Mayor’s staff shake-up: Parks, land use directors are out
Need for ‘strong new energy’ is cited in acting on key roles
The leaders of the city’s Land Use and Parks and Recreation departments will not be retained in the ongoing changeover at City Hall, the interim city manager said Monday as the Webber administration works to put its new management team in place.
Lisa Martinez, who had been Land Use director since 2014, and Rob Carter, who had led the Parks and Recreation Department since 2015, were asked to resign and would be out of their roles by the end of day Monday, interim City Manager Erik Litzenberg said.
Although neither position comes with a particularly high profile, city parks have come under scrutiny in recent years for poorly maintained medians, and recreation for difficulties with facility upkeep; land use concerns were a hot-button issue in the recent mayoral election, with all of the candidates to various degrees highlighting the importance of streamlined permitting and improved planning.
Litzenberg would only generally say the personnel decisions were made with both past performance and a need for “strong new energy” in mind.
“We all understand the need to move forward under the mayor’s new direction,” he said.
Carter, in a farewell email message written to his department employees, said: “Today I was informed by the interim city manager that my services were no longer needed and that I didn’t meet … the city’s new direction. It has been [an] honor and a pleasure to work with each and every one of you.”
Neither Carter nor Martinez could be reached for additional comment Monday afternoon.
Mayor Alan Webber, who in March asked all exempt city employees to reapply for their positions, said the decision had been made to retain several other department and division heads.
Matt Brown, who heads the Economic Development Division; Randy Randall, the executive director of Tourism Santa Fe; and Matt O’Reilly, the asset development director, will be staying on, Webber said.
Several other interim department heads had been elevated to those leadership positions full-time. Among them are Josh Elicio in the Information Technology and Telecommunications Department, Shannon Jones in the Public Utilities Department and Chris Sanchez in the Community Services Department.
Brown, in economic development, will temporarily oversee land use, and Sanchez, in community services, will temporarily oversee parks and recreation while interviews for full-time replacements get underway, Litzenberg said.
Litzenberg, who served as fire chief until his elevation to interim city manager after the mayor requested the resignation of former City Manager Brian Snyder late last month, will stay on as fire chief after his tenure as city manager concludes, Webber said.
“When we finish filling the jobs that are currently either empty or held by interim people, we’ll have more or less a 50-50 break between new faces and people who are being retained and continuing in their positions,” Webber said.
Litzenberg said he has led the job interview process with input from retained department heads.
While the city charter stipulates personnel decisions are made by the city manager, the new full-time mayor has “the opportunity to provide input,” Webber said, adding that was what he had done.
Searches and interviews will continue for department-level positions as well as a full-time city manager, city attorney and city clerk, Webber said.
Acting Police Chief Andrew Padilla’s “on-the-job performance has been stellar,” Litzenberg said, though he added the formal review process for that all-important position would not begin until next week, when the job posting closes.