Thoughts on the Las Cruces City Manager Search

Both Interim Manager Bill Studer and Assistant City Manager David Dollahon survived the cut from ten to five candidates for Las Cruces City Manager.

Some city employees want anybody but these two. Former manager Stuart Ed had a dictatorial management style. He allegedly made some questionable choices, and insisted the City follow them. That’s no fun for employees. Some say Studer and Dollahon facilitated some of Ed’s missteps – and that damaged employee morale would heal best in a wholly fresh environment. 

 

But one employee told me Dollahon deserved the job, because he’d been here thirty years and knew everything, and that although some find him abrasive, “David is fair with the people who work hard.” Dollahon certainly does know city government here. 

 

Should it matter that in 2013, when his city computer picked up a virus, the IT people discovered that for three years Dollahon had spent a lot of time at work reviewing pornographic websites? He made “consistent, repeated, and sustained,” misuse of his city computer, reflecting “flagrant disregard for city policy.” This exposed the computer to the virus; and we weren’t paying him to watch porn. After inspecting his hard drive, LCPD determined that he hadn’t committed criminal activity. Dollahon was allowed “to take unpaid leave” for three days of his choice. (I hadn’t mentioned this situation before; but it seems relevant to his candidacy, though it shouldn’t dominate the discussion. Dollahon politely refused to discuss his candidacy with me.)

People associate Studer with Ed, which wouldn’t help him convince employees his was a truly new regime. People quote him as saying he doesn’t believe humankind is causing climate change. Our City Council, most citizens, and the vast weight of scientific investigation say otherwise. The Southwest is a climate-change hot spot. Studer said Friday, “humans are having an impact, I’m just not sure of the magnitude of that impact.”

Former County Manager (and recently-former Sunland Park City Manager) Julia Brown didn’t make the second cut. She’s smart and professional. I’ve criticized and praised her. The County firing her means nothing. A new commission majority, including two new members allegedly in Sheriff Kiki Vigil’s orbit, fired her; and her legal settlement exceeded $500K. 

 

Although I like and respect Brown, I understand the Council’s doubts. Managers must please an ever-shifting set of elected officials who are rarely experts. Officials’ instincts don’t always serve the city’s needs. “Independence” is an admirable character trait that councilors might not love in a city manager. It’s tough to steer the right course among competing interests, or between instructions and good sense, tactfully. 

 

I do think the Council may have missed a potential star in Len Sossaman. None of us are particularly looking for a gray-bearded white guy from the Southeast; but in going beyond the resumes and news stories and talking to some folks, I was impressed. I think he speaks frankly to his bosses, but with minimal abrasiveness, and tends to inspire employees, rather than shout “my way or the highway.” The quality of admiration and respect I heard in some voices moved me. I’ll bet you a beer he makes someone a hell of a city manager.

Also under consideration are Los Lunas Village Administrator Greg Martin and two promising younger people who’ve not yet been a city or county manager: Verónica Soto (San Antonio) and Kenneth Young (Loudoun County, Virginia). I don’t yet know enough about the three to offer an opinion.

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[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 8 March 2020, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and on KRWG's website KRWG's website.  A spoken version will air during the week on both KRWG and KTAL, 101.5 FM (www.lccommunityradio.org).  That spoken version will also be on KRWG's website -- but not until later or tomorrow, because of the press of other work this weekend.]

[Sorry, I'm moving kind of slowly this morning.  It's been a very full week, and we spent hours last night enjoying the songs of our new friend John T. Davis, "the Belfast cowboy," a filmmaker and musician who visited this week, along with poet Kathleen McCracken, whom we heard read a week or so earlier.  John played  at Vintage Wines in Mesilla, along with Russ Bradburd and David   .   Those who weren't there (which is almost everyone) missed a very enjoyable evening.]

[Should briefly mention an upcoming event.  This Wednesday, 11 March, at 5:50 p.m. on the third floor of Zuhl Library on the NMSU campus, 

Title is "Will Local News Survive? -- a Discussion of Journalism's Future" -- which is obviously timely as newspapers disappear like some endangered species, Internet sites (some full of ideological or partisan screeds masquerading as factual news stories or fair commentary) rush in to fill the void, and our own local daily newspaper downsizes almost daily?  This is a real and important problem.

Excellent panel includes Walt Rubel, Algernon D'Ammassa, Susan Dunlap of New Mexico Political Report, and Kathleen Sloan, who publishes the on-line newspaper the Sierra County

Kathleen Sloan

Sun.  Who's better-positioned than Ms. Sloan to discuss what to do when your community newspaper disappears -- or when it's controlled by someone who also has a lot of control over the city government?  She can also talk about why she does what she does and how challenging it can be!  Walt, of course, has been a journalist here for a very long time, much of that time with the Las Cruces Sun-News (and does two shows on KTAL-LP, 101.5 FM); and Algernon reports for the Sun-News now. Because Walt's a panelist, I'll be moderating the event this year.]