Dec. 27—Against the backdrop of the ornate mural that covers the rear wall of Santa Fe County’s commission chambers, incoming commissioners Lisa Cacari Stone and Adam Fulton Johnson took their oaths of office Friday morning.
“More than ever, this is our moment. We must not succumb to despair. We must not succumb to not belonging. We must stand together for generations to come,” Cacari Stone said in her speech.
Santa Fe County had three seats on its commission up for election in 2024. The races were decided in Democratic primaries earlier this year in the deep-blue county, where no Republican has run for a seat on the five-member commission for at least two decades.
Elected and reelected officials who took part in the Friday morning ceremony were Cacari Stone, of District 2; Johnson, of District 4; District 5 Commissioner Hank Hughes; County Clerk Katharine Clark; County Treasurer Jennifer Manzanares; First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies; and incoming Magistrate Judge Melissa Mascareñas.
Cacari Stone
Cacari Stone campaigned on a mix of issues, including improving infrastructure, expanding affordable housing, reducing homelessness, preserving water resources, implementing a county emergency preparedness plan, and building connections between city and county leaders.
“I’m ready to hit the ground running,” she said in an interview Friday following the ceremony.
Cacari Stone grew up in a working-class community and eventually pursued a doctorate in social policy. A former therapist, she is a University of New Mexico professor and behavioral health researcher. She edged out Benito Martinez Jr. and Scott Fuqua in a three-way Democratic primary in June, winning about 60% of the vote.
“I have a lot of passion. And I have been a public servant for over 35 years, so it is all about centering community, and I never forgot that,” Cacari Stone said. “As a first-generation, college-educated, working-class Chicana, just really making sure all people are included.”
She will succeed two-term Commissioner Anna Hansen, one of the more vocal elected officials in the Santa Fe area in recent years, who didn’t run for a third term.
With President-elect Donald Trump set to return to the Oval Office on Jan. 20, Cacari Stone said local government will become especially important to “hold the line.”
“It’s not just about Trump. … It’s what’s being proposed,” Cacari Stone said.
“We can’t succumb to collaborating with the [U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement], with the feds, and putting people in the county jail because of immigration status,” she added.
Johnson
Johnson campaigned on increasing water recycling and promoting the development of affordable housing through changes to the county Sustainable Land Development Code. Working to mitigate fire risk, promote solar development and preserve communities’ cultural heritage also are among his priorities.
“Affordable housing — and the sort of paired issue with homelessness — is extremely important for the county. The county has already made great strides in producing affordable housing by subsidizing units,” Johnson said in an interview following the ceremony. “Understanding that affordable housing is a multipronged issue, we need to approach it from different perspectives.”
Other big issues in his district include fire prevention and water protection, he said.
“Those of us who live in Santa Fe County are well aware that there are fire risks. There are also risks to property through insurance being dropped,” Johnson said. “We want to make sure the citizens have the best information possible for preventing fire in their area, knowing the evacuation routes they will take in the event, God forbid, of fire.”
Johnson, who won about 70% of the vote in a three-way Democratic primary earlier this year to succeed Commissioner Anna Hamilton, is a self-described progressive Democrat who was endorsed by the local chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America. He has a doctorate in history and is the director of a local historic preservation nonprofit.
Johnson said he wants to bolster water infrastructure and help provide sustainable surface water for residents of the county’s rural communities.
“A lot of the wells in the foothills of the Sangre de Cristos are drying up or they are contaminated, and we need to provide surface water for them to better serve them,” said Johnson. “In the long run, it will help us improve our water picture for the next 50 years.”