As the March 1 municipal election draws near, SFR is bringing back an old favorite—our tradition of calling up candidates and testing their knowledge about the office they seek. The rules for Pop Quiz are as follows: We record the entire conversation and report the answers verbatim. No research allowed, and if they call back later, too bad. These four candidates for Santa Fe City Council District 1 are in the only contested council race. Three people are running unopposed for the other seats. To see who answered correctly, or came closest, check out the answer key below. Watch for the city judge candidates next week.
- What line item takes the biggest portion of the city budget?
- How much is the total gross receipts tax rate in the city of Santa Fe? And does the council have legal authority to increase it?
- What are the sources of the city’s drinking water supply?
- What is the living wage, and is it set to change any time soon?
- What are the steps for getting a new housing development approved?
Frank Montaño, a former city councilor and former school board member
1. Are you talking all funds? I think that would be personnel services.
2. It's 8 point … Hmm, I don't remember the last percentages, but it's better than 8 percent. Yes, they do.
3. The city's drinking water supply includes the reservoirs out at the Santa Fe Canyon, wells within the city limits, wells and a surface collection system on the Rio Grande.
4. The living wage is $10 and … Oh, I can't remember the cents, but it's something like $10.80, and it's due to go up a few more cents. It's going to be somewhere in the $10.90 range.
5. A new housing development, you go through the planning commission—well, first you apply. Then you go through the planning commission; if it's approved by the planning commission, you're good to go. If there's an appeal, you go before city council.
:quality(70)/sfreporter.com/santafe/imgs/media.images/19854/2-Kathryn-P-Kennedy.jpg)
Kathryn P Kennedy, partner at Skylight Santa Fe
1. Which line item takes the biggest—are you talking about in terms of revenue or expense?
SFR: Expenses.
I actually don't think I know the answer to that. We just got access to the budget information just like five days ago, so we're just trying to filter through it right now. That's the truth. We just got the budget information from Oscar; all the candidates got the budget information at the same time. So that was cool.
2. It's over 8 percent. Yes.
3. Well, the largest source is the Santa Fe Watershed, and the biggest component of that is snowmelt.
4. The living wage right now I believe is $10.66, and is it set to change, in the immediate future? No. … I think it's set to go up, but it's currently at $10.66.
5. A developer takes a plan, it usually goes through, hopefully there's neighborhood meetings, and it goes through planning commission, and then from planning commission, it goes through the council, and in between those steps, it can go back and forth to the developer for redesign or for neighborhood negotiations. There's certainly a negotiation process before it reaches the council level, and even at that point, council can send it back and offer recommendations.
Marie Campos, founder of Native Hispanic Institute and artist
1. My answer is, is that I did not … they had a finance meeting where they went over all of these things, and I was invited, but then I wasn't told, then it wasn't followed up, and I didn't get to sit down with the finance director and the rest of everybody else because I was not notified of the date and time. So I, I wouldn't even want to guess that. I could guess, but I wouldn't; it would just be a guess. So that's my answer.
2. I don't even know. I know the gross receipts combined tax of the state, you know on the gross receipts. It's like 3.2 or something like that. Yes, they were given that under the state.
3. That's like, the sources of the drinking water are like, oh gosh. This is … Wow. Let me think about that for a minute, let me think of the names. I keep thinking … oh gosh. I feel like a dummy. Where does it come from? I think part of it comes from the Santa Fe River, like the water surface I think, and then the Rio Grande. I guess, I don't know. I think if I remember right, it's treated in the Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant—there's a lot of them actually. There's the Buckman Wells, is that right? And then, I don't know, I think there are some storage tanks. I'm thinking of the BDD treatment plant, Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant, I guess, city wells, Buckman.
4. It is set to change. And it's $10.91, and I think it changes in March, March 1. I guess that's $10.91 it'll change to in March.
5. Well, I guess it could go through a lot of things. It starts with presenting a plan and then early notification—early neighborhood notification, then it goes through the committees, and then it has to get approved by those committees, and then it goes through council, and then any adjustments are made, and it might have to go through committees. It goes through the early notification, then through committees, then it goes to the council, then there's public hearings and all of that in each one. Then if it gets approved in council, it moves forward.
:quality(70)/sfreporter.com/santafe/imgs/media.images/19857/4-Renee-Villarreal.jpg)
Renee Villarreal,
former planning commission member, current director of programs and community outreach for New Mexico Community Foundation
1. Personnel.
2. The total gross receipts tax rate is 8.33 percent. Yes.
3. The Buckman Diversion and, um, groundwater supply.
4. It is set to change in the next, let's see, in the next couple months, I believe, and it's set to go up to $10.90, I believe, a little below $11.
5. The developer would have to meet with land use staff to look at their conceptual plan and what they're thinking in the area they're thinking, and then see if it meets basic codes with their pre-development plan, and that takes a few months. So after they work out the details for making sure that it meets basic codes, then it'll go on to, depending on the development, it'll go on to the planning commission. Once the staff meets and understands what the developer wants to do, they decide if they make a recommendation or denial to the planning commission, and the planning commission will hear the development plan or at least the pre-development plan and review on the code requirements, and if it complies with the land use code, and also what staff recommends or doesn't recommend, and it's any adjustments they need to make or changes, and depending on the type of development, it usually goes on to the city council with the recommendation of either approval or denial, and the city will have to make a decision if the plan meets land use chapter 14 code requirements and is compatible with the city based on those code requirements.
Answer Key
1. Salaries, which take $74.4 million for all city workers. The annual city budgets going back to 2010-11 are available on the city website.
2. The current rate is 8.3125 percent. The city-imposed tax rate is 1.8125. The council could opt to raise taxes for “quality of life” or to offset the state’s ”hold harmless” law change.
3. The Rio Grande (via the Buckman Direct Diversion), the Santa Fe River and groundwater wells in the city limits and west of the city all provide drinking water to city homes and businesses.
4. The current living wage is $10.85. On March 1, it increases to $10.91 per hour.
5. Proposals are drafted by developers, reviewed through an Early Neighborhood Notification meeting and submitted to the city, where they’re reviewed by the planning commission and then passed on to city council.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story gave the wrong current job for Villarreal.
Santa Fe Reporter