employee Nicole Eleck claimed earlier this year, in that Roselli had yelled at her and prevented her from leaving the museum office by blocking the door, then fired her. Eleck said that when she later returned to get her personal items, Roselli demanded her keys and chased her around the office.

Roselli was indicted by a grand jury in July on charges of false imprisonment, a fourth-degree felony, and attempted battery, a petty misdemeanor, based on Eleck’s allegations. His attorney has filed a motion to dismiss the felony charge on the grounds it does not meet the statutory standard, and a hearing on that motion is set for Monday.

Griffith said she followed the town’s guidelines after the alleged harassment, but was given a resignation letter that she had not written.

“That’s how I know that these claims are true, and that’s how I know that while I did not feel physically intimidated myself, psychological intimidation is a thing,” she said.

She said the town needs to hire a forensic accountant overseen by someone not involved, rather than have town employees untangle the museum’s issues.

Victoria Reece also spoke about the museum, saying that Roselli’s placement on paid leave shows a clear case of chauvinism and white male privilege.

“Can anyone here tell me and believe it that if a woman had been in charge of the museum, a Black woman, Hispanic woman, Native American woman, would she still be in charge? Would she still be defended? I don’t believe so,” Reece said.

Firefighters get raise

The council unanimously ratified the collective bargaining agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters Local 2430, the union representing the town’s firefighters.

Acting Town Manager Jacqui Olea said the agreement includes a $1 per hour increase in salaries, as well as increases in food and clothing allowances.

Union Secretary Elizabeth Barber noted that the agreement also includes a generosity clause.

“It basically says if there’s any kind of windfall, or the town is able to give us more money in any fashion, then there’s a clause here that lets you just do that without having to reopen negotiations,” she said.

Town staff and the bargaining unit had both already approved the agreement.

In her manager’s report, Olea reported on changes at several of the town’s parks.

Improvements have begun at Penny Park that include planting trees and installing grass on the west side, funded by the Southwest New Mexico Community Forestry Network.

Ybarra Park, at the corner of Corbin and Yankie streets, is closed due to a retaining wall failure. The town is looking for the funds to make repairs, she said.

Greg Jaurequi Park, also known as the Spring Street Park, at Spring and Pinos Altos streets, will get new playground equipment thanks to philanthropists Suzi Calhoun and Janey Katz, Olea said. The couple have started a fund with the Gila Community Foundation called “Climb, Play, Love.”

“They matched $50,000 of town funds with $71,000 to install brand-new playground equipment at Spring Street Park,” Olea said. “That fund is open to the public for donations, and they’ve helped renovate [Noble] Park and other parks throughout town. We’re really happy with that relationship and we look forward to continuing it into the future.”

Town staff will begin training on records management with the New Mexico Commission of Public Records, and the town will lease five new patrol vehicles for the Police Department to accommodate an increase in officers, Olea said.

Randy Hernandez, town business operations manager, reported that the general fund had a balance on Sept. 30 of $1.7 million. Police Chief Freddie Portillo reported on the department’s activities, and thanked officers for their work during a busy time in September, with multiple investigations going on at once.

The council also heard updates from the Downtown Action Committee and the Lodgers’ Tax Advisory Board, the latter of which is now taking applications through Oct. 30 to fund special events.

The council also recognized Bruce Coates, who works in the Community Development Department, as the town’s October Employee of the Month.

—JUNO OGLE