Contributed Photo/Courtesy Town of Clifton: Rudy H. Perez Jr. has been terminated as the Clifton Town Manager.
By Jon Johnson
CLIFTON – When you visit Clifton, you often find yourself between a rock and a hard place. Those two seemingly came to a head for Clifton Town Manager Rudy H. Perez Jr. during a Clifton Town Council meeting Monday, when the council unanimously voted to terminate his services after an executive session discussion.
The Council originally selected Perez as manager in March 2019 when he was still living in Chandler. Before taking the town manager position, he worked for the Arizona Department of Transportation for 14 years, according to his LinkedIn biography.
Perez was born in Morenci and still has extended family in Greenlee County. He filled a position that was left vacant after former town manager Heather Ruder resigned.
Heather Ruder, of Tucson, lasted less than six months on the job before she resigned via e-mail on Dec. 22, 2018, citing “personal reasons” as to why she left. Ruder was chosen from a list of 26 applicants who applied to replace former town manager Ian McGaughey, who left at the end of May 2018 to become the town manager of Somerton, Arizona.
After Ruder left, Clifton Town Clerk Esperanza “Espie” Castaneda stepped in to perform as interim town manager.
Espie retired Jan. 1, however, and the new Clifton Town Clerk is Cecilia Jernigan, who has roughly 11 years of experience with the town’s administration. She will handle day-to-day operations until a new town manager is found.
Police Chief Omar Negrete will be tasked with assisting Jernigan in taking up the slack and will oversee human resources and personnel.
The Clifton Town Council met in executive session on Monday and emerged with its unanimous decision to terminate Perez and provide him his severance pay. Perez was making nearly $90,000 annually in his role as town manager.
The town will establish a committee to seek and approve applicants for a new town manager.