City manager recommends adding assistant city secretary and finance support as Santa Fe plans for growth

City Manager Alan reviewed current staffing and recommended the council consider adding two near‑term positions: an assistant city secretary (to provide election and records continuity) and an intermediate finance position to create redundancy and a promotion path in finance. Alan told council the city currently budgets for about 66 full‑time equivalent positions and identified four existing vacancies and one upcoming vacancy tied to his planned departure in March.

Alan said three police patrol vacancies are already budgeted and that recruitment remains difficult because academies run on semester schedules. He recommended hiring the assistant city secretary now and considering an additional finance hire at the start of fiscal year 2026; that sequence, he said, would give staff time to evaluate budget impacts and reduce single‑person dependency in critical functions such as elections, payroll and bank reconciliation.

Council discussion focused on funding and timing. Finance director Rudy explained payroll lines assume the city will fill budgeted positions and that the city realized FEMA reimbursements after recent storms that improved the current fiscal position; council members noted any new positions would be recurring costs and requested the staffing decisions be finalized in budget workshops. Several council members suggested combining the assistant city secretary and HR functions in a single hire initially to limit near‑term recurring costs; the city manager and staff agreed that would be feasible.

Next steps: staff will return to budget workshops with cost estimates and timing options and will refine a staffing plan that balances immediate continuity needs against recurring personnel costs.