Two up for seats donated to mayor
Men had served on group to determine mayoral salary before Webber was elected
Two men who donated to Alan Webber’s first mayoral campaign are up for reappointment to the board that ultimately sets the Santa Fe mayor’s salary.
Attorney Paul Hultin and Andrew Wallerstein, CEO of Avalon Trust — both members of the commission that set the mayoral salary a year before Webber was elected — donated $1,000 and $2,500, respectively, to his successful 2018 campaign, according to campaign finance records.
Members of the seven-member panel, all volunteers, are scheduled to go before the City Council on Wednesday night, when it votes on the appointments at its regularly scheduled meeting. Hultin and Wallerstein served on the commission in 2017.
Webber, who announced his bid for reelection Sunday, said he was unaware Hultin and Wallerstein had donated to his first campaign, but he added he did not believe it would lead to a conflict of interest when the commission sets the salary for the next mayor by the end of April.
Webber said he looked at a list of criteria — the ordinance requires a member from the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce, representatives of a neighborhood association, a community organization and the human resources industry, plus a retired attorney or judge, a chief executive officer and one member appointed at large — and received recommendations. He also spoke with interested people about whether they would take a spot on the board.
“Everyone fit the criteria,” Webber said. “As far as the two folks who contributed to my campaign, until you asked the question, I had no idea that they had. I did not know that they were contributors.”
Hultin, who chaired the commission in 2017, said he didn’t remember contributing to the campaign, but he added it would not affect the panel because it follows a city ordinance that outlines how the salary should be set, using comparisons to other public executives in Santa Fe County and cities of comparable size.
Wallerstein could not be reached for comment.
The independent salary commission was created after voters approved a 2014 ballot measure that changed the city’s governance structure from a parttime to a full-time mayor after the 2018 election. The commission first met in 2017, with members appointed by former Mayor Javier Gonzales.
A study was conducted, and salary ranges of $145,000 to $175,000 were floated, drawing backlash from critics who said an appropriate salary should be
closer to the $75,000 estimation provided on the ballot measure.
The board ultimately went with a $110,000 salary in 2017.
According to the city ordinance, the commission is to be “independent of the mayor and the governing body.” However, the mayor does recommend appointees to the board, who are then approved by the governing body.
The commission is not required to alter the salary.
Webber said he doesn’t believe enough thought went into how the commission was devised. If reelected, he said he would be open to discussing how to change the ordinance to allow for more separation between the mayor, the City Council and the commission.
“The words on paper say independence, but the actual nominations and consent process don’t actually implement the perception of its independence,” Webber said.
While the ordinance does not bar anyone who has donated to a candidate’s campaign from serving on the commission, a member of a state watchdog organization said safeguards could be put in place to avoid questions about the commission’s independence.
“Perception is so important in the realm of ethics and public trust,” said Kathleen Sabo, executive director of New Mexico Ethics Watch, a nonprofit that advocates for ethics reform. “We always advise people to avoid the appearance of impropriety.
“You want to be able to justify that things are happening above board and not in any way that would benefit someone who actually has their hands in it.”
City Councilor Michael Garcia said research should be done before moving forward with an appointment.
“The mayor can go through the process and ensure that there isn’t any conflicts of interest,” Garcia said. “It should be incumbent of the mayor to be part of that review process.”