¡Colores!; 1007; This Town Is Not For Sale!: The 1994 Santa Fe Mayoral Election

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was provided by the McCune Foundation. So this disparity just kept growing and I figured this is not going to be healthy. We hear it everywhere, it's not just Santa Fe. You hear the same old lines about this healthy economy and tourism being a clean industry. And so what I became was another point of view, the other point of view. The critical 1994 Santa Fe mayoral election, next. Happy, happy, happy,

happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy, happy We remember back down, and now we've got a lot of work to do to move forward. One of the things we must remember as we move forward is that there is a

lot of cleanup to be done. I want to describe some of the story of the best that I've come on. And that is to describe what a real grassroots organization looks like. It is not about money, it is not about power, it is about people who work together and get out there and use their legs, their minds, their hearts and their souls to make a difference. 1994 was an election year famous for its political upsets. In the small city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, an intense mayoral race had a different philosophies of municipal development and competing social and economic interests against one another. The contest resulted in the election of the first woman and the first Chicana, ever to become mayor of the ancient colonial town and world famous tourist mecca of Santa Fe.

This is the story of that surprising electoral victory. It is a story filled with the complexity, contradiction and drama of ethnic and class conflict in the setting of a rapidly changing community. I see that people are Santa Fe taking buses. It is also the story of one woman's perseverance against the odds, of the choice she made to champion the cause of her native spinal people. We begin our story with a look at the status quo before Debbie Hadamio was elected mayor. When two oldest still live at home, they love to leave and I love them to leave. Pull your own good. Here come the tourists with their blank stairs with their pantypacks. There are panties and there's something in a resting cabin here long ago. Now where people you can

live, there lives a resting company. And it's a town, got another town, hit a boom at the long boom at the room. From the 1970s to the 1990s, the ancient colonial city of Santa Fe, underwent a fundamental transformation in its economy and character. The 1994 election unfolded in the midst of these changes. Santa Fe became a haven for the rich and famous, who built second homes in Santa Fe's picturesque surroundings. The development of lavish homes caused housing values throughout the city to skyrocket. In addition, tourism, which had always been an important industry in Santa Fe, grew exponentially. The boom saw massive expansion in the number of hotels, motels, restaurants, spas, and golf courses.

The city also attracted large numbers of new age individuals from all over the world in search of self -fulfillment and the meaning of life. At the helm of city government during these years was Mayor Sam Pick. Born and raised in Santa Fe, Pick had been a successful small businessman, an affable and outgoing personality. He went on to serve as Mayor for 16 years. His administration witnessed the dramatic changes overtaking Santa Fe. My approach was not as far -sighted as I suppose many candidates or politicians have had. Before me, I was more of a day -to -day type of a Mayor and felt that the responsibility of local government was to deliver services such as fire and police and trash pickup and good parks and recreation. Our roads were good and our streets were clean. Santa Fe became and is a community of many

varied interests of which it's a cosmopolitan city in a very small package, the opera, which we had nothing to do with the racetrack, which we had nothing to do with. The mountains, which have always been here in the scheme, which has always been here. The arts, so people with money naturally are interested in these refined activities and so they found Santa Fe a nice place to move to and be a part of. I don't know that I can honestly take credit or total blame for making it happen because when you have 150 galleries and every one of them are running ads in magazines throughout the country, touting Santa Fe just because of their gallery you're getting an overwhelming amount of financial activity towards attracting people to your community. And I was certainly admit that I was in the forefront of

promoting the city, having felt and still feeling that a Mayor's job is one to be somewhat of a cheerleader of their town and I probably did it better than a lot of people. As the downtown Plaza area gentrified, the Hispanic population declined from 60 % to 40 % by 1990. As housing values rose dramatically, the espunals of Santa Fe, most of whom are working class, were threatened with total displacement from their native city. During my term, Santa Fe really came on the map as a destination city, which brought probably a downside to it in the sense that people liked it so much they started moving in here and paying the prices that anyone wanted to charge regardless of the value that they were buying just so they could be a part of it and it had then caused a cost of living problem which the people who were working in Santa Fe had to bear. In 1994, Pick decided not to run for Mayor again. His last term was marked by rising public

