Letter: Fired Anthony City Clerk never intended to step down

ABC-7 has obtained the termination letter allegedly sent to Anthony’s former city clerk by Mayor Diana Murillo-Trujillo.

In it, Trujillo allegedly states City Clerk Christine Sifuentes told the city finance director she “was not returning to work” and had “obtained an attorney.”

Trujillo states that was an indication Sifuentes had “abandoned her job” and therefore she would be terminated effective Oct. 24 at 5 p.m.

In a letter signed by Sifuentes’ lawyer, Joleen Youngers, Youngers states her client did not resign and never abandoned her job. Youngers told ABC-7 Sifuentes was attending clerk school, then called in sick.

Youngers says her client will seek damages.

In her letter to the mayor and trustees, Youngers states, “Sifuentes first learned she was being fired via a phone call from the mayor … The call was short and to the point, with the mayor informing Ms. Sifuentes she did not have to return to work. The mayor told Ms. Sifuentes, ‘I am terminating you.'”

At a trustee meeting Wednesday, Murillo-Trujillo would not comment on the letter. She referred ABC-7 to the the city’s attorney who also declined to comment.

The letter comes in the wake of Anthony Police Chief Joe Baca’s abrupt resignation.

Baca told ABC-7 he has “seen inappropriate terminations, as well as a hostile work environment by the Mayor.”