Family Friendly Voter Guide

2025 Endorsements

Niños & Neighbors Announces Endorsements for 2025 City of Santa Fe Local Elections

On Tuesday, October 14, 2025 we announced our endorsements for Mayor of Santa Fe and several City Council races. The endorsements are as follows:

Mayor of Santa Fe: Oscar Rodriguez
City Council District 1: Pat Feghali
City Council District 2: Liz Barrett and Paul Bustamante
City Council District 4: Amanda Chavez

GO Bond and Mill Levy

Santa Fe kids deserve a safe, modern, accessible, and high-quality public school system!

It’s time to vote FOR two questions on your ballot: a general obligation (GO) Bond and a Mill (tax) Levy question that will allow funding to be put toward important construction and improvement projects across the school district.

Over 10,000+ Santa Fe students and their families will benefit—without raising tax rates a single penny. It’s a wise investment, as the next generation deserves the strongest possible learning spaces and opportunities!

Want more details? Visit https://www.sfps.info/page/go for a FAQ and more.

How We Decided

We evaluated candidates on their experience, campaign strength, and most critically, their responses to our questionnaire on family issues. These are the candidates we trust most to fight for affordable childcare access, improved parks and recreation facilities, and policies that actually work for families. We endorsed candidates who embody what Niños & Neighbors stands for:

Family-First Governance: Policy decisions should consider impact on children and families.
Community Care: Building coalitions of parents, grandparents, caregivers, educators, and neighbors.
Accountability: Tracking promises and ensuring follow-through.
Accessibility: Advocating for infrastructure and policies that work for all families.

"The City Different needs a different approach to governing, one that puts families first. These candidates have clear plans to tackle the childcare crisis, create safe play spaces our kids desperately need, and build infrastructure that helps working parents thrive. We're confident they'll deliver on their promises," said Ifeoma Ozoma, Chair.

“Our endorsement process looked at both expertise and accessibility," said Madeleine Carey, Co-Chair. “We want a splash pad at SWAN park and we want the MRC finished, and we want a Mayor and City Council that works with us and that we can hold accountable to their campaign commitments.”

“When a leader invests in strengthening families, they help build stronger communities. We proudly endorse those candidates who turn commitment into action.” said Silvia Romero, Deputy Treasurer.

“Children are infrastructure. Alongside roads and buildings, they are the foundation of our future. We chose these candidates because we believe in their lived experience and commitment to families, and we’ll hold them accountable once in office.” said Meghan Montelibano-Gorman, Deputy Treasurer.

“Working parents suffer the failures of family infrastructure in Santa Fe practically on day one. It starts with the struggle to find available childcare for our newborns, and continues when we bring our toddlers to trashed and broken playgrounds, and eventually we learn that nearly everything for young children and teens in our City is unreliable, unaffordable, or nonexistent,” said Jessica Shelton, Treasurer. “We need policymakers who offer more than flashy talking points and promises—we need real commitment and expertise to actually get the job done for Santa Fe’s kids.”

2025 Candidate Questionnaire

About the Niños & Neighbors Voters Guide

Niños & Neighbors sent a candidate questionnaire to all mayoral and city council candidates on the ballot for 2025. Candidates were given ten days to complete the questionnaire, which focused on four key areas:

Childcare, Early Childhood Education, and Early Intervention Services
Parks, Recreation, and Family Activities
Family Mobility and Safety
Community Engagement and Accountability

Questionnaire Structure

The survey included twelve substantive policy questions. Every mandatory yes/no question provided an optional opportunity for candidates to explain their positions further. Candidates were encouraged—but not required—to add their ideas, questions, concerns, and caveats in these sections.

The opening question asked: "Do you believe Santa Fe is a family-friendly city?" Candidates rated this on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being "the City is very unfriendly to families" and 10 being "the City is extremely family-friendly."

Our Purpose

We explained to candidates that their responses would be published to help share their vision with families and community members who care deeply about issues such as childcare, parks and recreation, and other family-friendly and public safety infrastructure. We also plan to consider the strongest candidates for endorsement and share our endorsements widely.

We believe it's important for Santa Fe families and voters to know that their concerns matter to local policymakers. Candidates' participation demonstrates their commitment to engaging with Santa Fe families.

Corrections

Candidates/campaigns: If you notice any errors, typos, or mistakes, please contact us at admin@ninosandneighbors.com for corrections. You received a copy of your responses after completing the questionnaire, so while we will not amend or change answers, if a transcription mistake was made, we will correct it promptly.

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