By Dennis Kintigh
The recent article on the Thursday, Aug. 11 city council meeting compels me to break with tradition and speak out as the former mayor of this city. Mayor Tim Jennings’ comments about me require correction. Sadly, Mayor Tim Jennings is misinformed at best and deceptive at worst.
He refers to these employees as “my clerk, my police chief, my attorney and my treasurer.” They are not his property. They are public servants of this city.
The city attorney position has never been a political appointment. When I took office, the role of city attorney was filled under a contract. That was changed by former city manager Steve Polasek. Now it is only through a professional hiring process, free of politics, that the legal department positions are filled, or so it was until the 11th.
The individual selected by the governing body is essentially unknown to me.
It seems this was a selection based solely upon politics, not professionalism.
I understand that Mayor Tim Jennings, a Democrat, noted that the politically appointed city attorney is a Republican. It is worth remembering that Congresswoman Liz Cheney is also a Republican.
There is an archaic state statute that calls for a council to select, immediately after an election (Roswell’s was five months ago), a city clerk, a city treasurer and a police officer (it does not say chief). Mayor Tim Jennings claims I picked my clerk. If he means the receptionist who sat outside the mayor’s office, he is again wrong. That position, filled very well by Ms. Marcia Barajas, was a merit-based selection.
The administrative function of clerk is significant, diverse and complex. This position manages the activity of other staff to ensure compliance with state law, primarily the Open Meetings Act and the Inspection of Public Records Act, plus maintaining correspondence, resolutions and ordinances. Agendas, including those for committees that are created by staff liaison, plus ensuring all minutes of meetings are preserved and recorded, are also part of this responsibility. The ceremonial role of the “city clerk” is to affix their signature on documents to establish them as official. This is simply an additional duty for an existing staff member, or so it has been.
When the previous city clerk abruptly resigned … the city manager identified an existing employee whose responsibilities and talents made her the logical choice to fill the job on an interim basis. The council approved Ms. Martinez unanimously.
Mayor Tim Jennings has now tried to appoint someone to this position who is not a city employee.
Law enforcement is something with which I am rather familiar. Keeping politics out of policing is critical. Chief Phil Smith was chief when I was elected in 2014 and remains so today. He is a professional law enforcement officer, not a politician. The cities in America with political police departments are the ones with progressive mayors and skyrocketing crime.
This push to convert the City of Roswell from where merit and ability determines a person’s position to one in which “friends” of the powerful are employed is troubling and disturbing. There is no good reason to do it and decades ago the Roswell City Council put in place a system of employment for ALL employees to be chosen upon ability.
But then maybe the goal is to ensure “special” friends get “special” treatment.
Dennis Kintigh is the former mayor of Roswell. The views expressed are those of the author.
