Santa Fe County has a new man in charge of water and wastewater — Española Water Director Marvin Martinez, who resigned from the city last week, effective Friday (8/7).
Martinez accepted a position as Water and Wastewater Division Director with Santa Fe County July 23, for which he will be receiving a little over $22,000 more than his current salary of $65,000, according to County documents. He resigned July 27 from the city, where he has worked for more than 20 years.
“It was an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Martinez said. “It’s something I’ll never get, even if I work for another 23 years.”
But the money was only the final incentive after the past few years with the city, which Martinez said have become increasingly difficult for him. This past year alone he was passed over when the city needed to hire a new public works director. The job eventually went to Ben Ortega. Martinez was also caught up in several quarrels with city staff over the city’s utilities. Specifically Martinez cited tension with Acting City Manager Veronica Albin as a contributing factor to his resignation.
“I hit a storm with the city and the storm is Veronica,” he said. “Unhealthy work conditions have been created for me in the past year.”
Most recently, Albin suspended Martinez from July 21 to July 23 in connection with disagreements over the city’s new arsenic treatment system for Well 1. Both Albin and Martinez confirmed the suspension, but would not provide details because Martinez is currently in the process of legally appealing the action.
Accusations have also been in the air regarding Albin’s alleged tendency to exclude Martinez from meetings and projects affecting city water in favor of her husband, Molzin-Corbin Associates engineer Doug Albin.
Martinez declined comment regarding these accusations, but his long-time friend and ally Mayor Pro Tem Alice Lucero has herself called attention to them numerous times.
“All she knows about city water is what her husband tells her,” Lucero said. “Marvin knows more about this city’s water and wastewater than anyone alive. He is truly irreplaceable.”
Albin acknowledged that her relations with Martinez have grown strained, but she said she has a great deal of respect for Martinez.
“I knew he was looking,” she said. “Maybe the things that transpired in the past few weeks helped him make up his mind. I do sincerely wish him luck.”
Albin also added her voice to several others in the city when she said Martinez’ working knowledge of city utilities is unmatched. However, she said she hopes to fill his position with someone from current city staff to minimize the impact of Martinez’s loss.
“A lot of our water and wastewater staff are cross-trained,” she said. “I’m sure some of them are qualified.”
Two city staff members have the necessary Level 3 water operator certification, one in water and one in wastewater. If they do not apply, or are found unsuitable for other reasons, the city will advertise to outside applicants. If upcoming census numbers show the city’s population has grown to over 10,000, those applicants will have to match Martinez’s Level 4 certification, which no other city staff member has.
Albin also said the city would consider an employee with a lower certification who was willing to become properly certified as a stipulation of their contract. In the meantime, Ortega, who has been with the city for around a month, said he will be taking a greater leadership role in water projects.
However, no matter how qualified his replacement, several city staff members expressed concern over losing Martinez’ years of expertise. Martinez himself said he knows things about city water that none of his staff do.
“I’m taking a wealth of knowledge with me,” he said. “I’m going to use that knowledge to serve Santa Fe county.”
His water operators know that all too well. While one among them has high enough certification to handle the Water Department on paper, most of the city’s water operators and service workers are only Level 1 certified, and none of them has the comprehensive knowledge that Martinez does.
“We’re going to have to call him or something because he just knows the system,” utility service worker Esequiel Garcia said. “When he goes, we’re going to be shorthanded, not just in people, but in knowledge. He’s like the backbone of the Water Department.”
Among the things that his employees depend on Martinez for are the placement of valves and water lines, several of which he was there to see laid out, Garcia said.
Added to that, the Water Department is understaffed to the tune of four employee vacancies, with more rumored to come as employees like Garcia consider following Martinez to Santa Fe County.
“If he asks me to go with him, I’ll go,” Garcia said. “I sure don’t know what we’re going to do without him.”