By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
The City of Gallup begins a new chapter in 2026. The new year brings with it a new mayor and city council member.
The Sun spoke with both of them, along with current city council members, to discuss their goals and plans for the year ahead of their swearing-in ceremonies.
MAYOR MARC DEPAULI’S VISION
Marc DePauli is ready to focus entirely on the city’s needs and his new role as Mayor. He stepped down as owner of DePauli Engineering and Surveying on Dec. 31 and sold the company to his employees. He said he intends to dedicate his newfound free time to the City of Gallup.
“My personal goal is to run the city and get reelected,” he said. “I will sell the business and remain available to the city 24/7.”
One of DePauli’s primary platform objectives involved tackling the city’s public safety and crime problems. In his first 90 days as mayor, DePauli wants to relaunch Crime Stoppers in the city.
Detective Greg MacAleese started Crime Stoppers in 1976 in Albuquerque. Frustrated with an unsolved murder case, he created a system where citizens provide anonymous tips to police in exchange for cash rewards.
Gallup adopted the program in the 1980s. DePauli noted that while the city recently stopped using the program, he wants to revitalize it.
“If someone is out there causing trouble and it’s hard to find them, I think the rewards of Crimestoppers will make it a lot easier for [a criminal’s] fellow criminals to turn him in,” DePauli said. “Rewards go a long way. The bounty sort of system is very helpful to law enforcement. We won’t lose track of where someone ends up because you can entice someone with money to turn them in.”
DePauli said he also wants to encourage neighborhoods to start neighborhood watches around the area.
Besides crime, DePauli also wants to tackle the issue of beautification.
He wants to encourage people to clean up their community, and he believes that starts with the City of Gallup leading by example. He wants to see weeds picked up and trees trimmed.
DePauli said the city wouldn’t need to hire a new employee to lead the beautification effort, but he wants to see more effort not just from the streets, parks, and solid waste departments, but from constituents and city employees alike.
Finally, DePauli acknowledged Gallup’s housing problem. But rather than saying “let’s build more houses” he said he wants to look at all of the abandoned properties around town.
“There’s plenty of houses for people to live in, and [we can’t] let them sit and deteriorate and rot, we need to find out why that’s happening,” he said. “Why is this house in the state it’s in? If it’s still in the state it’s in because there was no money or no insurance, then we need to take the next step and clean it up.”
He noted that there are some organizations in the community that may buy these dilapidated homes and fix them up.
New city councilor Sierra Asamoa-Tutu also wants to focus on housing during her first term as the District 2 representative.
She works as a clinical social worker with clients based in Santa Fe during the day. The program she works for provides housing for people who are in intensive outpatient treatment. It also provides mental health and substance abuse support.
Asamoa-Tutu said she’s excited to learn the ropes once her term begins.
“Obviously I’m new coming in, and I”m going to have a lot to learn,” she said. “So, starting out, my number one thing on my agenda is to just get acquainted with the city staff and the processes. I’ve been following the city council for the past year, but that doesn’t mean I have the inner knowledge of the system, so I will have some learning to do and a lot of the community to get to know.”
When it comes to housing, Asamoa-Tutu said she wants to make sure all levels of housing is available to Gallupians, from emergency housing and transitional housing to adequate and affordable rentals.
She also said she wants to get neighborhood meetings started up in her district rather quickly.
“The neighborhood association feels like something that will make a difference right away,” she said.
While Ron Molina isn’t new to the council, he will be starting his first full term as the District 4 representative.
Similar to his new colleagues on the council, Molina said he wants to focus on crime and housing during 2026.
“Housing and jobs are both intertwined together to stop the drug and crime problem from increasing,” he said.
Councilors Sarah Piano, Dist. 3, and Linda Garica, Dist. 1, round out the city council and will finish the last year of their current terms in 2026.
Piano said she wants to continue to focus on improving the city’s infrastructure and apply for grants to help achieve that goal.
She also said she wants to see the city work towards building a bigger and better humane society, especially now that it runs the shelter.
Garcia echoed the sentiments of her fellow councilors, saying she is looking forward to working with the council’s new members.
“My goal for this new year is to get acclimated with our new mayor and new city councilor and then hopefully we can all be on the same agenda working for the City of Gallup,” she said. “We as the mayor and council work for all constituents, all races, not just one, so that’s my goal, to help each and every person.”
Garcia also gave a shoutout to the new senior center, which is scheduled to open in her district in October.
“That’s going to be a great, beautiful building,” she said.
