CITY OF SANTA FE: Top 150 City Accomplishments FY 2020

By Press release submission

Oct 26, 2020

City of Santa Fe issued the following announcement on Oct. 24.

Filled 2,533 potholes since March 1, 2020—an average of 26 potholes per work day, working with a crew of 12 City employees.
Achieved the rank of number one most arts-vibrant medium-size community in the United States and the number one most arts-vibrant city of any size nationwide again this year.
Distributed more than 100,000 free masks to combat COVID-19.
Stood up an emergency homeless shelter at the midtown campus to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Expanded outdoor dining on an emergency basis to help restaurants stay in business during COVID-19.
Implemented an e-permitting system in the Land Use Department to keep construction projects going during COVID-19.
Launched Santa Fe Promise to educate and mobilize city residents to stay safe and combat the spread of COVID-19.
Provided COVID-19-related updates to the community through 88 Facebook webcasts since March 11, 2020.
Extended free wi-fi at schools and libraries to help students and residents obtain critical online access during COVID-19.
Built and rebuilt the City Fiscal 21 budget three separate times to respond to the changing financial situation due to COVID-19.
Expanded senior citizen meal delivery 300% to respond to increased food needs due to COVID-19.
Allocated $275,000 in emergency funds to the CONNECT program to help individuals adversely affected by COVID-19.
Became only the second city in the nation to achieve LEED Gold certification for being a sustainable, resilient city.
Conducted an open competition with significant local participation resulting in an agreement with a master developer for the midtown campus.
Signed an agreement with experienced, trusted University of New Mexico experts to conduct community engagement as part of the ongoing midtown master planning process.
Ended an almost 90-year agreement with Santa Fe Estates, resulting in the City acquiring over 200 acres of land for sale and development and 30 acre feet of water for use supporting affordable housing.
Designed an in-house constituent response management system and launched it successfully, resulting in the resolution of 1,500 constituent-filed concerns, complaints, and suggestions since April 2020.
Put up a new “Welcome to Santa Fe” sign after years of work by Keep Santa Fe Beautiful community leaders.
Recruited technology company Savant X to Santa Fe, creating 116 new job in the next ten years and adding diversity to the City’s economic base.
Adopted a new Procurement Manual for City purchases, improving the way the City does business.
Distributed 8,500 educational kits to Santa Fe families whose children’s schooling was disrupted by COVID-19.
Launched and regularly updated “All Together Santa Fe,” a web site to provide information about resources available to help during COVID-19.
Produced two phases of “Operation Slow and Quiet,” using concentrated police enforcement to cut down on loud and dangerous driving.
Launched “Operation Downtown Focus” to provide more police presence to the downtown and railyard areas.
Assigned police bike patrols to the underpass tunnel area on bike/pedestrian path to prevent assaults and other illegal activity in that area.
Developed “Operation Stop the Violence” to offer young people in Santa Fe a constructive alternative path rather than joining a gang.
Graduated 11 companies out of the City-sponsored food accelerator program, adding diversity to the Santa Fe economy.
Issued 5,280 business license renewals while transitioning to a modern electronic system at the same time.
Partnered with the Santa Fe Community College to offer Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) training; 25 City employees received OSHA 30 certification as part of the “Safe City” program.
Created a centralized Grants Management Program to standardize, regularize, and professionalize the acquisition of and reporting on outside grants.
Adopted a new ordinance to provide for stronger and more timely enforcement of Short Term Rental regulations.
Adopted a new ordinance to allow clear and forceful enforcement of City codes when a neighborhood is plagued by a nuisance property.
Launched GEOMax, the fastest wi-fi in New Mexico.
Applied for CARES Act funding from the State and received an allocation of $17.5 million based on the City’s strong and effective response to COVID-19.
Drafted and adopted a City budget for the new fiscal year with no layoffs or salary cuts for City employees, despite a $70 million revenue shortfall because of COVID-19.
Met regularly for 26 weeks with the Mayor’s Community Task Force to share information and plan community response to COVID-19.
Initiated the City’s first retirement incentive program to give eligible employees a chance to retire with an additional payment and, at the same time, save the City money given the COVID-19-caused financial crisis.
