CITY OF GRANTS, N.M. – Erik Garcia, running for Mayor of the City of Grants, is seeking the public’s assistance in putting her in the city’s highest seat. Just who is Erik Garcia, and what are his plans for the City of Grants?
Being a current City Councilor, Garcia has seen his fair share of conflict in the city chamber. Until recently, this current city council was lame duck, unlike his counterparts on the council, however, Garcia has attended each of the meetings held by the city. “I’m just a kid from Grants who dreams big,” Garcia said, “I grew up here, this is my home.” Being a first generation American on his mother’s side, he is a proud Cibolan from his father’s side, “The Loma was my stomping grounds,” he said. Growing up in the 1980s, “Was hype!” Garcia said, but then he noticed as the city’s economy slowly sliding downhill, as mayor, Garcia is looking to bring that level of economy and excitement back to Grants.
Having three young children who are growing up in Grants, Garcia explained that he wants to be a mayor that will advance the interests of the city and keep the community going. In the 2000s Garcia worked for the mines and attended leadership training.
Garcia picked up a lot of tips and tricks from current City Mayor Martin “Modey” Hicks, he acknowledged that he didn’t go to school for political science, but learning off of veterans in the political world, he has been able to shape his understanding of government. Working with the county’s State Senator Joshua Sanchez, Garcia has learned a lot about how the city receives money from the state, and is working on plans to create revenue for the city off of any little project that he can get funded by the state. Working with the state legislature, Garcia has a plan to revamp the city’s parks, baseball fields, and basketball court at Future Foundations Family Center. “Right now, we can’t attract big tournaments because our fields need work,” Garcia said, “Absolutely I would” push the city recreation department put on more events and better publicize them than they currently are. Garcia said that families happily take their children to sporting events and when they come, they eat at area restaurants, put gas at area stations, and spend money in the city.
Garcia then thanked Representative Harry Garcia, he said that the representative is integral in helping to accomplish the goals Garcia would like to accomplish. “I can work with [Representative Harry Garcia] and we can get stuff done.” Working with Cibola’s state legislators is an important part of the puzzle that Garcia believes can help bolster the city finances. “As a councilor there is very little you can do to get that instant gratification. So, I went and cleaned the Riverwalk, that is one of the few things I could do to get that instant gratification and actually see results,” Garcia said. The Riverwalk and downtown area parks are a large part of Garcia’s platform, having volunteered with the Mount Taylor Quad and revamping the Kids’ Quad, because it’s the central part of town. “When the legislators are in key with me, we’ll be able to get the funding we need to make these projects all come true.” Having learned from Mayor Hicks has been an issue for Garcia, there is no small amount of criticism over this. Some residents have even begun to call Garcia “Modey 2.0” but this is a name he rejects. “They cannot call me “Modey 2.0” because I was not Modey 2.0 when [Mayor Hicks] wanted me to be Modey 2.0 at the beginning. I stepped back and said, ‘Modey, you can’t act like that, what are you fighting for?’ and he kept saying hat the budget is messed up ‘I can’t get stuff done because you guys are not doing your oversight.’ I could have jumped on the bandwagon with him and ran with ‘Modey said,’ but I took a whole year. I learned the system and Modey was right. The reason I get passionate, maybe sometimes like you’ve seen me, is because we’ve lived in this type of environment for 40 years, and I got upset because [the other councilors] aren’t doing their jobs, so I got passionate. And you’re going to get passionate. Am I going to carry a gun and do all that kind of [stuff], no. The mayor is on another level, but 2.0 – I mean you can call me 2.0 if you want to say that Erik is going to follow the comprehensive plan and the drainage control plan and keep the vision alive, because that is what they’re supposed to be doing.” Garcia asserted that by diverging from the plan, nothing will get done, and that he wants to see the infrastructure plan through.
Ultimately, Garcia said, he wants to build the city’s economy and fix the infrastructure issues plaguing the city by following the plan that has so far replaced several miles worth of pipe.