May 13, 2008
Joe Sarabia said Tuesday that he was going to keep his job with the El Paso Fire Department, following a meeting with supervisors who told him that city rules would not allow be seated to elected office.
"I need my job. Bottom line," said Sarabia, who declined to comment in detail about the issue because he still was hoping to find a way to take office.
"We have to see again what we can do," Sarabia said. "I'm trying to see what avenues are available."
Today, city officials said they were trying to scheduled a meeting of the Civil Service Commission for Monday.
Sarabia was one of two trustees newly elected on Saturday. He and Tony Ayub won two at-large seats. Charlie Garcia, a board member whose term was up and had to run again, came in third.
The election in the Socorro Independent School District was considered significant because both Sarabia and Ayub were critics of superintendent Sylvia Atkinson. Sarabia was credited with helping defeat the district's $400 million bond issue in 2007.
The two new trustees would have shifted the majority of the board, calling Atkinson's job security into question. The news of Sarabia's apparent ineligibility to serve will prolong the turmoil at the district, which is very deeply divided over support of Atkinson.
Craig Patton, a Socorro trustee, said he wasn't sure what would happen next on the board.
"All I know is in my opinion the city rule is a very bad rule," he said.
The city rule under discussion is Civil Service Rule 17. Part "A" states that "Employees can declare, file and seek elective offices that are not financially compensated, such as elected positions to college boards, school boards, school districts, hospital boards and elected offices that are necessary to party function and process." However, part "C" states that employees are prohibited from seeking elected office "if the employee is serving in a supervisory or managerial position with the City."
Sarabia is a lieutenant with the Fire Department.
Although he would not discuss the matter in detail, he did say that he considered running for office several years ago and was instrumental in changing the rules to allow city employees to run for non-compensated, elected office.
Patton said he was "bewildered by the distinction why they would allow one classification of employees to run for the school board but then not allow employees who manage or supervise other people to run for the school board.
"It seems to be arbitrary and capricious," he said.
He also said that another candidate for the Socorro school board, Karina Hagelslieb, works as a supervisor for the city and was told that she could run for the office.
Regarding Hagelslieb, an accounting manager with the financial services section of the Health Department, city spokeswoman Juli Lozano said that "originally legal did not know she was in a supervisory position. They said it was ok, but then found out she was a supervisor, and then they had to notify her she could not (take office)." Lozano said the notification took place last week, before the election.
Mike Calderazzo, a spokesman for the El Paso Fire Department, said that a supervisor spoke to Sarabia last week, before the election, "and I guess Joe was of the opinion he could appeal this to the Civil Service Commission."
Calderazzo said that Sarabia was formally told this morning that it was not a Civil Service Commission decision, and that Sarabia was given the choice of keeping his job or taking the SISD seat.