Humble and determined: Newly elected Corrales mayor discusses win, vision

CORRALES — Corrales has a new mayor, but what will the resident of 50 years do with his time?

With 62% of the village votes in the 2025 mayoral election, Fred Hashimoto believes that residents share his vision for Corrales.

Hashimoto, who will take his seat as mayor of Corrales in January, spoke about the win in a recent interview.

“People got excited enough and got engaged enough,” he said of the turnout.

Hashimoto added that the race truly was nonpartisan, as it is meant to be, since he and incumbent James Fahey are of the same political party. He said it made people vote on their policies and not their party.

He said he had fun with the campaign because he got to meet new friends and reconnect with old friends in the village. He held a number of meet-and-greets but also made sure people knew what his message, “Fred Instead,” meant.

When people ask what he stands for, he said, he tells them the constituents and the comprehensive plan remain his priority.

“I’ll probably be a rather quiet mayor. I’m not going in with a big splash. I’m not doing this to show what I can do as mayor,” he said.

One of the main points Hashimoto ran on was “keeping Corrales as Corrales.”

“I ran on keeping Corrales small on the map,” he said.

He added that Fahey seemed to encourage Corrales as a “regional attraction,” which he said has caused some problems, especially with traffic.

“The traffic on Corrales Road is relatively heavy and seems to have got a bit heavier throughout the years, and it’s hard to get out (of the neighborhoods),” he said.

He joked that one would have to be a racecar driver to maneuver the current traffic situation.

In all seriousness, though some people may not be happy about it. He said he thinks the best way to reduce accidents is more stop signs where residential roads are and possibly a lower speed limit. He added he looks forward to seeing what the New Mexico Department of Transportation says about Corrales Road, which is under state control.

Some of the big items people can expect Hashimoto to be a part of in January are water and lot sizes, both of which have been scheduled for discussion in the first village council meetings of 2026.

Hashimoto said his main concern with water is the over diversion, or overuse of it, in the village. He sees an issue with water quantity and quality in the village but said the priority right now is not so much the quality because there is minimal evidence that it is impacting the health of residents.

He did question if the recent $2 million water rights vote would actually lower the use of water.

“That’s a deficit I inherited,” he said.

While Fahey pushed for a village wide wastewater system, Hashimoto does not see that as a priority.

When it came to lot sizes, which have been a hot topic in council meetings, he said he was prepared for the topic to be sensitive.

People are only allowed to use a portion of the lot to maintain “rural character,” according to the comprehensive plan. Right now, the required lot coverage size is 35%, which Hashimoto said is too much. One January meeting will have the discussion of reducing that to 25% on the agenda, he said.

“I think it was heard a little bit before planning and zoning, realtors and developers would like to have the 35, and a lot of residents, particularly those who live in the area and see it, they say these huge mansions being built are monstrosities,” he said. “They really don’t belong in Corrales.”

He added that the demographics of the village have changed because wealthy individuals are building there.

One potential conflict he anticipated was even if the lot size is reduced, people will find ways to circumvent that by building up with stories instead of out.

He also spoke on a property near the Old San Ysidro Church that was ordered to be “cleaned and liened” due to complaints from residents about hazardous trash on the property.

He said the order may be appealed and that poses the argument on if property owners can do what they like with their own property.

Hashimoto also recognized the importance of fire mitigation in the village. He complimented fire chief Anthony Martinez on his hydrant plan, adding that the bosque needs more access to water for fire suppression.

While he has many more priorities, he said the first few meetings of 2026 will contain some of the more pressing issues.

At the end of the day, Hashimoto thanked the voters for turning out for the election.

“I would thank them for being so participatory in the process. We had a debate, and maybe 250 people showed for that debate, which is the largest crowd (I have seen),” he said.

“It was good to see the people were involved. It’s good to see the young people are involved because the future of Corrales is for the younger people.”