Debbie Jaramillo (born 1952) is an American politician who served as the 39th mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico from 1994 to 1998.
Career
Mayor of Santa Fe Jaramillo was elected mayor after serving six years on the city council. She was Santa Fe's first female mayor.James Brooke, "Rift in Santa Fe Over Black Police Chief", The New York Times, November 25, 1995. 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.Chris Wilson, The Myth of Santa Fe (University of New Mexico Press, 1997), , p. 165 (excerpt available at Google Books). She ran on a platform promising to place the interests of local residents above those of Santa Fe's booming tourist industry, in contrast to the more pro-development policies of the incumbent mayor, Sam Pick.Andrew Leo Lovato, Santa Fe Hispanic Culture: Preserving Identity in a Tourist Town (University of New Mexico Press, 2006), , pp. 109ff (excerpt available at Google Books). 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."James Brooke,"In Santa Fe, Residents Turn Cold Shoulder to Newcomers", The New York Times, January 19, 1997.
Jaramillo had previously run against Pick for mayor, unsuccessfully, 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.Ernie Atencio, "New Santa Fe mayor says: "'This town is not for sale'", High Country News, March 21, 1994.
Tenure Jaramillo's administration was marked by controversy.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. She pushed through a plan for the city, assisted by The Trust for Public Land, to acquire the Santa Fe Railyard property and begin its conversion into a public mixed-use development.Wrenn Propp, "Railyard Is Chugging Along", Albuquerque Journal, July 11, 2004 (registration required). 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, whose previous chief had been a target of Jaramillo's criticism. However, Grady's efforts met strong opposition and he resigned in 1996.Bill Piatt, Black and Brown in America: The Case for Cooperation (NYU Press, 1997), , pp.49-54 (excerpt available at Google Books). Grady was replaced by Jaramillo's brother-in-law."Embattled Santa Fe Chief Quits After Trying to Revamp Police", AP in The New York Times, February 11, 1996. 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."Peter John Bakewell, A History of Latin America: c. 1450 to the Present (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004), , p.544-545 (excerpt available at Google Books). Shortly thereafter, Pino was removed from his city manager position by the city council.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).
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. Jaramillo received 11% of the vote, behind Delgado's 44% and Pick's 32%.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).
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.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).
References