Ex-town manager files lawsuit against Taos council, mayor

TAOS — A former Taos town manager has filed a lawsuit accusing the Taos Town Council and Mayor Pascual Maestas of breach of contract for failing to pay him $38,000 for paid leave he never used.

In his Feb. 16 complaint, Rick Bellis claims the town paid a portion of his compensation under the direction of the outgoing Mayor Dan Barrone, but Maestas and the council have refused to compensate him for “approximately 500 hours of accrued and unused personal leave and approximately 88 hours of accrued and unused administrative leave,” amounting to $38,193.12.

The town’s response, filed last week in state District Court, was to countersue Bellis.

Both parties are seeking damages in the case, which is the next chapter in a saga that began in 2022, when then-newly elected Maestas asked the State Auditor’s Office to investigate severance payments made to Bellis and Marietta Fambro, a former finance director who had been elected to the council.

The state auditor’s investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing in regard to the severance payments.

In its counterclaim against Bellis, the town does not dispute the propriety of the severance payments but disputes the amount the former manager may claim for unused paid time off.

“To find myself now in conflict with Town Hall is frustrating and heartbreaking,” Bellis said in a statement to The Taos News. “But I have tried calling and emailing, requesting records, writing to the mayor and council to offer to meet or negotiate and, finally, provided a letter to the mayor from an attorney explaining the undisputed legality of the request. Unfortunately, filing a lawsuit is the last and only resort left to me after exhausting all other possible options.”

In its April 19 countersuit, the town alleged Bellis was “unjustly enriched” by what it said was an overpayment of $15,577 as part of his post-employment compensation package. Bellis was paid $67,500 in severance March 30, 2022, after Maestas defeated Barrone in a municipal election and just before the April 1 start of Maestas’ four-year term.

Maestas brought in Andrew Gonzales to replace Bellis as town manager.

The town’s complaint alleges Barrone “mistakenly or improperly” compensated Bellis for 30 days of administrative leave and asks Bellis to repay the $15,577, plus costs and attorney fees and “such other relief as is just and proper.”

The town also filed a request with the court last week asking for a jury trial to resolve the case.