Cash officer applicant uses mayor as reference
Finance director says connection won’t tilt decision in favor of hopeful
One of the 14 people who so far have applied to become the city’s next cash management and investment officer listed Mayor Javier Gonzales as a reference.
Santa Fe’s finance director, Oscar Rodriguez, said Tuesday that experience and qualifications, not political connections, will determine who gets the job.
“In these positions, it can’t be a political hire,” Rodriguez said. “There’s too much money at stake, too much required here for that to happen.”
Marc Tupler, who listed the mayor as a “business associate” in his professional references, is currently serving as the city’s interim cash management and investment officer, a job that opened up following the death last month of Helene Hausman.
Tupler said he didn’t believe his relationship with the mayor gave him an advantage in the competition.
“My résumé speaks for itself,” he wrote in an email. “Additionally, Mr. Gonzales has been listed as one of my professional references for many years now and long before the current position opened up for posting (actually long before he was elected mayor).”
Hausman was well-respected among her co-workers and elected officials. After her death, the mayor described Hausman as a dedicated employee “who for 15 years helped us guide our ship as part of the finance department.”
“It goes without saying that she will be so sorely missed, not just because of her professional ability, but for her kind and thoughtful demeanor and her willingness to serve our city above and beyond the call,” Gonzales wrote in an email to city employees June 27.
Rodriguez said he initially brought Tupler aboard as a 90-day “emergency hire” after Hausman went on leave in mid-March. Tupler, who served on the city’s Audit Committee until he resigned to take the temporary job at City Hall, is a financial, investment and banking officer.
“I was in a situation where I needed to quickly replace [Hausman] or find a backup,” Rodriguez said. “It’s a very specialized job.”
Rodriguez said he had met Tupler through the Audit Committee and knew his background and that Tupler was looking for a job. According to Tupler’s LinkedIn page, he lost his job at the Santa Fe Trust Company at the beginning of the year.
“Due to circumstances beyond my control, out-of-state owners of trust company decided to change direction in the NM-market and terminated my position in the local branch office,” Tupler wrote on LinkedIn.
In June, when Hausman returned to work earlier than expected, Rodriguez informed Tupler his last day would be June 30. Hausman, though, died soon after, and Rodriguez asked Tupler if he would consider staying longer. Tupler agreed.
“That job is getting done without interruption,” Rodriguez said.
Tupler has known the mayor since childhood. When asked why he
listed him as a reference, Tupler said Gonzales and members of his family were banking clients of his when he worked at an unspecified commercial bank.
“I was the assigned relationship manager,” he said. “In working through the relationship needs, Mr. Gonzales got a very good understanding of my professional banking skills, high business standards, and strong business ethics. My capacity with him, and the Gonzales family, ended when I left the bank for other opportunities. No further business with him exists.”
According to the city’s transparency portal online, Tupler is being paid $36 an hour.
The job of cash management and investment officer, which will remain open until filled, will pay between $27.97 and $49.66 an hour, according to the job posting.
Rodriguez said he won’t start reviewing applications for another week but plans to fill the position as soon as possible.
“If somebody applies who has been a cash and investment manager in a comparable city and has years of doing that, I’d say that’s the biggest advantage,” Rodriguez said. “If everybody who applies has the same experience and the same qualifications as [Tupler], the fact that he has actually been doing it now for months, yeah, obviously that would be an advantage.”