City Hall shuffles personnel
Questions still surround string of firings, hirings

By Zsombor Peter
Staff Writer

GALLUP — It could be called the City Hall shuffle.

With four top-tier positions to fill since Mayor Harry Mendoza took office late last month, City Manager Eric Honeyfield has filled three — two of them temporarily — with people already working for the city.

Starting at the top, Honeyfield has named Finance Director Judy Starkovich the city's new administrative services director. She'll be replacing Larry Binkley, who announced his plans to retire after six years of service last month. Taking over Starkovich's old post, then, will be City Clerk Patty Holland, who was inexplicably fired along with Economic Development Director Glen Benefield two weeks ago. Taking her place, in turn, will be Deputy City Clerk Alfred Abeita.

Both Abeita's and Holland's appointments are temporary, Honeyfield said, until the city fills each position competitively; however, Starkovich's appointment is official.

According to Honeyfield, Starkovich beat out more than half a dozen applicants for the position. Her eight years of experience with the city, most of them directly under her predecessor, only helped.

"I'm very pleased to promote from in-house," he said.

As administrative services director, Starkovich will be the city's go-to person on all matters financial, its resident expert on the city budget. The promotion moves her from $65,000 a year to $70,000. Although she's set to start March 3, Binkley has offered to stay on for an addition few weeks to see the city through its budget preparations for Fiscal Year 2008.

Holland's City Hall experience helped get her promoted — if only temporarily — as well. And she's already a state-licensed accountant, as a finance director must be.

"Already being inside the city, together with her qualifications, she would be in the best position to fill in," Honeyfield said.

Mendoza mum on firings
None of that helps explains her and Benefield's summary firings last week.

The two at-will employees, working at the pleasure of the city manager, got their marching orders after the City Council held a closed meeting April 10. Honeyfield conceded that personnel matters were discussed during the closed meeting, a violation of the state's Open Meetings Act since the evening's agenda made no mention of them. But beyond that, he declined to say anything.

Mendoza wasn't inclined to fill in the details. When The Independent stopped by City Hall last Thursday to get his side of the story, Mendoza asked his secretary to sit in on the meeting.

Q: Did you ask the councilors whether Benefield and Holland ought to be fired?
A: No comment.

Q: Did you personally want Benefield and Holland fired?
A: No comment.

Q: Could you comment on the council's violation of the Open Meetings Act?
A: No comment.

New committee, director
Before wrapping up, though, Mendoza was happy to discuss his plans for a combined economic development/tourism committee, a seven-to-nine member body charged with both promoting development and attracting visitors.

Honeyfield said he and the mayor have discussed doing away with Benefield's position, the duties of which the new committee, as Mendoza described it, would effectively duplicate and expand on. But Mendoza declined to comment about that as well. In any case, Honeyfield said the position's fate would be decided in the next few weeks, as soon as the council decides whether or not to approve the $95,000 it's tentatively budgeted for in 2008.

In the meantime, Honeyfield is also searching for a new personnel director. The last administration thought the city was doing fine without one, and made the personnel office one of Binkley's duties when the last director resigned several years ago. Mendoza believes a community Gallup's size, with over 400 city employees, needs someone dedicated to the job full time. The city is advertising the position at $45,000.