Mayor makes first hires for key city posts

More management changes ahead with interim jobs to fill

The city of Santa Fe on Tuesday announced a new finance director, public works director and human resources director.

They are the first senior staff hires made by Mayor Alan Webber’s administration, and they come as he seeks to pivot from transition activities to reform governance.

Meanwhile, Chris Sanchez, a city employee who was managing two departments on an interim basis, resigned Friday.

His departure makes another hole to fill in the leadership ranks at City Hall, where, despite Tuesday’s crop of new hires, many top management roles are still occupied by an interim director or manager more than three months after the March election.

There are others, such as the deputy city manager, whose roles going forward have not yet been defined.

But there are reinforcements on the way. They include:

Mary McCoy, 36, an Albuquerque native with experience at the state Department of Finance and Legislative Finance Committee, will become the city’s next finance director. She fills the vacancy left by Adam Johnson, who resigned to take a job at St. John’s College in April.

McCoy most recently worked as revenue manager in the Administration and Finance Cabinet of the city of Boston, which has an annual operating budget of $3.3 billion. Her work there, according to a city news release and her résumé, included oversight of citywide revenue maximization, developing legislation to fund universal prekindergarten and the implementation of a $20 million annual fund for affordable housing, open space and preservation.

She faces the tall task of bringing order to the internal financial situation at City Hall.

“I have a strong background instituting financial controls, navigating tough audits and building a solid financial foundation for municipal and state governments,” McCoy said in a statement.

Regina Wheeler, the chief executive of a local solar company, will be the city’s next public works director. She replaces the interim department director, John Romero, who told city leadership he did not want the position full time.

Wheeler, 56, who co-chaired Webber’s transition advisory group on sustainability, was the city’s environmental services director for almost two years through 2011. She worked in a similar managerial role for Los Alamos County

for seven years before that.

Bernadette Salazar, 43, the Santa Fe County human resources director for more than a decade, will now lead the city’s Human Resources Department. She replaces Lynette Trujillo, who was asked to resign in April following a controversy over pay raises the former city manager quietly authorized for select employees.

Both interim City Manager Erik Litzenberg and Webber trumpeted the hires in a release.

“These three women are going to help us make Santa Fe the most eco-friendly, sustainable city in the nation; rebuild our finances from the ground up; and create an entirely new culture of support and accountability for our employees,” Webber said.

A city spokesman said more leadership hires would be finalized and announced later this week.

Sanchez, who wrote in a resignation letter that he left City Hall “with a heavy heart,” began work at the city as the children and youth commissioner in early 2013. He wore several hats and ultimately had become the interim director of the Community Services Department under former Mayor Javier Gonzales.

Last month, Sanchez was one of a handful of interim department leaders Webber and Litzenberg said would be kept on. At the same time, he was made acting Parks and Recreation Department director after Rob Carter, the former director, was not retained.

Santa Fe County Assessor Gus Martinez confirmed Tuesday he hired Sanchez to be deputy assessor.

City spokesman Matt Ross said Nick Schiavo, the interim airport manager, will oversee community services on an interim basis. Renee Martinez, the deputy city manager, will become the interim parks and recreation director. After Sanchez, she’s the second interim leader of that department in a little more than a month.

“We’ll be moving to fill these positions, and we are moving to fill them as quickly as possible and as fast as we can find the right people for the right jobs,” Ross said.

Litzenberg is pulling double duty himself. He is both the head of Webber’s city administration and the Santa Fe Fire Department chief, a position he’s held since 2013.

He was named to the city manager’s role after Webber asked for former City Manager Brian Snyder’s resignation in April.

Another interim leader is Geno Zamora as the city attorney. Zamora formerly represented Santa Fe Public Schools and also was the city attorney from 2010-13.

Yolanda Vigil reapplied for her position as city clerk. She has held that position almost continuously since 1994. She has remained in her job through the transition period. But no final decision has been made about a full-time occupant for that role. Webber said last week the city was in the “final throes” of clerk interviews.

Acting Chief Andrew Padilla has been running the Santa Fe Police Department since February, when his co-interim chief left to take a job with the school district.

The Santa Fe Regional Airport has been led on an interim basis since the fall. The interim director, Schiavo, previously oversaw the city Public Works Department.

The Land Use Department has an interim leader, as well. Matt Brown, the city’s economic development director, took over that role when the former land use director, Lisa Martinez, was not asked to return last month.