Albuquerque voters will have five City Council contests to decide in the city’s November 4 election. The city council’s odd-numbered districts of 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 will all be on the ballot. District 1 is an open seat with 4 running for the seat while the incumbent Democrat has given up his seat to run for Mayor. The three incumbents in Districts 3, 5, and 9 have challengers who have qualified for the ballot. District 7 Incumbent Democrat Tammy Fiebelkorn is opposed by Democrat Jaemes Shanley who has been qualified as a “write in” candidate by the Bernalillo County Clerk who is responsible for administering local elections including the city’s municipal election, the public school board and AMAFCA.
District 7 is the mid heights city council district. The district is predominantly very established neighborhoods surrounding the uptown retail business district including the Commons, Winrock and Coronado Shopping Centers. The District boundaries are generally Montgomery Boulevard on the North, I-25 on the West, Lomas on the South and Eubank on the East.
On July 7, Tammy Feibelkorn qualified for the ballot by submitting 500 nominating petitions signatures. She submitted the required $5.00 donations for public finance and has been given $58,205.00 to run her campaign.
On September 2, Jaemes Shanley filed with the Bernalillo County Clerk his declaration of candidacy as a write in candidate along with the required 500 nominating petition signatures to run for City Council and Jaemes Shanley is a privately financed candidate. His name will not appear on the ballot and voters are required to write in his name in the box provided on the ballot.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Incumbent Democrat City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn was first elected to the City Council in 2021 in a runoff election. Fiebelkorn was born in Grants, NM and has lived in District 7 for 20 years. She is the current Chair of the City Council’s Land Use, Planning and Zoning Committee despite having no prior experience nor background in land use law and planning and zoning matters and appeals.
During her city council tenure, Fiebelkorn has concentrated on major land use initiatives and zoning changes. Within the first six months of her term, she focused on gerrymandering her district to exclude predominantly Republican voters to ensure her reelection. Her gerrymandering effort failed. Fiebelkorn then concentrated on zoning changes to the city’s zoning laws to increase density throughout the city by falsely arguing it would increase affordable housing. It will not. She sponsored ordinances affecting renters and property owners rights and remedies, supported virtually all funding of over $300 million for assistance and shelter for the unhoused, and supported city sanctioned safe outdoor space encampments for the homeless. She is considered a vocal and staunch animal rights advocate on the City Council.
The postscript below contains a detailed listing of city legislation Feibelkorn voted for or sponsored reflecting a record of failure.
First term Progressive City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn is considered highly unpopular within City Council District 7 because of her sponsorship or support of controversial major legislation that has failed to be enacted by the city council during her four-year tenure and her advocacy of a personal agenda.
Four years ago, I voted with enthusiasm for Tammy Fiebelkorn as my District 7 City Councilor. The council district is the mid heights area of the city that includes uptown that I represented as a city councilor from 1985 to1989 when it was District 5 before redistricting. I have lived in the district area for 50 plus years.
When I voted for Fiebelkorn, I firmly believed she possessed the necessary talent and skills to represent the best interest of all neighborhoods and all constituents in the district. Boy was I dead wrong. I quickly learned Fiebelkorn promotes her own personal agenda. She simply does not act in the best interests of her district nor of her constituents. She refuses to listen.
During the four years she has been my City Councilor, Tammy Fiebelkorn has exhibited a pattern of downright hostility towards constituents who oppose or who disagree with her votes on policy and legislation to the point she goes out of her way to offend them. She is not at all interested in carrying on with a civil dialog. Although known for attending the District 7 Neighborhood Coalition meetings to give updates on what is happening in the district, she lectures and repeatedly takes issue with those who disagree with her at the meetings and who ask her politely to reconsider positions.
