CDD Director Paul Andrus, left, introduces Will Gleason of Dekker, Perich, Sabatini during Tuesday night’s Los Alamos County County Council meeting. Photo by Kirsten Laskey/ladailypost.com
By KIRSTEN LASKEY
Los Alamos Daily Post
kirsten@ladailypost.com
In a 6-1 vote, the Los Alamos County Council appointed Steven Lynne as the new County Manager during its Tuesday night meeting.
Councilor Sean Williams cast the opposing vote. He described Lynne as the most “status quo” applicant for the job, saying, “Unfortunately, the status quo in Los Alamos is a decaying private sector.”
Williams said he wants a candidate to really convince him that they will make changes and Lynne’s answers to interview questions in his opinion failed to do that. As a result, Williams said he would not support the motion to hire Lynne.
Lynne, who had been serving as the Acting County Manager after Harry Burgess’ retirement, has worked at Los Alamos County for 25 years in various positions including Deputy Manager, Administrative Services Department Director, Chief Financial Officer and Budget Officer.
“I just want to say thank you all,” Lynne told Council. “I am very much honored and excited about the opportunities and challenges going forward so thank you.”
Each of the six councilors voting in favor of Lynne commended him as being the best choice.
“I am excited to be able to vote for Mr. Lynne,” Councilor David Izraelevitz said. “I think he has done very well as deputy manager and interim County Manager. Although we had very strong candidates, I am glad we are at this point that Mr. Lynne is under consideration.”
Councilor Denise Derkacs agreed. She pointed out that Lynne has years of experience including financial management and contract negotiations. Derkacs added it is clear Lynne is the most qualified candidate.
“I fully support the motion to appoint Steven Lynne as County Manager,” she said.
Councilor David Reagor also stated that Lynne was the most qualified and therefore he supported his appointment as County Manager.
Before approving the motion to hire Lynne, Council Chair Randall Ryti went into detail about the process for hiring a new County Manager. He explained it was the same process used 10 years ago to hire Burgess. He also noted that San Miguel and Sierra counties used an equivalent process earlier this year, including interviews and discussion of County Manager hiring in executive session and casting the vote for the appointment in open session.
When Burgess gave his formal retirement notice, Ryti said he formed a committee, which included himself, Vice Chair James Robinson and Councilor Sara Scott, which worked with the County Human Resources and a consultant during the hiring process.
He explained that Council had agenda items or updates from the committee between Jan. 28 and June 29 at nine meetings, including an update on the final steps of the hiring process during its June 8 meeting that included a list of upcoming closed sessions. Semi-finalist interviews were held June 16 and a closed session was held June 17 regarding the selection of the finalists. Ryti further reported the finalists visited Los Alamos June 24-25 with in-person meetings and tours of the County.
A meet and greet event between the candidates and the public was held June 24, Ryti said. Final interviews were held June 25. There were three panel interviews which County department heads, elected officials and community members participated in. The council also interviewed the candidates.
Ryti also said that he presented the overview of the manager hiring process to ensure the public is aware of that process.
Williams said he felt the process should have been different. He said he felt “quite uncomfortable” narrowing the field of candidates during closed sessions and would prefer reducing the number of candidates in an open meeting. Williams motioned to do just that during the July 27 meeting and table approving the County Manager until the Aug. 10 meeting, but his motion failed to pass 4-3.
Williams, Robinson and Reagor voted in favor of the motion while Derkacs, Ryti, Scott and Izraelevitz voted against.
In an unrelated matter, Council heard a brief overview on the work that will be done on Chapter 18 of the County Code. Will Gleason of Dekker, Perich, Sabatini made the presentation. Chapter 18, Gleason said, is known as the nuisance code. This is primarily about two basic things: regulating land-based nuisances such as weeds, outdoor storage and inoperable vehicles, and enforcement and procedures of the code.
Gleason said the goal is to find a balance between compliance and not overburdening landowners and County enforcement officials. To do this, he said the Community Development Advisory Board (CDAB) will be heavily relied upon and public input will be sought through a survey and a public meeting.
Council offered a few thoughts on the project. As the CDAB liaison, Robinson encouraged using a graded approach with health and safety as the highest priorities and aesthetic as the lowest priority. He said his main concern is that the code tends to be vague; as a result, citizens are not sure if they are in compliance or not.
Scott concurred and added that implementing procedures and benchmarks are important.
Derkacs said code inspectors need clear guidance, but she recognized that Community Development Department issues a friendly letter before presenting a notice of violation.
“I think that is a good practice,” she said.
Derkacs further added that a balance needs to be made between compliance and complaints. She said it might be valuable to look at what communities similar in Los Alamos’ size do.
Williams said he will wait to give his feedback until Dekker, Perich and Sabatini goes to CDAB for input.
“My view is that I am a strong believer in the independence of the boards and commissions,” he said.
Council also unanimously approved a resolution to increase a loan for Otowi Well 2 pumphouse and equipment and Otowi Well 4 motor control center. The loan will be increased by $937,280 to make the loan total $3,789,724. According to agenda documents, the increase is needed because final bids came in over the original estimated project cost and loan amount.
Furthermore, council appointed Rachel Alder to fill a vacancy on the Planning and Zoning Commission.