Elsa-Lopez / Courtesy www.pilarforcitycouncil.com
As a Dec. 29 municipal inauguration ceremony draws nearer, two new city councilors say they are looking forward to working with the City of Santa Fe’s money as well as tackling policies for emergency planning, public safety and other topics.
Alma Castro and Pilar Faulkner, joining City Council for Districts 1 and 3 respectively, have spent quite a bit of time around City Hall since their elections on Nov. 7. Both attended the annual legislative breakfast Dec. 12, and both met with Mayor Alan Webber the same week. Later, Castro attended the final council meeting of the year, while Faulkner made an appearance at an Ethics and Campaign Review Board meeting to respond to a now-dismissed complaint against her, as well as to argue her own against an anonymous online critic.
Now, each incoming councilor tells SFR the city’s Finance Committee is at the top of her assignment wishlist. The Café Castro owner, who snagged her seat in a four-way race with 52.3% of the vote in the third round of ranked choice voting, says she doesn’t “have high hopes” that Webber will put her on the five-member committee because other councilors want the post. However, she adds she’s also interested in public safety and water policy, especially in light of ongoing problems with the city’s sewage treatment.
“We may be getting a new water reclamation and water treatment plant,” Castro says, noting she learned more about the potential fixes to the system at the legislative breakfast. “It’s not a sexy thing, but it’s super important not only now, but for generations to come.”
Looking more specifically at her own district, which covers the city’s north side and a portion of the west side, Castro says the infrastructure is “fraying at the seams,” especially roads. She’s also interested in seeing what can be done to promote increased fire prevention.
“I actually talked to the fire marshal about some of his comments [at the latest City Council meeting] and are we able to get access? What does an open space mean when it’s privately owned, and what does it look like to maintain? These days, we don’t want fires,” Castro says. “So that’s a big priority for our district. I hate to say something negative, but we need a fire evacuation plan for the north side of the city and it seems like even on my side of the city over on West Alameda, we need a little bit of a fire plan update.”
Meanwhile, Faulkner, whose final meeting as a planning commissioner was Dec. 7, has already established a “community cabinet” alongside District 3 Councilor Lee Garcia to engage residents in the local government process.
“We want to try to hold community meetings every so many weeks to educate the community and share information with them so that they know what’s happening in their city government, and then also to get feedback from them on how the district wants us to solve different issues in the city,” she says. “And I think that’s important, because one thing that I really believe in is that the position I have right now is on loan from the community. It doesn’t belong to me; they loaned me this position to see if I could help, so out of respect to that, I really want to lean into being a servant leader...My job is to be a conduit for the community, and not to be the primary decision maker, even though...de facto that’s going to happen.”
Faulkner says one of her first priorities is ensuring her district has a voice in the ongoing debate of what to do about the Plaza obelisk destroyed in 2020. Even though the city spent more than $250,000 on a consultant to, among other tasks, gather feedback from residents about the future of the site, Faulkner advocates for additional “community conversations” as a next step.
“My district cares very deeply about the obelisk, so I want to make sure that they have a seat at the table for the conversation. But I also want to make sure that we don’t bring fringe people into the conversation, because the fringe people do not represent the majority. They’re just loud and angry, and they’re not helping to solve the problem, they actually just want to create more and more chaos,” Faulkner says. “If you just talk to the average New Mexican, or average Santa Fean about the obelisk, they have some great ideas.”
In her own district, she plans to work on community policing, crime and homelessness, which she says are all “symptoms of the same disease.”
Her experience as a lobbyist at the Roundhouse makes her “a good fit” for finance decisions and other aspects of a city councilor’s job, Faulkner says. In that role, she worked with Republicans and Democrats alike and adds she hopes to be “a unifying force” on the governing body.
“I don’t think fighting on the dais is healthy for the community, so any disagreements we have, I tend to work those out so that we’re not displaying conflict to the community,” Faulkner says. “I feel like that conflict that’s happening right now in the City Council is part of why the community doesn’t trust government because that conflict is ever present.”
Outgoing District 3 Councilor Chris Rivera did not endorse a candidate when he chose not to seek re-election. Castro, on the other hand, enjoyed the endorsement of both outgoing Councilor Renee Villarreal and Patti Bushee, who held the seat before endorsing Villarreal. While the former labor organizer feels the pressure of living up to their legacies, she says she’s ready to continue the work and anticipates an “easy transition.”
“It’s not even about keeping them happy. It’s about filling those shoes and making sure I’m doing the right thing,” she says. “This is my main gig, and I’m very much focused on getting started. I know Councilwoman Villarreal feels super pressured because I keep sitting in her office because I am having meetings...and she’s like, ‘You’re not even here yet. Let me clear my space.’ But I’m excited to be there.”
