EPCOG fires executive director

Sharna Johnson: CNJ Staff Writer

Eastern Plains Council of Governments has dismissed Executive Director Nick Brady.

Executive Board member Isidro Garcia confirmed Brady was dismissed Wednesday.

“This is a personnel matter and we really can’t elaborate on it,” he said. “With personnel matters, we’ve got to be very careful.”

Garcia said the position will be advertised and board members will oversee the agency until a replacement is found.

Brady was executive director about a year, taking the $70,000-a-year position after predecessor Lee Tillman retired. He served the previous seven years as deputy director.

Brady said Thursday he has not been fired, but was asked to resign during a Wednesday night board meeting.

“I told them I had to think about it,” he said, explaining he has still not made a decision as to whether he will resign or not.

He said he has been given no indication as to why the board wants him to leave and is “totally baffled” by the situation.

“I asked for a reason and they wouldn’t give me one,” he said.

“I had no idea that there were any problems — I knew nothing about any problems. As far as I knew we were headed in the right direction and we were good, so there’s something that I don’t know about.”

EPCOG is a consortium of seven counties in eastern New Mexico and helps local governments with infrastructure planning and economic development.

Funding is drawn from a combination of membership dues paid by local governments and state and federal appropriations, officials have said.

Counties in the Eastern Plains Council of Governments are Union, Harding, Quay, Guadalupe, De Baca, Curry, and Roosevelt.