Tracey Jerome may be the least qualified person ever to have served in the upper administration of the City of El Paso, but now she is someone else’s problem.
We reported in December that she seemed to be planning to jump ship, and now we know that the Board of Commissioners of Mooresville, North Carolina (population 53,000) voted unanimously yesterday, April Fool’s Day, to hire Jerome as their next Town Manager starting April 29.
Tracey Jerome was one of several medium-level employees who climbed to the upper echelon of the City administration during the reign of City Manager Gonzalez, who selected most of his immediate subordinates for their loyalty and their ability to say “yes” to whatever he demanded.
Jerome studied art history and historic preservation and then worked in a London art gallery for four years. In 2015, she moved to El Paso and Gonzalez gave her a job as Director of Museum & Cultural Affairs. He also appointed her Interim Director of two City museums, even though she had never worked for a museum in any capacity.
Under Gonzalez, Jerome was miraculously promoted to Deputy City Manager, and in May 2022 was appointed Senior Deputy City Manager.
She is now the third highest-paid City employee, with a salary of $232,375, just behind the Interim City Manager and City Attorney.
We are still wondering what qualified her to hold a senior managerial position with a background in art history and historic preservation.
Tracey Jerome’s husband David Jerome holds the title Chief Strategy & Business Officer of the City of El Paso and is paid $150,483, but no one has been able to tell us exactly what he does.
Sam Rodriguez told the El Paso Times that he was task with managing 3,500 acres of Airport land and seeking new tenants in order to develop advanced manufacturing there.
After a long corporate career, he served as President & CEO of the El Paso Chamber of Commerce for more than four years, and then as President & CEO of the Chamber of Commerce of Hollywood, California for 10 months, joining the City of El Paso in January 2023.
It is unclear whether he will resign his position and join his wife in Mooresville, North Carolina, but we kinda hope he does.
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