Feibelkorn interrupts her constituents and abruptly says “No, I have made up my mind” and simply refuses to change her mind. She goes out of her way to insult and offend those who oppose her saying she knows what’s good for the district as she professes ignorance. On more than one occasion when questioned about legislation she is sponsoring at the request of Mayor Tim Keller and asked to summarize the legislation, she has said she has not read the legislation and tells her constituents they need to read it for themselves and listen to council debate.
A good example of her offensive attitude is when she told the officers and members of the District 7 Neighborhood Coalition, which boasts membership of 10 neighborhood associations, that the coalition did not reflect the needs and concerns of District 7 and that she knows better than they do. When a male constituent pointed out that one of her responsibilities as a city councilor was to help solve constituent problems and address their concerns, Fiebelkorn said she did not need anyone to “mansplain” to her what she needed to do as a city councilor revealing that she is a sexist. Feibelkorn is known to be very difficult to work with by city council staff and she has had upwards of 5 constituent service assistants who she has either fired or who have just quit.
Albuquerque City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn is the epitome of what is so very wrong with the Albuquerque City Council today and its arrogance. Fiebelkorn is an elected official who will do and say anything to win an election and to get her own way. Once elected, she ignored her constituent’s needs and concerns and advocated her own hidden, personal politcal agenda over the objections of her own constituents. She simply does not listen and does what she damn well feels like doing. Her reputation is one of being highly abrasive, engages in personal insults and is condescending and dismissive with anyone who disagrees with her.
The postscript below delineates with great specifics the failed record of Albuquerque City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn.
VOTE TO ELECT JAEMES SHANLEY DISTRICT 7 CITY COUNCLIOR
It is time that the voters of District 7 thank City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn for her service and refuse to vote for her for a second four-year term as City Councilor. Jaemes Shanley represents a real alternative of substance to Tammy Feibekorn, but it will require a little extra effort by voters to write in his name on the ballot. Under New Mexico law, write in candidates must be allowed for city council, but they must first qualify by collecting 500 nominating petition signatures in order for votes cast for them to be counted, something Shanley accomplished in a few weeks by going door to door in District 7.
Democrat Jaemes Shanley is the President of the Mark Twain Neighborhood Association located in the mid heights and is the Vice President of the District 7 Coalition of Neighborhoods which boasts membership of 14 neighborhood associations.
Shanley first arrived in Albuquerque in August 1969, after graduating High School in England, to attend UNM from which he graduated in 1973. His parents followed a year later, and his father retired in Albuquerque after a 30-year career as a US Naval aviator. In 1971, the Shanley family purchased a home in the Mark Twain neighborhood where his mother and father resided for the remainder of their lives.
Jaemes worked a lifetime in the private sector in sales and marketing for various corporations in the United States, Australia, and Japan. His work required extensive travel throughout Asia Pacific and Latin America routinely on the ground in more than 30 countries. Jaemes and his wife returned to Albuquerque in September 2006 to renovate and take up residence in his parent’s Mark Twain neighborhood home where they reside today, becoming actively involved with Neighborhood Associations.
The first phase of early voting started on October 7 with absentee ballots being sent out to voters and in-person voting opening at the Downtown Clerk’s Annex, 1500 Lomas NW. Expanded early voting will then begin on Oct. 18, and will end three days before Election Day on November 4.
There is very little doubt that Jaemes Shanely will represent the best interests of District 7. All registered District 7 voters are encouraged to write his name in on the ballot.
The Jaemes Shanley campaign has produced a video wherein he expresses why he is running and that outlines his platform. Please click on the below https address to review the video:
https://vimeo.com/1124086966?&login=true#_=_
POSTSCRIPT
THE FAILED RECORD OF CITY COUNCILOR TAMMY FIEBELKORN
When you examine Tammy Fiebelkorn’s legislative record as a city councilor, you quickly discover she promotes her own personal agenda. She does so with little or no concern and many times with no input for what her constituents really want.