Distributed $879,000 in arts and culture awards to 37 local non-profit arts and culture organizations.
Raised and distributed more than $50,000 to local artists adversely affected by COVID-19.
Selected both a Youth Poet Laureate and a Poet Laureate through a grant with the Witter Bynner Foundation.
Developed and published Artscapades, a virtual public art tour map.
Worked with the Inn of the Anasazi to select artists to decorate the restaurant’s outdoor seating area
Used Affordable Housing Trust Fund and Community Development Block Grant dollars to:
- assist 1,058 Santa Fe Public Schools students and their families who were experiencing homelessness;
- assist 199 disconnected Santa Fe youth with outreach services;
- provide transitional housing to 33 Santa Fe youth who were experiencing homelessness;
- provide shelter and support services to 172 Santa Fe women who were experiencing homelessness;
- provide hospice care for 14 people with end-of-life conditions while experiencing homelessness;
- assist 88 renters with very low incomes who needed help with rent, utilities, deposits, and expenses in arrears;
- assist 23 homeowners with very low incomes by providing no-payment, no-interest loans to reduce the mortgage needed for their first-time home purchases;
- assist 25 homeowners with very low incomes with essential home repair grants and home improvement loans.
Collected more than $1.2 million in development fees and deposited the money in the City’s Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Gained commitment to 129 affordable homeownership units and 34 affordable rental units pledged as part of upcoming housing projects.
Co-hosted seven Facebook events with Somos Un Pueblo Unido on COVID-19-related issues in Spanish, with more than 8,000 views.
Provided assistance, promotion, and translation services for the $876,600 Falling Colors-sponsored fund for gig workers whose incomes suffered severe impacts from COVID-19.
Hosted 1,738 Santa Fe entrepreneurs at startup training and business development events at the Santa Fe Business Incubator.
Held weekly meetings with the Santa Fe Food Security group to make sure there would be food available to Santa Fe residents during COVID-19.
Supported five “Meet the Developers” YouTube events to introduce the master developer midtown team and field questions from the community.
Supported YouthWorks’ Workforce Innovation Program (WIP), which enrolled 280 youth and young adults; obtained unsubsidized employment for 60 young Santa Fe residents through WIP; graduated ten students to GED and partial completion of 20 students to GED; certified 36 young people in trades/career. (WIP serves young people who are 96% low income, 90% Hispanic/Latino, 65% male, and 30-40% of whom experience chronic or situational homelessness.)
Distributed 78,000 meals to Santa Fe residents adversely affected by COVID-19, partnering with YouthWorks.
Started a summer meals program where YouthWorks prepared and distributed free breakfast and lunch to Santa Fe residents between 1 and 18 years old at five locations, five days a week.
Trained and placed 47 Santa Fe interns in paid positions through the Santa Fe Interns Program.
Implemented emergency e-government initiatives in response to COVID-19, including remote meeting software, software to shift from paper to electronic transactions, and 150 mobile workstations, among other rapid deployments.
Implemented technology upgrades to enable collection of fees, permits, and revenues on-line.
Implemented a new human resources software portal to allow City employees to manage their benefits and personal information on-line.
Issued 6,425 construction permits, approximately 10% higher from the previous year.
Issued permits for 827 new housing units, including 87 affordable units.
Saved more than 17.7 million gallons of water (a 25% increase from last year) and reduced 1,464 metric tons of carbon-dioxide equivalent from new single family homes built according to the Green Building Code.
Received a $45,000 grant from Certified Local Government to begin the first phase of a long range plan for historic preservation in Santa Fe.
Provided Crisis Intervention Training for all sworn police officers for interactions with residents living with mental illness.
Hired 13 new police officers.
Conducted police-community outreach efforts through Crime Stoppers meetings,Neighborhood Watch meetings, Coffee with a Cop events, Citizens Academy, and Junior Academy.
Upgraded property and evidence control by adding three property/evidence technicians and one property/evidence supervisor.
Registered a year-over-year decrease in auto burglaries of 10% and in robberies of 18%.
Implemented the “Clouds in the Park” project sponsored by Falling Colors to use functional art as a way to encourage social distancing.
