Less than two weeks before the candidate filing date for the Village of Chama election, the mayoral race has two announced contenders who already competed in 2002.
Two familiar faces in Village government, Mayor Archie Vigil and Village Councilor Ron Russom, have announced plans to run for the spot so far. The filing date is Jan. 5 and the election is scheduled for March 2.
Vigil and Russom already faced off in a mayoral race in 2002, when Vigil won by 41 votes. Vigil also beat out candidates John Wells and Maria Madrid in that election.
“The last time I ran, one of the issues was that my Council seat would be vacant if I won the election,” Russom said, noting the same issue is likely to arise in next year’s election.
Russom is two years into his third four-year term on the Council.
If he is elected mayor, Russom could appoint his successor, but his decision would have to be ratified by the Council. Russom, 45, who runs Russom Trucking with his father and brother, insists he wouldn’t appoint anyone to the open seat, instead letting the rest of the Council choose the best way to fill the seat.
Regardless of the outcome of the March election, Vigil, 48, has already announced plans to run for a seat on the Rio Arriba County Commission in 2012, meaning he might simultaneously hold both offices. Vigil, who is in his second term as mayor, ran unsuccessfully for the District Three seat on the Commission in 2008 against incumbent Felipe Martinez. Term limits will force Martinez out of the seat in 2012.
In 2006, Vigil beat Isaac Royston for the mayor spot.
When asked what he would change if elected mayor, Russom gave vague responses, saying mostly that he would delegate less mayoral authority than Vigil does. But Russom declined to elaborate on any specific issues, saying he didn’t want it to appear he was insulting Vigil, whom he described as a friend.
“I’ve got to live here, man,” Russom said.
Vigil was more frank. He said he had good relationships with top figures in state government, specifically mentioning Gov. Bill Richardson and Lt. Gov. Diane Denish. Those political alliances are good for the Village, he said.
“I do believe that if I don’t happen to win this election the Village may lose a lot of funding,” he said.
The two Village Council seats held by Darren DeYapp and Milnor Manzanares are also up for grabs next year.
The top two vote recipients will win seats on the Council regardless of how many candidates run or where they live in the Village. When DeYapp and Manzanares each won re-election in 2006 there were three candidates. The only candidate to lose in 2006 was Billy Elbrock, who ran again in 2008 and won a Council seat.
DeYapp said he will run for a third term on the Council, and he plans to use a familiar platform, the cornerstone being the Village’s long discussed need for a new sewer plant.
When he ran for his second term in 2006, DeYapp said he hoped to have the sewer project complete or be “at the tail end of it” by now. But the project is still in the preliminary stages, and DeYapp said Monday the Village still had not determined how to meet a federal Environmental Protection Agency requirement to remove phosphorous and aluminum from the water.
“Right now we’re addressing that,” he said.
Manzanares insists he hasn’t decided whether to seek a third term.
“I didn’t even know (the filing date) was the 5th,” he said. “If it’s that day, then that’s the day I will decide what I’m going to do.”
There has been little discussion about other possible candidates for the Council, but no one has to officially announce until the filing date.
The Village has four councilors plus the mayor, who only votes to break a tie.