Tim Keller’s 33% Approval And 40% Disapproval Ratings Deep Hole Of His Own Making He May Not Be Able To Climb Out Of; Keller’s Statewide Ambitions Likely Unrealistic As He Signals Desire For Third Term

Posted on November 30, 2022 by

On November 3, the Albuquerque Journal released its poll on the job performance of Mayor Tim Keller. The poll was conducted by its long-time polling firm Research & Polling which is considered the gold standard when it comes to political polls because of its accuracy. The poll was part of the highly comprehensive polling the Journal does and reports on every election year. The 2022 general election year poll covered all the major State and Federal elections and included polling on the top issues including abortion, crime, the economy, and education.

POLL RESULTS

The Journal poll asked the singular question “Do you approve or disapprove of the way Tim Keller is handling his job as Mayor?”

The results of the poll were dramtic:

DISAPPROVE: 40%

APPROVE: 33%

MIXED FEELINGS: 21%

WOULD NOT SAY: 5%

DEMOCRATS

49% of Democrats polled APPROVE of Keller’s job performance

20% of Democrats polled DISAPPROVE of Keller’s job performance

25% of Democrats polled expressed MIXED FEELINGS

REPUBLICANS

9% of Republicans polled APPROVE of Keller’s job performance

70% of Republicans polled DISAPPROVE of Keller’s job performance

14% of Republicans polled expressed MIXED FEELINGS

INDEPENDANTS

29% of Independents polled APPROVE of Keller’s job performance

48% of Independents polled DISAPPROVE of Keller’s job performance

20% of Independents polled expressed MIXED FEELINGS

The data breakdown of the poll was reported as follows:

GENDER

MALE

32% of males approved of Keller’s job performance

44% of males disapproved of Keller’s job performance

19% of males had “mixed feeling” of Keller’s job performanc

FEMALE

34% of females approved of Keller’s job performance

37% of females disapproved of Keller’s job performance

22% of females had “mixed feeling” of Keller’s job performanc

ETHNICITY

HISPANIC

39% of Hispanics polled APPROVE of Keller’s job performance

39% of Hispanics polled DISAPPROVE of Keller’s job performance

21% of Hispanics polled expressed MIXED FEELINGS

ANGLO

32% of Anglos polled APPROVE of Keller’s job performance

40% of Anglos polled DISAPPROVE of Keller’s job performance

21% of Anglos polled expressed MIXED FEELINGS

CHRONOLOGY OF KELLER’S DECLINING POPULARITY

It was just one year ago during his campaign for a second term that Keller registered a 50% approval rating in the Journal Poll. Previous Journal Polls found a majority in Albuquerque approved of Mayor Tim Keller during his first term, including 60% in 2020 and 61% in 2018.

In 2017 then New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller was elected Mayor coming in first by beating all 7 of his opponents to get into a runoff. He went on to win in 2017 by a decisive landslide against City Councilor Dan Lewis who secured 37.8% with Keller winning with 62.2% of the vote.

Mayor Keller won his 2021 election to a second 4 year term with 56% of the final vote and beating Sheriff Manny Gonzales who secured 26% of the vote and Der Führer Trump Radio Shock Jock Eddy Aragon secured 18% of the vote.

MAYOR TIM KELLERS REACTION TO CRATERED POLL NUMBERS

Confidential sources within and without City hall confirmed that the poll results came as an absolute stunner to Mayor Tim Keller and to many within his Administration. So much so that Keller reached out to many of his political associates and advisors on how to respond to the Albuquerque Journal poll numbers. Mayor Keller’s public response was the results came as “no surprise” to him given the outcome of the city’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey released in August of this year.

The Citizen Perception Survey found that 52% of Albuquerque residents are concerned about the city’s direction. Keller told the Journal he, too, is frustrated with some of the city’s challenges and what he called the current “hard times.” Keller also proclaimed the city survey validated some of his major initiatives, including the forthcoming Gateway Center Homeless shelter and services center.

The postscript to this blog article contains detailed poll results of the Citizen Perception Survey in the 5 key areas of Direction City is Going, Personal Safety, City Services and Homelessness that likely had an impact on Keller’s popularity and his unfavorable rating.

Mayor Keller had this to say about the Journal poll:

“At the end of the day, mayors take the heat for all of America’s problems, so that’s just part of the job. … It shows our city needs continued help from every level of government.”

Keller, the eternal optimist, placed his own political spin on the results and noted that those who approve and those who reported mixed feelings together make up 54% of those polled. He noted that the 54% is nearly equal to his performance in last year’s election and that he sees opportunity to turn those on-the-fence respondents into believers. Keller told the Journal this:

“I think there is certainly plenty of runway left.”

FACTOR’S CITED FOR REASON OF DECLINE

Brian Sanderoff, the President of Research & Polling who did the poll, was interviewed by the Journal and was asked to give his opinion as to the reasons why Keller has had such a sharp decline in his popularity. Sanderoff said voter concern about crime and homelessness are likely the biggest factors in the latest poll results and he said this:

“There are many government agencies and branches of government that play a role in addressing crime; however, the mayor and the city police department are front and center with the public.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/2545820/mayor-kellers-job-approval-rating-sinks.html

FAILURE TO ADDRESS SPIKING VIOLENT CRIME

Over 5 years ago, in August, 2017, then New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller, candidate for Albuquerque Mayor, had this to say about the city’s high crime rates:

“It’s unfortunate, but crime is absolutely out of control. It’s the mayor’s job to actually address crime in Albuquerque, and that’s what I want to do as the next mayor.”

In 2017 Tim Keller ran for Mayor on the platform of reducing the city’s high crime rates, implementing the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and all the 270 mandated reforms, increasing the size of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), returning to “community based policing”, no tax increase without a public vote even for public safety, address the homeless crisis by building a centralized shelter, stopping waste fraud and abuse, and a commitment to transparency and economic development.

During his full 5 years in office, Mayor Keller has initiated numerous crime-fighting initiatives. All were initiated before the pandemic hit the city hard in February of 2020. It was on March 11, 2020 when the Corona Virus was declared a world wide pandemic and the country began to shut down and people began to quarantine and businesses began to close.

It was in 2018 to 2019, during a 9 month period, in response to the continuing increase in violent crime rates, Mayor Keller scrambled to implement 4 major crime fighting programs to reduce violent crime. Those programs are:

The Shield Unit

In February 2018 the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) created the “Shield Unit”. The Shield Unit assists APD Police Officers to prepare cases for trial and prosecution by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office. The unit originally consisted of 3 para legals. It was announced that it is was expanded to 12 under the 2019-2020 city budget that took effect July 1, 2019.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1325167/apd-expands-unit-that-preps-cases-for-prosecution.html

Declaring Violent Crime “Public Health” issue

On April 8, 2019, Mayor Keller and APD announced efforts that will deal with “violent crime” in the context of it being a “public health issue” and dealing with crimes involving guns in an effort to bring down violent crime in Albuquerque. Mayor Keller and APD argue that gun violence is a “public health issue” because gun violence incidents have lasting adverse effects on children and others in the community that leads to further problems.

3.The “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP program)

On November 22, 2019 Mayor Tim Keller announced what he called a “new initiative” to target violent offenders called “Violence Intervention Plan” (VIP). The VIP initiative was in response to the city’s recent murders resulting in the city tying the all-time record of homicides at 72 in one year. Mayor Keller proclaimed the VIP is a “partnership system” that includes law enforcement, prosecutors and social service and community provides to reduce violent crime. According to Keller vulnerable communities and law enforcement will be working together and building trust has proven results for public safety. Mayor Keller stated:

“… This is about trying to get these people not to shoot each other. …This is about understanding who they are and why they are engaged in violent crime. … And so, this actually in some ways, in that respect, this is the opposite of data. This is action. This is actually doing something with people. …”

The Metro 15 Operation program.

On Tuesday, November 26, 2019 Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference to announce a 4th program within 9 months to deal with the city’s violent crime and murder rates. At the time of the press conference, the city’s homicide count was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017.

Before 2017, the last time the City had the highest number of homicides in one year was in 1996 with 70 murders that year. Keller dubbed the new program “Metro 15 Operation” and is part of the Violence Intervention Program (VIP) program. According to Keller and then APD Chief Michael Geier the new program would target the top 15 most violent offenders in Albuquerque. It’s the city’s version of the FBI’s 10 most wanted list.

Links to news coverage are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1394576/city-launches-violence-intervention-program.html

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/mayor-keller-touts-new-plan-to-tackle-violent-crime/5561150/?cat=500

Despite all of Keller’s programs to bring down violent crime, he has been a failure. During each year of Mayor Tim Keller’s years in office, the city’s murder rates rose, dropped only one year, and then rose to a historical high. Following is the breakdown of homicide by year:

2017: 72 homicides
2018: 69 homicides.
2019: 82 homicides
2020: 76 homicides
2021: 117 homicides (3 declared self defense reducing homicide number to 114)
2022: 115 homicides as of December 3, 2022.

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1534762/homicide-numbers-high-despite-pandemic.html?amp=1

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/apd-homicide-list-for-web-site-as-of-11nov2022.pdf

Police shootings are not included in the number of homicides the city has. On November 30, it was reported that the city has had record 17 police shootings this year.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/albuquerque-marks-record-number-police-shootings-2022-93084096

OVERALL CRIME IN CITY

Overall crime in Albuquerque also rose in 2021 for the first time since 2018. It marked the first increase in property crime since the city notched back-to-back 10% drops, pushing decreases in overall crime even as violence steadily rose over the past several years.

Travelers Worldwide is a voluntary organization that was set up in 1994 to report on places to work, live and visit. When it comes to Albuquerque, Travelers Worldwide put it this way:

In Albuquerque, crime rates are high across the board. According to the Albuquerque Police’s annual report on crime, there were 46,391 property crimes and 15,765 violent crimes recorded in 2021. These numbers place Albuquerque among America’s most dangerous cities. Tourists visiting Albuquerque are at increased risk of experiencing aggravated robbery, auto theft, and petty theft. The chances of becoming a victim of property crime in Albuquerque are 1 in 20, an alarmingly high statistic for tourists looking for a peaceful vacation. Simple assault, aggravated assault, auto theft, and larceny are just some of the most common criminal offenses in Albuquerque. Burglary and sex offense rates In Albuquerque are also higher than the national average.

https://www.volunteerworld.com/en/review/travellers-worldwide

KELLER’S FAILURE TO GROW APD TO LEVEL PROMISED

In 2017, Tim Keller campaigned to be elected mayor on the platform of increasing the size of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), returning to community-based policing and promising to bring down skyrocketing crime rates. To that end, the Keller Administration began implementing an $88 million-dollar APD police expansion program increasing the number of sworn police officers from 898 positions filled to 1,200, or by 302 sworn police officers, over a four-year period. The massive investment was ordered by Mayor Tim Keller to full fill his 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates. Keller promised to increase the number of sworn police in the department to 1,200 by the end of his first term.

Fast-forward 5 years later. The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) is the largest city budget out of 27 departments. The fiscal year 2023 approved General Fund budget is $255.4 million, which represents an increase of 14.7% or $32.8 million above the fiscal year 2022 level. The approved General Fund civilian count is 665 and the sworn police count is 1,100 for a total of 1,765 full-time positions. Despite all the money thrown at APD by Keller over the past 5 years, APD is still seriously understaffed and the return to community policing is still elusive.

APD’s general fund budget of $255.4 provides funding for 1,100 full time sworn police officers, with the department fully funded for 1,100 sworn police for the past 3 years and not the 1,200 sworn police Keller promised 5 years ago. However, as of October 7, there is an anemic 857 sworn officers in APD. During the October 7, 2022 news conference, APD Chief Median reported that APD has 857 sworn officers and this is down from the 917 sworn police number reported on December 6, 2021 to the Federal Court overseeing the consent decree.

As of October 2022, APD has 514 civilian professional staff, 40 public safety aides, 73 911 operators, 23 dispatchers, 41 retired officers that have returned to the department with more than 50 retired officers on contract work for the department. The latest APD cadet class has 26 people in training to become police officers. The upcoming next cadet class is likely to see between 50 to 60 people.

KELLER’S ALL THE ABOVE APPROACH TO SOLVE THE HOMELESS CRISIS

The homeless have reached crisis proportions with them becoming far more visible and aggressive by illegally camping in parks, on streets, in alleyways and in city open space, whenever they want and declining city services. Keller has proclaimed an “all the above approach” to deal with the homeless costing millions.

For five years, Mayor Tim Keller has made the city’s homeless crisis a major priority and now proclaims an “all-the-above approach.” It’s an approach that is costing millions and it is failing. Keller has done the following:

Over two years, budgeted $33,854,536 for homeless emergency shelters, support, mental health and substance abuse programs and $60,790,321 for affordable housing programs for the low-income, near homeless.
Established two 24/7 homeless shelters, including purchasing the Gibson Medical Center for $15 million to convert it into a homeless shelter.
Established a “no arrest” policy for violations of the city’s camping, trespassing and vagrancy laws with an emphasis on citations.
For five years, allowed Coronado Park to become a “de facto” city-sanctioned homeless encampment, which he was forced to close down because of drugs and violent crimes.
Advocated and funded city-sanctioned safe outdoor space (SOS) homeless tent encampments. The Environmental Planning Commission is recommending the City Council repeal this land use.

As the homeless remained a persistent and pervasive challenge for Keller while city residents have expressed frustration and even anger with the city’s response to the issue.

In June, the city released its government-funded satisfaction poll. 70% of those surveyed felt the City is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness, 9% of residents gave City Government positive marks for addressing the homelessness issue and 20% gave the city mixed or neutral rating. The percentage of residents who give the City positive scores for addressing homelessness had risen from 13% in 2019 to 29% in 2020 but it has now fallen by 20% and is 9% currently. The link to the full survey is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/documents/final_coa-citizen-sat-2022.pdf

KELLER DOUBLE DOWNS ON DEALING WITH HOMELESS

Since the citizen satisfaction survey Keller doubled down on his efforts to address the homeless crisis. He increased city funding to the Family and Community Services Department by over $24,353,064 going from $35,145,851 in the 2021 fiscal year to $59,498,915 in the 2022 fiscal year to provide services and housing to the homeless and he made controversial decisions intended to address the city’s homeless crisis. Those decisions included closing Coronado Park, the de facto city sanction homeless encampment Keller had encouraged and he had to close because crime, illicite drugs and contamination, advocating for city sanctioned tent encampments known as Safe Outdoor Spaces and advocating for “Motel Conversions” where the city will purchase existing motels and convert them into low-income housing.

Safe Outdoor Spaces are organized camp sites where upwards of 50 people who are homeless can legally sleep in tents or cars while accessing showers and other amenities with as many as 18 such campsites will be allowed. The City has already approved one Safe Outdoor Space for victims of “sex-trafficking victims” and other vulnerable populations to be located on vacant land at 1250 Menaul Blvd, NE . The approval is being appealed by at least 7 appellants.

The city is already on track to purchase the Sure Stay Hotel on hotel circle in the North East Heights for a motel conversion for low income housing by using Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funding of $3,059,662.12 in Community Development Block Grants, $2,443,724.00 from Public Facilities monies and $615,938.12 from Foreclosure Prevention for a total property purchase of $6,119,324.24.

COUNCIL TURNOVER RESULTS IN A MORE CONSERVATIVE BODY AND CLASHES WITH KELLER

The 2021 municipal elections resulted in a turnover of 4 city council seats out of 9 with two councilors deciding not to run again and two other Democrat incumbents losing to challengers. The City Council went from a 6 to 3 Democrat solid “progressive” majority to a 5 to 4 Democrat majority that is decidedly more conservative leaning. This change is in large part to the election of Westside conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez who defeated progressive Democrat Lan Sena and the election of right wing Republican Dan Lewis who defeated Democrat Cynthia Borrego.

