School board member Garcia hoping to have double duty
County Commission Democratic primary winner wants to stay on if he defeats Anaya in November
Rudy Garcia, fresh off a victory in a primary election, will be under the gun this fall.
The Democratic nominee for an open seat on the Santa Fe County Board of Commissioners, Garcia will be seeking votes in the southern county district and working to fend off Mike Anaya, a former commissioner who’s running as an independent.
A new member of the Santa Fe school board, Garcia also will be in the middle of various pressing complications in that role, including possible closures of midtown elementary schools and what to do about crowded south-side campuses. If Garcia in November, wins the he’ll county likely election face a decision about his commitment to the school district, one that could leave the five-member school board — which has of late been challenged by turnover and illness — in the lurch.
Garcia, 47, on Wednesday reiterated his campaign line: He would like serve on both boards. He said he wants to confer with his school board colleagues before committing to any plan.
“I don’t want to leave them there with only two or three board members,” Garcia said. “I want to sit down with them, say, ‘Look, guys, here’s where I’m at, what do you guys suggest? What do you want to do?’ ”
There could be a problem of timing. Both boards meet Tuesdays. The county commissioners generally meet on the second and last Tuesdays of the month, and the school board on the first and third Tuesdays. But there are times when board meetings overlap.
“I imagine it can be doable if Mr. Garcia is willing to leave a county commission meeting early to attend our meeting,” said Steven Carrillo, the school board president. “It’s just going to be a decision Rudy has to make. I think it would be challenging to do both, but Rudy is very hardworking and intelligent, and if anyone could
do it, it would be Rudy.”
Commissioner Anna Hansen, who chairs the county board, echoed that it would be a tall order to do both jobs at once.
Carrillo said he did not believe Garcia’s pursuit of the county office would necessarily hurt the school board.
“The board is very capable, even one down,” he said, referring to board member Lorraine Price.
Price has been ill for some time and has missed many meetings. She did, however, attend this week’s meeting.
“But for me, personally, it’s always a little disconcerting when people are constantly running for higher office,” Carrillo added. “It may not be as important when you’re looking at the statehouse, and you have 50 or 60 other people you can tap into. On a school board, longevity is key.”
Former board member Linda Trujillo won a seat in the state House of Representatives in 2016. She remained in her school board position for almost an entire calendar year. Garcia in December was appointed to fill the vacancy she left.
Board member Kate Noble ran for mayor earlier this year.
She finished third in the field of five.
Now Garcia is hoping to make the leap to a county office, and it’s likely he’ll face questions in the campaign, as Noble did, about trying to jump from one political job to another so quickly.
“I’m still just sort of processing [Tuesday’s primary] result, still trying to determine what Mike Anaya is going to do, and then I’ll go from there,” said Garcia, a La Cienega resident who is the legislative liaison in the county manager’s office.
“I’m eligible for retirement at the county,” he added. “I have to figure out what I want to do next. To be honest with you, I haven’t really put any thought into it.”
Garcia, when he was appointed to Trujillo’s seat, said he would serve the remainder of her term and then stand for election in February 2019.
But the Local Election Act, signed into law by Gov. Susana Martinez this year, reschedules local elections in odd-numbered years, such as for school board seats, to November.
This means Garcia’s abbreviated term would be extended, and he would have more time to decide whether to run for election to the school board.
“My dream has always been to be a county commissioner,” Garcia said.
“I know how [the county] runs, how things work. I can hit the road running there. When the opening came on the school board, I wanted to make sure there was somebody there who had some experience with the school board. Unfortunately, or fortunately for me, only two people applied. I stepped up to the plate.”