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Morning Word
City Council, court and school board wannabes file for ballot
Twelve would-be candidates for Santa Fe City Council and municipal court filed their candidacy papers by yesterday’s deadline, along with five Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education hopefuls. Per statute, candidates cannot be qualified for the ballot until certified on Friday, Sept. 1. If at least three of the four candidates who filed for the City Council District 1 race to replace incumbent Councilor Renee Villarreal—who is is not seeking reelection—qualify, voters will participate in Ranked Choice Voting for that seat, as well as for District 3, which has three putative candidates. Earth Care Co-director and Miguel Acosta, who announced his District 3 campaign in mid-June, failed to file yesterday and tells SFR his heavy work schedule would prohibit him properly running a campaign. Other no-shows included incumbent Municipal Judge Virginia Vigil, who has served in that role since 2016, leaving an uncontested race for challenger Chad Chittum. City of Santa Fe voters also will have three local questions on the ballot, including one proposing a 3% excise tax on high-end real estate transactions. All three Santa Fe Public Schools Board of Education incumbents in Districts 1, 2 and 4 plan to seek re-election in the Nov. 7 race, and one will face two challengers, following the Aug. 29 candidate filing deadline (but only City of Santa Fe races utilize ranked choice voting for races with more than two candidates). View all the potential candidates for the Nov. 7 election on the Secretary of State’s candidate portal.
State Supreme Court sets December date for abortion cases
New Mexico’s Supreme Court judges will hear oral arguments regarding anti-abortion ordinances passed by several local governments on Dec. 13, the court announced yesterday. Justices also agreed to consider legal briefs filed by a variety of groups on both sides. State Attorney General Raúl Torrez in January filed an extraordinary writ against Roosevelt County, Lea County, and the cities of Hobbs and Clovis for passing ordinances restricting access to reproductive health care in their communities. The local governments passed the abortion bans in the wake of the US Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade in June of 2022. In April of this year, the court granted Torrez’s request to stay—or suspend those ordinances. The same month, the City of Eunice, which also has passed an anti-abortion law, announced a lawsuit against Torrez and Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, seeking a declaratory judgement that would allow its ordinance, which relies on the federal Comstock Act to “trump” New Mexico state law. All of the local government anti-abortion ordinances are reportedly part of a concerted strategy by anti-abortion activists to employ the federal anti-obscenity law to restrict access to abortion medication—a legal ploy such activists say they hope to advance to the US Supreme Court.
Tumbleroot Brewery receives JTIP funds
Tumbleroot Brewery and Distillery won big in this year’s Best of Santa Fe competition, including a 1st place award in the best bar category, along with wins for best distillery, cocktail and westside business. Now the popular Agua Fría destination also is a recipient for the state Economic Development Department’s August Job Training Incentive Program awards—the only Santa Fe business receiving funds this month. The JTIP board awarded Tumbleroot Brewing LLC $33,698 to pay four trainees an average wage of $19.50. JTIP, a reimbursement program aimed at incentivizing hiring and expansion for New Mexico companies, in total awarded just over $1 million to 11 businesses in nine counties to help train up to 135 workers. The largest award by far—more than $498,000—went to Albuquerque’s Vitality Works, which manufactures herbal and nutraceutical supplements, to pay 34 trainees an average wage of $32.11. Dean Baldwin Painting in Roswell, a minority, woman-owned, small business specializing in aircraft strip and paint services, received a $172,060 award to pay 25 trainees an average wage of $16.40. The global chile pepper company Louisiana Pepper Exchange in Santa Teresa received $84,597.20 to pay 10 trainees an average wage of $16.47; according to a news release, the company’s recently acquired 40,000-square-foot processing warehouse in the Borderplex region includes space for tank farms “that can store 30 million pounds of pepper mash for sale to US customers.”
