In a mayoral campaign that has already been noted for its contentiousness, an endorsement from the Sierra Club has added more fuel to the fire.
The national environmental organization’s local chapter recently announced its endorsement for candidate Javier Gonzales, which did not sit well with fellow candidate Patti Bushee, who herself has received numerous Sierra Club endorsements in her prior campaigns for her City Council seat.
“You expect recognition for a very long and a very strong environmental record,” Bushee said. “I think what I was saying, there’s a real difference between my record and my opponents. I would submit to you that my stellar record as a local environmental leader is a good indicator of what you can expect from me in the future.”
But Gonzales, a former member of the Santa Fe County Commission and former head of the state Democratic Party, said he was very deserving of the endorsement based on his own merits.
“Not only is it an honor, but it’s a big deal for the campaign,” he said. “Having their validation of my vision for Santa Fe when it comes to environmental stewardship is something that is important and critical for the success for the campaign.”
Choosing one of the candidates was not an easy process, said Susan Martin, political chairwoman of the Sierra Club Northern New Mexico Group.
“Santa Fe is very fortunate to have two candidates with good environmental records like Javier Gonzales and Patti Bushee,” she said.
The third mayoral candidate, Bill Dimas, did not apply for the group’s endorsement.
Bushee and Gonzales had to undergo a rigorous vetting process that included lengthy interviews of the candidates, examinations of their environmental records and interviews of their colleagues, Martin said.
Then the endorsee needed to be accepted by a two-thirds vote of the Northern Rio Grande chapter’s seven-member political entity, as well as a two-thirds vote of the chapter’s nine-member executive council.
The deciding factor for Gonzales, Martin said, was his proven ability to successfully build effective coalitions.
“Javier has a lengthy history of coalition building,” Martin said.
This was evident, she said, when he was regent at New Mexico Highlands University when Manny Aragon, the former state Senate powerhouse who later was convicted of mail fraud and conspiracy in a courthouse construction scandal, was ousted as university president after many controversies at the Las Vegas, N.M., school, using a buyout.
And Gonzales also was instrumental as a Santa Fe County commissioner in solving the issue of rampant development and billboard construction along the N.M. 599 corridor by helping devise a swap of development rights program, which encouraged density increases within the city limits in exchange for the permanent preservation of open space.
But Gonzales set off an uproar among progressives in 1997 when the Santa Fe Ski Area wanted to expand its parking lot into the Santa Fe National Forest, a plan that drew strong opposition from environmentalists and provoked public protests.
Gonzales left a late-night County Commission meeting shortly before a 2-1 vote decided the issue in favor of the ski operators. He cited a family emergency.
Non-vote probed
Martin said Gonzales’ non-vote was investigated.
“I brought it up,” she said. “I wanted to make sure the committee had as many facts as possible. It was a big deal at the time for environmentalists.”
“There was a documented family emergency that pulled me from the meeting,” Gonzales said last week. “I could have asked for a hold on the vote and I could handled the communication better but in those moments when you’re in need and there’s a legitimate family emergency, you don’t think about that. I learned from that occasion about what to do because of a family issue. I didn’t do that as well as I could have.”
Since then, Gonzales has grown in his environmental acumen, Martin said, adding, “looking at it in hindsight it probably worked out for the best because now you don’t have cars circling the parking lot looking for parking spaces that weren’t there.” Still, Bushee claims, her record of environmental consciousness is lengthy.
“I would just examine closely all of the candidates records on the environment,” she said. “I think you’ll see that I’m the most prepared to lead Santa Fe into the future.”
Bushee worked for six years in the Office of the State Engineer in regional water planning and water conservation, she said. Bushee also was part of an environment department task force for the City Council to legalize gray water for some uses. She’s a charter member of the regional planning authority and is the current chairwoman of the metropolitan planning organization, as well as a representative on the North Central Regional Transit Distrct and the chairwomen of the bicycle and trails advisory committee.
“So you can see that I don’t need on the job training,” Bushee said.
Over it
Still, while not earning the Sierra Club backing was initially upsetting, she said she’s gotten over it.
“Endorsements are great but the only endorsement you need are the voters of Sante Fe,” Bushee said. “I believe the voters deserve as much information as they can get on each of the candidates’ records. That’s the only way you’ll be able to see if they are prepared to walk the talk. Because it’s easy during an election for people to make promises. You’ve got to know if they’re going to really deliver. The only way to do that is to look at their voting record.”
For his part, Gonzales said he’s just happy to have the Sierra Club in his corner.
“Their endorsement sends a strong message to the people of Santa Fe that at this time I’m the right person to bring together coalitions of organizations to address the threat to climate change.”