A councilwoman’s request to have the council halt any administrative changes for 90 days was rejected last week.

Councilwoman Cerina Otero requested the city to not make any administrative personnel changes for 90 days outside of any serious ethical violation or legal misconduct that would require immediate action.

“I do want to make sure that we’re currently focusing on serving our residents, stability and leadership,” said Otero. “I do recognize and I understand that the hiring and administrative decisions do fall under the city managers authority, but as a council I’d like us to maintain appropriate financial oversight and protect the integrity of the current budget. So for me, it’s important that we remain within budget, and from a financial standpoint, we do need to carefully review any fiscal impacts so we don’t increase our expenditures when it comes to any of our current vacancies or recruitments.”

Otero added that while the council will be receiving quarterly financial reports, she wanted the council to defer changes that might “create additional ongoing expenditures until we’ve had a chance to review the quarterly financial report.”

The idea didn’t sit well with Councilwoman Rosalinda Vierra who said: “I guess I’m a little confused because we have a city manager in place to kind of oversee the day-to-day interactions. It’s not really something we do and I guess I kind of feel like we’re taking or stripping the city manager from his understanding of how the city’s going because I don’t know the day-to-day operations. I don’t know where the needs are necessarily outside of what’s being relayed to us in public session.”

She added: “I think it’s important that we still leave the day-to-day operations with the city manager and not oversee a micromanage him too much.”

Mayor Javier Lopez said “we have already passed our budget. We’ve given direction to the city manager in regards to all the hiring that we are posing and requesting. And I would like to remain the way things are.”

Otero and James Casey were supportive of the agenda item being considered but since Lopez and Vierra were not, the tie was a procedural denial. Vice Mayor Daniel Martinez was absent.