Alexandria Piland didn’t win Rio Rancho’s mayoral runoff, but the Democratic candidate says her campaign forced conversations city leaders still need to finish — starting with how much residents actually know about what’s happening inside City Hall.
Piland told The Paper. in Rio Rancho that transparency, not roads or water, was the top concern she heard from residents throughout her campaign — citing a North Hills water leak that went unaddressed for weeks and a city councilor who privately asked her to stop posting about it on social media.
“There’s not enough of a dialogue going on” between decision-makers and residents, Piland said. “The people think the city’s not working because the city isn’t reaching out.”
Piland ran on a platform that put her at odds with Rio Rancho’s political establishment on several fronts — calling for developers to meet infrastructure standards before new housing wins approval, criticizing the city’s costly March election schedule, and becoming the only mayoral candidate who did not oppose sanctuary city status at a February chamber forum.
She said she deliberately avoided negative campaigning against Mayor-elect Paul Wymer. “Punching never helps,” she said. “Mayor-elect Wymer is a nice man. We don’t always agree on everything, but we keep it civil and keep focused on what’s best for the citizens.”
Piland says her next focus is food insecurity. Working with northside resident Jesse Bennett, she is in talks with Storehouse New Mexico to establish neighborhood food bank drop-off locations — inspired by a woman she met on the campaign trail who had to take an Uber to reach a food bank. She also used leftover campaign funds to purchase over 800 pounds of food, donating it to Storehouse West.
She also plans to continue organizing for the Democratic Party of Sandoval County and supporting future candidates. On the question of pursuing appointment to the City Council seat being vacated by Wymer, she was direct: “I don’t think that mayor-elect Wymer would appoint me anyway” — and said the council’s partisan dynamics made it a non-starter regardless.