Mayor-elect Garcia

Amid howls from the city bureaucracy and outgoing mayor, Santa Fe Mayor-elect Michael Garcia is lowering the boom over the haphazard manner the city's finances have been handled. It could be the beginning of an administration that challenges the status quo in unexpected ways, 

Speaking from his current perch as a city councilor, Garcia provoked the city manager and Mayor Alan Webber and shook up finance officials as he expressed dismay and concern over the handling of $3 million Affordable Trust Fund for housing in decidedly unaffordable Santa Fe. 

The fund had had been lumped in with general revenues with no way to distinguish how much money was actually in the fund.

Garcia's grilling at a city council meeting of those responsible had the outgoing city manager moaning and groaning like a flaming Zozobra but ultimately the city's finance director admitted: 

I should have realized that there should have been a separate fund in the financial statements much earlier than I did, and I take responsibility of that.

Conduct over Santa Fe's finances can be fairly described as outrageous, with the city submitting its annual audit reports late 13 out of 20 years (65% of the time) between FY2004 and FY2023. Only recently have they been catching up after repeated warnings from state officials and possible federal budget cuts due to the mismanagement.

Garcia said after the contentious council meeting:

. . He plans to request an audit of the trust fund and modernize financial systems to prevent similar issues. “At the end of the day, it’s my job. . .to ensure that we are conducting our business in an open process and really looking at when these challenges come across our path, that we’re having an honest conversation around the challenges that we’re seeing."

Santa Fe government is like a teenager--not fully developed and Garcia was elected in November to bring it to maturity. 

Increasing crime, drug addiction and homelessness are much greater threats today. The city also faces a chronic crisis due to the lack of reasonably priced housing and sky high rents. Combined with a subpar government performance, this presents a challenge not only to local livability but to sustaining the City Different's positive national and international reputations.

This is the first rocking of the boat by Mayor-elect Garcia and the sailing could get rougher when he assumes office January 1. 

To that Santa Fe's frustrated voters can toast the new year with a shout of "Bring it On!"

 RODRIGUEZ REACT 

The Democratic Governors Association welcomed Republican Duke Rodriguez to the '26 Guv chase with this:  

With Duke Rodriguez’s entrance into the Republican primary for governor, he joins a field of candidates who will have to own Donald Trump’s destructive and deeply unpopular agenda that jacks up costs for working families, puts health care in jeopardy for 90,000 New Mexicans, and threatens rural hospitals, all to give tax breaks to the ultra-wealthy. We look forward to making sure that none of them get close to the governor’s office.

Deb Haaland,Sam Bregman and Ken Miyagishima are the two Dem candidates seeking the '26 nomination.The primary is next June. 

THE BOTTOM LINES

In an early draft we omitted state Sen. Steve Lanier as a GOP gubernatorial candidate. And Guv candidate Duke Rodriguez is 68 years old not 69. Also, he served as Sec. of Human Services under Gov. Johnson. At first we had him as Sec. of Health.

This is the Home of New Mexico Politics.