SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - City officials in the northern New Mexico city of Las Vegas have scheduled a meeting to discuss the removal from office of the mayor indicted on bribery charges last month.
Mayor Tonita Gurule-Giron pleaded not guilty Monday to all six criminal charges against her including engaging in an official act for personal financial gain, demanding or receiving a bride by a public officer or employee and soliciting or receiving an illegal kickback, authorities said.
The mayor allegedly rigged city contracts so her boyfriend, a general contractor, could get them, the attorney general of New Mexico said.
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It appears there is nothing in the city charter that allows for removal of a mayor other than by a recall election, the mayor’s attorney Dan Cron said.
The council can vote for Gurule-Giron’s removal and that the matter would then go to a state district judge for consideration, city councilwoman Barbara Perea-Casey said. The meeting is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Friday inside Council Chambers and is open to the public.
Gurule-Giron does not intend to run for reelection, Cron said.
Perea-Casey has announced that she will run for the position, she said.
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