SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – Three Santa Fe City Councilors are working on a package of ordinances that could reshape how dangerous driving behaviors are fined. “I think a lot of us feel helpless a little bit because our community is dangerous, and it has never been dangerous before,” said Pila r Faulkner, Santa Fe City Councilor. "We are pushing to get the highest fines in the country, which would be $500.” While careless and reckless driving are already charges drivers can face, councilors said aggressive driving would be added to that list. "That includes running people off the road, hitting bicyclists, drag racing. There's a list of things that are intentional things that people do with their vehicles that then make the vehicle like a weapon,” said Faulkner. Driver of Santa Fe city vehicle hits and kills person sitting on bench And it can be deadly. "We lost one of our city employees to a hit and run. And the part that broke, it was an 'Aha,' moment for me in that I was like people are literally dying because we are not doing our job,” said Faulkner. Councilors are also proposing the creation of a code enforcement office, which would handle nuisance complaints and civil violations. "We're freeing up some of the time and resources for our police officers so that they could really focus on those high-priority calls,” said Amanda Chavez, Santa Fe City Councilor. Councilors want to start doubling fines in designated safety zones, similar to construction zones. They also plan on introducing legislation addressing speed and noise from things like mufflers. "We really do want to do things at the local level, but we do run into conflict at the state level because the state law has more jurisdiction than we do,” said Faulkner. Santa Fe Downs teardown makes way for possibilities A frustration, councilors share as they try to find new ways to keep their communities safe. "I think it is unfortunate that our state leadership did not address these issues in this last legislative session. Going back on that, you know, they say that all politics are local. We want to set the example we want to say hey you know what in our local communities we want this,” said Lee Garcia, Santa Fe City Councilor. Councilor Garcia hopes for a special session to address crime further and said it would be disappointing to wait two more years for change. "The hard part is to watch your community being held hostage by crime and not having the ability to do anything about it because our laws aren't allowing for it,” said Faulkner. To gain community feedback on the package, councilors say they will be hosting a town hall on April 16 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. at the Teen Center. ...read more read less