Back in September, fellow blogger and Santa Fe resident Kevin Post contacted the city of Santa Fe with his concerns about the city of Santa Fe buying, but the city of Santa Fe was either too busy to respond to the concern of a constituent, or simply did not care:
From: Kevin Post
Date: Thu, Sep 27, 2012 at 6:13 PM
Subject: City VehiclesCc: pjbushee@santafenm.gov, rdwurzburger@santafenm.gov, cadominguez@santafenm.gov
I have noticed entirely too many non America made city vehicles. In my opinion, one is too many.
An example is the Nissan Extera Public Safety Aide vehicle. I have seen others driving around town,This is completely unacceptable!!I am requesting how many non American made vehicles does the city own ?
Kevin Post
* * *
Over six months later Mr. Post still had received no response from the city of Santa Fe and attempted to reach the mayor and city council a second time:
From:Kevin Post
Date: Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 9:39 AM
Subject: City Vehicles
To: cadominguez@santafenm.gov, cmrivera@santafenm.gov, mayor@santafenm.gov, pjbushee@santafenm.gov, ccalvert@santafenm.gov, rdwurzburger@santafenm.gov, pnives@santafenm.gov, rstrujillo@santafenm.gov, bdimas@santafenm.govI sent an email to every council member and the mayors office on
9/27/12 regarding the make/model of city vehicles. To date I have yet
to receive a single response from anyone. As a voter I deserve,at
minimum, a response from an elected official. Very disappointing !As stated in my previous email, I have noticed the use of Nissan
Xterra’s for public safety and the roadside radar vehicles. I also
have seen many other city vehicles that are not made by an American
company. There are other factors that make little to no sense on
choosing the Xterra over something like the Ford Escape. The MSRP’s
are within $200 on the 2013 models. The MPG on the Xterra is 16/22
city/highway and the Ford Escape is 22/31 city/highway. Using a 15
gallon fuel capacity the Ford would get 90 miles more per tank in the
city and 130 more for highway driving. Using the same numbers @ $3.50
a gallon that is approximately $12 a tank per vehicle for city
driving. I know of at least 6,but guessing there are more, of these
Xterra’s in use at $12 saving = $72 savings. Using a hypothetical of 1
tank per week is nearly a $4000 savings on fuel not to mention less
carbon emissions. FYI the Chevy Equinox has the same MSRP and MPG and
the Ford Escape. So there are several options to buy American. This
seems like a no brainier. Buy American and save money!!I would also request the total number of non-American company owned
city vehicles.Kevin Post
Santa Fe* * *
To date Mr. Post has received the following responses:
From: Rebecca Wurzburger [Personal non-govt email]
Date: Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 10:23 AM
Subject: Re: City Vehicles
To: Kevin PostI am sorry you did not see that I forwarded your email to staff ( Jon Bulthis and Isaac Pino) and said I wanted to discuss this issue with them asap. Will do so again and get back to you. Councilor Wurzburger
In the above response, Ms. Wurzburger is essentially blaming staff for her lack of ability to respond. Mr. Post’s first email did not require much more than a simple response. Isn’t Ms. Wurzburger capable of responding on her own?
* * *
From:IVES, PETER N.
Date: Sat, Mar 30, 2013 at 12:27 PM
Subject: RE: City Vehicles
To: Kevin PostDear Mr. Post, I do not recall receiving your earlier email, and there
are times when there are so many communications, one may fall through
the cracks. I am glad to be responding to you now. As a City Councilor,
I am always interested in how we can do a better job for the City of
Santa Fe. Please know that I have forwarded your email to the City’s
purchasing division for consideration. I have also forwarded your email
to the City Attorney’s office which handles information requests. You
may need to fill out a formal request for information form (These are
available on line to my knowledge) to be sure to receive back the full
information you are seeking on the number of non-American made vehicles
owned by the City. PeterPeter N. Ives
City Councilor – District 2
City of Santa Fe
Councilor Ives treats Mr. Posts email as a IPRA request. Though it is not exactly such, at least a response is given.
* * *
I assume Mr. Post is about to file a IRPA with the city attorney’s office regarding the data which was of interest to him. We shall see where this heads and how the city of Santa Fe and in particular city attorney handles his request. You can also check out his blog site here.
Political Fireball 
Mr. Post should try another avenue of inquiry. The Santa Fe City Directory is available here: http://www.santafenm.gov/Directory.aspx and the avenues I would try are
Fleet Management:
Staff
Bustos, Carlos Fleet Manager cebustos@santafenm.gov 505-955-2351
Chavez, Antoinette Administrative Assistant alchavez@santafenm.gov 505-955-2350
Encinias, Joe Fleet Supervisor jaencinias@santafenm.gov 505-955-2352
Then try:
Purchasing:
Rodarte, Robert Purchasing Director rfrodarte@santafenm.gov (505) 955-5712
Rodriguez, Shirley Project Specialist sarodriguez@santafenm.gov (505) 955-5711
Vigil, Gail Account Technician glvigil@santafenm.gov (505) 955-5710
My best advice is to STAY AWAY FROM THE ATTORNEYS. They know how to throw more dirt and misdirection, more “you can’t have that info because you didn’t word it properly” garbage than anyone who hasn’t been in government for less than ten years, or who isn’t an attorney outside of their government job.
Try those people, Mr. Post, and you’ll probably get the info faster, nicer and with more of your questions answered.
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Thank you, Linda. Good points. I know how troublesome these government attorneys can be when attempting to file IPRA requests.
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