Although Peter Ives and his wife, Patricia Salazar, still have busy careers as attorneys, they also have an empty nest. Their three children are all in college or in the workforce.

So, Ives decided now is a good time to dip his toe into local government in the city he has called home since the early 1980s.

The 57-year-old decided to enter the race to become the next District 2 city councilor just a week before the deadline to get on the ballot. That meant he had to scramble with the help of friends to collect the required petition signatures.

Among those who went knocking on doors to get the job done in a hurry were former City Attorney Frank Katz and incumbent Councilor Rosemary Romero, who holds the seat he hopes to fill.

Katz said among the reasons he backs Ives is that the candidate is smart and that having an attorney on the governing body is "helpful."

If elected, Ives would become the only licensed lawyer on the council. Councilor Matthew Ortiz is an attorney but isn't seeking re-election to his seat in District 4.

Ives first litigated in New Mexico when he worked for the Campbell and Black firm, where he was assigned to work on the General Atomic case, a complicated contract dispute over uranium mining that would earn one of the largest default judgments in state history up to that point.

He then opened his own firm with another lawyer, who was married to his wife's sister. But after 15 years in that line of work, Ives said, he became disenchanted with the adversarial system, particularly with the fact that legal costs sometimes outweigh the judgments to benefit clients.

"It just seemed like a system that was somewhat broken to me," he said. "I was dissatisfied with some of what was happening."

Going to work for the Trust for Public Land was a good move, he said, because he gets to work on building consensus through conservation land agreements instead of duking it out in courtrooms.

Said Katz: "Some lawyers are litigators and are aggressive and pretty awful. Others are 'let's get this worked out and let's solve this problem.' That is very much Peter's style, and I think that is an advantage. He's very good with people. On the council, I think he would be very good at drawing people together."

The candidate says he likes to find "common ground."

"Those are skills that, I think, certainly at the city, that couldn't be anything but helpful because often parties are coming in with different interests, and you're trying to find solutions that make sense for the city," Ives said.

Ives has served on a number of boards of directors, but has had only a handful of experiences with City Hall. Still, he says he believes civic participation is important.

"I am one of those who believes that if you're going to criticize, you've got to be participating. So, while I have certainly been happy to elect folks who I thought had reasonable voices, I'm not one to sort of want to recall them if they all of the sudden do something that I don't like," he said.

One of his interactions with city government was as a member of his neighborhood association board, advocating for residents' concerns when officials wanted to reconfigure Old Pecos Trail, among other traffic plans.

The city's solutions to congestion on its roadways have often routed traffic through neighborhoods, Ives said, and he's soundly opposed to that approach.

When he first arrived in the city, he lived on Columbia Street, then he lived on the north side before getting married and moving to Sol y Lomas to raise a family.

"I don't take advantage of it enough, going down to City Council meetings," he said. "Certainly, I am in attendance when there's something of significance to me or something that I want to be heard on. I certainly would not be shy about expressing myself to those people in the city that I have concerns with."

Ives said he's still learning about the city budget, but he believes that the city needs to do what it can to enhance gross-receipts tax revenues that come from tourism.

"As airline tickets go up and folks travel less overseas, they're looking for vacations closer to home, and Santa Fe, I think, remains one of those fabulous spots. Be it summer or be it winter, I am always amazed at the numbers. I try not to complain when traffic goes from two cars [to] the eight to 10 cars at a [traffic] light."

The candidate says he's taking a particular interest in city government's sustainability projects and its recycling program. He advocates passage of a general obligation bond question that's also on the March 6 ballot. The measure would fund a solar-energy facility at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, as well as other projects.


Peter N. Ives

Age: 57

Education: Bachelor's degree in philosophy from Harvard College; law degree from Georgetown University.

Occupation: Senior counsel with Trust for Public Land for the last 14 years.

Experience: Spent 15 years in private law practice before joining the staff of the land conservation group; serves on the boards of the New Mexico Activities Association Foundation, Diné People's Legal Services and New Mexico Academy of Healing Arts; taught law courses at The University of New Mexico.

Personal: Moved to Santa Fe in 1983 to work for former Gov. Jack Campbell's law firm and has lived in District 2 for most of that time; serves as an officer of the Knights of Columbus for St. Francis Cathedral Council 1717; is married to attorney Patricia Salazar; has three adult children; lives in the Sol y Lomas neighborhood.

Campaign info: Publicly financed campaign; santafeives@aol.com.