On June 16, the Albuquerque City Council voted to approve the appointment of a new City Inspector General, a new City Auditor and two members of an Ethics Board. All four positions play critical roles in the oversight and enforcement of city ordinances and regulations.

The five-member Accountability in Government Oversight Committee, whose volunteer members are appointed by the mayor and City Council, oversees the Office of Inspector General and its employees and conducts searches and screens candidates for the job. It also oversees the City’s Internal Auditor.

The Committee is made up of Victor Griego, who serves as its chair and is the internal audit director at the University of New Mexico, Esteban A. Aguilar Jr., a former city attorney,  who serves as vice chair, Robert Aragon, a private  Albuquerque attorney,  Johnny L. Mangu, a certified public accountant, and Lia Armstrong, an at-large member. Ex-officio members include two top city administrators and two city councilors.

CRITICL REPORTS OF INSPECTOR GENERAL

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the City of Albuquerque is an independent entity that has the “responsibility for promoting accountability, integrity, efficiency, and transparency in the governance of the City of Albuquerque.” Through inspections, reviews, and investigations, the OIG identifies systemic corruption vulnerabilities and recommends improvements to reduce the City’s exposure to fraud, waste, and abuse.

The Office’s goal is to improve the function of City departments to ensure they are effective and efficient for the constituents of Albuquerque. Although an independent entity, the Office of the Inspector General must submit and have approved for release all reports by the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee.

On May 13,  the city’s Accountability in Government Oversight Committee placed  Inspector General Melissa Santistevan on administrative leave with pay after deciding not to recommend she be retained for another four years by the City Council. Her contract expired June 21, and three new OIG candidates were considered to replace her by the  City Council.

Santistevan became engulfed in conflicts with the  Accountability in Government Oversight Committee and the City Council over 9 completed investigations into alleged misconduct or malfeasance by the Keller Administration.

The decision to hire someone new for the nonpartisan job came after Santistevan went public with a notice March 31 alleging  that the committee had failed to consider and release a total of nine completed OIG investigations.  Santistevan stated at the time that the pending reports dealt “with fraud, waste, or abuse that impact our City. Some of these reports have been completed for months without citizen awareness.”

Griego, the committee chair, responded that the committee had “multiple concerns regarding the quality of the reports and the underlying investigations.”  The committee decided Santistevan acted outside the scope of her authority as the Inspector General, something she strongly disputed. Inspector General Santistevan in recent years has looked into violations of nepotism, misbilling, abuse of authority and leave policies, and abuse of power by the Keller Administration.

TWO SCATHING REPORTS

There have been two scathing reports issued by Inspector General  Melissa Santistevan that have been highly critical of the Keller Administration and that have raised the ire of Mayor Tim  Keller.

IMPROPER USE OF CHILD CARE STABILIZATION GRANT FUNDS

On November 24, 2024  the  Office of Inspector General issued a final Investigation Report with the entitled subject matter “Alleged Improper Use of the Child Care Stabilization Grant Funds by Inappropriately Compensating City Employees Through Bonuses.”  The program was supposed to help childcare providers defray unexpected business costs associated with the COVID pandemic.

The grant money was supposed to assist in keeping child care providers’ doors open during the pandemic. The Family & Community Services Department now operates under the umbrella of the city’s Youth and Family Services and Health, Housing and Homelessness departments.

The city of Albuquerque’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) investigation concluded that a group of city employees, including top administrators in Mayor Tim Keller’s Family & Community Services Department, received more than $280,000 in improper bonuses using money intended to sustain “childcare providers” during the COVID pandemic.

The OIG investigation report states in part as follows:

“Twenty-three out of the 27 employees who received premium pay had annual salaries greater than Preschool staff. Five of those salaries were more than double the Preschool staff’s highest paid salary with one almost tripling the salary of the highest-paid Preschool staff.”

In total, $287,972.77 was distributed to 27 city employees, a majority who worked outside the Family and Community Development Department, which oversees childcare in the city. According to the report, pay ranges for preschool are $32,469 to $42,162 annually.

Twenty-three of the 27 employees received a July 2022 bonus of either $8,533 or $3,878, then in December of the same year, 14 employees received bonuses ranging from $5,400 to $13,000.  More than 10 recipients, including top managers, received nearly $20,000 each. Among its findings, the OIG reported bonuses, called premium payments, of up to that $22,498 were paid to employees who earned $32,469 to $123,490 annually. The highest bonus of $22,498 went to the Child and Family Development division manager. The position made $88,000 annually before the “premium pay.”

On January 2, 2025 the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee took the unusual action of voting NO to approve the OIG report released. The Accountability in Accountability In Government Oversight Committee, which is comprised of community members appointed by the mayor and City Council, met on November 14 to review and consider the investigative report. The committee  found the OIG “lacked sufficient jurisdiction under the city’s Inspector General ordinance to investigate one or more of the allegations.” 

In response to the OIG report, the Keller Administration responded it did not intentionally misuse the federal grant  funds and did not have direction from the federal government on where to appropriate the funds.

Associate Chief Administrative Officer Carla Martinez released the following statement:

“These were employees that kept childcare centers open during the COVID crisis, these were not bonuses, and these were not inappropriate.  … Once again the OIG is submitting subjective opinions that were unanimously rejected by her own oversight committee comprised of legal and accounting professionals. This grant provided necessary overtime funding for critical early childhood caregiver programs and management during the Covid crisis.”

City Council President Dan Lewis issued the following statement in response to the OIG report saying this:

My office is referring this investigation to the U.S. Attorney due to allegations of federal crimes involving the abuse, misuse, and theft of federal funds allocated to high-ranking members of the Keller administration. These funds, approved by the Council, were intended exclusively for early childhood programs as outlined in the grant’s description. However, they appear to have been unlawfully redirected as cash bonuses for the Mayor’s staff.

Alex Bukoski, spokesperson for Mayor Tim Keller’s office,  responded to City Council President Dan Lewis:

“Dan’s comments are at best, a grossly inaccurate overreaction; and worst another in a long line of bitter rants against the Administration since losing his own election bid.”

COMMENTARY:  The committee voted 5-0 against approval, stating in a “cautionary statement” attached to the investigative report that “readers are advised to review this published report and its content with the understanding that the Committee did not approve this report.”  The committees cautionary statement smacks of politcal gamesmanship to try and discredit a critic.  It  is simply absurd and a false finding by the Keller Administration and the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee that the Office of Inspector General “lacked sufficient jurisdiction” and exceeded her authority with her reports. According to City Ordinance 2-17-2 the Inspector General’s goals includes “to prevent and detect fraud, waste, and abuse in city activities.”  

You can read the entire 24 page Inspector General Report here:

https://www.cabq.gov/inspectorgeneral/documents/23-0013-c-_23-0014-c-_23-0019-c_investigative_report-final.pdf/view

MONEY SPENT ON POLITICAL PROPAGANDA BOOK

On October 30, 2023, the Albuquerque Office of the Inspector General (OIG) released a scathing 27 page report that found the Mayor Tim Keller Administration had misused taxpayer money to the tune of more than $97,000 to write, edit, print and publish 598 copies of a book entitled  “City at the Crossroads: The Pandemic, Protests, and Public Service in Albuquerque”. The book became controversial when released as critics charged that it was nothing more than political propaganda paid for by taxpayers to promote Mayor Tim Keller and his administration. The book includes a chapter dedicated to Keller called “the Metal Mayor”, several dozen photos of Keller, and an introduction written by Mayor Keller and a foreword written by his wife Elizabeth J. Kistin Keller as first lady of the city.

The Office of inspector General went to far as to label the book “a waste” of taxpayer funds and said this:

“The OIG considered whether it is reasonable to believe, that in the event of another pandemic, someone would seek out and read a book of anecdotal stories as a guide of how to navigate such a crisis. …  Obligating the taxpayer’s monies to fund a book that promoted the administrative achievements during the pandemic and where a calculated value may never be known appears to be a waste.”

The report did not find enough evidence supporting claims the city violated its purchasing ordinance or the state’s anti-donation clause producing the book. However, the OIG report suggested evidence of possible favoritism and conflict of interest.

The Albuquerque Journal took special interest in the story and suffered an embarrassment when it was revealed that the book was written by none other than longtime Albuquerque Journal columnist Joline Gutierrez Krueger. It turns out Gutierrez Krueger was paid $44,700, or $60 per hour, by the city of Albuquerque to write the book without her informing the Journal editors nor getting the papers permission. Gutierrez Krueger contracted with the city while still employed by the Albuquerque Journal which was a violation of the papers policy that prohibits moonlighting for government entities to avoid conflicts of interest. The Journal issued the following statement:

“Gutierrez Krueger contracted with the city while still employed by the Journal, a violation of company policy that prohibits moonlighting for government entities to avoid conflicts of interest.”

But for the fact that Gutierrez Krueger was about to retire, her authorship of the book could have likely been used as grounds for termination by the paper.

You can read the entire 27 page OIG report at this link:

https://www.cabq.gov/inspectorgeneral/documents/22-0189-c-report-of-investigation.pdf/view

CITY COUNCIL APPOINTS NEW INSPECTOR GENERAL APPOINTED

On June 16, the City Council voted unanimously to approve William David Hoffman as the new  city Inspector General to manage the Office of Inspector General. The vote  followed a structured selection process where council members submitted ballots to determine the most qualified candidate. Hoffman’s appointment, which passed with a 6-0 vote, is expected to enhance oversight and accountability within the city’s operations.

Santistevan’s attorney Edward Hollington said this of her removal:

“Rather than thanking the IG for pointing out problems regarding waste, fraud and abuse so the city could address them, they have chosen to get rid of her for doing her job.”

According to his résumé, Hoffman is a founder of the San Diego-based Gryphon Workplace Investigations. The firm provides compliance and investigative services. Hoffman was also the director of investigations and operations at University of California San Diego and a special agent in charge at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General. A former Secret Service agent, Hoffman also holds a Master of Arts in Foreign Policy from Florida State University. Hoffman appeared by zoom for the council’s confirmation. Hoffman thanked the council for selecting him and expressed his honor in accepting the position.

The link to the quoted or relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_821d18e3-6724-454f-8336-cf6f1dbe9fe3.html

NEW CITY AUDITOR APPOINTED

The Office of Internal Audit (OIA) is responsible for conducting independent audits of City operations. The OIA  prepares reports aimed at reducing costs, increasing revenues, enhancing effectiveness and efficiency and strengthening internal controls. The OIA benefits the City of Albuquerque by making recommendations that reduce costs and improve internal controls.

The City Council voted to approve Marisa Vargas as the new city auditor to oversees the Office of the Internal Auditor. Vargas has been the city’s Interim City Auditor since 2023 . She is a University of New Mexico graduate with a master’s in accounting

TWO NEW BOARD OF ETHICS MEMBERS APPOINTED

The city charter stipulates that the council appoints three members to the Ethics Board, the Mayor appoints three members, and those six members elect a seventh member to serve as the chairperson.

The board’s responsibility is to receive and examine complaints about potential breaches of the Code of Ethics, the Election Code, the Open and Ethical Elections Code and any rules established by the board or the city clerk.

The city council voted to approve  Clayton King, a commercial real estate professional, and Levi Green, an associate director of project management company Cumming Group, to the City’s Ethics board and they will serve until July 31, 2027.  King and green will serve out the remaining terms of former members Josh Martinez and Jim Collie who resigned.

The link to the quoted or relied  upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_e59b8ff8-8843-4502-b790-0023707c3d64.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is no doubt that the appointment of a new city Inspector General, new City Auditor and 2 members of the Ethics Board are coming a very critical time during the 2025 Municipal elections where the offices of Mayor and 5 City Council seats will be on the ballot. Each position could conceivably play a critical role in ensuring transparency and accountability during the election process despite efforts to the contrary by the Keller Administration.

Based on the treatment the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee and the City Council  gave to Inspector General Melissa it can only be hoped that the Accountability in Government Oversight Committee as well as the City Council will allow the new Inspector General  William David Hoffman do his job without either  running interference for Mayor Tim Keller and his Administration over investigative reports it does not like and the enforcement of the city’s elections laws by the Ethics Board.

