From the desk of Jason Tabor Mayor of Santa Fe

​It’s been a little over 13 months since I had the honor of being sworn in as Mayor of Santa Fe. I made a few promises when I had the candidate forum. 1. I had the time to truly put into the job, 2. I had great working relationships with other entities that are crucial for the City 3. The public would be better informed and that I would be transparent. So I believe we have accomplished and improved a lot. I’m not gonna lie, the City didn’t work well with many before I came on. I think Harvey crippled those already very fragile relationships. Now it seems we are all working together again. The City is doing projects alongside DD1 and WCID#8 , meaning our crews are working side by side for the citizens. The PD and Fire department are working on safety together and the fire department is even storing our cots and blankets for a shelter for us which allowed us to increase the number of cots and blankets that are needed. City and school have a stop arm program in place for the new school year to help protect from cars passing buses. WCID and city and girls softball have a project that is on the agenda tonight for council to approve sewer for the softball complex(something much needed for many years.) These are just a few examples of many things going on. My goal is to increase more technology for the city to simplify processes and increase performance and reliability. We have old processes in place, like getting a simple permit that takes way to long, which should be streamlined and as easy as possible for businesses and individuals to use. I am definitely putting in the hours as mayor (20-40 hours a week) and I will continue as much that is needed. I truly love serving my community. To be transparent, even recently we just had elections. Our city Charter states that an elected official will take office at the next council meeting after the votes are canvassed. Junior was elected on May 4th so he should have been sworn in on May 23rd. The City thought it would be best to swear both officials in after the runoff at the same time. I agreed to it with one exception that there would be nothing important to be voted on in June or I would have to swear Junior in on the next council meeting which would have been June 13th so that we do what is right by the Charter and also that we don’t take away someone’s vote who our citizens selected to represent them. That is why the Council meeting was not posted and that we have had 5 weeks without a meeting. I made a few people mad because they thought I took away a meeting, but in reality I did what was written in our charter and what was right. I have no gain from being Mayor, and I have no personal agenda. I am very black and white with rarely any gray area. Heck there is still an empty spot on the wall for my picture because I haven’t taken the time to get one made. I didn’t get in office for fame or a title or to have the press, I did it because I know the city needed a leader to step up and be there 100% for the citizens. You ask why I do it, because I started my company almost 19 years ago and this community supported me and spent their hard earned money in my businesses. Y’all didn’t have to support me but you did and y’all continued to encourage me to grow and be more successful. I feel it’s a small way of paying back my community and doing what is right. We are in a unique position for our city. We are posed to grow in housing and businesses. Everyone needs to be aware of the potential changes and get involved. You might not like what I say, but at least I have the courage to always say it. Love you all and I will see y’all around town. My door is always open and my phone is always on so you know how to get ahold of me if you need me. God bless Santa Fe and y’all have a great Thursday.