Following are the most egregious examples of City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn promoting her own personal agenda over the best interests of her constituents:
ATTEMPT TO GERRYMANDER CITY COUNCIL DISTRICT
2022 was the year for redistricting of all 9 city council districts mandated by the the United States Census. In June, 2022 , a mere 7 months after she was elected to the City Council, progressive Democrat City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn teamed up with then fellow progressive Democrat Pat Davis and sponsored a city council redistricting map that was the most radical of all the six maps submitted and voted upon by the full city council.
The Davis/Fiebelkorn District 6 and District 7 maps reflected a dramatic departure changed drastically the borders of both districts. Their concept map essentially gutted both City Council Districts and carved them up to the benefit of Tammy Fiebelkorn to give advantage to Fiebelkorn for her reelection.
Under the Davis/Fiebelkorn concept map, District 7 would have kept part of its existing Northeast Heights area, but then would have sweep west of District 6 and taken up the Nob Hill area and the Mesa del Sol development area. Both the International District and the Nob Hill areas are considered highly progressive Democrat and are in City Council District 6 represented by then City Councilor Pat Davis.
The Nob Hill area along Central under the Davis/Fiebelkorn redistricting concept map would have been shifted to District 7 and be represented by City Councilor Fiebelkorn and would have jettison south to include the Mesa Del Sol development. The International District in the Southeast Heights would have remained in the newly aligned District 6 but the State Fairgrounds area and the Uptown area including Coronado Shopping Center and Winrock would have been shifted from District 7 to District 6, which many consider Republican. It was the classic definition of “gerrymandering” to protect an incumbent .
The Davis/Fiebelkorn District 6 and District 7 maps were rejected by the city council and came in last on the voting.
SAFE OUTDOOR SPACES
Fiebelkorn is a major proponent and staunch supporter of “Safe Outdoor Spaces” which are city sponsored managed homeless encampments with 40 designated spaces for tents that allows for upwards of 50 people, require hand washing stations, toilets and showers, require a management plan, 6 foot fencing and social services offered. Fiebelkorn voted for the changes to the city zoning laws that allows Safe Outdoor Spaces in all 9 City Council Districts.
Safe Outdoor Spaces became one of the most divisive issues in the city and for the city council with property owners, neighborhoods and neighborhood associations demanding repeal. Three attempts were made to repeal safe outdoor spaces legislation that passed on a 5-4 vote, but were vetoed by Mayor Keller. The city council failed to override the veto with the mandatory 6 votes. Fiebelkorn refused to vote to override Keller’s veto despite efforts made by neighborhood associations to convince her to change her vote.
Fiebelkorn sponsored legislation that failed that would have empowered the City Planning Department to unilaterally approve all Safe Outdoor Space Applications and eliminate the public’s right to challenge and appeal the applications and eliminated City Council intervention.
On June 28, 2025 Mayor Tim Keller announced legislation to make major changes to the city’s Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) governing Safe Outdoor Spaces. The legislation was sponsored by Progressive Democrat City Councilor Nichole Rogers at Mayor Keller’s request and was openly supported by City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn.
Mayor Keller said he wanted to ease all Safe Outdoor Space requirements to allow expansion of the program with the goal of increasing the number. Mayor Keller said the city needed to “scale up” by allowing smaller encampments all over the city. Keller said there are individuals either who are not ready for traditional shelters or can’t find available housing. Keller said to meet the need, the city may need as many as 100 smaller Safe Outdoor Spaces to accommodate 1,000 homeless.
Major changes to the Integrated Development Ordinance governing Safe Outdoor Spaces Mayor Keller wanted to make were:
- Relax the rule requiring 24/7 on-site security a cost that eliminates 99% of people who establish safe outdoor spaces on their property.
- Drop the rule requiring on-site showers 24/7. Instead, mobile trailers would rotate between locations throughout the week.
- Eliminate the requirement for a dedicated space for service providers.
- Establish $100 application fees and $50 renewal fees, with permits lasting 12 months before requiring renewal.
