Logan Village Council fires its administrator

The Village of Logan is on the lookout for a new administrator after the village council fired Scott Parnell right before Christmas.

Mayor David Babb said in a phone interview last week the five-member council unanimously voted to terminate Parnell’s position during its regular meeting on Dec. 20.

Parnell had been the village’s administrator for a little over four years.

Babb declined to give a reason for Parnell’s firing, citing personnel reasons, but he acknowledged “it was an ongoing issue.”

An attempt to phone Parnell for comment through an intermediary was unsuccessful.

The village posted a public notice on Dec. 27, stating it was seeking applications for the village administrator position.

It stated a complete job description and application would be at the village’e office at 108A U.S. 54 and that a resume must be submitted for such applicants.

No deadline was noted, except the notice stated: “Applications will be accepted until filled.”

Babb noted it took the village almost a year to find an administrator the last time an opening occurred.

Babb said he, village clerk and treasurer Rosalee Rachor and council members would run village operations in the meantime.

Parnell was hired in October 2018 as village administrator for $75,000 a year. He hailed from Los Lunas but he said he had family ties to Quay and Harding counties.

Parnell previously was a field manager for Pulte Group, a home-construction company. Before that, he served on the parks and recreation commission in Rio Rancho from 2006 to 2011.

Parnell’s tenure brought the village a few years of leadership stability after a several years of turmoil.

Larry Wallin, the village’s administrator for a total of almost 30 years, came out of retirement for a second time after the village council fired administrator Trevor Thompson in January 2018.

Wallin also had retired in 2016 but returned in 2017 after his successor, Jim Neece, resigned.