Rose Chavez, a UNM alumna who organized the Lobo Growers Market, has been controversially removed from her position as coordinator of the market.
As a result, the Oct. 21 market was canceled.
Chavez said she was fired when Bruce Milne, executive director of Sustainability Studies, and Terry Horger, program manager of Sustainability Studies, said she wasn't performing to their expectations.
But Milne said Chavez withdrew her application for a promotion from temporary employee to permanent coordinator of the market.
Chavez said that is not the case.
"We had everything pretty much ready to go (for the Oct. 21 Growers Market), and then Bruce and Terry came over and told me I was released from my position because of my unsatisfactory performance," Chavez said.
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Chavez was hired by Milne and Horger as a temporary employee following her graduation in May, after she drew up a proposal and compendium for the Lobo Growers Market as a student in 2007.
"They were so impressed with the job that I did that they offered me a job as coordinator of the market for this fall," Chavez said.
Chavez said creating the position as coordinator would take a lot of time and paperwork, so she was hired as a temporary employee, enabling her to organize the fall 2008 series of Lobo Growers Markets.
When the time came to transition Chavez from temporary employee to Growers Market coordinator, Chavez said she, Horger and Milne arranged a meeting to discuss her job description and salary.
"I held a meeting with them on May 22, and they told me I would be hired at a rate of $22 (per hour) and 30 percent of that would be my benefits," Chavez said. "That would include my health insurance and other benefits that are associated with staff benefits, so I would be considered part-time with benefits."
However, those benefits were never formalized, she said.
"In my naivete, I did not actually get them to sign a contract saying that," she said. "That's a lesson that I learned the hard way, because obviously I didn't get any benefits."
According to UNM's human resources Web site, in order for a temporary employee to be hired part- or full-time, the position needs to be advertised and must accept multiple applicants.
However, Chavez said Horger skipped this step in order to make Chavez the sole hire for the position of coordinator.
"Terry told me that she didn't want to post it the traditional way, because she didn't want to go through posting the position," Chavez said. "She just wanted to do the sole hire."
Horger declined to comment.
Milne said Chavez could not have received benefits without getting hired as Lobo Growers Market coordinator after the position had been advertised.
"We were having an open search for the Growers Market coordinator, (a position) that would have had benefits, and the only way we could have given benefits was through an open search process, which we conducted," Milne said. "At that time, (Chavez) withdrew her application."
Bruno Barachin, owner of a French bistro called Latuiche, was one of the 55 vendors scheduled to participate in the Market.
"When I heard (Chavez) had been fired, I was really upset," he said. "She introduced me to the Lobo Growers Market. She did an awesome job."
Barachin said he is hesitant to participate in upcoming markets.
"The way they're doing things, I'm not sure I'm going to be involved in it now, doing business like that," he said.
Milne said Chavez's absence shouldn't be cause for concern among merchants and patrons.
"The market involves lots of students and staff working to put it together, and we work with vendors to make something very special for the campus," he said. "We're in the process of hiring somebody as Lobo Growers coordinator, so we're moving ahead with the Growers Market, and it's going to be as good as ever."
