Town of Edgewood commissioners voted to accept the resignation of Shaline Lopez, clerk-treasurer for the town, during the regular session Town Commission meeting on Tuesday evening.
“Staff morale is abysmal right now,” Lopez said in her presentation early in the meeting.
At the end of the meeting, after a closed session, commissioners moved to accept her letter of resignation.
Lopez said that she had received verbal complaints from staff members in several departments.
“Our staff feel underappreciated and overburdened,” Lopez said. “The staff are stressed. The staff feel a lack of stability. The staff feel as though their jobs are not secure, whether or not their performance is good. The staff feel a lack of trust.”
Commissioners signed her letter of resignation during the closed session. After reentering open session, Mayor Ken Brennan pointed out that this was a procedural error and should not have been done in closed session, because it “could possibly be seen as making a decision while in closed session,” Brennan said
After reentering the open session, a new document was created without the signatures. Commissioners voted to accept Lopez’s resignation. Finance staff member Victoria Archuleta took over as the interim clerk-treasurer.
Lopez and Archuleta did not respond to requests for comment in time for publication.
“The town cannot function without a quality staff, and our staff deserve a welcoming, cooperative workplace where they feel valued,” Lopez said in her presentation. “Edgewood is lucky to have some outstanding people on staff, and I think we should work together to do right by them so that they can keep this government functioning.”
