Oct. 24 – Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber will never admit a hard truth about the ongoing unrest at City Hall. This also applies to most of the eight municipal council members.
If they were transparent — a favorite word of politicians — they would acknowledge that they hired John Blair as city manager even though he was not qualified. Giving Blair the job that paid him more than $176,000 a year was an act of political patronage.
Blair had never worked for a city government in any capacity. He had no degree in public administration and no experience managing a series of department leaders whose daily mission is to provide basic services like pristine parks, good roads and protection from criminals.
Municipal elections are nonpartisan because the work of the city should be apolitical. When a water main bursts, no one cares about the party in charge of the city department and the crew doing the repairs. When city audits were consistently late and prohibitively expensive to prepare, residents complained of a lack of professionalism, not political affiliation.
Blair, 50, knew far more about politics than city government. He had worked for federal officeholders from New Mexico and Michigan, and he aspired to be like them.
He ran for Congress four years ago in New Mexico’s Third District. Blair finished sixth in a seven-person Democratic primary.
Politics kept him in the same job as Webber, who ran unsuccessfully for governor in 2014 before winning elections for mayor twice.
Webber, unconcerned with a legitimate search, decided in late 2021 that Blair should become city manager. In their typical baa-baa style, seven of the eight city councilors voted in favor of Blair’s appointment in January 2022. Only Councilor Lee Garcia had the courage to oppose a candidate with no background in city government.
The question now is whether history will repeat itself. Blair announced he is resigning on November 1 to take an unspecified job in Washington.
Santa Fe needs a top professional as city manager, not more patronage in the hopes of chasing mediocrity. Webber was a disappointment as mayor, but maybe, just maybe, he’ll try to do the right thing this time.
His administration just posted the city manager vacancy in the International City/County Management Association’s employment office. The ad is long-winded but misses important details. Still, it could lead to a pool of good candidates.
If Webber’s goal is to hire an excellent city manager, he should invite all eight city council members to join him in the search process.
They should form a committee of the whole to improve the city’s initial advertising. Working together from the start could overcome the persistent complaint that Webber freezes out council members who don’t see the world the way he does.
There is another potential benefit of a joint effort. If Webber does not run for a third term next year, the newly hired city manager would not be vulnerable to the lame-duck status that could result from the mayor’s choice.
City council members can also be valuable in streamlining the expanded advertisement while reinforcing the requirements for the job.
Webber’s pitch only requires a bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university with “course work in management, political science, business administration or public administration or a similar field.” That is far from rigorous.
A city of Santa Fe’s size and complexity would require a bachelor’s degree, plus a master’s degree in public administration. Candidates with an advanced degree and a track record in public administration are more likely to succeed as a city manager.
Webber’s ad also sets the bar low and vague when it comes to professional experience. It calls for “eight years of increasingly responsible management experience in planning, organizing, leading and overseeing a large organization.”
Santa Fe needs someone who understands the intricacies of running a city or county government, not a telemarketing center or the Zozobra event. Webber and the council members would need at least five years of experience as a manager or assistant manager of a city or county government.
There is time to rewrite the ad. Webber’s administration listed the application deadline as December 31.
The published salary range is $168,082 to $243,720. It is up to councilors to investigate from which hat Webber’s crew obtained these figures.
After the application deadline, the city must make public the resumes of all candidates.
Once elected officials select the top four or five candidates, the finalists must be taken to Santa Fe for meetings with the public. That’s what transparent city governments do.
Hand-picking Blair was one of Webber’s biggest blunders. The mayor has a chance to redeem himself. He can work with all council members to find the best available city manager, perhaps closing the gap between elected officials.
They don’t all have to agree on every candidate or any other issue. A disagreement can be valuable.
Putting all nine elected officials on equal footing in the search would make them more accountable to the public. Better yet, the likelihood of favoritism would decrease.
Ringside Seat is an opinion column about people, politics and news. Contact Milan Simonich at msimonich@sfnewmexican.com or 505-986-3080.
