Former Corrales village councilor Bob Eichhorst has ended his mayoral campaign, less than a week after becoming an official candidate.
Eichhorst told the Corrales Comment Tuesday morning that he has health concerns that may affect his ability to serve a four-year term.
He has thrown his support to Fred Hashimoto, a medical doctor and former village councilor. The pair had both filed to run against incumbent Mayor James Fahey Jr., who was elected in March of 2022.
Eichhorst said he doesn’t like the direction in which the village is going under Fahey’s leadership.
“Fred is very rational and intelligent,” Eichhorst said. “He’s just a good guy.”
Hashimoto, reached later Tuesday, said he is a local-focused counterpart to Fahey, whom he says is taking a more regional approach aimed at drawing visitors, contrary to the wishes of most Corraleños.
“He wants to put us on the map,” Hashimoto said. “We don’t need to be on the map.”
He said he wants to focus on maintaining the low-density development common in the village.
Hashimoto said Fahey has also refused to support a village-based planner, refused to meet with a citizens group of professionals regarding a common parking lot for central Corrales and promoted an expensive wastewater treatment system.
While no decision has been made regarding the latter, Fahey has said his goals would include redundancy in wastewater treatment — the village currently has a septic tank effluent pump system, and he said when it fails, crews have to stand in “dirty water” to make repairs and restore service.
Hashimoto said he’s lived in Corrales for more than 50 years and his experience in governance will help the village operate more smoothly.
“Let’s celebrate the values we have, rather than having the village develop into something we’re not,” he said.