Bushee challenger says he will fight for term limits
Related
Advertisement
1/24/2008 - 1/25/08
Facing a powerhouse campaign from 14-year City Councilor Patti Bushee, challenger G. Anthony Garcia said he will advocate for term limits if he can oust Bushee in the March 4 Municipal Election.District 1 candidates Garcia and Bushee appeared at a forum Thursday night sponsored by the League of Women Voters along with District 2 candidates Robbie Dobyns and Rosemary Romero.
Garcia, dressed in a suit and tie, fired at Bushee during his opening statement, saying "one councilor" of the two who represent his district is unresponsive, and he has heard from voters "ready for change."
Playing on the league's stated goal of encouraging voter participation, Garcia said he would like to limit councilors to eight years, but exaggerated the term that Bushee has held.
"I don't think having a city councilor for 18 consecutive years is conducive to your group's mission of encouraging active voter participation," he said.
Garcia and Bushee sat next to each other at a table in a large room at the Santa Fe Women's Club, with the tension palpable at times. The two rivals, who also ran against each other in 1996, compared credentials on topics including the city's water system and the Santa Fe River.
Bushee, who sported rubber boots and an earth-toned sweater and pants, works in the State Engineer's water conservation division and said she supports long-range water planning and city policies requiring developers to transfer water to the city.
Garcia, a retired civil engineer with experience in roads and traffic, was chief engineer for the state Public Service Commission (now the Public Regulation Commission), worked to appraise the city water system and testified in court as an expert witness.
Asked about their ideas for restoring the Santa Fe River, Garcia took the opportunity to tell the audience about the glory days of his childhood at the river's edge.
Bushee, who grew up on the East Coast, touted the water-bill checkoff program she supported, which lets residents voluntarily contribute to a fund to secure water rights for the river.
"We are creating a living river," she said. "It's clearly a channel without water, and as part of our water strategy, we can put at least 1,000 (cubic feet per second) in that river and gain some recharge and reparation of our riparian zone. ... It's one of the reasons I want to run for another term."
The District 2 candidates also were passionate about water.
Dobyns, a real-estate agent, explained his idea to bring back the Two-Mile Reservoir on the city's eastern edge, a place where he, too, had fond childhood memories. Dobyns said the reservoir could serve as both a backup emergency water source and for local recreation.
Romero said she supported the living river plan and emphasized she has spent much of her career working on strategies for watershed-protection plans.
The two came closer to sparring over growth-management policies, with Romero touting her work as a facilitator on community planning efforts directly involving the city and the county.
"By default, we are limited to development on the south and west and need to look at those areas to manage our growth," she said, noting annexation planning also is a tool where appropriate.
Dobyns told the audience he favored a total rewrite of the city's land-use code, called Chapter 14.
"It is so dysfunctional," he said. "Nobody understands it, and ergo, everybody gets upset no matter what position you take on development. Chapter 14 is antithetical to growth management."
Candidates for Districts 3 and 4 are invited a second forum sponsored by the league on Monday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Southside Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive.
Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.