Lauren Reichelt has a long list of plans for her first 100 days as city manager.
While the plan is for her to be in the position for about six months, she is not shying away from anything.
“I want to fix as many problems as I can in the six months that I’m here,” Reichelt said in a telephone interview. “I love solving problems.”
During the Oct. 14 City Council meeting, Reichelt shared some of her plans with help from Greg Stuart, a Harmony Solutions consultant hired earlier this year to conduct an organizational assessment of the city and help create a 100-day road map for the incoming city manager.
During his presentation, Stuart said there is about a $2 million gap in the city’s budget.
Reichelt said the budget and raising city revenue are her main priorities.
“My number one priority right now is to increase our revenues and cut down on the places where we are bleeding,” she said during a telephone interview. “They’re a lot of different areas that need to be plugged up to solidify our budget.”
Reichelt has identified several areas to start exploring ways for the city to save money. These include decreasing the number of active lawsuits, evaluating insurance costs and lowering the city’s utility bills.
The city will conduct an energy audit and will also evaluate how it responds to Information of Public Records Act (IPRA) requests to prevent easily avoidable lawsuits.
Reichelt also wants to conduct a multi-tiered housing plan and to pursue funding offered by the New Mexico Mortgage Finance Authority to complete it. While she knows she will not be able to get a plan created in six months, she can get it started for whomever comes next.
Reichelt also wants to jump-start stalled projects, such as the expansion of Silkey Way Road from Riverside Drive to North McCurdy Road, funded by the New Mexico Department of Transportation.
“A lot of these projects are being held up by the (the New Mexico Department of Finance and Administration) because we did not submit a quarterly report,” Reichelt said during the council meeting. “The earliest it could be submitted is December, and it absolutely will be.”
They are working with District 3 City Councilor Denise Benavidez on this plan to make connections with other regional housing authorities. Benavidez is an affordable housing administrator with Santa Fe County.
Reichelt will also tap into her skills gained during her time as the Rio Arriba County Health and Human services director and time with the New Mexico Environment Department to build a healthcare strategic plan for the city.
Reichelt is also prioritizing the creation of standard operating procedures across all city departments.
She began by speaking with department directors and asking why they do things a certain way. Many of them said it is because it is the way things have always been done.
“You got to have rules, so it’s part of transparency,” she said. “The public needs to understand what our rules are so that we’re not wasting their time, and we need to understand what our rules are.”
During the council meeting, Stuart shared other areas Reichelt wants to work on. These include:
• Evaluating mutual aid agreements with surrounding agencies
• Research of short-term rental ordinances
• Evaluating and upgrading technology systems
• Increasing city building security
• Purchase and installation of open government software
• Exploring childcare options for city and public employees
• Review of Human Resources and ethics complaints
• Review of personnel policies
• Creation of a succession plan