From the Manager

“Open” is the new buzzword this summer!

The State announced the end to restrictions brought on by COVID and declared the state was re-opened on the 1st of July. Santa Fe County has also announced openings, from County buildings and jobs to health-friendly exercise competitions for staff, it is the season to celebrate openings. I am astounded and excited about how many teams are participating in the County Manager’s Commit to be Fit Challenge. We have 30 teams competing!

BTW – Watch out for Kat’s Gym Rats, we are out to win!

Santa Fe County was happy to invite residents, partners, and the media to the ribbon cutting for phase I of La Sala. This first phase includes the opening of the detox center and a continued partnership with Santa Fe Recovery Center. The detox center is open to those in the community with referrals and self-referrals. The next phase, will mark the expansion of the crisis center with support from New Mexico Solutions. Please join us for the grand opening of the crisis center on Thursday, July 29, beginning at 2:00 p.m. If you know someone who can benefit from these or other services, please contact CONNECT.

With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance on masking for vaccinated and unvaccinated people, which states that fully vaccinated people can go unmasked and resume activities as before the pandemic. Those who are not vaccinated must still remain masked, especially when participating in activities indoors. Soon after, the State adopted this mask guidance as well.

Early in the pandemic and in order to keep our employees safe, Santa Fe County issued a mask mandate for all staff and visitors on County property, and an updated version of that policy was issued on May 28. The updated policy offered vaccinated employees the option to request an exemption to the mask mandate by presenting their vaccination record to the Human Resources Department.

If you have been fully vaccinated and would like to request an exemption to the mask policy, please contact HR Director Sonya Quintana at squintana@santafecountynm.gov.

Over the past 16 to 18 months, we have all experienced changes in our personal and work schedules due to COVID. Some County employees have been allowed alternative work schedules which allowed for partial or complete work from home scenarios. Now with the number of cases decreasing and the number of vaccination increasing, Santa Fe County will begin to slowly and deliberately bring employees back to work.

On June 7, Deputy County Manager Elias Bernardino issued a Return to Working in the Office memo to staff explaining the process to returning to the office. This is a phased approach to back-to-work with the first phase consisting of employees discussing with their manager the two days they would be interested in working in the office. Those days are currently being phased in. In August, there will be an increase in the number of days employees are in the building, one week for 2 days, alternating the next week for 3 days. The County is continuing to work diligently to ensure the safety of staff and constituents. If you have questions on this policy, please contact your supervisor or department director.

So get out there, walk, eat healthy, and have fun!