Santa Fe Launches SF University of Art & Design Community Input. Roundhouse Update: HB 325, Chaco & More

The City’s extensive Santa Fe University of Art & Design community input process has been announced, with details in this post. Also a report on an interesting day at the Roundhouse, the current status of HB 325  and a Call to Action for Chaco Sunday and Tuesday. Contact info and speaking points on Chaco provided.

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.
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 true gem, located in the geographic center of our community. Together, we 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 re-development of the St. Michael’s Midtown LINC corridor.
The City is now reaching out to you, our incredible community, once more to help guide our efforts in creating a strategic vision for the future of this important property and our City via the Midtown Campus Project.
In the first phase of the Midtown Campus Project, the City wants to hear your ideas and priorities for the property. To do this, we will use online collaboration activities, and reach out through traditional surveys available online and in-person.  Below you will find background information on the status of the project and how you can get involved.

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

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 

We encourage everyone to get involved!  To learn more and sign up to participate, please click here.

As one who completed the survey commented:  “I can’t believe all of these bills aren’t law.” But none are. The quote and the fact that few of these bills even got to the Governor’s desk, despite a Democratic majority in both chambers, is why it’s critically important that every one of our supporters complete the 2019 Legislative Priorities Survey and share it with others.  The survey will be the lynchpin for our 2018 election strategy and our 2019 legislative strategy. So please complete it today, if you haven’t already. Click the blue button above, left. It will take 10 minutes. We will share preliminary results at the Town Hall….but the good news is we have had almost 500 folks complete the survey so far with over 45 House Districts represented among respondents and 60% want to be part of the Response Network.  We launched our outreach effort to other parts of the state last night. If you want to get involved, please write to me at paul@RetakeOurDemocracy.org. We could use more volunteers on our Roundhouse Activism Team,  to increase the impact the work of this heroic gang of ten.

Speaking points  on Chaco Canyon Protection bill are easy:

  • Protect Chaco Canyon;
  • Insist that the Bureau of Land Management consult with tribal representatives before issuing any future permits on land within 30 miles of Chaco.
HM 85.  Sunday, Feb 11, 10am, Room 309.  House State Government, Indian and Veteran Affairs Committee.,House State Government, Indian and Veterans Affairs Committee (click blue link to get to phone, email, and Roundhouse Office #.
Title Name District Party Role
Representative Georgene Louis 26 D Chair
Representative Rodolpho “Rudy” S. Martinez 39 D Vice Chair
Representative Sharon Clahchischilliage 4 R Member
Representative Yvette Herrell 51 R Member
Representative D. Wonda Johnson 5 D Member
Representative Derrick J. Lente 65 D Member
Representative William “Bill” R. Rehm 31 R Member
Representative Dennis J. Roch 67 R Member
Representative G. Andrés Romero 10 D Member
SM 43. Tuesday, Feb 13, 9am. Room 303. House State Government, Indian, and Veterans Affairs.  Click blue link to get to phone, email, and Roundhouse Office #.
Name District Party Role
Senator John Pinto 3 D Chair
Senator Bill Tallman 18 D Vice Chair
Senator William E. Sharer 1 R Member
Senator Benny Shendo, Jr. 22 D Member
Senator Cliff R. Pirtle 32 R Ranking Member


Categories: Economic Justice, Community & Economic Development, Local-State Government & Legislation

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1 reply

  1. Hi Paul n Roxanne. You two should run for guv. as a team. It has been awhile since I have witnessed such energy, very hard work and long hours, incredible outreach skills, thorough analyses, and succinct communication. All this and much more, while keeping a very modest profile, are or should be bellweather examples of what is required of each and every citizen who understands what true democracy is.

    You two are tremendous inspiration. I admire both of you immensely.

    Mick Nickel

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