discontent over what was seen as uncontrolled growth. A growing number of Santa Feans were beginning to feel that the city's gentrification was undermining their own economic security. There's a substantial percentage of people in the community who I think became to feel that they were not getting their share of the pie. People were coming in and the town was passing the pie economically and socially and they were seeing that people that were just Johnny Cum Laplies were having better houses and seemed to be living a better life than they were and they were suffering a somewhat of an economic impact as a result of that, especially in the areas, for example, of real estate taxes. Local and state government have traditionally been important employers of Santa Fe Hispanics. While public service work offers relatively good jobs, Hispanics occupy more the lower paying positions such as clerical,

custodial, and police. At the same time that Hispanics occupy the lower rungs in state government, many also hold elective office. Their visibility as public figures creates a complexity that tends to cloud ethnic inequalities and tensions. Picks air apparent for the new mayor was Pesso Chavez, a two -term city councilor from Santa Fe's district four on the south side. A native of northern New Mexico, Chavez went to St. Michael's High School in Santa Fe and later graduated from the University of New Mexico and its law school. My mother, who for ten years, Chavez's background in rural upbringing emphasized traditional values. My parents taught us a number of things, but the things that really stick out in my mind is that they taught us that the most important thing in life is love. And that is very, very important. They also taught us to be compassionate. The work ethic was very much a part of our growing up,

and the other thing was to love your God. Chavez is a private investigator who entered city politics in the 1980s. He did not emphasize his ethnicity in the political arena and tended to support Picks' pro -business pro -development policies. To many then, he represented the moderate to conservative Isbano political face. Public opinion polls during the campaign showed Chavez to be the clear frontrunner. Chavez made his appeal to a wide public, but his most important support came from the same business interests represented by Sam Pick. His easy pro -growth attitude appealed to Santa Fe's reigning business interests. What we have to learn to do is to manage that type of growth. But to put blinders on or to look down and say, no, this doesn't exist, and we're just going to keep everybody out. Well, who are you going to keep out and who are you going to keep in? I tell you where the problem is, the problem is sometimes we have the outsiders moving in, and the first thing they want to do is close the door behind them. Let's say, theoretically, let's say we could go ahead and cage Santa,

if they put up this huge wall. Okay? What does that do for local economy? What does it do for local people? It chokes you. That's what it does. Indeed, Chavez felt that growth and development were in the interests of the Native community. We educate our kids, we send them off to get educated, you know, doctors, lawyers, whatever. So, what does he have? And my daughter, what do they have to come home to? If we stop the growth, what are they going to come back for? As mayor, Chavez's agenda would be to reform City Hall. There's never been an agenda set at City Hall. Never has been. I have created an agenda. Now, this isn't the only way of doing business. This is a plan to how we can get things done. Chavez's mayoral blueprint borrowed the motto, putting people first, from the 92 Clinton presidential campaign. It presented broad proposals for housing, education, safety,

and building an affordable community. Yet, despite his campaign literature, the Chavez mayoral agenda was not easy to pin down. People asked me, they said, well, what is the most important issue in this campaign? And they said, don't you think it's housing, crime, traffic, growth, so on and so on? And I said, absolutely not. The most important issue in this campaign is building human infrastructure. It's taking care of what's inside the house is the most important thing, rather than what's outside the house. And if we don't start taking care of our people and doing things for all people in this community, then our community is going to die, just like our country will die, if we don't start putting people first. Because of his moderate manner, a key aspect of Pesso Chavez's appeal to the business community was his political contrast to Debbie Hadamio. Chavez sought to capitalize on the difference in style. My approach is a very positive approach. If we have problems, let's go

ahead and set out what the problems are and then let's work to solving those problems. Her approach is more confrontational. You know, seen on the council day after day. Interest in the 1994 Santa Fe mayoral election hinged on the controversial figure of Debbie Hadamio. Hadamio was a two -term city counselor from district one. She grew up in the mostly Hispanic area of Santa Fe's west side. She attended Catholic and public schools, married after high school, raised three sons, and spent 15 years at secretarial jobs in state and city government. Hadamio's rise to public visibility began in the 1980s, when she and her husband, Mike, got involved in a neighborhood protest against a proposed road expansion through the city's west side. It was a massive project that engineers wanted to cover parts of the Santa Fe. River takes tear schools down, make five lane highway through this older established part of town.

