Santa Fe mayoral candidate Oscar Rodriguez aims to fix basic services, deliver affordable housing

Oscar Rodriguez is a former finance director for the city of Santa Fe who has spent 30 years of his career in the public sector. He says his experiences serving in city management in communities large and small have given him the skills needed to be mayor of Santa Fe. 

Rodriguez joins Santa Fe New Mexican politics reporter Daniel J. Chacón to speak about his background and share his views on issues impacting the city in the latest of a series of interviews with Santa Fe mayoral candidates on the “Around the Roundhouse” podcast.

An enrolled member of the Lipan Apache tribe, Rodriguez grew up in the Permian Basin and was the first in his family to go to college, earning a bachelor’s degree from Harvard and a master’s degree with a specialization in city management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Since 2016, he has served as the CFO for the New Mexico Finance Authority, where he said he manages $3.5 billion in assets. 

Chacón asks Rodriguez how he plans to compete in a mayoral race while lacking the name recognition and visibility of some of the other candidates. Rodriguez also speaks on how he’s been balancing his job as New Mexico Finance Authority CFO with campaigning for mayor. 

Rodriguez shares how the city’s shortcomings in basic services spurred him to run for office. He lists improving the quality of the city’s services among his top priorities, along with addressing the lack of affordable housing in Santa Fe. Rodriguez also discusses his plans to improve public safety and how he would address homelessness in the city. 

As former finance director in the Javier Gonzalez administration, Rodriguez shares how how would handle annual audits if elected mayor. He also discusses what he would like to do with the Soldiers’ Monument on the Santa Fe Plaza, offering a plan that he admits has its critics.

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