Community Survey on Santa Fe City Government

The City of Santa Fe Charter Review Commission wants to hear from you. The City Charter is Santa Fe’s basic rulebook, a kind of constitution for city government. It sets how the mayor and city council share power, how the city is run day to day, and how decisions get made. Every so often, a citizen commission reviews the charter and recommends updates to the Mayor and City Council.

This survey asks how you think city government should be organized. It takes about 10 minutes, your name is confidential, and the survey is available in English and Spanish. Most questions include a “Not sure” option (please use it any time you don’t feel you have enough information to answer.) There are no wrong answers, and knowing which topics people want to learn more about helps us, too.

What this is for: The commission works on the structure of city government (the charter), not day-to-day service requests. For a specific issue like a pothole or streetlight, please contact the city directly, but we do want to hear from you in Part 1 below, what is working and what isn’t, because it helps us understand what a good structure should deliver. We will share what we hear and how it shaped our recommendations.

1. Are you currently a full-time resident of the City of Santa Fe?

This survey is only available to City of Santa Fe residents.

Today, Santa Fe has a full-time elected mayor who runs the city’s day-to-day operations, an eight-member city council, and a city manager. In recent years voters have adjusted the balance among these roles. The following questions ask how you think the responsibilities should be arranged going forward.

2. Who should set the city’s overall direction and policy — its goals, laws, and budgets?

3. The city’s day-to-day operations can be led either by the elected mayor or by a city manager the city hires for the job. Who should be responsible for carrying out this responsibility?

4. Thinking about the mayor’s role, which comes closest to your view?

5. When the council votes on city business, the mayor should:

6. The city manager serves as Santa Fe’s chief administrative officer, overseeing daily operations, city staff, and implementation of the budget. Which types of professional experience would you consider acceptable for someone in this role? Select all that apply.

7. Who should hire the city manager?

8. Who should the city manager ultimately answer to?

Today, Santa Fe sets its goals in 12-month cycles as a part of the budget-setting process. This is considered short-term planning. A medium-term (3-5 year) Strategic Plan does not exist. A Strategic Plan should not be confused with the city’s General Plan, which is a long-term (10-20+ year) plan more specifically scoped to growth, land use, infrastructure, and vision than the Budget or a Strategic Plan which encompass everything on which money is spent. The following questions ask how you think the budget priorities and medium-term plan should be
set.

9. Where should medium-term (3-5 year) goals be set and measured?

10. If the city published an easy-to-read online summary showing progress on its goals, how would you use it?

11. Who should propose the priorities in the annual city budget?

12. How do you think the public should be involved in setting budget priorities?

13. What should the city’s top two or three priorities be over the next few years?

Today, the city currently has 4 districts with 2 councilors representing residents in each district. In the event a city councilor chooses to run for mayor, they are not required to resign from their council position. If a council seat becomes vacant for any reason, it’s the mayor’s job to appoint a replacement who will serve until the next regular city election.

14. If a sitting city councilor runs for mayor, should they:

15. When a council seat becomes vacant in the middle of a term for any reason, how should it be filled?

15a. If you selected Other for how a vacant council seat should be filled, please describe:

16. What should the structure of the city council districts look like?

17. Overall, how well does city government respond to your community’s needs?

18. What is working in the city that you’d like to make sure stays as it is?

19. What is not working in the city that you’d like to make sure is redesigned?

This section is optional and confidential — helps us hear from every part of the city.

20. Age range

21. About how long have you lived in Santa Fe?

22. Which part of the city do you live in?

View the City of Santa Fe District Map at santafenm.gov/districts.

23. Primary language spoken at home.

24. Race or ethnicity

Thank you. Your answers will help the commission recommend how Santa Fe’s government should be organized. We will publish a summary of what we heard and how it shaped our recommendations.

Learn more at: https://santafenm.gov/charter-review

Community Survey on Santa Fe City Government

City of Santa Fe Residency

How the city should be run

Planning and Budgeting

Councilors Running for Mayor, and Vacancies

Your experience with city government

About you