Following a 35-year-long career of managing cities across California, Mark Scott will be stepping into the Southwest to assume the position of city manager in Santa Fe on Feb. 10. The city council voted to confirm Mayor Alan Webber’s choice for the position at its Jan. 29 meeting.
“I always love starting these jobs,” Scott tells SFR. “I'm excited to come here, plus, this time, I get Santa Fe with it.”
Within his career, Scott has a track record in aiding the financial and economic aspects of cities in most need of improvement. More than a decade ago, he managed the city of Fresno, during a period in which the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. In 2016, he sought and got the chance to manage the city of San Bernardino out of a four-year stint in bankruptcy and succeeded by the following year.
“[San Bernardino] had been through three city managers, and I thought, if I'm going to really be a professional, I've got to step up when a community needs a professional, and they have not had people with financial background,” Scott reminisces. “So, I called and I volunteered.”
Since 2021, Scott has mainly served in interim city manager positions, though not by choice. As a retired annuitant, or someone who has retired from a state agency that has been appointed to work for the state in a temporary capacity, he is limited to working 960 hours per year under California law.
In New Mexico, the rule no longer applies, and Scott says he doesn’t plan to make this appointment an interim position, but adds he is not worried about a potential change in administration after the mayoral election in November. Webber has not confirmed whether he will be running for a third term as mayor.
“I'm wide open to what the future may hold,” Scott says. “At my point in life, I'm very comfortable with being flexible.”
Webber said at the meeting that out of the 36 candidates who applied for the role, he was “struck” by Scott’s experience.
“I look forward to the opportunity to work with Mr. Scott on a daily basis,” Webber said. “The chance to have Mr. Scott at the helm with his background and experience, I think, is something that will serve all of us and the community very well.”
Filling the city manager position allows the interim manager Randy Randall to return his focus on the city’s tourism department, but many leadership positions within the city remain open. Santa Fe still needs a director for the community development department, a deputy city manager and more.
Scott says since these positions fall under his purview, he feels the city should “use the tools the private sector uses” to fill and build more positions in the city.
“City governments have had to learn some new skills in recent years—we don't market ourselves quite as aggressively or proficiently as [the] private sector,” Scott says. “You need to create an environment where your job looks like it's a better place to work than somebody else's job.”
At the Jan. 29 meeting, Webber and seven of the city councilors voted to confirm the selection. District 2 City Councilor Michael Garcia was the sole opposing vote, clarifying that while he had no issue with Scott as the selection, he did take issue with Scott’s salary. The previous city manager, John Blair, had a base salary of $183,510, and the city offered Scott $225,000—a $41,490 increase.
“I don't know why it's always upper management that sees these drastic salary increases,” Garcia said at the meeting. “We have a dedicated, skilled and professional workforce that doesn't see these drastic salary increases, the ones that make the city go around. So I hope that we can ultimately support our workforce in the manner of salary increases such as this.”
Santa Fe Communications Director Regina Ruiz tells SFR while Scott’s base salary is higher, the city is spending less on the position than it previously had, because Scott elected not to receive any healthcare benefits. With healthcare benefits added to his salary, she says the city spent a total of $256,045.66 annually when Blair was in the position.
District 4 City Councilor Jamie Cassutt said at the meeting that when she met with Scott, she appreciated his professionalism and “collaborative approach” with city councils and budgeting.
“This is not a political position, and I think that's something that's really beneficial for our community,” Cassutt said. “I think our community has been, at times, concerned about the city manager being a political appointment, as opposed to a ‘the city needs to function’ appointment, and I really did get that impression from you.”
As city manager, Scott says the goals of the mayor and the city council take priority for him, and that he plans to meet with council members and city staff to gauge priorities as he steps into his new role.
“Having said that, obviously the city manager will contribute to their discussion of what those priorities might be,” Scott says. “So when I look here, because it's really early for me here, a lot of the issues that are the same around the country are affecting this city—safety conditions of roads, the homeless issues that every community is going through…the entire housing market. Affordability has become a real challenge. So I know those issues will be part of it.”