Q/A: Santa Fe’s Mayoral Candidates

Posted by Charlotte Martinez in Santa Fe

We asked students on campus for questions to pose to Santa Fe’s mayoral candidates Patti Bushee, Bill Dimas and Javier Gonzalez. Before polls open March 4, join the candidates Feb. 20 at PolitiMIX in the Greer Garson Theatre for one of the final mayoral forums. The party starts at 6 p.m.; the debate begins at 7 p.m.

Mayoral Candidate Patti Bushee

Patti Bushee has served as a Santa Fe city councilor for 20 years. In 2002, she ran against incumbent Mayor Larry Delgado and lost by 3 percentage points. Moving to Santa Fe after college, Bushee was the first openly gay city councilor. She currently chairs the city’s Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee and the Santa Fe Metropolitan Planning Organization, but has also served with the City’s Finance Committee, the North Central Regional Transit District, the New Mexico State Film Office and the Outreach Administrator of the Water Use and Conservation Bureau of the Office of the State Engineer. A small business owner in landscape design, Bushee holds a BA in International Affairs, Political Science and Spanish. She studied economics at George Washington University and attended La Universidad de Sevilla in Seville for a year.

Mayoral Candidate Bill Dimas

Bill Dimas is a former police officer, three-term magistrate judge and current city councilor. A fourth generation Santa Fean, Dimas emphasizes small scale issues like crime prevention, tourist attraction and balancing the budget. Dimas, however, has not attended public forums because he says they are lead by special interest groups. Instead, Dimas has distributed campaign materials that invite Santa Feans to call him personally. Dimas has led several Rock n’ Roll bands (including The Sprints and The New Things), has served as president of the Santa Fe Independent Youth Elementary Basketball Program, and has coached for 27 years. Married for 31 years, Dimas is father of four, grandfather of seven and great grandfather of three.

Mayoral Candidate Javier Gonzales

Javier Gonzales is a former Santa Fe county commissioner, whose family is well known for its strong ties to city governance. A former chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, Gonzales is known for his progressive visions and being involved especially in higher education in the state. A recent out-of-the-closet divorcee, Javier Gonzales is a dedicated father of two daughters and advocates a future for Santa Fe where technology and art go hand-in-hand. He holds a BA in Accounting from New Mexico State University.

Jackalope Magazine: How would you characterize Santa Fe’s cultural identity and how do you plan to maintain and/or allow that identity to grow?

Bushee: We are very well known as an art community. Previously, we’ve focused on the visual arts, but I believe that our creative industries have started to take more of an expansive approach, a little bit more alternative. Some of my favorite collective artist communities, like Wise Fool and [Meow] Wolf, have begun to find some really, I think, exciting and cutting-edge pop-up venues that are bringing a little more contemporary and edgy art. I really love the AHA Fest that has happened in the last few years…there are so many new facets that we’re embracing in the creative economy. Design, web application, development, writers, poets…we have a Poet Laureate that the city helps fund. A lot of new industry of course is going to be technology based. I think we’re expanding and diversifying our creative economy and I’m pretty excited by it.

Dimas: I’ve been here all my life. I believe in the traditions and culture that we have here. I’m not real sure how we grow it, but I think we need to concentrate on maintaining it and reaching out to people, offering what amenities we have. Getting the word out to what Santa Fe is all about. Media is important, we have to let people know where the important places are.

Gonzales: I’m very proud of Santa Fe’s identity when it comes to arts and culture on a global scale. I do think that we need to expand it to include identity around film, identity around digital media, and really allow young artists and new artists to feel like they’re a part of that identity. I think that we have work to do to reclaim our spot as a leader on the global stage. There is so much competition around the world today when it comes to art venues and the production of art that we have to be on top of our game. It means we go back to the basics and talk about what has not only been good for Santa Fe, but talk about what’s good for Santa Fe today, which is a very young thriving emerging set of artists that are really pushing the envelope in the art world. And all these individuals can compete on a global stage and Santa Fe needs to commit to marketing that and making it part of our identity.

JM: What kind of relationship would you have with Santa Fe University of Art and Design if elected?

Bushee: I’m thrilled that you’re here still and would have an open door policy. I would be excited to collaborate and work with both the students and your administration to make sure we are as successful as we can be together.

Dimas: I went to the College of Santa Fe. I was a music major then they got rid of it. [Ed note: To clarify, SFUAD currently has a Contemporary Music Program]. I’ve been a musician for many years, performed all over the state, singing and playing. I hope to have a very good [relationship], since that’s what my major was.

Gonzales: When we talk about growing our economy, students at SFUAD will have a place to be part of that economy. Whether it’s in the area of film, performing arts or in the area of new media, Santa Fe needs to make sure that we’re working with SFUAD to map students into the work force. So, if we’re going to want to grow our film economy, we need to know that SFUAD is certainly doing its job to deliver a certain amount of students through a pipe line. In the technology sector, the same thing. A lot of dialogue and coordination I think is important. We want students at SFUAD to feel connected to the community and that means doing a better job of providing public transportation around town, especially when it comes to trying to revive a night time economy. I think those are two areas where we’re able to 1. align the education that is occurring at the University with our economic goals and 2. create more connectivity between students/faculty and the rest of the city in a way that’s meaningful for both.

