Mountainair Mayor Peter Nieto has called a special Town Council meeting to discuss hiring a police force. Currently, the town has no police officers.
At the meeting, the mayor plans to request approval to update the pay scale to entice applicants.
The meeting will be held at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, July 25, in the Council Meeting Room at 107 and 1/2 North Roosevelt Ave. in Mountainair and is open to the public. Residents can also attend the meeting via Zoom at 1-346-248-7799 Meeting ID: 856-052-5813 Passcode: 888-888.
According to previous reporting in The Independent, on Feb. 20, the Mountainair Town Council approved the hiring of Jimmy Macon, a law enforcement officer from Florida, as the new Mountainair police chief. Macon would have been the first law enforcement employee in the town since the departure of former police chief Juan Reyes in 2022. At a March 19 Town Council meeting, Nieto said rumors that Macon would be arriving soon were inaccurate. The town has since posted the position for chief of police.
According to the current job posting for chief of police, Mountainair is offering prospective employees a salary of $54,080 to $62,400. The chief of police in Mountainair is offered a take-home police car provided by the town.
By comparison, the Edgewood Police Department is currently hiring certified police officers as well. In Edgewood, patrol officers currently earn $35.82 an hour and the chief of police earns an annual salary of about $123,000.
The Estancia Police Department is also hiring certified police officers. According to the Estancia Police Department, lateral-certified police officers currently earn $31 an hour.
Moriarty Police officers earn $31.24 an hour and the chief of police earns $39.99 an hour.
The Independent reached out to Nieto but did not hear back as of press time.