[{"_1":2,"_99":-5,"_100":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},"mediaId",6025467,"mediaKeyId","5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3","parentId",5755053,"title","Votes at a glance: council approves budget process changes, internal audit plan, airline deal and several appointments","audioSeconds",200,"startMs",10310000,"endMs",10510000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3&start=10310&end=10510","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3/thumbnail_10310000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6025467/Santa-Fe/Santa-Fe-County/New-Mexico/Votes-at-a-glance-council-approves-budget-process-changes-internal-audit-plan-airline-deal-and-several-appointments","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6025467-14c3e83794d75cd4d17161a05097f02d/orig.mp4?Expires=1770414923&Signature=BwHv6ESRkGQdA7B6I19xiJTZv8eV~0n3Dfm8Nl-i6zKXTtmFVcr9Qb9G9TNqckDKl9g7LSoec8wzffbBvy~1Sar8l~cU554dQ3YYKjzwm3Atgpqzjjn8U5appQDtjl4n7ZPNHe6VRjCnwat4eVfj3foD8I0Wj7I~LWiYDOPwE5m6d1sKBwhtZVZjtcgkKgBOfPaGZP-h-m92jcftiDRc-uwbSKPQF9WjsTHujvrOxd9wwp5H0dHMt9AGKQrT8y5u~CxOb-nHagSB3kaHUuVj8cBcXoyjaC6bt1PNvxcZvCE4kJz~3GEH3AEwkaKcZyY1foP03RX1wXXm-rOK65qg7g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Santa Fe, NM","date","2025-09-11T03:41:35Z","article","The Santa Fe City Council took a series of formal actions during its regular meeting. The council voted to adopt a resolution that changes the city’s budget development process, approved a revised internal audit work plan, authorized a short‑term airline subsidy agreement to preserve Los Angeles service, and confirmed a set of board and commission appointments. Below are the outcomes, vote records where available, and key notes for each action.

1) Resolution: improvements to the FY2026–27 budget process (sponsored by Councilor Romero Worth, Councilor Cassett, Councilor Faulkner and Mayor Weber)
- Action: Adopted (motion and subsequent amendment B approved).
- Summary: The resolution moves the city toward early, performance‑based budget conversations, requires community roundtable discussions, a day‑long special governing body meeting to adopt midrange goals and one‑year priorities, and clearer joint hearings with the Finance Committee. The governing body added language to ensure community roundtables and constituent feedback inform priorities.
- Vote: Unanimous approval as called on roll (all members present voted yes).

2) Request for approval: Fiscal Year 2026 revised internal audit plan (reduced scope)
- Action: Approved.
- Summary: Staff and the audit committee revised the originally adopted plan (approximately $190,000 scope) to a $150,000 plan that keeps HR recruitment, risk management and procurement operational reviews but postpones separate grants management and cash‑management audits that were earlier proposed. Council discussed outstanding external audit findings and the rationale for reprioritizing internal audit work.
- Vote: Approved on roll call; councilors recorded as voting in favor included Councilor Michael Garcia, Councilor Lindell, Councilor Romero Worth, Councilor Cassett, Councilor Castro, Councilor Chavez, Councilor Faulkner, Councilor Lee Garcia, Councilor Michael Garcia and Mayor Weber (all present voted yes).

3) Contract award: American Airlines service agreement for Los Angeles (through 10/24/2026)
- Action: Approved; city will make contingent payments not to exceed $1,800,000 to compensate for revenue shortfalls on underfilled flights; estimated fee waiver value $142,387; some funding comes from a state air service enhancement grant.
- Summary: The agreement is structured to support continued air service between Santa Fe and Los Angeles; payments are contingent on shortfalls. The city manager clarified the $1.8 million is a contingency ceiling and that actual payments depend on load factors and airline revenues.
- Vote: Approved by roll call (all members present voted yes).

4) Notice: 30‑day public comment period — CDBG annual action plan
- Action: The council opened the required second public hearing comment period and accepted the plan for a 30‑day public comment window. The plan will be updated with public comments and submitted to HUD once comments are incorporated. The public comment window opens and closes per the schedule in staff notice.
- Vote: Motion to open and accept the public comment period carried on roll call.

