Commentary: Both Interim Manager Bill Studer and Assistant City Manager David Dollahon survived the cut from ten to five candidates for Las Cruces City Manager.
Some city employees want anybody but these two. Former manager Stuart Ed had a dictatorial management style. He allegedly made some questionable choices, and insisted the City follow them. That’s no fun for employees. Some say Studer and Dollahon facilitated some of Ed’s missteps – and that damaged employee morale would heal best in a wholly fresh environment.
But one employee told me Dollahon deserved the job, because he’d been here thirty years and knew everything, and that although some find him abrasive, “David is fair with the people who work hard.” Dollahon certainly does know city government here.
Should it matter that in 2013, when his city computer picked up a virus, the IT people discovered that for three years Dollahon had spent a lot of time at work reviewing pornographic websites? He made “consistent, repeated, and sustained,” misuse of his city computer, reflecting “flagrant disregard for city policy.” This exposed the computer to the virus; and we weren’t paying him to watch porn. After inspecting his hard drive, LCPD determined that he hadn’t committed criminal activity. Dollahon was allowed “to take unpaid leave” for three days of his choice. (I hadn’t mentioned this situation before; but it seems relevant to his candidacy, though it shouldn’t dominate the discussion. Dollahon politely refused to discuss his candidacy with me.)
People associate Studer with Ed, which wouldn’t help him convince employees his was a truly new regime. People quote him as saying he doesn’t believe humankind is causing climate change. Our City Council, most citizens, and the vast weight of scientific investigation say otherwise. The Southwest is a climate-change hot spot. Studer said Friday, “humans are having an impact, I’m just not sure of the magnitude of that impact.”
Former County Manager (and recently-former Sunland Park City Manager) Julia Brown didn’t make the second cut. She’s smart and professional. I’ve criticized and praised her. The County firing her means nothing. A new commission majority, including two new members allegedly in Sheriff Kiki Vigil’s orbit, fired her; and her legal settlement exceeded $500K.
Although I like and respect Brown, I understand the Council’s doubts. Managers must please an ever-shifting set of elected officials who are rarely experts. Officials’ instincts don’t always serve the city’s needs. “Independence” is an admirable character trait that councilors might not love in a city manager. It’s tough to steer the right course among competing interests, or between instructions and good sense, tactfully.
I do think the Council may have missed a potential star in Len Sossaman. None of us are particularly looking for a gray-bearded white guy from the Southeast; but in going beyond the resumes and news stories and talking to some folks, I was impressed. I think he speaks frankly to his bosses, but with minimal abrasiveness, and tends to inspire employees, rather than shout “my way or the highway.” The quality of admiration and respect I heard in some voices moved me. I’ll bet you a beer he makes someone a hell of a city manager.
Also under consideration are Los Lunas Village Administrator Greg Martin and two promising younger people who’ve not yet been a city or county manager: Verónica Soto (San Antonio) and Kenneth Young (Loudoun County, Virginia). I don’t yet know enough about the three to offer an opinion.