Santa Fe city councilors closer to getting dedicated staff, balancing power

May 7—The Santa Fe City Council would move a step closer to having dedicated staff, something some councilors have wanted for years, by approving the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025.

The spending plan, scheduled for a final council vote this week, includes $60,000 for a study on staff support and $300,000 to hire new employees.

One vacant liaison position was also transferred from the Community Engagement Department to the City Council.

City Budget Officer Andy Hopkins said the "budget book," a condensed version of the spending plan made available to the public, incorrectly states the $300,000 is set aside for a study, not to hire staff.

Councilors have cited a range of potential new positions, from employees to help communicate with Santa Fe residents and help them navigate city services to finance staff, an attorney and people to help conduct research and draft legislation. Support staff would not only ease the workload, some councilors said, but also could even the balance of power between the executive and legislative branches in a city government with a strong mayor who also has a vote on the council.

"This is a conversation that's just getting started, but now we have some resources to actually work with," Councilor Carol Romero-Wirth said at an April 23 budget hearing.

Councilor Lee Garcia expressed some skepticism about whether the city should increase the council's budget while other department budgets are decreasing.

"If we're asking other departments to go lean and mean and we're going to add more to our budget — little bit of a concern there," he said at the hearing. "Extra help is always welcome. How does that translate into efficiencies and getting our job done?"

Hopkins noted most of the decreases in the fiscal year 2025 budget are drops from a midyear budget revision approved for the current fiscal year, with one-time spending that was not included in the initial 2024 budget the council approved last spring.

Councilor Jamie Cassutt said in an April interview she would support having council staff. While she is "very, very fortunate" to be one of the few councilors without another full-time job, she said, she still often feels like she's underwater as she tries to accomplish everything she wants to do for her constituents.

A council liaison could help ensure councilors are able to respond to constituents more quickly, Cassutt said, adding research staff also could help address the sometimes technical issues residents want to discuss.

"Having somebody that could really help me with that would be very beneficial to our residents," Cassutt said. "Because at the end of the day, that's who we're here for."

Hopkins said the $60,000 set aside for a study was a cost estimate compiled by a city staff member, and councilors would be responsible for getting the study done.

Romero-Wirth, when asked how the study would be executed, said, "I think that's TBD."

Councilors seem to divide on the necessity of such a study. Romero-Wirth said it would help answer important questions, such as what kind of expertise would be helpful.

Councilor Pilar Faulkner said the study would explore whether staff would make the council more effective and efficient. "Though I would offer we don't need a study to tell us that," she added.

Faulkner, who works as a lobbyist at the state Capitol, said in an April interview she would like councilors to have their own finance staff so the council and the mayor could propose separate budgets and then come to an agreement on spending. Under the current system, Mayor Alan Webber presents an annual budget, and the council has little leeway to make changes.

Faulkner also said she would like the council to have legislative staff and its own attorney.

"In some cases the City Council is without an attorney," she said, "because in some cases [City Attorney Erin McSherry] represents Alan Webber. So then, how are we protected as a council?"

Faulkner and Councilor Michael Garcia on Monday said having staff members who could draft proposed measures before they are submitted to McSherry's office for review could help move them through the pipeline much faster.

Both said they have had proposals waiting to be drafted in the City Attorney's Office for a significant period of time due to a backlog, creating delays in the process of introducing and approving legislation.

"If we have the support for legislation to be completely crafted and then submitted to the City Attorney's Office, that might help expedite some of the legislation that's currently pending," Garcia said.

Romero-Wirth said she would be interested in having a staff member who could help with policy development, such as aiding with the sometimes significant amount of research that goes into proposing legislation.

"It takes work, and we could use support in doing that work," she said.

Faulkner said council support staff ultimately would help establish checks and balances between the council and the administration, which she said is now heavily skewed in favor of the mayor, who works full time and has a team of people who report to him.

If the city has a strong mayor system, there should be a strong City Council as well, she said, and "right now the council is not a strong council."

"The City Council does not have the same authority as the executive branch does, and that's problematic," Faulkner said. "A balance of power is critical."