Roundhouse Update

Update on HB 325, Public Facility Abandonment.  New Hearing Date:  Monday, February 12, Rm 309, at 1:30pm.  The hearing room was packed at 9am. As usual, the demeanor in the Committee was collegial with several bills passing with bipartisan support. But. it was hard to tell when this HB325 would be heard except that Speaker Egolf was constantly ducking in and out of the room, obviously working on last minute amendments to the bill.

The odd thing about Roundhouse hearings is that bills can be amended on the fly and while members of a committee see the amended bill before voting, The other aspect of Roundhouse advocacy that is so strange is that what appears to be going on, really isn’t what is really going on. Votes can be swaps for support or silence on issues entirely unrelated to the matter before the committee.  Finally, you can spend hours in a hearing room listening to discussion of bills that you might not find that compelling on first blush and then be drawn into a nuanced discussion about something you’d never considered. The last lesson for today, was that bills scheduled for a hearing don’t always get heard. And so….

At 12:15, the Chair of the Committee announced that HB 325 would not be heard today. So I listened to testimony on

• front of the car license plates;
• relief for sellers of malt liquor and of
• The challenges of getting almonds from farm to market;
• Landlord – tenant law, and
• about a half dozen lesser bills., but not HB 325.

You may think that in that context, I wasted my day. But each hour spent in the Roundhouse you absorb a bit more about what is really going on.  Sort of the difference between reading a Civics text book describing how things should work and then being behind the scenes and starting to figure out how it really does work.

Chaco Canyon Landscape Preservation.  HM 85 Sunday 10am, Room 309. Click here to get to yesterday morning’s post with contact info, background information and speaking points. Updated Chaco Hearing Times/Locations, below. Speaking points and contact information for both committees are provided at the end of this post.

HM 85.  Sunday, Feb 11, 10am, Room 309.  House State Government, Indian and Veteran Affairs Committee., Speaking points and contact info for members of this committee are provided at the bottom of this post. The Chaco bill is the only bill on the agenda, so the hearing will begin promptly. Roxanne and I will not be able to attend these hearings as we and others in the Adelante Progressive Caucus of NM are being trained by the head of the CA Progressive Caucus. If you want to hear from the CA Progressive Caucus Chair, see below.

SM 43. Tuesday, Feb 13, 9am. Room 303. House State Government, Indian, and Veterans Affairs. Speaking points and contact information for Committee Members are provided at the end of the post.  

Santa Fe University of Art and Design

Retake has been tracking the SFUAD process for months and now the City has announced a process in which you can provide substantive input. Retake leadership will be deeply involved in the process described below and would encourage you to do so, as well.

The Midtown Campus Project

As the Santa Fe University of Art & Design (SFUAD) moves closer to a 2018 closing date, the City of Santa Fe has been preparing for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to repurpose a true gem, located in the geographic center of our community.  The City believes the Midtown Project can positively impact education, housing, economy, health care, entertainment, social equity, government services and the overall quality of life for our community while catalyzing the redevelopment of the St. Michael’s Midtown Local INnovation Corridor (LINC).

Quick Overview of Project Phases

Collection (1/22 to 2/21):  The City wants to get your ideas and priorities for the property as called for in the SFUAD Resolution (2017-78) passed in October.  The City will use innovative collaboration activities and outreach via traditional surveys available online and in-person.  This work will result in guidelines for the next phase.

Visioning (2/22 to 4/9): Santa Fe Art Institute will lead the work to recruit and qualify five great design teams to create a visual and written representation based on guidelines developed in the Collection phase.   Midway during this phase, the teams may choose to share their work privately with small groups of residents to refine and adjust their concepts prior to their final submission.

Evaluation (4/10 to 5/1): Residents are invited to comment on, add improvements to, and vote for their favorite concepts, or parts thereof, from the Visioning phase.  This will be done in person at three locations in the center and Southside of the City, as well as online to help ensure the maximum amount of participation.

For a full description of the Midtown Campus Project, click here.

Here’s How to Participate

Feb 11-14:  Collaborative research activities will be conducted online Feb 11-14.  Over the last few weeks we have had over 400 people signup to participate.  This is a great turn out!  We were hoping for 100-200.

Feb 17 – 20: Surveys are scheduled to be available 2/17-20.  Come back during those dates and click here to take survey.

Feb 17 – Mar 30: If you would like to be considered for participating in the in person events to be held between April 12-15 during the Evaluation phase, please come back to this site between 2/17 – 3/30. Information on involvement in this phase is not on the website, as yet.

Here Are Links to Relevant Information

• Aerial Photo of Property and Surrounding Area
• Appraisal of Campus Property
• Campus Plat and Buildings
• Culture Connects
• Midtown Campus Project Description
• Midtown LINC Overlay Summary
• SFUAD Resolution 2017-78

As the Santa Fe University of Art & Design moves closer to a 2018 closing date, the City of Santa Fe has been preparing for a once-in-a-generation opportunity to repurpose a