5) Appointments and reappointments
- Ethics and Campaign Review Board: Andrew Black (reappointment, term to July 2029) and Justin Miller (reappointment, term to July 2029) — Approved by roll call.
- Mayor’s Committee on Disability: Appointments of Jamini Schell, Eli Fresquez (reappointment) and Carrie Cottle and Robin Garrison (appointments) — Approved by roll call. Councilor Faulkner recused herself from the Robin Garrison vote for a stated family relationship.

Other procedural votes
- The council approved routine agenda motions, consent agenda approvals, a temporary agenda flip to move presentations and a motion to convene an executive session on Midtown property disposition (privileged executive‑session vote). Those procedural items carried without recorded opposition.

What councilors said in debate
- On the internal audit plan, some councilors voiced concern that several issues listed in the external financial audit (grants management, cash management and asset records) were repeated findings and urged an independent review to verify corrective action; staff and the city manager said they expect some items are being addressed internally and the audit committee favored redeploying limited internal audit funds to procurement and other process reviews.

Record and next steps
- Staff will post materials associated with the budget process resolution and the SantaFeForward assessment report; the internal audit and procurement reviews will proceed under the revised $150,000 plan; and staff will return with public postings and updates on the airline agreement and the CDBG public comment incorporation.

","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Governing Body Meeting","oneSentenceSummary","The council adopted a performance‑oriented budget process resolution, approved a reduced $150,000 internal audit plan, authorized a contingent payment agreement to preserve American Airlines service to Los Angeles, and confirmed multiple appointments.","taxTitle","Santa Fe, Santa Fe County, New Mexico","taxId",2727,"location","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6025476,"City presents micro‑community engagement report; staff outlines six recommendations",2604,536000,3140000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3&start=536&end=3140","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3/thumbnail_536000.jpg","/articles/6025476/Santa-Fe/Santa-Fe-County/New-Mexico/City-presents-microcommunity-engagement-report-staff-outlines-six-recommendations","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6025476-47f6d8ccb5f5f9c3146d652a39ead3fe/orig.mp4?Expires=1770414923&Signature=LESwBC9SMDzscZLznJ5mLK8h6Xkxy3f~ppmSfUZeGaqEbKZf4oNAaQLw19KqhJEmjBRhosA39iU0kkn8WSDtOZ8ZRO86em5zmOttLsoMCN1R9pvLhHm1YZamd2ehz2mG9FQ0Ni6PEQAxwHFdP3kauhbbp1O7IpPEUuKQGviUjjaxFQlVIPSNhMuMDRYgB7~0qxrv3yVyM1AzOEFUxs1VN5AU6fY~DnESGbe1PP5eK5jn8i78VS33FD3iX05OXP-xTqvujg43HIzp77TY9w6BLyTN7hT7n7ZPiRFUqZ64UiwwokYHrUfJfDbk18vbm7vOR3R3urbROsmVtrDWs1WHRA__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Henry Hammond Paul, director of the Community Health and Safety Department, presented a summary of the July community engagement event on micro communities and reviewed a staff report and six recommendations for moving forward.

The report, Paul said, was designed ‘‘to build trust through inclusive dialogue’’ and to capture both individual comments and facilitated table notes that staff later synthesized. Paul told the council that roughly 200 people registered for the event and about 128 attended; city staff provided at least two staff members at each table and more than 50 staff supported the event overall. ‘‘The outcome of that meeting was a very expansive set of notes,’’ Paul said. \"We had at least two city staff at each table, and it was just a great show of support from city staff.\"

Why it matters: the micro community model is one part of the city’s broader homelessness response. Councilors and staff said community engagement and operational clarity are central to whether future sites will be accepted by neighborhoods and succeed as intended.

Key findings and recommendations

- Attendance and format: The session combined a roughly 45‑minute educational presentation with roundtable discussions. Paul said organizers used note takers at each table and collected both table summaries and handwritten comments to produce a verbatim record for analysis.

- What participants said: Participants expressed hopes that micro communities be \"safe and dignified,\" culturally sensitive and distributed across the city. Concerns centered on crime and safety, property values, transparency and long‑term site sustainability. Participants also discussed what operators and neighbors could do to be good neighbors: keep sites clean, quiet and well managed; offer volunteer opportunities; and share accurate information.

