Facing budget deficit, city decides to stop paying for councilors' Internet

Santa Fe city councilors put in long hours dealing with sometimes complex issues in a job that pays $29,500 a year. Members of the part-time policymaking body attend numerous meetings, field requests from constituents and are often the target of public criticism and ridicule.

But being a member of the Santa Fe City Council also comes with some perks, from parking privileges to medical insurance coverage that costs taxpayers more than $100,000 a year.

At least one of those perks -- free Internet service at home -- is poised to end in the fiscal year that begins July 1 because city officials are looking for ways to cut spending in the face of an estimated $15 million to $18 million budget shortfall.

For at least 10 years, city taxpayers have been footing the bill for some councilors to get free Internet at home, according to documents obtained by The New Mexican under a public records request.

Sitting councilors who have taken advantage of the program are Carmichael Dominguez, who chairs the council's Finance Committee, and Ron Trujillo, who is serving his third four-year term. Former councilors who got free home Internet service include Patti Bushee, who stepped down this month after more than two decades in office, as well as Chris Calvert and Rebecca Wurzberger.

"When I came on board, I found out that we were providing [Internet] support to the councilors and asked questions about whether or not that is legit," said Renée Martínez, who has been director of the city's Information Technology and Telecommunications Department for just over a year.

"At that point, I was told that that was a current practice," she said. "Recently, I talked with the city manager, and related to our budget situation, I said, 'There's some things that we could probably recommend that we discontinue and that would be one of them.' He agreed, so that's going to end after this fiscal year."

Bushee, who declined to say how long she had a city-funded Internet connection, said via Facebook that she "kept a separate phone and Internet service for my professional life and personal life that I paid for."

"I was available 24/7 to the citizens of Santa Fe," Bushee wrote. "The City set up me up with a satellite internet account that interfaced with their firewall so I could be a good public servant and respond to my constituents at all hours of the day/night."

Bushee said the free Internet service was "no different" than receiving a city-issued cellphone, another communications link offered to councilors and the mayor.

"Citizens -- not always District 1 constituents -- showed up at my doorstep even on Sunday mornings," she said. "I was a very accessible Councilor, and it was an honor to work as hard as I did on behalf of the citizens of Santa Fe."

Trujillo said the city has been paying for his home Internet since he was first elected in 2006.

"How do I justify it? It was something that was afforded to me when I first got on the council," Trujillo said. "I use it to correspond with my constituents. I do work from my house, emails and all that. That's how I can say I can justify it."

Dominguez did not return a message seeking comment.

Other perks the mayor and councilors receive include a permit for on-street and garage parking "for city business," the ability to participate in the Public Employees Retirement Association of New Mexico, and occasional travel to conferences or events related to their work on behalf of the city.

A previously unheralded benefit for members of the governing body is the option to join the city's health insurance plan.

Citing the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, the city initially refused to disclose which elected officials were on the city's health insurance plan and how much that costs taxpayers. After The New Mexican challenged the city's decision, the city administration eventually disclosed that Mayor Javier Gonzales and all councilors but Councilor Joseph Maestas were enrolled in the benefits. The city revealed that the combined total cost was about $107,000 a year, but the city refused to disclose the costs for individual elected officials, again citing HIPAA.

Maestas, an engineer with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, said he already has health insurance coverage as a federal employee.

"It's a very good federal health insurance program," he said, "and there's no need to add any financial burden to the city if I already have coverage."

Maestas said he heard about the availability of city-funded Internet service at home but hasn't taken advantage of it because he already has service at home. "I figured it would just be too much controversy," he said.

Maestas said he accepted a city-issued cellphone but declined to take a taxpayer-funded iPad. "I declined the iPad because I have my own," he said.

City spokesman Matt Ross said the iPads should be separated from the list of benefits.

"It is a cost-cutting and efficiency measure that will save taxpayers money," Ross said in an email. "All members of the governing body and some senior staff members were issued iPads as part of the effort to go paperless in City Government. The goal is to cut printing costs related to packets, costs that when you take into consideration all the committees and the council, add up to quite a bit. We anticipate that the iPads will more than pay for themselves in savings as we make that transition."

Contact Daniel J. Chacón at 505-986-3089 or dchacon@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @danieljchacon.

Visit The Santa Fe New Mexican (Santa Fe, N.M.) at www.santafenewmexican.com

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