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Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Columbus Trustee Still Getting Paid
By Rene Romo
Journal Southern Bureau
LAS CRUCES — Columbus Trustee Blas "Woody" Gutierrez, jailed since March 10 in a federal gun-smuggling case, will continue to draw his $500 monthly check from the village for a while longer.
Gutierrez apparently never received the letter, mailed at the end of April, from the village asking him to resign within 15 days of the postmarked date or face the possibility of a court order seeking his removal from office, according to Gutierrez's father, Mayor pro tem Roberto Gutierrez.
So the village will fire off a second letter, once again asking Blas Gutierrez to resign, said Trustee William "Bud" Canfield.
Canfield said he hopes Blas Gutierrez agrees to resign, even though the 15-day deadline elapsed at least 10 days ago, because that route would be less costly to the cash-strapped village.
"I still think that if we get him (Blas Gutierrez) to do it, even if it takes more time, it will be cheaper than going to court," Canfield said. If court proceedings drag on for months, he said, the village would still have to pay Blas Gutierrez while trying to oust him from office.
Federal authorities arrested Blas Gutierrez, Mayor Eddie Espinoza, Police Chief Angelo Vega and eight others in March for allegedly buying about 200 firearms from a Chaparral gun dealer on behalf of others and having the weapons smuggled into Mexico.
Espinoza, who is being held without bond, resigned earlier this month on the condition that the village pay him his $700 monthly salary for April and May.
The letter seeking the resignations of the elected officials was sent by an attorney working for the village but not by certified mail, Canfield said.
"I don't feel good about it," Canfield said of paying a trustee who is not performing any official duties while behind bars, "but I feel we are doing everything we can to straighten it out."
Canfield said he only learned that Blas Gutierrez had not received the village's letter from Roberto Gutierrez last Friday. Roberto Gutierrez would not say Tuesday when his son informed him of that.
"That's personal," Roberto Gutierrez told the Journal, adding that he did not know what his son's plans were.
Asked if he thought it was appropriate for his son to continue drawing a paycheck from the village while in federal custody, Roberto Gutierrez said: "It's not an ordinary situation. ... Like I've said, you're innocent until proven guilty."
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