ALAMOGORDO — Next Tuesday, the Alamogordo City Commission will vote on whether to pursue a Code of Conduct complaint against one of its own members, Commissioner Alfonso “Al” Hernandez.

The item is No. 10 on the September 22 agenda, submitted by City Manager Robert Stockwell. The complaint was reviewed by a three-member Preliminary Review Committee made up of fellow commissioners. According to the agenda report, two of the three found “No Cause” on all four counts, and the third found “Cause” on all four. Because of that split, the city code requires the full Commission to decide whether the complaint goes any further. Hernandez himself cannot vote.

The threshold is steep. The motion needs five affirmative votes. If it falls short, the agenda report states that “no further action on the complaint may be taken.” If it gets five votes, the complaint will be scheduled for a later meeting where its merits will be heard. City staff stress that Tuesday’s vote is not about whether the allegations are true, only whether they will be examined at all.

The airport board exchange

The complaint arrives amid public attention on a video clip from a public meeting with the city’s airport board. In the clip, Hernandez appears to call the leader of the city employees’ union “stupid” and says she is causing problems for the city. The clip has circulated online: https://youtube.com/shorts/THi1Cm40-Rw?is=0sGgMTCJNfPMykxb

A related public records request, No. 26-1438, is on file with the city through its NextRequest portal: https://cityofalamogordonm.nextrequest.com/requests/26-1438.

The city’s duty to its workforce

Whatever the Commission decides, the episode raises a basic question: who protects city employees when the person they are dealing with is an elected official?

Employers generally must maintain a workplace free of harassment and retaliation. Union leaders also have legal protections when they advocate for members. When a commissioner publicly disparages an employee representative in an official meeting, the city carries the legal and financial exposure, not the commissioner personally. Local outlet 2nd Life Media Alamogordo Town News has reported more than $1 million in taxpayer-funded settlements tied to alleged oversteps, including issues involving former Commissioner Al Hernandez and other commissioners. This is not the first complaint against Al Hernandez nor other commissioners to include Josh Rardin via a public records request internal investigations have occurred by outside legal counsel in the past and have found a mixed bag of infractions but little action to sanction fellow commissioners by a commission unwilling to hold fellow members accountable to protecting employees from political pressure and harassment. 

In 2023 an outside investigator found credible allegations that commissioners interfered in daily operations and put staff “in sometimes untenable positions.” In 2025 the same outside investigator found the city manager recruitment tainted, with a commissioner’s comments creating discrimination exposure for the city. Both problems were identified by outside counsel, not by the commission’s own review process as outlined by a weak charter with little regard to accountability and in need of updating. 

Critics say this structure has several built-in weaknesses. There is no independent investigator or outside hearing officer. The five-vote supermajority means a minority of commissioners can end a complaint without any public review of the evidence. And the employee who is the subject of the remarks has no formal role in the decision.

The rules themselves are also muddled. Last year, commissioners identified two separate code-of-conduct ordinances, one passed in 2014 and another in 2022, that overlap and contain inconsistent language, particularly regarding complaint procedures and remedies. At the time, commissioners asked staff to either repeal one ordinance or merge the two into a single, clearer policy. The topic was once again in discussion in 2025. https://citizenportal.ai/articles/6128439/new-mexico/otero-county/alamogordo/commission-asks-staff-to-reconcile-two-city-codes-of-conduct-and-review-social-media-guidance

Supporters of the current system argue that elected officials answer to voters, not staff, and that a high bar protects commissioners from politically motivated complaints. Residents who want another route have options outside City Hall. The city attorney has previously reminded members of complaint options through the New Mexico Attorney General or State Ethics Commission.

What’s next

The Commission meets Tuesday, September 22, 2026. Public comment is open at the start of the meeting. If five commissioners vote yes, the complaint’s merits will be taken up at a future meeting. If not, the matter ends there.

Hear Hernandez’s own words…

https://youtube.com/shorts/THi1Cm40-Rw?is=ws0t7JT6J2YFs4aQ