City Manager Brian Snyder soon will be conducting a national search for what is being called a “deputy city manager — manager of innovation.” The job will pay about $125,000 to $130,000 a year, Snyder said Thursday.
“I believe firmly that we need to drive the conversation on how we can better improve business processes, streamline operations,” said Snyder, whose annual salary is $142,804.
“This person is going to really be getting into the details of how we do what we do, why we do what we do, from the standpoint of working with staff directly and mapping those processes out and … asking some simple questions on: Why do it this way? Is there a way that we could do it better?” he added.
Questions about the job remain unanswered, including what the new hire will do when the city switches to a full-time mayor after the 2018 election.
“Is there really enough work at that time for three top administrators to have to do?” Councilor Chris Rivera asked. “That I don’t know the answer to.”
Said Councilor Joseph Maestas: “We’re going to have to discuss that and delineate those responsibilities between the mayor and the city manager after March 2018 … if I’m still there.”
The job, which Snyder has pushed for during the last two budget cycles, was approved by the City Council in the current fiscal year budget.
“When the deputy manager was approved in the budget, along with an [organizational] chart that said what the deputy city manager would be in charge of, the council tried to put a condition on that position but were told by [City Attorney] Kelley Brennan that they could not because it would be usurping the manager’s authority on personnel decisions,” said former Councilor Karen Heldmeyer, who closely monitors decisions at City Hall.
What was agreed to instead, she said, is that Snyder wouldn’t be able to hire a deputy city manager until after Snyder had received a performance evaluation by the council. Snyder’s evaluation happened recently in a closed session.
Councilor Ron Trujillo said Snyder is in a position to know whether a deputy city manager is needed.
“I’m trusting him to make that decision,” Trujillo said.
Snyder said at the end of Wednesday’s council meeting that he had sent councilors a draft job description and asked for their feedback. According to documents obtained under an open-records request, only two councilors — Maestas and Mike Harris — provided any input.
Harris recommended a review for proper punctuation, which the draft document lacks. He also recommended including “familiarity with an implementation of a successful ERP process,” or an enterprise resource planning software system the city is implementing that integrates various functions, such as human resources and technology, into one system to streamline processes and information.
In an interview, Harris said he supported the idea of hiring a “well-qualified” deputy city manager after he became familiar with the operations of the city through the budget process.
“Quite frankly, I think it’s too big of a job for one individual,” said Harris, a Finance Committee member who was elected to his first term in March. “It’s really that simple.”
Maestas agreed that Snyder has a lot on his plate.
“I also feel like many of the initiatives that come out of the mayor’s office detract from a lot of the long-standing core priorities that the city manager should be focusing on,” he said.
In an email to Snyder, Maestas recommended making the deputy city manager responsible for reorganizing the city’s “constituent relations process and resources.”
“I think that it would be a benefit to you if we had more of an established protocol for responding to inquires” from constituents, Maestas told Snyder on Wednesday night.
According to a draft job description, the deputy city manager will be the city’s second-highest administrative officer and will automatically serve as the acting city manager in the city manager’s absence.
“The duties of this position include assisting city manager in finding innovative and creative solutions to operational issues and championing new and existing initiatives that streamline operations, enhance performance and improve customer service across the city, directing the activities of city departments and offices based on general direction and policy of the city manager,” the draft document states.
Snyder said he sees the new position as an extension of himself.
“So often we get caught up in providing a level of service to this community and just getting the job done,” he said. “What I wanted to drive is have somebody really be looking at the way we’re providing that service or further opportunities for us to streamline the services. All this kind of fits into the conversation of strategic planning, looking at how we move forward as a city.”
©2016 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