 

On June 26, it was reported former 20 year veteran  APD Cop Daniel Carr and who was a lateral transfer and worked  for the City of Durango Police Department became the 16th  former APD officer to be listed on the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office ‘Giglio list‘.  The list consists  of officers whose credibility can be challenged in court and whose testimony is not to be trusted. Carr was added to the list on June 23 as part of the ongoing federal investigation into the DWI corruption scheme, where officers were working with prominent  criminal  defense attorney Thomas Clear, III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez  taking bribes  to get DWI cases dismissed in court.

“Carr was the subject of a KRQE News 13 investigation in 2014 when court records show a woman who worked at a downtown strip club claimed Carr was harassing her. Records show at the time, she claimed Carr followed her boyfriend, pulled him over, and charged him with DWI.

After he was arrested, the woman says Officer Carr began calling and texting her, asking her on dates, and offering to follow her home from work in case she’d been drinking. According to court records, she says she went along with it for a while because he hinted that if he were to not show up for court for her boyfriend’s case, it would get dismissed.

Carr started working for APD in 2005. KRQE Investigates obtained his police file, showing 23 misconduct reports over the years. Some of them were for missed court. Consequences include a letter of reprimand or ‘policy refresher.’

Carr filed paperwork for retirement from APD early last year after the FBI raided former defense attorney Thomas Clear III’s office and the homes of other officers. Since then, Clear has pleaded guilty to RICO conspiracy and admitted to working with officers to get DWI cases dismissed in exchange for cash. At least eight former officers have also admitted guilt in the scheme.”

In a May Facebook post, Carr announced  he was lateral hire for Durango Police Department. The Durango Police Department  announced his hiring last month on Facebook with a post saying, “Carr’s the Name, Patrolling’s the game!” The post excitedly announced him as a lateral hire, and went on to state, “He’s got experience, he’s one of the best, and he’s officially ours!”

KRQE Investigates called the  Durango Police Department, who said they were just informed Carr was connected to the Giglio List in New Mexico, and they were  investigating. A Deputy Chief with Durango PD told KRQE that as of late Tuesday, Carr was being placed on administrative leave with pay as they conducted an internal investigation.”

The link to the quoted or relied upon new source is here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/former-apd-officer-tied-to-dwi-scandal-now-working-in-durango/

On Wednesday, June 25, the Durango Police Department announced Carr had resigned and issued the following statement:

On Monday evening, June 23, 2025, Command Staff with the Durango Police Department was notified that a Durango Police Department officer was placed on the Brady-Giglio list that same day, by the 2nd Judicial District for the State of New Mexico. Officer Daniel Carr has resigned from his position as a patrol officer with our department, which was accepted and effective immediately. This decision follows recent developments in a case originating more than a decade ago, involving a separate agency and individuals within that agency.

Upon being notified of the matter, our department immediately launched an internal administrative investigation in accordance with our established protocols. After a review of the circumstances and procedural requirements, it was determined that it was in the best interest of our community and the department to place Officer Carr on administrative leave with pay. It is important to note that Officer Daniel Carr has not been charged with a crime in connection to the matter raised in New Mexico’s 2nd Judicial District. As with any person, we respect and uphold the integrity of the judicial process, and we remain committed to ensuring fairness, due process, and accountability throughout.

Officer Daniel Carr joined our department in November 2024, following a rigorous and thorough background investigation following his retirement from Albuquerque Police Department. During his time with us, he successfully completed our Field Training Program in May of 2025, He was trusted to uphold the high standards of professionalism, character, and accountability – values that we expect from every member of our department. He resigned on June 25, 2025.

Our officers earn their place in this department through character and conduct. Every badge in this building is worn by someone who shows up, does the right thing, and asks for nothing more than the chance to serve. One investigation does not erase that truth—our decisive response proves we defend the honor of the many by confronting the missteps of the few. When something surfaces that calls that into question, we will act to protect the culture of trust and service that defines who we are. Our Durango community deserves a department that does not flinch in the face of complexity, and our officers deserve to work in an environment where values are more than words—they’re enforced. That’s the standard we hold, and the standard we’ll keep.

Information or questions on our internal investigation standards and hiring processes are available on our website: https://bit.ly/4laoBiQ

Carr has not been charged with any crime.

The links to the quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/former-apd-officer-tied-to-dwi-scandal-now-working-in-durango/

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/former-apd-officer-tied-to-dwi-scandal-resigns-from-durango-police-department/

DWI CORRUPTION AND BRIBERY SCORE CARD

A total of twenty  (20) law enforcement officers have resigned, retired, been terminated, federally charged or plead guilty  since the FBI executed five searches in January 2024, The search warrants were issue at three APD  officers’ residences, the home of a private investigator, and the law office of prominent DWI attorney Thomas Clear III.  Sixteen former APD Officers, three  Bernalillo County Sherriff Officers and one New Mexico State Police Sergeant have been implicated in the corruption, bribery and racketeering enterprise. Following is the score card:

SEVEN APD COPS AND ONE BERNALILLO COUNTY DEPUTY SHERIFF PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

Seven APD officers and one Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office Deputy have  plead guilty to federal charges of  taking bribes and they are:

1. On February 7, 2025 former APD Officer Honorio Alba plead guilty to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy.(Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
2. On February 7, 2025 former APD Officer Joshua Montaño plead guilty as charge to  racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy.(Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
3. On February 12, 2025 former APD Officer Neill Elsman plead guilty as charged  to 5  counts of  conspiracy, extortion, and bribery.  ( February 12, 2025.)
4. On March 24, 2025 former APD officer Nelson Ortiz admitted to his role in the DWI Enterprise bribery scandal and pleaded guilty in federal court to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right. He faces 20 years in prison.
5. On April 29, 2025 former APD Police Officer Harvey Johnsonplead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit “Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color Of Official Right”. He is facing 20 years in jail.
6. On May 27, 2025 former APD Officer Lucas Perez pleaded guilty to “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.” It was on March 24, 2024 that APD announced it  has  placed Lucas Perez  on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez has been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.
7. On June 23, 2025 former APD officer Louis Henckel pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting to his role in the conspiracy with criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear and his paralegal Ricardo Mendez to accept bribes to get DWI cases dismissed. Henckel plead guilty to one count of “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.”The maximum penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.
8. On February 25, 2025,  BCSO Deputy Jeff Hammerel resigned from BCSO and  plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery. (Took a plea deal on February 25, 2025.)

TWENTY  LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS FROM 3 AGENCIES IMPLICATED

A total of twenty (20) law enforcement officers have resigned, retired, been terminated or federally charged or indicted since the FBI executed five searches in January 2024 at three APD  officers’ residences, the home of a private investigator, and the law office of prominent DWI attorney Thomas Clear III. Sixteen APD Officers, three  Bernalillo County Sherriff Officers and one New Mexico State Police Sergeant thus far have been implicated in the bribery racketeering enterprise.

16 APD OFFICERS IMPLICATED, CHARGED OR PLEAD GUILTY

During the past year, a total of 16 APD Police officers have been implicated in the largest corruption scandal in APD’s history. APD Commander Kyle Hartsock is overseeing the Internal Affairs  investigations. One by one, the accused APD officers have been turning in their badges and resigning or retiring  rather than talking to Internal Affairs investigators about an alleged public corruption scheme involving DWI cases. The names and dates of the 16 officers who have resigned, placed on leave, who have been terminated, retired, charged or plead guilty are:

1. On February 7, 2024 Justin Hunt, who started at APD in 2000, resigned.
2. On February 29, 2024, Honorio Alba, who started at APD in 2014, resigned. On February 7, 2025 he plead guilty to racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy.(Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
3. On March 13, 2024, Harvey Johnson, who started at APD in 2014, resigned.
4. On March 15, 2024, Nelson Ortiz, who started at APD in 2016, resigned. On March 24, Nelson Ortiz  admitted to his role in the DWI Enterprise bribery scandal and  plead guilty in federal court to one count of Conspiracy to Commit Interference With Commerce By Extortion Under Color of Official Right. He faces 20 years in prison.
5. On March 20, 2024 Joshua Montaño, who started at APD January 2005, resigned. On Friday, February 8, Montaño plead guilty as charge to  racketeering, bribery, extortion and conspiracy. (Article link: Took a plea deal on February 7, 2025.)
6. On May 2, 2024 Daren DeAguero, who started with APD in 2009, resigned.
7. On May 9, 2024, Matthew Trahan was placed on paid leave as the investigation played out. Trahan has been with APD since 2006, was with the DWI unit from 2014-16 and recently worked as a detective.
8. On July 30, 2024 APD Officer Neill Elsman, who had worked in the DWI unit within the past several years, resigned before returning to work from military leave. On February 12, 2025 Elsman plead guilty as charged  to 5  counts of  conspiracy, extortion, and bribery. (Article: February 12, 2025.)
9. On August 1, APD announced that it fired Mark Landavazo, the APD Commander of Internal Affairs for Professional Standards, who started with APD in  2007 and was with the DWI unit from 2008 through 2013.
10. October 16, 2024 Deputy Commander Gustavo Gomez placed on paid administrative leave. Gomez was with the DWI unit from 2010 to 2013.
11. On January 24, 2025 APD announced they placed officers Matthew Chavez on leave.
12. On February 28, Kyle Curtis announced his retirement after he was placed on leave on February 24 amid being targeted in the Internal investigation involving DWI arrests.
13. In 2022, Timothy McCarson retired from the Albuquerque Police Department  and he has been implicated in the DWI scandal. The last week of January, 2025,  the FBI asked that he be added to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office‘s Giglio list, which classifies potential court testimony as unreliable.
14. On May 12, former APD officer Steve Hindiwas placed on the Giglio list of officers whose credibility is compromised after being implicated in the scandal.
15. On May 27,2025 Lucas Perez plead guilty to conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right. On March 24, 2024the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announce it  has  placed Lucas Perez on leave as a part of its internal investigation into its DWI unit and the federal investigation. Perez has been with the department since 2016 and served in the DWI unit to become the unit sergeant.
16. On June 26, 2025 it was reported that former APD Officer Daniel Carr who served with APD for nearly 20 years and who then became a lateral hire and went to work for the Durango Police Department, became the 16th former APD officer to join the ranks of officers listed on the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office ‘Giglio list‘ of officers who are no longer trusted witnesses in court. He was implicated in the DWI bribery and conspiracy case to dismiss cases. Carr immediately resigned from the Durango Police Department after the Department was notified of the action. Carr has not been charged with a crime.

THREE BERNALILLO COUNTY SHERRIFF DEPUTIES IMPLICATED

The names and dates of the 3 BCSO  officers who have resigned or placed on leave by Sherriff John Allen or who have plead guilty to charges are:

1. On February 25, 2025  BCSO Deputy Jeff Hammerel resigned from BCSO and  plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit extortion, two counts of extortion and two counts of bribery.
2. On February 24, 2025, BCSO Undersheriff Johann Jareno was asked to resign by  Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen.
3. March 7^th, Deputy Jeffry Bartram was placed on leave on after early findings that he may have been involved in the scheme. He has been with BCSO since February 2010 and was on the BCSO DWI Unit from July 2014 to August 2020.

ONE MEXICO STATE POLICE OFFICER

On February 14, 2025 the New Mexico State Police announced it placed Sgt. Toby LaFave on administrative leave after he was implicated by the FBI as accepting bribes in the DWI Enterprise to dismiss cases.  Sgt. Toby LaFave is on paid leave as the agency does its own internal investigation into allegations. LaFave was featured for years in state ENDWI campaigns and was referred to as the DWI King.

LaFave, who joined State Police in 2012, said in an online public service promotion video that he has made 3,000 arrests during his 20 years in law enforcement. Court records show LaFave has filed at least 1,300 felony and misdemeanor DWI cases from 2009 to February, 2025. Of the 31 DWI cases where LaFave was the arresting officer and Clear was the defense attorney, 17, or 57%, were dismissed by the courts.