It was an issue that we just weren't going to let happen. So we really formed a big coalition on this whole west side of town and called it west side area residents intentionally to have an acronym of war. And we declared war on City Hall. Although they lost their three -year battle with City Hall, war was able to derail the Alameda Bridge expansion. And by the time the conflict was over, Hadamio had emerged as a popular neighborhood activist and critic of Santa Fe's escalating development. Supporters urged her to run for city office, an idea that at first she resisted. I'm basically an anti -establishment type person. I really don't believe the system works for most people, works for a few. I didn't want to be any part of the system that I thought was the ugliest thing going on in town, which was City Hall. But I did really come to realize that at least eight years of

our life finding from the outside to protect and protect and protect, had gotten us virtually nowhere. Despite initial reservations, Hadamio ran for City Council in 1988. She won on a platform opposing resort development and gentrification, which she contended were deepening ethnic and economic splits in the city. Three years later she ran for mayor. The incumbent Sam Pick was re -elected, but Hadamio finished second in a field of five. During her first few years on the council, Hadamio was the lone voice of dissent against the city's pro -development policies. But after six stormy years on the council and a negative image in the local press, Hadamio steadily gained support much to the surprise of many. The first of all, I didn't think she'd ever get elected. When she ran first for the City Council, and then once she got here, we've had so much support on the council that all

she was with a pain in the butt. But by being that, she endeared herself to this community of people that felt that they were being disenfranchised. And that grew, and by the time we got to take in her seriously, as a player, it was really too late. She was already pretty strong. Hadamio spoke out against the changes taking place in her hometown. What I had seen was that now we had grown and the West and the town was predominantly Hispanic, elderly Hispanic. The north side of town was high -end, Anglo -dominated, and the east side, which is called the historical side of town, used to be the real old timers. I mean, those were generations of family that you really saw coming out there. Defining a historic district had changed it into a protected district of structures and how things looked in there, but never keeping a mind that people were

proud of the history. And that's where the biggest impact in terms of who was moving out and what was moving in was being felt. And so I saw the east side becoming, again, a very high -end, exclusive neighborhood pushing the old timer to the south side of town. More the southwest, which I say, the high -define is a mobile home city. That is where the native that's hanging on is eventually pushed to if they can hang on in town. Harameo pointed out how an economy based on tourism and resort development meant mostly low wages for average citizens in Santa Fe. The jobs were very low -paying, service industry type jobs, and the cost of living was going up tremendously a little at a time. In 10 years, you can use a word skyrocketed because that's what it did. And so this disparity just kept growing. And I figured this is not going to be healthy.

But you hear the same old lines about this healthy economy and tourism being a clean industry. And what do you mean this or that? And so what I became was another point of view, the other point of view. Harameo predicted that the present rate of development and gentrification would displace the Hispanic population. There are a lot of people selling out daily, not out of, for sure, not out of greed or to have a few bucks in their hands. It's out of being forced to sell. So I see a lot of that more happening. This Santa Fe style, this playground for the rich will grow even more. We'll probably be people who are living on the outskirts bust in to make the beds and shine the shoes and clean the toilets of the rich. We sure will be people who can afford to enjoy a part of Santa Fe because a lot of the economic

changes are changes that are catered to big bucks. And while you've got our shopping malls for the locals, that whole downtown has grown with high -end restaurant shops, boutiques, galleries, you know, I mean, I see more of that. Harameo's personality and style generated as much controversy as did her stands on issues. Her outspoken and sometimes aggressive men are shocked some people and led to a widespread image of her as dangerous, divisive, and out of control. Several of her opponents voiced this view. I mean, she's tough. You could be fearful of her because of the way in which she handles herself. I would describe Debbie as being probably angry that there's a certain amount of that where I don't know where that comes from, but there's certainly that there. But in addition to that, she's very direct. And some people take

directness as being confrontative, OK? And don't like it. I mean, this woman really doesn't have any right to be mayor or let alone represent our city on the console. If this is how she's going to talk, she is out of line. The only thing I can say is what people have called me and told me, and these are people who have lived here, born here all their life, and most of them have been hispanos. And they said that they were getting ready to move because if she's elected, if she's involved, they're moving. Harameo took issue with the way many people and the news media chose to portray her. Actually, the small, famous idea of my husbands and my kids, because every time I made the paper, especially the cartoons, you'll see I've made many. They'd hang them up there. But then little by little things articles would come out. So we'd hang the most outrageous stories up there, or they'd hang them. They were always painting me as this angry person. I would always be

