City Council District 3 candidate questionairres
Oct. 2—Louis Carlos
Age: 52
Party affiliation: Democrat
Educational background: High school diploma; associate degree in criminal justice
Occupation: Private investigator
Political experience: None
Relevant life experience: Retired law enforcement professional, father of eight, grandfather of six. Passionate about serving my community.
Have you ever been charged or convicted of a crime, including drunken driving? Yes
If yes, please explain: I was charged with battery during my divorce/child custody process for spanking my sons. Case was dismissed by prosecutor.
Have you ever filed for bankruptcy or been involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, either personally or in business? Yes
If yes, please explain: We filed for Chapter 13 while I lived in Texas in the early '90s. I also filed for Chapter 7 after my second divorce in New Mexico in 2011.
Have you ever been the subject of liens for unpaid taxes? No
Land use and zoning issues have become contentious as the city faces the competing goals of addressing a housing crisis and preserving neighborhood character. How do you believe this balance could be achieved as the city begins a long-overdue overhaul of its development codes?
The city needs to open dialogue with affected constituents. Governmental bullying is not a suitable effort in building bridges. The prime example was Agua Fría vllage coming together and wavering governmental overreach. Some of these conflicts stem from Santa Fe never really having a long-term plan for healthy, sustainable growth — a 10, 20 or even 30-year plan for the city could consider these conflicting priorities before they ever clashed in the first place.
The city has struggled for years to submit timely financial audits to the state. Do you believe the Finance Department is on the right track to rectify this, and are there other actions the city should take to ensure timely audits in the future?
Yes, the [Finance Department] is on the right track, albeit the audits should have not fallen behind. The lack of internal accountability demonstrates our governmental failure. The city and its leadership should approach the audits with a rather thorough analysis for solving a long-term challenge instead of a short-term fix with visible results that do not have to last. With the right leadership, the audits can be completed in a timely manner and with greater accountability.
The midtown campus redevelopment is now in its early stages. Are you satisfied with the direction of the long-awaited project, and do you have ideas of how the effort should move forward? Are there similar projects you envision in the city?
The campus has been a hot potato since 2009 and the direction it is now taking is progress. There are similar projects that can be initiated in the south side of Santa Fe — those projects will have to wait until the midtown campus development becomes a success.
What are your thoughts on how the city carries out basic services?
* Water: Certain areas of town have antiquated systems. Constituents in D-3 that do not have access to water.
* Wastewater: The plant is need of upgrades.
* Roads: Potholes throughout District 3. The medians are a mess with overgrowth.
* Parks: Some parks in D-3 are in dire need of attention.
* Public Safety: Crime continues to climb out of control. More community engagement, proactive patrols. Evolve from reactive response model.
It's been nearly three years since the Plaza obelisk was toppled. How do you believe the council should move forward?
The Soldiers' Monument is a federal monument, and it should be returned to its previous state. There is now room to make some changes to diversify its purpose. Tearing monuments and statues down will not eradicate the past, nor will it solve any of our current cultural problems. They are a vision of the past and we must learn from them!
Do you support a ballot question to voters that would impose a tax on the sales of high-end homes to create revenue for affordable housing initiatives, and what other solutions do you see for a housing crisis?
Affordable housing is a priority for us to deal with. I am not comfortable with taxing our way out of the problem and depending on an entity that cannot complete its own audits in a timely and transparent manner to then also manage and maintain large amounts in these potential new funds! The state is set to divide $35 million throughout municipalities that have a need for affordable housing.
Pilar Faulkner
Age: 51
Party affiliation: Moderate Democrat
Educational background: Bachelor's degree, pursuing master's (2024)
Occupation: governmental affairs liaison, organizational/leadership development consultant
Political experience: 23 years state, county, city and schools; serve on planning commission (2017-present)
Relevant life experience: Legislative and policy creation and implementation, organizational development, mediation, high-risk high-conflict negotiator.
Have you ever been charged or convicted of a crime, including drunken driving? No
Have you ever filed for bankruptcy or been involved in a bankruptcy proceeding, either personally or in business? No
Have you ever been the subject of liens for unpaid taxes? No
Land use and zoning issues have become contentious as the city faces the competing goals of addressing a housing crisis and preserving neighborhood character. How do you believe this balance could be achieved as the city begins a long-overdue overhaul of its development codes?
Long-range planning is the missing piece of the puzzle for sustainable and effective land use. Currently there is no long-range planning happening. Additionally, we have to review and reconsider some of our overlays, density requirements and allowances, height limitations, amenity development and [Early Neighborhood Notification] process. We also need to promote and support infill projects that will help ensure affordability is available in every district.
The city has struggled for years to submit timely financial audits to the state. Do you believe the Finance Department is on the right track to rectify this, and are there other actions the city should take to ensure timely audits in the future?
In addition to self-audits on an annual basis the city should engage a third-party auditor to ensure the self-audits are being done correctly. It is unclear to me how a city can be successful if it cannot pass audits regularly or consistently. In my experience audit failures are indicative of a larger administrative issue. Audits are like the canary in the coal mine — often the most obvious indicator of a bigger problem.
The midtown campus redevelopment is now in its early stages. Are you satisfied with the direction of the long-awaited project, and do you have ideas of how the effort should move forward? Are there similar projects you envision in the city?
I have some concerns related to how long it has taken the city to move on the midtown project. I am also disappointed fee in lieu of was allowed for housing components of the build out. There is an opportunity with midtown to create something unique and exciting. There are talented people working on this project if we can keep politics out of the critical decision-making the project might stand a chance.
What are your thoughts on how the city carries out basic services?
I do not feel the way the city is organized in a way that promotes effective budgeting, workforce recruitment and retention, team development and positive performance outcomes. High-demand departments like parks, land use and policing should be placed in the elevated tiers of the city's hierarchy. These departments need more autonomy and certainly more funding.
It's been nearly three years since the Plaza obelisk was toppled. How do you believe the council should move forward?
The city should stop allowing outside influences to interfere with the people working together towards a resolution. We have the tools to fix this together; our communities are comprised of multiethnic/cultural relationships. Where there were once enemies there are now families. We just need leadership to recognize our families are the best resource for finding common ground. Leaving the community out of the dialogue and looking for outside of the people will only make this worse.
Do you support a ballot question to voters that would impose a tax on the sales of high-end homes to create revenue for affordable housing initiatives, and what other solutions do you see for a housing crisis?
Whereas I do not believe taxes should be the go-to solution for solving issues related to housing affordability, the community should have a voice as to how these problems get resolved. There are several other options available that should also be considered in conjunction with this approach. Revisiting the code, robust and proactive infill, enhancing and revision of fee-in-lieu of and effective long-range planning could contribute to alleviating challenges regarding affordability.
