Katherine Rivera campaigns for a City Council seat in front of a polling location on Rodeo Road on Nov. 4, 2023. Rivera has announced she will be running for a seat in District 1 again.
Katherine Rivera joins fellow volunteers in cleaning a lot next to Dutch Bros Coffee on Tuesday as part of a cleanup organized by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office. Rivera announced she will be running for the District 1 seat on the Santa Fe City Council.
Just days after Santa Fe City Councilor Signe Lindell said she will not seek a fourth term in her District 1 seat, Katherine Rivera, an unsuccessful council candidate in 2023, announced she will give it another shot.
Rivera said in a news release Thursday she wants to be of service to her community and help Santa Fe “live up to its historic reputation.”
“Santa Fe has some work to do to get its sparkle back,” she said in the statement. “I continue to hear about the challenges throughout District 1, from Cerrillos Road, the Railyard, and neighborhoods off of Bishops Lodge Road. I believe everyone wants a clean city, clean water, and a safe neighborhood.”
Rivera finished third in a four-way race in 2023 for the District 1 seat ultimately won by Councilor Alma Castro.
She is so far the only District 1 candidate in the November municipal election. While the mayor’s race has drawn a crowded field of at least six candidates, the only other council candidates to announce so far are two incumbents: District 3 Councilor Lee Garcia and District 4 Councilor Amanda Chavez are seeking reelection.
No one has announced plans to run for the District 2 seat now held by Carol Romero-Wirth.
Lindell, who has served on the council since 2014, announced Sunday she did not plan to seek another term and felt it was time to “pass the torch.”
Katherine Rivera campaigns for a City Council seat in front of a polling location on Rodeo Road on Nov. 4, 2023. Rivera has announced she will be running for a seat in District 1 again.
In an Thursday interview, Rivera said her desire to serve her community as a councilor “never went away, despite the outcome of the last election.”
She has spent a lot of time in the last two years paying attention to local politics, she said, and thinks there’s a need for more focus on some difficult-to-solve issues.
“I think it’s time for some fresh faces and some fresh dialogue,” she said.
A Santa Fe native with roots in Pecos and La Cienega, Rivera graduated from St. Michael’s High School and had a career as a project manager, which took her to both the east and west coasts before she returned to Santa Fe.
She has been a familiar face at community and City Council meetings and is a member of the city’s Economic Development Advisory Committee and the Old Santa Fe Association board.
She volunteers at St. Michael’s High and with the community trash cleanup group the “Trash Pandas,” which she joined Tuesday to clean up a stretch of Cerrillos Road in an event hosted by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office.
Rivera cited trash as one of the issues that spurred her to run again, and she continues to be concerned about the effects of crime, homelessness and vandalism.
“Santa Fe has a lot of good plans, a lot of programs that are in the pipeline, but when we want to go start them we run into the nagging issues that Santa Fe continues to have around crime and cleanliness,” she said.
Katherine Rivera joins fellow volunteers in cleaning a lot next to Dutch Bros Coffee on Tuesday as part of a cleanup organized by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham's office. Rivera announced she will be running for the District 1 seat on the Santa Fe City Council.
Rivera said she believes residents remain frustrated by a lack of progress on many crucial issues and are growing impatient.
For every step forward the city takes, “there are issues that are causing us to remain two steps back,” she added.
Along with Castro, the District 1 race in 2023 included business owner Brian Gutierrez and former City Attorney Geno Zamora.
Gutierrez could not be reached for comment Thursday but said previously he was still considering his options. Zamora, who raised significantly more money than his rivals during the 2023 campaign, voiced similar sentiments.
“I’m taking a few weeks to think about it thoroughly and speak with family, but I highly encourage good, qualified candidates to get involved in District 1,” he said.
Rivera said she intends to seek public financing for the election, which requires candidates to submit a petition with at least 150 signatures from registered voters in their district, along with $5 contributions from those voters.
“I’ve never been a fan of money in politics, and I want to try to be that example,” she said.