considered the Hispanic woman in the West Side District. Although all those labels came out over the years, I was never a city counselor. I was something else always. And for six years, I've sold the newspapers in this town because at my expanse, they have built up this image of this angry woman. And you will never find a story of me cutting deals or making money off of votes I made at City Hall. Harameo's oppositional role as a public official is a parent at a city council meeting held just a week before the election. The issue is boiled down to upscale development versus environmental policy and controlled growth. Local opposition to development of the foothills had recently prevented Hollywood actress Shirley McLean from building a mountain top retreat overlooking the city. Restraint on growth in the foothills continued to generate controversy.

At this meeting, counselors were being asked by developers to approve an extension of the city limits in order to provide city water to the upscale subdivision they wanted to build. I want to understand this urban area extension. First, I'll say it might mean tell me about it right, but I know that typically when water extensions are requested, they cannot be extended outside of the urban area boundary. So it was the feeling of the urban policy committee and staff that instead of having a request come before us at water extension outside the urban area boundary, we decided to extend the urban area boundary to make the water extension more palatable. That works, that's correct. Are we now in the business of piecemeal in the urban area? Extending the city water system would support more new housing than the alternative of supplying individual septic systems. Then what we are doing is providing higher

densities which translates into more money for developers. And my question is, what are the developers giving the city back for this? The septic system plan on the scale the developer proposes would create an ecological disaster. He argues that the city would be responsible for this if it does not extend water to the new development. I think we're just trying to beat this thing that's different. Trying to pick up a red hair in here and red hair in here. They're good answering questions. I don't know what it is that you already read. How do meow persists in her questioning of what the city will gain from this deal? We've been here an hour and a half. We've got 16, 17 public hearings. Let's ask questions that are germane. And so we obviously make a decision. Well, Mr. Chairman, I think all questions are germane. Well, I think what we're doing is really just trying to pick holes in the project. That's what I think. I think we're trying to preserve the foothills. I've only been here 12 years steady. And it hasn't done any good yet. Thank God, you're not going to see

me anymore. Thank you. But I know I'm there for others. Finally, the vote is called. Maybe I'll roll a call on the next meeting. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. No. Only had a meow in Farber vote no on the urban boundary extension. For six years, I have voted against every water extension with maybe a couple of exceptions because I'd have been voting against Motherhood and Apple Pie and I not. Where I said, we've got to stop extending these water wherever someone asks. Let's have a plan. But for someone to stand up there and say, I need more water so I can have higher densities to provide. A, B, or C is to only be using our water to improve the value of their land. And yet we get really basically nothing back for it. We've just given them the water to make more money off of the use of their land. And I tell them we're not in the business of

providing water for that purpose. Water is a central concern for urban planning in Santa Fe, just as it is throughout the desert southwest. Been a firm believer in he or she who controls his cricket, controls the growth in this town. The problem that I've seen having grown up here and later in my adult life having a better understanding of what's going on is that the powers of B have said we've got lots of water. Not to worry, we can afford what we're doing. But the reality is that I'd say the last 10 years of growth has been on somebody else's water. It's been based on imported water. So people can relate to that if you spell it out to them because that high water bill remains because we're pumping it all the way for Colorado to provide the growth here. While we had talked about sustainability and our own natural resources and the growth that is

a result of a sustainable community built upon our own natural resources and abilities to provide for it, we'd have a whole different picture here. Automio's main advocacy focuses on the less affluent native population. Not readily apparent in the campaign, however, is the support she draws from Anglos, many of whom also oppose the rapid development of Santa Fe. I think it shocks a lot of people when I tell them, but my base is built by the Anglos community. Pick always like to call the Anglos constituency. I had the tree huggers and the door closers, you know. But I say, go on what you want. They're on my side, you know. For whatever reason we share some common concerns there. I have a strong Anglos community base and a split Hispanic base. But the Hispanic base that supports me are they tend to be the poor, the athletic,

the one feeling the pinch. Because that middle class that still has TV in every room and two cards and whatever supposedly is the American family there has not come around to me a lot yet. But there's still many of them though that there's still some of them that understand that it's about the big picture and that's the message is real hard to get across. So I don't reach a lot of them. The elderly have really come around, but I know that's part of being a part of feeling the pinch because I had problems with many of them as a woman. I was spoken on running for office, so it's changed in four years. And so I'm banking everyone the elderly community to be wiser and feeling the pinch and knowing who stood up for all these years. And the youth amazed at how they're wanting to get more involved because again it's been a situation where they figure they're not

