Get to root of sugar epidemic first

As with many Santa Feans, I’ve given a great deal of thought to Mayor Javier Gonzales’ proposed sugary-drinks tax to fund pre-K initiatives.

By way of full disclosure, I am the general manager of Inn of the Governors and Del Charro. I am also the current president of the Greater Santa Fe Restaurant Association. I have two adult children and now a 6-year-old stepson. I am the son of a nutritionist who worked with impoverished parents in Idaho to educate them on health issues. Because of these roles, I have given a great deal of thought to this situation — a lot of thought on how to balance the bold and wonderful idea of a city-funded pre-K plan with my concerns about the unintended fiscal consequences of this proposal.

I don’t think anyone questions the need for pre-K. I don’t think anyone disagrees with promoting healthier drink and diet choices to reduce the alarming rate of childhood obesity, diabetes and obesity in general. As president of the Greater Santa Fe Restaurant Association, I have asked, via email and personal visits, what our members think. Though our association’s members have different perspectives on the funding source, everyone supports the mayor in finding a way to assist those in need. Hospitality and restaurant businesses stand to gain profound dividends from a better-educated, healthy, hopeful workforce. Questioning the funding source and employment impact and providing affordable pre-K are not mutually exclusive ideas.

This is why I implore the mayor and City Council to slow this down and bring all the stakeholders together as a unified group working to find the solution. I feel the rush to do this is adding to the divisive manner with which our community is approaching this issue. I also feel that the national precedents we’re seeing in Philadelphia and Boulder, Colo., are fledgling at best and cannot accurately depict the long-term positive and negative impacts. There are many unanswered questions still and an ongoing discussion of different “carve outs” and compromises to the ordinance that could impact the financial viability of the program, which is the last thing our community wants and needs.

I ask that Mayor Gonzales take his initiative one step further and ask, “Why not answer the pre-K needs and improve diet and nutritional awareness?” instead of hoping that we somehow maintain the funding for pre-K if we also see a decline in soda sales. What if by taking a little more time up front, our entire community of leaders can come up with a manner to fund both pre-K and nutritional awareness in schools and after-school care that promotes physical activity? Ideally, we need to get to the root of the sugar “epidemic” versus funding a program off of the symptom.

Imagine if the impassioned educators, child care providers and parents could sit at the same table as Santa Fe’s successful business leaders and combine both skill sets to create a solution that is clear, detailed and long-term. Imagine finding a way to create a funding source that can tackle both needs without compromising either. Imagine finding a solution that will last long past the terms of our current governing officials.

I imagine it coming from a deep breath and a deep commitment to reboot the tone and pace of this conversation. I imagine our city modeling a collective spirit versus the examples being set in our own national government and other municipalities. I imagine these things because we are Santa Fe, and because we do things differently around here.