Evan Chandler
In a 7-1 vote, the Santa Fe City Council green lit Mayor Alan Webber’s appointment of Tourism Director Randy Randall to the interim city manager role Monday afternoon.
Former City Manager John Blair announced his resignation Oct. 22 to take an as-yet undisclosed job in Washington, DC. His last day was Nov. 1. On Oct. 25, Webber initially appointed City Attorney Erin McSherry to the interim city manager role, but he withdrew that selection days later at McSherry’s request.
The mayor appointed Randall—who also held the interim community development director position—to the role Nov. 1. Jordan Guenther, who is currently marketing director for the city’s Tourism Department, will serve as interim tourism director, the mayor tells SFR. Randall will also step down from his other interim position, leaving a vacancy at the head of the Community Development Department. Randall held that position after Rich Brown retired from the job in June. City Communications Director Regina Ruiz tells SFR the city is “actively hiring” for that position.
Webber says he selected Randall due to his unparalleled managerial experience.
“Randy and I've already started talking about the highest priorities for right now in addition to making sure that all of the day to day work of the city manager gets done,” the mayor says. “So we're not hitting pause. We're hitting go. But I think Randy knows that his experience is going to be important. His relationships with all of the existing city department heads are important, and they have confidence in him."
District 2 City Councilor Michael Garcia was the sole vote against Randall’s appointment, saying he didn’t see it as good “from a public administrative standpoint.”
“My no vote was in no disrespect to Mr. Randall…I don't believe that we should be pulling staff from critical positions, especially when somebody is in an acting position of one of our most busy departments,” Garcia said. “When somebody oversees the Community Development Department and also there's vacancies in affordable housing, I just think we need to really work on filling positions versus pulling positions and leaving less staff to really get the work done.”
District 3 City Councilor Lee Garcia was absent.
Garcia
The scene turned to chaos just moments after as District 1 City Councilor Signe Lindell asked for a point of personal privilege and condemned statements made by Garcia—without naming him—in The Santa Fe New Mexican last week following the mayor’s withdrawal of McSherry’s appointment.
Lindell said the District 2 councilor violated procedural rules by revealing confidential information from the executive session during the Oct. 30 governing body meeting and she hoped “it never happens again,” even suggesting that the governing body receive a training session soon.
Garcia interjected, saying the claims were “false and baseless” and Lindell’s behavior was “out of order” and “an attempt to silence” councilors from giving their opinion.
“It might be a surprise to some, but there were conversations that were had beforehand…which led me to believe that the support was not there,” he said. “Now I'll reiterate, there was no confidential information that I disclosed.”
He then read the exact quote published: “I think Mayor Webber did not have enough City Council support to get his requested city manager appointment confirmed in the interim. I have full faith and confidence that Deputy City Manager [Layla] Archuletta-Maestas has the skills and experience to carry out the necessary duties while Mayor Webber moves forward with the city manager appointment.”
Garcia's opinion he expressed to the publication was based on “conversations held prior to the executive session,” he said. Garcia called Lindell’s claims “false and baseless” and expressed his belief that they’re akin to bullying.
“It's a silencing treatment that several on this council have continuously done to myself, which is very unfair, not only to myself, but to the constituents I represent,” Garcia said.
Webber said he believed “it’s always good to review our policies and procedures,” and said trust between the governing body was paramount. He then backed Lindell’s call for training and guidance going forward.
“We can all do better,” Webber said. “And I think we can all be more careful and mindful of the requirements that we put upon ourselves to maintain a sense of trust that things that are said will not be shared in an inappropriate way, whether that happened in this case or not.”
Randall began work with the city as tourism director in 2014. In that role, he oversees the sales and marketing efforts and manages four city visitor centers, as well as the operation of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. Randall’s resume includes numerous management roles. Prior to joining the city team, he was the Eldorado Hotel’s general manager, the senior vice president of operations at a Denver-based hospitality management company and as the director of operations for resorts in Virginia and Puerto Rico.
After over 10 years with the city, Randall tells SFR it is “a real honor” to serve as interim city manager.
“It feels good. I'm anxious to work with the administration, with the mayor and with this governing body and make sure that—whether it's another week or two more months—they say, ‘We made a good decision, we put the right guy in there.’”