human beings or don't count till they're probably 30 years old for the most part. I kind of remember my own life was until my mid 20s and I thought I counted for anything. So they're coming around a lot. The year leading up to the early spring election was volatile in Santa Fe. The two city newspapers, the Daily Santa Fe, New Mexican and the weekly Santa Fe reporter, reported a steady stream of local controversies, many over new and proposed developments, hotels, fancy subdivisions, shopping centers, golf courses, ski resort expansion, Shirley McLean's Mountain retreat. The media suggested a bubbling cauldron of class and ethnic tensions, attention focused sharply on the issue of affordable housing for natives, a mood prevailed of local resentment against rich tourists and insensitive newcomers. But in a year full of controversy, one event stood out. For a few weeks it appeared to bring Santa Fe to the edge of civil up evil.

The spark that set it off was the same as in so many American cities. Ortega's girlfriend was standing right next to him when police started firing. She says the first shot put him down, but that officers continued to shoot as he laid stretched out on the ground. If you look closely, you can still see the impression she says the bullet left in the asphalt. On the night of July 3rd, 1993, Santa Fe policemen Tom Lujan killed a distraught young man named Pancho Ortega near the intersection of Hickok's and Alicia Streets on the west side. In a city where such a shooting was a rare event, this incident provoked a sudden and spontaneous groundswell of public protest. A few days later, people marched from Ortega's neighborhood and overwhelmed a city council meeting to demand investigative action. The mayor and the council were caught off guard. 100 people, 150 people, the council chambers were full and one after the other, they just started coming and screaming and raising them. I was totally unprepared and did not agree a good job in running that meeting either because I wasn't aware that this is going to take place,

which was certainly my fault and no one else's. The only councilor able to modify the crowd was Debbie Hadamio, after the meeting a shaken pick called her. I said you seem to have the ear of these people. I'll just go ahead and leave it up to you and work with these people and see if you guys can't come up with something that we could do to get this handled. Escalating tension and a rash of incidents in the following weeks led the press to anticipate an eruption of violence during the early September town Fiesta. In the meantime, community activists and Hadamio organized a series of public round tables to address discontent over Santa Fe's problems. Her role as facilitator in the police shooting incident enhanced her popularity. Crowds at the annual Santa Fe Fiesta were usually large, but this year's attendance was reduced because of public apprehension. Still, the celebration passed peacefully. In mid -August, Hadamio was the first to declare her

candidacy for mayor. Two months later, pick announced he would not seek re -election and after that, Paso Chavez declared for mayor. As winter approached, two more prominent contenders emerged, Santa Fe Fiesta Council President Tony Lopez and an East Side Art Gallery owner, Linda Durham. Lopez was well known for his involvement in many civic organizations, including the Fiesta Council. This volunteer organization orchestrates Santa Fe's annual festival in early September. The Fiesta commemorates the Spanish reconquest of the capital 12 years after the 1680 Pueblo Revolt. Lopez's association with it signified his ties to an old Espano tradition in the city. Lopez owns a roofing business and lives on the south side. In 1988 he ran for city council and lost by 50 votes. In this mayoral race, Lopez took us as main campaign cue, another recent source of tension in Santa Fe. Young locals were reported assaulting tourists

and businessmen in suits. The most important thing is, of course, is probably the public safety issue of it. I think everyone felt emphatically that they needed to feel safe at home in the streets and in schools. Of course, we've had some violent acts here recently. I think they just kind of heightened it a bit more. But Lopez also acknowledges the same economic and housing inequities that Hadamio condemns. Of course, it goes on to affordable housing and in some sections of the city economic development and so on and so forth. It's just a very type of situation. In some cases, unfortunately, the almost some time perceived as if we lived in four cities. Nevertheless, like many who wish to disassociate from Hadamio's style, he claims the election does not hinge on issues of race or class conflict. I have contented from the very beginning that this is not a race of racism. It is not a one versus rich versus poor or brown versus white. We need to be rich builders rather than demolition experts. Linda Durham was the

fourth most visible candidate to run for mayor. She owns an art gallery on Upper Canyon Road in the heart of Santa Fe's gentrified and exclusive rambling Adobe East side. Durham moved to Santa Fe in 1966, married and divorced. Durham has raised two children and succeeded at the art business. She has never run for political office before but has come to feel the city is moving toward an economic downturn. I began to be very concerned, not just in isolation but in conversations with my friends who would say, that's gone. This doesn't work anymore. That's changed. Did you hear about the new golf course? What about this? We were concerned about the rapid changes to the city. I was afraid that Santa Fe could peak and then have bad economic times and certainly the aesthetics of the community would have changed.

