Judge approves protection order against Española mayor amid sexual harassment claim

A state district judge has approved a temporary protection order against Española Mayor John Ramon Vigil after a petition by a city department director who claimed Vigil sexually assaulted her in a Santa Fe bar.

First Judicial District Judge Denise Thomas issued the temporary order against Vigil on June 27. She permitted him to continue attending city council meetings until August, when she’ll decide whether to extend the protection order.

Asked for comment, Vigil referred the Journal to his attorneys, Elden Pennington and Robert Gorence, who did not immediately respond to inquiries regarding the allegations made against him. The city worker also did not respond to requests for comment.

This is the third time the mayor has been accused of sexual- or gender-based misconduct by a city employee since 2023. Employee Danielle Bustos also filed a protection order against Vigil for sexual harassment and workplace harassment that year. In 2024, Vigil’s former administrative assistant, Laura Rendon, filed a lawsuit against him in state district court, claiming gender discrimination. Rendon’s case is currently pending trial.

In the latest allegation, the city employee who filed the petition also made formal complaints to the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and New Mexico State Police, which opened a criminal investigation into her claims of sexual harassment in May.

According to a report State Police released to the Journal this month, the employee claimed Vigil texted her the night of Sept. 29, 2024, saying he was “buzzed” and asking her about her personal life. Five days later, while sitting at a table with Vigil and Española City Manager Eric Lujan at Santa Fe late-night bar Del Charro, she told police the mayor touched her legs and genital area.

When interviewed by State Police investigators, Lujan said he witnessed Vigil “repeatedly grabbing” the employee’s leg, touching her breast and sending her messages through Snapchat. He claimed that when Vigil’s accuser left the table at Del Charro, the mayor told him he was planning to have sex with her. Lujan alleged that while he and the mayor’s accuser had one or two drinks that night, Vigil had roughly four.

Following their meal, the three went outside, where they met with Española City Councilor Felicia Archuleta-Toya. Vigil’s accuser claimed the mayor continued to harass her in front of the city officials.

“The mayor kept pushing into my chest with his index finger, pressing my chest really hard with his finger, telling me, ‘I’m the mayor, yo soy chingón. I make the rules, I do what I want. I always get what I want,’” she told police.

According to the police report, Lujan told investigators he intervened and led the mayor away from the employee. Archuleta-Toya said she witnessed the exchange outside Del Charro and later texted the employee to see if she was alright.

Investigators attempted to retrieve video surveillance footage from Del Charro to corroborate the city worker’s claims, but the restaurant’s general manager informed them that their camera system deletes footage after 60 days. The city employee also agreed to provide police with a cellphone to be used as evidence that might shed more light on her allegations against Vigil.

Lujan claimed the relationship between the city employee and the mayor “soured” following the dinner. Vigil’s accuser told police that she and her department came under close scrutiny by the mayor this year, describing Vigil’s behavior as an “abuse of power.”

Lujan resigned from his role as city manager in May following a city council vote to approve a settlement creating the new role, which will expire at the end of September. The details of the settlement remain unclear. Several other people interviewed by State Police also had a history of friction with Vigil.

Vigil’s accuser told police she turned to State Police after sharing her concerns about the mayor with the city’s human resources department and Española Police Chief Mizel Garcia, whom she claims advised his officers to “look the other way.” The city employee claims Human Resources Director Sally Baxter failed to act on three complaints she filed with the department.

Born and raised in Española and a graduate of New Mexico Highlands University, Vigil took office in March 2022 at the age of 26, becoming the youngest mayor in the city’s history. He previously served as a city councilor after being elected in 2018.