Sena was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller after the death of City Councilor Ken Sanchez. Sena is a progressive Democrat activist who was a bad fit from the get go for the moderate to conservative working class District. Keller was more interested in appointing a political ideolog who had to be female than appointing a moderate to the council. Her loss was a clear loss for Keller as he lost a reliable ally and vote on the council.

Republican Dan Lewis defeating Cynthia Borrego came as no surprise. Lewis was a two term city councilor before and had significant support of the Republican party and his campaign manager was none other Jay McClusky, the right wing, slash and burn politcal operative who managed the campaigns of Mayor Richard Berry, Governor Susana Martinez and Mark Ronchetti’s US Senate race and Governors race. Lest anyone forget, 5 years ago, City Councilor Lewis ran and lost to Mayor Tim Keller in a landslide. Lewis is already saying he intends to run for Mayor again in 2025, especially if Keller seeks a third term. Borrego is considered a moderate and has now been elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives.

After the December 7 City Council runoff election, the 5 Democrats on the city council as of January 1, 2022 are:

District 1 Conservative Louie Sanchez (Elected on November 2 defeating Lan Sena.)
District 2 Progressive Isaac Benton
District 3 Moderate Klarissa Peña (Ran unopposed on November 2 .)
District 6 Progressive Pat Davis
District 7 Progressive Tammy Fiebelkorn

After the November 7 runoff election, the 4 Republicans on the new city council are:

District 5 Conservative Dan Lewis (Newly elected defeating Cynthia Borrego)
District 4 Conservative Brook Bassan
District 8 Conservative Trudy Jones
District 9 Conservative Renee Grout

Because of the 2021 municipal election and its move to the conservative right, it has taken to reevaluating progressive policies adopted by the previous city councils. That includes the city’s plastic bag ban repeal by the current council, attempting to reduce the Mayor’s emergency authority during a health crisis, and considering whether to replace the zero-fare bus pilot program.

2023 MUNICIPAL ELECTION

A total of 4 City Council seats will be on next year’s municipal ballot. Progressive Democrat Pat Davis, District 6, and Conservative Republican Trudy Jones, District 8, have made it official and announced that they will not seek another term on the Albuquerque City Council. District 2 now represented by Progressive Democrat Isaac Benton and District 4 now represented by Conservative Republican Brook Bassan are also on the ballot. Both Benton and Bassan are expected to have strong opposition is they do run. With upwards of 4 city councilor incumbents being replace, the balance of power on the city council may continue to shift for Keller and his influence diminished even further.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Tim Keller has always been the eternal optimist with a smile on his face and a grin in his voice. A very good example of his optimism is when Keller noted that the 33% who approve of his job performance and the 21% who reported mixed feelings together make up 54% of those polled and saying the 54% is nearly equal to his 56% performance in last year’s election. Keller told the Journal this:

“I think there is certainly plenty of runway left.”

That’s a very good politcal spin, but it’s not how reality works, and if Keller believes what he is saying, he is not facing reality and lying to himself. Keller may be the eternal optimist, but realty tends to humble and to prevail over arrogance in politics. Keller will likely successfully takeoff again but it’s not at all likely he will soar to the heights he once flew in past elections. A 40% disapproval rating and a 33% approval rating by all measure is a deep hole to climb out of, but on many levels, it’s a hole he has dug for himself making promises he could not keep.

Then their is a real possibility that Keller’s number could plunge even further. Sooner the public demand results and ignore the optimism and public relations. Political observers are saying the odds are very high he will not be able to turn around his popularity so long as crime and the homeless continue to be his second term curses and as it stands both are only getting worse as each year passes during Keller’s tenure as Mayor.

Sources have confirmed that Keller is already signaling he will run for a third term as Mayor recognizing he has no other options when it comes to running for statewide offices. A run for Governor in 4 years, which was said to have been Keller’s initial plan, is not likely in that he would be facing far more popular candidates such as United States Senator Martin Heinrich, Secretary of Interior Debra Haaland, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver or AG Hector Balderas, all 4 who have expressed an interest in running for Governor in 2026 to succeed Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham. Then there is the matter of Governor Lujan Grisham not at all too happy with Keller having to go to his aide when it comes to the city’s spiking crime and homeless.

Running for United State Senator is also not realistic for Keller with Senators Martin Heinrich and Ben Ray Lujan being as young and as popular as they are. Heinrich must run for re election to the Senate in 2024, and if he is elected, and then runs for Governor in 2024 as has been suggested, he would appoint his successor to the Senate and there is no guarantee that Heinrich would appoint Tm Keller to replace him. Then you have the very ambitious Attorney General Raul Torrez who is close to Heinrich, given that Heinrich appeared in Torrez AG commercials, who has made it known he has national ambitions. Torrez is not above trashing his opponents as he did with Democrat Brian Colon in the primary and Republican Jeremy Gay in the general to become Attorney General and running against Keller for Senate in a statewide campaign and smearing him with his failure as Mayor would be all too easy.

One option Mayor Tim Keller does have is to try to secure a cabinet appointment in a President Joe Biden second term, but that is only if there is a second Biden term, and that’s a very big if. And even bigger if is Tim Keller being able to secure a third term as Mayor.

_____________________________________

POSTSCRIPT

CITIZEN PERCEPTION SURVEY

Each year, the City of Albuquerque commissions a survey to assess residents’ satisfaction with various City services and issues relating to crime, homelessness, and public safety. The study is required by City ordinance. On September 6, the City has released the City of Albuquerque Citizen Perception Survey dated August 2022. The link to the full survey is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/documents/final_coa-citizen-sat-2022.pdf

There are five major categories covered by the survey that likely had a impact on the perception of Mayor Keller’s job performance:

Direction City is Going

Personal Safety

City Services

Homelessness

An edited summary of results in these 4 categories of the survey are as follows:

CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS ON “DIRECTION CITY IS GOING”

The survey results revealed that over half those surveyed, 52%, say they are concerned about the city’s overall direction. This compares to 43% who say they are hopeful. In the December 2020 survey, 50% said they were hopeful. The percentage of residents who say they are hopeful about the direction of the City has fallen from 50% in December of 2020 to 43% in 2022. Although 43% of residents say they are either somewhat hopeful with 34% or very hopeful with 9% about the direction of the City, just over 52% say they are either somewhat concerned at 30% or very concerned at 22%. Anglo residents with 58% are more apt than Hispanics with 44% to rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent. The percentage of residents who rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent has fallen from 54% in 2018 to 48% in 2022.

It is not surprising that many residents are concerned about the direction of the City given the challenges currently being faced across the nation. The survey noted that residents across the nation have concerns about where the country is heading as a whole. An example is the website RealClear Politics calculates the average of different polls conducted among voters and adults across the nation and currently shows that an average of 74% believe the country is currently off on the wrong track, while an average of just 18% feel the country is heading in the right direction.

The survey results on citizens perception on the direction the city is going should is a major red flag of failure for Mayor Keller and the City Council. A very disturbing trend revealed by the survey is that residents show less satisfaction with current quality of life in the city and there is growing concern about Albuquerque’s future. Although 50% of those surveyed believe Albuquerque is doing “about the same” as other cities dealing with problems and carrying out its responsibilities, the survey generally shows worsening perceptions of life in the city.

CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS ON “PERSONAL SAFETY”

“Crime and feelings of personal safety are important components to perceived quality of life. Overall, 81% of Albuquerque residents say they feel in their neighborhood during the day. (Very Safe at 51% + somewhat at 30% = 81%)

However, the 81% drops to 57% felling safe at night. (Very safe at 24% + somewhat safe at 33% = 57%.) In other words, there is a day and night different of 24%.

The gap has narrowed from 2020, when 68% reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods at night and only 24% said they felt unsafe.”

One of the most disturbing statistics from the Citizen’s Survey is that only 57% of those surveyed felt safe at night in their own homes. It likely that 57% is on the very low side. At the core of citizens do not feel safe in their homes at night is the City’s high violent crime and homicide rates.

An Albuquerque Journal poll found that 82% of the public feel that crime is very serious, 14% said crime is somewhat serious for a staggering total of 96%. Albuquerque has seen a major spike in violent crime and the rates are some of the highest in the country.

In the last 3 years, Albuquerque has had a breaking number of homicides each year. In 2021 the city had 117 homicides. As of August 30, APD reports that there have been 88 homicides, with the city well on it way to breaking the 2021 all time record.

apd-homicide-list-for-web-site-as-of-02sep2022.pdf (cabq.gov)

https://www.abqjournal.com/2528871/ex-those-most-likely-to-vote-also-worry-about-the-economy-and-public.html

CITIZEN SURVEY RESULTS ON “CITY SERVICES”

“The percentage of residents who feel Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs has dropped from 48% observed in 2020, which was an all-time high dating back to 2011, to 32% a 17% drop. Specifically, 32% agree Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs, 38% have a neutral opinion, 28% disagree that City Government is responsive.

These results are similar to those observed in previous studies dating back to 2011 with the exception of the 2020 study which saw a big spike in positive reviews. The 2020 results may have been an anomaly given that so much attention was being given to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdowns coupled with the fact that the majority of residents give City Government high marks for the City’s response to COVID.

Residents were asked to rate how well Albuquerque City Government is handling specific issues using a five-point scale where five is excellent and one is very poor.

47% give City Government positive marks with a score of 4 or 5 when it comes to maintaining city parks and open space areas.

34% give positive ratings supporting renewable and clean energy programs.

34% give positive ratings for maintaining roads and streets

32% give positive ratings for supporting the local economy”

This is very difficult to accept, let alone understand, given that Mayor Tim Keller has submitted, and the City Council has approved in 2 consecutive years the 2 largest city budgets in its history, one for $1.1 Billion in 2021 and the other for $1.4 billion in 2022.

On May 17, 2021, the Albuquerque City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2021-2022 city budget of $1.2 billion, $711.5 million of which is the General Fund. The General Fund covers basic city services such as police protection, fire and rescue protection, the bus system, street maintenance, weekly solid waste pickup, all city park maintenance, city equipment, animal control, environmental health services, the legal department, risk management, and payroll and human resources

On May 16, 2022, the Albuquerque City Council approved the 2022-2023 city budget. The overall budget approved by the city council was for $1.4 Billion with $841.8 representing the general fund spending with an increase of $127 million, or 17.8%, over the 2021-2022 c budget of $1.2 Billion.

The link to city approved budgets is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/budget/annual-budget

SURVEY RESULTS ON THE “HOMELESS”

“The issue of homelessness continues to be a major challenge in Albuquerque as it is in many other cities. 70% feel the City is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness and a mere 9% of residents give City Government positive marks for addressing the homelessness issue. 20% give a mixed or neutral rating.

The percentage of residents who give the City positive scores for addressing homelessness had risen from 13% in 2019 to 29% in 2020 but it has now fallen by 20% and is 9% currently. Although there has been a lot of attention focused on homelessness in the news, few of Albuquerque residents say they are aware the city is the Gateway Center. The shelter will be a 24/7 shelter providing to women experiencing homelessness during the first phase of its operation.”

What is clear from the Citizen Perception Survey is that Albuquerque residents are dissatisfied with the Keller Administration’s response to the homelessness crisis despite the city’s huge financial commitment to dealing with the homeless. The survey confirms that residents feel Mayor Tim Keller and his administration are failing to deal with the homeless crisis.

70% of citizens survey respondents rate the city poorly for its performance in dealing with the homeless crisis. This includes 41% who gave city hall the lowest possible rating. Meanwhile, only 9% gave the city’s homelessness response a favorable review. In other words, 7 times more people rate the city poorly on the issue than offer a positive assessment. This is a dramatic change from 2020 when only 36% gave the city poor marks for how it was tackling homelessness, including just 22% who offered the worst rating, while 29% provided a positive assessment. There has been a dramatic 20% drop in how people feel the city is dealing with homeless from 29% in 2020 to 9% in 2022.

The 9% approval rating in the citizens survey on the homeless issue should be very alarming to Mayor Tim Keller and his administration. Since day one from becoming Mayor on December 1, 2018, Mayor Keller has made dealing with the homeless a major cornerstone of his administration so much so that he advocated the construction of a 24-7 homeless shelter. This ultimately resulted in the purchase of the massive 560,000 square foot Gibson Medical Center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, for $15 million. The facility is being renovated and it is anticipated to open in the winter of 2022 as a 24/7 shelter.

The 2021 adopted city budget for Family and Community Services Department provides for mental health contracts totaling $4,329,452, and substance abuse contracts for counseling contracts totaling $2,586,302 and emergency shelter contracts totaling $5,688,094, affordable housing and community contracts totaling $22,531,752, homeless support services contracts. Mayor Keller’s 2022-2023 approved budget significantly increases the Family and Community Services budget by $24,353,064 to assist the homeless or near homeless by going from $35,145,851 to $59,498,915.

The links to the adopted 2021-2022 and 2022-23 approved budgets are here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy22-approved-budget-numbered-w-hyperlinks-final.pdf

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy23-proposed-final-web-version.pdf

“ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT”

“Residents were asked to rate how strongly they either agree or disagree with several statements relating to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) using a 5-point scale where 5 is strongly agree and 1 is strongly disagree. [The results of the survey were]:

53% of residents agree APD is respectful in its treatment of citizens as indicated by a score of 4 or 5. This is up from 48% two years ago. That is down from 49% in 2019 and the lowest number for any survey going back to at least 2011. 20% strongly agreed compared to 15% who disagree, with a score of 1 or 2.

29% have neutral or mixed feelings about APD with a score of 3. 47% of residents agree APD reflects the values of the City’s residents, with 18% disagreeing and 30% have a neutral opinion of APD and 27% disagree.”

According to the citizen’ survey, 38% of residents agree APD is doing a good job of addressing public safety issues and making quick responses to emergencies, while 30% have a neutral opinion and 27% disagree.

A plurality, or 41%, of those surveyed said the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice-mandated reform effort within APD has had no impact, while 24% say it has been positive and 14% say it has been negative. There is no getting around it, even with the recent news that APD has improved in compliance levels with all of the reforms, APD still has a major image problem.

Over the last 7 years, the DOJ reforms have place great emphasis on implementing constitutional policing practices, increased training and crisis intervention and implemented community policing councils and a Citizens Police Oversight agency. Despite all the efforts made, an astonishing 41% of those feel the reforms have had no impact on APD.

The 38% of residents agreeing that APD is doing a good job with response times to emergencies is very low and should come as no surprise. There have been news investigative reports on APD’s response times for Priority 1 calls. Priority 1 calls include shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, sexual and aggravated assaults, domestic violence with weapons involved and home invasions. According to the data, the time it takes officers to get to a crime scene stayed relatively consistent between January 2018 to May 2021 and was roughly between 9 and 12 minutes. In 2020, it was reported that there was a 93% increase in APD response time over a 9-year period. In 2018, clearing a scene ranged from an hour to an hour and 12 minutes. Fast forward to 2021 and APD was averaging more than 2 hours to write reports, gather evidence and interview witnesses, a full hour longer than three years ago.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/abq-4ward-examining-apds-response-times/6204745/

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-response-times-continue-to-climb/31028667

3 Others Applying Or Expressing Interest In Replacing DA Raúl Torrez; AG-Elect Torrez Has “Checked Out” DA’s Office As ADA’s Engage In Prohibited Political Activity; Journal Editorial Downplays Need For Governor To Appoint Outsider District Attorney

Posted on November 28, 2022 by

On November 23, the Albuquerque Journal published a front page below the fold article entitled “Gov. urged to appoint deputy DA to office”. The article reported that group of 49 prosecuting attorneys in the Albuquerque based 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office signed and sent a letter requesting Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham to appoint 1 of 3 current Deputy District Attorneys to replace Raúl Torrez as District Attorney. The 49 attorneys who singed the letter are either Assistant District Attorneys, Trial Attorneys, Senior Trial Lawyers and one Deputy District Attorney. The attorneys are among 81 trial attorneys currently employed by the office with a total of 102 full time fully funded positions and 21 attorney positions vacant.