The link to a quoted or relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_97483524-eb17-11ef-9c15-8320a7b16191.htm/

TWO RING LEADERS PLEAD GUILTY AS CHARGED

Former DWI Criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear III and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez have  plead guilty as charged to paying bribes to law enforcement to get their client’s DWI cases get dismissed.

On January 24, Ricardo “Rick” Mendez, 53, the investigator for attorney Thomas Clear III, plead guilty to all the charges contained in the criminal Information including racketeering, bribery of an agent receiving federal funds, aiding and abetting, interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right and to conspiracy. Mendez is facing 110 years in prison on the charges. On April 29  Ricardo “Rick” Mendez was scheduled to be sentenced connection with the DWI scandal. In a surprise move on the day of his sentencing it was simply vacated by the federal court. The  likely reason for the delay is that Mendez is likely providing new information about the DWI scandal and identifying more suspects to be charge.

On February 12, DWI defense attorney Thomas Clear III, 67 plead guilty as charged to nine federal charges including racketeering (RICO) conspiracy, bribery, and extortion. Clear faces up to 130 years in prison and $2 million in fines. Clear admits in his Plea Agreement that for nearly 30 years he led a criminal racketeering enterprise that paid off generations of law enforcement officers to get his clients’ DWI cases thrown out. Clear admits to running the “DWI Enterprise” since at least 1995. The DWI Enterprise scheme was run out of Clear’s law office.

According to Clear’s plea agreement, prior to 2022, Clear and his investigator Ricardo “Rick” Mendez would arrange for officers to intentionally fail to appear at required pretrial interviews involving DWI offenders the officers arrested. Clear would file motions to dismiss the proceedings, claiming the officers were necessary witnesses who didn’t show up as required. The courts would dismiss the cases as a sanction against the prosecution.  Clear has been permanently disbarred from the practice of law by the New Mexico Supreme Court and the Federal Court and a forfeiture action against a home Clear used as his offices has been taken as an asset and as part of the racketeering charge

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is absolutely no doubt that APD’s reputation has been trashed to a major extent because of this scandal. APD is viewed by many as again having just another bastion of “dirty and corrupt cops” who have brought dishonor to their department and their badge and to the department’s professed values of “Pride, Integrity, Fairness and Respect”.  There is little doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system and APD to its core especially with the involvement of the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office BCSO and New Mexico State Police Officers.

The only way that any semblance of faith can be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement in general again is if all the police officers involved in this scandal are held accountable and the lawyers involved are held accountable. That will only happen with aggressive prosecutions, convictions, and lengthy prison sentences for the law enforcement officers and attorneys involved in the “DWI Enterprise” scheme. Justice will not be served until all are charged and sentenced.

On November 4, 2025, the municipal elections for Albuquerque Mayor and City Council will be on the ballot. Of the nine-member city council, the 5 odd number City Council Districts 1,3,5,7, and 9 will be on the ballot. There are a total of 16 candidates running for the 5 City Council seats with 13 seeking public finance and 3 privately financed.

This blog article provides an update of the status of the 16 candidates running for city council as to their collection of the verified nominating petition signatures and the collection of $5.00 qualifying donations by those seeking public finance as of June 20th and as reported by the city clerk.

All Candidates for City Council must gather 500 verified nominating petition signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent. The nominating petition collection period is from June 2, 2025, at 8:00am to July 7, 2025, at 5:00pm.

The Public Finance qualifying contribution period for city council candidates is also from June 2, to July 7, 2025 where candidates are allowed to collect $5.00 donations to qualify for public financing. The number of $5.00 qualifying donations for public finance varies in each council district based upon the number of registered voters.

Applicant candidates for public finance must receive Qualifying Contributions from 1% of the registered voters in the district the candidate wishes to represent. The actual amount of public finance given to a candidate by the city if they qualify for public finance varies in each council district and an amount is given for each registered voter.

With 18 days expired in the qualifying period, following are the tabulations of qualifying petition signatures and collection of $5.00 donations for public finance:

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 1

District 1 City Council District is the centrally located Westside District between City Council District 5 on the North represented by Republican Dan Lewis and  City Council District 3 on the South represented by Democrat Klarissa Pena. The geographical borders generally include Central Avenue on the South, Coors and the Rio Grande River on the East and “zig zags” on the North to include  Atrisco Dr., Tesuque Dr. and Buterfield Trail  and with the West border  jetting outwards to the city limits and vacant land.

There are four candidates running for District 1 City Council.  All Four must collect 500 nominating petition signatures from people residing in the district

The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 1 is 450.  The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 1 is $56,311.25.

1. DANIEL GILBER LEIVA  (Publicly Financed)

 PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                            500
• Verified Petition Signatures                              456
• Rejected Petition Signatures                            296
• Remaining Petition Signatures                          44
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met            91%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                450
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                   145
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                  16
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                 305
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed        32%

With 91% of nominating petition signatures collected, Leiva will likely qualify for the ballot. With 32% qualifying $5.00 donations collected its not likely Leiva will  qualify for public finance.                   

    2. STEPHANIE TELLES  (Publicly Financed)

      PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                             500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                201
• Rejected Petition Signatures                               28
• Remaining Petition Signatures                           299
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                 40%

      QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                450
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                   175
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                  8
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                275
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed        39%                                            

ANALYSIS: With 40% of nominating petition signatures collected, Telles may not qualify for the ballot. With 39% qualifying $5.00 donations collected its likely Telles will not qualify for public finance.                   

    3.  JOSHUA TAYLOR NEAL  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                            500
• Verified Petition Signatures                               133
• Rejected Petition Signatures                              -0-
• Remaining Petition Signatures                         367
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met           27%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS 

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                450
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                    18
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                  -0-
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                432
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed         4%       

ANALYSIS:  With 27% of nominating petition signatures collected, Neil will not likely qualify for the ballot. With 4% qualifying  $5.00 donations collected its not  likely Neil will  qualify for public finance.                   

    4. AHREN GRIEGO  (Publicly Financed)

 PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                 500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                    544
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                 349
• Remaining Petition Signatures                               -0-
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                100%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                 450
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                   100
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                  25
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                 350
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed         22%

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

ANALYSIS: AHREN GRIEGO has secured 100% of the required verified signatures and is the only candidate thus far securing a ballot position. With only 22% of verified $5.00 donations collected, confidential sources have confirmed that collection of $5.00 donations for Griego has spiked and he is on track to collecting the qualifying donations.                                          

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 3

District 3 is currently represented by Klarissa Peña and she is running for a fourth term. The district is considered safe democrat. The geographic borders  are generally “Old Coors Road” on the East and the Valley area, Central on the North, and Dennis Chavez Road on the South, with the West side border jetting out to the city limits and mostly vacant area.

The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 3 is 335.  The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 3 is $41,865.00,

There are 4 candidates running for District 3 City Council. The links to the candidate campaign web pages and financial disclosure information are here:

1. CHRISTOPHER R. SEDILLO  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                  500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                     210
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                    45
• Remaining Petition Signatures                               290
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                 42%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                 335
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                    102
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                   6
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                 233
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed        30%

ANALYSIS: With 42% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely Sedillo will qualify for the ballot.  With 30% qualifying $5.00 donations collected it is not likely Sedillo will  qualify for public finance.                   

2. KLARISSA PEÑA (Incumbent)  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                    500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                       313
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                     67
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 187
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                   63%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                               335
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                  146
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                 22
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed               189
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed       44%

ANALYSIS: Democrat City Councilor Klarisa Peña is the incumbent. With 63% of nominating petition signatures collected, its likely she  will  qualify for the ballot. With 44% qualifying $5.00 donations, PEÑA is slightly behind where she should be on the collection of qualifying donations but still considered on track to qualify for public finance.

    3. NATALIA SALDANA 

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                    29
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                   7
• Remaining Petition Signatures                              471
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                6%

ANALYSIS: With 6% of nominating petition signatures collected, its likely SALDANA  will not  qualify for the ballot and that she has in fact dropped out of the race.

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS

NATALIA SALDANA  withdrew from public financing  and collected no public finance donations 

    4. TERESA GARCIA  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                    99
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                  48
• Remaining Petition Signatures                              401
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                20%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                              335
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                   12
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                 -0-
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed               323
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed       4%

ANALYSIS: With 20% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely Garcia will  NOT qualify for the ballot. With 4% qualifying $5.00 donations collected its likely Garcia will not qualify for public finance.

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 5

District 5 is the city’s northwest quadrant council district which is currently represented by Dan Lewis who is seeking a fourth term on the city council.

The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 5  is 446.  The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 5 is $55,718,75.

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/publicly-financed-candidates

There are two candidates running for District 5 City Council.  The links to the candidate campaign web pages and financial disclosure information are here:

1. ATHENEA ALLEN   (Privately Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                   346
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                  14
• Remaining Petition Signatures                              154
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                69%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS

Athena Allen is a privately financed and there are no qualifying donations to report.

ANALYSIS: Athena Allen is the wife of Bernalillo County Sherriff John Allen. With 69% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely Allen will  qualify for the ballot.  

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS 

Allen is a privately finance candidate and has collected no qualifying donations.

    2. DAN LEWIS  (Incumbent) Publicly Financed

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                   544
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                    6
• Remaining Petition Signatures                               20
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met               100%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                             446
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                471
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                 1
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed              -0-
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed     100%

ANALYSIS: Republican incumbent City Councilor Dan Lewis has secured 100% of the required nominating petitions signatures and 100% of the required $5.00 donations for public finance and will be given $55,718,75 to run his campaign.

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 7

District 7  is the mid heights city council district currently represented by first term city councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn and she is unopposed.  The district includes the uptown retail business district including the Commons, Winrock and Coronado Shopping Center. The District boundaries are generally Montgomery Boulevard on the North, I-25 on the West, Lomas on the South and Eubank on the East.

The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 7 is 466.  The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 7 is $58,205.00.

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/publicly-financed-candidates

City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn is the only incumbent who is running unopposed. She is a Publicly Financed candidate.

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                   500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                      588
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                     34
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 -0-
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                  100%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                              466
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                 480
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                 8
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed               -0-
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed      100%      

ANALYSIS: Democrat Incumbent City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn  is running unopposed.  She has secured 100% of the required nominating petitions signatures  and 100% of the required $5.00 donations for public finance and will be given  $58,205.00 to run her campaign. The fact she is unopposed would dictate that there is no need for public finance and she should consider declining the public finance funding.

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT 9

City Council District 9 is often referred to as the Four Hills area city council district and is currently represented by first term Republican City Councilor Renee Grout who is seeking a second term. Grout has 4 opponents. The District is very condensed and safe Republican. The Northern border is Menaul, the West border is Eubank, the Southern border is Dennis Ave, SE and the East border is the Sandia foothills federal land.

The number of qualifying $5.00 contributions to secure public finance in District 9 is 416.  The amount of public finance given to candidates by the city and the spending cap for District 9 is $51,957.50.

There are  five candidates running for District 9 City Council. The links to the candidate campaign web pages and financial disclosure information are here:

1. RENEE GROUT (Incumbent)  PUBLICLY FINANCED

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                   500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                      510
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                       7
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                  -0-
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                 100%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                             416
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                419
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                8
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed              -0-
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed     100%

ANALYSIS: Republican Incumbent City Councilor Renee Grout  has secured 100% of the required nominating petitions signatures  and 100% of the required $5.00 donations for public finance and she will be on the ballot and will be given  $51,957.50  to run her campaign.

    2. ANAMI DASS   (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                   500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                        27
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                       9
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 473
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                    5%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                             416
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                  2
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                -0-
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed              414
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed       0%

ANALYSIS: With only 5%  of nominating petition signatures collected and -0-%  verified qualifying $5.00 donations collected its likely Anami Dass has dropped out of the race.      

   3.  MELANI BUCHANAN FARMER  (PRIVATELY FINANCED)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                    500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                       379
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                      27
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 124
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                   76%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

Melani Farmer Buchanan is a privately financed and there are no qualifying donations to report.