The legislation easing restrictions on Safe Outdoor Spaces was voted down and failed on a 2 to 3 in the Land Use Planning and Zoning Committee chaired by Tammy Fiebelkorn. Progressive Democrats Tammy Fiebelkorn and Nichole Rogers voted “YES” and Republican Council President Brook Bassan, Renée Grout and Dan Champine voting “NO” to ease Safe Outdoor Space requirements. The committee then voted 3 to 2 to send the legislation on to the full city council with a “DO NOT PASS” recommendation.
RESIDENTIAL TENANT PROTECTIONS ORDINANCE
City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn advocated for inclusion of rent control measures in the 2023 City of Albuquerque New Mexico legislative package. Historically, the New Mexico legislature has repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected rent control measures, and they did so in 2023.
Upset with the New Mexico legislature rejecting rent control measures, Fiebelkorn sponsored her Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance. It failed at city council on a 4-5 vote. The ordinance was a form of rent control and attempted to regulate or eliminate fees that are a part of the application process. Feibelkorn’s ordinance interfered with private contract rights of both landlord and tenants. The ordinance required landlords to disclose to potential applicants all applications and fees which are provided for in the lease agreement.
The ordinance mandated that each time a property owner imposed a fee, they were required to supply documentation proving and justifying their costs to the tenant and the city. The ordinance would have dictated the lease application process and mandated how many applications could be processed at a time. Fiebelkorn herself said this about her Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance:
“Most of the landlords in our city are fair, transparent, very clear with what folks are going to get. It’s the few that are making it really hard.”
What Fiebelkorn essentially said with her sponsorship is she wanted to make the entire apartment rental industry miserable with city fees and bureaucratic mandates because “It’s the few that are making it really hard.”
RENTER’S EMPOWERMENT AND NEIGHBORHOOD TRANSPARENCY ORDINANCE (RENT ORDINANCE)
The Renter’s Empowerment and Neighborhood Transparency (RENT) Ordinance was sponsored by City Councilor Tammy Feiblekorn at the request of Mayor Tim Keller. The key provisions of Keller’s RENT ordinance were identical to the requirements that were in Fiebelkorn’s original Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance.
Simply put, the new RENT Ordinance was a sneaky and pathetic rewrite and rebranding of Feibelkorn’s rejected Residential Tenant Protections Ordinance that was ultimately rejected and voted down by the City Council. The RENT ordinance represented a major step towards rent control which was rejected by New Mexico legislature in 2023.
Real property rights are favored under the law and the ordinance was an assault on well-established real property rights and remedies. The RENT ordinance would have given renters more rights and remedies over landlords and property owners dictating how rental property is managed. The Keller Administration and Feibelkorn argued that the RENT Ordinance built on the requirements outlined in the state’s Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act. It did not. It expanded the rights of tenants to the detriment of property owner’s rights. It would have increased the rules and regulations for landlords, prohibit what was defined as hidden fees, mandate terms in the lease contracts, and mandate maintenance of rental properties over and above what is required by law. Requiring more of property owners and landlords and less of tenants amounts to interference with property contract rights and obligations.
https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/news/city-introduces-renters-bill-of-rights-to-protect-tenants
The RENT ordinance failed in committee on a 2 to 3 vote with Progressive Democrats Tammy Fiebelkorn and Nichole Rogers voting “YES” and Republican Council President Brook Bassan, Renée Grout and Dan Champine voting “NO”. The committee then voted 3 to 2 to send the ordinance on to the full city council with a “DO NOT PASS” recommendation.
Simply put, there is no need for the RENT Ordinance. The NM Legislature’s enacted Uniform Owner-Resident Relations Act enumerates the duties, responsibilities, rights and remedies of both owners and tenants which are enforced by the Bernalillo County Metro Court. Requiring more of property owners and landlords and less of tenants amounts to interference with property rights and contract rights and obligations between tenants and property owners.