In a way that didn't serve the community well. I saw the race shaping up in the fall and I didn't see somebody stepping forward who would not only acknowledge the problems who would not only look for solutions but would implement those solutions. The support that Durham hoped for represents a significant sector of Santa Fe society. A lot of artists who respect what are done for contemporary art in this town, not simply the artists whose works I represent but across the board. There are a whole lot of artists in this town. They're not rich people. There are many of them struggling people. But they are creative and in the main very optimistic. I also have a lot of friends in the business community. I have a lot of friends in the aid and comfort

human rights community. By the early January deadline, a total of 13 candidates declared for mayor, although one soon dropped out. The press quickly separated four front runners, Chavez, Harameo, Lopez and Durham. The dark horses represented a range of middle -class perspectives on what was wrong with Santa Fe. To the media, the most amusing candidate was Gail Bohenic. Her eccentricities were emphasized to eclipse her more serious side. Much was made of her claim to be channeling the spirit of a deceased local painter and popular figure, Tommy Maseoni. Chris received, I mean, I was doing the walk, the... The movie, an audio walk, a canyon road. I was standing around a bonfire with my friends and we were drinking hot cider. Suddenly I saw this little figure, which was Tommy. And,

you know, I sort of was aware of him dancing around and very simply what ultimately happened, because he was aware that I was upset about the fact that it looked like Debbie might not be our mayor. And I heard him say, look, Goddess loves Debbie, so does Santa Fe, but you must run. Bohenic deploys the smear campaign being waged against Harameo. Her candidacy, in fact, seems almost a way of campaigning for Harameo. You realize, I mean, Santa Fe is the second, now I believe, now where the second most popular tourist spot in the world. When you think about that, that $165 million a year is generated in Santa Fe alone for tourism. You've got a situation where that is ripe for exploitation, where it is ripe for greed to take over, where this is a boom town.

And anybody who stands in the way of that is really setting themselves or herself up for a target. And Debbie has stood in the way of that. Thomas Montoya is a 32 year old Santa Fe native, who works for the city recreation department and coaches basketball at St. Michael's High School. Apart from a stint in the Marines, he has lived in Santa Fe all of his life and has no political experience. He decided to run for mayor out of a concern over how a rapid influx of wealthy newcomers into the community might exclude others from democratic participation. Money has moved in and money is having a big influence. I think people become real frustrated because they don't feel they can participate if their pocket book is not large enough. The parents are on their name and whether they're wealthy or not. But I believe that if we're going to make real change and real difference in our city, that we must give democracy and leadership back to the people. Although Montoya says he has nothing against tourism as an

important part of the economy, city government should focus first on the welfare of its citizens rather than the promotion. There's nothing wrong with tourism. The only problem I have is that recently our past city administration, their big priority has been tourism. It hasn't really been concerned with the citizens of our city. I'd like to see that primary term where we're really concerned about the citizens who live here. Roger Webb has lived in Santa Fe for 23 years. Born in Baltimore, he ran for Santa Fe City Council in the early 1970s. For several years, he owned a burglar alarm company. More recently, he has been involved in conflict mediation and violence prevention programs in the schools. Like other dark horse candidates, he was spurred by a sense of urgency over the recent course of events in the city. One of the things I like to do is sailing. Specifically, I really like to do competitive sailing. I'd had a dream of wanting to go to a major regatta that lasted a week long plus to travel for a summer and essentially sail for a summer. So I did that last

summer. When I came back, I got back Santa Fe about in September right before Fiesta. And what was going on was a lot of anger, intention and fear and threats of violence for Fiesta. And I wasn't aware when I initially got back about what had happened, which was the Ortega shooting. And seemingly there was no one doing anything about it. No one stepping into the void, providing the leadership, saying, okay, we're going to do whatever it takes to have peace. We're going to do whatever it takes to have a peaceful Fiesta. You know, this is a community celebration. Don't worry about it. Come, we're going to enjoy and have a good time. That there was, my experience was that there was no leadership. For Webb, his candidacy seems to have a transcendent meaning. I feel that this election is, you know, this process, whether I'm elected or not, is definitely part of my destiny.