Helped Kiwanis members set up for and clean up after Zozobra, using Parks and Recreation team members following COVID-safe practices.
Established City-operated green houses to produce vegetation, saving $29,000 per year.
Opened the Genoveva Chavez Community Center and Bicentennial Pool safely and legally, following COVID-safe practices.
Created online recreational videos on such topics as yoga, gardening, and physical safety practices to provide in-home resources during COVID-19.
Relocated 47 prairie dogs to safe, new homes.
Produced an irrigation audit on watering in parks and the golf course that is projected to produce an 18% water savings overall.
Registered an increase of 4.5% in the Lodger’s Tax through February 2020—before COVID-19 hit in March 2020.
Received an Energy Star Award from PNM for energy saving improvements at the Community Convention Center that resulted in a decrease of 36% in energy use and a savings of more than $53,000.
Generated 303 leads with groups to use the Community Convention Center, resulting in 129 definite bookings.
Gained recognition by Travel and Leisure magazine as the #2 city in 2019 and the #3 city in 2020 in the United States and the #14 city in the world.
Gained recognition from the readers of Conde Nast Traveler as the #2 small city in the United States and from Forbes magazine as one of the top 14 places to visit in 2020.
Produced the first year of Art Week in Santa Fe and the second year of Music Week.
Completed free wi-fi on the Plaza with almost 14,000 users and 7,700 unique email addresses.
Initiated a Balloon Fiesta Shuttle that achieved 87% ridership in its trial year.
Moved all 2020 groups scheduled to use the Community Convention Center that were disrupted by COVID-19 to bookings in 2021 and 2022.
Adopted a more “relaxed” booking and deposit policy at the Community Convention Center for 2021 and 2022 that resulted in seven new bookings worth 4,127 room nights.
Participated in developing and assisted in launching the outdoor restaurant expansion, Santa Fe Promise, New Mexico Safe Promise, New Mexico Safe Certification, and First Responder Feeding.
Initiated the New Mexico Safe Dining App and brought in the State Tourism Department as a funding partner to respond to the COVID-19 impact on restaurants.
Deployed the Convention Specialist Team to cover trash pickup on weekends in the historic district.
Distributed $250,000 through Community Services to meet emergency needs caused by COVID-19. Nearly 1,000 clients were provided more than 2,000 services, with food, housing, and income support the largest needs.
Provided services to Santa Fe’s seniors through the Community Services Seniors Division totaling more than 98,000 home-delivered meals, more than 11,000 curbside-delivered meals, 4,500 food boxes, and ongoing calls and wellness checks to seniors.
Circulated almost 50,000 items to Santa Fe residents through curbside delivery by the libraries.
Offered 132 virtual library programs with thousands of views.
Circulated more than 104,000 digital items as City libraries adapted to COVID-19.
Responded to 16,881 calls to the Fire Department for service and 97,000 calls to the Police Department for service.
Continued the “Code Blue” program that offers rides to shelters and heat packs to residents experiencing homelessness when very cold weather strikes.
Distributed 400 gallons of hand sanitizer, 2,000 masks, 500 bottles of disinfectant, and 500 boxes of gloves through the Fire Department to all City employees as a response to COVID-19.
Supplied and filled 4,000 bottles of hand sanitizer from the Fire Department for Santa Fe residents.
Brought the City’s “green” wastewater digester project to 92% completion; when completed, the new digester, combined with existing solar, will make our waste water treatment plant 100% renewably powered.
Began work with outside labs to test for COVID-19 virus in wastewater, giving the City another way to collect data about the presence of the virus in the community.
Increased compost production and sales by more than 1,100 cubic yards over the previous year.
Increased effluent reclamation and water production by 9% over the previous year, reaching 239.8 million gallons.
Collected 20% more residential trash during COVID-19 months, despite operating with a short staff and mechanical /operational challenges.
Launched Recycle Coach App to assist Santa Fe residents with questions about the service schedule and recycling needs.
Received recognitions (with Santa Fe County and Las Cruces) as a Sol Smart Community for making it faster, easier, and more affordable for homes and businesses to go solar.
Finished fourth in the nation for cities of our size in the Wyland National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation.