The 3 Deputy District Attorneys recommended in the November 18 letter to the Governor are Deputy DA John Duran, who oversees the DA’s Major Crimes Division, Deputy DA Diana Garcia who oversees the DA’s Juvenile Division and Deputy DA Josh Boone who oversees the Metropolitan Division. Duran and Garcia told the Journal they did not know about the letter until reading about it on the political website New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan. Duran said he is interested in the position while Garcia said she is considering applying. The Journal could not reach Josh Boone for comment.

The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office is budgeted for 337 full time positions. The office employs 102 attorneys, all who are at will, and 255 other “classified” employees who can only be terminated for cause under the state personnel rules and regulations. The classified employees consist of paralegals, administrative assistants, victim advocates, investigators, IT managers and personnel and finance division personnel. There are 276 that are “active” meaning filled. The office has an alarming 61 vacancies. The number of vacancies in the office is larger than most other District Attorney’s offices in the state.

NOVEMBER 23 JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Albuquerque Journal November 23 article reports in part:

“The letter of recommendation has come under attack by former Albuquerque City Councilor Pete Dinelli, who questioned its propriety on his blog. He also blamed Torrez for wanting to continue his influence over the office and contended the trial attorneys who signed the letter were engaging in prohibited political activities while on the job. … Dinelli, who was a chief deputy district attorney in the 1990s, has been a frequent critic of Torrez’s. In a recent blog post, Dinelli urged the governor to bring in an outsider to run the office. Moreover, Dinelli questioned whether personnel rules or regulations for state employees were violated. … Writing or signing letters of recommendation “is clearly prohibited ‘political activity’ while on duty,” he wrote. It wasn’t clear, though, where or when the letter was written or signed. … Dinelli wrote that Torrez needs to demand the letter be withdrawn immediately and demand an apology from the attorneys who signed it.”

Raúl Torrez, through the District Attorney Office spokeswoman, disavowed any knowledge of the letter. The DA spokeswoman said this:

“Attorney General-Elect Torrez is focused on the ongoing demands of leading the state’s largest prosecution office while simultaneously organizing a smooth transition into the Office of Attorney General. He was not involved in and had no knowledge of the letter submitted by prosecutors in the District Attorney’s Office regarding his possible replacement.”

Deputy DA Diana Garcia, who has been with the DA’s Office 16 years, when asked about the letter by the Journal said “I wasn’t a part of it at all.” Deputy DA Duran for his part dismissed Dinelli’s accusations as “far reaching” but said he is interested in being appointed but has not yet applied. Deputy DA Duran told the Journal:

“I’ve never seen the letter and no one asked me for permission to use my name.”

The Journal reported that Deputy District Attorney Josh Boone has developed and posted on the internet a website entitled “Joshua Boone for District Attorney” thereby making him an announced candidate to run in 2025. The website is a slick campaign web site for a candidate for office. The link to the Josh Boone for District Attorney web page is boonefornewmexico.com. The website has 3 major pages: a home page, a biographical page and platform page. All 3 pages have emblazoned at the top:

JOSHUA BOONE for District Attorney

Democrat for District Attorney

You can read full unedited and quoted Albuquerque Journal article here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2552322/gov-urged-to-appoint-deputy-da-to-office-ex-the-appointee-will-be-o.html

THREE OTHER ATTORNEYS APPLYING FOR OR EXPRESSING INTEREST IN APPOINTMENT

Confidential sources within the office and outside politcal observers have confirmed that in addition to Deputy DA John Duran, Deputy DA Diana Garcia and Deputy DA Josh Boone expressing an interest in applying for or who are running for the office, there are 3 other attorneys who have shown an interest in the Governor’s appointment with at least one application filed. Those attorneys are:

Sam Bregman, a former Democratic Party State Chairman. He is a respected trial attorney who manages his own private law firm. His has trial experience in both civil and criminal defense and he has handled high profile cases. He served as an Assistant Bernalillo County District Attorney from 1994 through 1997. Bregman was an elected Albuquerque City Council from 1995 until 1999 and has a served as Deputy State Auditor for the State of New Mexico. Bregman unsuccessfully ran for Commissioner of Public Lands and Mayor of Albuquerque. Sources have confirmed that Bregman is making a serious run for the Governor’s appointment and has been making calls to gauge his support within the defense bar and the Democratic party. A firm confirmation of a Bregman application has not been made.

Damon Martinez, a former United States Attorney for New Mexico. From 2000 to 2013, Martinez was an Assistant United State Attorney and in 2013 was appointed United States Attorney by President Barack Obama and unanimously confirmed in the United States Senate in 2014. Martinez led the US Attorney’s Office during the Department of Justice’s investigation and settlement agreement with the city of Albuquerque over the Albuquerque Police Department. On March 11, 2017 Martinez resigned as US Attorney and went into private practice. In 2018, Martinez was an unsuccessful candidate for the First Congressional District to replace Michelle Lujan Grisham. Martinez is currently an Albuquerque Deputy City Attorney who works on APD policy and legislative matters for the city and lobbies in Santa Fe during legislative sessions.

Private Attorney Ed Perea, a retired APD Police Commander. Perea became an attorney after 24 years of service as a police officer. Perea ran for District Attorney against Raúl Torrez in 2016. Perea has served as a Special Assistant Prosecutor in the 13th District. He’s also served as Executive Director of the Center for Law, Policy and Public Safety and has taught at CNM.

According to the Journal November 23 article, the Governor’s Office has set December 2 as the deadline for all applications. A spokeswoman for the governor said the office has received “a number of letters of interest” but the Journal did not report who those letters of interest are from nor did the Governor’s office tell the Journal who has actually applied.

Applications for the post are due by December 2. Application forms can be downloaded from the governor’s website at www.governor.state.nm.us. Applications may be submitted via email to donicia.herrera@state.nm.us. The application is 3 pages long, asks about work history in both civil and criminal practice, requires 3 to 5 recommendations and writing samples.

JOURNAL EDITORIAL

On Friday, November 25, the Albuquerque Journal published the following editorial with the disclaimer that it was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers:

HEADLINE: “Editorial: Next 2nd District DA must be proven leader”

BY ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL EDITORIAL BOARD
PUBLISHED: FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 25TH, 2022 AT 12:02AM

“Wanted: Proven crimefighter.”

That should be the sign in the window of the Governor’s Office for the largest and busiest district attorney’s office in the state.

Second District Attorney Raúl Torrez, whose district is Bernalillo County, will step down sometime before he’s sworn in on Jan. 1 as New Mexico’s new attorney general. His four-year term as DA ends Dec. 31, 2024, meaning a successor needs to be named to fill that position for two years.

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has the sole power to fill vacant DA positions. Senate confirmation isn’t needed. DAs are not subject to term limits and can therefore serve an unlimited time in office. The governor’s appointee will be only the third person to run the office in 22 years.

Applications are due Dec. 2. Minimum qualifications include a law degree from an accredited law school and seven years’ experience practicing law. That’s a pretty low bar for the top prosecutor in the state’s most populous and crime-ridden county.

Torrez, first elected DA in 2016 and again in 2020, had strong credentials as a DA candidate having been a former federal prosecutor and assistant New Mexico attorney general. And he inherited a mess, with 8,000 boxes of unlaunched felony case files lining hallways and rooms in the Steve Schiff Building when he took over the office in January 2017. It took a tremendous amount of work and leadership to clear that backlog; unfortunately, there is a new — albeit smaller — backlog due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

When Torrez took office, he increased grand jury capacity to draw down the felony case backlog, invested in technology to share crime data in real time, advocated to strengthen pretrial release rules to detain more serious violent offenders, and worked to mitigate secondary trauma on sexual assault and child abuse victims by aligning criminal procedure with national standards.

That record helped get him elected attorney general.

A group of 49 trial attorneys in the 2nd District DA’s Office said in a letter to the governor last week the next DA will face a “herculean job” of managing over a thousand cases set for trial in the first half of 2023. In their Nov. 18 letter, the trial attorneys say the job should go to someone who can immediately pick up where Torrez left off for the “safety and welfare of our community,” while suggesting three current deputy prosecutors in the office to replace Torrez.

The governor has a big decision to make. Whether the next DA should be from within or outside the office is debatable. The bottom line is the next DA needs strong prosecutorial and case management experience, a passion for fighting crime and an ability to work well with lawmakers.

Working with lawmakers is key to moving the criminal justice system forward.

There are currently 84 trial attorneys in the 2nd District DA’s Office, and that’s proven not to be enough. The office launches between 7,000 and 9,700 adult felony prosecutions per year. Our DAs and public defenders both need more state funding. It’s imperative for the state’s largest DA’s Office to clear its backlogs because crime victims and suspects deserve swift justice.

Politics should absolutely not play a role. The job should go to the most qualified candidate, not the most connected, because Bernalillo County must have a proven crimefighter to succeed Torrez.

The link to the editorial is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2552678/new-da.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

What Raúl Torrez said through the District Attorney Office spokeswoman disavowing any knowledge of the letter to the Governor merits repeating:

It is painfully obvious from the statement issued that District Attorney and Attorney General Elect Raúl Torrez has already “checked out” of the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office as he continues to be paid his District Attorney’s salary. Ostensibly, Torrez declined to be interviewed by the Journal but instead issued the statement. If Torres is in fact “focused on the ongoing demands of leading [the DA’s office] ” as the statement says, then why did he have “no knowledge of the letter submitted by prosecutors”. Confidential sources within the office have said Torrez was fully aware of the letter but chose not to do anything about it thinking it was no big deal.

For the sake of argument, even if Torrez was not aware of the letter at the time it is was circulated, he is aware of it now. The Journal failed to asked him personally about the letter and failed to asked if he intended to do anything or why he has not done anything about it.

Torrez has 49 attorneys within his office using their titles promoting their own political agenda to the Governor to select one of thier 3 supervisors. The Journal made no mention if it contacted the attorneys who did not sign the letter or refused to sign the letter and did not to mention the other 255 other “classified” employees within the office. The letter is a dream come true for any private attorney who practices employment law who may be approached by others in the office who want to argue they have been retaliated against for failure to sign the letter.

VIOLATIONS OF DISTRICY ATTORNEY PERSONNEL & COMPENSATION PLAN

All State prosecutors must be above politcal influence and approach. For the 49 attorneys to exert themselves in the politcal process and attempt to sway Governor Lujan Grisham as to who she should appoint and have a say as to who should be their next boss, is a clear conflict of interest. It’s an abuse of their titles and authority creating an appearance of impropriety. The conduct is unacceptable and should be condemned in no uncertain terms by the elected District Attorney.

Politcal blogger Joe Monahan never disclosed how he got ahold of the letter or if it was leaked to him by someone within the office so he could write about it. The prosecutors within the office all complain how busy they are with their caseloads but the Deputies appear to have enough time to read and gossip about what is in a politcal gossip blog.

It is not all likely given the “office gossip” reputation the agency has that any one of the 3 Deputies recommended did not know that the letter was being circulated on their behalf. It is believed by many within the office that all 3 of the Deputy District Attorneys were aware the letter and that it was being circulated with at least one Deputy condoning it. If they did know, and they condoned it, they failed to excercise their supervisory authority to stop its circulation. Ignorance on their part of the “District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan” and its prohibition on political activities should be grounds for disqualification for the appointment

It’s damn laughable that Deputy District Attorney John Duran would say of the accusation that there is a violation of the personnel rules and regulation was “far reaching” . He admits he is interested in being appointed but has not yet applied. Deputy DA Duran told the Journal:

“I’ve never seen the letter and no one asked me for permission to use my name.”

Really? Confidential sources within the office have said it was Deputy District Attorney John Duran who was circulating the letter asking for signatures. Ostensibly, the Journal did not make any effort to ask those within the office who signed the letter who asked them to sign it to give the 3 their support.

The letter of recommendation violates a number of the Administrative Office of the District Attorneys Personnel and Compensation Plan provisions that applies to all at will attorneys within the offices. The link to review the District Attorneys Personnel and Compensation Plan is here:

Click to access 082020_DA_Pers_Plan.pdf

The violations are as follows:

All the attorneys are “AT WILL” employees, who serve at the pleasure of the District Attorney and can be terminated without cause. As such they have given up a degree of their first amendment rights of “free speech” while at work. As “at will employees,” they are strictly prohibited from engaging in political activities while on duty. Writing and/or signing letters of recommendation to the Governor to recommend who should be appointed District Attorney is clearly prohibited “politcal activity” while on duty. (Section 9.2 “AT WILL” EMPLOYEES, District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan”.)

Use of District Attorney titles is use of official authority for the purpose of interfering with or to affect the result of the selection or a nomination for office of a person is prohibited activity. (Prohibited activity, Section 17.2.3 “District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan”.)

If District Attorney office letter head, fax machines or District Attorney office postage was used to send the letter to Governor Lujan Grisham it would be “using office supplies, equipment or facilities in connection with political activities” (Prohibited activity, Section 17.2.4, District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan.)

If any attorney who was a supervisor of another attorney solicited signatures on the letter, that would be “directly or indirectly coercing, attempting to coerce, commanding or ordering any employee to … contribute anything of value (in this case a recommendation to the Governor) to a party, committee, organization or person for a political purpose” which would be for the appointment of District Attorney. ” (Prohibited activity, 17.2.5 District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan.)

Deputy District Attorneys John Duran and Diana Garcia mentioned in the letter both told the Journal they are interested in applying for the job. Deputy District Attorney Josh Boone is an announce candidate with his web page. All 3 can seek the job so long as it does not interfere with the function of the office and the District Attorney, otherwise, they must resign to seek such public office. The circulation of the letter for signatures of support was interfering with the functions of the office.

State law is also clear that full time state employees cannot run for any state office and must resign once they become announce candidate. (NMSA 10-9-21, 1978) In order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, all 3 Deputies should take a leave of absence if in fact they have applied until the Governor makes the final appointment.

TORREZ HAS ABANDONED POST AS DISTRICT ATTORNEY

Confidential sources within the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office have said that Torrez has not been seen in the office since election day. It is painfully obvious that Torrez has at a minimum abandoned his post as District Attorney as he organizes “ a smooth transition into the Office of Attorney General” when he says through his spokesperson he has “no knowledge of the letter submitted by prosecutors.”

Torrez has allowed his appointed prosecutors to run amok and engage in prohibited political activities and practices that are in violation of the Office of District Attorney’s Personnel Rules And Regulations prohibiting politcal activity on duty. They are attempting to influence the Governor as to who she should appoint to replace him. Hell, Deputy District Attorney Josh Boone has even set up a slick campaign webs site proclaiming he is Democrat running for District Attorney.

ALUQUERQUE JOURNAL EDITORIAL IGNORED TORREZ RECORD OF FAILURE

The Albuquerque Journal editorial should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone for its failure to call out Raúl Torrez for not doing anything about the letter sent by his appointed prosecutors. For 6 years, the paper has promoted his every move on its front pages. The editorial simply ignores how the District Attorney office has become politicized under Torrez. The letter is proof of just how politcal posturing and politcal considerations in the office have become systemic.

The Journal editorial embellished the Torrez record of accomplishments proclaiming those accomplishments are what got him elected Attorney General. The Journal editors totally ignore the smear campaigns Torrez ran against his opponents Democrat State Auditor Brian Colon and Republican Jeremy Gay as he proclaimed only he, as a career prosecutor, could be Attorney General.

