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MORNING WORD
Planning commissioner announces City Council run
City of Santa Fe Planning Commissioner Pilar Faulkner yesterday announced her campaign for City Council District 3 in the Nov. 7 municipal election, telling SFR her public service, along with her experience running her bizAcumen Advisory Group firm, has provided her an understanding of the issues at hand and how to address them.”I have learned how the system works and I’ve learned how to have relationships with people so that you can come to resolutions,” she says. “When you negotiate in politics, it’s high risk, high conflict, and I have learned how to be a high-risk, high-conflict negotiator.” The race marks Faulkner’s entry into politics for the first time. A resident of Santa Fe for more than 30 years, Faulkner grew up in Ojo Caliente. In her capacity as Planning Commissioner, Faulkner pushed back at the ultimately successful Homewise proposal to develop land on South Meadows previously designated by Santa Fe County as open space but then sold to the developer without informing constituents. She says if elected, she intends to work on affordable housing, land use, water conservation and other issues to help preserve the diverse Southside district. “District 3 is worth fighting for, and I’m going to devote every amount of resources I can to make that happen,” Faulkner says. Her entry into the race brings the number of contenders to at least four for the seat currently held by Chris Rivera, who is not seeking re-election. Earth Care Co-Director Miguel Acosta, former city police officer Louis Carlos and Eric Morelli also are running for the seat.
Fast-paced NM redistricting litigation anticipated
Lawmakers should expect a redistricting lawsuit to move quickly, following the state Supreme Court’s ruling earlier this month that the Republican lawsuit alleging partisan gerrymandering by Democrats during the last redistricting can proceed in District Court and must be resolved by Oct. 1. Members of the state’s Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee heard an update on the case yesterday from lawyer Lucas Williams, the Albuquerque Journal reports, who told them: “There will be lots of sleepless nights for a lot of attorneys across New Mexico.” Once the District Court rules, the case could end up back at the state Supreme Court if the decision is appealed, moving its outcome ever close to the November 2024 election. The case involves all three of the state’s congressional districts, which Republicans claim Democrats redrew to their own advantage. The court’s ruling acknowledged some degree of partisan gerrymandering is permissible under the state Constitution, writing that “at this stage in the proceedings, it is unnecessary to determine the precise degree that is permissible so long as the degree is not egregious in intent and effect.” Their decision also proffered US Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagen’s “three-part test,” articulated in her dissenting opinion in 2019′s Rucho v. Common Cause, as a means of evaluating the map. Overall, Williams said, the court’s ruling created “a somewhat blank slate” that “will be litigated vigorously.”
Gov’s senior aide dies
Eric Witt, considered a key player in the development of the state’s film incentive package for his work in Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration, has died. Witt worked most recently as a senior aide for Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who described herself in a statement yesterday as “shocked and saddened.” Witt, she said, was a “longtime colleague” and a “skilled navigator of state government and the Legislature and, most consequentially, offered his specialty in film financing to establish a brand-new economic driver in the state. Without Eric’s leadership, New Mexico’s booming film and media industry would not be the success that it is today.” Witt, she added, “was not only someone I deeply admired, but someone I am grateful to have counted as a friend.” According to the Albuquerque Journal, Santa Fe Police found Witt dead in his garage yesterday morning during a welfare check requested by his wife, who was out of town. No more information on his death was available at press time. In addition to his work with state government, Witt also was named executive director of the Santa Fe Film Office in 2016, a position he held for approximately three years, and received an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts for his work on However Wide the Sky: Places of Power in 2022.
SFNF appoints new leaders in Jemez and Pecos-Las Vegas areas
Santa Fe National Forest Supervisor Shaun Sanchez yesterday announced the appointment of new rangers in both the popular Jemez Ranger District and the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District. Jeremy Golston, who previously served as SFNF’s recreation program manager, was appointed district ranger for the Jemez Ranger District. According to a news release, in his new role, Golston will oversee the management, conservation and enhancement of approximately 245,000 acres in the Jemez Mountain range, which is popular for recreation and “includes impressive geological formations and unique wildlife, and is rich in archaeological resources and traditional uses,” a news release states. “Jeremy’s wealth of experience in both outdoor recreation and public land management will be an asset to the popular and unique Jemez Ranger District,” Sanchez said in a statement. “Jeremy is committed to managing this special piece of land for the diversity of people who hold it close to their hearts.” In the Pecos-Las Vegas Ranger District, Amina Sena was appointed district ranger and James Munoz was appointed deputy district ranger. Sena previously served as SFNF hydrologist, while Munoz previously served as the Pecos-Las Vegas District recreation program manager. “Amina’s recent experience as the Burned Area Emergency Response Implementation Team Leader for the HPCC and Cerro Pelado Fires has given her a great background to support the district’s priority work around fire recovery,” Sanchez said. “Both Amina and James’ connections with the local communities will foster relationships that will provide the foundation for the Santa Fe National Forest’s post fire recovery work.”
