Geno’s Back

Former City Attorney Geno Zamora is running for councilor in District 1, joining a crowded race to replace Councilor Renee Villarreal after she announced she would not seek re-election.

“I want to continue building a Santa Fe where everybody belongs,” Zamora tells SFR, summing up his approach on some of the biggest issues facing the city.

A native of Santa Fe and fixture of local and state government, Zamora has been serving on the board of St. Michael’s High School, a position that has given him a front row seat to the flight of young people from the city.

“Our greatest export is our local students,” he says.

Addressing the rising cost of housing will be a top priority if elected, Zamora adds.

Zamora says he also wants the city to improve the delivery of basic services by ensuring staff have the resources they need to do their jobs and for the city to better use economic development programs to boost investment in the community.

The candidate says he eventually wants Santa Fe to be a national model for recreation, too.

“I’m talking about making sure we have the best soccer fields, softball fields, baseball fields, basketball courts, running trails, biking trails,” he says.

While Santa Fe already has great outdoor opportunities, the city needs to better fund the facilities and staff that will draw locals as well as visitors, he argues. (In October, Santa Fe will host the sixth annual state Outdoor Economics Conference.)

Zamora, 54, knows City Hall well. He sits on the Community Health and Safety Task Force and served as city attorney from 2010 to 2013 under Mayor David Coss and again on an interim basis for Mayor Alan Webber in 2018.

Now in private practice at the firm Ortiz & Zamora, he has also worked as general counsel for Santa Fe Public Schools, chief counsel to Gov. Bill Richardson and assistant state attorney general under Tom Udall. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and the University of Arizona College of Law. While it’s his first run at city office, Zamora campaigned for attorney general in 2006, losing in the Democratic primary to Gary King.

Zamora will have plenty of competition in the Nov. 7 contest to represent the northside district that takes in the section of Santa Fe north of Cerrillos Road from around Silder Road and extends from the South Capitol neighborhood to the northern edge of town. The city reports three candidates—Alma Castro, Brian Gutierrez and Kathy Rivera—are already running for the position.

Zamora, who will be privately funding his campaign, says he decided to run in part due to Villarreal’s decision not to seek another term on the council.

“Because Santa Fe is a small town and you know everybody, I did not want to run against any of my friends on the council,” he tells SFR.

And he says he wants a cordial campaign with those he will be facing on the ballot

“It’s my hope we’re closer and better friends at the end of the campaign than when we started,” he says.

Read more of SFR’s city election coverage here.