City union workers seek 10 percent raise at Santa Fe City Council budget hearing

Feb. 24—Multiple city employees asked for pay raises during a Santa Fe City Council public hearing Wednesday on how the city should prioritize its fiscal year 2023 budget.

The employees, represented by the local chapter of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees 3999, requested that the city use part of its $15 million in American Rescue Plan money to fund a 10 percent salary increase for unionized city employees.

"If you keep morale up, we are going to have employees that are happy; we are going to have employees who want to stay," said city Public Utilities account specialist Maxine Sandoval. "Let's invest in our employees."

Santa Fe will receive the $15 million payout over three years, but city officials in the past have been reticent about using temporary funding sources to pay for recurring expenses such as salary increases.

The employees characterized their request as seeking a needed morale boost in the wake of nationwide inflation and housing affordability concerns.

Danny Carter, a chemist for the Buckman Direct Diversion, said he feels his salary has effectively decreased due to inflation.

"If the city wants to retain its current employees, they should keep this in mind when they discuss the wages of city employees," he said.

The City Council did previously approve a wage increase of 3 percent across the board for AFSCME 3999 members in the fiscal year 2022 budget. The union approved the increase in December, retroactive to July.

Then, in October, the council voted to set a $15-an-hour minimum wage for all city employees. Previously, city employees were subject to the city's living wage — effectively its minimum wage — which will increase to $12.95 an hour Tuesday.

The city also approved two $1,000 retention bonuses for city employees in December, alongside a bonus of $1,000 for new hires.

Louis Demella, a library technician for the city, said the $15 minimum wage increase was helpful, but, because of rising rental costs, it wasn't enough.

"It's not the kind of dent that most of our members will need," he said.

The public hearing was a precursor to the city's April slate of budget hearings. Those are set to conclude when the council votes on the new budget April 27.

Others who spoke during the meeting's public comment period requested upgrades to city parks and ballfields — many of them Santa Fe Little League advocates or members.

Aaron Ortiz, president of Santa Fe Little League, said he was pleading with the city to upgrade fields at parks, noting locked dugouts and gopher holes as problems.

"This league is important to our city, it's important to our families and it's important to our kids," he said.

Javier Vigil, the owner of the local mobile tech consulting firm JV Squared and a league official, also stressed a need to improve the parks to improve options for children, as well as help mitigate mental health issues resulting from the pandemic.

"From a recreation standpoint, we are coming out of an endemic," he said. "But we are going to be in a crisis from a mental health standpoint. We need to invest in our youth mental health."

Members of the community empowerment and development nonprofit EarthCare also requested improved funding for issues including affordable housing assistance, more equitable transportation and bringing attention to climate change.