By Rodd Cayton
Even if the Town of Edgewood is able to fix its financial oversight issues, Former Mayor John Abrams says, residents are still better off dissolving it and getting their local government services from Santa Fe County. “The town doesn’t have the money to support itself,” Abrams said. “There are years of failure … there is no recovery from that.”
Abrams is a member of the Reboot Edgewood campaign, which seeks to disincorporate the town, small portions of which are in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties. He told the Route 66 Independent the group has “well over half” of the 1,264 petition signatures needed for Santa Fe County commissioners to put the matter on the ballot. At noon on Sept. 18, they were 571 signatures toward the petition listed on the site.
Abrams said town leadership has mismanaged Edgewood financially and otherwise, and that a number of residents are fed up. The town was incorporated in 1999, he said, because residents were promised responsible self-government. “We have 25 years of history of the town not governing itself properly and 25 years of history of the town not financially supporting itself to the benefit of the population,” he said. The effort began in the wake of a dispute with Santa Fe County that put Edgewood’s fire and emergency medical services at risk. Reboot Edgewood organizers also point to unfinished public works projects and controversial annexations including Campbell Ranch as justification for their cause.
Abrams said Edgewood will have representation at the county level and that “we will get our fair share if we ask nicely.”
Town Manager Kelly Hamilton said Edgewood is working on fixing problems that arose under previous commissioners and administrators. He said he doesn’t think the town should be dissolved, but acknowledged the frustration of the disincorporation supporters. “I don’t think they’re bad people because they want to disincorporate the town,” Hamilton said.” They’re people we haven’t listened to. The town should have been listening to them all along.”
Anyone interested in signing the petition may do so here. Petitions are also available at From the Ashes Comes Amoré, JUNO Brewery and Old Mill Edgewood.