What does the Bernalillo county manager do?

Apr. 23—Bernalillo County Manager Julie Morgas Baca's day is all about communication.

A county manager handles day-to-day operations. In Bernalillo County, that means the county manager oversees five divisions and 2,600 employees. Morgas Baca said she gets work calls on the weekends and after hours and works an estimated 60 hours per week. Her annual salary is $215,000, according to the county's transparency portal. Her pay was raised in 2022 from $195,000, according to previous coverage.

Morgas Baca starts her workdays with emails, followed by back-to-back meetings and phone calls. But she isn't just meeting with department directors and deputy county managers.

"I get to work with a variety of people, from business owners and elected officials, the general public and the community, the grassroots people that just want to make a difference in their community and have all this amazing passion," Morgas Baca said.

The county also works with the criminal justice system, including the district attorney's office, the public defender's office, the Sheriff's Department, the courts and the jails. Once a week, Morgas Baca has meetings about the county's youth detention center.

According to Morgas Baca, county government is all about making herself and her staff accessible to the community.

"I'm here to serve the public. They're not here to serve me," she said.

Constant change is part of the job, and to succeed, Morgas Baca has to embrace and adapt to those changes, she said.

Dealing with conflict is the most difficult part of the job, she said.

"Even though it's hard, you still have to face it and you face it head on. And as long as you are honest and you're ethical, then I don't think you have to worry," Morgas Baca said.

The five Bernalillo County commissioners hire the county manager, and the manager serves at their pleasure. Morgas Baca is set to retire at the end of the fiscal year in June, and deciding how to replace her has been a source of conflict for the Bernalillo County commissioners.

According to the Bernalillo County charter, while the County Commission is responsible for all legislative and policy-making decisions, the county manager is the top administrator.

"I like to think of myself as an instrument to accomplish their goals and their priorities and their initiatives in their districts," Morgas Baca said.

The Bernalillo County Commission is not supposed to issue managerial directives, give orders or demand services from the county manager, according to the charter. Instead, commissioners can provide recommendations, but the county manager has discretion on whether or not to implement those recommendations.

Essentially, the commissioners set county policy, while the county manager figures out how to execute those policies.

"I make a lot of decisions, and I do a lot of things, and the Commission are great and they provide support. But without the staff ... to me, I look at them as they're the foundation of the county. They get things done," Morgas Baca said.