Javier Gonzales (August 1, 1966– February 9, 2022) was an American politician who served as the 42nd mayor of Santa Fe from 2014 to 2018."Javier Gonzales wins Santa Fe mayoral race"
''

Santa Fe New Mexican alt=front page of a broadsheet newspaper, front page of ''The Daily New Mexican'' for 24 November 1868 ''The Santa Fe New Mexican'' or simply ''The New Mexican'' is a daily newspaper published in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Dubbed "the West's olde ...

'', March 4, 2014. Gonzales was the city's first and only openly

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

mayor."Santa Fe Selects Its First Gay Mayor, Javier Gonzales"
''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

'', March 5, 2014. He held the office of

Santa Fe County Santa Fe County (; meaning "County of the Holy faith" in Spanish) is a county located in the U.S. state of New Mexico. As of the 2020 census, its population was 154,823, making it New Mexico's third-most populous county, after Bernalillo Count ...

Commissioner A commissioner (commonly abbreviated as Comm'r) is, in principle, a member of a commission or an individual who has been given a commission (official charge or authority to do something). In practice, the title of commissioner has evolved to incl ...

, serving two terms. Soon after, he was elected as the first Hispanic president to the

National Association of Counties The National Association of Counties (NACo) is an organization that represents County (United States), county governments in the United States.

. Upon assuming the mayorship of Santa Fe, he was chair of the

Democratic Party of New Mexico The Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of New Mexico. It is headquartered in Albuquerque and led by Chair Sara Attleson, Vice Chair Cam Crawford, Secretary Brenda Hoskie, and Treasure ...

. He ran for mayor promising to progress equal rights, improve the educational system, diversifying the economy, promote the youth, and increase

environmentalism Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology, and social movement about supporting life, habitats, and surroundings. While environmentalism focuses more on the environmental and nature-related aspects of green ideology and politics, ecolog ...

. He voted to build the largest assisted living facility in the city on Old Pecos Trail, created a climate task force, proposed

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

measures, instated a cultural district to combat

counterfeit A counterfeit is a fake or unauthorized replica of a genuine product, such as money, documents, designer items, or other valuable goods. Counterfeiting generally involves creating an imitation of a genuine item that closely resembles the original ...

art sales, and increased internet and technological advancements for the city. He was a vocal supporter of

gun control Gun control, or firearms regulation, is the set of laws or policies that regulate the manufacture, sale, transfer, possession, modification, or use of firearms and ammunition by civilians. Most countries allow civilians to own firearms, bu ...

and regulation. In 2015, he started the Santa Fe Gun Violence Table as a forum and action committee to address mass-killing prevention and to ensure the safety of citizens. Gonzales publicly disagreed with the actions of then-Governor

Susana Martinez Susana Martinez (born July 14, 1959) is an American politician and attorney who served as List of governors of New Mexico, 31st governor of New Mexico from 2011 to 2019. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, she served as chair of the ...

, and other Republican legislators. Most notably he condemned the actions of Martinez in her opposition to accepting more Syrian immigrants into the United States.

Early life and education

Gonzales was the first to go college in his family and graduated from

New Mexico State University New Mexico State University (NMSU or NM State) is a public, land-grant, research university in Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1888, it is the state's oldest public institution of higher education, and was the original land-g ...

with a degree in accounting. He was the son of

George Abrán Gonzales George Abrán Gonzales (January 5, 1938 – March 24, 2015) was an American politician, musician, and broadcaster who served as the mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, from 1968 to 1972. Gonzales, who was 30 years old at the time of the 1968 mayoral el ...

, who served as the mayor of Santa Fe from 1968 to 1972. In 2016, Gonzales was awarded a scholarship to attend a

Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...

program for senior executives in state and local government.

Career

Gonzales served on the Santa Fe County Commission for two terms. In 2001, he was elected as the first Hispanic President of the National Association of Counties. As President, he led a national organization that represents more than 3,000 counties nationwide. Prior to his election to the mayoralty, he worked as vice-president of real estate firm Rosemont Realty, and served as chair of the state Democratic Party.

