Smiley City Council accepts Bustamente resignation

The City of Smiley enacted a $25 fee for brush removal at the July 19 meeting.

“We’ve been doing research throughout the other little small towns. They say they all charge for picking up brush, so I presented that to the council,” Mayor Lisa Benavidez said. “Any time a resident needs brush picked up, they can come and pay at city hall and we will send the men out there. Brush should be cut up and stacked up within six feet.”

Council also approved RISE Broadband to lay fiber optic cable throughout Smiley.

“This will benefit citizens as we provide faster internet with lower costs,” Benavidez said.

The City of Smiley again will be looking for a new city secretary after the Smiley City Council approved and accepted the resignation of the current secretary at their Wednesday, July 19 meeting.

Deborah M. Bustamente turned in her resignation to council at the Wednesday meeting at City Hall.

Smiley Mayor Lisa Benavidez confirmed Thursday the council accepted Bustamente’s resignation, but declined to comment as to why Bustamente resigned.

This marks the second time in 15 months that Smiley will have to look for a new city secretary. Bustamente had been hired as Smiley’s city secretary in May 2022 after previously serving as the city secretary for Nixon from December 2019 to March 2022.

She had succeeded Rebecca Mejia, who had resigned from the position in March 2022 after alleging she had been harassed and stalked by a member of the volunteer fire department.