City Election Pop Quiz: Mayor |

They say knowledge is power. But how much knowledge of the city’s fundamentals do the three candidates for the top job in Santa Fe have? In our time-honored tradition, SFR asked the mayoral candidates about their familiarity with the city they hope to represent.

Early voting begins in October and election day is November 2nd. There is still enough time to register to vote and request a vote by post – the SFR voter timeline tells you where, when and how to cast your vote.

Before the quiz, we asked the candidates to agree to SFR’s pledge of honor: “I assure you that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help with this pop quiz and that all answers are my own.” Everyone agreed to play fair . The candidate’s answers have been edited for reasons of space and clarity.

ask

1. What is the Average Hourly Wage for a Santa Fe Firefighter?
2. What is the Average Single Family Home Price in Santa Fe?
3. What are two rules beggars must follow when asking for help on public property.
4. Explain what it takes to request a public record.
5. What percentage of the units do developers have to spend on affordable housing when building in the city?

answers

1. SFR used the current roster to determine the average firefighter wage based on a 48-hour week at $ 16.10 – excluding paramedics, captains, bosses, etc. The starting wage is $ 12.23.
2. According to the latest report from the Santa Fe Association of Realtors, the average single-family home price in the city and county combined was $ 600,000 for the second quarter of 2021. (In the city alone it’s $ 495,000. The county outside of the city was $ 647,000.)
3. Bargaining around aggressively is prohibited, including touching the wanted person without consent, using profane or offensive language, or bargaining in a group of two or more people. Panhandling is prohibited within the median of the street. Panhandling at one point for longer than two hours is prohibited. For all rules that regulate panhandling, see the city regulations.
4. The State File Inspection Act requires a written request with a description of the file you want to inspect, your name, date and contact details.
5. According to the Santa Fe Homes Program, 20% of all new homes for sale must be affordable to buyers with incomes 80% or less of the median income in the area. For rental units, developers need to set aside 15% for affordable rental units. Builders can pay a fee instead of building affordable units on site.

Alan Webber

Score: 3/5

Webber is seeking re-election after serving as the first full-time mayor of Santa Fe. The co-founder of the business magazine Fast Company also ran for governor as a member of the Democratic Party in 2014.

1. The average hourly wage for a Santa Fe firefighter is about $ 22 an hour.
2. I think they run these statistics by county, not city, at least that’s what I see in the papers, and I think we’re in the $ 560,000 range right now.
3. Impressive. Good question. Two rules that you have to adhere to? You cannot make physical contact with anyone. You cannot verbally threaten anyone. If they are in the median, they cannot hinder traffic or pose a public danger to passing traffic. On the other hand, they are protected by the First Amendment right to freedom of expression, which complicates the regulation of panhandling.
4. If you have a [Inspection of Public Records Act request] with the city we have a formal process that you must go through … so you must submit a written application with the specific information you are looking for under IPRA and your name. We need to tell the people submitting this request.
5. Before we talk about a specific number of units, there is also a fee that covers a way for developers to raise money for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund in lieu of the actual affordable units. The percentage that is given in a development is, in my opinion, 15% at the moment.

JoAnne Vigil Coppler

Score: 1/5

Vigil Coppler is a city councilor in District 4’s first term and has a long history in public administration and real estate. She was treasurer of the Santa Fe County Democratic Party.

1. I estimate $ 21 an hour. [Vigil Coppler says later by text “To be fair, the question regarding firefighter average hourly should include the Fire Chief, Deputy Chiefs, Battalion Chiefs, Captains, Paramedics, EMTs as well as firefighters. They are all firefighters and report to fires.”]
2. I think it’s about $ 461,000.
3. You must be in safe spaces such as median strips and sidewalks. I don’t think you can press people.
4. You must submit your application in writing to the files department. You need to specify exactly what you want to get and don’t expect to receive it before 15 days.
5. We just changed it. I now believe 20%.

Alexis Martinez Johnson

Score: 1/5

Johnson is an environmental engineer who previously ran for the 2020 Republican candidate for the 3rd Congressional District of New Mexico.

1. I would say € 14.50.
2. $ 365,000
3. Well, they can’t use force. And the second would be any kind of misrepresentation of what they are doing. To like [panhandling] on behalf of any type of business or anything of that nature … I’m sure the answers are abundant but as far as I know they can do what they want. When I went to get petition signatures and passed on Cerrillos Road, I had to tell my kids if they could please close their eyes because they were shooting heroin right down the street and they were not at all ashamed of just stepping aside.
4. I am not aware of any specific form, but I think anyone should be able to make any kind of statement requesting information … I think it could be said that it is just a statement from a citizen who requests a specific topic with their name and date and you know we should keep it as open as possible. (Johnson omits that the statement needs to be written.)
5. 20%

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