Going underground
The New York Times yesterday kicked off the first multi-media installment in a series of investigative stories examining the groundwater crisis in the United States. The months-long investigation, the Times writes, included interviews “with more than 100 experts, traveling the country and creating a comprehensive database using millions of readings from monitoring sites.” The conclusion reached: “Many of the aquifers that supply 90 percent of the nation’s water systems, and which have transformed vast stretches of America into some of the world’s most bountiful farmland, are being severely depleted.” This problem—exacerbated by climate change and uneven federal and state regulation—doesn’t solely impact farmers, the story notes. “From an objective standpoint, this is a crisis,” Warigia Bowman, a law professor and water expert at the University of Tulsa tells the Times. “There will be parts of the US that run out of drinking water.” While the story does not specifically cite New Mexico, its interactive map does show groundwater depletion in the state, while its narrative examines other Western states with limited rainfall and increased housing construction. SFR reached out to New Mexico’s Office of the State Engineer for a response to the story and received this statement from State Engineer Mike Hamman: “New Mexico has been, and continues to be, a leader in regulating groundwater use. It was the first state to regulate the appropriation of groundwater, and also pioneered the conjunctive management of surface and groundwater. We know that not all aquifers are being recharged, and with climate change, the problem of lowering groundwater tables in many basins is a distressing reality. The OSE is working aggressively to assist communities with strategies for conserving available groundwater through optimization of available surface water, including stormwater in an environmentally sound approach, as well as identifying and transitioning to alternative water sources.”
Listen up
On the most recent episode of the City of Santa Fe’s Climate Matters radio program, Sustainability Officer Neal Denton talks with Office of Economic Development Director Johanna Nelson and Economic Development Specialist Jason Grinage about efforts to create jobs in clean energy sectors. The group also discusses Santa Fe’s recent acceptance as of one of 15 cities into the National League of Cities and the Department of Labor’s Good Jobs/ Great Cities Academy. “We are extremely excited to be a part of this,” Grinage says, adding that the city will have a Sept. 14 convening “with our community partners, so we can share this amazing opportunity and see folks who want to participate and where they fit on that workforce development continuum.” Climate Matters airs at 8:30 am every fourth Wednesday on KSWV Radio, 99.9 FM.
Along for the ride
Daniel Asa Rose’s new memoir, Truth or Consequences: Improbable Adventures, a Near-Death Experience, and Unexpected Redemption in the New Mexico Desert is “a book for those who love New Mexico, see detour or road closed signs as an opportunity rather than a frustration, and are in the mood for the book equivalent of people-watching from a sidewalk café,” Julie Morrison writes in the LA Review of Books. Rose travels to T-or-C from Connecticut on a quest to change his life as he goes through a divorce. He goes to meet his friend Dan at the site of a car crash both survived right after college. Morrison’s review indicates Rose’s goals for his journey—to become a better person and learn something—end up taking a back seat to the colorful characters he encounters in New Mexico, some of whom seem interchangeable. While personally un-charmed, Morrison (who once upon a time worked as a planner under contract to the New Mexico Department of Transportation) concludes with this: “Read this book if you want to spend some time in a quirky town with so many oddball characters and one-liners that you’ll probably lose track of both. Don’t worry. As Dan has described, this is a friendly place to get a little lost.”
How to Santa Fe
If you’ve ever wondered how to take the “ultimate” vacation in Santa Fe, quench your curiosity: Huffington Post breaks it down by including Santa Fe in its “Take a Break” series. Writer Caroline Bologna visited earlier this year as part of her mission to visit all 50 states (Santa Fe was #39) and recommends—among a slew of hotels and restaurants—the green chile cilantro corn cakes for brunch at Modern General Feed & Seed and the green chile and red chile caramels at Kakawa Chocolate House for a little off-the-beaten track chile fix (we can attest to the deliciousness of both recommendations). She also tried the “green chile wine” at Blue Heron, which she described as “richly green” in color, with definitive chile flavor. Some of the “best” food she tried, however, came from James Beard Award semi-finalist El Chile Toreado. Bologna notes the city’s coffee culture, with shout-outs to Iconik Lupe, CrashMurderBusiness, Ohori’s and the Craft Donuts & Coffee food truck (which, not to digress, is currently offering a tiramisu donut as its August special: “coffee glazed donut topped with a cream cheese drizzle, whipped cream and a dusting of cocoa powder.”) She also provides a select run-down on museums and shopping. All in all, she writes: “My time in Santa Fe far exceeded my expectations, which were high but limited in scope.” Santa Fe FTW!
In the sun
The National Weather Service forecasts a sunny day with a high temperature near 85 degrees and east wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading! Though generally a generous tipper, The Word read with interest Outside magazine’s story on why “tipping is out of control.” Plus: The count-down to this year’s Zozobra (Sept. 1) is underway. If you can’t attend but want your gloom burned, drop it off at SFR’s office before Friday: 1512 Pacheco St., Ste. D105. You can also upload your burn online.