The proposed RENT ordinance was too burdensome and constituted classic government overreaching. The RENT Ordinance is a clear interference with the operation and management of rental properties and it would have a detrimental impact on the rental industry. It would have had the unintended consequence of increasing already high rents as property owners and landlords scrambled to take repeated steps to implement and comply with the ordinance each and ever time a new lease was negotiated or renewed.
RESIDENTIAL RENTAL PERMIT ORDINANCE
Fiebelkorn sponsored the “Residential Rental Ordinance” which provided that “No person shall operate any residential rental property without a Residential Rental Property Permit (RRPP) from the City of Albuquerque”. The city has never required real property owners to secure a permit to rent their residential properties. This would have included owners who owned one single rental home.
The ordinance would have created a new permitting process for all rental units which would include various annual fees for landlords and property owners paid to the city. The permit ordinance imposed daunting disclosure requirements to the city that are a repetition of information contained in documents already on file and easily accessible or in the possession of the city, county and state government.
Requiring disclosure of lease contract information for tenants, property owners and landlords and basic details about each unit amounts to interference with private contract rights and privacy rights. The ordinance failed to be enacted by the city council. The resolution was an attempt to limit and place caps on ownership of short term rentals and enact regulations of the “bed and breakfast” rental industry in the city. It was an effort to force properties to be sold for sale as effort to increase affordable housing.
KELLER’S “HOUSING FORWARD ABQ PLAN”
It was on October 18, 2022, that Mayor Tim Keller announced his “Housing Forward ABQ Plan”. Feibelkorn became the biggest supporter and sponsor of “Housing Forward ABQ Plan” legislation going so far as to appear next to Keller during news conferences to announce his initiatives. It is a “multifaceted initiative” where Keller set the goal of adding 5,000 new housing units across the city by 2025 above and beyond what private industry normally creates each year.
According to Keller and Feibelkorn, the city is in a major “housing crisis” and the city needs between 13,000 and 30,000 new housing units. To add the 5,000 new housing units, Keller proposed that the City of Albuquerque fund and be involved with the construction of new low-income housing. The “Housing Forward ABQ Plan” includes the strategy of “motel conversions” where the city buys existing motels or commercial office space and converts them into low-income housing. It included allowing both “casitas” and duplex additions on existing residential properties.
City officials have said that 68% of the city’s existing housing is single-family detached homes with 120,000 existing residential lots with already built residences. Amendments to the city’s zoning laws would have allowed one “casita” and one “accessory dwelling” unit on all built out lots which could double density to 240,000 housing units or triple density to 360,000 housing units.’
City Councilor Fiebelkorn did not attend a single one of the 5 public meetings sponsored by the Keller Administration on Mayor Keller’s Housing Forward ABQ Plan. Fiebelkorn simply ignored the strong hostility and opposition expressed by hundreds who attended the Housing Forward ABQ Plan meetings
Fiebelkorn supported and voted for major amendments to the city’s zoning laws in Kellers “Housing Forward ABQ Plan” that would have allowed the development of both “casitas” and “duplexes” in all existing residential developments and areas of town as permissive uses eliminating historic appeal rights of adjoining property owners in order to double or triple the city’s density. All the amendments to the city zoning laws Fiebelkorn voted for favored developers at the expense of homeowners and especially historical areas of the city.
OPT IN ZONING LEGISLATION
City Councilor Tammy Feibelkorn sponsored R 25-167 which was the “opted in” zoning law ordinance to create a voluntary rezoning process that would let property owners switch to higher-density zoning if they want to build more housing on their residential properties. The Planning Department would have had very broad authority to increase density with adjoining property owners having no rights to object. It would have allow duplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings in single-family neighborhoods to increase density.
