Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
5/28/09
Española Water Director Marvin Martinez is in the running against two out-of-town applicants to become the city’s public works director.
The public works director, a newly-created position, would oversee city construction projects and the Water, Sewer, Streets, Maintenance and Fleet departments. The position was advertised at $69,000 to $79,000 annually.
Martinez said he applied knowing he does not meet the minimum requirements — a bachelor’s degree in business and public administration and a professional engineering certification. The two other applicants meet some, but not all those requirements.
“I have 23 years experience working with the city’s water and that gives me just as much experience as anyone with a college degree,” Martinez said. “The requirements of city manager is that she have a college degree, too. But that seems to be acceptable that she doesn’t have that. So I guess in that respect I have just as much experience for the job as does.”
Martinez was referring to Acting City Manager Veronica Albin. Despite the fact that Albin lacks a bachelor’s degree, a requirement to be the permanent city manager, Mayor Joseph Maestas has talked about naming her to the post. She refused to comment Tuesday.
Human Resources Director Jeanie Brito said the city plans to interview applicants this week.
The two other contenders for the job are Benjamin Ortega, currently vice president of a California real estate development company, and Gerald Leyendecker, most recently a project manager for two contractors building a water and sewer project for NASA. Ortega has worked for several developers, and also worked as assistant planner in the 1980s for a handful of California cities, according to his application. He has a bachelor’s degree in urban planning and a master’s degree in business, but is not a certified engineer.
Leyendecker has been utilities director for Doña Ana County and has held several utility-related positions with the city of Las Cruces, according to his application He has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, but none in business or public administration.
Missing from the applicant pool was Doug Albin, Albin’s husband and an employee of Molzen-Corbin, until recently the city’s on-call engineering firm. Doug Albin was widely rumored to be the favored pick for the job.
Asked last month whether her husband intended to apply, Veronica Albin referred questions to him. Doug Albin did not return calls for comment.
The city is currently working to fill four other high-profile positions.
City Attorney
Not a single applicant has surfaced for the city attorney’s position, which the city began re-advertising April 3, Brito said. Mayor Joseph Maestas, whose authority it is to appoint a city attorney, did not return multiple calls for comment. The position would pay $85,000 annually.
The city has been paying Española attorney Paula Maynes $185 per hour to handle the city attorney duties since November when former city attorney Spence Pacheco resigned to start work as the First Judicial District Attorney.
Clerk/Deputy Clerk
The city plans to interview applicants for city clerk and deputy city clerk this week.
Only one person applied to be city clerk. Heather Velasquez is currently a financial specialist for the state Supreme Court Law Library and has held similar positions for the state District Court, General Services Department and Taxation and Revenue Department. She has associate’s and bachelor’s degrees in business administration, according to her resume.
Brito said if the city does not hire Velasquez, the position may be re-advertised, or Maestas may find someone else to appoint to that position.
The city has selected six finalists from among a pool of 15 applicants for the deputy city clerk position. The finalists are:
• Mayra Aldaz is the Española Municipal Court clerk and a former city hall receptionist. She lists some college experience on her resume, but lists no college degree.
• Lydia M. Armijo is currently the business office manager for the University of New Mexico at Los Alamos. Armijo was a claims review specialist for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Office of Cerro Grande Claims during the same time period Finance Manager Andrew Perkins held the same position there, her application states. Armijo has an associate’s degree in secretarial services and a bachelor’s degree in business.
• Sally Baxter is currently a Wal-Mart sales associate and formerly a mapping and drafting technician for Doña Ana County and New Mexico State University. Baxter has an associate’s degree in business and a drafting certificate from New Mexico State University, her application states.
• Brenda Castillo is currently a supervisor for a Santa Fe security company and formerly a secretary for the state Personnel Office. Castillo is currently enrolled in the ITT Technical Institute in Albuquerque, her resume states.
• Alexandria King is currently the village of Wagon Mound clerk and treasurer and until 2007 an escrow clerk and graphic designer for an Albuquerque title company. King has a bachelor’s degree in university studies and is seeking a municipal clerk certification.
• Evangeline Lujan-Vigil is currently a real estate appraiser for the Cantrell firm in Española, according to her application. She listed some college work toward an associate’s degree in business, but no degree.
The applicants who were not selected for an interview were:
• Rodrigo Ballon is formerly an accountant and currently an employee at an Albuquerque gym, with a bachelor’s degree in business and a master’s degree in accounting.
• Cory Lewis is a salesman for the Henry Valencia dealership.
• Lydia Lovato is a former billing specialist for St. Vincent Hospital.
• Nikki Harnish is a community coordinator for Big Brothers Big Sisters and formerly a self-employed bookkeeper.
• Shirley Manzanares is an office assistant for DTT Sand and Gravel in Española.
• Melanie Manzanares is an employee at the Alltel Wireless store in Española.
• Christina Martinez is a customer service representative for the Salazar Dodge Dealership.
• Kristi Ramos is a benefits coordinator for the Cocopah Tribe in Arizona with short stints as a clerk in several municipalities.
• Abe Rivera is an escrow officer for an Arizona title company.
Albin had been city clerk since spring 2006 until last summer, when she was named interim city manager and she delegated most of her duties to then-deputy clerk Lucas Gauthier. Albin resumed clerk duties on top of her acting city manager job after Gauthier resigned in February. The deputy clerk position, which is advertised at up to $45,000 a year, has been vacant since. The clerk position is advertised at up to $60,000 annually.
Library Director
The city also plans to interview four library director finalists starting this week, Brito said. Five other candidates have been eliminated or withdrew their names since applications closed in early April.
According to their resumes, the finalists and their backgrounds are:
• Robert Forman is a client relations manager for Trillion Partners, a company currently building a wireless network for the Española School District, and has worked as a continuing education coordinator at the State Library since 2007. He has previously worked as a librarian and archivist for libraries in Washington, D.C. and Glendale, Ariz. He has master’s degrees in library science and management and a bachelor’s degree in philosophy.
• Teddie Riehl is a technical associate at the Las Cruces Library. Riehl was previously a student assistant at the New Mexico State University library while earning a library technology certificate there.
• Patricia Scharinger has been the Johnson City (Texas) Library director since 2002. She was previously director at the Los Alamos Library and the Brownsville (Texas) Library and assistant director at the Carlsbad Library. Scharinger has a bachelor’s degree in dietetics and master’s degree in library science.
• Paul Waak has been a librarian at the Haltom City (Texas) Public Library and owned an information technology consulting company since 1997. He previously worked for another library and various computer companies. Waak has a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in library science.
This position pays an annual salary of $45,000 and has been vacant since former director Ann Moore resigned in December.