Santa Fe's new city manager brings 'enthusiasm' to role

Jan. 23—City Councilor Signe Lindell says Santa Fe has had 26 city managers since 1972. The 27th, newly appointed John Blair, finished his first full week on the job Friday and got an unmistakable taste of what awaits him.

"It is a very busy job, it really is," Blair said in an interview. "I have been working through the weekend, working through the night for the most part. But I have had similar jobs before."

The ensuing weeks likely won't get any easier, if only because as the city's top administrator, much will run through Blair on a day-to-day basis. But Blair, who assumed the city manager role Jan. 12, is unfazed about his prospects — in part because he grew up here and says he understands a lot about the city.

"I don't think there could be a better opportunity to help my hometown," Blair said. "I really sort of view the mission before me today and the duration of my service as how do we help hold on to the things we love in Santa Fe, while also helping to make it a 21st-century city."

Blair, 47, succeeds Jarel LaPan Hill, who announced her intent to step down from the position in December. Appointed by Mayor Alan Webber, Blair was easily confirmed in an 8-1 vote by the City Council. He will be paid $172,500 a year, and agreed to take the position without a contract as an at-will employee.

Blair said he's never had a contract in his career and doesn't need one as city manager.

Blair's first week in office could best be described as a sprint between 30-minute and one-hour briefings with city staffers.

But there was more: meetings and greetings with community groups, more city employees and members of the City Council. The goal: getting up to speed on not just what's happening now but things that haven't worked.

"The worst thing you can tell me is, 'This is how we have always done it,' " said Blair, who already had reached out to every city division director and councilor before he was appointed to gauge priorities and discuss ways to shore up city government processes.

There's plenty to do: Santa Fe is searching for a new police chief, currently faces a COVID-19 outbreak and is struggling to heal tensions left by the felling of the Plaza obelisk. Blair also must deal with how the city will handle American Rescue Plan Act funds, plus get to know key community groups like the Caballeros de Vargas and others.

Addressing the city's near-chronic string of tardy audits and deficiencies in the Finance Department are also early priorities, Blair said.

"It has been a lot of work, but it is very exciting work," Blair said. "There is no lame duck period."

Lindell, who said she knew Blair prior to his appointment from their time working for the Victory Fund, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ elected officials, said the new city manager has entered the role with no reticence.

"He has that feeling of that really can- do energy," she said. "If there is such a thing as over-communicator, he might be leaning in that category."

Blair, who lives in Santa Fe with his husband, Billy Black, and their dog, C.J. Cregg — named after the White House press secretary from the TV drama The West Wing, his favorite show — said communication is critical inside city government and beyond.

"If everyone who is in the know is in the know, we are stronger for it," Blair said. "I am very team-oriented. I am here to work with some 1,200 people, and we are all a team who are working hard to get things done for the city of Santa Fe."

City Councilor Chris Rivera, the longest-tenured member of the City Council, acknowledged it's far too early to know what the future will hold for Blair, but, like Lindell noted, his enthusiasm will serve him well.

"He does have a high energy. ... I think it is probably good for the city to have someone with his energy level," Rivera said. "He is going to need it moving forward."

Blair was born in Albuquerque but spent most of his youth in Santa Fe in a household that respected and admired government and public service.

His father, William Blair, worked for 31 years in various roles in the state Public Education Department, while his mother, Evelyn Blair, worked in banking before spending 20 years working for the New Mexico Commission of the Blind.

Blair remembers thumbing through textbooks in the basement of the Public Education Department building at an early age and playing the classroom-favorite Oregon Trail on old work computers.

"I was always drawn very, very early to being a part of government and working with people," Blair said. "I don't know if there was a triggering moment, but I knew in high school I wanted to work helping people."

A product of Santa Fe Public Schools, Blair said he was influenced by teacher Jane Bates, who taught a contemporary history class at Santa Fe High during the 1992 presidential election.

That helped spur an interest in government, one that caught fire when Blair was one of 100 students from across the county to earn a trip to Washington, D.C., through the Hearst Foundation's U.S. Senate Leadership Program, which helped students learn about government work.

There, he met Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, U.S. Army Gen. (and later Secretary of State) Colin Powell and then-U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico.

"It was such a powerful trip to me," he said.

After high school, Blair attended the University of Kansas — he's still a "militant" Jayhawks fan — where he double-majored in communications and political science. He later earned a law degree from the University of New Mexico but acknowledges it was a path to learn how to craft policy and legislation.

He worked for a year in Bingaman's office as a junior staffer, mostly opening and responding to mail and working on a number of constituent issues. During that time, he said he learned just how strongly people can feel about government — especially when it fails to respond to constituent concerns.

"There is a public trust you have to hold onto," Blair said. "You do that by keeping your word, calling people back."

Since then, Blair spent his life in government, working at both the state and federal levels. He did a stint as legislative director and communications director for then-Rep. Martin Heinrich from 2009-13; chief of staff for Michigan congressman Dan Kildee in 2013 and director of intergovernmental and external affairs for the U.S. Department of the Interior from 2014-16.

From 2016-19, Blair worked as deputy secretary of state and chief of staff under Maggie Toulouse Oliver. He unsuccessfully ran for the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District in 2020 before landing at the state Regulation and Licensing Department.

While at Regulation and Licensing, Blair helped develop the state's recreational cannabis rules and regulations, while working to improve the agency's internal processes. He said he left to explore new opportunities, eventually opting to take the city manager position when it was offered by Webber.

The mayor said while Blair's work history and degrees aren't in local government administration, his varied experiences elsewhere lend themselves to the city manager job.

"Most people say, 'What are his qualifications for the job?' " Webber said. "I start with what kind of person is going to be the city manager, and what are the qualities of character that person brings to the job every single day. I think John has sterling personal qualities and outstanding qualities as an individual."

Blair's predecesor, LaPan Hill, said Blair's temperament will help him greatly. But she also noted he'll have to balance multiple issues at once, including finding a balance between responding to crises, strategic planning and moving on important matters.

"Even when you are working all of them," she said, "there are only so many hours in the day."

LaPan Hill's predecessor, former City Manager Erik Litzenberg, agreed, calling the role "complex" and one that relies upon a strong team of directors and department heads.

Blair, who said he intends to reach out to as many former city managers as possible in the coming days and weeks, said he's well aware of the challenges. But he's diving in head first.

"We are all in this together," he said. "When the bad things happen, we have to come together to support each other and be there for each other. These jobs are long hours. It is hard work, and the notion that there is a work family is a real thing. We have to support each other."