Bernalillo County's new manager will start in November, if commissioners approve her contract

Aug. 20—New Bernalillo County manager Cindy Chavez has a start date: Nov. 13. Contract negotiations with Chavez have been finalized, but the Bernalillo County Commission still needs to approve the contract. The commissioners will have an opportunity to do so during their regular meeting Tuesday.

Bay Area paper The Mercury News reported that Chavez will receive an annual salary of $230,000. That would be an increase from the previous county manager, who received a $215,000 salary, according to the county's transparency portal in April.

The county's next top administrator is a Santa Clara County supervisor in San Jose, California, and has extensive political experience as a county supervisor and San Jose city councilor. She also ran for San Jose mayor twice.

Chavez said she does not think shifting from the role of elected official to staff will be a problem.

"Elected leaders reflect and listen to the community day in and day out, and our obligation as staff, especially executive staff, is to implement the vision of the policymakers as efficiently, effectively and quickly as possible, and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to pursue that on behalf of the county commissioners," Chavez said in a phone interview from the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

Both of Chavez's parents grew up in New Mexico. Her mother is from Carrizozo, while her father was from Lemitar. Her father is deceased, but her mother still lives in Alamogordo.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to give back to a community that helped shape my parents, who I think are remarkable people. ... I learned so much from them, the values of inclusivity and naturally focusing on conservation and being such generous, loving people," Chavez said.

Chavez leads the Santa Clara County working group on addressing fentanyl, which works on making Narcan available and works to support early intervention and treatment for addiction. When she was president of the board of supervisors during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chavez said she brought together city managers and mayors every weekend to coordinate vaccines and testing and to ensure that each community in the county had the same information.

"My work style is to be extremely collaborative, extremely transparent, and to do my very best to support our staff," Chavez said.

Chavez was selected to fill the county's top administrative role by the Bernalillo County commissioners in June, after the previous county manager, Julie Morgas Baca, retired.

Creating a hiring process for a new county manager was contentious, but the decision to hire Chavez was less dramatic. Although the 3-2 vote to approve Chavez was narrow, several county commissioners said all three of the candidates were excellent, making the decision difficult.

Commission Chair Barbara Baca said she is thrilled to welcome Chavez.

"Her extensive experience in public administration and proven leadership abilities make her an ideal fit to guide our county into the future," Baca said in a statement. "Cindy has hands-on experience addressing important issues such as transportation, housing, and public health in the diverse city of San Jose. This expertise will serve Bernalillo County well as we work to tackle those same issues to enhance the quality of life for our community."