Feibelkorn proclaimed the “opted in” zoning law would increase affordable housing. It would not have. Feibelkorn has a “Field of Dreams” zoning philosophy of “if we rezone it, they will build it,” ignoring adjacent property owner rights, favoring developers and investors. Feibelkorn “opt-in” zoning ordinance was clearly “overkill” that would affect all quadrants of the city favoring developers and investors. It would have destroyed the character of established neighborhoods and lead to gentrification. It would have been developers and investors on the prowl who will purchase existing homes for the development of duplexes, townhomes and small apartment buildings in single-family neighborhoods.
OPPOSED “PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ORDINANCE”
The city council voted 7-2 to enact the amended “Pedestrian Safety Ordinance” which specifically bars individuals from standing in or entering street and highway travel lanes unless they are “legally crossing.” The original ordinance was challenged in court by the ACLU as being too broad violating first amendment rights and it was declared unconstitutional. The ordinance was amended so as not to violate the constitution and was again enacted by the city out of public safety concerns for drivers and panhandles. It has no provision prohibiting drivers from giving handouts.
The new ordinance specifically bars individuals from standing in or entering street and highway travel lanes unless they are “legally crossing.” It also prohibits using or occupying medians on 30 mph or faster roads where there is not a flat surface of at least 4 feet wide having no greater than 8% grade. A city council legislative analysis determined that the ordinance will affect just over 17% of the linear feet of higher-speed arterial roadway medians across Albuquerque. Nonetheless, these are the medians on roadways with the highest traffic flows and highly visible to the driving public. In other words 83% of medians in the city will be available for constitutionally protected free speech activities.
In voting NO to enact the “PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ORDINANCE” Fiebelkorn said this:
“I’ve been an activist for 44 years. … When I’m protesting something or holding up a political sign, it matters where you are. I don’t want to have a political sign three blocks from where I wanted to have it.”
RUBBERSTAMPING FUNDING FOR THE UNHOUSED
The Point-In-Time (PIT) count is the annual process of identifying and counting individuals and families experiencing sheltered and unsheltered homelessness within a community on a single night in January, as defined by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD). HUD requires any community receiving funding from Federal homeless assistance grants to conduct the biennial counts.
Total number of PEOPLE counted during the Albuquerque Point-in-Time counts from 2019 to 2024 are as follows for each year:
- 2019: 1,524
- 2021: 1,567
- 2022: 1,311
- 2023: 2,394
- 2024: 2,740
The 2024 Point In Time homeless survey found an 18% increase in Albuquerque’s homeless numbers. The PIT survey identified 2,740 people experiencing homelessness, including 1,231 on the streets, 1,289 in emergency shelters and 220 in transitional housing. The HHH Department’s fiscal year 2026 budget performance measures report emergency unsheltered as 6,103 in 2023, 7,420 in 2024, 7,257 targeted in 2025 and 8,439 targeted in 2026.
During the last four years of Feibelkorn’s tenure as a city councilor, the city has spent upwards of $300 million on homeless shelters, programs and purchasing and remodeling motels for low-income housing. What sticks out is the staggering amount of money of $300 Million already spent and upwards of $60 Million a year being spent to try and provide assistance to so few, estimated to be between 3,000 to 5,000 unhoused, with upwards of 75% refusing services. There has got to a better way than just throwing money at the problem. There must be far more oversight by the City Council than just rubber-stamping what Mayor Keller asks for and wants.
During her entire term on the City Council, Tammy Feibelkorn has rubber stamped any and all funding Mayor Keller has asked from the city council and has never questioned the funding for the unhoused services and shelters. Feibelkorn has never demanded accounting nor questioned the effectiveness of Keller’s initiative to deal with the unhoused crisis.
GREEN STORMWATER INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT
City Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn is the major proponent of the Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI) “pilot project” in District 7 that proposes to “retrofit” older neighborhoods with a destructive burden strenuously opposed to by area residents. GSI involves extensive excavations of streets the city claims are needed to capture stormwater and infiltrate it to groundwater. Opponents say it won’t and that studies show the bio swales need to be located above the water table within 5 to 18 feet. The water table is too far down for this to work yet millions will be spent.