Oswald hosts virtual town hall
Town of Taos mayoral candidate Genevieve Oswald held a virtual town hall Jan. 25 to discuss her platform and take questions from the public.
Oswald is the second mayoral candidate to hold a town hall, following other candidate, Pascual Maestas, who has had two thus far. Oswald held hers the day after a forum for the mayoral candidates hosted by the Taos News and Taos County Chamber of Commerce.
Oswald’s town hall was broadcast via Zoom and was moderated by Golden Willow Counseling founder Ted Wiard. “It was an honor that I was asked, and as I told Genevieve I work very hard to stay out of politics,” Wiard said.
He said he knew Oswald since she was a child “running around the plaza,” attending Taos Public Schools and always “stopping to listen to people.”
The town hall opened with an endorsement from Erin Sanborn, a business and organization development manager for Kit Carson Electric Cooperative. Sanborn, who has held many different professional
hats in Taos including being a business owner, sustainability advocate, grant writer and more, said that she has very high standards in terms of work ethic and that Oswald “meets those standards.”
Oswald has been involved in community and youth theater in Taos, as well as being a manager at the World Cup Cafe, a preschool teacher, founded a yoga studio and currently owns and operates Clean Taos, an eco-friendly laundry business. She is also a co-founder and former board member of Taos MainStreet, a nonprofit aimed at preserving and revitalizing the historic downtown district.
When asked what prompted her to run for mayor, Oswald said she was inspired to enter the race after witnessing a homeless person defecate in a parking lot near her home. She became upset that public restrooms were closed during the initial months of the pandemic and felt the existing town administration was failing in some of its most basic responsibilities.
“And I was so saddened, I was so saddened that we as a community had not done anything to provide people who had less than even a home, a place to relieve themselves with dignity,” said Oswald.
The town, according to Oswald, stated the reason was because the town’s revenue was down about 20 percent and couldn’t afford to keep the facilities running. She looked at New Mexico’s Tax and Revenue website and found that information differed and that “the budget might’ve been reduced” but revenue had not.
“I did a little bit of adding, and no, our budget might have been reduced 23 percent, but our revenues were not. So I had a few complaints… I was upset that my councilmen had all parroted information to me that they had not actually fact checked. I was upset that my organization who really wants to do more for our community had been hamstrung by the [town] manager with these ridiculous requests to provide services that the town should provide. And I was upset that people in my community who didn’t have a home had to use the restroom in public,” said Oswald.
She felt no one had the “values and priorities” she believed the community deserved.
If elected, Oswald said she would raise wages for town employees, reopen a detox center in Taos, support the Rio Fernando revitalization project and start an ongoing community discussion around developments in and outside of the Taos Historic District.
To help offset the costs of these proposals she explained she’ll use excise tax from marijuana sales.
She said she would also like to return to in-person town meetings and possibly have people that live outside the town boundaries participate in town politics by county residents joining citizen commissions and boards. She said the state dictates where people can vote and that expansion of voting rights comes at the state level.
Oswald ended the town hall thanking everyone who joined over Zoom for taking the time and briefly summarized her platform.
“I’m for a livable wage ordinance and a carbon neutral pledge, real solutions to affordable housing, investments in infrastructure and public safety, investments in recreational facilities and opportunities for our youth ... And I’m also for supporting senior citizens, and giving them the kind of services that they may need that we are not paying attention to,” said Oswald.
‘I’m for a livable wage ordinance and a carbon neutral pledge, real solutions to affordable housing, investments in infrastructure and public safety, investments in recreational facilities and opportunities for our youth.’
GENEVIEVE OSWALD
Town of Taos mayoral candidate