Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Questions to Santa Fe City Council Candidates

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    The Journal asks candidates for Santa Fe City Council the following questions:
    1. Why are you running for office? What are your top priorities?
    2. Considering Santa Fe's water problems over the past decade, should city government take new action to limit development, building or growth? How much can Santa Fe grow?
    3. What, if anything, should Santa Fe do to expand its water supply?
    4. Do you support Santa Fe's living wage ordinance? Do you believe it should be repealed or amended in any way?
    5. Do you support the city ordinance requiring 30 percent of most new homes to be sold at below-market prices as affordable housing? What else, if anything, should Santa Fe do to promote making housing more affordable?
    6. Have you or your business— if you are a business owner— ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens?
    7. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding?
    8. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony? If so, please elaborate.
    9. Have you or your business been involved in any litigation with Santa Fe city government as the defendant or plaintiff?
   
Louis R. Montaño
    ADDRESS: Kiva Road
    AGE: 77
    EDUCATION: College of Santa Fe and University of New York
    OCCUPATION
: Retired
    FAMILY: I was engaged to Mary Ester Gonzales; she was a City employee who died at work from a heart attack. The Senior Center of Alto Street is named after her. I have no children of my own.
    POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: Mayor of Santa Fe, 1982-1986; Santa Fe city councilor, 1974-1982; mayor pro tem; director of the Labor and Industrial Division (Department of Labor), 1989-1993; director of Santa Fe Boys' Club, 1957-1984; member of the state Corrections Commission, the City Finance Committee and the Board of Adjustment; chair of the city Affordable Task Force as mayor; former Marine sergeant, served in Korea on the front lines.
    1. Going door-to-door and through telephone calls, I realize and I have been told by Santa Feans that the City has lost touch with their basic needs and concerns and the City Council needs to listen to its citizens closer. Citizens want us to get back to providing basic services because this is their priority and mine.
    I believe we need to finish the comprehensive water projects under way and I will support these efforts. Also, I will help to see the Convention Center project completed. I will fight for affordable housing for police, fire, teachers, other city employees and other Santa Feans who want affordable housing by utilizing city-owned land in the North West quadrant. By reducing land costs we will be able to achieve this goal and employ local builders and subcontractors, which will keep locals employed with jobs and bring gross receipts into our community.
    2. As mayor of Santa Fe in the 1980s, I took the lead and took to the voters that the city should own the water system and not Public Service Company of New Mexico. Now that we own the water system the first priority is to enforce the current conservation policies of the city and strengthen them through the public utility and building ordinances. We should strengthen the current water budget ordinances and reward citizens for stewardship and penalize others for over-usage.
    3. Follow the lead of the city's Public Utilities Committee and we should continue the purchasing of water rights. Water is a precious commodity and the city should protect this community and preserve it for our citizens and our children. If the allocations are not used for our needs the downstream users will try to acquire them and use them for Albuquerque and/or Rio Rancho.
    4. Yes, and I fought for it at the City Council meeting because my district has one of the highest numbers of families and individuals who live from paycheck to paycheck.
    5. I am concerned about the 30 percent requirement remaining in place for affordable housing now that the council has passed the annexation of land in the southwest sector. Also, I will fight for affordable housing for police, fire, teachers and others who want affordable housing by utilizing city-owned land in the North-West quadrant. By reducing land costs and planned annexation, we will be able to achieve this goal and employ local builders and subcontractors which keep locals employed with jobs and bring gross receipts into the community. Also, it keeps taxes lower.
    6. No.
    7. Yes, and I do not want to make any excuses with this issue; but at the time I was helping some families who needed financial help and there were some Boys Club boys I was assisting with their education and I got over extended because I felt their needs were greater than mine. I did not receive a retirement pension from the Boys Club after 27 years of service, of which I gladly served, and I am back on my feet and survived on my state pension. As mayor of Santa Fe, we balanced each and every budget, had a surplus and city employees received wage increases each year.
    8. No.
    9. No.
   
