Mayor Coss announces he won’t seek 3rd term
Longtime public official says it was a ‘difficult decision’
Mayor David Coss said Thursday he doesn’t plan to seek a third term as Santa Fe’s top elected official.
“It was a difficult decision. This is the greatest town, city in the country and being mayor is the highest honor professionally I’ve had in my entire life and I don’t expect to ever top that,” Coss said.
He said it was a difficult decision and one he gave a lot of thought to, conferring with his wife, Carol Rose, in particular. Ultimately, “we just decided that there were things we would like to do together that we can’t do while I’m mayor,” like travel and spend more time with family and friends, he said.
His term expires in March 2014. He said it’s “definitely a possibility” that he could run for public office in the future and noted that he’s always wanted to be part of the New Mexico Legislature.
“You never say never but right now I just want to be with my family,” Coss, 57, said.
Coss was elected mayor in 2006 and won a second term by a solid margin in 2010, setting city election fundraising
records in the process. He also served four years as a city councilor for District 3.
Coss was less lucky when he stepped outside city politics. In 2012, he lost the Democratic nomination for the open New Mexico House of Representatives seat held by now-deceased House Speaker Ben Lujan of Nambé. Coss lost to Carl Trujillo, a businessman and Los Alamos National Laboratory employee who was a relative political newcomer, in a bitterly contested race.
Coss first announced his decision not to run again for mayor Thursday morning on Hutton Broadcasting’s Julia Goldberg Morning Show. He opened the door for a number of potential mayoral candidates, including several city councilors.
Prospects include Councilors Patti Bushee and Bill Dimas, both of whom said Thursday that they’re seriously considering a run for the mayor.
“I am interested in continuing to pursue some of the same kinds of issues (as Coss) and I would love to see the economy turn around and I feel I bring a formidable amount of experience to the table,” Bushee said.
Bushee said she wouldn’t have considered running if Coss wasn’t stepping aside. She added that she’ll now be reflecting on the possibility with her partner.
Dimas said he’s had numerous people approach him over the past few months about running for mayor.
“I appreciate that, the calls and encouragement and support, but it’s a tough decision and it’s something I need to seriously discuss with my family,” Dimas said.
At least two other councilors, Rebecca Wurzburger and Carmichael Dominguez, are considered likely candidates, but neither returned phone calls from the Journal on Thursday.
For now, Coss said he won’t be throwing his support behind any mayoral contender.
Especially “if there is more than one city councilor running I think people would be better served by me trying to finish up my work ... and not making my office and myself part of the politics of the next mayoral election, at least when it comes to members of the governing body,” he said.
Coss noted that he still has to work with the entire City Council. Coss said Thursday that he’s perhaps most proud that during his tenure, Santa Fe has made a half-billion dollar investment in local infrastructure like the new convention center, the Buckman Direct Diversion on the Rio Grande, trails and fire stations.
He also noted accomplishments such as his work on Santa Fe’s living wage — including brokering a deal with business leaders that allows the minimum wage to increase annually based on cost-of-living increases — restoring water f low to the Santa Fe River and saving the old College of Santa Fe campus through transactions that brought in the Santa Fe University of Art and Design. He added that none of those things was his work alone.
Most recently, Coss made headlines with his sponsorship of a city resolution declaring gay marriage legal in New Mexico and urging county clerks to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. One recent defeat for Coss was the council’s repeal of an ordinance he sponsored requiring contractors on major city projects to use union labor.
No burnout
Coss said he wouldn’t describe himself as burned out on the job “but I would describe myself as aware of how old I am and what I’d like to do personally with myself and my wife and can’t do while I’m mayor.”
During his professional career, Coss was employed by the city of Santa Fe as city manager and public works director. He also spent 12 years at the state’s Environment Department, eventually rising to director of the Environmental Improvement Division, and 10 years at the State Land Office. Coss also worked for several years as a union organizer.
He was born in Illinois but moved with his family to Santa Fe at the age of 4. He has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture from New Mexico State University and a master’s degree in zoology from Southern Illinois University.