JM: What can we do to make St. Michael’s Drive more walk-friendly?

Bushee: It’s time for a complete redo over there. I’ve been following and participating in the ReMike efforts. I’m someone who, for the last 10 years as chair of the Bicycle Committee, has worked really hard to help make Santa Fe a more bike-friendly and more pedestrian-friendly community. I would say one of our failures so far is to be able to get across St. Michael’s Drive. It’s one of those old 1950-style boulevards; it doesn’t even work really well for traffic, car traffic, but it certainly is a study in failure for pedestrians and cyclists. I’m a bike rider myself so when you get off of our wonderful new on-road improvements that take you to the Rail Trail, you want to keep connecting to the trails that take you to Santa Fe County. but you have to get across St. Michael’s Drive. I think we’re poised given the location right next to our new University of Art and Design. It could be an urban enterprise. It really is not an area that is very exciting or that offers enough to our community. I think we can work collectively to make it more exciting and I think it is the place of the future. The center of town has moved closer to Siler Road and St. Michael’s Drive and I think the possibilities are endless.

Dimas: There has already been three or four models for St. Michaels Drive, each one has potential. I haven’t had an opportunity to study every one of them; we have to find the money and look more into each.

Gonzales: I see the school as being an incredible anchor and producer of creativity. When we talk about the creative class in Santa Fe, SFUAD plays a very important role in that and not just from the academic side but also from its physical location. We have the ability to focus on St. Michael’s Drive as an opportunity to anchor places of business for jobs, particularly in the area of film and technology, create work force housing along that corridor, and also have night time venues where the art work can be shown whether it’s through performance theater, live music, all the way to night time venues. But I also think that Cerrillos [Road] plays an important role in connecting it. My idea would be to look at the area between Cerrillos and even as far down as Siler and all the way east toward St. Michael’s as an area to redevelop as a place where you know there’s creativity that’s being done on the academic side. Then from a livability standpoint, it becomes a place where people want to live and play. I think it helps us meet our overall goals when it comes to sustainability. We want to reduce the amount of cars on the roadways, increase the number of bike paths, and you can concentrate on an area between Cerrillos and St. Michaels where a lot of that can take place.

JM: Regarding nightlife and keeping the age range of 20-30 year-olds in Santa Fe, what as mayor could you do to address the social needs of that age group?

Bushee: It’s a two-track approach. We need the venues and performance spaces to have the availability for the pop-up events that we’ve just started to see [in order] to foster that creativity. But what we really need are folks that are willing to go out at night and to support the venues. You know, local government can help in the creation of venues. I was there to get $1 million, when I was on Council a few years back, to try and finish the buildout of Warehouse 21, which offers a great space for performers, and El Museo, which has great potential to be a black box theater. But what we don’t have are a lot of rehearsal spaces or…multi-dimensional spaces where people can collaborate together.

The night life piece…I moved here right out of college and this is my adult choice of home. We had a lot more venues at one point. We had a club called Club West that we called Club Waste and Paramount and Club Luna…there was a lot going on. It’s been difficult to see that the tendency for visitors that we’ve had, say for the last 15 years, have been older. These are folks that come here for the Opera or the Ballet, then they go home. How we really keep our younger class of workers here is multi-fold. We have to have the work opportunity. It’s a combination of things, really making sure that in the new technology world there is potential for jobs. It’s all about shifting and refocusing resources in the right places to make sure that our young people have those opportunities to not only graduate from places like SFUAD, but to come back to Santa Fe. We should make sure it’s a priority that we’re funding both our affordable housing for artists and creative workers and that we’re helping to create the new venues that are needed so our young mid-career workers feel like there’s availability to create. There needs to be a real focus and concentration on diversifying our economy, getting the wages up, and getting jobs created that will keep our young entrepreneurs here or draw our young entrepreneurs here.

It’s a little of a chicken and an egg situation, but in order to support this night life that we all crave, we need to make sure that we have the folks that can support the new business and the new private businesses that are out there. People keep closing down for a combination of reasons and I will say, as a private business owner, I have done my best and will continue to do what I can to ease the burden on small businesses. Because that’s how you’re going to grow this economy, one small business at a time, one self-employed artist or designers who employs a few more folks. …The story should be that at City Hall, we are open for business in Santa Fe.

Dimas: I really don’t have an answer. I’ve been playing in clubs forever, but the problem is not so much what we’re going to do, the problem is that since the DWI laws have become so stringent, a lot of young people are afraid to go out into the clubs and we don’t have that much public transportation, not even a taxi [business] anymore. Also, Casinos have taken over the nightlife in Santa Fe. A lot of eateries and restaurants are hurting in that regard.

