Who will be the next county manager?

Five people are in the running to become Bernalillo County’s next manager.

County commissioners will meet in a closed session Tuesday afternoon to discuss how the finalists fared in interviews and then they will vote that evening during their regularly scheduled meeting to select the top three.

The County Manager Search Committee selected Cindy Chavez, Marcos Gonzales, Thomas Hutka, Redmond Jones and Joseph Lessard as finalists. After reviewing applications, the committee chose them and five others for interviews.

County Manager Julie Morgas Baca is retiring June 30. 

Commissioners have disagreed about how to go about replacing her. The disagreement over the process resulted in one commissioner storming out of a meeting and other commissioners being accused of violating the Open Meetings Act by discussing who to appoint to a selection committee out of the public view.

Commission Chair Barbara Baca has said the board is planning a special public meeting for next week at which the remaining candidates will appear in person to share their visions for doing the job. 

THE CANDIDATES:

• Cindy Chavez is a supervisor in Santa Clara County, California, and chairs the board of the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. She was also a candidate in the 2022 mayoral election in San Jose.

• Marcos Gonzales is Bernalillo County’s economic development director. He has worked in the field since 2008 and been with the department since 2012. 

• Thomas Hutka is town manager for Newington, Connecticut. He was previously city manager for Port Huron and public works director in Broward County, Florida.

• Redmond Jones is deputy city manager in Iowa City, Iowa. He’s also been city administrator in West Branch, Iowa, and city manager in Groveland, Florida.

• Joseph Lessard stepped down in October as city manager of Ashland, Oregon. He was previously a senior planning director at Texas planning firm Knudson LP and assistant city manager of Austin, Texas.