Webber best choice for mayor

Iam honored to be Alan Webber’s campaign chairman. Let me tell you why: The first time I met Alan, he didn’t talk about himself. He asked about me, my life growing up in Santa Fe, my family, my health and my work as a judge. He asked questions and he listened. That told me right off that Alan had the values we need in our next mayor.

But now I have another reason for knowing in my heart that Alan is the mayor we need. Recently, retired Justice Patricio Serna and Paul Hultin — who authored the charter amendment passed by Santa Fe voters to create a strong mayor form of government — published an op-ed in The New Mexican (“The city’s first strong mayor,” My View, Jan. 7).

Everything they wrote affirms my belief that Alan is uniquely qualified to be mayor of Santa Fe.

Here’s what they made clear. Our first strong mayor will be in charge of getting things done for the people of Santa Fe. Our first strong mayor will need to be a manager who can do a skillful job of running the city government — working to make sure our city government delivers the services we need, deserve and pay for. Our first strong mayor will need to be a leader who can take on hard problems like growing jobs in a diversifying economy, seeing to it that affordable housing is built, and setting a budget and program priorities that are fair, inclusive and equitable. Our first strong mayor will need to be a listener who can work well with all kinds of people, in all parts of our city, and bring us all together.

In their op-ed, the two distinguished authors asked a number of questions, questions we should all be asking as we evaluate the candidates who are running for mayor:

What is the management and leadership experience of each candidate and their past record of success? Alan managed the Harvard Business Review and helped countless managers and entrepreneurs improve their organizations. Alan taught management and leadership at the UCLA Executive Education program.

Has the candidate been the CEO of a successful business, nonprofit or agency? Alan started and ran the fastest-growing business magazine in American history. He’s signed both sides of a paycheck.

What is the financial experience and expertise of each candidate? Has the candidate ever had primary responsibility for creating and meeting a budget? Alan has had financial responsibility for his own business and helped Santa Fe entrepreneurs with their budgets and balance sheets.

What are the specific proposals of each candidate for how he or she will use the new CEO powers of the mayor to change the culture to make city government more responsive to the needs of Santa Fe residents and businesses? Alan has a background in investing in and managing people; creating positive workplace experiences; building a collaborative workplace culture; and recruiting, developing and retaining excellent managers and employees.

If you want to know more about the ways in which Alan’s values, experiences, character and skills are a perfect fit for the questions asked in the op-ed, visit Alan’s website: www.alanwebberforsantafe.com. You will see Alan’s “Action Plan” for Santa Fe — a specific set of programs to make the city work for us all.

The next mayor will be Santa Fe’s first strong mayor. We need that person to be Alan Webber.