The Journal overlooked Raúl Torrez’ s many shortcomings during his time in office and as he ran for Attorney General. Those shortcomings include Federal Judge Christina Armijo and State District Judge Charlie Brown admonishing him for his misconduct. Federal Judge Armijo admonished Torrez in a court order when he was an Assistant Unites States Attorney for altering a transcript in a drug case he was prosecuting. The court said he intentionally mislead her and the defense counsel. State District Judge Charlie Brown admonished DA Torrez for his out of court statements in a pending murder case. It was surprising that neither judge did not sanction Torrez nor refer Torrez to the state bar for disciplinary action.

TORREZ FAILURE TO WORK WITH CRIMINAL JUSTICE STAKEHOLDERS

The Journal editorial sentence “Working with lawmakers is key to moving the criminal justice system forward [and the] ability to work well with lawmakers” is a reflection that the Journal editors do not fully understand the District Attorney’ s office nor how it needs to function nor what Torrez has done. Lawmakers are the very last who any District Attorney needs to be able to work with. All District Attorneys are critical to making our criminal justice system work. They need to be able to work with the courts at all levels (Metro Court, State District Court, Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court.) They need to work with the State Public Defenders office, private defense attorneys, and municipal, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

DA Raúl Torrez’ is well known for his constant public disparagement of judges and orders despite ethics rules that prohibit such conduct and comments. Torrez has blamed judges for high crime rates. He has had very public disputes with New Mexico Supreme Court over the case management rule mandating expediting criminal prosecutions and evidence disclosures.

Torrez has refused to cooperate and has done his best to interfere with the Second Judicial Courts move to “preliminary hearings” which are a proven best practice. The overwhelming majority of DA offices in the state rely on preliminary hearings instead of grand juries. Torrez has accused defense attorneys of “gaming the system” to keep his office from getting convictions and forcing trials accusing defense attorneys of not recommending to their defendant clients to take plea agreements.

The Journal Editorial proclaims that we need a District Attorney that has the “ability to work well with lawmakers” yet that has not been the case with Torrez. For the last 2 years, Raúl Torrez has advocated a change in law that would create a “rebuttable presumption” that a defendant is a threat to the public when charged with a violent crime. Torrez claims that defendants accused of violent crimes should be jailed until pending trial without bond or conditions of release.

In 2022, the New Mexico legislature rejected the change in the law. In March of this year, the Legislative Finance Committee released their analysis that conviction rates inside the Bernalillo County District Attorney office had fallen to 59% and that showed why rebuttable presumption would not improve Albuquerque’s crime crisis. In response, Torrez accused the legislature of using erroneous data and said the legislature and the judiciary were making changes to the criminal justice system that were detrimental to public policy and public safety.

https://www.kob.com/archive/district-attorney-responds-to-lfc-report-on-rebuttable-presumption/

Reputable presumption of being violent is an affront to our constitutional right of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. When the legislature rejected rebuttable presumption, Torrez became openly hostile to the legislature condemning the legislature as a failure and alleging the legislature was contributing to the “revolving door” of releasing violent criminals.

DA’S OFFICE FAILURE TO PROSECUTE

A District Court study in 2018 presented to the New Mexico Supreme Court revealed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raúl Torrez has a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate. For the full 6 years Torrez has been District Attorney, Torrez has proclaimed that our criminal justice system is broken, yet he has refused to take any responsibility for his offices failure to prosecute serious violent crime cases authorizing prosecutors to dismiss cases. The data presented to the Supreme Court showed in part how overcharging and a failure to screen cases by the Bernalillo County District Attorneys Office was contributing to the high mistrial and acquittal rates.

PERSONNEL MISMANGEMENT

The Journal editorial totally ignored the office mismanagement by Raúl Torrez. There are currently 61 vacancies withing the DA’s office, which includes 21 attorney vacancies. Attorney vacancies has been a chronic problem the entire 6 years Raul Torrez has been District Attorney. He has never had a fully staffed office of attorneys during his tenure. The sure volume of vacancies is a sign of mismanagement of the office. This coming from a DA that constantly complained to the New Mexico legislature that he needed more funding and was short staff. The truth is Torrez could not attract attorneys to go to work for him given his reputation of politicizing the office.

Throughout his 6 years as District Attorney, Raul Torrez has never once been the lead prosecutor in a criminal trial. His predecessors District Attorneys Kari Brandenburg, Jeff Romero, Bob Schwartz and Steve Schiff were all known to go to court and actively being involved with prosecuting cases. The Journal editorial brought into the “red herring” argument that the office is faced with a “herculean job of managing over a thousand cases set for trial in the first half of 2023.” It’s the 81-trial attorney’s already on the job, with 21 vacancies that should be filled, that will by trying those cases. The blunt truth is those thousands of cases are on trailing dockets and many will likely go away. It’s highly likely 95% of those cases will be plead out, voluntarily dismissed by the District Attorney’s Office or motions and agreements to vacate filed. There will be very few trials.

It was very disappointing that the Journal editors made absolutely “no comment” on the propriety of the 49 prosecutor’s attempting to influence the Governor. The letter reflects just how politics has infected the office. Politics within the office is systemic because Torrez allowed it to be. Failure to condemn the conduct is condoning the unethical conduct and condoning prosecutors to be involved with promoting their own politcal agendas.

It also disappointing that the Journal editors wrote “Whether the next DA should be from within or outside the office is debatable.” Selecting any one of the 3 Deputies, or someone else from within the office, means a continuation of the Torrez policies and defending his failed legacy. The office needs a complete overhaul that only outside new leadership can bring to the office.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham should order the release of the names of all applicants and allow the general public to make comment before she commences the selection process, interviews and makes a final decision.

There are only 3 sentences in the Journal Editorial that make any real sense and that people should be able to agree with:

“The governor has a big decision to make. … The bottom line is the next DA needs strong prosecutorial and case management experience, a passion for fighting crime and an ability to work well [with others] … Politics should absolutely not play a role. The job should go to the most qualified candidate, not the most connected, because Bernalillo County must have a proven crimefighter … . “

__________________________

POSTSCRIPT

Following is the full, unedited letter sent to Governor Lujan Grisham by the 49 attorneys within the office:

November 18, 2022

Dear Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham,

Those of us signing this letter are line attorneys from various divisions within the Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office. We all want to do everything in our power to keep Bernalillo County safe, and we need a leader who will enable us to do exactly that. In light of Raul Torrez’s recent election as the Attorney General for the State of New Mexico, we are respectfully writing you to request that Joshua Boone, John Duran, or Diana Garcia be appointed as the next District Attorney of the Second Judicial District.

As you are well aware, Raul was a career prosecutor before becoming the District Attorney for the Second Judicial District, and worked as a prosecutor for the Thirteenth Judicial District, the New Mexico Attorney General, and as an Assistant United States Attorney. Under his leadership, our office cleared out an extensive back log of cases that had been neglected by the previous administration, and was modernized so we could focus our attention on the criminals causing the most harm in our community. Now, we are facing a backlog of cases that accumulated under the delays caused by the pandemic.

In the first half of 2023 alone, the next District Attorney will have to deal with over a thousand cases that have been set for trial in the District Court. It will be imperative to the success of this office, and therefore the safety and welfare of our community, to have a District Attorney that can hit the ground running, that already understands how this office has been run and the systems that are already in place. We will need a District Attorney who is already familiar with the challenges our district faces, from the complexities of the timelines mandated by LR2-308 (that has only recently gone back into effect with recently introduced nuances to account for COVID) to the multiple software platforms and legal agreements needed just to send and receive discovery from multiple law enforcement agencies (Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’, s, New Mexico State Police, Isleta Police Department, Laguna Police Department, etc.) The days of showing up to court with paper files are over, our office has been technologically integrated directly with law enforcement. We have new systems (such as Case catcher) that have already been funded and developed that are just now being deployed and are already understood by our current managers. The herculean job of the next District Attorney will require someone who already has considerable, and recent experience managing the people of this office specifically.

As our caseloads continue to skyrocket and we struggle to fight the crime of the past and present simultaneously, we are asking for a leader who knows what we are up against, because they have been in the same position themselves. We are asking for someone who already knows the strengths and weaknesses of the individual employees, and already has a team in place that can immediately continue where DA Torrez left off. We believe that leader is already in our office. If we stumble and have to start over again with someone who has no experience running this office, the community is the one who will pay the price.

Sincerely,

Assistant District Attorneys of the Second Judicial District

The link to review the letter is here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/609067682/Letter-to-the-Governor-Final

Council Enacts “Pedestrian Median Ordinance” On 7-2 Vote; “Activist” City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn Gives A Self Centered, “Flaky” Excuse To Vote “NO” Ignoring Public Safety Issue

Posted on November 25, 2022 by

On November 21, the Albuquerque City Council enacted a new and improved “pedestrian safety ordinance” on a 7 to 2 vote. The city council action amends a city ordinance that severely restricted panhandling and that was ruled by a federal court and a court of appeals as unconstitutional.

The new ordinance specifically bars individuals from standing in or entering street and highway travel lanes unless they are “legally crossing.” It also prohibits using or occupying medians on 30 mph or faster roads where there is not a flat surface of at least 4 feet wide having no greater than 8% grade. A city council legislative analysis determined that the ordinance will affect just over 17% of the linear feet of higher-speed arterial roadway medians across Albuquerque. Nonetheless, these are the medians on roadways with the highest traffic flows and highly visible to the driving public. In other words 83% of medians in the city will be available for constitutionally protected free speech activities.

Under the new ordinance, if pedestrians are on a median that doesn’t meet the bill’s requirements, a $100 citation will be issued. APD and the Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS) will be authorized to give warnings, or are a person can be criminally charged with a misdemeanor and fined a $100.

The updated ordinance removes the unconstitutional provisions of the original ordinance, including the part banning exchanges between drivers and pedestrians, and loosens up where pedestrians can be on sidewalks.

The link to a quoted news article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2552022/city-council-oks-revised-median-restrictions.html

PREVIOUS ORDINANCE RECALLED

It was in 2017 that Albuquerque City Councilor Trudy Jones sponsored the original “Pedestrian Safety Ordinance” that was enacted unanimously by the city council. The 2017 Pedestrian Safety Ordinance was very restrictive as to make it “unconstitutional” making it illegal to occupy certain medians and stand on highway entrance and exit ramps. It also barred “any physical interaction or exchange” between pedestrians and vehicle occupants while the vehicle was in a travel lane.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a federal civil rights lawsuit challenging the original city ordinance after repeated warnings were made to the city council. The ACLU represented multiple plaintiffs including a woman who is homeless and routinely used the medians to ask for donations as well as individuals who distributed donations from their vehicles.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack in Albuquerque ruled in 2019 that the ordinance violated free speech protections because it was “not narrowly tailored to meet the City’s interest in reducing pedestrian-vehicle conflicts.” The city appealed the ruling and in 2021 the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Judge Brack’s ruling. The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in its ruling wrote:

“[The city was] unable to establish that the ordinance does not burden substantially more speech than necessary to further its interest in pedestrian safety … [and] has almost completely failed to even consider alternative measures that restrict or burden the speech at issue less severely than does the ordinance.”

City Attorney Lauren Keefe said the amended ordinance was written to address the specific concerns raised by the U.S. Court of Appeals. Keefe told the city council:

“The biggest concern from the court was whether the ordinance as drafted burdened more speech than necessary, meaning it took away more places people could stand and engage in expressive conduct than necessary in order to ensure people remain safe.”

Voting YES to enact the ordinance were Democrats Isaac Benton, Pat Davis, and Louie Sanchez and Republicans Renee Grout, Trudy Jones, Dan Lewis. Voting NO were Democrats Klarissa Peña and Tammy Fiebelkorn.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

CURING A DEFECTIVE ORDINANCE

The biggest problem with the original ordinance sponsored by Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones is that it was obviously directed at the homeless or panhandlers and also at drivers stopping to pass items such as food, money or anything a driver wanted to give as a handout to help make a beggar’s or a homeless person’s life a little less miserable. It came across as downright cruel and lacking any compassion interfering with people simply wanting to help with a handout.

In 2017, the city council was repeatedly warned about the language of the original ordinance by the ACLU and the City Council simply ignored what it was being told and that the original ordinance was unconstitutional. What was truly amazing is the poor advice the City Council was likely given in 2017 by the City Attorney’s Office and the fact that the City Attorney office appealed the original ruling.

From review of the new language and with the deletions of the unconstitutional language, the new version of the ordinance has a much better chance of being upheld as constitutional or even going unchallenged in federal court. Now that the ordinance has been enacted, the Mayor should sign it into law quickly and the city should dedicate resources and proceed to enforce it.

FIEBELCORN GIVES FLAKY JUSTIFICATION TO VOTE NO

Klarissa Peña in casting a NO vote raised concerns about enforcement saying that the city already lacks enough personnel to focus on other ordinances. Peña’s concern are legitimate.

Tammy Fiebelkorn on the other hand gave a downright “flaky” personal excuse for voting “NO” saying the ordinance’s purpose seemed “trivial” and said this:

“I’ve been an activist for 44 years. … When I’m protesting something or holding up a political sign, it matters where you are. I don’t want to have a political sign three blocks from where I wanted to have it.”

The link to the quoted news article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2552022/city-council-oks-revised-median-restrictions.html

Street “right of ways” are for safe driving and not for protesting of for that matter the unhoused. There is nothing “trivial” about the ordinance as Fiebelkorn claims. It’s bad enough Albuquerque divers have to keep close attention to traffic signals and signs and avoid collisions and even the risk of hitting pedestrians. The last thing drivers need to worry about are protesters who get up in your face, the likes of activists such as Tammy Fiebelkorn, and the “unhoused” who stick what many feel are obnoxious signs in front of their windshields and faces obstructing their views increasing the risk of accidents.

THE LEADING “FLAKE” ON THE CITY COUNCIL ADVOCATING FOR HER OWN POLITICAL AGENDA

Fiebelkorn has become the leading “flake” on the city council with some of her actions and comments. This includes her over the top complaints and demand for an investigation about chickens, roosters and sheep not being properly fed and watered at the City’s Biopark Heritage Farm facilities. At the time, Fielbelkorn said the animal’s conditions were so bad, she wanted the city to consider sending them to a “sanctuary” and said this:

“I am requesting officially that these animals be seen by an actual veterinarian, clearly not the veterinarians who are caring for them now. I would like an independent survey of if they are okay, I would like to be present at that visit, and I would like to discuss a plan to release these animals to sanctuaries because they are clearly not getting the care they need.”

It turns out that all the animals were in fact under veterinarian’s care, they were receiving care, antibiotics, topical ointments and high calcium diets according to Brandon Gibson, Biopark Deputy Director.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-city-councilor-claims-animals-are-being-neglected-at-biopark/

On November 18, Fiebelkorn sent out a Thanksgiving email best wishes to her constituents that said in part:

“I hope you are all making plans to spend next week with family, friends, or chosen family members. My partner, Paul, and I are heading to meet our dear friends, Mike and Dan, for our annual Thanksgiving celebration. We have a wonderful celebration with a extravagant vegan feast and some much-needed “down time”. I encourage everyone to consider making your Thanksgiving celebration cruelty-free this year.”

No doubt Fiebelkorn believes if you enjoyed a turkey, ham or prime rib roast with your family and friends during Thanksgiving this year, you and your family are cruel people and only a vegan feast was acceptable to her.

