Compromise on Plaza artisans
Council OKs minor changes to program; system will still give boost to reapplying vendors but at lower rate
Santa Fe’s long-running Plaza artisan program will undergo some changes following the City Council’s approval Wednesday night of an overhauled system of selecting vendors to sell their wares in reserved spaces on the iconic city center — a regular draw for shoppers seeking handcrafted jewelry and other goods.
The proposal, which passed on a 7-1 vote, included a compromise struck with longtime vendors who had raised fears about an initial version of the measure, saying it exposed them to a big risk of losing their spaces — and their livelihoods — to newcomers.
Among the most contentious adjustments to the vendor program in the ordinance — sponsored by Councilors Signe Lindell and Renee Villarreal, who represent the downtown area — was a proposed change to the scoring system for evaluating artisans seeking one of the 19 Plaza licenses available. While the old scoring system gave extra percentage points to artists who have participated in the program in years past, the proposal would have drastically reduced the boost to longtimers.
Some of the program’s most passionate and longest-tenured participants became
frustrated, voicing strident opposition at community meetings and a recent Finance Committee hearing.
As a result, said Sevastian Gurule, the city’s constituents services director, the city decided it would bring back accumulating bonuses for reapplying vendors but at a lower rate.
The amendment was a “good, heartfelt effort to try to resolve and find a balance for the needs of this program going forward,” Gurule said.
The old bonus system disadvantaged new applicants, Gurule said. But those who benefited from the bonuses said they had been earned fair and square and that the added points were compensation for the vendors’ service as ambassadors to city visitors.
Councilor Ron Trujillo agreed. Some of them have “spent years, day in and day out, providing goods to touristas, the locals,” he said. “They’ve shown commitment. To me, if you’re committed to something, there should be something that says, ‘We acknowledge that.’ ”
Citing a number of meetings with artisans, Lindell said, “The motivation was to make [the program] better. We never said it would be perfection. But we worked to make this better.”
Only Councilor Peter Ives voted against the measure.
The Plaza artisan program offers 11 individual vending licenses, each of which comes with its own reserved space. Six of the licenses, under the ordinance, are for rotating vendors, who share three spaces. Two other licenses are for artist collectives, which get one space each.
In the past, an applicant for an individual or rotating license received a 5 percent boost to their evaluation score for each year the artist had held such a license, though the bonus was capped at 50 percent. Those who held a rotating license and wanted an individual license received a 2.5 percent bonus for each year, up to 15 percent.
Initially, the proposed ordinance would have cut the accumulated yearly bonuses in place of a single static point benefit.
Under the compromise, the new system will grant a higher percentage boost for each year a reapplying vendor held a license in the previous license term but will cap the total possible bonus allowances at a lower number.
Other changes include a requirement that applicants submit a letter of good standing from the state Taxation and Revenue Department and sign a statement declaring under penalty of perjury that their art or craft is their own work or the work of an immediate family member or spouse.