Santa Fe Mayor-elect Michael Garcia has plans to reshape city — and the mayor’s office

SANTA FE — Michael Garcia’s days of going unrecognized while out and about might be over.

But Santa Fe’s mayor-elect, who won an eight-way race last week, said he’s getting used to that as he readies to take the reins of New Mexico’s capital city.

“I used to be able to go to the grocery store and nobody would recognize who I am,” he said in an interview. “That’s going to shift and change, not only for me but for my family.”

However, the Santa Fe native, a current city councilor, said he feels ready on a professional level to lead the city, which has long relied on tourism and state government to drive its economy.

Part of that could involve reshaping the scope of the mayor’s office.

Unlike other Santa Fe mayoral candidates, Garcia backed two changes to the city charter that voters approved on the Nov. 4 election night.

Those changes, which involve only allowing the mayor to vote when the city council is deadlocked on issues and giving a supermajority of the council the ability to remove top city officials, could weaken the mayor’s authority.

But Garcia said he doesn’t see it that way, arguing it will make for a cleaner separation between the city’s executive and legislative branches.

“It’s kind of weird for an incoming mayor to say, ‘Yes, I’m wanting to remove some of the powers of the mayor,’ but I think ultimately it’s going to lead to a stronger government for the residents of Santa Fe,” he said.

Garcia currently works for AmeriCorps VISTA, a national service program intended to alleviate poverty. He plans to step down from that job before taking office as mayor in late December.

He also will step down from the city council seat he’s held since 2019, and will then appoint a successor.

In addition, Garcia said he has begun the process of accepting résumés for top city positions, including city manager, city attorney and city clerk.

“I have encouraged the current occupants of those positions to apply for the roles should they want to continue, but we’ll have to see what happens once résumés start coming in,” he said.

A local kid faces big challenges

Former Santa Fe Mayor David Coss, who knows Garcia’s family and supported him during this year’s campaign, said Garcia has the right mix of knowledge and youthful energy.

He also said Garcia’s upbringing in the city could prove beneficial in dealing with potentially thorny cultural issues, including deciding the next steps for a monument on the Santa Fe Plaza after protestors toppled a controversial obelisk in 2020.

“What I like about him is he grew up here and he knows us,” Coss said.

He said Santa Fe has changed in some ways since he served as mayor from 2006 until 2014, but said issues like housing costs and affordability have been challenges since the 1980s.

Santa Fe, which has a population of about 90,000 residents, has struggled with rising housing costs, increased homelessness and other issues in recent years.

Home prices in Santa Fe have gone up by 68% since 2018 and are roughly double the statewide average, with a median price of $580,000 per home, according to research by the Pew Charitable Trusts.

That prompted the city to pass a “mansion tax” that applies to homes sold for more than $1 million, with money generated going into an affordable housing trust fund. The tax was initially blocked by a state judge, but was allowed to move forward under a Court of Appeals ruling last month.

As mayor, Garcia said one of his first steps will be to scrutinize the city’s budget to see where untapped funds might be found.

Such money could be used to hire more city police officers and parks employees, he said.

While Santa Fe already allows police officers to drive their squad cars home when not working if they live within 60 miles of the city, Garcia said he’d also push for the city to offer a housing stipend for officers who live in Santa Fe.

He also said he plans to undo steps taken by outgoing Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber to rely heavily on outside contractors to maintain city parks.

“My goal is to become less reliant, almost non-reliant, on those types of contracts and have the work be conducted by city staff,” he said.

Minimum wage friction

As Santa Fe’s mayor, Garcia will preside over the implementation of a higher citywide living wage, after the city council voted last week to increase the minimum wage from $15 to $17.50 per hour, starting in January 2027.

Garcia voted in favor of the legislation, but expressed concerns about some provisions in the legislation.

He also said the living wage label was misleading, saying a true living wage in Santa Fe would likely have to be at least $25 per hour.

“It’s an increase in the minimum wage, not a living wage,” he said. “I don’t want to be misleading to the citizens of Santa Fe.”

Garcia at times clashed with Webber, who decided not to seek reelection this year, and said he plans to bring a more collaborative approach to the mayor’s office.

Among other ideas, he said he wants to facilitate joint meetings between the Santa Fe City Council and the local county commission, along with similar meetings involving the school board and area legislators.

Ultimately, however, more meetings alone won’t solve all of Santa Fe’s challenges. But Garcia said better communication could make the city more responsive to its residents.

“I want folks to know that I’m not going to be some mayor up in an ivory tower,” he said. “I’m going to be standing shoulder to shoulder with our community.”