Bustos-Mihelcic takes city clerk position
In lieu of amended contract, she says she will accept new role under terms of employment from previous job with city
She says she will accept the new role, but under terms of her current contract.
Two days after her contract was unanimously approved by city officials, Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic accepted her appointment as city clerk — but without accepting an amended contract negotiated during a contentious meeting earlier in the week.
Bustos-Mihelcic, in an email sent to members of the City Council on Wednesday and obtained by the Santa Fe New Mexican, accepted Mayor Alan Webber’s appointment.
But she told the nine-member governing body that she will do so under the terms of her employment as director of constituent and council services, a position she has held for the city since 2018.
“After much thought, I have decided to decline the contract amendments that were approved,” Bustos-Mihelcic wrote in the email. “I am not requesting a renegotiation of the contract. … I do not want the contract or its contents to distract from the appointment and the great honor it is to serve our City in this capacity.”
On Monday, members of the governing body spent nearly three hours discussing amendments to the contract, which included lopping off nearly $4,000 of the proposed $115,000 annual salary and amendments to a severance package included in the contract.
Webber took issue with the debate over the contract, saying the amendments were disrespectful to Bustos-Mihelcic and created a bad image for future public servants.
According to the email, Bustos-Mihelcic accepted the position with an annual salary of $111,220, $100 less than what was negotiated in Monday’s meeting, at her request.
In December, the city announced the mayor appointed Bustos-Mihelcic to be city clerk as well as director of its freshly minted Office of Public Engagement, which brought together under one roof the Department of Constituent and Council Services and the City Clerk’s Office.
Bustos-Mihelcic will replace Yolanda Vigil in the role as clerk. Vigil retired in December after nearly three decades as city clerk and 40 years with the city of Santa Fe.