Daniel Miera will no longer be working as Manager of the Town of Taos as of Sept. 2.

There was a heated and contentious verbal display between Mayor Darren Cordova and Councilman Gene Sanchez at the regular meeting Tuesday (July 26). They argued over items that have been sore points of between Sanchez and the mayor for some time, under cover of an agenda item that simply said “budget consideration and possible action for Fiscal Year 2011-2012.”

Each time Sanchez embarked on dangerous subject matter for the public meeting, Cordova argued to keep them private and that Sanchez was straying dangerously close to making libelous statements.

Mayor and council broke a little before 5 p.m. for an executive session which lasted an hour and a half. When they reconvened, they voted 3-1 to separate with Miera. Sanchez was the sole vote in favor of keeping him on as manager.

Miera could walk away from his position with a 12-month severance package worth more than $100,000, which had been granted to him earlier this year.

The exact details for the separation and the actual severance agreement are not known at this time.