SF county manager exits with extra cash

SANTA FE, NM (KRQE) - When Román Abeyta quit his $128,000-a-year job as the Santa Fe County manager, the county commission voted to give him a severance package worth more than $30,000.

At a time when the county is struggling to makes ends meet, the payout, not legally required by Abeyta's contract, has county workers upset.

Among them is union representative David Lucero whose workers are bearing the brunt of budget cuts that include hiring freezes, pay cuts and the elimination of travel and seminars.

"You know, if there's no money for the employees who are not resigning or walking off the job, and there's money to give for someone who doesn't finish the contract, that bothers me," says Lucero.

The anger extends to Paul Gessing, who runs The Rio Grande Foundation, a government-spending watchdog group.

"This is something that most people in the private sector would not expect," Gessing said. "It's outrageous; he quit of his own accord.

"It really seems that he should not get any salary above and beyond what he's already been paid for the work that's been done."

Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya voted for the payout and defended the severance.

"I'm not so sure it's a giveaway as opposed to it being more of something that was uncompensated in terms of the hours he put in for the county," Montoya said. "The work that he did was definitely above and beyond what we asked him to do."

The only commissioner to vote against the $31,000 payout was Mike Anaya.

"We can't afford to pay another severance tax to Roman Abeyta," Anaya said. "He did a fine job, but at this tough economic time, we can't afford to do that."

What is not in dispute is that Santa Fe County, like nearly every government in the country, is struggling to make ends meet. Commissioners have already cut $3 million from the 2011 budget.

They will have to ax another $3 million by the end of the year to avoid another budget shortfall the following year.

Abeyta's tenure as county manager was not without controversy.

He was at the center of a Larry Barker investigation in November detailing how Santa Fe County decided to build a $42-million courthouse on top of a toxic gasoline plume. That project was halted months ago until the site can be cleaned up.

Then in May, Barker discovered the county paid $7 million for a ranch and mansion but had no plan for what to do with the property southwest of Santa Fe.

The severance handout has prompted a backlash that lingers

"The staff is upset," Anaya said. "You quit, and then you get rewarded for it. That's not right."

For his part, Abeyta said he's grateful for the severance the commissioners gave him.