City's Independent Salary Commission members selected days before deadline

Apr. 19—The city of Santa Fe's Independent Salary Commission will have just 11 days to determine the salary of the next mayor after their appointment Friday afternoon by the Ethics and Campaign Review Board.

The seven-member panel must complete their work by the end of April to ensure the future mayor's salary is set before any candidates declare they are running.

Selected members include Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce President Bridget Dixson and Ray Sandoval, a spokesman for Public Service Company of New Mexico who also serves as the Zozobra event chairman for the Kiwanis Club of Santa Fe.

Interim City Clerk Geralyn Cardenas said the city had to extend the deadline for applications twice for people interested in serving on the Independent Salary Commission because there were too few applicants until very recently.

"I got these last minute and threw them on this agenda," Cardenas said of the eight applications under consideration.

Human Resources Director Bernadette Salazar is responsible for setting the salary panel's meeting, Cardenas said, adding she emailed Salazar, asking her to arrange a meeting next Thursday in the City Council chambers following a Finance Committee budget hearing that day.

The next mayor of Santa Fe will be elected in November 2025 and take office in January 2026.

Mayor Alan Webber, serving his second term in office, said Friday he has not considered yet whether he will run again, and no other candidates have announced a bid for the position.

A salary commission was first convened after city voters approved a charter amendment changing the mayor's position from a part-time to a full-time role. Commission members previously were appointed by the mayor but are now selected by the Ethics and Campaign Review Board to avoid conflicts of interest.

There are six specific categories for commissioners and one at-large seat. The board voted unanimously approved the following members Friday:

* Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce member: Bridget Dixson.

* Neighborhood association member: Fabian Trujillo.

* Community organization member: Ray Sandoval.

* Current or retired attorney or judge: James Sullivan.

* Human resources representative or employment consultant: Cynthia Sandoval.

* Current or retired CEO: Berl Brechner.

* At-large member: Stefanie Beninato.

Several applicants qualified for multiple positions, but the at-large position was the only one in which board members decided between two people. The board selected Beninato over Tom Spray, executive director of the Santa Fe Chapter of the American Institute of Architects, in large part because she was present at the meeting and Spray was not.

"I think she's a good bridge between a lot of different entities," board member Andrew Black said.

Black, an associate pastor at the First Presbyterian Church and founder of Earthkeepers 360, is the board's newest member.

Beninato, who has regularly attended public meetings in the city for decades, said this will be her first time serving on a city panel.

The ethics board voted unanimously Friday to dismiss two complaints Beninato had filed against city employees, saying they were outside the scope of its purview.

Beninato's complaints against City Planner Heather Lamboy and Assistant City Attorney Patricia Feghali alleged they had misrepresented facts at several hearings in 2022 and 2023 before the Historic District Review Board and Board of Adjustment regarding sign variances.

"I am tired of city employees lying to boards and to the public," Beninato said Friday.

In written responses, both employees denied misrepresenting facts and said the complaints were frivolous attempts to harass city staff.

Little progress was made Friday on several other issues, including an ethics complaint City Councilor Pilar Faulkner filed during the election season in 2023 regarding "Jay Baker," a pseudonymous Facebook poster known for criticizing the Webber administration and other public officials.

Faulkner accuses Baker of lying about her during the campaign in a way that was damaging to her professional reputation as a lobbyist, and she is asking the board try to determine his or her real identity.

So far, no action has been taken on Faulkner's complaint, but board Chairman Paul Biderman said he has been authorized to serve subpoenas to KOB-TV, which published digital ads about Faulkner during the election. Faulkner alleges Baker was behind the ads.

Baker previously denied purchasing ads and wrote on Facebook Messenger the complaint was a "fishing expedition" by the city administration.

The board voted to extend the investigation for at least another three months.

The board could not take action on a complaint Arcy Baca filed against unsuccessful City Council candidate Geno Zamora because it did not reach a quorum.

Two largely identical complaints Baca filed against Faulkner and council candidate Phil Lucero were dismissed by the board in December, but the Zamora complaint has been stalled by lack of a quorum.

Three of the six board members recused themselves in December because they knew either Zamora or his campaign manager, Sandra Wechsler. One board member, Kristina Martinez, said she had donated to Zamora's campaign.

Board members thought adding a new member would allow them to reach a quorum of four members to take a vote. However, Black also said he had to recuse himself Friday.

"I think we're in the same quandary we were before," Assistant City Attorney Marcos Martinez said.

Martinez suggested the board form a committee to discuss the complaint. The three members who have not recused themselves agreed, and the item was postponed until the board's July meeting.