ANALYSIS: With 76% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely Melani Buchanan Farmer Garcia will  qualify for the ballot. Buchannan is a privately finance candidate and has collected no qualifying donations .

   4.  BYRON K. POWDRELL  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                   500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                      154
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                      28
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 346
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                   31%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                             416
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                 28
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                1
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed              388
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed       7%

ANALYSIS: With 31% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely that  Byron K. Powdrell will NOT make the ballot unless he has a major surge. With only 7% of Verified $5.00  Qualifying Contributions collected, it is not likely Powdrell will qualify for public financing.

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

   5. COLTON ALAN NEWMAN  (Publicly Financed)

PETITION NOMINATING SIGNATURES

• Required Petition Signatures                                   500
• Verified Petition Signatures                                      166
• Rejected Petition Signatures                                      38
• Remaining Petition Signatures                                 334
• % of Verified Petition Signatures Met                   33%

QUALIFYING $5 CONTRIBUTIONS                                                     

• Required Qualifying Contributions                             416
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                   8
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                               -0-
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed               408
• % of Verified Qualifying Contributions Needed        2%

ANALYSIS: With 33% of nominating petition signatures collected, it’s likely Colton Alan Newman will not make the ballot. With only 2% of Verified $5.00  Qualifying Contributions collected, it is not likely Newman will qualify for public financing.

The link to verify tallies for petition signatures and qualifying donations is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The nominating petition collection period and qualifying donation period for city council  is from June 2, 2025, at 8:00am to July 7, 2025, at 5:00pm.  It’s very impressive that within 18 days three out of four City Council incumbents quickly  secured 100% of both the required nominating  petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying contributions. The three incumbent city councilors are:

Republican incumbent District 5 City Councilor Dan Lewis has submitted  544 Verified Qualifying Nominating Petition signatures when 500 were required and submitted 471 Verified Qualifying Contributions when 446  were needed and the city will give him $55,718,75 in public finance.

Democrat incumbent District 7 City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn has submitted 588 Verified Qualifying Nominating Petition signatures when 500 were required and submitted 480 Verified Qualifying Contributions when 466 were needed and the city will give her $58,205.00 in public finance even though she is unopposed.

Republican incumbent District 9 City Councilor Renee Grout  has submitted 510 verified qualifying nominating petition signatures when 500 were required and has submitted 419 Verified Qualifying Contributions when 416  were required and the city will give her $51,957.50 in public finance.

Democrat City Councilor Klarisa Peña is the incumbent in District 3. With 63% of nominating petition signatures collected, its likely she  will  qualify for the ballot. With 44% qualifying $5.00 donations PEÑA is also on track to qualify for public finance.

The fact that all four incumbents have done so well and so quickly in collecting both nominating petition signatures and collection of the $5.00 donations is testament to the power of incumbency. It is also clear evidence that public finance favors incumbents over unknown candidates.

PUBLIC FINANCE FAVORS INCUMBENTS

Albuquerque’s public finance system has come under sever criticism in the Mayor’s race as favoring incumbents who have high name identification and a volunteer network. In the Mayor’s race, public finance candidates had to collect 3,780 donations of $5.00 to the city from registered voters to qualify for the city to give them $755,946 in city financing for their campaigns. The time frame to collect both nominating petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying contributions was  the same and it was from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025, a mere 64 days.

Originally  8 out of 11  candidates for Mayor declared themselves  to be “public finance” candidates and they were Alpana Adair, Alexander Uballez, Darren White, Tim Keller, Louis Sanchez, Edie Varella, Patrick Sais and Adeo Herrick. Soon, 7 of the 8 candidates abandoned their efforts to qualify for public finance. Only Mayor Tim Keller qualified for public finance and was given $755,946 in city financing for his campaign.

Alpana Adair withdrew from public finance after collecting only seven verified $5.00 contributions. Patrick Sais withdrew after collecting only two.

Eddie Varela withdrew after collecting 95 of the 3,685 donations or 3%. Varela had this to say:

“I was of the belief that [public finance] would help just a regular guy or gal run for office and would be a great benefit to everybody. … I don’t believe that anymore. I believe it’s flawed, and it needs to be revisited.”

On May 30, former United States Attorney Alexander Uballez abruptly ended his efforts to seek public finance. Uballez said this:

“I’m the fourth candidate to make this decision. When the only candidate who appears on track to qualify for public financing is the incumbent, it’s a clear sign that this isn’t working as it should. 

On June 2, City Councilor Louie Sanchez became the fifth candidate to withdraw from public finance and become a private financed candidate.

https://www.cabq.gov/clerk/documents/sanchez-withdrawal-as-an-applicant-candida

Sanchez said this of his withdrawal from public finance:

“One of the things that I’ve found out about public finance is that it’s extremely difficult. When you get into the realm of public financing, there is a lot of things that play in. We’re noticing that in this day and age, not everybody has a five-dollar bill, our volunteers don’t have change. … Since it’s online, or the online link, it takes several times or several tries to get the cumbersome process going.”

On June 8, former Bernalillo County Sherriff Darren White became the sixth candidate to withdraw from public finance by filing with the city clerk a withdrawal notice. White said this:

“Despite our tireless grassroots efforts, it became clear that we would not be able to meet the remaining 1,800 qualifying $5 donations within the two-week deadline. … The only person who has qualified for [public finance]  in the past two elections is Tim Keller. And so what does that tell you? It tells you that the system is, as I said, it’s an incumbent protection plan.”

The Keller campaign said qualifying for public financing isn’t supposed to be easy. In a statement, Keller took issue with all  his opponents’ claims that the public finance rules favor incumbents. Keller said this in a statement:

“Complaining that public financing doesn’t work is like blaming the ref because you can’t hit your free throws — it’s not the system’s fault you’re falling short. The real issue isn’t the rules; it’s a lack of grassroots support, campaign credibility, and the organizational strength to lead.

FINAL ANALYSIS

The fact that only incumbent  Mayor Tim Keller qualified  for public finance this election year is clear evidence that the public finance system has been set up for candidates to fail and that it favors incumbents. The fact that the 4 incumbent City Councilors will also be the only ones who will qualify for public finance is further evidence that the system favors incumbents and discourages opposition.

Some have argued, especially Mayor Keller and his staunchest  supporters that public finance is a system that is “supposed to be hard”.  Keller and his staunchest supporters are essentially saying public finance is designed to “weed out” candidates who are incapable of mounting serious campaigns or who have little or no political support. But building political support by newcomers to the political process is what political campaigns are all about and that can only accomplished with adequate funding.

Increases to the amount of public finance over the years were done to allow public finance candidates to compete with private financed candidates. But the problem is the system allows candidates to publicly finance and then allows their supporters to just turn around and set up measured finance committees so they can have the best of both worlds which is something Mayor Tim Keller and his enablers have perfected.

Making it so hard that no one qualifies for public finance but incumbents is a mockery of the purpose and intent of public finance which is to encourage qualified people to run who cannot afford to run and who are not independently wealthy and who are not politically connected.

 

On June 23, Former APD officer Louis Henckel pleaded guilty in federal court, admitting to his role in the conspiracy with criminal defense attorney Thomas Clear and his paralegal Ricardo Mendez to accept bribes to get DWI cases dismissed. Henckel plead guilty to one count of “conspiracy to commit interference with commerce by extortion under color of official right.” The maximum penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a fine up to $250,000.

Henckel’s involvement occurred over a six-month period in 2020. Henckel said he was paid the equivalent of the overtime he would have made in court to not show up and the case was dismissed. In one case, Henckel said he accepted money to skip the trial of DWI offender who was the girlfriend of another DWI officer involved in the bribery and extortion scheme.

According to Henckel’s plea agreement, the amount he received was at least the “equivalent of my overtime I missed out on for not attending, which would have been $90 per hearing at which I intentionally failed to appear.” The woman’s DWI case was ultimately dismissed after Henckel failed to appear at her trial. Henckel said that when he didn’t appear as required, he knew the case would likely be dismissed

Henckel’s plea agreement states that beginning in January 2020, and continuing until July 2, 2020, he joined other officers in Clear’s scheme. As an arresting officer in DWI cases, he was a necessary witness in court hearings and interviews. DWI offenders he arrested would be solicited by Clear and Mendez as clients. The clients would be both aware and unaware of the scheme.

Henckel admitted  he would be paid in cash to agree not to perform his duties on the DWI  cases and was also provided non-cash rewards such as restaurant gift cards and free legal advice. In  his plea agreement he states:

“I understood that these gifts, while not tied to a particular case, were given to DWI officers to develop goodwill.”

Court records show Clear was the defense attorney on seven of Henckel’s cases, and at least five of those were dismissed by a Metro Court judge as a sanction against the state.

The case is  the largest corruption and bribery scandal in the history of the Albuquerque Police Department and involving the state’s 3 largest law enforcement agencies of APD, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State.

A total of nineteen (19) law enforcement officers have resigned, retired, been terminated or federally charged or indicted since the FBI executed five search warrants in January 2024 at three APD  officers’ residences, the home of a private investigator, and the law office of prominent DWI attorney Thomas Clear III. Fifteen APD Officers, three  Bernalillo County Sherriff Officers and one New Mexico State Police Sergeant thus far have been implicated in the bribery racketeering enterprise.

Henckel was terminated by APD in April 2021 and prior to the investigation into DWI officers. He was hired by APD in 2008 and worked in the DWI unit from 2017 to 2019. He was later terminated by APD in 2021 for violating policies related to truthfulness.  The Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office added Henckel to the Brady-Giglio disclosure list which red flags sworn police as not being credible witnesses in court.

Seven former APD officers who have left or been terminated from the department have plead guilty to federal charges for their roles in the DWI conspiracy. They are Neill Elsman, Honorio Alba, Joshua Montaño, Nelson Ortiz, Harvey Johnson, Lucas Perez and Louis Henckel. Former BCSO deputy Jeff Hammerel also pleaded guilty to federal charges. In total, eight law enforcement officers have pleaded guilty.

The links to relied upon or quoted news sources are here:

https://abqraw.com/post/seventh-former-apd-dwi-officer-pleads-guilty-in-dwi-case-dismissal-scheme/

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_05c64ccf-3d93-4b9f-803a-f57075a39106.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/crime/albuquerque-police-department-dwi-investigation/8th-officer-pleads-guilty-for-role-in-dwi-unit-scandal/

FORMER COP JOSHUA MONTANO STRIPPED OF LAW ENFORCMEMENT LICENSE

On Thursday, June 12,   former Albuquerque Police Officer Joshua Montano agreed to relinquish his right to be a certified police officer  in New Mexico and he was officially stripped of his law enforcement certificate by the NM Law Enforcement Certification Board (LECB ). Joshua Montaño was one of the first officers to admit his own guilt in federal court back in February to RICO conspiracy, bribery, and conspiracy to commit extortion.

The LECB formally accepted a proposed settlement with Montaño. They voted unanimously to accept Montaño’s relinquishment of  his law enforcement certification, rather than revoking it. The LECB went into a closed session for three hours during the meeting to discuss officer discipline matters, including Montaño’s.

Members of the media and of the public were initially allowed to be present to  hear part of the meeting. The LECB then went into “closed session” for three hours to discuss officer discipline matters, including Montaño’s, where the news media and the public were not allowed to attend in that personnel matters and disciplinary matters were the subject of the meeting and a final vote.  When the board members returned to the open meeting, it was a short vote with neither Montaño nor his attorney there for the formality.

Montaño started working for the City of Albuquerque as a Police Service Aide in 2005 before becoming a sworn officer in 2007. He worked in APD’s DWI unit from 2015 through 2024.

Joshua Montano  was highlighted in a case  where Montaño was shown using a DWI suspect’s bracelet to connect the driver with a defense attorney’s office  who then offered a guaranteed case dismissal for a price.

Montaño is the first officer connected to the scheme to be officially stripped of his certification. So far, there are seven law enforcement officers who’ve taken plea deals in federal court for their roles in the DWI corruption scheme.