- Six staff recommendations: create and share a clear plan; engage the public early and often; formalize good‑neighbor agreements; ensure quality site operations and services; encourage and facilitate community involvement (for example through community art and design challenges); and pursue broader housing investments in parallel. Paul said the recommendations ‘‘are things that we are actively already pursuing.’’

Operational details and next steps

- LifeLink operator and contracting: Paul said the city already has a contracted operator (LifeLink) in place and that the operator contract is established and funded.

- Policy and permitting: Paul said staff are working with the Planning and Land Use Department to make a good‑neighbor agreement a requirement under the land use code for micro community sites.

- Staffing and coordination: Paul noted a new human services director would start on the fifteenth and that the city had recently added three program manager positions to expand capacity in human services. He also said the city is coordinating with the state Department of Workforce Solutions for workforce and funding partnerships.

- Further engagement: Paul said staff are coordinating district‑level meetings for the Richards site in District 4 and that the engagement model used on July 1 is being replicated for other topics and sites. He listed two upcoming co‑sponsored public education sessions on homelessness: Friday, Oct. 3, and Monday, Nov. 3.

Councilor and public reaction

Councilors praised the design and turnout. Councilor Castro said the event was ‘‘amazing’’ and praised the community’s creativity. Councilor Faulkner called the format effective and urged community participation across all districts, noting that ‘‘District 1 is taking all of it right now, and that is unfair to District 1.’’ Councilor Cassett and others said the city should lift up existing successful smaller programs (for example, Consuelos) when discussing models for expansion.

Councilor Michael Garcia pressed Paul on how staff synthesized thousands of comments into six recommendations. Paul described a mixed method approach: verbatim table notes, individual written submissions that were transcribed into a spreadsheet, and qualitative theme analysis (including sentiment and pattern detection) conducted by staff to identify recurring themes and possible operational responses. Paul acknowledged the approach involved interpretation by staff and said the recommendations were intended to reflect common themes—not a formal vote by participants.

Public safety and transparency

Several councilors emphasized safety, transparency and communication. Paul confirmed that security requirements (including on‑site security) are part of the site expectations and said the purpose of listing them as recommendations was to show they were priorities raised by participants. He acknowledged gaps in public awareness about elements the city already plans to include and said staff must do a better job communicating those plans.

What the report does not decide

The presentation and discussion did not adopt any new ordinance or authorize a specific site; councilors said future sites would go through district‑level engagement and any required land‑use or permitting processes. Paul said that, beyond the Richards site in District 4 (which staff are actively engaging), no other new micro community site has been formally proposed.

Ending note

Paul closed by thanking staff and the governing body for support and reiterated that staff would use the event notes to shape more detailed plans and public reporting. \"We got to be part of a conversation, as opposed to just hearing snippets of people's thoughts,\" he said. The council received the report and directed staff to continue district engagement and to return with implementation details as sites are proposed.

","Henry Hammond Paul, Community Health and Safety Department director, presented a summary of a July public engagement event on micro communities and recommended six next steps including formalized good‑neighbor agreements, clearer operational plans and parallel investments in affordable housing.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":68,"_72":73,"_74":73},6025471,"'Santa Fe Forward' assessment report closes first phase; planners say public input already strong",4276,3001000,7277000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3&start=3001&end=7277","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/5755053-de0b08adf3aaff97ec777b383b415bb3/thumbnail_3001000.jpg","/articles/6025471/Santa-Fe/Santa-Fe-County/New-Mexico/Santa-Fe-Forward-assessment-report-closes-first-phase-planners-say-public-input-already-strong","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6025471-8fea477840bd6d833dfde4767de21fbd/orig.mp4?Expires=1770414923&Signature=gbbYGryoaM6QCImsoALZjiiFrVAs2ssKZuBNiSwtnOzYFJMgvPTdEmok2C76RIOmW~KWXexfYg~3mMyPJJdaslkhVIQ3CrJ1jDTHnyWISE2nSqTC5LO6qmRag~VPvd6ltouI4TTF492u887VqSMYo7cIKQlUniia6T3YQmV~HihRQ9e19L6DtqS4ZeUfTZmkf-aWNlpD3dQ~WpJSOGQrf9Glc6QUbIYKYmYDm8hPEq1-FNZK0ApGOqjxhlCqBUAJQ6de6SenvMhVNMIZ0wAq8uJf8GE6P8OYm6UQWoPU8fXcjEcxa1QJ0fnN2aMuBeLeA5K-wTYT7mAjSHpPOZDiDQ__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Heather Lamboy, director of Planning and Land Use, and Janice Biletnikoff, the project manager for the Santa Fe Forward general plan update, presented an assessment report that closes phase 1 of the planning process and outlined next steps in the 6‑phase project.

