The Carrizozo Board of Trustees, which fired village Police Chief Carrie Spencer on July 10, then rescinded its firing on July 14, told the chief that if she didn't show up for work by next Monday, July 28, she will have "abandoned her post" and the position will be vacant, the Ruidoso News reported.

"This board notified Ms. Spencer, through counsel, Monday, July 14, that she was still chief of police," Mayor Bob Hemphill said at a special meeting on Wednesday. "She has failed to return to her post."

The mayor then asked for a motion to "formally notify Ms. Carrie Spencer, via counsel, that if she fails to report to her post by Monday, July 28, 2008, at noon, this council will deem that Ms. Spencer has abandoned her post, resulting in voluntary resignation."

The trustees unanimously approved the motion, the News reported.

Spencer's attorney Timothy Rose told the paper on Thursday that he was still waiting for a formal reply to his request for certain conditions to be met before Spencer returned to the job, including a list of reasons for her initial firing and the resignations of the trustees who voted to fire her.

"Our position in this is that the trustees need to quit skirting around the issue and give their reasons for her termination," Rose told the News.

"They have done everything possible to avoid giving the public the reasons for their action. They held a special meeting with one thing on the agenda, came out of a closed session and made one motion to terminate Chief Spencer," Rose said. "Then their attorney states in a letter to me they really did not intend to fire her, but intended to better clarify her job description."

Carrizozo Town Attorney JulieAnne Leonard said she comment because it was a personnel issue, the News reported. 

8:50am 7/16/08 -- Carrizozo Rescinds Vote To Fire Chief: Village trustees invalidate firing of Carrie Spencer, who demands public apology from board.

The Carrizozo village Board of Trustees voted in a special meeting Monday to rescind its July 10 firing of Carrie Spencer as the town's chief of police, the Ruidoso News reported.

Trustees had voted 3-1 last week to fire Spencer, but Mayor Bob Hemphill immediately reappointed her as temporary chief -- an appointment she accepted at the time but later declined, according to the News.

Hemphill said Monday following a lengthy executive session that the trustees discussed invalidating last week's vote "upon legal advice," because proper disclosure was not made prior to last week's executive session, the News reported.

Meanwhile, Spencer, through her attorney Timothy Rose, demanded certain conditions before she returned to the job, the paper said.

Rose read a letter to the mayor and village attorney on Tuesday demanding an immediate written disclosure for the termination, the resignation of the trustees who voted for her termination or a written public disclosure that their motivation was purely personal and vindictive and not based on misconduct on her part, the News reported.

The letter also demanded a public apology, protection from what she called a clearly hostile working environment and compensatory damages, according to the paper.

"Mrs. Spencer will continue to look for other employment in an attempt to mitigate the damages and clear her name publicly," Rose said. "If the council wishes to respond, then that option is open-ended to them." 

8:35am 7/11/08 -- Carrizozo Police Chief Fired: But village mayor immediately reinstates Carrie Spencer as temporary chief.

The Carrizozo Board of Trustees voted 3-1 Thursday night to fire Police Chief Carrie Spencer, but village Mayor Bob Hemphill immediately named Spencer temporary chief, at least until the trustees' next meeting on Aug. 11, the Ruidoso News reported.

Trustee Dennis Vega made the motion to remove Spencer from office, and he was backed by Trustees Dusty Voss and Max Saucedo, while Trustee Dennis Dunnum cast the only dissenting vote, the News reported.

Hemphill said he didn't agree with the board's decision and told the trustees they needed to provide Spencer with a written explanation of their decision by noon today, according to the paper.

Spencer's attorney, Timothy Rose, said his client should have been accorded due process disciplinary action or some warning of the action, the News reported.

Thursday's special meeting, attended by about 60 residents, was preceded by an hourlong executive session on Tuesday to discuss Spencer's firing, the paper reported.

A number of residents and members of the board at their regular meeting on Tuesday voiced criticism of Spencer, including complaints that a majority of citations did not go to Carrizozo's Municipal Court, that there was a lack of traffic control and that the chief was not available to act on a recent 911 call, according to the News.

Former Carrizozo Police Chief and current Mesilla Marshal Angelo Vega -- and the brother of Trustee Dennis Vega -- sent a written request for an explanation of why no one responded to a 911 call for assistance by his father, Edward Vega, on June 20, the paper reported.

"I spoke to you about it, Mayor, and obviously, I spoke to my brother (Dennis Vega) about it, and was hoping to get some sort of call back or something satisfying in response," Angelo Vega wrote. "What I'm asking for is something in writing, from you, Mayor, why no one responded to the call. And just for the record, no, I'm not looking to come back as police chief of Carrizozo."

Spencer, who was hired as police chief in January 2007 and reappointed by Hemphill in March, gave the mayor and council a statement regarding the June 20 incident, in which a trespasser was reported on Edward Vega's property, the News said.

Spencer said that when the 911 call came in, she and her two part-time officers wer on a shooting range for firearms training and mandatory night shooting certification, the paper reported.

When a dispatcher told her about the call, Spencer asked that a Lincoln County sheriff's deputy handle the call, and that the deputy who took the call took 17 minutes to respond because he was busy with another task, the chief explained.

"Citizens should realize that we do not have 24-hour coverage," Spencer said in her statement. "In the last year and a half, I have been on call, uncompensated, conservatively 9,420 hours ... There are quite a few times I have been somewhere else during that time, doing something else, and could not respond to a call."