People for Patti Bushee

Leadership

Councilor Patti Bushee represents Santa Fe City Council, District 1. She was appointed to the Council by the Mayor-elect in 1994, and subsequently elected to the District 1 seat in 1996. She was re-elected in 2000, 2004, and in 2008 with 72.5% of the vote.  She is now serving her fourth consecutive term.

Patti for many years chaired the City’s Public Works Committee and currently chairs the Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee.  She serves on the City’s Finance Committee and the Public Utilities Committee and was a founding member and continues to serve on the Regional Planning Authority.

Patti earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Maine in International Affairs/Political Science/Spanish, Suma cum laude, and is Phi Beta Kappa. She also studied at George Washington University in Washington DC and a year at La Universidad de Sevilla in Seville, Spain.

Vision

During her many years of public service on the Council, Patti has demonstrated her commitment to improving the quality of life for all Santa Feans, advocating water use and conservation policies, a living river, an extended network of urban trails, and an approach to annexation that puts public safety considerations at the forefront.

Patti sees public safety and the delivery of City services as core to the social and economic health of the community.  She is a staunch proponent of growth management, and consistently calls for land use planning which takes into account Santa Fe’s unique geological characteristics and water scarcity issues.  She aggressively advocates affordable housing and a living wage; and believes our first responders should be able to live and participate in the community they serve.

Patti also envisions our local businesses, our artistic, cultural, and historical institutions and our community of educators as the key resources from which a framework for Santa Fe’s economic revitalization can be fashioned.

Results

Building on two decades of progressive accomplishments; including leadership in funding new facilities for Warehouse 21, the Farmers Market, the Mary Esther Gonzales Senior Center and our Dog Parks; establishing the City’s Small Business of the Year Award; promoting our smoke free ordinance; and the Living Wage;  Patti continues to contribute.  Not only did she introduce the City ordinance to impound drunk-drivers’ vehicles, but she was the catalyst to assure that the Ordinance became a part of the City’s enforcement program.  To date, more than 1075 vehicles have been impounded.  Patti’s work on the Bicycle and Trails Advisory Committee not only promotes Santa Fe as a “Bicycle Friendly City” and fosters a trail network that will make Santa Fe an outdoor recreation destination for thousands, but she most recently played a key role in bringing the 2012 International Mountain Bicycling Association’s World Bike Summit to Santa Fe.

To Meet The Challenges Ahead

In these most difficult economic times, seasoned as a small business owner for more than 20 years, and as a public servant for nearly as long, Patti has already taken on the most demanding, and perhaps most important work of her career. Today, Patti is frequently the first to call for cautious and realistic management of the City’s resources in the face of our struggling economy.  She has opposed unnecessary increases in property taxes, insisted on more prudent management of the peoples’ monies and urged conservative budget planning, fiscal accountability and a willingness to cut spending.  She asks the hard questions about the City continuing to borrow through bonding, and she continues to oppose efforts to raid the City’s reserves, calling instead for prudent spending and political courage.

Councilor Patti Bushee recognizes today’s challenges to Santa Fe’s leadership are already far more difficult than yesterdays.  The voters who have returned her to office in four elections recognize that her experience in business, in government, and in life have prepared her to successfully meet the even more daunting challenges tomorrow holds.