Mayor of Santa Fe (2014–2018)

On August 29, 2013, he announced his candidacy to become the next mayor of Santa Fe. He ran himself as "a strong advocate for labor unions and the working-class." On March 4, 2014, Gonzales won the Mayoralty of Santa Fe, and was sworn in the Greer Garson Theatre at the

Santa Fe University of Art and Design Santa Fe University of Art and Design (SFUAD) was a private for-profit art school in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The university was built from the non-profit College of Santa Fe (CSF), a Catholic facility founded as St. Michael's College in 1859, and ...

. He stated at his installation, "I stand before you humbled. I stand before you standing on the shoulders of people like Mayor David Coss and my father and so many who have been before in this position to say that I am ready to accept the responsibility and the honor of being your mayor."

Gun policy

He was a vocal supporter of

gun safety Gun safety is the study and practice of managing risk when using, transporting, storing and disposing of firearms, airguns and ammunition in order to avoid injury, illness or death. Gun safety includes the training of users, the design of fi ...

and stronger

. In 2015, he started the Santa Fe Gun Violence Table as a forum and action committee to address mass-killing prevention and ensure the safety of citizens. Gonzales with a local organization, "New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence" handed out free gunlocks provided by the Santa Fe Police Department, as well as educational material on gun safety and control.

Equal rights

Gonzales, as a progressive candidate, ran on the promise of equal rights for all, and appointed two openly gay women to the Santa Fe City Council on which there are eight seats.

Economic policy

He sought to expand the living wage throughout the county, and subsequently helped organize the effort to establish a municipal

minimum wage A minimum wage is the lowest remuneration that employers can legally pay their employees—the price floor below which employees may not sell their labor. List of countries by minimum wage, Most countries had introduced minimum wage legislation b ...

, currently set at $10.51, one of the highest in the country. He was heavily criticized for supporting a corporate tax cut initiated by Governor Susana Martinez. He defended his actions stating that the tax cut was a "comprehensive tax reform that makes New Mexico competitive with surrounding states"

Controversies

During the campaign, a complaint was filed with the Santa Fe Ethics and Campaign Review Board against Gonzales by Fred Rowe, a supporter of mayoral candidate Patti Bushee, alleging that Gonzales was violating

campaign finance Campaign financealso called election finance, political donations, or political financerefers to the funds raised to promote candidates, political parties, or policy initiatives and referendums. Donors and recipients include individuals, corpor ...

regulations by actively coordinating with various

political action committee In the United States, a political action committee (PAC) is a tax-exempt 527 organization that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaigns for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation. The l ...

s which had endorsed him. Gonzales stated during the campaign that he defended the rights of outside groups to participate in election campaigns, but was not seeking and did not need support from PACs. The board voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint, on the basis that it relied on innuendo and hearsay and lacked any properly substantiated evidence of ethical or legal violations. Gonzales issued an executive order banning city employees from traveling to states with religious freedom laws he claims are anti-gay. Shortly afterwards, he traveled to the Islamic nation of

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

, which criminalizes gay relations, leading many to accuse him of hypocrisy.

Succession

On March 12, 2018, Gonzales was succeeded by entrepreneur

Alan Webber Alan M. Webber (born September 18, 1948) is an American entrepreneur, author, publisher, and politician serving as the 43rd List of Mayors of Santa Fe, New Mexico, mayor of Santa Fe, New Mexico, since 2018. Previous to his assumption of the mayo ...

who became the 43rd mayor of Santa Fe.

Personal life and death

Gonzales resided in Santa Fe, New Mexico and had two daughters, Cadence and Cameron. He served on the board of regents for

. Gonzales was the city's first openly-

mayor. He issued a press release after the first

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

licenses were distributed, entitled "My Renewed Faith in Santa Fe." In the release, he stated "You see, when you come from a traditional family with deep roots in this community, the process of accepting that you are gay is complicated with fears about disappointing those you love, or becoming disconnected with a sense of place that is as much a part of me as my sexuality." Javier Gonzales died from

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

on February 9, 2022, at the age of 55.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzales, Javier 1966 births 2022 deaths 21st-century mayors of places in New Mexico American gay politicians Hispanic and Latino American mayors LGBTQ Hispanic and Latino American people LGBTQ mayors of places in the United States Mayors of Santa Fe, New Mexico New Mexico Democrats State political party chairs of New Mexico LGBTQ people from New Mexico Harvard Kennedy School alumni New Mexico State University alumni Deaths from cancer in New Mexico