And then in one sense that I've been preparing for this moment in time for at least the last five years, if not my whole life. But I can clearly see a frequency of events that have led me to where I am today. And so I have a role to play in this. I've come to believe that there's a universal energy. Some people call it God. Some people call it Buddha. Carmen Quintana is a Santa Fe native whose work history, like Haramios, involved government and secretarial jobs, and marriage and child raising after high school. She is known for her views, inspired by land grant activist Reyes Lopez Tierra, on the American expropriation of Spanish and Mexican land grants after 1848. In her view, New Mexico's social ills all go back to the land grant issue. But I've found that all the racism was hurting the people in New Mexico so much. And it was all tied

into the land grant struggle. Her platform for the mayoral race rested on the claim that key city properties sit on grant land that still rightfully belongs to her family. If she becomes mayor, Santa Feans will settle all these land disputes in city hall with everybody watching it. The land disputes will be settled amongst us with a judge signing off on the final order. And then we can decide who gets to build what houses and where. I envision city hall and county government merging. Yes, it would dissolve the city chart. I've been in governance by declaring ourselves sovereign nations and saying we're never going to court again. Women just would save the taxpayers a lot of money. Candidate Peggy Frank, a native of Minnesota, owns

a used bookstore in Santa Fe. She has raised three children, worked as a medical technologist and holds an MA in counseling. She considers her lack of political experience and asset. The people, I'm telling you what the mass of the populace, the proletariat, I don't know what you want to call it, don't want the development. But they feel that the city is being sold out from underneath and the water is being depleted for tourism, for fancy homes. And they're very unhappy when they see this. Surely McLean Fiasco up there building the houses on the hills. People are very unhappy about it. So how do you see your role in this thing? My role is that I have no connections. I don't owe any realtors or builders or contractors developed. I have no connections. The people are very concerned that the ones representing them down in city hall are so closely allied with the big money. It's all money. Rounding out the field were Charles Wolfe, a bus driver and graduate student in anthropology. Chad Reagan,

a garage mechanic, and Mack Moore, a retired state government worker. It would be a great joy to be able to go down on the plaza and walk across it twice and see three people that I knew. The press coverage of the race intensified as the campaign built toward crescendo. At least a dozen public forums and other functions were held all over town during the final two months of the campaign. They were sponsored by organizations ranging from the Chamber of Commerce and Gated Private Communities to the gay rights supported human rights alliance. Predictably, the Chamber and similar organizations endorsed Chavez. The human rights alliance endorsed Harameo. In the middle of the campaign, the two major newspapers each commissioned public opinion polls among Santa Fe voters. Both polls found Chavez leading handily over Harameo, one by 12%, and the other

11%. Lopez came in a close third in one and Durham a close third in the other. Other results showed clear ethnic differences. Chavez and Durham did well among Anglo voters, with Chavez leading in one poll and the two tied in the other. Among Hispanics, Chavez ran far ahead of Harameo in one poll, but in the other survey the race was closer. Most significant is that a fifth of the Anglos and a quarter of the Hispanics remained undecided one week before the elections. The New Mexican characterized Chavez's support as the most broadly based. Harameo was well known but very unpopular, with a negative rating almost six times greater than that for any other candidate. Yet the paper also found that most Santa Feans considered Santa Fe on the wrong track and growing too fast. They identified tourism, growth, and land use as the most pressing issues. Harameo's campaign issues appeared to have struck

a chord among Santa Fe voters. The money that poured into the selection was unprecedented for Santa Fe, a city of 56 ,000. Chavez and Durham raised the most money. With their larger coffers they were able to purchase television ads. Harameo did not buy television time. Her funds were used for brochures, posters, and radio spots on election day. Chavez's apparent lead in the campaign was marred by his association with moneyed interests. The first client for his new security service was Las Campanas, a large luxury residential and golf development whose demands for water have caused controversy. Chavez's contract with Las Campanas was widely perceived as a conflict of interest since, as a city counselor and prospective mayor, he would be required to act on issues relating to the development. Public perception of Chavez as a tool for special interests intensified when he refused to disclose his other business clients.

