City Council candidates brave a forum spotlight.
Football, holiday bills, taxes-we know you're busy. With that in mind, SFR took the time to handicap the performances of candidates in the District 1 and District 4 City Council races (scoring in five categories on a scale of 1-5) at a Jan. 19 forum sponsored by Voices of Santa Fe and held at the Eldorado Hotel, so you wouldn't have to.***image1***
District 1
Candidate: Sandra Aguilar
Occupation
: Owner, Aguilar Design.
Fashion Statement
: I'm not going to bother dressing up for a pageant, but I didn't get this design degree for nothing either. (
3
)
Substance
: Aguilar struck chords with her candor and when she discussed herself as a product of a nurturing, single-parent household, at least until those soliloquies came close to walking-uphill-both-ways-in-snow-to-school territory. She also talked of her experience as the city's former Planning and Land Use director in framing her platform but often wandered away from specifics into the abyss of generalities. (
3
)
Eloquence/Presence
: Aguilar added some levity to the proceedings as the politically incorrect candidate, but while she said she was a "doer," she got too bogged down in theoretical statements and her own biography to define what exactly she would get done as a councilor. (
3
)
X Factor
: Bullshit. Or the lack thereof. Aguilar eschewed political posturing for straight-shooting. But she still failed to cut into the meat of the issues and how she would devour them. (
3
)
Quotable
: On water and population growth: "These are not numbers, these are not houses, these are people." (
3
)
Score
:
15
Candidate: Christopher Calvert
Occupation
: Postal Service letter-carrier.
Fashion Statement
: I'm an older, bearded and more mild-mannered replica of Irish actor Cillian Murphy. (
3
)
Substance
: He succeeded in subtly playing up his knowledge of water, development and transportation issues while downplaying his relative political inexperience. (
4
)
Eloquence/Presence
: Articulate. Calvert explained his interpretation of the issues and his positions on them with ease. And while he wasn't in danger of setting the charisma meter on fire, he was affable enough to delineate his points without seeming like a political drone. (
3
)
X Factor
: Nirvana. No, Calvert didn't break out an a cappella version of "Smells Like Teen Spirit," but he did stay focused on the issues while exuding a Buddha-like calm. (
4
)
Quotable
: On development: "I am neither pro-development or anti-development per se…I think development can either be part of the solution or part of the problem." (
3
)
Score: 17
Candidate: Eric Lujan
Occupation
: NMDOT civil engineer technician.
Fashion Statement
: I leafed through a copy of GQ on my way to the Kappa Sigma social. (
4
)
Substance
: Self-defeating. Lujan played the "born and raised in Santa Fe" card a little too heavy for a city filled with transplants. He also tried a little too hard to sound like a politician instead of cordially letting his experience (state government, Planning Commission) and ideas (water conservation, development permits) do the talking. (
3
)
Eloquence/Presence
: Scripted. Lujan made his ideas and issues clear, but largely resorted to regurgitating bullet points. He even slipped a (groan) "we the people" into his closing statement, which he delivered more to the public access television cameras in the back of the room than to the sparse audience actually sitting there. (
2
)
X Factor
: Honesty. Lujan's crimson face seemed on the verge of combustion throughout the forum due either to nerves or his tie being cinched too tight. He was really put under the microscope when an audience question asked if any of the candidates had ever been arrested. Lujan answered gracefully and truthfully without divulging gritty details. (
4
)
Quotable
: On the Northwest Quadrant project: "I don't want to see this turn into another Tierra Contenta where everything is put in backwards." (
3
)
Score: 16
District 4
Candidate: Ronald Steven Trujillo
Occupation
: NMDOT management analyst.
Fashion Statement
: I'm wearing my weddings-and-funerals suit, but I'm not sure yet which of those occasions more aptly describes my appearance at this forum. (
3
)
Substance
: Spotty. Trujillo exhibited a reasonable grasp of city politics and offered intriguing solutions (retrofitting the city's parks with artificial turf to save water) to the city's problems. But while he stood out for challenging the status quo, he was either too polite or too timid to launch full-out assaults. (
3
)
Eloquence/Presence
: Likeable. Trujillo was clearly nervous about his first foray into politics, but his amiable nature and seemingly genuine concern for issues propped up his public speaking jitters. But while he succeeded at tackling specific issues, he often resorted to generic statements like "We don't have enough water" to explain his position on them. (
3
)
X Factor
: The importance of being earnest. Trujillo knows it's going to take a Herculean effort to unseat Robertson Lopez and his inexperience isn't going to do it. But what he lacked in experience he made up with passion and fresh-out-of-the-oven ideas. (
5
)
Quotable
: On mixing up the status quo: "Sometimes I consider District 4 to be the forgotten district…if you believe in change, I'll sure try to do it." (
2
)
Score: 16
Candidate: Carol Robertson Lopez
Occupation
: City councilor.
Fashion Statement
: I could do this in my sleep, but for posterity's sake I'll pretend I wear black turtlenecks and turquoise jewelry to bed. (
3
)
Substance
: Experience. Robertson Lopez' lengthy résumé (mayor pro-tem, city councilor, chair of the city's Finance and Public Safety Committees, etc.) was colossal compared to the relative novices seated beside her. But she wasn't content to rest on her laurels. She addressed questions head-on and didn't shy away from self-criticism, giving the city a "D" for its inter-government relations with the county. (
5
)
Eloquence/Presence
: Savvy. Robertson Lopez was able to touch-and-go on a wide range of issues from affordable housing to senior citizens without breaking stride or, seemingly, a sweat. (
4
)
X Factor
: Coffee. While everyone in the forum was lamenting Santa Fe's water woes, the incumbent was the only one to forsake agua for a cup of Joe. The caffeine injection also underscored how comfortable Robertson Lopez was on a public stage compared to the likes of Lujan and Trujillo. (
4
)
Quotable
: On why she's running: "I love Santa Fe and care deeply about its future which is why I'm running for re-election." (
2
)
Score: 18