Undertook a sustainability team cross-department equity training program to make equity issues part of service delivery and budget decisions.
Supported electric vehicles with charging stations at City parking facilities and the purchase of 23 electric vehicles this year.
Transitioned the Adopt-A-Median program to ensure safety and uniform standards in the 47 medians now under contract.
Recorded a 30% reduction in commercial water use since the advent of COVID-19.
Recorded a “GPCD” (Gallons Per Capita per Day) of 87 gallons of water used per day in 2019, the lowest use on record.
Spent $400,000 in 2020 in the Water Division on communication (fiber optics) and logic upgrades in the water system to make operations more real-time and efficient.
Spent $300,000 in the Water Division on security upgrades including cameras at remote sites and access control at the Canyon Road Water Treatment Plant (CRWTP) to ensure that the infrastructure is as secure as possible.
Acquired 12 new entrepreneurial members at the Santa Fe Business Incubator (SFBI).
Conducted nine webinars with SCORE to help businesses cope with the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Distributed PPE—Personal Protective Equipment—from MAKE Santa Fe to the City of Santa Fe Office of Emergency Management, the Navajo Nation, Zuni Pueblo, Jemez Pueblo, YouthWorks, Santa Fe Recovery Center, St. Elizabeth Shelter, Casa Familia, CHRISTUS St. Vincent Hospital, Santa Fe Cancer Center, Santa Fe County Fire Department Rural Outreach, as well as to local businesses and individuals.
Issued 129 liquor licenses during COVID-19.
Approved and or inspected approximately 50 outdoor dining locations for temporary expansion of liquor license premises due to COVID-19.
Collected and disbursed $17,825 through the “Spread Some Sunshine Fund” to support furloughed City employees.
Implemented equity pay increases for AFSCME members; provided salary increases in line with a classification and compensation study; increased pay for police, fire, and non-union employees.
Implemented an employee loan program for City workers.
Launched a new on-line job application portal for job applicants.
Provided Military Veteran support, including programs on adjusting to the workplace, reuniting with loved ones, and training in mindfulness and stress relief.
Hosted a City of Santa Fe Wellness Fair for all city residents.
Hosted a city-wide large job fair and rapid hiring event attended by 200 city residents who were looking for work.
Developed a new City employee web page for COVID-19 information.
Provided an Employee Resource Guide related to COVID-19, including $100 grocery cards for furloughed employees.
Produced “Yo Prometo,” public safety video and radio spots with comedian and musician Carlos Medina and Kaela Waldstein of Mountain Mover Media, focused on culturally sensitive messaging about COVID-19 Safe Practices.
Operated all Finance functions during the COVID-19 emergency with a 40% departmental vacancy rate.
Developed a new Request for Proposal template, passed a resolution for retroactive contracts/agreements, and developed a city-wide Price Agreement template for departments to use.
Refinanced the midtown campus debt, saving the City more than $500,000 annually.
Refinanced the 2010 GO Bond, saving the City more than $300,000 over the next six years.
Introduced e-signatures to streamline the contract process.
Introduced PrimeGov to streamline City Committee packets and minutes.
Implemented new parking systems in City-owned garages.
Began use of “NextRequest,” a public platform for receipt and response to Inspection of Public Records Requests (IPRA), providing greater transparency and accountability by providing the public access to search and view IPRA requests and responses on-line.
Authorized up to $80,000,000 in Industrial Revenue Bonds for a new adult residential retirement facility to be constructed by El Castillo.
Adopted a new franchise agreement with Comcast, replacing the one from 2002 and becoming the first municipality in New Mexico with high-definition cable broadcasting.
Approved changes to the Santa Fe Homes Program to provide stronger incentives for the development of affordable, multi-family housing in Santa Fe.
Restructured the City’s Councilor Committees by creating the first ever Quality of Life Committee and combined Public Works and Public Utilities.
Approved the development of 40- and 80-year water plans, as well as further assessment of a pipeline to obtain return flow credit.
Adopted a stormwater implementation plan.
Approved the display of banners along Cerrillos Road honoring Veterans.
Approved the display of banners promoting the Guadalupe Street District.
Opposed an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Clean Water Act Rule change that is anticipated to be detrimental to the City’s waterways.