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/former-officer-in-dwi-scheme-relinquishes-certification/

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There is absolutely no doubt that APD’s reputation has been trashed to a major extent because of this scandal. APD is viewed by many as again having just another bastion of “dirty and corrupt cops” who have brought dishonor to their department and their badge and to the department’s professed values of “Pride, Integrity, Fairness and Respect”.  There is little doubt that this whole DWI dismissal bribery scandal has shaken the public’s faith in our criminal justice system and APD to its core especially with the involvement of the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office BCSO and New Mexico State Police Officers.

The only way that any semblance of faith can be restored and for people to begin trusting APD and law enforcement in general again is if all the police officers involved in this scandal are held accountable and the lawyers involved are held accountable. That will only happen with aggressive prosecutions, convictions, and lengthy prison sentences for the law enforcement officers and attorneys involved in the “DWI Enterprise” scheme. Justice will not be served until all are charged and sentenced.

 

On Friday, June 20 the City Clerk verified that 7 candidates out of 11 total candidates for Mayor successfully gathered 100% of the 3,000 qualifying nominating petition signatures from Albuquerque registered voters. All seven will appear on the November 4 municipal ballot. If  no one of the 7 candidates secures 50% plus one of the vote, the two top vote getters will face each other in a run off election which  must be held within 45 days of the  November 4 election.

All 11 Candidates for Mayor had from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025 by 5:00 pm, 64 days, to collect the required 3,000 verified signatures. The seven candidates who have qualified for the ballot gathering more than 3,000 nominating signatures are:

1. Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller qualified for the ballot after securing 4,786 signatures, the most of all the candidates.
2. Eddie Varela, a retired Albuquerque firefighter and former California fire chief, qualified after securing 3,973 signatures, the second most among candidates.
3. Alex Uballez, the former U.S. attorney for the District of New Mexico, qualified after securing 3,643 signatures.
4. Louie Sanchez, a former police officer and current city councilor, qualified after securing 3,588 signatures.
5. Darren White, the former sheriff of Bernalillo County and CEO of cannabis company PurLife, qualified after receiving 3,562 signatures.
6. Daniel Chavez, president of Parking Company of America was the very first to qualify for the ballot after securing 3,427 signatures.
7. Mayling Armijo, the former director of Economic Development for Bernalillo County and deputy county manager for Sandoval County, qualified after securing  3,370 signatures.

The four candidates who have failed to secure the 3,000 qualifying  signature and who have failed to make the ballot as of Friday June 20 are:

1. Patrick Sais, who has run for mayor before and a state house seat unsuccessfully in the past collected 1,052 verified signatures.
2. Alpana Adair, a former hospitality consultant collected 29  verified signatures.
3. Brian Fejer, a local blogger, withdrew from the race collected 77 verified signature
4. Adeo Herrick, who regularly criticizes the city during the City Council’s general comment period secured 38 verified signatures.

The link to a quoted or relied upon news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_a6f5a27d-e7d3-4ea0-b0f2-87a2b96431c5.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

The city link to review the City Clerk’s total raw data tabulations of verified petition signatures and rejected petition signatures for each of the 11 candidates is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

MAYOR KELLER ONLY CANIDATE TO QUALIFY FOR PUBLIC FINANCE

Public finance candidates for Mayor were required to collect 3,780 donations of $5.00 to the city from registered voters to qualify for the city to give them $755,946 in city financing for their campaigns. The time frame to collect both nominating petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying contributions was the same period and was from April 19, 2025 to June 21, 2025.

The 8 original candidates who declared themselves  to be “public finance” candidates are Alpana Adair, Alexander Uballez, Darren White, Tim Keller, Louis Sanchez, Edie Varella, Patrick Sais and Adeo Herrick.  Six candidates withdrew their application for public finance. The only two candidates who remained  public financed candidates were Tim Keller  and Adeo Henrick.

Adeo Herrick collected only 7 of the 3,780 required verified qualifying $5.00 donations and only 29 of the 3,000 required nominating petition signatures, thereby failing to qualify for the ballot and failing to qualify for public finance.

On June 20, the City Clerk determined that Tim Keller was the only candidate to qualify for public finance. The following are the processed public finance qualifying donations for Tim Keller as of Friday June 20:

• Required Qualifying Contributions                                                      3,780
• Verified Qualifying Contributions                                                         4,046
• Rejected Qualifying Contributions                                                          361
• Remaining Qualifying Contributions Needed                                         -0-
• Percentage of Verified Qualifying Contributions Met                    100%

 https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2025-candidates-and-committees-1/2025-petition-qualifying-contribution-tally

Some politcal pundits and columnists are saying that if Keller’s opponents are unable to raise sufficient campaign donations, there is a possibility that Keller could capture 50% of the vote and avoid a runoff election between the top two finishers. That is wishful thinking. Keller will need every penny of his public finance and then some to deal with his low approval ratings as the campaign drags on over the summer and into the fall and his opponents hit him hard on the issues until November 4.

Notwithstanding, all of Keller’s opponents are relegated to scrambling for private financing unless they are wealthy enough to self-finance. It’s unknown how they will do with private fundraising, but we will soon see as campaign finance reports are required to be filed and made public. The only candidate that likely has the ability to private finance his campaign is Parking Company of America CAO Daniel Chavez who has already donated $100,000 of his personal money to finance the collection of the ballot qualifying nominating signatures.

SEPTEMER 2 ONLY DAY FOR WRITE IN CANDIDATES TO FILE

Although the time frame for candidates to announce and qualify for the ballot for Mayor has come and gone, there is still an option for people to declare as write in candidates.  In 2023, the New Mexico Legislature enacted a law that allows for write in candidates in all regular local elections which includes municipal elections. The link to  the statute is here:

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-1/article-22/section-1-22-8-1/

A person desiring to be a write-in candidate for Mayor must  file with the Bernalillo County Clerk a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate because it is the Bernalillo County Clerk who oversees the election and counts the ballots under the Local Election Act. Write in candidates are given only one day to file a “declaration of intent to be a write in candidate” for Mayor. The City Clerk’s Candidate Calendar published on the City Clerk’s web page states the filing date for write-in-candidates is Tuesday, September 2.  

The “declaration of intent to be a write in candidate” must  be accompanied by  a nominating petition containing the same number of signatures required of candidates for Mayor which is 3,000 signatures. Under the law, a write-in candidate is considered a candidate for all purposes and provisions relating to candidates in the Local Election Act, except that the write-in candidate’s name shall not be printed on the ballot nor posted in any polling place.

City of Albuquerque nominating petition forms to collect signatures to nominate a candidate for Mayor as a write in candidate may be obtained from City Clerk Ethan Waston whose email address is ewatson@cabq.gov. The  City Clerk’s office is located in the Plaza Del Sol Building, 600 2nd St NW, Albuquerque, NM 87102 and the phone number is (505) 924-3650.

Instructions on how to use the petitions can be found at this link:

How to use the Petition Form for Mayoral Candidates

There are examples of petitions on the City Clerks  training page which can be found here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/training-videos

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Mayor Tim Keller is seeking a third consecutive four-year term despite the fact he has a very low approval rating. Keller’s approval rating is believed to be in the 30% to 33% range based on past polls. Notwithstanding Keller’s low approval ratings, he will likely make it into a run off, either first or second, because of his loyal base of progressive Democrats he has relied upon every single time he has run for office including NM State Senate, New Mexico State Auditor and twice as Mayor.

The fact that Keller is the only candidate to secure $755,946 in public finance is also evidence he is running against a very weak field of candidates. There is also the Measured Finance Committee Ascend Albuquerque set up to promote Keller’s candidacy. The measured finance committee has already raised $38,500 in total contributions from 8 major donors. Given the involvement of two well-known, respected progressive Democratic fundraisers, the measured fiancé committee will likely raise thousands more to promote Keller or tear down his opponents. The city link to Ascend Albuquerque is here:

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/#/exploreCommitteeDetail/VMQvJiHXaP1z-Iz2eL_papP4048PFnxLXRUfdOLcQk01/null/null/2/2025

KELLER PROCLAIMS CITY ON THE COMEBACK

There is little doubt that the campaign for Mayor has already commenced in earnest, especially by Keller. Keller recently cast the current moment as a comeback for Albuquerque and in a real sense he is talking about a comeback for himself.

On June 17, during a luncheon speech before the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce at the  Embassy Suites, Keller reflected on his seven years in office, going back to 2017 when he initially started working with the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce on the major issues affecting companies and families: the economy, crime and homelessness.

Keller told business leaders this:

“We’ve done the real work. We’ve tried to fix and build systems that will last well beyond myself or folks who are in leadership positions in this room. We’ve also weathered pandemics, protests, two governors, two presidents, but through it all, what you see now is we’re tested. We are trusted to hold this together. … And Albuquerque is making a comeback.”

The most revealing words spoken by Keller are “We’ve tried to fix and build systems … ”  “Trying” just does not cut it when Keller acknowledges the same issues of the economy, crime and the homeless are still present today as when he ran the first time 7 years ago. Mayor Keller acknowledged how crime and homelessness have impacted Albuquerque’s businesses but he said the city has made major strides in addressing all three areas.

The link to the quoted news source is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/business/article_11730ceb-785a-4cd4-a49f-0b028cd76e29.html

KELLER’S OPPOSITION

Virtually every single one of Keller’s opponents have said he does not deserve to be elected to a third four year term and that crime and the homeless have risen sharply during Keller’s two terms in office years. They all proclaim they can do better but fail to fully articulate how. Keller’s 6 opponents argue he hasn’t done enough to combat crime and the homeless.

The following is an analysis of all six of Keller’s opponents:

REPUBLICAN DARREN WHITE

Republican Darren White is the controversial former Cabinet Secretary of the Department of Public Safety for then Republican Governor Gary Johnson. White is a former two term Bernalillo County Sheriff and former Albuquerque Chief Public Safety Officer under Republican Mayor Richard Berry. When Darren White was Albuquerque Chief Public Safety Officer, he “retired” from the city after he interfered with an APD investigation of his wife involved in an accident. Following his career in law enforcement, White changed his strong opposition to the legalization of marijuana. He started his own cannabis dispensary company called PurLife after securing a dispenser’s license from the Republican Governor Susana Martinez’s  Administration.

Darren White  has been the most critical of Mayor Tim Keller’s record, particularly concerning crime, the homeless and falsely proclaiming Keller has made Albuquerque a sanctuary city.  White asserts that there have been 660 murders during Keller’s years in office, that an alarming number of businesses have had to close down because of crime and because Keller has made Albuquerque a “sanctuary city.”

White proclaimed  in his announcement:

“Mayor Keller has presided over the most murders in Albuquerque’s history. His weak approach to crime and homelessness has failed and it’s time for change.”

In a fund raising letter, White falsely proclaimed this:

“One of Keller’s first acts as Mayor was too make Albuquerque  a Sanctuary City for illegal immigrants who commit crimes. Now we have case after case of violent crimes being committed by illegal immigrants, many of who have been arrested multiple times but turned back onto the streets by this Mayor’s backward policies. As Mayor, I will end the Sanctuary City law immediately.”

Albuquerque is not a “Sanctuary City” as White proclaims.  A “Sanctuary City” is a jurisdiction that prohibits local law enforcement  from a enforcing federal immigration laws leaving that work exclusively  to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

It was in 2001, long before Keller became Mayor, that the city council declared the city to be an “Immigrant-Friendly City”. It establishes City Of Albuquerque policies regarding immigrants and their families, regardless of immigration status and establishes a city immigrant resource program. “Immigrant Friendly” cities enact policies that are favorable to undocumented people to allow services.  Its local  law enforcement personnel do not make arrests for violations of federal immigration laws and only make arrests of undocumented people for violations of local ordinances and state laws. 

DEMOCRAT LOUIE SANCHEZ

Democrat Louie Sanchez is a first term District 1 City Councilor for the West side. He is a retired APD Police Officer and was head of former Mayor Marty Chavez’s security detail.  He is the owner of the Louie Sanchez All State Insurance Agency.  Sanchez’s campaign website calls for “safer communities,” “a stronger community” and “solutions for homelessness” but he provides little or no specifics.  Sanchez  has been critical of Keller regarding issues of transparency, accountability, and the management of APD.  Sanchez has called for the termination of Chief Harold Medina who will likely remain if Keller is elected to a third term.

