Questions, Not Allegations, Should Dominate ‘New Mexican’ Debate | Local News



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A campaign manager for mayoral candidate and city councilor JoAnne Vigil Coppler said Santa Feans should no longer expect her to do fireworks at Thursday’s forum, hosted by the League of Women Voters. Santa Fe County.

Vigil Coppler surprised a crowd at the Lensic Performing Arts Center on Tuesday night when she claimed Webber told her during a meeting between the two, perhaps over two years ago, “not to upset her panties “.

She lobbied the allegation during closing statements for the second session of a two-day candidates’ forum.

Sisto Abeyta, campaign manager for Vigil Coppler, said she felt it was important to publicize the allegation following a discussion at the previous evening’s forum on management styles.

“It was not an easy decision for the city councilor,” he said. “It was very difficult for the counselor to make this decision.”

Abeyta said viewers shouldn’t expect another “October surprise” when Vigil Coppler takes place on Thursday night at The New Mexican of Santa Fe The Marcy Street building, where she will join Mayor Alan Webber and former congressional candidate Alexis Martinez Johnson in a discussion of the issues facing the city.

The League of Women Voters will begin the forum at 6:30 p.m. and it will be broadcast live on The New Mexicanthe website of, sfnewmexican.com.

Abeyta said Vigil Coppler’s campaign was eager to talk about these issues on Thursday.

Vigil Coppler did not provide a date she alleges Webber made the offensive comment.

After Tuesday’s forum, Webber denied his request in a statement in which he felt the revelation was due to election season.

However, he admitted in a handwritten letter in February 2020 that Vigil Coppler had informed him that he had said something that she found “appalling”.

In a text message, Webber’s campaign manager Sandra Wexler slammed what she saw as Vigil Coppler’s attempt to take Tuesday night’s substantive debate at Lensic on the city’s housing crisis and turn it into an attack advertisement.

Wexler wrote in the text that the allegation is “why people hate politics and don’t trust politicians”.

“This is what makes good people feel bad about the people they elect,” she wrote. “It’s not the policies. It’s the politics. We will continue to stick to the problems no matter what. [Vigil Coppler] Is.”

Tuesday’s allegation was the second major demand in the mayoral campaign cycle so far. Last month, Vigil Coppler alleged that Webber ordered police to withdraw as protesters removed the Plaza Obelisk from its base nearly a year ago on Indigenous Peoples Day. Vigil Coppler said a police officer gave her the information, but she provided no evidence to support her claim.

Webber denied making the call, saying mayors do not interfere with police work, but said he supported the decision. City officials and police said a commander called on officers to leave the square, before the monument was toppled, as rally participants began to engage in skirmishes with officers.

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