The mood was joyful and optimistic today as Santa Fe’s new mayor, Michael Garcia was sworn in at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center. New City Councilors Patricia Feghali and Elizabeth Barrett were also sworn in, along with returning Councilors Lee Garcia and Amanda Camille Chavez.
The ceremony embodied Santa Fe’s multicultural values with prayers and greetings in Diné, Tewa, Spanish, Hebrew and English.
In his inauguration speech, Mayor Garcia laid out the key issues he aims to tackle in his term, including infrastructure projects, affordable housing and homelessness. Garcia also announced that he will create an of office of an Independent Inspector General hoping to increase transparency and trust in city government.
"The residents of Santa Fe deserve a government that is efficient, effective and one that works for everybody," Garcia said during a speech. "I acknowledge that trust in city government must be earned back, and I'm ready to do the hard work to rebuild that trust."
A former Santa Fe city councilor, Garcia repeatedly stressed the need for collaboration, both within the city government and with state and federal offices. U.S. Senator Ben Ray Lujan attended the inauguration and said that spirit of collaboration is strained under the current administration.
"The federal government is supposed to provide significant support when it comes to housing initiatives, as well infrastructure investments—whether it's broadband, roads and bridges, water and wastewater," Lujan told KSFR. "Sadly, under this President, we've seen one program after another gutted."
State Representative Tara Lujan, who represents Santa Fe, said the lack of federal support makes it even more important for state and city governments to work together.
"There are a lot of overlapping projects that we're working on," Rep. Lujan told KSFR. "From the state perspective, we've created our own housing fund that can be stacked and used with our local governments."
Garcia said in a press conference following the inauguration that he is not daunted by the number of vacancies in city departments and offices. He said he wants to improve the culture in the city government in order to attract top talent.
"Growing up in Santa Fe the city was always a desired place of employment but that hasn't been the case the last couple years," Garcia said. "My priority is to ensure that we are the desired workplace for the residents of Santa Fe and we begin to recruit talent regionally to come work for our city."
As he closed his speech, Garcia acknowledged the immensity of the work in front him with a simple expression. "Little by little one walks far," he said.