Anna C. Hansen
    ADDRESS: Kiva Road
    AGE: 57
    EDUCATION: Bachelor's and master's degrees in photography and art history
    OCCUPATION: A small business owner of Dakini Design specializing in graphic design, event planning, photography, and organizational and management consulting for community building.
    FAMILY: Mother, daughter, sister
    POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: Chair, Board of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, (2003-present); Chair, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, (2000-2004); delegate to the NM Democratic Central Committee, Ward Vice Chair.
    1. I care about our unique city and its people and I want to work to make it a place where our children and grandchildren can live, work and play. We must create more opportunities for high-paying jobs and affordable homes, protect our precious water resources and revitalize our parks.
    2. We need to limit big developers from out of state and support our local building industry. With sustainable growth, energy-conserving buildings and water-saving technology, we can dramatically reduce the amount of water used per household. I will support measures that move us closer to these goals. We need to evaluate our resources because we will only be able to grow as much as they are available.
    3. The most practical solution toward expanding our water supply is through reclamation and water harvesting. Water conserving and reuse techniques must be implemented, such as permeable streets to recharge our aquifers, on-site water harvesting, permaculture, gray water re-use and creating incentives and credits for efficient users.
    4. Yes. No. The living wage ordinance supports our community, provides that families may spend more time together and as a result of implementation, more funds are circulated in our community.
    5. The intention of this ordinance is good. My concern is that this may cause a great increase in the cost of middle-class affordable homes. We must monitor the effects of this ordinance closely so that we don't end up with homes for only those with low incomes or high incomes.
    6. No.
    7. No.
    8. No.
    9. No.
    Carmichael A. Dominguez
    ADDRESS: Solecito Loop
    AGE: 35
    EDUCATION: Associate's of Applied Science in Drafting Technology
    OCCUPATION: Cartographer— New Mexico Department of Transportation
    FAMILY: Married to Deborah Leyba-Dominguez, two boys
    POLITICAL/GOVERNMENT EXPERIENCE: Vice president, Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education; vice-chair, city Planning Commission; chair, city Summary Committee; chair, Big Box Ordinance committee; member, Traffic Calming Task Force; member, Community Impact Statement Ordinance Task Force; president, Zona Del Sol; member, board of directors, Tierra Contenta Corp.; member, Santa Fe Fiesta Council (2000 Don Diego de Vargas); member, National Association Latino Elected Officials; member, National School Boards Association.
    1. I am running for office because the people of District 3 want the City Council to address issues that are important to them. They want affordable housing, a living wage. They want City Hall to address water issues. They want clean and safe streets. They want Parks and Recreation amenities. I have been a strong voice for many District 3 residents, and I want to continue to be that strong voice.
    2. The City of Santa Fe should be visionary in addressing the issue of water. I propose that we establish a Long Range Water Plan, so that we can develop a road map of where this community needs to be in the next 50 or 100 years. Once this Road Map is established, then we can determine how much development, building or growth can be limited. This will help us determine how much Santa Fe can grow, if any.
    3. One option is to repair leaking water lines. We should consider retrofitting the wastewater treatment plant, so that we can produce more effluent. We should also consider creating satellite water treatment plants to allow our aquifer an opportunity to replenish itself. More can be done to conserve water. Many residents have done the bulk of conservation, and I believe it is up to the City of Santa Fe to be just as aggressive.
    4. Yes, I support the wage ordinance. No, I do not believe it should be repealed or amended. The City of Santa Fe made promises, and they should position themselves now to deliver on those promises.
    5. I support any ordinance that promotes affordable housing, without compromising the industry's ability to provide affordable housing. Currently, affordable housing has not been a priority, and the result is an un-unified effort to address this issue. I believe that there are professional people who can help address the lack of affordable housing. An option would be to offer more down payment assistance to those who qualify.
    6. No.
    7. No.
    8. No.
    9. No.