BACK TO BASICS
Mayor’s race may wind up hinging on weeds and trash, not murals and monuments
Santa Fe’s War on Weeds may eventually serve as the prelude to the upcoming Battle for the Mayor’s Office.
Though cultural controversies have dominated the political discussion early in the mayoral campaign, at least one longtime observer said Santa Fe’s three candidates would be wise to remember meat-and-potatoes issues — which for many residents come down to basic city services, like whacking weeds on city roadsides — also draw voters.
As the push to the Nov. 2 election accelerates, former Mayor Sam Pick said the candidates — incumbent Mayor Alan Webber, City Councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler and former congressional candidate Alexis Martinez Johnson — would be well-served to remember the basics.
“I try to lecture anyone who listens — that is obviously very few people — the job is supposed to be a civic job, remember that,” said Pick. “It has nothing to do with partisanship. It only has to do with picking up the trash, making sure the police show up and making sure the town is clean and promoting what’s best about your city.”
In recent months, Webber’s administration has seemed particularly sensitive
to that call, with the city issuing news releases about its work on filling potholes, combating speeders on city streets, and on Wednesday, cutting the weeds.
The city’s blitz against weeds, concentrated near some of its most visible thoroughfares, will take place over three weeks.
In a news release, Melissa McDonald, acting Parks Division Director, said the city also will dig up elms, classified by the state Department of Agriculture as a noxious weed. They will be replaced by native pollinators.
It likely won’t be an easy fight: A robust monsoon has made it easy for weeds to sprout at almost every turn. And if recent history serves, with the weeds come the complaints.
For his part, Webber said he believes municipal elections are about accomplishments — and how those accomplishments relate to basic and fundamental city services.
“If you ask people what is the role of the local government, with or without an election year, it’s just take care of the basics,” he said.
But Vigil Coppler, seen by many as Webber’s main rival in the race, said she feels attending to those basic services has taken a back seat and is only being highlighted now because it’s an election year.
She noted unfilled city positions, including in the city’s Parks Department, as evidence.
“These are election ploys,” Vigil Coppler said. “I have been talking about our youth for some time. I have talked about our streets, our tennis courts, our fields, our parks and how they have been important to us.
“I grew up on these fields, I know this city,” she added. “I know where we were when the parks were a priority; the weeds were a priority.”
Martinez Johnson could not be reached for comment.
Weeds won’t be the only basics that matter in the months and years to come, of course.
Some observers say the winner in the November election also will have to deal with the lingering issue of the midtown campus, other infrastructure issues, financial planning and the realities of COVID-19 on daily city life.
Pick said he believes while controversial issues such as the toppling of the Soldier’s Monument in the Plaza and the creation of the Culture, History, Art, Reconciliation and Truth process have dominated the discussion in the year leading up to the election, many voters are swayed by more elemental concerns.
“Most of the citizens just want to be safe, and they want to live in a clean community,” he said.