Executive officer planning to step down after decade
Shanahan says he wants to return to working in carpentry, contracting
Kim Shanahan, longtime executive officer of the Santa Fe Area Home Builders Association, announced Tuesday that he is stepping down so he can return to working in the building industry.
The association’s board is seeking a replacement to take over by the end of the year, he said.
Shanahan, 62, moved to Santa Fe 32 years ago from Boston. He has served as the executive officer of the association for 10 years, starting in 2008 when the Great Recession forced him out of the building industry. Now, he said, he wants to get back into carpentry and contracting.
“I’m ready to move on and move back,” he said. “I have a voice that’s pretty unique to Santa Fe that I will continue to raise.”
In recent years, Shanahan has spoken on behalf of the need for affordable housing for the city’s workforce and has been an advocate for immigrant workers in the area’s building industry. In an opinion piece published in The New Mexican in September 2017, Shanahan touted the work of the foreign-born “highly skilled craftsmen” who build some of the finest homes in the city.
While he isn’t sure of his next steps, Shanahan said he’s looking to get involved in building multifamily homes.
“I’m going to stay in the game for sure,” he said.
Although Shanahan came from a building background, he said experience in organizational management could be a big asset for the association’s next executive officer. He expects multifamily and affordable housing to be among the most important issues.
“Someone who comes in with political rigidity will fail,” Shanahan said. “You have to be able to bend.”
When he took the job, Shanahan said, the community’s view of the association’s board was negative, but he has worked to alter that.
“Our legacy, not just mine but others, was to change our public perception,” he said. “I’m pretty proud of that.”
Jack Hiatt, the general counsel for the association,
said Shanahan has navigated the challenges in Santa Fe well and has helped shape the association into something great.
“We do a lot of things that are ahead of other HBAs and I think that Kim’s been the leader in that,” Hiatt said.
Hiatt said it wasn’t a surprise that Shanahan announced his retirement.
“He’s prepared us for some time,” Hiatt said. “We’re ready for new blood and new ideas.”
Shanahan will continue to be involved in the association as a board member and said he hopes to see the next executive officer continue the association’s mission to represent the homebuilding industry and advocate for its members.
“It takes a keen eye and sensitive heart to deal with the complexities,” he said.