Debbie Jaramillo
Debbie Jaramillo | |
|---|---|
| 39th Mayor of Santa Fe | |
| In office 1994–1998 | |
| Preceded by | Sam Pick |
| Succeeded by | Larry Delgado |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1952 (age 71–72) |
| Residence(s) | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
Debbie Jaramillo (born 1952) is an American politician who served as the 39th mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1994 to 1998.
Career
[edit]Mayor of Santa Fe
[edit]Jaramillo was elected mayor after serving six years on the city council. She was Santa Fe's first female mayor.[1] As a city councilor, she had expressed concern about the gentrification of Santa Fe, which was forcing the primarily Hispanic local population to move out of its historical neighborhoods: "We painted our downtown brown and moved the brown people out", she said in 1991.[2] She ran on a platform promising to place the interests of local residents above those of Santa Fe's booming tourist industry,[3] in contrast to the more pro-development policies of the incumbent mayor, Sam Pick.[4] Her campaign slogans included "Take back Santa Fe!", and in her victory speech she said, "This town is not for sale. It belongs to the community."[5]
Jaramillo had previously run against Pick for mayor, unsuccessfully,[4] and her 1994 election was viewed as an upset, since she had been outspent by her opponents and she had trailed in pre-election polls.[6]
Tenure
[edit]Jaramillo's administration was marked by controversy.[4][7] She pushed through a plan for the city, assisted by The Trust for Public Land, to acquire the 50-acre (200,000 m2) Santa Fe Railyard property and begin its conversion into a public mixed-use development.[8] A new police chief, Donald Grady, was hired in an effort to modernize and bring a community policing philosophy to the Santa Fe Police Department,[7] whose previous chief had been a target of Jaramillo's criticism. However, Grady's efforts met strong opposition[1] and he resigned in 1996.[9] Grady was replaced by Jaramillo's brother-in-law.[10] Since Jaramillo's brother, Ike Pino, was already the city manager, this appointment led to charges of nepotism, although Jaramillo defended her relatives, pointing out that Santa Fe had "always been a community that was related to one another."[11] Shortly thereafter, Pino was removed from his city manager position by the city council.[12][13]
In 1998, Jaramillo lost her re-election bid by a decisive margin. The winner, Larry Delgado, was viewed as taking a centrist position between the anti-development policies of Jaramillo and the pro-development policies of Sam Pick, who was also running for mayor again.[4] Jaramillo received 11% of the vote, behind Delgado's 44% and Pick's 32%.[14][15]
In 1999, Christine Marie Sierra, a political science professor at the University of New Mexico, produced a documentary about Jaramillo's election, entitled This Town Is Not For Sale!: The 1994 Santa Fe Mayoral Election.[16][17]
References
[edit]- ^ a b James Brooke, "Rift in Santa Fe Over Black Police Chief", The New York Times, November 25, 1995.
- ^ Chris Wilson, The Myth of Santa Fe (University of New Mexico Press, 1997), ISBN 978-0-8263-1746-9, p. 165 (excerpt available at Google Books).
- ^ Dennis Wall, "Santa Fe's balancing act", New Mexico Business Journal (December 1997)
- ^ a b c d Andrew Leo Lovato, Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town (University of New Mexico Press, 2006), ISBN 978-0-8263-3226-4, pp. 109ff (excerpt available at Google Books).
- ^ James Brooke,"In Santa Fe, Residents Turn Cold Shoulder to Newcomers", The New York Times, January 19, 1997.
- ^ Ernie Atencio, "New Santa Fe mayor says: "'This town is not for sale'", High Country News, March 21, 1994.
- ^ a b Louis Sahagun, "POLITICS - Mayor Moves to Shake Up Santa Fe - Debbie Jaramillo is lauded, lambasted in her bid to reclaim 'true soul' of enclave", Los Angeles Times, December 12, 1994.
- ^ Wrenn Propp, "Railyard Is Chugging Along", Albuquerque Journal, July 11, 2004 (registration required).
- ^ Bill Piatt, Black and Brown in America: The Case for Cooperation (NYU Press, 1997), ISBN 978-0-8147-6645-3, pp.49-54 (excerpt available at Google Books).
- ^ "Embattled Santa Fe Chief Quits After Trying to Revamp Police", AP in The New York Times, February 11, 1996.
- ^ Peter John Bakewell, A History of Latin America: c. 1450 to the Present (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004), ISBN 978-0-631-23160-8, p.544-545 (excerpt available at Google Books).
- ^ Lori Pugh, "Santa Fe Ends Lively 12 Months", Albuquerque Journal, January 1, 1997 (registration required).
- ^ Elvia Diaz, "Police Chief Out; City Manager Next", Albuquerque Journal, March 10, 1998 (registration required).
- ^ Elvia Diaz and Scott Smallwood, "Delgado Is Next Santa Fe Mayor.", Albuquerque Journal, March 4, 1998 (registration required).
- ^ "Santa Feans hand incumbent Mayor Jaramillo a crushing defeat", AP in Albuquerque Tribune, March 4, 1998 (registration required).
- ^ Curriculum Vitae of Cristine Marie Sierra at University of New Mexico Department of Political Science website (retrieved July 31, 2009), p.4.
- ^ "'Colores' Looks At Debbie Jaramillo", Albuquerque Journal, April 24, 1999 (registration required).