SANTA FE COALITION
FOR GOOD GOVERNMENT
CANDIDATE QUESTIONNAIRE
SANTA FE CITY COUNCIL ELECTIONS
- What guidelines do you think the City Council should follow to determine the most prudent amount of City debt liability and the level of taxes and fees placed on Santa Fe Citizens?
ANSWER: The most important guideline—maintain the highest bond rating possible.
The growth of city government cannot exceed our dwindling revenue stream. We must restructure and pay down our long-term debt, conduct an efficiency audit to see how we can restructure City Hall to achieve cost savings, continue to maintain vacancy savings by only filling positions that are absolutely necessary, and further examine the potential of revenue-generating fees or passing on the true cost of some services rather than raise taxes.
- Where do you think the City needs to increase its spending? Where do you think the City needs to decrease its spending?
ANSWER: I favor increased spending in the areas of public safety (police and fire); construction and maintenance of roads, sidewalks, traffic calming measures, and basic infrastructure; maintenance of our parks, trails, and on-road improvements; and economic development–specifically workforce development and support for small businesses.
As for possible savings, our City’s greatest expense is our employee payroll; therefore we need to continue to review our organizational structure to see where we can afford any savings, without impacting the delivery of services.
- The City is approximately a $200 million per year enterprise. What kind of long-term fiscal planning would you work to implement for better managing the City if you are elected?
ANSWER: The Council should initiate a transparent, routine audit and reporting system that regularly measures our performance against our established priorities and objectives. Oversight through the routine “feedback” of an auditing process will improve the Council’s understanding of how successfully our policies are being implemented and point out any areas where we can provide more efficient delivery of services. The better informed our budgeting process is, the more likely we can maintain our borrowing within levels that assure long-term fiscal health.
- There are some who voice a concern that the number of City employees is proportionally larger than other New Mexico cities. How do you think this concern can reasonably be addressed?
ANSWER: It is difficult to compare Santa Fe’s per capita-employee ratio given that the City owns and operates a water utility, which is not true for all other cities in New Mexico.
I will continue to review our staffing levels and look for efficiencies; however, if we are truly interested in economies of scale and can get past political boundaries; I believe we should explore the cost saving and revenue sharing possibilities of a joint government with Santa Fe County.
- In October 2011, the Council adopted a resolution to develop better transparency policies. If you consider this a priority, what specific steps will you take to help implement this resolution after you are elected?
ANSWER: In October 2010 I introduced the first transparency resolution calling for a “Sunshine Portal” on the City’s website. I then co-sponsored, the 2011, League of Women Voters’, resolution providing for transparency guidelines and audit procedures.
The City of Santa Fe is delinquent in its efforts to provide free, user-friendly mechanisms by which we provide detailed financial and other information to the public. Their needs to be the political will to provide the necessary resources to enact these good open government measures.
Name of Candidate: Patti J. Bushee
Date: 2/21/12