artdirector@sfreporter.com
Morning Word
City of Santa Fe loses another PIO
After just three months on the job, City of Santa Fe Communications Director Amy Akmal has departed—the fifth such public information officer during Mayor Alan Webber’s administration. Akmal replaced former City Clerk Kristine Bustos-Mihelcic, who also served as the city’s spokesperson. Prior to Bustos-Mihelcic’s tenure, Dave Herndon, a former New Mexico Magazine editor, held the job for approximately two years replacing, if memory serves, Lilia Chacon. Prior to that, Matt Ross, who served as the late Javier Gonzales’ spokesman during his tenure at mayor, also held the role at the start of Webber’s first term. City Manager John Blair announced Akmal’s departure on Monday night, but would not elaborate on the reasons in an interview with SFR. He did say the city hopes to hire a new communications staffer soon. “What we’re likely looking for here now is a press secretary who could help field the incoming requests from media and from reporters and help sort of navigate some of the communication needs around the city manager’s office and the mayor’s office,” Blair says. “I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to really quickly find some candidates.” The city also recently decided to hire two new staffers to deal with the volume of Inspection of Public Records requests. Akmal declined to comment to SFR about her leave-taking, which follows some degree of Sturm und Drang at City Hall over its commitment to transparency. Speaking of which, Mayor Alan Webber has a scheduled “Meet the Mayor” event from 2 to 5 pm tomorrow, Dec. 21 at City Hall.
Colorado court bars Trump from ballot after NM legal decision
The Colorado Supreme Court yesterday ruled Donald Trump is disqualified from running for president on that state’s ballot, following a lawsuit brought by an organization also active in New Mexico. The Washington, DC-based Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington brought the Colorado lawsuit on behalf of citizens of that state, which charged that Section 3 of the 14th Amendment bars Trump from appearing on the ballot based on his incitement of insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021. CREW used the same legal argument to support New Mexico citizens who sought the ouster of former Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin in a case that led First Judicial District Judge Francis J Mathew in September 2022 to remove Griffin from office. At the time, CREW President Noah Bookbinder called the New Mexico decision “historic” and said it “makes clear that any current or former public officials who took an oath to defend the US Constitution and then participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection can and will be removed and barred from government service for their actions.” CREW noted Griffin’s removal yesterday again after the Colorado court barred Trump from the ballot. At the time of the Griffin decision, the New York Times reported Section 3 of the 14th Amendment hadn’t been enforced previously since 1919, and CREW described Mathew’s decision as the first time any court has characterized the Jan. 6 attack as an “insurrection.”
Gov receives national service award
The American College of Neuropsychopharmacology awarded Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham its annual Public Service Award as recognition of her efforts surrounding mental and public health in New Mexico, the governor’s office announced yesterday. University of New Mexico Distinguished Professor and Chairman Dr. Mauricio Tohen nominated the governor for the award. The governor “has had a broad and inclusive influence on behavioral health policy,” Tohen says in a statement. “Throughout her years of service, she has been a fierce champion for senior citizens, veterans and individuals living with disabilities. She has sponsored state and national legislation to better the lives of Americans living with mental health conditions.” The selection committee, ACNP awards Committee Chair Dr. Carlos Zarate Jr. says in a statement, “was impressed with Gov. Lujan Grisham’s efforts to improve the health of the public, with a particular emphasis on being a fierce champion for senior citizens, veterans, and individuals living with disabilities; for sponsoring the HOPE for Alzheimer’s Act; and prioritizing policy changes and education to increase access and treatment of addiction and substance use disorders in New Mexico among many other things.” The governor described herself as honored to receive the award, adding, “but I know there is much more to do. As governor, I will continue to implement solutions to make healthcare more affordable and accessible to every New Mexican.”