Listen up
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, artist and Entropy Gallery owner Patrick Lysaght organized his photographs of fluid flows and crystal structures into a book, which then morphed into the 50-minute art documentary film Fleeting Structures, both a tribute to nature’s beauty and an action call to preserve that beauty. Lysaght talks with Cline’s Corner podcast host Lynn Cline about his film, which screens at 7 pm this evening at the Jean Cocteau Theater, followed by a Q&A with Lysaght (tonight’s screening also is SFR’s top pick of the week).
Indigenous baby food
The Guardian showcases Zachariah and Mary Ben, founders of the Shiprock-based baby food company Bidii Baby Foods, whose products utilize crops grown on the Ben’s farm. Zachariah, a sixth-generation Navajo farmer and Mary, “a first-generation Hungarian American with a background in public health,” first became aware of the lack of “fresh, local and traditional baby foods available near the Navajo Nation” following their son’s birth in 2021. The story notes the prevalence of canned goods at grocery stores in the area, with limited produce that is often bruised and over-priced. Thus, they began growing, on Zach’s grandmother’s farm plot, a line of Navajo white corn-based dehydrated baby cereals. The Guardian reports the company has since then fed 6,000 children nationwide and is slated to feed 10,000 more this year with a grant from Save the Children. Zach says he grew up in a family that often stocked up on canned goods due to a lack of access to fresh food and irregular electricity/refrigeration on the reservation. “As a new father, I felt like, ‘How can I not relive those past traumas of not having healthy food?’” Zach tells The Guardian. “I didn’t want my child to grow up only having a certain type of food because that’s all we were able to afford.” The story, supported by the 11th Hour Project, is part of the Guardian’s Our Unequal Earth series on “environmental inequalities in the US and beyond, and America’s broken food system.”
Star seekers
While some of us are spending the summer fantasizing about sleeping with central air-conditioning, the more rugged (relatively speaking) daydream about sleeping under the stars. Outside Online’s most recent “Friday Fantasy” series, which highlights “hotels, lodges, cabins, tents, campsites, and other places perched in perfect outdoor settings,” says KitFox, 20 minutes south of Santa Fe, represents “Southwest glamping at its best.” The site, Contributing Editor Stephanie Pearson writes, feels “exquisitely remote,” but KitFox’s partnership with bespoke catering company Dig and Serve for select Saturday “Dine in the Wild” meals provides superlative “off-the-grid, farm-to-table dining” (KitFox is solar-powered). The company provides private tents; a communal deck for yoga and meditation; plus hiking and biking trails. KitFox is open Fridays to Mondays from May through October. Though booked up for the rest of this month, a few weekends remain in August, September and October for those looking to add some glamp and star-gazing to the end of summer and early fall.
Stay cool
The National Weather Service has issued another heat advisory today, from noon until 9 pm, as much of the state breaks temperature records. Here in Santa Fe, we’re looking at anywhere from 98 to 101 degrees. All three city libraries are cool, if you need to get out of the heat, and are open from 10 am to 8 pm, Tuesday through Thursday; and from 10 am to 6 pm, Monday, Friday and Saturday. La Farge and Southside branches will have special cool-down lounges in their community rooms, with games and art supplies from noon to 3 pm today and from 10 am to 1 pm on Wednesday. The Southside Library will have movies in either the community room from noon to 5 pm today. “We just want to remind people that libraries are cool,” Library Division Director Margaret Neill tells SFR. “They are always open to the public, but right now especially if they need to cool down.”
Thanks for reading! The Word has just enough mental energy left today to read this story about fashion at Wimbledon and this one about tank tops.
