Sandoval County Commissioners Wednesday voted 4-1 to create a new county department.
Sort of.
The new General Services Department, County Manager Wayne Johnson told commissioners, is a continuation of a grant services office and intended as a support apparatus for other departments. He said no immediate hiring is anticipated, as the person chosen as the department’s director is already on the county staff as a senior grant writer.
The expansion is needed, he said, as the county has received or been awarded some $14.6 million in grants so far this fiscal year, which started July 1.
Johnson said the county will use salary savings related to unfilled positions to pay for the director and consider funding for any necessary additional positions as the fiscal year 2027 budget is put together.
The motion authorizing the new department included language creating the director position. Commission Chair Michael Meek cast the “no” vote, saying that he’s not a supporter of creating a position for an individual.
Commissioner Joshua Jones asked whether the county needs to advertise the position or go through a formal hiring process.
Johnson said county policy gives him the leeway to directly fill the position, though he normally would consider other candidates.
“But I believe in this case, we found our candidate within, and she’s demonstrated the capabilities already that we need for this position.”
Commissioners also approved an intergovernmental agreement with the Jicarilla Apache Nation, which will pay to place three full-time firefighters at a Cuba fire station the county will soon take over.
Johnson said the agreement boosts staffing at the station to 15, meaning that instead of having a three-person fire EMS crew on duty at all times, there will be four personnel there.
He said that means the station will remain in service even if two members are on a call.
In response to a query from Commissioner Katherine Bruch, Fire Chief Christopher Bagley said his department recently tested 70 firefighter candidates, and will conduct oral interviews with up to 40 of them in the coming days.
Bagley said the fire department has 14 open positions and that he will ask to admit 18 candidates to the next firefighter academy, which he hopes to start in January.
Among other items, commissioners approved a renewal grant application for the senior program to the North Central New Mexico Economic Development District, certification of the county’s fiscal year 2025 capital asset inventory and a resolution authorizing disposal of obsolete IT equipment and deleting those items from public inventory.
When Jones asked about how the technology equipment would be sanitized to protect sensitive data, Information and Technology Director Xenophon James said the computers are regularly scrubbed and the county has a contractor who will shred the hard drives.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE:
WHEN: 6 p.m. Jan. 7
WHERE: Commission chambers, Sandoval County Administrative Building, 1500 Idalia Road, Building D, Bernalillo
Virtual: www.sandovalcountynm.gov