Then there is that matter that after a mere 6 months of service on the city council, Fiebelkorn wanted to completely gut her own city council district and gerrymander and realign it to be more favorable to her with more progressive Democrats. On June 4 it was reported that City Councilors Pat Davis and Tammy Fiebelkorn submitted to the City’s citizen-led City Council redistricting committee a map they came up with by themselves. The proposed map dramatically realigned both City Council District 6, represented by Pat Davis, and City Council District 7, represented by Tammy Fiebelkorn. The map was the most radical of all the 10 maps reviewed.

https://www.cabq.gov/council/documents/cabq_citizen_map_4_maps_table

City Councilor Fiebelkorn said of the concept map she wanted adopted would be give the International District’s “large, culturally significant population” a more united voice on the council. She said she thought the International District residents may have “more in common” with residents just north of Lomas than with the current district that includes Nob Hill, which she called a “completely different demographic.” It was the progressive Nob Hill area that Fiebelkorn wanted to be included in her newly aligned district and to exclude a Republican leaning area of her district. City Councilor Fiebelkorn had this to say:

“One of the baselines of redistricting is that we find ways to make marginalized communities have a voice. This is just an idea. I want to hear what the folks who have been living and breathing this the last several months think in terms of these various options and what would be the best to make sure everybody is represented in a fair and equitable way.”

City Councilor Pat Davis for his part had this to say about the proposed concept map:

“I think we should have some different voices on the City Council. … If you look at it now, the entire east side of the city is represented by white folks, and I think that shows the current districting is leaving some people out of the process.”

The problem is Fiebelkorn does not represent the International District and she did not want it to be included in her new district. She knows very little about the International District in that she is not a part of any marginalized community nor is she a person of color but she is a strong animal rights advocate, yet she felt compelled to advocate for the International District. Fiebelkorn and Davis are both one of those “white folks” Pat Davis complained about.

No one should be surprised if “activist” City Councilor Tammy Fielbelkorn steps down from the City Council dias and gets out her poster boards, crayons and magic markers and produces a “protest sign” over the new ordinance and goes standing and waiving it at the intersection of Montgomery and San Mateo, the busiest intersection in the State of New Mexico, which also falls partially in her city council district, to protest the City Council’s enactment of the ordinance.

49 Bern Co Assistant DAs Violate Personnel Rules And Regulations Engaging In Politcal Activity On Duty To Influence Governor; Governor Needs To Appoint Outsider To Replace Raul Torrez As District Attorney

Posted on November 22, 2022 by

On November 8, Democrat Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez was elected Attorney General of the State of New Mexico defeating Republican Jeremy Gay. Torrez was elected with 55% (381,339 votes) of the vote to Gay’s 45% (310,486 votes.) Torrez was first elected DA in 2016 in a contested race and then elected to a second 4-year term unopposed in 2020. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham will appoint his successor to serve the remaining 2 years of his term and that person will have to run in 2024 if they decide to do so.

On November 16, it was reported that Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office is accepting applications to fill the vacancy that will be created when Raúl Torrez is sworn in January 1 as the state’s next attorney general. According to Nora Myers Sackett, the governor’s press secretary, Lujan Grisham plans to appoint a replacement to fill out the remainder of Torrez’s term, which expires on January 1, 2024. Applications for the post are due by December 2. Application forms can be downloaded from the governor’s website at www.governor.state.nm.us. Applications may be submitted via email to donicia.herrera@state.nm.us.

Links to news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/apply-now-governor-seeks-bernalillo-county-da-candidates-ahead-of-torrezs-departure/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2551258/governor-accepting-applications-for-bernalillo-county-da.html

ASSISTANT DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S SEND LETTER OF RECOMMENDATION

On November 18, a letter signed by 49 Assistant District Attorneys, Trial Attorneys, Senior Trial Lawyers and a Deputy District Attorney was sent to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham asking her to appoint either Deputy District Attorney Diana Garcia, Deputy District Attorney Joshua Boone or Deputy District Attorney and former Metropolitan Court Judge John Duran as the Next Bernalillo County District Attorney. There are a total of 102 full time fully funded attorney positions within the office. Currently, 81 attorney positions are filled and 21 attorney positions are vacant and have been vacant since the July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year.

Following is the full, unedited letter sent to Governor Lujan Grisham by the 49 attorneys:

November 18, 2022

Dear Governor Michelle Lujan-Grisham,

In the first half of 2023 alone, the next District Attorney will have to deal with over a thousand cases that have been set for trial in the District Court. It will be imperative to the success of this office, and therefore the safety and welfare of our community, to have a District Attorney that can hit the ground running, that already understands how this office has been run and the systems that are already in place. We will need a District Attorney who is already familiar with the challenges our district faces, from the complexities of the timelines mandated by LR2-308 (that has only recently gone back into effect with recently introduced nuances to account for COVID) to the multiple software platforms and legal agreements needed just to send and receive discovery from multiple law enforcement agencies (Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’, s, New Mexico State Police, Isleta Police Department, Laguna Police Department, etc.) The days of showing up to court with paper files are over, our office has been technologically integrated directly with law enforcement. We have new systems (such as Case catcher) that have already been funded and developed that are just now being deployed and are already understood by our current managers. The herculean job of the next District Attorney will require someone who already has considerable, and recent experience managing the people of this office specifically.

Sincerely,

Assistant District Attorneys of the Second Judicial District

The link to review the letter is here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/609067682/Letter-to-the-Governor-Final

ANALYSIS OF THE LETTER

The letter contains the signatures of 42 of the attorneys and 7 who electronically signed the letter. The signatures of those who signed the letter included 10 Assistant District Attorneys, 6 Assistant Trial Attorneys, 13 Trial Attorneys, and 12 Senior Trial Attorneys. The signatures of those attorneys who were unable to sign the letter in person and who electronically signed the letter include 1 Deputy District Attorney, 1 Assistant Trial Attorney, 2 Trial Attorneys and 3 Senior Trial Attorneys.

BERNALILLO COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY’S OFFICE

As of November 21,2022, according to the New Mexico State Government Sunshine Portal, the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office has a $30,350,800 million operating budget with an adjusted operating budget of $36,680,800 which includes all sources of financing including federal grants.

The office is budgeted for 337 full time positions. The office employs 102 attorneys (81 filled, 21 vacant) who are “at will” and 255 other “classified” employees consisting of paralegals, administrative assistants, victim advocates, investigators, IT managers and personnel and finance division personnel who can only be terminated for cause under the state personnel rules and regulations. 276 of the positions are considered “active” meaning filled, and with the office having an alarming 61 vacancies. The number of vacancies in the office is larger than most other District Attorney’s offices in the state.

All attorneys within the office are “at will” and serve at the pleasure of the District Attorney and can be terminated without cause. The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s has the following attorney positions filled:

1 elected District Attorney paid $92,137

3 Chief Deputy District Attorneys, each paid $116,916 a year

29 Deputy District Attorneys, each paid $105,809 a year

25 Senior Trial Attorneys, each paid $81,923 a year

14 Trial Attorneys, each paid $69,347 a year

9 Assistant Trial Attorneys, each paid $67,891.210 a year

TOTAL FULL TIME ATTORNEYS CURRENLTY EMPLOYED: 81

There are an additional 21 “at will” attorney positions that are vacant with a resulting total of 102 full time fully funded attorney positions within the office.

According to the New Mexico State Government Sunshine Portal, there are 61 vacant a position within the DA’s Office of which 21 of those vacant positions are “at will” attorney positions. The 21 vacant attorney positions are:

1 Chief Deputy District Attorney position paying $116,916 a year

EDITORS NOTE: Chief Deputy District Attorney Chuck Barth passed away January 6, 2021, and DA Torrez has yet to fill the position.

3 Senior Trial Attorney positions paying $95,763 a year
3 Trial Attorney position paying $86,673 a year.
8 Trial Attorney positions paying $75,004 a year
6 Assistant Trial Attorney positions paying $67,891 a year

All remaining potions within the Bernalillo County District Attorney office are “classified” employees for a total of 255 classified positions with 121 at will attorney positions.

In addition to the vacant attorney positions, there are 23 vacant classified positions. Noteworthy positions fully funded with annual salaries but vacant are as follows:

1 Victim-Witness Administrator, $82,402

IT Application Developer: $74,682

Program Administrator: $74,672

3 Prosecution Specialists: $56,680

2 Program Specialists: $56,680

1 Senior Legal Assistant: $51,272

1 Prosecution Assistant: $42,016

1 Legal Assistant: $42,016

The link to the New Mexico State Government Portal to review all filled positions with names and salaries paid and all vacant positions is here:

https://ssp3.sunshineportalnm.com/#employees

Editor’s Note: On the above link, first click on “Judicial” branch and then click on “District Attorney, Second District” and a listing of all potions, filled and unfilled, with names and salaries paid are provided.

ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICE OF THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS

The Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA) was created in 1984. It is a state agency created to support and promote the work of all of New Mexico’s District Attorneys, including but not limited to support, training, and personnel rules and regulations. All elected District Attorney and their offices are required to be members of the agency and the office provides basic support services to all District Attorneys’ Offices statewide including personnel administration and enactment of personnel rules and regulations that apply to all District Attorney Offices in the State.

https://www.nmdas.com/

The Administrative Office of the District Attorneys has adopted a “District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan” that outlines specific personnel rules and regulations that apply to virtually all attorneys that are appointed by any District Attorney to work as state appointed prosecutors. The personnel rules and regulations has provisions governing “at will employment” of attorneys and rules governing “political activities” and “prohibitions of conduct.” The link to review “THE NEW MEXICO DISTRICT ATTORNEYS’ PERSONNEL & COMPENSATION PLAN” is here:

Click to access 082020_DA_Pers_Plan.pdf

Following are the sections of the New Mexico District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation plan that governs “At Will” Employment, permitted “Political Activities”, “Prohibited Activities” and the holding of “Public Office” by attorneys within all District Attorney offices in the state:

9.2 “AT WILL” EMPLOYEES

“ 9.2.1 The positions of attorney … are “at will” positions that serve at the pleasure of the District Attorney.

9.2.2 Such “at will” employees shall have no property interest in the continued position, shall not obtain covered position status and may be dismissed with or without cause.

9.2.3 Upon acceptance of an “at will” position, a previously covered employee retains no protection afforded under this plan due to previous status in a covered position.”

EDITOR’S NOTE: Attorneys employed in the public sector including the offices of Attorney General, all City Attorney’s Offices, all County Attorney Offices, all District Attorney’s Offices, the Public Defender’s Office and the Governor’s Office and Cabinet Secretary’s Offices have always been all “at will”, and such is the case in the private sector. The justification for making attorneys at will is that they are a licensed professionals that require attorney client relationships and confidentiality and there is a need to terminate when such relationships cannot be sustained or when confidence in the attorney’s job performance is lost by the client and the the employer. It was in 1997 that the attorney’s employed by the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s attempted to unionized proclaiming they had vested property rights to the “at will” jobs they held and the attempt was successfully thwarted by then District Attorney Jeff Romero.

… .

POLITICAL ACTIVITIES

“17.1 Employees may engage in the following activities as long as it is while they are on approved leave or not on duty:

17.1.1 serve as convention delegates;

17.1.2 attend political rallies;

17.1.3 sign nominating petitions and make voluntary contributions to political organizations; and

17.1.4 serve as election officials or officers in political organization(s).

17.2 EMPLOYEES ARE PROHIBITED FROM:

“17.2.1 Engaging in political activity while on duty;

17.2.2 Distributing or displaying campaign materials (including buttons) and soliciting contributions for a political candidate or party while on duty;

17.2.3 Using official authority for the purpose of interfering with or affecting the result of an election or a nomination for office or for any other political purpose;

17.2.4 Using office supplies, equipment or facilities in connection with any political activities;

17.2.5 Directly or indirectly coercing, attempting to coerce, commanding or ordering any employee to pay, lend or contribute anything of value to a party, committee, organization or person for a political purpose; and

17.2.6 Threatening to deny promotions to any employee who does not vote for certain candidates or requiring employees to contribute a percentage of their pay to a political fund or ordering employees to buy tickets to political fund- raising events.

15 [10.4.1.16NMAC-N, 6/30/2010; Amending and moving to here former sections

10.4.11.8 and .9 NMAC-RpNMDAA91-1.12.0l, Repealed 6/30/2010”

PUBLIC OFFICE

18.1 Employees shall not hold any other public office during the employee’s duty hours in the service.

An employee may accept appointment to a state or local board or commission provided such participation does not create a conflict of interest, is consistent with existing statutes and court rules and does not interfere with an employee’s assigned duties.”

18.2 An employee may seek a full-time public office if the employee’s absence does not interfere with the function of the office and the District Attorney authorizes such absence. Otherwise, the employee shall resign to seek such public office.

18.3 The act of filing nomination papers or, where appropriate, the payment of a filing fee or the accepting of the nomination shall constitute the seeking of public office.

18.4 Being a local school board member or an elected or appointed member of any postsecondary educational institution shall not be construed to be holding political office.

NEW MEXICO LAW PROHIBITING STATE EMPLOYEES FROM HOLDING STATE POLITCAL OFFICE

10-9-21. Prohibited acts.

… .
No person in … employee in [state] service shall hold political office except for a non-partisan county or municipal office or be an officer of a political organization during his employment. … .
Any employee who becomes a candidate for public office shall, upon filing or accepting the nomination and during the campaign, take a leave of absence. This subsection does not apply to those employees of a grant-in-aid agency whose political activities are governed by federal statute.

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2020/chapter-10/article-9/section-10-9-21/

In 1972, the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that Subsection B does not violate the first amendment guarantee of freedom of speech in requiring that state employees shall not hold public office, nor does it deny equal protection by exempting some state employees from its provisions. (State ex rel. Gonzales v. Manzagol, 1975-NMSC-002, 87 N.M. 230, 531 P.2d 1203.) The New Mexico Supreme Court has also ruled that the legislature has the constitutional power under N.M. Const., art. VII, § 2B, to enact this section and to provide, as a qualification or standard for continued employment by the state in a position covered by the State Personnel Act, that the employee shall not hold “political office.” State ex rel. Gonzales v. Manzagol, 1975-NMSC-002, 87 N.M. 230, 531 P.2d 1203. In 1992, the New Mexico Attorney General issued an opinion that any state employee may seek election to any county office anywhere in the state, and if the employee takes a leave of absence from the state job while a candidate and, if elected, the employee must resign from the state job. (1992 Op. Att’y Gen. No. 92-01.)

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The letter signed by the 49 attorneys within the Bernalillo County District Attorney Office falls squarely in the category of “what the hell” are any one of these attorneys thinking or if they were were coerced in any way into signing the letter, especially by those who have supervisory authority over other attorneys? All State prosecutors must be above politcal influence and approach. For them to exert themselves in the politcal process and attempt to sway Governor Lujan Grisham as to who she should appoint and have a say as to who should be their next boss, is a clear conflict of interest an abuse of their titles and authority creating an appearance of impropriety. The conduct is unacceptable and should be condemned in no uncertain terms by the elected District Attorney.

The letter of recommendation signed by 49 attorneys ranging from the positions of Assistant District Attorneys all the way up the chain of command to a Deputy District Attorney is so very, very wrong on so many levels. The letter can only be characterized as a very serious breach of personnel rules and regulations and serious lapse of professional conduct, judgement and ethics.

The letter contains the actual signatures of 42 for the attorneys and 7 who electronically signed the letter. The signatures of those who actually singed the letter included 10 Assistant District Attorneys, 6 Assistant Trial Attorneys, 13 Trial Attorneys, and 12 Senior Trial Attorneys. The signatures of those attorneys who were unable to sign the letter in person included 1 Deputy District Attorney, 1 Assistant Trial Attorney, 2 Trial Attorneys and 3 Senior Trial Attorneys who electronically signed the letter.