The project: Lamboy said the general plan update, branded SantaFeForward, will guide city policy for the next 25 years. The assessment report captures existing conditions, a crosswalk to the 1999 plan, and early public input that will inform scenario development and eventual policy recommendations. ‘‘Santa Fe Forward is the city's general plan update process,’’ Janice Biletnikoff told the council. \"We are working with the community to do a lot of scoping and visioning work to determine what people's priorities are,\" she said.

Why it matters: The general plan sets long‑range land use, housing, transportation and environmental policy that will later be implemented through land development code changes. Lamboy said aligning the land development code and the general plan is important so adopted policies can be enacted via regulations.

Public engagement and preliminary findings

- Engagement metrics: Biletnikoff reported strong early engagement: about 9,500 page views on the Social Pinpoint site, roughly 450 map “sticky note” inputs, more than 260 completed long‑form surveys since a September 1 launch of the visioning survey, and more than 11,500 total engagement units after tabling and in‑person events. The assessment report had received more than 52 written public comments at the time of the presentation.

- Community partners program: The planning team said it selected about 23 community‑based organizations to run outreach through microgrants; those partners will do focused outreach and report their findings back to the project team for synthesis.

- Key preliminary findings in the assessment report: 81% of residents live within a 10‑minute walk of a park; the city has about 170 miles of trails; 68% of city property is zoned residential; median household incomes and demographic trends show a stable but aging population; average rents have risen 74% since 2016, with rent increases slowing recently; 49% of households rent; 27% of residents live below the poverty line. The report also said approximately 40% of people who work in Santa Fe live outside the city.

Code update and timing

- Land Development Code alignment: Lamboy said staff are coordinating the general plan update with an ongoing land development code update. She acknowledged the code rewrite is substantial (about 600 pages) and that staff and consultants are reviewing the text carefully. \"We have actually baked into the general plan process and implementation plan\" a mechanism to keep policy and code aligned, she said.

- Schedule: The team said it expects to deliver the near‑final assessment report to the council and to post it publicly soon. Consultant Nick Fazio (WSP) told the council the firm would deliver remaining edits within days and the city could publish the assessment report shortly after staff review. Lamboy and Fazio said their goal is to adopt a general plan document in spring 2026 and complete an implementation plan later in 2026; land development code phase 2 will follow and is expected to take longer.

Translation and access

Lamboy said the project materials and outreach are being produced in English and Spanish when possible and that planners will make hard copies available to the public and to council members once finalized.

Council and public reaction

Councilors welcomed the report and pressed staff on timing, ease of public access, translation and opportunities for feedback. Several councilors said the assessment report should be distributed broadly (libraries, community centers) and that staff should continue to use community partners to reach groups that are less engaged in city communications. Councilors asked about how the plan will be kept current in future years; Lamboy said the implementation plan will include a schedule for periodic review and capital improvement priorities.

Next steps

Staff said they will post the assessment report after final edits, continue visioning events and scenario planning, and coordinate with the land development code update so policy and regulations align. The council did not take an adoption action on the plan at this meeting; staff will return with the published assessment report and a proposed timeline for visioning and implementation.","Planning staff presented a near‑final assessment report for the Santa Fe Forward general plan update, described community engagement results and a timeline for accelerated adoption; staff said the assessment will be posted publicly and the city has received thousands of engagements on the project website.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Votes at a glance: council approves budget process changes, internal audit plan, airline deal and several appointments

City presents micro‑community engagement report; staff outlines six recommendations

'Santa Fe Forward' assessment report closes first phase; planners say public input already strong