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A New Mexico mayor reportedly fired his city manager for refusing to reopen a golf course amid the state’s stay-at-home order currently in effect to limit the impact of the coronavirus, according to a report Tuesday.
Grants Mayor Martin "Modey" Hicks has “dismissed” City Manager Laura Jaramillo, KOB 4 reported. The City Council will hold a vote Friday to decide whether her termination will be finalized.
Hicks announced Monday he would challenge Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s statewide stay-at-home order, encouraging non-essential businesses in Grant, including a gun shop and its city-operated golf course, to reopen.
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Martin Hicks (left) and Laura Jaramillo (right) pictured in their official City of Grants photos.
“Come play golf,” Hicks told residents, according to KOB 4. "What the governor is doing is wrong. That’s why we’re standing up against it.”
New Mexico State Police responded to at least eight businesses who reopened their doors, but officers only issued one citation, as well as one cease-and-desist order to the city-operated golf course.
Jaramillo was dismissed by the mayor for not ordering city employees at the golf course to reopen.
“This is about the Constitution to this country. Period,” Hicks told KOB 4 Monday in an interview outdoors. “It’s about our livelihoods. It’s about our liberties. It’s about our rights. And we will not compromise them no more to a tyrant in Santa Fe.”
“Why do you want to take the chance to spread it?" a woman passing on the street shouted, confronting the mayor. After spouting profanity and calling the woman "ridiculous," the mayor then said the city’s revenue is down by 30 percent, meaning he might need to lay off staff.
The New Mexico Office of the Attorney General also sent a cease and desist letter to Hicks on Tuesday, ordering him to follow the governor's orders. The mayor argued it’s unfair for the state government to allow hardware store chains and large supermarkets to remain open while smaller salons and mom-and-pop shops must shut their doors.
TEXAS SALON OWNERS LEFT IN 'DARK PLACE' DESPITE STATE REOPENING OTHER NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESSES
"Your individual views on the public health response are within your rights, but as Mayor you must follow the rule of law," Attorney General Hector Balderas said. “I encourage you and the city council to work with state health officials on an effective transition plan to safely bring local businesses online as things progress."
New Mexico, as of Wednesday, recorded at least 2,823 confirmed coronavirus cases, with at least 104 deaths, according to the state department of health. Grants has a population of more than 9,100 and is located about 78 miles west of Albuquerque.
Last week, Grisham extended the statewide stay-at-home order initially set to expire on April 30 to at least May 15 before New Mexico can begin gradually easing lockdown measures amid the public health emergency.
“I want to be crystal clear: While we’re making progress, we are not yet out of the woods,” the governor tweeted. “We will not be able to reopen everything on May 16. The virus will not be gone. The pandemic will not be over. There is no magical date.
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“No one wants to be locked down – everyone wants to hug their loved ones, we all want businesses to be able to open,” she added. “But simply wanting this to be over will not get us there.”
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