Many Democrats accuse Sanchez of being a Democrat in Name Only (DINO). Sanchez is known to support ordinances sponsored by Republicans and oppose ordinances sponsored by Democrats. Sanchez supported the abolishment of the current strong Mayor form of government falsely proclaiming it does not work and he advocated it be replaced with a City Manager appointed by the Council, now he wants to be Mayor.

Sanchez is considered the swing vote on the City Council and has shown it by repeatedly voting with all 4 of the Republicans on the City Council to repeal ordinances enacted by the previous progressive city council. On April 4, 2022 Councilor Sanchez voted with the 4 Republicans to repeal “City Project Labor Agreement” requirements mandating use of union labor in city construction contracts.

City Council Louie Sanchez offended all city unions when he said this about his vote to repeal the Project Labor agreement ordinance:

“I know the competition is good. … I really feel everybody has to have a piece of the pie. … Another thing I know, because I was a union member for so long, is that, there is a lot of slugs in the union. I know that for a fact.”

DEMOCRAT ALEXANDER M. M. UBALLEZ

Democrat Alexander M. M. Uballez is the Former New Mexico U.S. Attorney who was fired by President Trump on Valentines Day February 14. Although he has absolutely no experience as an elected official, Uballez  proclaims his experience as a prosecutor, combined with his two years at the helm of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, would play a key role in addressing Albuquerque’s crime and public safety issues. There is a big difference between managing a federal prosecutors office of upwards of 120 employees to overseeing a municipality with 29 divisions, with upwards of 7,000 full-time employees and a $1.2 Billion budget.

Uballez’s  biggest claim to fame is bringing federal charges against law enforcement officers and the ring leaders involved in the DWI bribery and conspiracy scandal to dismiss hundreds of DWI cases. Confidential sources report that Uballez wanted  the FBI to turn over cases to his office so that his office could bring charges in January, 2025 before he was fired by Trump to get recognition and take credit for the prosecutions. Criminal Defense Attorney Thomas Clear and his investigator along with15 APD officers, 3 Sherriff Deputies, and 1 State Police Officer have been implicated in the bribery scheme  to get cases dismissed in the largest bribery and conspiracy case in the city’s history. Instead of bringing charges against all 21, Uballez essentially “cherry picked” the 5 most prominent cases to prosecute to enable him to take credit. There is no guarantee that all the others will be prosecuted.

Then there is the matter of when on  January 25, 2024 then US Attorney Alexander Uballez sent a letter to Bernalillo Country District Attorney Sam Bregman that outed the FBI federal DWI Enterprise investigation stating in part there was “an ongoing and covert, federal  investigation involving the APD .” The letter placed into jeopardy the federal investigation of APD when the letter was distributed to the media and made public. The letter likely violated the Department of Justice protocols and ethical standards when it was sent to Bregman and then released to the news media. Publication of the letter by the media undermined the confidentiality of the criminal investigation.

Political analysts, city hall watchers and Democratic Party insiders are saying Uballez has picked up the backing of younger progressive Democrats who have become very disillusioned and dissatisfied with progressive Democrat Tim Keller.  Uballez has said of Keller that a third term is only warranted when a leader has “absolutely crushed it and delivered on all the promises,” which he doesn’t believe is the case with Keller’s tenure. He points to areas like public safety, homelessness, and economic development as evidence of stagnation and a lack of progress under Keller’s leadership.

Uballez failed to secure public financing and argued the current system favors incumbents like Keller due to their name recognition and established political infrastructure, making it difficult for newcomers to compete.

REPUBLICAN EDDIE VARELA

Republican Eddie Varela is a retired Albuquerque firefighter and former California fire chief. Varela’s campaign website lists six issues, including safety, homelessness, transparency, seniors, youth and small businesses as his top priorities giving few specifics. Varela said he wants to restore public safety, rebuild trust in the government and revitalize the economy. Like the other candidates, he  is running on a platform advocating for change.

He has stated that on his first day, he would declare war on crime and implement a curfew for those 18 and under. Varela has stated that he would not push to declare Albuquerque an “immigrant-friendly” nor “sanctuary city” and believes the city should cooperate with all federal agencies.

Varela has said he did not vote for Donald Trump nor Kamala Harris for President, but now that Trump has been elected, he feels that Trump is doing a “great job” as President. Varela has said that he agrees with President Trump’s and Elon Musk’s severe cuts to government and reducing the size of the federal government. Varela has not said how he will deal  with the Trump Administration cutting millions of federal funding to the city.

DEMOCRAT MAYLING ARMIJO 

Democrat Mayling Armijo is a former Deputy County Manager for Sandoval County. On her campaign website, she lists her priorities as crime, housing and homelessness, substance abuse, job growth, and setting term limits for the mayor’s office. She proclaims that she is not a politician and offers very little specifics on how she will bring down crime. Her experience includes working as economic development director for Bernalillo County, the deputy County Manager for Sandoval County and work with the New Mexico Economic Development Department.

Armijo is a privately financed candidate and a separate  measured finance committee has been formed to promote her and has already raised $140,000.  Reasons for running against Keller include her general dissatisfaction with the Keller administration. Armijo stated that she “didn’t see anybody else jumping in, and [she] knew that [they] couldn’t do another four years of this current administration”.

INDEPENDENT DAN CHAVEZ

Independent Daniel Chavez was born and raised in Albuquerque. After graduating from the University of New Mexico with his bachelor’s degree in 1995, Daniel Chavez acquired the Albuquerque branch of Parking Company of America which is  the managing company of several parking lots in the city. Chavez is President of the company. Chavez has never run for or held office and is considered a virtual unknown.  Chavez has said if elected he would focus on making Albuquerque safer and creating economic opportunities but offers little or no specifics. He is a privately financed candidate.

Daniel Chavez has said very little publicly about Mayor Keller. Chavez’s campaign strategy was to first qualify for the ballot by spending $100,000 of his own money to surpass Keller in collecting nominating  signatures to be first to get on the ballot and to gain attention for his campaign. Chavez believes the public finance system, historically, has benefited incumbents like Keller, suggesting it acts as an “incumbent protection plan“. Chaves appears to be wealthy enough to self-finance. Chavez, like all others running against Keller cites concerns about crime and homelessness, but offers no specifics on what he intends to do.

KELLER’S RECORD OF FAILURE

The biggest problem Keller has for his re-election is that during his two terms, he has been a major failure if not an outright disaster when it comes to city management, policy and addressing the city’s complex problems. Thus far the candidates running against Keller state the obvious problems the city is facing such as crime is out of control  and the homeless have taken over the city but they offer no real solutions. Keller did the exact same thing when he ran for mayor the first time seven years ago, but now he must run on his own record.

CRIME FIGHTING FAILURE

Seven years ago when Keller first ran and became Mayor, he proclaimed violent crime was out of control, that he could get it down and that he would increase APD sworn from the then 850 to 1,200. Violent crime and homicides continues to spike and are out of control seven years later with APD currently at about 900 sworn officers. The city’s ongoing homicide and violent crime rates continue to be at historical highs and people simply do not feel safe in their homes as the fentanyl crisis surges. APD ranks number one in police killings of citizens in the top 50 largest cities in the country.

Mayor Keller and Chief Harold Medina have seriously mismanaged the ongoing train wreck known as the Albuquerque Police Department with the department still dangerously understaffed at about 900 cops despite  seven years of  increased budgets, salary increases and lucrative bonus pay. Of the 900 sworn police, there are only 250 sworn officers patrolling the streets of Albuquerque divided into 3 shifts. Its not uncommon for entire area commands being patrolled by 2 or 4 officers because others are on leave. Keller has literally thrown money at the problem. This coming from the Mayor who promised 1,200 cops during his first term. During a recent APD Academy graduation, Keller promised 1,000 cops by the end of the year which is not at all likely given expected retirements.

APD CORRUPTION

Then there is the largest bribery and corruption case in APD’s history with 14 APD Officers implicated and 3 who have been federally charged and who have plead guilty to federal bribery and conspiracy charges involving the dismissal of hundreds of DWI cases for bribes. The former APD officers face up to 130 years in prison. Both Keller and Chief Medina have failed to take any responsibility for what happened under their watch as they deflect and blame others. They both have blamed the Court’s, the DAs Office and the Public Defenders for the DWI dismissals.’

THE HOMELESS CRISIS

Keller has spent over $300 million in the last 3 years on homeless shelters, programs, and the city purchasing and remodeling motels for low-income housing.  The approved 2026 city budget contains an additional $56 million for homeless services and contracts with providers. The funding is an “unsustainable black hole” of expenditures.

Keller has taken an “all the above approach” to deal with the city’s homeless. The city has a total of 5 shelters  to deal with the homeless that should be operating as an integrated system:

• The Gibson Gateway shelter
• The Gateway West shelter
• The Family Gateway shelter
• The Youth Homeless shelter
• The Recovery Shelter

The blunt reality is that Mayor Keller has essentially proclaimed the unhoused as “wards of the city” when such a responsibility should be undertaken by the state or federal government.

The recent annual Point In Time  homeless survey count found an 18% increase in  the homeless with upwards of 3,000 chronic homeless. It has been reported that 75% refuse city services. Despite Keller’s spending efforts to assist the unhoused, the city’s homeless numbers continue to spike as the crisis worsens and as the unhoused refuse services and as they take over our streets.

The $300 million spent to help 3,000 to 5,000 homeless with 75% refusing services would have gone a  long way to finance community centers, senior citizen centers, police and fire substations, preschool or after school programs, senior citizen programs, and police and fire programs.

Keller has allowed the unhoused to proliferate city streets, parks and open space declining to aggressively enforce city and state vagrant laws and make arrests. Keller allowed Corando Park to become the city’s de facto city sanction homeless encampment before he declared it to be the most dangerous place in the state forgetting it was he who sanctioned it and then he was forced to close it down because of out-of-control violent crime and illicit drug use.

A solution to deal with mentally ill and drug addicted homeless people who refuse city services is the initiation of civil mental health commitments by the state to mandate mental health care or drug addiction counseling in a hospital setting after a court hearing determining a person is a danger to themselves or others. Such an approach would get the mentally ill and drug addicted the health care they desperately need and off the streets.

AFFORDABLE HOUSING EFFORTS

Keller’s “ABQ Housing Forward Plan” to increase affordable housing was nothing more than a politcal rues relying on the city’s housing shortage. His original announced goal was for the city to have 5,000 additional affordable housing units to be added to the market by 2025 but he fell short by 3,000.

Keller pushed mandating “safe outdoor spaces” approved exclusively by the planning department for the unhoused in all 9 city council districts over objections of neighborhoods. Keller wanted to double or triple the city’s density by allowing casitas and duplex development in existing neighborhoods by eliminating the rights of appeal by objecting to neighborhood associations and adjoining property owners.

Keller’s “Housing Forward Plan” makes gentrification an official city policy that caters to developers and the NAIOP crowd at the expense of neighborhoods and property rights. It will not increase affordable housing. It will allow developers and investors to destroy existing neighborhoods for the sake of making a development buck and increasing density in established neighborhoods and destroying their original character.

Keller also supports recent amendments to the city’s zoning laws know as the Integrated Development Ordinance. Those changes reduce or totally eliminate Neighborhood Associations and adjoining property owners’ rights of standing to appeal developments. In the limited instances where they can appeal a development and they lose the appeal, the changes require them to pay the attorney’s fees of the defending developer when before both sides would assume their own attorney fees and costs.

FAILURE TO HOLD CHIEF MEDINA ACCOUNTABLE

Keller has also refused to hold Chief Medina accountable for a vehicle crash where Medina negligently plowed into another driver putting the driver in the hospital in critical condition. Medina admitted to violating state law when he failed to have his body camera on during an incident that preceded the crash.

