WITH GALEN BULLER
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Galen Buller was confirmed by the Santa Fe City Council as the new city manager on March 7, after serving as interim city manager in the wake of Asenath Kepler's firing in November.
SFR: How's your first official week as city manager treating you?
GB: Pretty much the way the three months before it went [laughs].
Was it tough stepping in as interim city manager with all the drama in the city manager's office?
The first couple of weeks were an extremely steep learning curve. I had been over at the Public Utilities Department prior to that and I felt comfortable in that arena, but stepping into so many other issues was definitely a challenge. But everyone was helpful and things settled down relatively quickly.
Was the Asenath Kepler situation as chaotic from inside city government as it appeared from the outside?
First of all, she and I had a fine relationship. We were kind of in our own world over at Utilities so any issues she had didn't really flow over there. It wasn't really until I was brought in that I could see what issues needed to be addressed and addressed quickly because we went through an abrupt change in that office and that abrupt change required some quick action.
What sort of lessons can be taken from the Kepler situation?
The relationships weren't as collaborative as maybe they should have been. There are so many distinct groups of people that you need to work with in that office. If those relationships start to fall apart-and I think that's what we saw-then things become very difficult for everyone. The main lesson that I think we all need to take away is that it's a group effort.
Where do you draw the line between collaboration and independence as city manager?
Our job is to recommend policy to the governing body and then implement that policy and that ought to go hand-in-hand with our primary function of providing services to the community. But you do have to exercise some independence because otherwise how can you make recommendations?
How did you end up in Santa Fe?
I received a PhD in English literature at the University of Nebraska and was hired to teach in the Indian Studies Department-and was also an adjunct English professor-at the University of North Dakota. After a few years of doing that, our faculty hired an attorney as a part-time professor to teach Indian law and we became friends and that led me to the University of Kansas law school. I went there thinking that I might want to get involved in Indian law but I got more interested in water law and that brought me to Santa Fe. I came to the Montgomery & Andrews law firm in 1983 and stayed there for 20 years.
That's when you started working for the city?
Yes, in March 2003 I came to run the city's water division. The water division had been a client of mine for years so I knew the people and I knew the issues.
Will water be one of the major issues that you'll be working on in the weeks and months ahead?
I think water is always going to be an issue and especially how water policy relates to things like affordable housing, growth and economic development. I think another thing that I'm going to focus on in the next three to six months will be to fill key positions in some of the departments. I think there are personnel/human resources issues all over. We need to update our technology and how we hire, recruit, promote, classify, pay-all of those things need to be looked at it. I can't do too much in six months but that's a start.
Having a doctorate in English literature, are there any particular books that you would recommend a city manager read before taking office like, say, The Prince or The Art of War?
[laughs]I wouldn't go in that direction. I think because the job is so diverse-one hour you're working with police, one hour you're working with water, one hour you're working with affordable housing-I don't know that there's one book that really addresses all of that. I just finished Alain De Botton's The Architecture of Happiness on philosophy of design and I'm reading AN Wilson's London about architectural history and it's interesting to see someone talking philosophically about what I do practically every day with things like the Historic Review Board or the planning process. It's hard to say there's a book but every book I read seems to be helpful.
Do you even have time to read these days?
Not so much. But, like I said, I am reading London right now and I get a few pages done every night because my background is in reading and I don't want to lose that altogether.
Being a Kansas grad, I'd imagine you're following the NCAA Tournament. Are you going to beat Mayor Coss in the City Hall office pool?
You know, I follow football a lot more than I do basketball and I have to keep my schools straight because Nebraska has to be my football school and Kansas has to be my basketball school. I'm certainly watching Kansas and hoping that they make the Final Four but I'm also watching the [New Mexico State] Aggies. Gotta root for the home team.
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Galen Buller was confirmed by the Santa Fe City Council as the new city manager on March 7, after serving as interim city manager in the wake of Asenath Kepler's firing in November.
SFR: How's your first official week as city manager treating you?
GB: Pretty much the way the three months before it went [laughs].
Was it tough stepping in as interim city manager with all the drama in the city manager's office?
The first couple of weeks were an extremely steep learning curve. I had been over at the Public Utilities Department prior to that and I felt comfortable in that arena, but stepping into so many other issues was definitely a challenge. But everyone was helpful and things settled down relatively quickly.
Was the Asenath Kepler situation as chaotic from inside city government as it appeared from the outside?
First of all, she and I had a fine relationship. We were kind of in our own world over at Utilities so any issues she had didn't really flow over there. It wasn't really until I was brought in that I could see what issues needed to be addressed and addressed quickly because we went through an abrupt change in that office and that abrupt change required some quick action.
What sort of lessons can be taken from the Kepler situation?
The relationships weren't as collaborative as maybe they should have been. There are so many distinct groups of people that you need to work with in that office. If those relationships start to fall apart-and I think that's what we saw-then things become very difficult for everyone. The main lesson that I think we all need to take away is that it's a group effort.
Where do you draw the line between collaboration and independence as city manager?
Our job is to recommend policy to the governing body and then implement that policy and that ought to go hand-in-hand with our primary function of providing services to the community. But you do have to exercise some independence because otherwise how can you make recommendations?
How did you end up in Santa Fe?
I received a PhD in English literature at the University of Nebraska and was hired to teach in the Indian Studies Department-and was also an adjunct English professor-at the University of North Dakota. After a few years of doing that, our faculty hired an attorney as a part-time professor to teach Indian law and we became friends and that led me to the University of Kansas law school. I went there thinking that I might want to get involved in Indian law but I got more interested in water law and that brought me to Santa Fe. I came to the Montgomery & Andrews law firm in 1983 and stayed there for 20 years.
That's when you started working for the city?
Yes, in March 2003 I came to run the city's water division. The water division had been a client of mine for years so I knew the people and I knew the issues.
Will water be one of the major issues that you'll be working on in the weeks and months ahead?
I think water is always going to be an issue and especially how water policy relates to things like affordable housing, growth and economic development. I think another thing that I'm going to focus on in the next three to six months will be to fill key positions in some of the departments. I think there are personnel/human resources issues all over. We need to update our technology and how we hire, recruit, promote, classify, pay-all of those things need to be looked at it. I can't do too much in six months but that's a start.
Having a doctorate in English literature, are there any particular books that you would recommend a city manager read before taking office like, say, The Prince or The Art of War?
[laughs]I wouldn't go in that direction. I think because the job is so diverse-one hour you're working with police, one hour you're working with water, one hour you're working with affordable housing-I don't know that there's one book that really addresses all of that. I just finished Alain De Botton's The Architecture of Happiness on philosophy of design and I'm reading AN Wilson's London about architectural history and it's interesting to see someone talking philosophically about what I do practically every day with things like the Historic Review Board or the planning process. It's hard to say there's a book but every book I read seems to be helpful.
Do you even have time to read these days?
Not so much. But, like I said, I am reading London right now and I get a few pages done every night because my background is in reading and I don't want to lose that altogether.
Being a Kansas grad, I'd imagine you're following the NCAA Tournament. Are you going to beat Mayor Coss in the City Hall office pool?
You know, I follow football a lot more than I do basketball and I have to keep my schools straight because Nebraska has to be my football school and Kansas has to be my basketball school. I'm certainly watching Kansas and hoping that they make the Final Four but I'm also watching the [New Mexico State] Aggies. Gotta root for the home team.
