The Santa Fe Governing Body has voted against suspending City Manager John Blair. At the end of a marathon meeting that ended around one this morning, the City Council and Mayor voted against the suspension by a 6-3 vote.
A resolution to suspend Blair for three days without pay was introduced earlier this month by Councilors Lee Garcia and Chris Rivera. Mike Garcia joined the sponsors with his vote, but all others were in opposition.
It stemmed from Blair withholding a letter sent by the state that told the city it may not be able to access state funding for capital projects until it caught up on its delayed audits.
This is what Lee Garcia has to say after the vote.
“I don’t want to ever partake in actions against people,” he said. “This is all about process, this was all about our rights as Governing Body members. You asked about my vote and we all voted and you heard the votes so we’ll let the votes speak for themselves.”
Since it involved a personnel matter there was very little public comment by councilors regarding the resolution ahead of the vote.
Mayor Alan Webber did tell the Santa Fe New Mexican he didn’t believe a suspension was warranted.
The debate over the suspension was held in Executive Session that lasted a couple of hours.
Several people addressed the Governing Board during the meeting to show their support for Blair saying he has done a good job as City Manager and has always owned up to any mistakes he may have made.