Ostensibly, the letter was sent to the Governor’ s Office on DA office stationery and with the office letter head which is very problematic. Another problem with the letter is that the original signatures are followed by the titles of the individuals with many of those titles printed in handwriting with the handwriting appearing to be from another person and not the person who signed the letter. This likely indicates that the person who collected the signatures added the titles and that person may have been a supervising attorney and perhaps even on of the 3 Deputies who have applied for the job.

VIOLATIONS OF DISTRICY ATTORNEY PERSONNEL & COMPENSATION PLAN

The letter of recommendation violates a number of the Administrative Office of the District Attorneys Personnel and Compensation Plan provisions. The violations are as follows:

All the attorneys are “AT WILL” employees, who serve at the pleasure of the District Attorney and can be terminated without cause. As such they have given up a degree of their first amendment rights of “free speech” while at work. As “at will employees,” they are strictly prohibited from engaging in political activities while on duty. Writing and/or signing letters of recommendation to the Governor to recommend who should be appointed District Attorney is clearly prohibited “politcal activity” while on duty. (Section 9.2 “AT WILL” EMPLOYEES, District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan”.)

Use of DA office letter head and titles is use of official authority for the purpose of interfering with or to affect the result of the selection or a nomination for office of a person and for District Attorney as in this case. (Prohibited activity, Section 17.2.3 “District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan”.)

If District Attorney office letter head, fax machines or DA office postage was used to send the letter to Governor Lujan Grisham it would be “using office supplies, equipment or facilities in connection with political activities” (Prohibited activity, Section 17.2.4, District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan.)

If any attorney who was superior of another attorney solicited support and signatures on the letter, that would be “directly or indirectly coercing, attempting to coerce, commanding or ordering any employee to … contribute anything of value, in this case a recommendation to the Governor, to a party, committee, organization or person for a political purpose” which would be for the appointment of District Attorney. ” (Prohibited activity, 17.2.5 District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan.)

All 3 of the Deputy District Attorneys mentioned in the letter are in fact seeking the appointment to a political elected position. However, they can do so as long as it does not interfere with the function of the office and the District Attorney, otherwise, they must resign to seek such public office. State law is also clear that full time state employees cannot run for any state office. (NMSA 10-9-21, 1978)

Now that all 3 Deputies are applying to fill the vacancy, they have become active candidates for the office of District Attorney and actively campaigning for the appointment on office time. Under state law, and in order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, all 3 should take a leave of absence until the Governor make the final appointment.

Confidential sources within the office have confirmed that at least one of the Deputy District Attorneys being recommended in the letter to replace Torrez actually solicited subordinates to sign the letter. If that is indeed the case, it can only be construed as undue influence of a supervisor over a subordinate. Another confidential source has confirmed that still another of the Deputies seeking the appointment has said he fears termination if another person outside the agency secures the appointment and that Torrez himself is doing all he can to stop an outsider from getting the Governor’s appointment.

It is not all likely given the “office gossip” reputation the agency has that any one of the 3 Deputies recommended did not know that the letter was being circulated on their behalf. It is believed that all 3 of the Deputy District Attorneys were aware the letter and that it was being circulated with at least one condoning it. If they did know, and they condoned it, they failed to excercise their supervisory authority. Ignorance on their part of the “District Attorneys’ Personnel & Compensation Plan” and its prohibition on political activities should be grounds for disqualification for the appointment.

GOVERNOR NEEDS TO APPOINT OUTSIDER DISTRICT ATTORNEY

The letter signed by Torrez appointed prosecutors has raised more than a few major concerns within the New Mexico Defense Bar and prominent members of the New Mexico Trial Lawyers Association who are known to be advocating for the appointment of an experienced attorney. Many within the bar have said the Governor needs to appoint an outsider to take over the job of DA and change the Torrez political agenda that is antagonistic to the courts and the criminal justice system itself with Torrez having politicized the job and the office prosecutions to promote his political ambitions.

As he ran for successfully for Attorney General this year, Torrez ran a commercial that falsely said his opponent was not qualified to be Attorney General because his opponent was a defense attorney while Torrez claimed to be a career prosecutor. It was the identical smear tactic Torrez used against his Democratic opponent State Auditor Brian Colon in the primary accusing Colon of being a politician and not a prosecutor and accused Colon of never prosecuting a case when in fact his office investigated criminal waste, fraud and abuse.

Throughout the last six years, Raul Torrez during his tenure as Bernalillo County District Attorney has been at odds with and has consistently criticized District Court Judges, and the New Mexico Supreme Court and the defense bar. He has gone so far as to accuse the courts for being responsible for our high crime rates. Torrez has accused defense attorneys in the past of “gaming the system” while they did their jobs to protect their client’s constitutional rights. Torrez also accused defense attorneys from prohibiting the DA’s office from getting convictions by refusing to talk their defendant clients into accepting plea agreements so that the DA’s office could secure convictions without going to trial and proving their cases.

Torrez has proclaimed that our criminal justice system is broken, yet he has refused to take any responsivity for his offices failure to prosecute serious violent crime preferring or authorizing prosecutors to dismiss cases. A District Court study revealed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raul Torrez has a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate. The data presented showed in part how overcharging and a failure to screen cases by Assistant District Attorney’s was contributing to the high mistrial and acquittal rates. A common observation has been made that many of the prosecutors within the office are ill equipped within the office and are afraid of courtroom settings and prefer to simply plea out cases.

For the last 2 years, Raúl Torrez has advocated a change in law that would create a “rebutable presumption” that a defendant is a threat to the public when charged with a violent crime and that they should be jailed until pending trial without bond or conditions of release. The doctrine of rebuttable presumption mandating confinement pending trial is an affront to the constitutional right of the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. The presumption Torrez wants is to shift the burden of proving dangerousness from the prosecution to the defendants and require defendants accused of crimes to show and convince a judge that they should be released on bond or conditions of release pending their trial on the charges.

The November 18, 2022 makes it painfully clear that the attorneys appointed by Torrez, including the 3 Deputy District Attorney that are seeking to replace him, want to carry on with his policies and his political agenda. The 3 deputies are likely part of the problem within the office and who fail to prosecute cases.

The letter reflects an element of sure arrogance by the attorney’s signing it that only an insider can handle the job of District Attorney. The letter is also an expression of a level of personal entitlement to the job and the office itself. For these reasons, there is a clear need for the Governor to appoint an outsider to fill the position so that a new beginning for the office can happen without any influence over the office by Raul Torrez.

61 vacancies withing the DA’s office, which includes 21 attorney vacancies, has been a chronic problem the entire 6 years Raul Torrez has been District Attorney. He has never had a fully staffed office. The sure volume of vacancies is a sign of mismanagement of the office, this coming from a DA that constantly complained to the New Mexico legislature that he needed more funding and was short staff. The truth is Torrez could not attract attorneys to go to work for him given his reputation of politicizing the office.

DA AND ATTONEY GENERAL ELECT RAUL TORREZ

Sources have a confirmed that Attorney General- elect Raul Torrez is in support of any one of his 3 duly appointed Deputies to take over the office. If that is in fact the case, Torrez himself has some explaining to do to the general public and the Governor. It’s an obvious attempt for him to continue to have influence over the office once he leaves January 1. Sources have also confirmed that Torrez is openly hostile to at least one other applicant who is known to have applied for the job but who has yet to be disclosed by the Governor’s office.

Torrez needs to disclose the public and the Governor if he was aware of the letter and in particular if he authorized it. Torrez needs to demand the letter be withdrawn immediately and demand an apology be issued by the attorneys who signed it. Torrez should issue at a minimum an immediate letter of reprimand to the attorneys who have signed the letter and demote or suspend their employment for an appropriate period of time to make it clear that prohibited politcal activities while on the job will not be tolerated.

Torrez needs to keep his nose out of the Governor’s business as she accepts applications from qualified attorneys to fill the job he has abandoned at midterm.

APD External Force Investigation Team Files 4th Quarterly Report; 612 of 667 Backlog Of “Use Of Force Case” Remains; APD Compliance Levels: Primary Compliance: 100% (No change), Secondary Compliance: 99% (No change), Operational Compliance: 80%.

Posted on November 21, 2022 by

On November 16, 2022, the External Force Investigation Team (EFIT) filed its 4^th quarterly report with Federal District Court Judge James Browning who is overseeing the federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) mandating reforms of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). The EFIT 5^th quarterly report covers the time period of August 5, 2022 to October 27, 2022.

The EFIT was created on February 26, 2021 by an agreed court order after the Federal Monitor found that APD intentionally did not investigate 667 of use of force cases. A Court Order was agreed to by the city after the Department of Justice made it know it was prepared to seek Contempt of Court for willful violation of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and seek sanctions against the city.

This blog article is a summary of the EFIT’s 4^th main quarterly report accomplishments and statistics. It deletes all personnel management decisions, discussions and meetings in the report between the EFIT administrators and APD, the police union and city attorney. The article for that reason should not to be considered exhaustive. You can read the entire 131 page EFIT 5^th quarterly report here:

4th Quarterly Report: April 22, 2022-Aug. 5, 2022

HOW EFIT WORKS

EFIT is on call 24/7 and must respond to all call outs within one hour of notification. All Use of Force (“UOF”) investigations must be completed within 60 days with an additional 30-day supervisory review period for a total of 90 days from start to finish. EFIT must conduct joint investigations with APD Internal Affairs Force Division (“IAFD”) of all Level 2 and Level 3 Use of Force incidents. The joint investigations include all Tactical Deployments where Use of Force is utilized. EFIT must also assist APD with training concerning the UOF. The EFIT Executive Team worked with APD IAFD to establish a detailed IA Investigative Process Narrative that governs the response protocols to any Level 2 and 3 UOF cases.

On March 21, 2022, an Amended Stipulated Order Establishing the EFIT was agreed to by the parties. The Amended Stipulated Order modifies the EFIT in two ways:

First it requires the EFIT to investigate all use-of-force incidents occurring between January 1, 2020, through July 16, 2021, that APD did not investigate, in full or in part, in violation of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (“CASA”)

Second it extends by 24 months, from May 2022 through May 2024, the period during which the City shall continue to engage EFIT to assist IAFD to investigate new Level 2 and Level 3 use-of-force incidents

CLASSIFACTIONS OF USE OF FORCE

The EFIT Executive Team worked with APD to establish a detailed Process Narrative that governs the response protocols to Level 2 and 3 Use Of Force cases. EFIT and APD continued to review this document to ensure that it is serving the interests of the assignment and has made modifications, as necessary.

Classifications of Force Levels that EFIT works within are enumerated in the APD Use Of Force Policies and a brief description are [as follows]:

Level 1 is force that is likely to cause only transitory pain, disorientation, or discomfort during its application as a means of gaining compliance. This includes techniques which are not reasonably expected to cause injury, do not result in actual injury, and are not likely to result in a complaint of injury (i.e., pain compliance techniques and resisted handcuffing). Pointing a firearm, beanbag shotgun, or 40-millimeter launcher at a subject, or using an Electronic Control Weapon (ECW) to “paint” a subject with the laser sight, as a show of force are reportable as Level 1 force. Level 1 force does not include interaction meant to guide, assist, or control a subject who is offering minimal resistance.

Level 2 is force that causes injury, could reasonably be expected to cause injury, or results in a complaint of injury. Level 2 force includes: use of an Electronic Control Weapon (ECW), including where an ECW is fired at a subject but misses; use of a beanbag shotgun or 40 millimeter launcher, including where it is fired at a subject but misses; OC Spray application; empty hand techniques (i.e., strikes, kicks, takedowns, distraction techniques, or leg sweeps); and strikes with weapons, except strikes to the head, neck, or throat, which would be considered a Level 3 use of force.

Level 3 is force that results in, or could reasonably result in, serious physical injury, hospitalization, or death. Level 3 force includes: all lethal force; critical firearms discharges; all head, neck, and throat strikes with an object; neck holds; canine bites; three or more uses of an ECW on an individual during a single interaction regardless of mode or duration or an ECW application for longer than 15 seconds, whether continuous or consecutive; four or more strikes with a baton; any Level 2 use of force, strike, blow, kick, ECW application, or similar use of force against a handcuffed subject; and uses of force resulting in a loss of consciousness.

Closed UOF cases are presented to the Force Review Board (“FRB”). All Level 3 cases, tactical deployments, OIS, and 10 % of Level 2 cases are presented at FRB. Initially, EFIT had no role in the Force Review Board process other than as an observer. However, as the cases that EFIT jointly investigated with Internal Affairs Force Division are now at the FRB level, and the EFIT managers Darryl S. Neier and Mr. Hurlock believed that EFIT should have a more active role in the FRB. To that end, Mr. Neier and Mr. Hurlock met with APD, DOJ and the IM team to discuss the parameters for such participation to occur

5^th QUARTERLY REPORT STAUS OF BACKLOG OF CASES

Following is the EFIT backlog investigations as of November 14, 2022:

Total Backlog: 667

Cases Assigned to EFIT Investigators: 82

Use Of Force Investigations Previously Completed by IAFD Assigned to EFIT: 12

Sub-Total: 94

Use Of Force Investigations Previously Completed by IAFD Closed by EFIT: 12

Use Of Force Investigations Closed: 43

Total Completed: 55

Investigations Pending: 612

External Force Investigation Team Fourth Quarterly Report, page 46:

4th Quarterly Report: April 22, 2022-Aug. 5, 2022

As of as of November 15, 2022, EFIT’s findings contained in the report are that 47 of the 55 completed Use of Force Investigations, or 85.45%, of backlog cases investigated by EFIT are within APD guidelines and SOPs. The breakdown of those 55 cases by level of force is reported as follows:

Level 1 Force: 1 case

Level 2 Force: 41 cases

Level 3 Force: 6 cases

Level 3 Force (Officer Involved Shooting): 7 cases

Total cases: 55

Page 45, file:///C:/Users/HP/Downloads/960-221116%20EFIT%20QR-5.pdf

Following are the number “Force Level” cases found out of policy:

Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) cases: 7, Out of Policy OIS cases: 2

Intermediate Weapon System cases: 5, Out of Policy cases: 2

Empty Hand Takedown cases: 35, Out of Policy 1

Empty Hand Control cases: 6, Out of policy 1

Other cases: 2, Out of Policy -0-

Total cases: 55

Page: 46, 4th Quarterly Report: April 22, 2022-Aug. 5, 2022

EFIT 5^th QUARTERLY REPORT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Following is the edited Executive Summary contained in the EFIT 5^th Quarterly Report containing statistics gleaned from the entire report:

“32 out of the 461 [or 6.94%], Use of Force Investigations closed by the External Force Investigation Team and Internal Affairs Force Division (EFIT/IAFD) were found not within the APD UOF policies. This is a reduction from the 7.2% reported in the previous quarterly report.

Most significantly, 138 out of the 461 [or 29.93%] of the Use Of Force investigations closed by EFIT and the Internal Affairs Division (IAFD)were out of compliance when evaluated against the Process Narrative … utilized to assess investigations. … [this is a reduction from 33.51% reported in the previous quarterly report].

While all the time frames negotiated by the City and the Department of Justice Use Of Force Investigations in the aforementioned Orders remain an obvious concern for Internal Affairs Force Division, EFIT is very encouraged by the approximately 11-point reduction.

EFIT’s next quarterly report, which is to be filed with the Court on February 23, 2023, will continue to contain an analysis of these issues based on the findings of both APD Use Of Force compliance and case investigative compliance.

While this quarterly report addresses EFIT’s qualitative findings up to and including, November 15, 2022, EFIT’s statistical findings are as of October 27, 2022. However, the report provides a comprehensive review of EFIT’s experience since inception.

