City extends contracts to help mayoral transition
Santa Fe’s attorney, manager to hold onto positions 30 days after March 6 mayoral election
Santa Fe city councilors want to ensure a “smooth and stable” transition period between administrations this spring by temporarily extending the contracts of top administrative personnel after the March 6 election, when one of five mayoral candidates will succeed Mayor Javier Gonzales.
The proposal would append 30-day extensions onto the contracts of City Manager Brian Snyder and City Attorney Kelley Brennan, both of whom would otherwise see their contracts expire at the end of Gonzales’ term, according to the resolution introduced by Councilor Chris Rivera. It also would exercise a 30-day extension already provided for in City Clerk Yolanda Vigil’s contract.
The next mayor will have sole authority to fire the city manager, attorney and clerk. But to hire individuals to fill those roles the mayor must still obtain the consent of a majority of the eight-member council, and the proposed extensions are aimed at ensuring the city retains some administrative leadership at least until the next mayor has a chance to nominate appointees, co-sponsoring councilors said.
City code stipulates a mayor must submit to councilors the name and qualifications of his or her appointee at least seven days before the meeting of the governing body, at which approval of the appointee is to be considered.
The first scheduled City Council meeting after the March 6 election is March 14. But the mayor-elect will not be sworn in until March 12, and, given the required seven days of lead time, the March 28 meeting would be the next mayor’s first opportunity to have appointees considered.
Ongoing concerns — namely construction of the city’s next budget, discussions about the future of the Santa Fe University of Art and Design campus and a multimillion-dollar technology upgrade — are best served by some expectation of short-term continuity, the resolution states.
The 30-day holdover periods would be subject to the council’s approval and the agreement of both Snyder and Brennan. Both said Monday they’d stay on for that period if asked.
Upon winning office, Gonzales announced a 90-day transition period in which he would consult with councilors on his picks for highlevel roles. Snyder, who had been acting city manager since the previous summer, signed a three-month extension to stay on through that period, at the end of which Gonzales announced he’d nominate Snyder for reappointment.
Snyder, who earns $142,800 annually, said the 30-day transition after the 2018 election could be valuable in the same way he said the 90-day extension was in 2014.
“I wouldn’t want to stand in the way of the next city manager taking over and running the organization,” Snyder said. “At the same time, I would want to make sure that person was comfortable with some of the intricacies of what we’ve got going on. I think 30 days is a good start.”
“I knew of [Gonzales], but we didn’t have any kind of relationship at all, and when he came in, we said, ‘Let’s do a test drive, let’s see if it works out,’” he added. “After a couple months, we said, ‘You know what, we’re on the same page, let’s keep it going.’”
Snyder, 43, said he had not been approached by any of the mayoral candidates to discuss the city manager position. Asked whether he’d make himself a candidate to continue on in the role in the next administration, Snyder did not rule it out.
“Moving forward, I think there’s definitely a conversation that can be had, and obviously it’s a two-way conversation: understanding where I’m coming from, and from the next mayor, what’s their vision, his or her approach to the next four years, and seeing if there’s any interest in working on it together.”
Brennan, with the city since 2007, has served in the city attorney’s role since 2013, at an annual salary of $118,000. She previously told The New Mexican she planned to retire March 12. On Monday, she said she’d be willing to postpone that if the council asked her to do so.
The extension item is co-sponsored by each of the councilors whose seats on the governing body are not at issue in March. Rivera, who introduced the measure, did not return a request for comment.
The city Finance Committee approved the resolution unanimously Monday. The full council is scheduled to take it up next Wednesday.
Contact Tripp Stelnicki at 505-4287626 or tstelnicki@sfnewmexican.com.