Webber Starts Shakeup

Alan Webber isn't wasting any time.

On day one of his term as mayor, he sent employees an email asking them to share ideas about how to better run the city for themselves and for citizens.

He appointed the city's deputy police chief to be the acting chief.

On day two, he and City Manager Brian Snyder asked all senior staff—those who aren't protected by a union contract—to reapply for their jobs.

"We might already have the right person for the job. We're serious about retaining our best talent," Webber said in an emailed statement. "This approach lets me get to know our senior staff on their own merit, and at the same time review the most qualified and capable talent in our government and in our community. I didn't come in with any staffing preconceptions, and that's the whole point of this process."

Webber also plans to spend time touring city departments over the next month. Many city offices are scattered around Santa Fe and a city spokesman says the new mayor wants to do more than just breeze through them to know where they are. Plans for that tour are still in the works.

Meanwhile, in a seriously less significant actual move, Webber has swapped offices with Snyder. The warm, indirect lighting of Javier Gonzales' old office will be Snyder's new work home. Webber's office is spartan, though the mayor says he'll let his wife, Frances Diemoz, an architect and furniture-maker, make improvements. For now, a lone blue print is on one wall, with a massive whiteboard dominating the space.

Along with Webber, of course, are three new city councilors. Carol Romero-Wirth, Roman Abeyta and JoAnne Vigil Coppler experienced a fairly staid first council meeting on Wednesday evening.

Webber reappointed District 1 City Councilor Signe Lindell to her post as mayor pro tem. She'll run council meetings when Webber isn't around. Abeyta won a post as chair of the Finance Committee, a position held by former District 3 Councilor Carmichael Dominguez. Chris Rivera will lead the Public Utilities Committee and Peter Ives will chair the Public Works panel.

Abeyta, who delivered a fiery speech at Monday's inauguration, delivered on a promise to pay more attention to the south part of town. He proposed holding the next meeting, on March 28, at the Southside Library. The council unanimously approved his idea.

A sleepy afternoon session gave way to a packed house in the evening, as local bicyclists turned out to ask the governing body to make a concerted effort to keep cyclists safe.

A recent confrontation between a group of senior cyclists and a driver who they sped past and then backed up along the highway near Galisteo has galvanized the community. The driver collided with a rider, seriously injuring him and sending the man to the hospital.

Bike Santa Fe, an advocacy group that works with the city on trail and transportation planning as well as teaching traffic awareness classes, turned out scores of riders to the meeting.

"My request is that you, as a body that can make decisions and allocate resources, treat this as an opportunity," Carl Gable of Bike Santa Fe told the City Council. "We are doing poorly. There is low-hanging fruit and your actions can improve the situation."

David Bell, owner of the Mellow Velo bike shop, said that decades ago, riders expected to get pelted with trash on rides. The situation has improved, Bell said, but he urged the council to make a concerted effort to improve the station of cyclists in Santa Fe.

Gable, Bell and others appealed to the council to ask police to enforce more strictly laws that protect bicyclists and to partner with local groups that are more than happy to educate both riders and drivers.

"The potential payoff is huge," Gable said. "You might be saving my life or the life of one of my friends."