Since July 16, 2021, and as October 27, 2022, EFIT [and the Internal Affairs Force Division] responded to, and are investigating and/or monitoring a total of 6, 925 Use Of Force incidents. These investigations are completed on an average of 53.86 days.

The 6,195 Use Of Force incidents includes 20 Officer Involved Shootings (“OIS”) and cumulatively made 3 referrals to the Multi-Agency Task Force (“MATF”) for potential criminal violations [with] … no referrals were made during this quarter.

In addition, 461 Use Of Force investigations were closed ,26 averaging a total of 86.8427 days for closure.

Supervisor reviews remain at an average of 20.08 days.

Of the 461 UOF cases closed, 32 UOF cases were out of APD Policy (6.94%)

28 and 138 of the 461 investigations (29.93%) failed to comply with the Process Narrative.

During this quarterly reporting period, APD experienced:

8 Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) incidents

-0- accidental discharges

8 tactical activations

3 use of K9

9 use of an Electronic Control Weapon (4 involving an impact weapon).

EFIT previously identified numerous issues regarding these cases. Specifically, during this most recent quarter, EFIT observed and/or discovered that Internal Affairs Force Division (IAFD) made a noticeable improvement with IAFD’s handling Officer Involved Shootings and other complex investigations.

EFIT/IAFD completed 461 investigations all within the 90-day time period outlined in the Amended Stipulated Order.

Since inception, EFIT assumed 13 Use Of Force investigations …. .

During this reporting period EFIT did not assume any UOF investigations from IAFD, a striking improvement from prior quarters.

EFIT … reported that it continues to witness a marked improvement in the [Internal Affairs Force Division (IAFD)]. Indeed, while there remains a great deal of work to be done, the atmosphere within IAFD improved substantially in this reporting period, the details of which are detailed below.

The EFIT Executive Team … reported that, pursuant to the established protocols it is transitioning Internal Affairs Force Division Detective/Investigators to conduct interviews without EFIT’s direct supervision. As a result, 4 graduated the transition process and are conducting Use Of Force Investigations with minimal EFIT oversite.

Currently 12 Internal Affairs Force Division personnel are progressing through the Phases. EFIT also noted previous concerns regarding supervision and sustainability, which are [included in the report]. It appears that APD is taking these issues seriously and is working closely with EFIT to address them. EFIT works closely with Internal Affairs Force Division Commander Norris to address these and other issues on a daily basis.

It is EFIT’s intention that this report provide the Court with a better understanding of the successes, recommendations and the failures of APD, particularly [the Internal Affairs Force Division].

It is EFIT’s goal to teach, mentor and professionalize IAFD so that when EFIT’s assignment is completed, EFIT leaves the City with a sustainable division that investigates UOF incidents in a timely, thorough and professional manner.”

PERSONNEL LEVELS

As of October 27, 2022, the Internal Affairs Force Division is currently staffed as follows:

11 Sworn fully trained;

4 Sworn on leave (counted in the 11 above);

3 Sworn Vacancies;

10 Civilian Investigators fully trained;

6 Civilian Investigator in training;

4 Sergeants;

1 Acting Sergeants;

2 Lieutenants;

2 Deputy Commanders;

2 Acting Deputy Commanders; and

4 Support personnel.

The Internal Affairs Force Divison is authorized to hire ” additional civilian investigators and this process of interviewing candidates will commence after the filing of this report.

APD COURT APPROVED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT

On November 9, 2022 Federal Court Appointed Independent Monitor James Ginger filed his 16th Report on the Compliance Levels of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the City of Albuquerque with Requirements of the Court-Approved Settlement Agreement. The 16th Federal Monitors report is a 332 page report that covers the 6 month time frame of August, 2021 to January, 2022. The link to review the entire 16th Federal Monitors report is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/959-221109-imr-16.pdf

Under the terms and conditions of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), once APD achieves a 95% compliance rate in the 3 identified compliance levels and maintains it for 2 consecutive years, the case can be dismissed. Originally, APD was to have come into compliance within 4 years and the case was to be dismissed in 2020.

COMPLIANCE LEVELS

The 3 compliance levels can be explained as follows:

PRIMARY COMPLIANCE

Primary compliance is the “policy” part of compliance. To attain primary compliance, APD must have in place operational policies and procedures designed to guide officers, supervisors and managers in the performance of the tasks outlined in the CASA. As a matter of course, the policies must be reflective of the requirements of the CASA; must comply with national standards for effective policing policy; and must demonstrate trainable and evaluable policy components.

SECONDARY COMPLIANCE

Secondary compliance is attained by implementing supervisory, managerial and executive practices designed to and be effective in implementing the policy as written, e.g., sergeants routinely enforce the policies among field personnel and are held accountable by managerial and executive levels of the department for doing so. By definition, there should be operational artifacts such as reports, disciplinary records, remands to retraining, follow-up, and even revisions to policies if necessary, indicating that the policies developed in the first stage of compliance are known to, followed by, and important to supervisory and managerial levels of the department.

OPERATIONAL COMPLIANCE

Operational compliance is attained at the point that the adherence to policies is apparent in the day-to-day operation of the agency e.g., line personnel are routinely held accountable for compliance, not by the monitoring staff, but by their sergeants, and sergeants are routinely held accountable for compliance by their lieutenants and command staff. In other words, the APD “owns” and enforces its policies.

16^th FEDERAL MONITOR’S REPORT COMPLIANCE LEVELS

The Federal Monitor reported that as of the end of the IMR-16 reporting period, APD’s compliance levels are as follows:

Primary Compliance: 100% (No change)
Secondary Compliance: 99% (No change)
Operational Compliance: 80%. (10% increase from 70%)

15^th FEDERAL MONITOR’S REPORT COMPLIANCE LEVELS

On May 11, 2022, Federal Court Appointed Independent Monitor filed his 15th Report on the Compliance Levels. The 15th Federal Monitors report covers the 6 month time frame of August, 2021 to January, 2022. The link to review the entire report is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/police/documents/910-220511-imr-15.pdf

APD’s compliance levels in the IMR-15 Federal Monitor’s report were as follows:

Primary Compliance: 100%
Secondary Compliance: 99%
Operational Compliance: 70%.

The 15th Federal Monitors report was a dramatic reversal from the past 3 monitor reports that were highly critical of the Keller Administration and the Albuquerque Police Department.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is very disappointing that a mere 55 of the 667 backlog of cases have been resolved with 612 remaining. In the 4^th quarterly report, only 43 of those cases were resolved. With the passage of time, those investigations become far more difficult, and no disciplinary action can be taken leading to the questioning if anything substantive will actually be accomplished with APD and its reform efforts other than carrying out a demand that the DOJ has made?

Notwithstanding, significant progress has been reported in the EFIT fifth Quarterly Report. With APD assuming self-monitoring in one third of the court order reforms, and after over 7 years of implementing the mandating DOJ reforms, and millions spent on training, APD appears to have finally turned the corner on implementing the 271 mandated reforms. APD Chief Harold Medina’s goal to attain full compliance within two years commendable, but in reality, means the public needs to brace itself for the DOJ being around for at least 4 more full years.

Under the terms and conditions of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), once APD achieves a 95% compliance rate in the 3 identified compliance levels and maintains it for 2 consecutive years, the case can be dismissed. Primary Compliance is now at 100%, Secondary Compliance is now at 99% and Operational Compliance is now 80%. The problem is APD also has a history of improving compliance levels taking major steps forward only for it return to previous lower levels

Democrat Pat Davis And Republican Trudy Jones Make It Official Announcing They Will Not Seek Another Term To City Council In 2023; Another City Council Turnover In 2023; Citizen’s Satisfaction Survey Strongly Suggests Mood For Change

Posted on November 20, 2022 by

EDITORS’ NOTE: THIS BLOG ARTICLE WAS ORGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 16 BUT WAS INADVERTINGLY DELETED. IT HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATTIONS.

After upwards of six months of speculation, Democrat Pat Davis And Republican Trudy Jones have made it official and announced that they will not seek another term on the Albuquerque City Council. Both Davis and Jones said they intend to serve the remainder of their terms which run through the end of 2023. Both Jones and Davis said they are ready to make way for some new voices on the council. A total of 4 City Council seats will be on next year’s municipal ballot and include District 2 now represented by progressive Democrat Isaac Benton and District 4 now represented by conservative Republican Brook Bassan.

REPUBLCAN TRUDY JONES

Republican Trudy Jones, now 73, was first elected to the City Council in October 2007 to represent District 8, Albuquerque’s Far Northeast Heights and Foothills. She has been elected 4 times to the council and will complete 16 years of service in 2023. She is a retired real estate agent and said she was drawn in 2007 to the public service element of the council. She said her focus since becoming a city councilor has been improving public facilities in her district and said she is especially proud of the investments in parks and roads.

As a city councilor and as a realtor, it was not at all surprising that her primary interest was in land-use planning and zoning matters. She was the co-sponsor of the city’s Integrated Development Ordinance, which in 2017 replaced the city’s old zoning code, and chairing the city’s Land Use, Planning & Zoning committee for the past three years. She was a staunch supporter of the disastrous ART Bus project down the center of Central. This past year she voted to support “Safe Outdoor Spaces” which are government sanctioned tent encampment for the homeless and “motel conversions” which will allow the city to purchase motels to be converted to long-term low-income housing. Jones said she wants to shepherd various infrastructure projects to the finish line before leaving office.

Jones joked about her departure from the city council saying:

“I’m old and grumpy. … Now, I’m giving people enough notice that someone – several people, I would hope – should step up and decide to run for this seat.”

DEMOCRAT PAT DAVIS

Democrat Pat Davis, now 44, was first elected to the City Council in 2015 succeeding City Councilor Rey Garduno and in 2019 Davis was elected to serve another 4 year term. Davis represents District 6, which encompasses the International District, Mesa Del Sol, Nob Hill, Southeast Heights, and the University of New Mexico.

Davis is a former Washington D.C. police officer. He came to New Mexico soon after being involved with a police officer shooting where he shot an African American man twice in the shoulder who was fleeing from Davis at a “traffic stop”. Davis was sued in Washington, DC over the shooting and he relocated to Albuquerque and became a UNM Campus Police officer. Davis was sued for civil rights violations as a UNM Campus Police Officer and he was accused of conducting unlawful “search and seizures” at homes without a search warrant. At least 2 of the civil rights violation cases Davis was sued over as a UNM Campus Police Officer settled out of court for upwards of $75,000.

Davis relocated to New Mexico and became a “progressive Democrat” saying his Republican conservative philosophy had changed, especially with respect to law enforcement, and saying he had done a few things as a police officer he was not “proud of”. When Davis left the UNM Campus Police, he started a new career and founded Progress Now, a politically progressive nonprofit and was employed as its Executive Director. When it was revealed that Davis as a police officer was involved with the shooting of an African American in Washington, DC, Progress Now demanded that he resign as President of the Albuquerque City Council and from the City Council itself. The demand for his resignations came at the height of the “Black Lives Matter” movement and after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota Police Officers.

In 2016, the then first term city councilor Pat Davis ran for the United States Congress to replace then Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham who decided to run for Governor. Davis withdrew from the congressional race when he polled at 3% and could not raise the money to run a viable campaign with Deb Haaland ultimately being elected to congress.

Davis is considered one of the leading progressives on the city council and worked on the city’s early solar energy initiatives and co-sponsored legislation that strengthened the city’s immigrant-friendly status, and another bill that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana years before the state legalized recreational cannabis. Once elected to the city council, Davis became a staunch supporter of the disastrous ART Bus Project, Republican Mayor Berry’s $120 million legacy project, and voted repeatedly to fund the project that ultimately destroyed the character of Route 66. Davis refused to advocate to put the ART Bus project on the ballot for public approval and told his constituents that the city council did not have the authority to place it on the ballot for approval which was simply false.

In her first term, Governor Michell Lujan Grisham appointed Pat Davis to head up her task force to formulate legislation for the legalization of recreational marijuana, which was in fact legalized in 2021 by the New Mexico legislature. Davis has formed a cannibus consulting firm that helps clients with applications for state cannibus licensing and compliance. Davis is said to charge upwards of $10,000 to assist in securing a cannabis license for his clients.

Davis said he would still like to make headway on gun control policy before he leaves the city council. His 2020 proposals to require gun locks and secure storage for firearms, and to ban guns at City Hall and other city facilities failed and he acknowledges the current council composition makes it unlikely he will gain traction on those issues. Davis is building a small media network as publisher of three independent newspapers: the Corrales Comment, the Sandoval Signpost and The Paper.

By announcing his intentions now not to seek a third term, Davis said he is giving others interested in his job a chance to “research and build networks.” Davis had this to say about his departure from the city council:

“I think the city has got to find some new voices to help move us forward. I want to give some folks an opportunity to try that and maybe somebody else will be more successful than I would be. … I have a lot of other things going on. … I can leave the City Council and still have a voice from the newspaper job that I could do more work in.”

The link to quoted news sources is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2549631/two-city-councilors-say-they-wont-seek-reelection.html

BOTH DAVIS AND JONES FAILED AT APD POLICE OVERSIGHT

The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including controlling its budget. Jones and Davis did nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” and “excessive use of deadly force by APD.” Neither have ever challenged the previous and the current Mayor Administrations and the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Each time the Federal Court appointed Monitor presented his critical reports of APD to the City Council, Jones and Davis remained silent. Both declined to demand accountability from Mayors Berry and Keller and hold the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms. Both Jones and Davis have never attended a single one of the federal court hearings on the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and the 16 Federal monitors report hearings.

MOST EGREGEOUS VOTES

The most egregious votes by Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis was that they voted for the final adoption of the ABC-Z Comprehensive Plan in 2017, now called the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) which is now having long term impact on our neighborhoods and favors developers.

It was in 2015 that former Mayor Richard Berry during his second term started the rewrite process of the city’s comprehensive zoning code and comprehensive plan to rewrite the city’s entire zoning code. It was initially referred to as the ABC-Z comprehensive plan and later renamed the Integrated Development Ordinance (ID0) once it was passed. In 2015, there were sixty (60) sector development plans which governed new development in specific neighborhoods. Forty (40) of the development plans had their own “distinct zoning guidelines” that were designed to protect many historical areas of the city.

Simply put, the IDO is and has always been an abomination that favors developers and the city’s construction and development industry. The 2017 rewrite was a rush job. It took a mere 2 years to rewrite the entire zoning code and it emerged as the Integrated Development Ordinance. The ABC-Z project rewrite was nothing more than making “gentrification” an official city policy and the “gutting” of long-standing sector development plans by the development community to repeal those sector development plans designed to protect neighborhoods and their character.

COUNCIL TURNOVER

The 2021 municipal elections resulted in a turnover of 4 city council seats out of 9 with 2 city councilors deciding not to run again and two other Democrat incumbents losing to challengers. The City Council went from a 6 to 3 Democrat “progressive” majority to a 5 to 4 Democrat majority that is decidedly more conservative leaning thanks in large part to the election of Westside conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez who defeated progressive Democrat Lan Sena, who was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller after the death of City Councilor Ken Sanchez, and the election of right wing Republican Dan Lewis who defeated Democrat Cynthia Borrego. Lest any one forgets, 5 years ago City Councilor Lewis ran and lost to Mayor Tim Keller in a landslide. Lewis is already telling his supporters he intends to run for Mayor again in 2025.

After the December 7 City Council runoff election, the 5 Democrats on the new city council as of January 1, 2022 are:

After the November 7 runoff election, the 4 Republicans on the new city council are:

District 5 Conservative Dan Lewis (Newly elected)
District 4 Conservative Brook Bassan
District 8 Conservative Trudy Jones
District 9 Conservative Renee Grout

Because of the 2021 municipal election and its move to the conservative right, it has frequently taken to attempting to repeal progressive policies adopted by the previous city councils. That includes the city’s plastic bag ban repeal by the current council, attempting repeal the Mayor’s authority to issue emergency public health orders to deal with the pandemic and weighing whether to replace the zero-fare bus pilot program.

