Vote your values
Taos residents will soon have the opportunity to vote for a mayor and two council members. Those we elect will have a majority influence on the town’s priorities for the next four years. Multiple candidates are running for each office, and we each must think carefully about which are most likely to act in accordance with our hopes for our hometown. Every eligible voter has their own view of how Taos should continue into the future of pandemics, global warming, supply chain interruptions, inflation and a host of other uncertainties. How do we determine which candidate for mayor is most in sync with our own values and vision? Here is how I answer that question for myself:
One of the four certified candidates for mayor states on his website that he is not serious about winning. In my opinion, that narrows the field to three. The incumbent, on the other hand, apparently feels secure enough in his public record that a print ad highlighting his pandemic response is all I have seen about his reelection effort. But a few years ago, my neighborhood came together to protest an unpublicized deal to turn Couse Pasture into a parking lot for a mega market. And last summer many were surprised by an indefensible plan to extend incumbents’ terms for 22 months without holding an election. I have to question whether the mayor is in sync with my hopes for Taos.
As I review campaign websites for the other two mayoral candidates, I look for evidence of values, priorities and qualifications for the job. I regret that the only woman on the slate was, by her own admission, too impatient to run first for Taos town council, where she could have learned the ropes. More important, voters could have become acquainted with her views and abilities. Reading her website, I discover she may not fully understand the mayor’s job or be reluctant to address an essential component. She describes the duties of the office as setting the agenda for and presiding over council meetings, voting to break ties on the council and acting as the head of town government for ceremonial purposes. Though she alludes to an executive branch, she does not specify that the mayor also hires, fires and supervises the town manager. In Taos’s council-manager form of government, the mayor is the link between the electorate and staff that directs day-to-day decisions of the government, including contracts and budgets.
In contrast to the others, Pascualito Maestas has served on the town council for four years and consistently voted in accord with my views and hopes for this community, giving priority to the concerns of those who live here. During a recent Zoom town hall,
I was impressed by his confidence, knowledge and vision as he responded impromptu to audience questions. His website MaestasforMayor.com is clear, focused and informative. I look forward to hearing more from him in the upcoming candidate forums sponsored by the Taos News and by La Coalición de Taos.
Mail-in voting starts February 1. Election Day is March 1. We must register to vote. In the last municipal election fewer than 20 percent of registered voters made the choice on behalf of the rest. Are you willing for a handful of others to make this important decision without your participation?