Valencia County Commissioner Jhonathan Aragon has announced his resignation from the Valencia County commission.
Jhonathan Aragon
At the Wednesday, March 20, meeting of the board of county commissioners, Aragon announced his departure from the board effective midnight, Sunday, March 24, to take the deputy county manager position with the county. The commission selected Aragon for the position at its March 6 meeting on a 3-1 vote.
At the March 6 meeting, county attorney Adren Nance said the deputy county manager was an appointed position, meaning the employee can be terminated at the will of the commission and is not a “protected” position.
“This employee is appointed by the commission rather than hired by the county manager,” Nance said.
A panel of three people not associated with the county reviewed the applicants for the position, which were Aragon, Valencia County grant supervisor Jeremias Silva and former county commissioner David Hyder.
“They were the Cibola, McKinley and San Juan county managers. There were no individuals, elected officials of employees of Valencia County on the panel to make the recommendation,” the attorney said. “(Valencia County Human Resources director Orlando Montoya) did sit in on the interviews to make sure they complied with county policy. The county was provided with interview score sheets from the committee and it made the unanimous recommendation of Mr. Aragon for the position.”
Aragon is the commissioner for District 5 and cannot run again due to term limits. He was appointed to the commission by Gov. Susana Martinez in August 2013. Aragon ran for the two-year seat in 2014 and was elected to the position. Aragon, a Republican, was then re-elected in 2016 for a four-year term, and again in 2020.
With nine months left on his final term of office, the governor will appoint a replacement to the seat to serve until the end of 2024.
On filing day earlier this month, Republican Dante E. Berry, 31, was the only candidate to file to run for the seat. A financial advisor, Berry has an associate degree from New Mexico Military Institute and a bachelor’s degree from the University of New Mexico.
Read more about Aragon’s time in office in the March 28 edition of the News-Bulletin.
Julia M. Dendinger began working at the VCNB in 2006. She covers Valencia County government, Belen Consolidated Schools and the village of Bosque Farms. She is a member of the Society of Professional Journalists Rio Grande chapter’s board of directors.
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April 25, 2024