Gonzales:  I think it’s three areas. One, it has to start with jobs. There have to be jobs available to the younger generations. I’ve said consistently I want to create a pathway up in Santa Fe, not a pathway out for younger people, and I think a lot of young people in Santa Fe feel like there’s not a place for them to work and live. So, we really need to be very focused on how we address those issues like creating jobs that are exciting and relevant to what they’re learning and where they want to be. Again I go to film and technology, those are the areas where we have to be proactive in delivering work force housing so that younger people have access to affordable homes or even rental units. I’m a big believer in looking at micro-housing, delivering affordable rental space for young artists. I think if we can have the jobs and the housing, the night time economy will follow. I’s very difficult to reverse and start with the night time economy and think that people are going to come in. Unless you have jobs and a place to live, it’s very hard.

It starts with those steps so we can sustain it. I think the city can take on a more proactive role in reviving different types of art that attract young people…I think we need to look at ways we’re able to look at the new generations of DJs that are out there, attracting really fun and young crowds and making sure they’re good venues. Looking at the Railyard as an arts district. I think through those components, it’s all about creating that vibe, that energy, that people feel connected to the town.

JM: What role do you envision for Santa Fe in the growing film industry?

Bushee: We should continue to bring in revenue to support our independent filmmakers and independent film festivals. When we first started under [Gov. Bill] Richardson, really infusing new incentives and new revenue streams into the film world, it was great because…we were no longer limited to the Westerns, the Cowboy and Indian films of the days passed. So it was very exciting to see the studios get built and get busy along with new TV series, but you know what was most important for me was to get our crews trained up. I was disappointed to see today in the Albuquerque Journal that we are no longer considered one of the top 10 filmmaking areas in New Mexico. Other communities pour new incentives and this governor hasn’t been as kind as our previous governor in terms of helping the industry get off the ground. What I will say is I think we’ve trained some first-rate and first-class crews. What your university has been successful [at] in the past, and I think in the future will be as well, is helping us train some of the above-the-line professionals, and I would love to see that grow even more. The production assistants and the carpenters and the emergency crew jobs have been fabulous. I really want to see more folks be able to direct, camera operating, gaffers…I want to really see us succeed. I know [SFUAD Film School Chair] Chris Eyre is well known and a very creative professional and I know he will lead you well. For a small college, even when it was the College of Santa Fe, you had a great reputation, and still do to this day, for creating some very talented above-the-line professionals. I’m very excited to work with SFUAD to continue that tradition.

Dimas: I think the film industry has a lot of potential, especially economic potential. The more training the better.

Gonzales: I’ve said that I believe Santa Fe needs to become a leader in the independent film economy. I believe we have the elements to do that but we need the city to bring it all together, and also to take a proactive role in promoting and marketing on a global scale. I believe we have incredibly talented artists in Santa Fe that can write and produce quality independent films and the key to growing the number of younger people in our town is to have a film economy that’s available to everybody, whether you’re a producer whether you’re a grip operator, this is a town that will have film where you can work. To be able to truly have an independent film economy, we need to have a work force that includes everybody from producers to directors. Of course artists, actors, but also the folks on the ground—grip operators, camera operators—we need a post-editing economy so we can complete our films here.

The way we’ll get there is building on what we have today. We have studio space that’s attracting lots of different scales of production. We need to develop post-production film editing companies in Santa Fe; some of that is through attracting companies from Hollywood, but a lot of it is through trying to grow with the work force of film editing companies. I think those are the two areas where we can have a really quick impact on the economy. Then we work with institutes like SFUAD to deliver above-the-line talent. Until those people live in Santa Fe and belong to our community, it’s going to be very difficult to have a full-scale film economy here.

JM: Do you personally enjoy a particular art? i.e. movies? art galleries, performances, etc.

Bushee: I tend toward liking contemporary art over traditional art and that includes jewelry; I’m a collector. A lot of my friends are artists and a lot of my friends are musicians so yes, I’m a fan of the amazing creative people we have in this community. It makes my heart sing when I can support a local artist and have and hold some of these great creations in my life. It kind of comes from my background as a designer—I’m a landscape designer—I’ve worked over the years with a lot of creative people, architects and designers and it’s just thrilling to see the selection of creative people we have in this community. These folks are my friends, of course I want to do whatever I can to support their growth.

Dimas: [Had to get off the phone before answering].

Gonzales: Why I love art in Santa Fe for me personally is because I think it…it makes me happy. It enhances my own quality of life. I think for many people in our community it plays that role. I unfortunately did not get a lot of artistic talent, but gosh I sure enjoy it. Whether it’s walking down Canyon Road with my kids, going to a live performance, going to the latest shows, I think that art enhances our quality of life. For me, personally, it makes me very happy to be able to go and see it and experience it. And that’s really what I want for all Santa Feans. I do think that we need to look at ways of adding funding to promote what’s happening in Santa Fe to locals so they know what’s going on.

My message to the students at SFUAD is thank you for being a part of this community. I want to be mayor because I want there to be a pathway to jobs in this town that are exciting and relevant and again I’m certainly counting on students at SFUAD to take Santa Fe to the next level when it comes to arts and culture. I believe that they have the talent to make that happen.