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Raises sink city manager, HR director
Friday afternoon was unnaturally busy at Santa Fe City Hall. After confirming that pay hikes given to select employees violated city policy for incentive pay, Mayor Alan Webber asked for and received the resignation of city manager Brian Snyder. The city's HR director retired after the revelation and Webber said he can't in good conscience allow pay raises to continue. He'll work up a package of incentive pay that will go before the City Council sometime in the future. For the time being, Santa Fe Fire Chief Erik Litzenberg will be acting city manager.
Celebrating Jennifer Riordan
About 1,000 people gathered in Albuquerque last night to celebrate Jennifer Riordan. The local banking executive and community advocate was killed last week when an engine exploded on her Southwest Airlines flight. She was remembered as a dynamo who championed her causes and loved family and friends ferociously.
‘Founded on a scam’
One of the weekend's best reads comes courtesy of Elise Kaplan over at the Albuquerque Journal. She writes about the strange history of Rio Rancho Estates, a platted and parceled part of New Mexico's third-largest city. It's a history that is too quickly forgotten in a city that seems to slip the minds of all but those who call it home.
$1,000 bill, y’all
Mayor Alan Webber pays his water bills to the city of Santa Fe on time. But man, does he use some water. The New Mexican dug through his utility bills and discovered that, in some months, Webber uses eight times the average water consumption ($) of a typical Santa Fe home. Daniel Chacon writes that Webber's bills have topped $1,000 for a single month. The mayor says most of the water is for a small orchard and some landscaping, but that he needs to do better.
Accused dog killer back in NM
Sara Mauter is in jail this morning. She's accused of intentionally leaving five dogs in a car to die as she and her husband transported 11 animals to Phoenix for a woman who'd hired them. She was extradited to New Mexico after police tracked her down in Arizona.
Pack it up, pack it in
A top Department of Energy official says new procedures at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad will catch drums of low-level transuranic waste that are improperly packed and at risk for popping open. That's exactly what happened in 2014 with a drum from Los Alamos National Lab that caused a leak and shutdown. Other nuclear sites have also had incidents with waste drums.
Shop or drop
Santa Fe's outlet mall is in foreclosure. The complex at Cerrillos and I-25 has less than half its spaces occupied ($) and is set for auction next month. The sale promises an uncertain future for the shops that are open right now, but several are optimistic that good times are ahead.
Warm it up
That's what spring was born to do. And that's what's happening today and early this week. Expect temperatures to climb to 80 or higher in Albuquerque and the 70s here in Northern New Mexico. It'll be breezy, but forecast models seem to show we won't have to be tethered to something solid to survive, like last week. Slight chance of moisture, but nothing more than a few showers to remind you how dry it is.
Thanks for reading! The Word is certain that just because you can stream a bunch of shows for when the cable company deems it a "free preview weekend," it does not mean you should do that. You should do dishes. And laundry. And Homeland.
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