The Town of Sahuarita will be going through a major leadership change in the next month, with longtime Town Manager Jim Stahle leaving the post he's held since 2001.

Stahle won't be out of work for long, though, as he is expected to be approved as the next City Manager of Alamogordo, N.M. at a meeting of that community's City Commission this evening.

Stahle, 58, confirmed to the Tucson Weekly last week (during an interview for a story that will run April 25) that he was in negotiations to run the south-central New Mexico community of about 31,000. The Alamogordo City Commission scheduled a special meeting for this evening, with the lone agenda item revolving around appointment of a new City Manager.

The move eastward was prompted by the Sahuarita Town Council's decision last June to not renew Stahle's contract when it was set to expire in June 2013. The Council last week approved the hiring of Kelly Udall, currently the Town Manager in the White Mountains community of Pinetop-Lakeside, as Town Manager effective May 13.

Check out the Weekly's April 25 issue for more on Stahle's 12-year tenure at the helm of Sahuarita, a town that has grown from 3,200 residents to more than 26,000 in that timespan.