Jun. 14—More than six months after the city of Santa Fe’s top health and safety official stepped down, no successor has been named to lead several critical agencies.

The job — which entails overseeing the police and fire departments and the community services and emergency management divisions — has been posted more than once. A posting that expired June 9 listed an hourly pay range of $58.54 to $84.89 — or around $122,000 to $176,000 annually.

The high pay for the Community Health and Safety Department director comes with big shoes to fill.

Former Director Kyra Ochoa, who joined Mayor Alan Webber’s administration in 2018, had served in the position for three years when she left in January to become a deputy Cabinet secretary of the New Mexico Human Services Department. She was hailed for her work at the city, in particular for her efforts to address homelessness and the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think, for me, I looked at making a bigger impact for the people of the state of New Mexico,” she said in an interview at the time of her departure from the city. “I really was just feeling that my energies and efforts, it would be the right time for me to try to do that at the state level.”

Emergency Management Director Brian Williams estimated Ochoa oversaw about 60% of the city’s employees.

The effects of her absence and the lack of a successor in the position are not entirely clear. Several city officials chose to dodge any discussion of the issue.

City Manager John Blair, who is filling the role in an interim capacity, did not respond to numerous calls and emails seeking comment on the vacancy.

Police Chief Paul Joye also did not respond to requests for comment on whether the vacancy has significantly affected his department’s work.

Fire Chief Brian Moya’s only response was, “No comment.”

Community Services Division Director Maria Sanchez-Tucker said the empty job has not had a significant effect on services.

“If there are things [that come up], we bring it to the city manager,” she said.

Williams said the Office of Emergency Management has always been fairly self-sustaining, but he and Sanchez-Tucker are in “constant contact.” The collaborative approach envisioned by the city remains in place, he added.

“This vision, I call it the Kyra vision of what community health and safety can accomplish, is still continuing to thrive,” he said.

“I’ll be honest with you,” Williams added, “the fire chief and the police chief would just rather be their own bosses. They like being independent; I don’t mind having leadership.”

Finding someone who can fill the role as well as Ochoa did may not be easy, he said, because of the breadth of responsibility it entails. Being skilled at working with both police and fire personnel as well as community services is atypical, he noted.

“It’s a big portfolio,” Williams said.

At a City Council committee meeting in late April, Blair said he hoped his interim leadership of health and safety would come to an end “quite soon.”

He praised Williams, Moya, Joye and Sanchez-Tucker for their work.

“This is an extraordinary group of leaders and team members who are genuinely on the front lines of our community,” he said.

The city had gone through a previous round of interviews that was not successful in finding a replacement.

Williams, who is not involved in the hiring process, said he was told the city had offered a job to a candidate who had to back out because of a family emergency.

Webber declined to discuss the hiring process but acknowledged the job has been posted more than once.

“We’re casting the net again,” he said.

Ochoa was the first person to serve in the health and safety director position.

The city approved a plan in September 2020 to reorganize government agencies under three overarching offices. Officials at the time described the reorganization as a new approach to public safety.

Webber said the city does not plan to change the department’s structure.

“The general theory that made sense when we created that department still applies,” he said, noting cross-departmental meetings on issues including homelessness have continued.