Q&A: Portales manager: Every city feeling pinch

Editor's note: This is one in a continuing series of interviews with local officials and community leaders. Christopher Moyer is Portales' city manager.

Q: You've been on the job now for five months. What has surprised you – in good ways or bad -- about what you've signed up for? 

A: Good -- I really enjoy working with the people who work for the city. Everyone wants great things for this community.

Q: How are you feeling about the city's water situation? 

A: The aquifer is depleting, this is fact. We need to find other sources of water, and we are working on that as a city.

Q: Where are you in deciding whether EPCOR might take over water distribution for Portales? 

A: Right now, EPCOR is doing their due diligence and what that looks like as far as cost on their end.

So as a city we are still moving forward with fixing our water system that we still own.

Q: Talk about city finances. How much does the city have in reserves? 

A: We have $3.5 million in cash reserves in the general fund.

Q: Will there be need for a tax increase or reduction in city services in the coming months? 

A: Nobody likes the words tax increase; everyone loves the words tax reduction.

Goods and services have risen dramatically since COVID, and every city is feeling the pinch, including Portales.

We are going to look at everything in our budget and see where we end up.

Q: How many job openings does the city have that you're actively trying to fill? 

A: We have 12 current openings that we are trying to fill.

Q: Where are the majority of those openings and when do you anticipate they might be filled? 

A: The majority of these are laborer / transit / firefighter jobs. We have four open positions in the fire department, and some police / dispatcher openings.

As we are always taking applications, it is hard to say when these will be filled.

I have seen a bunch of new applications come in, so I expect a few to get filled quickly after the new year.

Q: What are goals you have in mind for the city to accomplish in 2025?

A: 1. Increase training and personnel budgets through improved funding sources. Taking care of our people and making sure we have a highly trained workforce

2. Explore new water sources and securing funding for that purpose.

3. Leveraging technology to make us more efficient as a city and using it to assess our road conditions. This will allow us to prioritize projects and secure funds more effectively with actual data.

4. Collaborate with Infrastructure as a Service providers to modernize our water system. Install/use smart meters, and (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems.

This will improve water management, help us predict where the next leak might be, and help us have more data to get more funding.

5. Focus on enhancing quality of life for the residents. Applying for grants to improve our parks, fields, downtown and recreation areas. Engage with community partnerships to help with this process.

- Compiled by David Stevens

The Staff of The News