Housing, Cameras and Contracts, Oh My

A measure making more room for housing on the Southside slipped easily through the City Council's consent agenda at Wednesday night's meeting.

No surprise.

The proposal faced no pushback at the council's Sept. 11 meeting  hearing—the public's first chance at voicing opposition.

The council issued final approval for the rezoning application submitted to the city by landowners Rudy and Julie Rodriguez. A little over 10 acres at 4323 Airport Road was rezoned from Residential-1 to Residential-6 zoning, meaning there are now six houses allowed per acre, as opposed to one dwelling unit allowed per acre.

According to city staff, who recommend the rezoning, the substantial increase is allowed because surrounding neighborhoods already are at that thicker density level, and it's in line with the Southwest Area Master Plan (SWAMP) Future Land Use Map.

At least 61 dwellings could be built with the new zoning in order to promote "in-fill" to accommodate Santa Fe's growing population, which is creeping farther south. But current and future residents of the area should not expect new amenities or infrastructure. According to the city, the streets, sewer and water lines and public facilities like fire stations and parks are sufficient to "accommodate" the impacts of the proposed development.

A Little Too Steep

The upgrade and expansion project at the Santa Fe Regional Airport has hit a snag that the city says it can fix—with a little over $1 million dollars. According to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the runway safety area, which is the space after the runway ends, has too steep of a slope and needs to be graded down.

During a safety inspection at the beginning of the year, the FAA noticed the violation at one of the airport's runways. It carries a consequence: the violation could shut down commercial air service if not corrected. According to a memo to Council, there are "unsafe conditions," though exactly how the issue could cause damages isn't mentioned.

At Wednesday's meeting, $1.070 million for the design and construction of a solution to the problem and a $112,000 increase to Molzen Corbin & Associates' contract was unanimously approved to fix the issue. Molzen Corbin is also the firm working on upgrading and expanding the airport.

The budgeted amount for the total project is $1.064 million, the city says, and will be funded from the 2018 gross receipts tax bond premium.

The city received a letter about the violation from FAA on May 1, but District 4 Councilor Mike Harris said it didn't become clear until the most recent Airport Advisory Board meeting that the steep slope of the runway safety area could shut down air service. But "it became crystal clear it needed to be dealt with immediately," Harris says.

Airport Manager Mark Baca told councilors the FAA can reimburse the city at the end of the process, which isn't expected to be completed until June 30, 2020.

The Speed Cameras Could Be Back

Santa Fe is considering putting up speeding cameras in what Police Chief Andrew Padilla described as "trifecta areas"—areas where a school, a senior center or a recreational space such as a park are in close proximity.

Traffic accidents have steadily increased in Santa Fe in the last decade, except for a period between 2010 and 2014 when the city used SUVs equipped with cameras known as speed vans to enforce speeding laws as part of the city's Safe Traffic Operation Program (STOP).

But the speed-van program drew significant public backlash when the company selling the vans was prosecuted for bribery and fraud in other states.

A proposal to bring back the vans was shot down again in May when residents raised concerns such as the fear that the speed vans represented overbearing government control, that the fines were overly burdensome, or that the vans did nothing more than line the pockets of the security companies hawking their wares to desperate municipalities without addressing the rate of accidents caused by people running red lights at major intersections.

The transportable speed cameras discussed at Wednesday's meeting would be mounted to free-standing structures rather than police vans, and could be set up in school zones to operate only while reduced speed lights around schools are flashing.

City councilors had mixed responses to the proposal. Councilor Joanne Vigil Coppler, District 4, raised concerns about racial profiling, pointing out that of eight areas suggested for the installation of ground mounted speed cameras, five are on the Southside. Councilor Signe Lindell, on the other hand, was concerned that no cameras were proposed for what she considered to be the most dangerous roads in District 1, which she represents. Councilor Mike Harris expressed disappointment that cameras have not yet been installed all over the city.

Chief Padilla assured the governing body that nothing is yet set in stone, and no vote was taken on the matter.

The point, said Padilla, is to free up officers for more serious calls for service, rather than spending time enforcing minor traffic violations on smaller roads. He said locations for the cameras were chosen to protect children and the elderly from reckless drivers.

Police Staffing Problem is Real

Councilors spent nearly two hours discussing the National Police Foundation Assessment on Police Recruitment and Retention commissioned by the city to assess staffing needs of the Santa Fe Police Department.

Brett Meade, the report's author and a retired police chief, presented findings that were altogether unsurprising: Santa Fe has a serious problem recruiting and retaining officers.

With the exception of 2016, in every year since 2012 more officers resigned from SFPD than were hired. Meade attributes this to the exceptionally high cost of living in Santa Fe and other departments around the state raising wages while SFPD's pay has remained stagnant until July of this year, when the department raised the starting wage to $22 per hour for officers and $19.11 for cadets. The majority of the SFPD force does not live in Santa Fe, and the force still has 30 vacancies to fill.

As a result, Santa Fe police officers have been running from call to call and often work overtime, officials say. They have very little time for "self-initiated activities" such as investigating what's going on in the parks and neighborhoods that they are supposed to patrol. Meade presented this as a crucial metric in understanding the severity of understaffing—until cops have the time to engage in community policing, there are not enough officers on the force.

The report also highlighted a failure in communication within the police department, with many officers reporting that they do not have access to current crime trends or information about criminal suspects in their patrol areas.

But to the frustration of multiple city councilors, the report didn't give any exact numbers for how many officers SFDP should have or how much time officers should spend responding to calls.

Instead, Meade focused on more qualitative recommendations for improving recruitment and retention. He recommended SFPD free up officers' time by hiring more civilians for analysis and research positions, and engage in more community outreach in schools and other avenues to improve the relationship between the department and civilians and boost recruitment.