Mesilla Mayor Michael Cadena on Thursday interviewed two candidates for the position of town marshal but a third candidate abruptly removed himself from consideration, the Las Cruces Sun-News reported.

And the town's four trustees, who had been present at the interviews, abruptly removed themselves from the process, leaving Cadena to conduct the questioning himself, the Sun-News said.

Cadena and the trustees have been at odds since March 10, when the mayor announced he was firing Town Marshal Angelo Vega -- a move Vega and the trustees have said took them by surprise, the paper reported.

"I want to recuse myself from this process altogether," Trustee Jesus Caro said Thursday, saying the board could get in legal trouble for participating in the interviews, the Sun-News said.

"I agree totally with Trustee Caro," Mayor Pro Tem Nora Barraza said. "We don't have a vacancy, we already have a marshal in place."

The meeting adjourned, and the trustees quickly left the town hall, the Sun-News said.

"I wanted to make this an open process for the public," Mayor Cadena said of the interviews. "I'm a little disappointed that they didn't want to participate."

Shortly after Cadena announced he was firing Vega -- with whom he had clashed in the past -- Vega hired two attorneys and informed Cadena he would be filing a wrongful termination suit in federal court if the decision weren't reversed, the paper said.

The board of trustees voted after a two-hour closed session on March 14 to put Vega on paid administrative leave until the matter was resolved, according to the Sun-News.

The board will meet in its regular session next Monday at Mesilla Town Hall, and Cadena is likely to present a name at that meeting for consideration as a new marshal, the paper reported.

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