Here’s how the city can improve in 2024

Here are several New Year’s resolutions I would like to see Mayor Alan Webber and City Council members make for 2024.

◆ Make significant progress on restoring the Plaza as the center of our wonderful city. Virtually nothing has happened to move this toward a resolution in the last three years. Start by making this a standing agenda item for the council at each meeting, perhaps under city manager reports. If it is faced with addressing this issue at every meeting, perhaps something will actually get done. Start by determining who owns/ controls the monument and what effect/involvement the federal government must have since the Plaza is on the National Register of Historic Places. Set a goal of having all issues resolved and a plan in place by the fourth anniversary of the destruction of the monument on Indigenous Peoples Day in October.

◆ Fix the parking meters downtown. Every time I go downtown and try to find street parking, the majority of meters at empty spaces are still broken. This has been going on for years. Fix, replace or remove the meters now. This is another major irritation for locals and tourists alike that can be quickly resolved if it is made a priority, which clearly for the past year plus, it has not.

◆ Take definitive action to set a plan in motion to replace our 60-year-old sewer plant. This plant has clearly reached the end of its useful life. For each of the eight years I have lived here, the plant has had one or more significant operational failures. However, instead of recognizing the significant potential this piece of infrastructure has to cause a major disruption to our entire city, one Band-Aid after another has been applied to the plant to get it operating again. It will take years and millions of dollars to properly address this major problem.

◆ Improve getting around town. A year or two ago, an initiative was adopted by the City Council to diversify the transportation system in our city to reduce the dependence on the automobile. Little to nothing significant has been done to set this in motion. Is any department even assigned to look at how this could be implemented? Is any department undertaking a mapping of locations along major roadways where there are significant gaps in the sidewalk system, where required ADA ramps are missing at intersections, and where crosswalk striping has long ago been worn off ? Making it easier for pedestrians to move around our city without having to walk in the street or through the weeds where sidewalks are missing would be a great and relatively inexpensive start on reducing automobile dependence.

◆ Get serious about affordable housing. Passing the mansion tax was a good step in the right direction, assuming the selfish interests of the Santa Fe Association of Realtors don’t derail it. If the city is going to keep the feein-lieu option for developers of market-rate apartments, at least increase the contribution from 15% to 20%. That shows the city is serious about raising income to solve this problem. Keep contributing from the general fund to supplement the new revenue stream from the mansion tax in the Affordable Housing Trust Fund. Finally, beef up city staff. We need enough people to ensure additional housing is built and to enforce affordable housing agreements in place.

There are many more issues on which the mayor and City Council can and must do a better job than they have been doing for residents and visitors alike. However, if significant progress can be made on the issues identified above, then 2024 will be a better year indeed for Santa Fe.