After the crash, Keller called Medina “arguably the most important person right now in these times in our city.” Medina’s appointed crash review board declared the crash as “non avoidable” even after Medina admitted to causing the crash. Medina was given a slap on the wrist with letters of reprimand. The City and Medina have been sued by the other driver and the case is still pending and will likely result in a significant judgement being paid for Medina’s negligent driving and his running of a red light. Medina claims he will retire in December and Keller claims he will find a new Chief, but don’t believe them. They are tied to the hip.

FINAL COMMENTARY

Eight years of Tim Keller as Mayor has been more than enough. Simply put, Albuquerque needs a new Mayor. Keller is completing 8 years as Mayor and he is still struggling with the very issues he dealt with 8 years ago: high violent crime rates, drugs, the homeless crisis and a corrupt APD. Things have not gotten any better under his leadership and some would say the city is worse off today than when he was first elected in 2017.

“ANY ONE BUT KELLER” ATTITUDE IS REAL

There exists a serious undercurrent of dissatisfaction with all 7 candidates, especially Mayor Tim Keller. Although City Hall observers and political pundits are saying the election is Keller’s to lose, what they fail to take into account is that what is beginning to emerge is an “any one but Keller attitude”. It can also be called “Keller Fatique” which is what happened with “Chavez Fatique “ when Democrat Mayor Marty Chavez attempted to seek a third consecutive four year term in 2009 and he lost to Republican Richard Berry. Simply put, people want change.

The “any one but Keller attitude” comes into sharp focus when the local news stations publish stories on FACEBOOK where Keller is interviewed at length about his candidacy and literally hundreds of public comments are made that are all negative and berating Keller for his failure to address and solve the city’s problems.  Candidates who are running for city council and who are now going door to door to collect nominating signatures and $5.00 for their own candidacies are  reporting they are encountering strong anti-Keller sentiment with them being asked questions if they support Keller for reelection.

It is  doubtful any of the 6 running against Keller now possess the gravitas to be Mayor. Based upon what they have said and done, they appear not to have a full understanding of the seriousness of purpose of being Mayor, the background nor the credentials necessary to be an effective Mayor.  Hope springs eternal that over the course of the four month campaign that one of the six running against Keller will emerge as a viable candidate and succeed in removal of an entrenched politician.

Given the overall dissatisfaction and disappointment with the six candidates running against Keller, and the overall voter dissatisfaction with Keller himself, there is a chance that there will be one or more write in candidates that could take advantage of the “any one but Keller” attitude. It’s fully understood that write in candidacy’s are considered long shots, but given the nature of the times and voter dissatisfaction in general with city hall, success could be achieved by a write in candidate. With the new state law, community leaders, neighborhood associations, civic organizations, activists and those in the business community who are dissatisfied with the 7 candidates now still have the option to recruit one of their own of like mind.

If not, it is likely we will have another 4 years of disastrous policies, either under Mayor Tim Keller as he continues with his disastrous policies or one of the 6 others running against him who will implement their own disastrous policy’s.

 

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

— Matthew 19:13-14

On June 12,  the New Mexico Voices for Children released the “2025 Kids Count Data Book, State Trends In Child Well Being.” The annual “Kids Count” Data Book is prepared by the Annie E. Casey Foundation. The Casey foundation is a nonprofit based in Maryland focusing on improving the well-being and future of American children and their families. It assesses how New Mexico children are faring in a number of areas including economic well-being, education, health, and family and community. By providing policymakers and advocates with benchmarks of child and young adult well-being, the Foundation seeks to enrich local, state and national discussions concerning ways to enable all kids and youth to succeed.

KIDS COUNT RANKING FOR NEW MEXICO

According to the 2025  annual Annie E. Casey Foundation Kids Count data book, for the fifth consecutive year in a row, New Mexico was ranked 50^th as the worst state in the country for child well-being.

The study focuses on four major categories of wellbeing and then makes an overall ranking of each state for child wellbeing. The four major categories and the rankings are:

1. Economic well-being: 49th 
2. Education: 50th 
3. Health: 46th
4. Family and Community: 50th

Following are the rankings providing an explanation of  how they were calculated:

NEW MEXICO OVERALL CHILD WELL-BEING RANKIING: 50^th

The Casey foundation determines the ranking  for each state using statistical data compiled on each state in four key indicators in the major ranking categories.

Overall rankings  for each state was calculated in the following manner:

The Casey converted the state numerical values for the most recent year for all 16 key indicators into standard scores. It summed those standard scores within their domains to create a domain standard score for each state.  Finally, it ranked the states based on their total standard score in sequential order from highest/best (1) to lowest/ worst (50).

All measures were given the same weight in calculating the total standard score. Percentage change over time analysis was computed by comparing the most recent year’s data for the 16 key indicators with the data for the base year.

To calculate percentage change, the Foundation subtracted the rate for the most recent year from the rate for the base year and then divided that quantity by the rate for the base year. The results are multiplied by 100 for readability. The percentage change was calculated on rounded data, and the percentage-change figure has been rounded to the nearest whole number.

NEW MEXICO ECONOMIC WELL-BEING RANKING: 49^th  (Louisiana was ranked  50^th)

The 4 major indicators relied upon to determine Economic Well being are:

1. Children in poverty is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in families with incomes below 100% of the U.S. poverty threshold, as defined each year by the U.S. Census Bureau. In 2023, a family of two adults and two children lived in poverty if the family’s annual income fell below $30,900.
2. Children whose parents lack secure employment is the share of all children under age 18 who live in families where no parent has regular, full-time, year-round employment. For children in single-parent families, this means the resident parent did not work at least 35 hours per week for at least 50 weeks in the 12 months prior.
3. Children living in households with a high housing cost burden is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in households where more than 30% of monthly household pretax income is spent on housing-related expenses, including rent, mortgage payments, taxes and insurance.
4. Teens not in school and not working is the percentage of teenagers between ages 16 and 19 who are not enrolled in school (full or part time) and not employed (full or part time).

NEW MEXICO EDUCATION RANKING: 50^th

The 4 major indicators relied upon to determine Education rankings are:

1. Young children not in school is the percentage of children ages 3 and 4 who were not enrolled in school/
2. Fourth graders not proficient in reading is the percentage of fourth grade public school students who did not reach the proficient level in reading as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
3. Eighth graders not proficient in math is the percentage of eighth grade public school students who did not reach the proficient level in math as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
4. High school students not graduating on time is the percentage of an entering freshman class not graduating in four years

NEW MEXICO HEALTH RANKING: 46^th  (New Mexico was ahead of Arkansas (47)  Texas (48)  Louisiana (49),  Mississippi (50)

The 4 major indicators relied upon to determine HEALTH rankings are:

1. Low birth-weight babies is the percentage of live births weighing less than 5.5 pounds (2,500 grams).
2. Children without health insurance is the percentage of children under age 19 not covered by any health insurance
3. Child and teen deaths per 100,000 is the number of deaths, from all causes, of children between ages 1 and 19 per 100,000 children in this age range.
4. Children and teens who are overweight or obese is the percentage of children and teens ages 10 to 17 with a Body Mass Index (BMI)-for-age at or above the 85th percentile.

NEW MEXICO FAMILY AND COMMUNITY RANKNG:  50^th

The 4 major indicators relied upon to determine FAMILY AND COMMUNITY rankings are:

1. Children in single-parent families is the percentage of children under age 18 who live with their single parent in a family. Children not living with a parent are excluded.
2. Children in families where the household head lacks a high school diploma is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in households where the head of the household does not have a high school diploma or equivalent.
3. Children living in high-poverty areas is the percentage of children under age 18 who live in census tracts where the poverty rates of the total population are 30% or more. In 2023, a family of two adults and two children lived in poverty if the family’s annual income fell below $30,900. The data are based on income received in the 12 months prior to the survey.
4. Teen births per 1,000 is the number of births to teenagers ages 15 to 19 per 1,000 females in this age group. Data reflect the mother’s place of residence, not the place where the birth occurred.

Links to the 2024 Kids Count Data Book are  here:

Click to access Aecf-2025kidscountdatabook.pdf

https://www.aecf.org/resources/2025-kids-count-data-book

The 2025 Kids Count rankings are essentially identical to the  2024, 2023 Rankings. Following are rankings for the past 3 years for comparison:

In 2025 New Mexico rankings were as follows:

 Overall childhood well-being: 50^TH  

• Education: 50^TH
• Economic well-being: 49th
• Health: 46th
• Family and community: 50^th

The link to the 2025 Kids Count Data Book is here:

https://www.aecf.org/resources/2025-kids-count-data-book

In 2024 New Mexico Kids Count rankings were as follows:

• Overall childhood well-being: 50^TH
• Education: 50^TH
• Economic well-being: 48^TH
• Health: 44^TH
• Family and community: 49^TH

The link to the 2024 Kids Count Data Book is here:

https://www.aecf.org/resources/2024-kids-count-data-book

In 2023 New Mexico Kids Count rankings were as follows:

 Overall childhood well-being: 50th

• Education: 5Oth
• Economic well-being: 49^th
• Health: 44^th
• Family and community: 48^th

The link to the 2023 Kids Count Data Book is here:

Click to access aecf-2023kidscountdatabook-2023.pdf

REVISITING YAZZIE V. MARTINEZ 

The Kid’s Count rankings reflect a very disturbing lack of progress over the past five years since the 2018 landmark education court decision of YAZZIE V. MARTINEZ that should have had a direct impact on reversing New Mexico’s 50^th ranking in education.

It was on Friday, July 20, 2018, Santa Fe District Court Judge Sarah Singleton ruled in the case of Yazzie v. State of New Mexico and Governor Suzanna Martinez that the state of New Mexico was violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education. The Court ruling centered on the guaranteed right under the New Mexico Constitution to a sufficient education for all children. The lawsuit alleged a severe lack of state funding, resources and services to help students, particularly children from low-income families, students of color, including Native Americans, English-language learners and students with disabilities.

The Judge found that it was clear that many New Mexico students were not receiving the basic education in reading, writing and math they should be receiving in our public-school system. As a matter of law, Judge Singleton wrote the “lack of funds is not a defense to providing constitutional rights.”

In her blistering written opinion, Judge Singleton wrote:

“[The evidence presented at trial] proves that the vast majority of New Mexico’s at-risk children finish each school year without the basic literacy and math skills needed to pursue post-secondary education or a career. … Indeed, overall New Mexico children rank at the very bottom in the country for educational achievement. … The at-risk students are still not attaining proficiency at the rate of non-at-risk students … and the programs being lauded by [the Public Education Department] are not changing this picture.”

The court found that New Mexico students have a right to be college-and career-ready, a standard that was not being met by New Mexico’s education system. To address this, the state was ordered to take immediate action and establish an educational system that ensures at-risk students in New Mexico will be college and career ready.

PUBLIC EDUCATION DEPARTMENT  ORDERED TO CREATE PLAN TO FIX  PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION SYSTEM

On April 29, 2025 Santa Fe First Judicial District Court Judge Matthew  ruled that the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED)  had not  complied with the rulings in Yazzie v. State of New Mexico and Governor Suzanna Martinez to improve the quality of education it provides to Native American and underserved students. Judge Wilson  ordered PED to begin the process for creating a plan to fix its primary and secondary education system.  Judge Wilson said the state needs a plan to ensure progress is made and tracked and said this in his ruling:

“The PED and the state of New Mexico is not in compliance with this court’s final judgement in [Yazzie v. State of New Mexico and Governor Suzanna Martinez. ]. … The defendants are ordered to develop a comprehensive remedial plan to address the continuing violation of at-risk student’s constitutional rights. …A court-ordered plan would provide guidance to the Legislature and the executive branches of government, particularly when making difficult budgetary decisions that need to survive political and economic shifts.”

Those affected by the court case include Native American students, English language learners, low-income students and those with disabilities. The argument is that those groups face significant educational disparities.

As part of the original ruling, the plaintiffs in the case have been waiting for the Public Education Department to submit a plan to address teacher workforce issues, class sizes, and a wide range of other factors.  Judge Matthew Wilson ordered PED to work with a legislative committee to make a new plan by July. Attorneys for the plaintiffs call it a win.   While a draft is due in July, PED has until December to submit a final plan. The court also require the PED to work with families and educators in order to develop that plan.