2023 MUNCIPAL ELECTION

The two other City Council District seats that will be on next year’s 2023 municipal ballot are District 2 represented by 4 term Democrat City Councilor Isaac Benton and first term District 4 Republican Brook Basaan. Benton and Basaan have not yet said if they will be running again, but if they do, it is expected they will have strong opposition.

DEMOCRAT ISAAC BENTON

Democrat Isaac (Ike) Benton, 71, is the District 2 City Councilor and was first elected to the council in 2005 and has been elected 4 times to 4 year terms. Benton is a retired architect and avowed urbanist. Benton’s city council district includes a large area of downtown Central and the North Valley which leans left and is heavily Hispanic. Benton ran unopposed in 2015. In 2019, Benton had 5 opponents with 4 having qualified for public finance. Four of his opponents were Hispanic males ranging from the ages of 28 to 39, and one was a Republican Hispanic female. In 2019 Benton was forced into a runoff with Zack Quintero, 28, who was a recent UNM Law School graduate and economist and Benton won the election. Quintero for his part ran unsuccessfully for State Auditor this year and eventually became the statewide campaign field coordinator for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s successful re election campaign.

Benton, like Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis, voted for enactment of the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) in 2017. What is ironic is that Benton’s City Council District 2 has the biggest concentration of historical neighborhoods and it is the one district that is now being adversely affected the most by the IDO as it encourages gentrification.

Benton, like Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis, did nothing when it came to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” and excessive use of deadly force by APD. Benton never once challenged the previous and the current Mayor and the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

REPUBLICAN BROOK BASAAN

Republican Brook Bassan is the District 4 City Councilor and she is serving her first 4 year term on the city council. In 2017 Republican Brook Bassan was elected to replace retiring 4 term Republican City Councilor Brad Winter. The major borders of District 4 are generally Montano/Montgomery on the South, Tramway on the North, Academy/Ventura/Holbrook on the East and Edith on the West.

It was in June of this year that Brook Bassan became embroiled in controversy when she supported and was the chief advocate and sponsor for “Safe Outdoor Spaces” amendment to the Integrated Development Ordnance (IDO) that now permit 2 homeless encampments in all 9 city council districts. Safe Outdoor Spaces are city sanctione homeless encampments designed to have 40 designated spaces for tents allowing upwards of 50 people, requires hand washing stations, toilets and showers, require a management plan, 6 foot fencing and require social services offered.

On June 16, a neighborhood association meeting was scheduled in Bassan’s City Council District where Bassan agreed to speak to discuss efforts to combat crime. Upwards of 150 angry constituents showed up and all hell broke loose during and the meeting and it degenerated into a heated discussion of Bassan’s sponsorship of “Safe Outdoor Spaces”. Within days after the meeting, Bassaan issued a formal apology to her constituents for her sponsorship that generated front page Albuquerque Journal coverage and she withdrew her support of “Safe Outdoor Spaces”.

Bassan introduced legislation to place a moratorium on the land use as well as a repeal of the land use, but the damage has been done with upwards of 6 applications for Safe Outdoor Spaces made with 3 approved and with one appealed. The moratorium passed on a 5-4 vote and Mayor Keller vetoed it and the Council failed to override the veto with the necessary six votes. The repeal is still pending with the City’s Environmental Planning Commission holding a hearing on the repeal and recommending that the city council repeal the legislation. It likely the repeal will pass on a 5-4 vote, Mayor Keller will veto it and the Council will fail to override his veto with the requited 6 votes.

2022 CITIZEN PERCEPTION SURVEY SUGGESTS MOOD FOR COUNCIL CHANGE

Given the fact that upwards of 4 city councilors could be replaced in the 2023 municipal election, the mood of the city and likely issues merit discussion for potential candidates.

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/documents/final_coa-citizen-sat-2022.pdf

Five major categories covered by the survey are:

Quality of Life

Personal Safety

City Services

Homelessness

Direction City Is Going

Albuquerque Police Department

The edited summary results of the survey are as follows:

SURVEY RESULTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE

“… When residents were asked, in an unaided, open-ended manner, what they believe are the things that make Albuquerque special, the most common responses include [the following]”:

“Weather or climate: 31%

The culture: 26%

The diverse population: 18%

Friendly people: 15%

The Sandia Mountains: 15%

The food/cuisine: 13%

When asked unaided what values are most important to Albuquerque, residents responded as follows:

23% of survey respondents mention family

17% cited safety/security

12% cited pride in community and culture/preserving culture are each mentioned

11% cited diversity.

17% of residents did not offer a response.

Residents rated the quality of life in Albuquerque as follows:

48% of residents rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good at 42% or excellent at 6%. 30% give a fair rating.

17% of residents feel the quality of life in Albuquerque is either poor at 12% or very poor at 5%.

Fewer than half the respondents, 48%, rate the city’s quality of life as “excellent” or “good,” down from 59% in 2020. Though “good” remains the most common rating at 42%, 17% rated it as “poor” or “very poor. The percentage of residents who rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent has fallen from 54% in 2018, and 59% during the height of the pandemic in 2020 to 48% currently.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON QUALITY OF LIFE

The survey results revealed that over half those surveyed, 52%, say they are concerned about the city’s direction. This compares to 43% who say they are hopeful. In the December 2020 survey, 50% said they were hopeful. The percentage of residents who say they are hopeful about the direction of the City has fallen from 50% in December of 2020 to 43% in 2022.

Although 43% of residents say they are either somewhat hopeful with 34% or very hopeful with 9% about the direction of the City, 52% say they are either somewhat concerned at 30% or very concerned at 22%.

Anglo residents with 58% are more apt than Hispanics with 44% to rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent.

It is not surprising that many residents are concerned about the direction of the City given the challenges currently being faced across the nation. The survey noted that residents across the nation have concerns about where the country is heading as a whole. [An example is] the website RealClear Politics calculates the average of different polls conducted among voters and adults across the nation and currently shows that an average of 74% believe the country is currently going on the wrong track, while an average of just 18% feel the country is heading in the right direction.

SURVEY RESULTS ON PERSONAL SAFETY

Crime and feelings of personal safety are important components to perceived quality of life. Overall, 81% of Albuquerque residents say they feel in their neighborhood during the day. (Very Safe at 51% + somewhat at 30% = 81%)

However, the 81% drops to 57% felling safe at night. (Very safe at 24% + somewhat safe at 33% = 57%.) In other words, there is a day and night different of 24%. The gap has narrowed from 2020, when 68% reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods at night and only 24% said they felt unsafe.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON “PERSONAL SAFETY”

One of the most disturbing statistics from the Citizen’s Survey is that only 57% of those surveyed felt safe at night in their own homes. It likely that 57% is on the very low side. At the core of citizens do not feel safe in their homes at night is the City’s high violent crime and homicide rates.

An Albuquerque Journal poll found that 82% of the public feel that crime is very serious, 14% said crime is somewhat serious for a staggering total of 96%. Albuquerque has seen a major spike in violent crime and the rates are some of the highest in the country.

apd-homicide-list-for-web-site-as-of-02sep2022.pdf (cabq.gov)

https://www.abqjournal.com/2528871/ex-those-most-likely-to-vote-also-worry-about-the-economy-and-public.html

SURVEY RESULTS ON CITY SERVICES

The percentage of residents who feel Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs has dropped from 48% observed in 2020, which was an all-time high dating back to 2011, to 32% a 17% drop. Specifically, 32% agree Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs, 38% have a neutral opinion, 28% disagree that City Government is responsive.

Residents were asked to rate how well Albuquerque City Government is handling specific issues using a five-point scale where five is excellent and one is very poor.

47% give City Government positive marks with a score of 4 or 5 when it comes to maintaining city parks and open space areas.

34% give positive ratings supporting renewable and clean energy programs.

34% give positive ratings for maintaining roads and streets

32% give positive ratings for supporting the local economy

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON CITY SERVICES

It’s very clear from the survey that dissatisfaction with city response to community needs has increased dramatically. The percentage of residents who feel Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs has dropped from 48% observed in 2020, which was an all-time high, to 31% found in 2021, a 17% decline. This is very difficult to accept, let alone understand, given that Mayor Tim Keller has submitted, and the City Council has approved in 2 consecutive years the 2 largest city budgets in its history, one for $1.1 Billion in 2021 and the other for $1.4 billion in 2022.

The link to city approved budgets is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/budget/annual-budget

SURVEY RESULTS ON THE HOMELESS

“The issue of homelessness continues to be a major challenge in Albuquerque as it is in many other cities.

70% feel the City is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness

9% of residents give City Government positive marks for addressing the homelessness issue

20% give a mixed or neutral rating.

The percentage of residents who give the City positive scores for addressing homelessness had risen from 13% in 2019 to 29% in 2020 but it has now fallen by 20% and is 9% currently.

Although there has been a lot of attention focused on homelessness in the news, % of Albuquerque residents say they are aware the city is the Gateway Center. The shelter will be a 24/7 shelter providing to women experiencing homelessness during the first phase of its operation.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON THE HOMELESS

The Citizens Survey of 70% feeling the city is failing in its response to the homeless is likely inaccurate and the public attitude has only gotten worse. A recent Journal poll found that 77% of the general public believes the homeless crisis is very serious and 16% feel it is somewhat serious with a staggering total of 93%. What is clear from the Citizen Perception Survey is that Albuquerque residents are dissatisfied with the Keller Administration’s response to the homelessness crisis despite the city’s huge financial commitment to dealing with the homeless. The survey confirms that residents feel Mayor Tim Keller and his admiration are failing.

70% of citizens survey respondents rate the city poorly for its performance in dealing with the homeless crisis. This includes 41% who gave city hall the lowest possible rating. Meanwhile, only 9% gave the city’s homelessness response a favorable review. In other words, 7 times more people rate the city poorly on the issue than offer a positive assessment. This is a dramatic change from 2020 when only 36% gave the city poor marks for how it was tackling homelessness, including just 22% who offered the worst rating, while 29% provided a positive assessment. There has been a dramatic 20% drop in how people feel the city is dealing with homeless from 29% in 2020 to 9% in 2022.

The 9% approval rating in the citizens survey is likely very alarming to Mayor Tim Keller and his administration. Since day one from becoming Mayor on December 1, 2018, Mayor Keller has made dealing with the homeless a major cornerstone of his administration so much so that he advocated the construction of a 24-7 homeless shelter. This ultimately resulted in the purchase of the massive 560,000 square foot Gibson Medical center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, for $15 million. The facility is being renovated and it is anticipated to open in the winter of 2022 as a 24/7 shelter.

The Keller Administration has adopted a housing first policy when it comes to dealing with the homeless crisis which also includes funding provided to at least 10 service providers. This past fiscal year 2021 ending June 10, 2021, the Family and Community Services Department and the Keller Administration have spent upwards of $40 Million to benefit the homeless or near homeless. The 2021 adopted city budget for Family and Community Services Department provides for mental health contracts totaling $4,329,452, and substance abuse contracts for counseling contracts totaling $2,586,302 and emergency shelter contracts totaling $5,688,094, affordable housing and community contracts totaling $22,531,752, homeless support services contracts.

Mayor Keller’s 2022-2023 approved budget significantly increases the Family and Community Services budget by $24,353,064 to assist the homeless or near homeless by going from $35,145,851 to $59,498,915. A breakdown of the amounts to help the homeless and those in need of housing assistance contained in the 2022-2023 budget is as follows:

$3,773,860 total for mental health contracts (Budget page105.)

$2,818,356 total substance abuse contracts for counseling (Budget page 106.), up by $288,680 from last year.

$42,598,361 total for affordable housing and community contracts with a major emphasis on permanent housing for chronically homeless.

$6,025,544 total for emergency shelter contracts.

$4,282,794 total homeless support services, up $658,581 from last year.

The links to the adopted 2021-2022 and 2022-23 approved budgets are here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy22-approved-budget-numbered-w-hyperlinks-final.pdf

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy23-proposed-final-web-version.pdf

SURVEY RESULTS ON DIRECTION THE CITY IS GOING

The percentage of residents who rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent has fallen from 54% in 2018 to 48% in 2022. The percentage of residents who say they are hopeful about the direction of the City has fallen from 50% in December of 2020 to 43% in 2022. Although 43% of residents say they are either somewhat hopeful with 34% or very hopeful with 9% about the direction of the City, just over 52% combined say they are either somewhat concerned at 30% or very concerned at 22%.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON DIRECTION CITY IS GOING

SURVEY RESULTS ON ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT

29% have neutral or mixed feelings about APD with a score of 3.

47% of residents agree APD reflects the values of the City’s residents, with 18% disagreeing and 30% have a neutral opinion of APD and 27% disagree.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT

The 38% of residents agreeing that APD is doing a good job with response times to emergencies is very low and should come as no surprise. There have been news investigative reports on APD’s response times for Priority 1 calls. Priority 1 calls include shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, sexual and aggravated assaults, domestic violence with weapons involved and home invasions. According to the data, the time it takes officers to get to a crime scene stayed relatively consistent between January 2018 to May 2021 and was roughly between 9 and 12 minutes. In 2020, it was reported that there was a 93% increase in APD response time over a 9-year period. In 2018, clearing a scene ranged from an hour to an hour and 12 minutes. Fast forward to 2021 and APD was averaging more than 2 hours to write reports, gather evidence and interview witnesses, a full hour longer than three years ago.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/abq-4ward-examining-apds-response-times/6204745/

https://www.koat.com/article/apd-response-times-continue-to-climb/31028667

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/02/24/93-increase-in-apd-911-response-times-since-2011-48-minutes-average-response-time-to-arrive-increase-despite-new-priority-call-system/

FINAL COMMENTARY

The 2023 municipal election will indeed give voters a real opportunity to select upwards of 4 new city councilors that could dramatically change the direction of the city policy as well as the balance of power.

The city is at a crossroads and with any luck citizens who are truly concerned about the direction of the city will step up to the plate and run for city council and provide real choices and solutions to the city’s problems.

NEWS AND COMMENTARY

Monthly Archives: November 2022

Tim Keller’s 33% Approval And 40% Disapproval Ratings Deep Hole Of His Own Making He May Not Be Able To Climb Out Of; Keller’s Statewide Ambitions Likely Unrealistic As He Signals Desire For Third Term

3 Others Applying Or Expressing Interest In Replacing DA Raúl Torrez; AG-Elect Torrez Has “Checked Out” DA’s Office As ADA’s Engage In Prohibited Political Activity; Journal Editorial Downplays Need For Governor To Appoint Outsider District Attorney

JOSHUA BOONE for District Attorney

Council Enacts “Pedestrian Median Ordinance” On 7-2 Vote; “Activist” City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn Gives A Self Centered, “Flaky” Excuse To Vote “NO” Ignoring Public Safety Issue

49 Bern Co Assistant DAs Violate Personnel Rules And Regulations Engaging In Politcal Activity On Duty To Influence Governor; Governor Needs To Appoint Outsider To Replace Raul Torrez As District Attorney

APD External Force Investigation Team Files 4th Quarterly Report; 612 of 667 Backlog Of “Use Of Force Case” Remains; APD Compliance Levels: Primary Compliance: 100% (No change), Secondary Compliance: 99% (No change), Operational Compliance: 80%.

Democrat Pat Davis And Republican Trudy Jones Make It Official Announcing They Will Not Seek Another Term To City Council In 2023; Another City Council Turnover In 2023; Citizen’s Satisfaction Survey Strongly Suggests Mood For Change