NM ACLU issues Texas travel alert
The ACLU of New Mexico, along with other regional chapters, yesterday issued a travel alert following what a news release characterizes as “extremist laws Texas lawmakers have passed targeting immigrants and people of color.” Those laws include the recent Senate Bill 4, which creates a new state crime for unauthorized entry or re-entry into Texas from a foreign country, and goes into effect in March 2024. “The Borderlands communities have long worked together across state boundaries to welcome and support people seeking safety and asylum in the US with shared infrastructure, resources and humanitarian expertise,” ACLU of New Mexico Executive Director Peter Simonson says in a statement. “We reject any effort to dismantle that work by extremist politicians and stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Texas in opposition to this bill.” Another signed law creates up to 10-year minimum sentences for people accused of “human smuggling,” under which, the ACLU says, Texas has charged children as young as 14 to 17. “We’re deeply troubled by Texas’s assault on our fundamental civil rights,” Leonardo Castañeda, ACLU of New Mexico border and immigration policy advocate, says in a statement. “New Mexicans traveling in Texas will be at risk of getting swept up and ordered deported under this legislation, or charged under extreme sentencing minimums.” The ACLU advisory comes as immigration in general and border politics in particular continue to create tension between the White House and portions of the Democratic Party, who fear the rightward shift of federal policies. Democrats, US Rep. Gabe Vasquez, D-NM, tells the New York Times, “need to be looking at more than the political moment of today and what the polls say.”
Listen up
Spending Christmas in Santa Fe? Add this local track to your holiday playlist—suggested by reader Alina—Sister Mary Mayhem front-woman’s singer Tess Fresquez with her new single/video “Christmas in Santa Fe.” Fresquez, an Española native who studied vocal performance at the University of New Mexico and music theater at Eastern New Mexico University, sings: “The calendar’s run down again/ Christmas time is near. The season that I’ve come to dread/always the same year after year. I’ve got a plan to spice up the holiday/ I’ll change our point of view. I want to spend Christmas/ in Santa Fe with you.”
Running hot and cold
To visit national parks sans crowds, National Geographic recommends a cold-weather trip when “between the enchantment of snow-coated landscapes and the hush that comes with it, winter reveals a different world.” Included in the list of recommendations: New Mexico’s Chaco Culture National Historical Park, where ranger-guided experiences won’t be available in the winter, but the hardy and self-reliant can use the self-guided tour pamphlets made available in the visitor’s center. Chaco’s Chief of Interpretation Nathan Hatfield tells Nat Geo Chaco remains open for most of the winter, with as few as 10 guests a day during some of the colder months, which, the magazine notes, makes for “crowd-free walking trails during the day and mesmerizing views of constellations by night, since Chaco is an International Dark Sky Park.” For a warmer, indoor winter-holiday experience, Historic Hotels of America recently released its list of “magnificent gingerbread displays,” including one at La Fonda Hotel, where chef Lane Warner and chef de cuisine Rafael Zamora carry on the legacy of gingerbread extravaganza once overseen by the hotel’s former purchasing manager Gil Mesa with “a decked-out stucco structure, sporting traditional décor and details inspired by the hotel’s past…with artistic nods to famous railway hotelier Fred Harvey, pioneering designer and architect Mary Elizabeth Jane Colter, architect John Gaw Meem and the famous Harvey Girls.” And speaking of hotels, Condé Nast rounds up the 15 most popular hotels of the year as reported by its readers, including Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs Resort & Spa, a “charming property” that “offers a variety of accommodations from regular hotel rooms and suites to casitas and vintage trailers,” but whose main draw, of course, is the natural springs.
Keep the faith
The end of the Hollywood writers and actors strikes heralds the return of filming in New Mexico. The state Film Office this week announced feature film Killing Faith, written and directed by Ned Crowley, will begin production in and around Santa Fe next month (although to be fair, the film, according to Deadline, had an interim agreement allowing it to start filming even had the strikes continued). The movie features Guy Pierce (LA Confidential), Dewanda Wise (The Harder They Fall), and Tim Roth (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). Plot: It’s the summer of 1859 and a “widowed physician reluctantly agrees to take a recently freed slave and her mysterious Caucasian daughter” on a five-day journey through the West to find a Faith Healer in a distant town.” While the woman believes her daughter is possessed, the physician believes she “carries The Sickness. Either way, the fact remains that every living thing the girl touches mysteriously dies.” The production will employ more than 100 New Mexicans—approximately 45 as background talent, 60 resident crew members, and five principal actors. According to a Film Office news release, the New Mexico-based production company Triple Seven Pictures, previously based in New York, is providing locations and production services for this project.
Cloud over
The National Weather Service forecasts a 30% chance for precipitation today (and a 40% chance tonight), with a slight chance of rain showers between 2 pm and 4 pm, followed by a chance for rain and snow showers later in the day and evening. Otherwise, the day will produce increasing clouds, a high temperature near 46 degrees and north wind around 10 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
Thanks for reading! The Word is alternating staring at this stop-motion origami video (thanks, Greg!) with this other festive video art (thanks, Susan!)
