The Santa Fe school board will hold a special meeting Tuesday evening to gather public comment on five people who have applied to take the south-side District 4 seat of former board Vice President Rudy Garcia and to conduct public interviews with the candidates.
Following the public forum and interviews, the board could choose to appoint someone to serve out the remainder of Garcia’s term, which ends in December 2023. Garcia resigned in June, citing a need to focus on his health.
All five candidates for the seat indicated they’re committed to running for it in the November 2023 election — something board members said in June would be a key factor in who they select to fill the seat.
“The board is being very careful and intentional,” Board President Kate Noble said Monday. While she hopes board members take action on a candidate Tuesday night, she said it’s possible they will need more time to vet the applicants.
The pool of applicants
includes three people with experience in government work: former
Santa Fe City Councilor Roman “Tiger” Abeyta, New Mexico State Land Office employee John A. Baca and Juan Blea, a spokesman for the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.
Applicant Jodie Wheeler is a senior accountant and human resources manager who chairs the school district’s Community Review Committee, while Alba Blondis is a retired educator from Illinois.
Baca said in an interview Monday he now works as an executive assistant to the State Land Office’s general counsel but will transition in August to a position at the First Judicial District Attorney’s Office, where he will work as a prosecution specialist.
He ran unsuccessfully in the June Democratic primary election for a judgeship on the Santa Fe County Magistrate Court. Previously, Baca resigned from a position with the Los Alamos County Magistrate Court after accusations of malfeasance surrounding how he logged his work hours.
He has three children, two of whom graduated from Santa Fe High School. His youngest daughter will start first grade in the fall at Amy Biehl Community School, which is represented by the District 2 school board member.
According to the candidates’ applications, he is the only one with a child in the school system.
“I carry a strong interest in our public education issues as I have a full understanding of how they can directly affect the future of our students and of the citizens of Santa Fe,” Baca wrote in his application materials.
He is one of two applicants with relatives working in the school district. Baca’s brother is married to incoming Milagro Middle School Principal Georgia Baca, who most recently worked as the principal of E.J. Martinez Elementary School. Baca said one of his wife’s sisters is a teacher at Wood Gormley Elementary while another works at Acequia Madre Elementary.
Abeyta has cousins who work at Capital High School, Milagro and Atalaya Elementary. His sister works in the administrative office of state-chartered Turquoise Trail Charter Schools.
Noble said having family members who work in the district probably wouldn’t be a problem for a board member, but a question was included on the application to keep “eyes wide open” to possible conflicts of interest.
Abeyta, chief professional officer of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Fe/Del Norte, served as city councilor from 2018 until 2021, when he lost his reelection bid to Planning Commissioner Lee Garcia.
A Santa Fe Community College alumni, Abeyta also previously served as the Santa Fe County manager. In a letter of interest he submitted to the board, he said his experience in government and nonprofits would be an asset to the board — particularly as much of his work with the Boys & Girls Clubs happens on the south side of town.
“I work with many wonderful families who live in School District 4 and I work closely with community organizations to try and bring equity to the Southside of Santa Fe,” he wrote.
He has two grandchildren, ages 6 and 7, who attend Atalaya Elementary. His five children also attended Santa Fe Public Schools.
Blea, who has a master’s degree in education focusing on at-risk youth from the now-defunct College of Santa Fe, previously worked as an addiction counselor. He does not have any children of his own in the local district, but he wrote about watching his niece and nephew, now Capital High seniors, move through schools on the city’s south side.
“Shootings, overdoses, and a general lack of connection to the greater community have derailed many of their friends, and Santa Fe is losing a whole batch of young people, simply because policies and resources are not always appropriated in the best interests of our south-side youth,” he wrote in his letter of interest.
Wheeler, who graduated from Santa Fe High and attended Santa Fe Community College, wrote in her letter of interest she stayed involved in the district after her children graduated by volunteering at Sweeney Elementary, Ortiz Middle School, Ramirez Thomas Elementary, Capital High and the Academy for Technology and the Classics.
“I have lived in District 4 for the last 37 years and I believe I can honestly speak to the needs of the District and its children,” she wrote.
Blondis, who has lived in District 4 for 10 years, is a parent of two adult children. She wrote that her daughter is disabled and struggled in school.
According to her résumé, she worked in retail in Santa Fe from 2012 to 2017.
Previously, she spent time as a publicist and teacher in Illinois before becoming the coordinator of an adult education program at Prairie State College in Chicago Heights, where she worked for 10 years.
“My objective is to contribute to the educational well-being of Santa Fe’s school children through study, discussion and decisions about best educational practices as a member of SFPS Board,” Blondis wrote in her résumé.
The candidate appointed to the District 4 seat will represent Capital High, César Chávez Community School, Ortiz Middle School, Nye Early Childhood Center, Ramirez Thomas Elementary, Nina Otero Community School and Sweeney Elementary.
Board members don’t receive pay but are given per diem for attending board meetings. Noble estimates she earns $2,000 to $3,000 a year attending meetings.
