Water Dept. Raises Finally Flow
Public Works Department employees were promised raises in the July '25 budget meeting by a unanimous vote of the council. It took a special meeting — forced by the trustees — to get it funded.
After more than two months of a standoff between the mayor and Village council members, Public Works Department raises were approved at Monday’s October 6 special council meeting.
“The will of the council”
In a rare move for Cloudcroft’s council, Trustees Jim Maynard and Keith Hamilton, forming a majority of two out of three, called a special meeting of the council, with the power to write the agenda, for Monday to discuss and vote on promised raises for the Water and Wastewater Department employees.
Only one topic on the agenda: “Public Works Employees pay adjustments as discussed at the 7/29/2025 Budget Meeting and incorporation into the approved Village of Cloudcroft Compensation Plan.”
The Reader later asked Trustee Maynard, who has decades of experience in village administration, if he could recall a trustee majority ever forcing a special meeting over the mayor’s opposition. He couldn’t.
By statute, the mayor typically sets the agenda and determines the meeting times.
The mayor’s apparent reluctance to put the raises on the agenda so they could be “officially” funded led to a frustrating behind-the-scenes tug-of-war.
The employees who were told at a council meeting that they would receive the raises effective with their August 15th paycheck were upset when it did not happen. Ever since, Trustee Maynard has insisted that the Village honor the council’s unanimous vote and keep its word to the employees.
At the regular September council meeting, Maynard asked Mayor Tim King to have the Public Works raises placed on the agenda, as it was the “will of the council” to pass the raises.
When Mayor King signaled his reluctance to include the raises on the next agenda, Trustees Maynard and Hamilton decided to challenge the mayor and force a special meeting to write an agenda that would make their pay changes effective, as a majority of the trustees have the power to do.
Maynard and Hamilton asked for the special meeting during the officials’ reports at the preceding meeting, in accordance with Attorney Zach Cook’s advice.
What led to the forced agenda?
Here’s a timeline of what happened between July 29th and October 6th.
During the budget meeting on July 29th, the council unanimously voted in favor of 15-30% raises for the four water operators and Public Works employees on staff at the time of the vote. At the time, former Trustees Tabitha Foster and Nick Hanna were on the council, along with Trustees Jim Maynard and Gail McCoy.
Thursday, July 31st, only two days after the unanimous vote, Mayor Tim King and Trustee McCoy publicly rethought their support of the raises, citing the Village’s uncertainty about its incoming revenue.
At the August 20th council meeting, 5 days after the payroll date on which the council discussed implementing Public Works raises, Public Works Supervisor J.J. Carrizal asked the council to live up to their promises.
At the same August 20th meeting, former Trustee Nick Hanna weighed in. Hanna was appointed trustee after former Mayor Craig Turner stepped down and then-Trustee Tim King was appointed mayor in December 2024. Hanna served for 8 months, only leaving for active military orders.
He emphasized the importance of delivering the promised raises for the maintenance department in his public remarks following his resignation.“The last thing I wanted to say is that I strongly implore the council to implement the raises that we budgeted. We’ve got to keep the people we have, we have to compensate them appropriately and show them they’re valued, which I know they are. They need to know that, too.”
At the September 16th village council meeting, Mayor King said the July 29th vote violated the Open Meetings Act because the agenda item for Public Works was listed as a “Presentation” rather than “Discussion/Possible Action.” Attorney Zach Cook agreed.
September 16th, Trustees Maynard and Hamilton advocated on behalf of Public Works and asked Mayor King to place the raises on the agenda for the next Village council meeting, following guidance from Attorney Cook. They then published an agenda for a special meeting on Monday, October 6th.
At the October 6th meeting, Mayor King expressed appreciation for the department’s hard work and presented statistics on other proposed pay increases, such as a 16% increase for Supervisor Carrizal, but acknowledged that, as mayor, he can’t vote unless to break a tie of council votes.
Trustees Maynard and Hamilton voted to approve a 30% raise for both Public Works Supervisor JJ Carrizal and longtime Wastewater Operator Scott Powell. They also voted to approve 15% raises for Public Works employees Sean O’Connor and Kris Parks. Trustee McCoy dissented after having supported the raises a few months earlier in a council vote.
Trustee Maynard credited Mayor King with specifying that the raises would retroactively extend to July 1st, 2025.
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What happened next?
The council then immediately held another special meeting, as called for and set by Mayor King, to adopt all current employee pay rates into the recently approved Compensation Plan and to vote to approve the new 20-year lease for the James Sewell Ice Rink, effective after this winter season.
The trustees, Hamilton, McCoy, and Maynard, unanimously approved the lease.
Last week, the council held a public hearing to adopt an ordinance for the 20-year lease, which they unanimously approved.
We look forward to publishing a sneak peek into this year’s ice season and statements from longtime ice rink lessee, Donald Wiklund. Plus: an interview with the new lessee and El Paso Rhinos Hockey Team owner, Cory Herman, coming soon.
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