Public Education Department  released the following statement in reaction to Judge Wilsons ruling:

“The New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) welcomes Judge Wilson’s decision to lead development of a plan providing all New Mexico students an excellent education, that will lead to resolution of the Martinez-Yazzie lawsuit for students, parents and families. Improving student outcomes is central to our mission and this plan will support lasting improvements to our educational system. 

The Martinez-Yazzie lawsuit highlighted longstanding systemic challenges state education. The Court directed increased funding and programming for at-risk students, including those from economically disadvantaged homes, English Language Learners, Native American children, and children with disabilities. Since 2019, the state has substantially increased funding and taken significant steps to improve student performance and educator recruitment and retention.”

Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/education/judge-orders-new-mexicos-ped-to-create-plan-for-better-educating-at-risk-students/

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_50688559-4760-4d15-8c12-18e16c33ffaa.html

NEW MEXICO’S FINANCIAL COMMITMENT TO KIDS

During the last 7 years, the New Mexico legislature has been very aggressive when it comes to increased funding to turn things around for New Mexico’s children when it comes to education and their wellbeing. Much of the legislatures efforts  have been a direct result of the 2018 landmark education case of Yazzie-Martinez v. New Mexico Public Education Department  where a  First Judicial District Court ruled the State of New Mexico violated students’ fundamental rights by failing to provide a sufficient public education mandated by the state constitution.

In fiscal year 2019, public education funding spiked. The biggest accomplishments of the 2019 Legislative session were the dramatic increases in public education funding, creation of the Early Childhood Department (CYFD), the mandates to Children, Youth and Families and Public Education departments, not to mention raises for educators and increasing CYFD social workers by 125 were clearly the biggest accomplishments of the 2019 Legislative session.

2019 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

Funding spiked in 2019  and was up to $306 million, including the following:

• $64 million for Pre-K to better prepare children for elementary school.
• $45 million for family, infant, toddler programs to help families with children with developmental delays.
• $30 million for K-3 Plus to add 25 days to the school year.

New Mexico is 1 of just 4 states with a stand-alone department dedicated to services targeting children through age 5. The initial operating budget for the new department was $419 million for the 2020-2021 fiscal year. The new department is tasked with overseeing the state’s growing investment in prekindergarten, home visiting programs for new parents, childcare and similar services that previously were scattered across several departments. One of the key goals is to better coordinate the state’s network of early childhood services by housing them in one department rather than having them overseen separately by other departments.

2020 AND 2021 FUNDING HIGHLIGHTS

In 2020 the New Mexico Legislature created a $320 million early childhood education trust fund. In 2021, lawmakers and the governor agreed to up the spending on early childhood programs to $500 million.

2022 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

During the 2022 New Mexico Legislative session, a trio of bills were enacted  to fund programs to help Native American students succeed in school. The house bills provided more than $70 million to tribal entities to help offer culturally relevant lesson plans and access to virtual and after-school programs for those students.

The first bill appropriated $20 million from the state’s general fund to the Indian Education Act to be used to create culturally relevant learning programs, including Native language programs, for students in the K-12 system.

A second bill appropriated $21.5 million to help tribal education departments develop learning plans and programs for students, extend learning opportunities and support tribal school libraries.

The third bill was aimed at higher education and  appropriated $29.6 million to four state colleges and three tribal colleges for 53 initiatives.

In the summer of 2022, the New Mexico Public Education Department (PED) released updates on the progress made in response to the Yazzie-Martinez ruling. The report highlights various initiatives undertaken by the state, including increased funding, expanded access to pre-kindergarten programs, and targeted support for struggling schools.

“According to the report, the state’s spending on public education has received a substantial boost. In fiscal year 2018, New Mexico’s education system was funded at the tune of $2.69 billion; in fiscal year 2024, the education system is being funded at $4.17 billion. That is an increase of $1.3 billion over five years. State funds have been channeled toward reducing class sizes, hiring additional teachers, improving professional development programs, and enhancing resources for English language learners and special education students.”

In November 2022, voters approved tapping the state’s Land Grant Permanent Fund for roughly another $240 million annually for early childhood education and K-12 schools. The additional distribution of funding from the Permanent Land Grant Fund goes into effect on July 1.

2023 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

The enacted 2023-2024 New Mexico State budget contains major expenditures for  education and child wellbeing.  Those expenditures include:

• $220.1 Million for extended in-classroom learning time by increasing the number of minimum instructional hours per year in public schools.
• $30 Million to provide healthy universal school meals and to eliminate school meal costs for every New Mexico child.
• 9 Million to the Children, Youth and Families Department for 60 new protective services staff, to be supported by additional federal matching funds.
• $277.3 Million for continued investments in affordable, high-quality child care.
• $131 Million to maintain and expand access to high-quality pre-k education.
• $40.4 Million for the continued expansion of early childhood home visiting.
• $111.1 Million to provide a four percent salary increase forall school personnel.
• $157.4 Million for the Opportunity Scholarship program

2023 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

The 2024 enacted New Mexico budget includes the following funding  for public education:

• $4.43 billion in recurring funds for public schools. Annual spending on K-12 education increased by 6.1% to $4.43.
• $19.6 million to expand Pre-K
• $50 million to the tribal Educational Trust Fund
• $20 million to pilot and evaluate evidence-based strategies to improve the Children, Youth and Families Department
• $49 million for literacy, career technical education and community school programs
• $14 million in early literacy support
• $55 million for culturally relevant and bilingual materials
• $62.7 million for 2% salary increases, bringing all school personnel up to $15 per hour
• $43 million to expand early childhood care
• $750,000 to support adult literacy programs
• $2 million for attendance programs

2024 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

On February 12, 2024, the 2024-2025 Fiscal Year state budget was passed by the New Mexico Legislature. It contains  a 6.5% increase in recurring funds from last year’s  2023-2024 fiscal year.  The largest slice of the general fund goes to public schools, which are slated to receive about $4.3 billion for the fiscal year. That includes more than $94 million to give a flat 3% raise to all public-school employees, an amount that was trimmed by a Senate Finance Committee. Before public school employees were looking at a total average of 4% raises.  The final version the budget approved by the Senate includes $30 million for summer reading intervention programs, $14 million for early literacy and reading support and $5 million to train secondary educators in the science of reading.

2025 EDUCATION BUDGET FUNDING

During the 2025 legislative session, several bills were approved during the 60-day legislative session that will likely benefit New Mexico’s children and their well being. The legislation includes a $10.8 billion budget bill that directs over $100 million to transitional housing and the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department. The legislature also  created a new state Medicaid trust fund that could help the state weather federal funding decreases, legislation expanding childcare assistance for prekindergarten children and established an outside oversight office to review complaints involving CYFD

CYFD REMAINS IN CONTROVERSY

Complicating matters for New Mexico’s children is the fact the Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) remains mired in controversy. The state  has one of the lowest average median household incomes in the U.S., and while the state has the second-richest sovereign wealth fund in the nation and has, in recent years, markedly spent more on education, those efforts have yet to yield discernible dividends.

REACTION TO NEW MEXICO KIDS COUNT RANKINGS

The nonprofit New Mexico Voices for Children, which partnered with the Annie E. Casey Foundation on the report,  noted  that the state has passed legislation and additional funding specifically  directed at improving education and childhood well-being since 2023 and  believes the state’s ranking could change in the coming years. New Mexico Voices for Children also think the state’s circumstances and demographics don’t warrant a comparison to others.  Gabrielle Uballez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children said this:

“Other states have vastly different circumstances than New Mexico, whether that’s their population, their racial and ethnic makeup, their just general structure. … We like to look at comparing New Mexico to itself.”

New Mexico House Speaker Javier Martínez, D-Albuquerque, noted the bills approved during this year’s 60-day legislative session that will  benefit New Mexico children.  Speaker Martínez said this:

“I’m a big believer in data, data is always good. It helps us improve. I’m really proud of all of the work we’ve done over the last several legislative sessions. … Those are all good things, and I think that eventually we’ll see those returns. Having said that, I do think that there’s more work that remains to be done.”

One New Mexico lawmaker questions  if the state’s increased spending and new policies are yielding results.  Republican Rep. Rebecca Dow, Truth or Consequences, said this in a phone interview with the Albuquerque Journal:

“We have had unprecedented investments in early childhood education, we’ve had the Zuni lawsuit and Yazzie-Martinez lawsuit, and even this year, the judge says we are not making improvements on educational outcomes. … It’s time for parents to be in charge of their kid’s education and for dollars to follow students. We are so far behind the curve … we can look to any state and do better.”

Republican Rep. Rebecca Dow expressed support for school-choice programs, noting declining enrollment in public schools and saying that “poverty is an excuse” and that “if poverty is keeping children in a failing school system, all the more reason to pass school choice.” Dow said this:

“The courts agreed the families who felt like the public education system was failing them went to court, and the courts agreed that New Mexico is failing to adequately educate students. The remedy was to give money to the system that was failing students. … It’s time to stop funding the same system, and one size will never fit all.”

Amanda Aragon, the executive director of New Mexico Kids Can, said this of New Mexico’s rankings:

“When a data point is telling us this child is grade levels below? My question is, what are we doing about it? … For me, it means we have to make a change. Now, for some people in the state, they’re saying maybe not, maybe because we have a lot of poor children. That’s just how it’s going to be. … Or maybe because we have a lot of English learners. That’s how it’s going to be. And I just fundamentally don’t believe that. So I think some of those excuses for why we’ve been at the bottom I think have not served us well.”

Aragon sees that New Mexico has started on the same journey Mississippi was on years ago, specifically in early literacy. She said the state assumed educators knew how to teach reading, now all teachers have been trained on the subject. Aragon said this:

“So what Mississippi did 10 years ago, everyone knows about now everyone’s trying to be Mississippi. So we not only have to do better, but we have to outperform the other states that are also doing better.”

But there is more that Mississippi has done according to Aragon. She suggests New Mexico should make changes in big waves, rather than in small increments. Aragon said this:

“Instead of coming up with strategies that we know work and keeping those strategies consistent through different governors and different legislative cycles, we go back and forth, we do something, and then it changes.”

Aragon also raised the point that communities should make their voice heard as well, especially to elected officials, saying this:

“Our House of Representatives, for example, has elections over two years, that doesn’t necessarily create an environment where you want to stick your neck out on the line to make bold policy decisions. And so I don’t think anyone is intentionally skirting away from doing hard things, I think it’s just the system kind of rewards them in weird ways, for not doing the hard things. And that’s why I keep coming back to this idea of, like, the community has to tell the government that it’s time for something different, that we are not going to accept being 50th in education anymore.”

Ellen Bernstein, the president of Albuquerque Teachers Federation, believes policymakers should take a comprehensive look at all things that affect education to make the best decisions. Bernstein said this:

“You know, we’ve got to do something with education, but they never do anything with food insecurity, or traumatic experiences for children, we have to look at it combined. And that way, we can really increase our scores in every area. ”

Bernstein said there is a national trend showing that many states are looking to elevate the living conditions, and the wages of the families so that they can provide better for their kids. Bernstein said it should be a collaborative effort among educators, policy makers, and support systems to have better outcomes.

Bernstein highlighted the importance of support from families, specifically parents and said this:

“But if they’re working two and three jobs, and they’re trying to get some sleep, and they’re not getting their kid to school, I mean, it’s all interconnected.”

Links to quoted or relied upon news sources are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/news/article_8d2799db-8229-41a1-bca6-636f9a8a124a.html#tncms-source=home-featured-7-block

https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-last-kids-count-data-report/6111377

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

After a full 7 years of millions spent each year on the state education programs and departments created, it difficult to accept why New Mexico has not improved in the annual Kids Count Data Book. If anything, the ratings are getting worse.

Public education leaders must  take responsibility for what is happening and its mismanagement. It’s a failure to hold people accountable  for failing our kids.

Judge Wilson  ordering  PED to begin the process for creating a plan to fix its primary and secondary education system was long overdue.

The  state needs  a plan to ensure progress is made and tracked.

No one knows for sure how much more time and more funding will it take to turn things around.