Three weeks before the election, Chavez cancelled his contract with Las Campanas in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, but the damage was already done. As expected, the New Mexican endorsed Chavez, but the surprise came when the Santa Fe reporter, which supported Sam Pick in 1990, endorsed Devi Harameo, this marked a turning point in her campaign. In the last days before the election, the overall expectation remained that Chavez would win. Still, the polls continued to report a sizable margin of undecideds, and, boyied by the reporter's endorsement, Harameo supporters remained enthusiastic and hopeful. The game was not over yet. A crisp

morning greeted Santa Fe voters arriving at the polls on Election Day to cast their ballot for mayor and four city council positions. Long lines at the polls conveyed that this election had surpassed turnout in all city elections in recent history. More than 3 ,000 votes were cast over the election of 1990, signaling the intensity of interest in this competitive election. Pesso Chavez posed confidently for the news media, appearing every bit the frontrunner that the polls and the pundits declared him to be. Devi Harameo and her campaign workers remained undonted by the pre -election predictions. A network of grassroots activists registered voters, specially for this election, and mobilized support for their candidate in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods.

The months of hard effort were about to reap their reward. As the polls closed, a crowd gathered at City Hall to witness the election returns. The absentee vote gave Chavez an early lead. But as the city clerk announced the tallies, precinct by precinct, the race for mayor quickly narrowed to Chavez and Harameo. They ran neck and neck for most of the evening. Surprisingly, undecided voters began gravitating toward Harameo. The gathering for Harameo's election night party at the historic La Fonda Hotel got boisterous and giddy. Folks ran high of beating the odds for the stunning upset. Harameo poll watchers called the election in their favor well before the final results. A few blocks away, a poll settled over what was expected to be a victory gathering for Pesso Chavez. Later that evening, a clearly disappointed

Chavez would join his sparse gathering of supporters. With the outcome clear, a triumphant Harameo walked with her husband into City Hall. Harameo won with just under 39 % of the total vote. Chavez claimed 34 % of the votes cast. Durham and Lopez placed a distant third and fourth. Although together they pulled enough votes to narrow the contest between the two frontrunners. The remaining eight candidates captured less than 500 votes combined. The significance of this whole election is the power of the people. I think Debbie Harameo is a strong person, not just a woman but a strong person. I think it's going to need a strong person to bring this town back into tow during the next four years. I think in this election, it's sent the message that money does not talk. I just want to say that for the first time, I think I'm part of a community and it's a white woman that feels really good. This is the day that Santa Fe fought back, that we weren't going to be pushed

around anymore by people of means who think they can redefine a community. People in Santa Fe have said we're defining Santa Fe for ourselves. Harameo won support from all parts of the city. She handily carried her own ethnically mixed district one. She also won the predominantly Anglo district two. She ran especially strong in older established neighborhoods, where Anglos now greatly outnumber Hispanics. Her largest margin of victory, however, came in the heavily Hispanic district three, which included the neighborhood where Pancho Ortega was shot. The grassroots voter registration drive had targeted district three, as well as Harameo's own district one. Paso Chavez carried only one district, his own south side neighborhood area. He won in some Hispanic and ethnically mixed neighborhoods, but most of his support came from the newer, predominantly Anglo and wealthier neighborhoods of the city.

Hi, Debbie Harameo. Having been elected to the office of mayor. In the end, Harameo won because she appeared to a cross section of voters as a bulwark against the threats that outside economic interests posed to Santa Fe. Liberal Anglos supported her cause of preserving Santa Fe's traditional charm. Grassroot Hispanics fell behind her attempts to deal with ethnic conflict and social problems. Older working class families hoped that she could protect their property rights. Harameo captured a plurality of the vote, all that was required to become mayor of Santa Fe. To the best of my ability, so help me, guys. Debbie Harameo, strong -willed woman, working class Chicana, principal social activist,

uncompromising city counselor, had become mayor of a historic city in a historic election. But would her stunning victory serve to reconcile the competing interests? The next four years would tell whether or not Santa Fe would embark in a new direction. A great hope for the future. A voice that comes out of the mouth of a young man. From despair, a song comes out. This coloris

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