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Santa Fe, N.M.'s Search for Innovation Manager Sparks Controversy

Santa Fe’s city government, which has come under scrutiny for having a high number of municipal employees, has faced backlash over a recent decision to hire a deputy city manager.

(TNS) -- When the city of Santa Fe advertised last month that it wants to hire a deputy city manager/innovation manager for up to $132,288 a year, some taxpayers balked at the idea of City Hall adding another high-paying position at the same time it was cutting services and raising fees.

The decision to place another manager in the central administration’s chain-of-command also comes less than two years before the elected position of mayor becomes that of a full-time chief executive officer under a voter-approved charter change. That raised the question of whether a city the size of Santa Fe needs so many bosses at the top.

Even some city officials can’t answer the question with certainty.

“We really don’t know how things are going to change,” City Councilor Carmichael Dominguez, who chairs the city Finance Committee, said Friday.

What is clear, though, is that Santa Fe’s city government, which has come under scrutiny for having a high number of municipal employees per capita when compared with other cities of similar size, generally has fewer administrators with high-level management titles.

Five municipalities identified by Santa Fe officials as peer cities have one or two — even three — deputy or assistant city managers, though all of those cities have a council-manager form of government in which the city manager is the chief executive officer, not the mayor.

Until recently, for example, the city of Midland, Texas, had a city manager, a deputy city manager and two assistant city managers.

Sara Bustilloz, a spokeswoman for the West Texas city, said the city historically has had a city manager, a deputy city manager and an assistant city manager. The second assistant city manager, who recently resigned to be closer to family, was brought on board about two years ago during “a period of unprecedented growth” tied to the oil boom, she said.

“There was one year where we saw a 13 percent increase in traffic,” she said. “We saw an increase in oil field traffic as well, a lot of heavy trucks on our roads. There was definitely more of a need for infrastructure projects, and we saw a lot of new businesses come to Midland and a lot of development happening. There was a need at that time of unprecedented growth to bring in another set of eyes that could oversee all of the building going on so that it matched our vision for Midland for the future.”

The organizational chart at Santa Fe City Hall has included the title of “assistant city manager” at times in the past, including as recently as about a decade ago when an $88,000-a-year administrator filled such a job. Before that, the position hadn’t existed for about 10 years.

The latest effort to hire a helper for the city manager sparked public criticism.

“So, now the city wants to hire a deputy city manager at a $125,000 to $130,000 salary,” Stephen C. Dubinsky of Santa Fe wrote in a letter to the editor. “I have a better idea. Hire a city manager who can do his job.”

Santa Fe plans to hire a so-called “manager of innovation” who may assist Snyder where needed. Mayor Javier Gonzales said the city isn’t looking for another manager to oversee “the same old, same old.”

“If people are applying for the position because they think a deputy city manager at the city of Santa Fe is going to be an administrative, managerial function just to oversee more of the bureaucracy, those are the individuals I feel for certain would not be the candidates that we’re looking for,” he said.

“If in this pool of applicants there are experienced individuals that understand everything from business process management to organizational behavioral change to being able to develop systems where the city can deliver service in a way that is transparent and in ways that allow for us to be accountable — and they’ve shown that experience — that would be an ideal candidate that I would love to see strongly considered,” Gonzales said.

The mayor said the new position easily could have been called a “chief innovation officer” or a “government efficiency officer,” a job that would be needed regardless of the city’s form of government.

“The fact that today we do business exactly the same way we did when my dad was mayor back in 1968 is very telling of the need for modernization and innovation in the delivery of city services,” he said, referring to the late George Gonzales. “I’m committed to that, and I think if the right person presents themselves through this competitive process, we’ll be able to get that started.”

Former Councilor Karen Heldmeyer sees some unanswered questions about the new position, including whether the city will need a city manager and a deputy city manager when the position of mayor becomes a full-time job in 2018.

“Some people with experience in government management have suggested that, rather than making the deputy city manager the ‘manager of innovation,’ the city manager be involved in the big picture items after being freed from the day-to-day, such as constituent complaints and personnel decisions, by having a deputy city manager,” she said in an email.

“This seems to make sense, and mirrors the duties of other deputy city managers in New Mexico,” she added. “If the city manager is the boss of the deputy city manager, what happens if the deputy city manager brings in a big picture innovation and the city manager balks? Who’s in charge? Has this been worked out?”

Snyder said the new hire will lead a focused effort to improve the delivery of government services, which he wholeheartedly supports.

“It’s not creating less work for me,” he said. “It’s putting a more focused effort on areas that we get caught up in the day-to-day functions of serving the public,” from cutting costs to issuing permits quicker.

As of Wednesday, four dozen people with varying degrees of experience had applied for the job, according to documents obtained under an open-records request. Renée Martínez, director of the city’s Information Technology and Telecommunications Department, and Adam Johnson, who became the city’s budget officer in February, are the only internal candidates so far.

“The City of Santa Fe is in the beginning stages of incredible transformation,” Johnson wrote in a nearly two-page letter to the city manager. “The degree to which the transformation occurs is entirely up to the leadership of the organization.”

Snyder said he plans to start conducting interviews in the next week or two and hopes to have someone in the job by the end of October.

“I have heard criticism directly to me and in emails and through the grapevine,” Synder said, “and I’ve heard it as, ‘It’s another high-level, high-paid manager.’ Though that is the case, at the same time, what the function of this position is doing is try to put more focus on trying to serve the public better.”

Gonzales said he has yet to review the job applications but that he will only push for a hire if a qualified candidate applied.

“If the right person is in the pool of candidates, I’m going to urge the city manager to go forward. If they are not, then we’re not going to hire somebody just for the sake of filling a position. I’m absolutely opposed to that,” he said. “We’ve got to have the right person. They’ve got to have the right experience.”

©2016 The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.