Where does Corrales go from here?
A substantial portion of the village’s population turned out on Oct. 21 to hear the two mayoral candidates’ visions for the future.
Incumbent Mayor Jim Fahey and longtime resident Fred Hashimoto agree that water is critical to that future, but diverge on whether the village needs a performing arts center and other ideas.
The Corrales Fitness Gym was packed to standing-room only capacity, with few chairs available, and residents lining both walls of the building, for what is expected to be the only opportunity for the community to see both candidates in the same place at the same time.
Fahey leaned on his experience as a village councilor and mayor, touting his accomplishments such as improving Corrales’ fire-suppression capabilities, renovating the Old San Ysidro Church and arranging for a replacement of the Corrales siphon.
Hashimoto focused on preserving the village’s unique identity.
“It’s not Albuquerque,” he said. “It’s not Rio Rancho, nor do we want to be. (It’s our) peaceful oasis, and I would like to keep it that way.”
Hashimoto, a former village councilor, said Fahey employs a top-down management style that bypasses the Village Council at times. He pledged a more transparent administration that communicates openly and respectfully with the community.
Fahey said he has used collaboration, compromise and cooperation to the village’s benefit, including opening lines of communication with the New Mexico Department of Transportation, which will soon conduct a traffic study for Corrales Road, the village’s main drag.
Moderator Heather Balas read several questions for the candidates, one of which had to do with the importance of water and ensuring the village has the supply it needs going forward.
Fahey said village leaders are working to get Corrales back in compliance with state law by developing a 40-year water plan and then aggressively pursuing new water rights.
Hashimoto said the village needs to conserve what it has and search for new water rights, but that Rio Rancho’s experience in trying to exercise its junior rights — which has thus far been unsuccessful in court — illustrates the need for due diligence.
Fahey disputed Hashimoto’s claim that the mayor is pursuing an expensive wastewater treatment system, and said he’s looking for a bypass that can keep the existing septic tank effluent pumping system operational while repairs are done. He said a related study cost no village money.
A question about the role of the arts in Corrales brought out the candidates’ differing perspectives on a performing arts center. Hashimoto said it’s not needed and is more likely to serve visitors from neighboring cities than Corrales residents.
Fahey said past proposals for such a venue have been poorly planned, and that if the matter comes up again, it will be handled better.
Other topics discussed included how to support agriculture and local small businesses, the village’s comprehensive plan and the need for a full-time planner employed by the village.
Balas informed the audience early that the event was “not a pep rally,” and said that while the point of the forum was to show how the candidates differ, there are also some similarities between Hashimoto and Fahey.
She said they are both physicians and Democrats, as well as being “smart, conscientious and willing to devote themselves to our community.”
Residents Lynn Cuba and Rusty Picard said they appreciated getting to learn more about the candidates in one place. Neither would reveal voting plans, but they are decided.
Picard said his sole disappointment was that questions offered by himself and other Kiwanis Club members were not chosen. He said they’d have liked to hear the candidates’ views on the Corrales Harvest Festival, which the club puts on each fall, but some Corraleños would like to see discontinued.
The candidate forum was hosted by Sandoval County Indivisible, which describes itself as an organization seeking to cultivate a local grassroots movement of concerned citizens, in part by educating citizens and voters on specific issues and candidates.
Terry Eisenbart of Sandoval County Indivisible said she was pleased by the turnout, believing that the draw of good information made the attendance unsurprising.
“Corrales is a caring community,” she said. “Our people are really engaged.”
The campaign rolls on
Fahey appeared Wednesday in a question-and-answer session at Ex Novo Brewing Company.
Hashimoto will be there at 6 p.m. Oct. 29. Ex Novo founder Joel Gregory last week told the Sandoval Signpost the format will be relatively casual, with the candidate introducing himself and taking questions from the audience.
“We decided to hold these events to get to know the mayoral candidates because it came up enough times in conversations,” Gregory said. “People would ask my thoughts, and I realized I didn’t have a firm grasp on where both stood on many issues, and I thought the intersection of small-town politics and a public house is a great fit.”
Early voting is underway at the Corrales Community Center, 4324 Corrales Road (open from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday through Nov. 1).
Corraleños can also cast their ballots at any voting convenience center in the county.
Election Day is Nov. 4.