Council approves deputy city manager job description amid debate over 60‑day rule and pending code change

The Santa Fe City Council approved a job description for the deputy city manager on June 11 after a contentious discussion about a 60‑day municipal-code provision that city staff says unintentionally restricts the city manager’s ability to appoint a deputy after that deadline.

City Manager Mark Scott told the council he had intended to appoint Andrea Phillips as deputy city manager following a recruitment process and that Phillips accepted an offer and relocated to Santa Fe. Scott said he learned the municipal code’s language — which says the city manager “may appoint” a deputy within 60 days — raised a technical eligibility question, and he proposed a code change to remove the 60‑day limit so the appointment could be made without legal doubt. In the interim, Phillips is serving as the city’s affordable-housing director and is being paid at that job’s pay grade, not the deputy city manager salary Scott had offered.

Scott said he had issued an offer letter to Phillips and she agreed to temporarily fill the affordable-housing director role until the code can be changed. Several councilors said they preferred to approve the job description now so any future appointment would reference an explicit, approved description; others said the code amendment should come first. Councilor Michael Garcia and others pressed Scott on contingency plans if the code change fails; Scott declined to describe potential steps, saying only that he would follow council direction.

Council members also discussed whether the deputy city manager position remained necessary in Santa Fe’s current governance model. Some councilors said the position helps manage an extensive workload and professionalizes city management; others questioned the timing of an appointment late in an administration and the fairness of offering the job before the governing body had approved a code change.

Council voted to approve the job description and related procedural items. Councilor Michael Garcia recorded a “no” vote and later publicly explained that he opposed proceeding before the code change and voiced concerns about community engagement and process. The city manager said he would bring a code amendment to clarify the 60‑day language so the appointment could proceed in compliance with the municipal code.

The council approved the description with a majority vote; action does not itself appoint anyone to the deputy city manager post. Scott said the candidate Phillips is currently performing duties as affordable-housing director and will remain at that pay level until any formal appointment is possible.