City attorney: requiring artists be 'from Santa Fe' likely unenforceable; commission postpones mural findings

Assistant City Attorney Natalie Cawley told the commission the condition requiring applicants to hire an artist "specifically from Santa Fe" is likely not legally enforceable under the federal privileges and immunities clause and recommended removing the residency requirement.

Cawley said the record must show why a residency preference is necessary and what problem it targets; she told commissioners she did not find that discussion in the June hearings and advised amendment or removal of the condition. "The condition that an applicant hire an artist specifically from Santa Fe for the murals is likely not legally enforceable," she said.

Commissioner Capen proposed an alternative motion to preserve the policy intent while avoiding constitutional exposure: require applicants to make a good‑faith effort to solicit proposals from Santa Fe artists, including direct outreach to Santa Fe artists or Santa Fe arts organizations and documentation of those outreach efforts for the city prior to selecting artists. Legal counsel indicated that language would likely address the legal concern but flagged procedural notice issues because the change was not on the published agenda and the applicant had not been given formal notice.

Given those notice and applicant‑on‑notice concerns, commissioners voted to postpone approval of findings and conclusions for the two cases (case numbers discussed in the record as 2025‑11753 and 2025‑11756) to allow staff to clarify the record and give the applicant notice. The postponement was set for the August 20 meeting so the applicant can respond and commissioners can finalize findings with the chosen approach.

The commission’s action leaves the mural requirement under review: the mural condition requiring creation of murals remains, but the residency language will either be removed or replaced with a documented outreach requirement after further consideration and proper notice.