As parks increase but budget stays flat, mayor says city of Santa Fe needs to have ‘hard conversations’

Garcia said he believes the transition — which won’t happen overnight — should allow the city to ultimately receive a higher level of service for less money.

He noted, however, requirements baked into the city’s land use code have expanded the number of city parks with new developments — without increases to the parks division’s budget. With 77 parks, Santa Fe has roughly one park for every 864 residents, based on recent population estimates. That’s more than double the rate in Rio Rancho, which has one park for every 1,753 residents, and much higher than Rio Rancho, which has one park for every 2,359 residents.

The heavier demand on Santa Fe park maintenance crews comes this year as the Garcia administration strives to balance a laundry list of priorities with a flat budget.

Last year’s mayoral election came in a political environment dominated by dissatisfaction with the status quo. Park maintenance was a top priority for many Santa Fe residents, along with hard-hitting topics such as crime, homelessness services and housing.

Without an influx of new revenue, Garcia said, additional park maintenance would likely mean less money for investments in other areas.

The mayor hopes to have a communitywide conversation after the budget is finalized about whether the city could find ways to “reenvision” some parks to make upkeep of the public spaces less labor-intensive or rethink how properties are used.

“These are going to be hard conversations, but I want to ensure that we are setting up the city to successfully meet the needs of the residents,” Garcia said.

For example, he said, the city should ask if residents believe every park needs to have grass.

“If the answer to that is ‘yes,’ residents have to understand that is going to require more maintenance,” he said. “It’s going to cost more, and the city ultimately has to figure out where those resources are going to come from.”

Councilors are expected to receive the budget proposal Wednesday. It is scheduled for introduction at the May 13 council meeting, followed by two days of budget hearings.

Santa Feans have long been frustrated about the condition of city parks. In 2008, city voters approved a $30.3 million bond for parks and trail upgrades. But a 2015 report found the money was seriously mismanaged, and at least one project on the list never materialized.

The New Mexican created a “report card” of city parks in 2017, assigning grades based on appearance, cleanliness and the quality and condition of amenities. The newspaper surveyed 29 parks and gave more than half a C or D grade.

In an interview the following year, then newly elected Mayor Alan Webber included improved park maintenance as part of a broader “family-friendly” agenda at City Hall. But his two-term administration continued to face criticism about park conditions, including complaints from families about trash, needles and poorly-maintained play equipment.

The City Council discussed parks at length in spring 2025 while preparing the spending plan for the current fiscal year, and councilors added $633,900 into the $479 million budget to hire an additional contract crew for median maintenance, so city staff could focus more heavily on parks.

City residents “expect a higher level of service than we are providing at this moment,” Councilor Jamie Cassutt said at the time.

Parks and Open Space Division Director Melissa McDonald said the proposed budget for fiscal year 2027 includes funding for the contract crew.

“We’ve now brought all of our parks up to a little higher standard, and this is going to help us continue to stay at a good level,” she said.

McDonald said the budget proposal also includes funds for more park workers. If the funding is approved, the division could start hiring when the new fiscal year begins in July.

The national average of park maintenance employees for a city of Santa Fe’s size is 71, McDonald said. Santa Fe has fewer; the budget proposal would get the city up to 58.

Many employees in the division have worked with the city for close to 20 or 30 years and are nearing retirement age, she said, creating opportunities for others interested in building a career at the city.

The ideal parks employee? Someone who likes being outside and wants to give back to their community.

“For somebody who really wants to have an immediate impact, this is a great place to work,” McDonald said.

Over the past year, McDonald said the parks division has improved its output, using a methodology called “level of service goals,” which ranks all parks and medians based on certain criteria.

On a scale of 1 to 5, with a score of 5 being the poorest, McDonald said the average level of service at parks citywide was a 3, comparable to a C grade. Since then, she said, the parks division has achieved its goal of raising 50% of its parks to a 2.5 level of service in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30.

As part of the assessment process, maintenance crews evaluate criteria including equipment, weeds, graffiti, turf aeration, trash, restrooms and benches.

Some parks have seen significant improvement, McDonald said, including Fort Marcy park, Alto Park, Ragle Park, Salvador Perez and Amelia White Park on Old Santa Fe Trail, which has undergone a major renovation in partnership with volunteers from the Santa Fe Garden Club.

But the division continues to wrangle with a growing number of parks as new housing developments lead to more green spaces being dedicated to the city.

Several developments underway will come with additional park land, including the long-planned Los Prados housing complex on South Meadows Road, as well as additions to the Las Soleras and Tierra Contenta subdivisions on Santa Fe’s south side.

A report prepared by Garcia’s transition team said the city will need to increase its maintenance crews to keep up with the level of demand without service levels dropping.

Garcia said he believes the open space requirements in the land use code need to be overhauled.

“As these parks are developed, the city has to then take on maintenance,” he said, straining its capacity.

Garcia said it is no surprise the city is struggling to keep up with maintenance needs, given its number of parks, in comparison with those in other cities.

The New Mexican examined the number of parks in five other municipalities in the Land of Enchantment: Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Las Cruces, Roswell and Farmington. While several other cities have more total parks than the 77 in Santa Fe, the City Different’s number per capita is significantly higher.

What counts as a city park also differs from city to city.

A spokesperson for the city of Farmington said that city has 58 “park properties,” which include trails and sports fields, while a spokesperson for Roswell said it has 26 official parks, “plus numerous sports fields and recreational trails.”

Las Cruces spokesperson Maddy Leatherwood wrote in an email the city has 99 park sites, but the total rose to 152 with the inclusion of sports fields, trails, medians and landscaped buildings.

Santa Fe’s 77 parks do not include trails and other open spaces the parks division oversees or properties like the Marty Sanchez Links de Santa Fe golf course and Municipal Recreation Complex.

City budgets and staffing also vary dramatically, with Albuquerque’s parks budget for the current fiscal year at $52 million and Rio Rancho’s at just $2.6 million, while Santa Fe’s is $16.2 million.

Employees also vary, with cities providing different breakdowns of seasonal and full-time workers.

Employee numbers for the Santa Fe Parks and Open Space Division have fluctuated over the past 10 years, according to city data, but a 1-to-1 comparison is difficult because of changes over time to how positions have been classified internally.

The Public Works Department, which includes the parks division, has struggled in past years with high vacancy rates, but McDonald said more recently it has seen successful recruiting efforts, including attracting younger workers.

The workers’ level of expertise also makes a big difference in the quality of parks, she said, noting the division is putting more focus on training supervisors and rank-and-file staff.

Despite the heavy workload, she was optimistic about the division’s future: “We’re continuing to constantly improve and create really great spaces for our community.”