http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-real-time-crime-center-tj-wilham-job-position-reapply/4596504/

According to a Channel 4 investigative report, APD’s Real Time Crime Center manager T.J. Wilham, the former spokesman for Mayor Berry and former Albuquerque Journal reporter, is being transferred from an unclassified, at will position he holds to the same position that is now classified giving him more job security so he may be better protected from losing his job when a new mayor takes over on December 1, 2017.

As was the case with Dayna Crawford being transferred into a classified position at the Transit Department, TJ Wilham being transferred into a classified position is so very wrong on so many levels.

It turns out his job description appears to have been almost handwritten with only him in mind, he then applies for the newly created classified job that he already was holding down as an at will employee and gets the job.

What adds insult to injury, as a civilian he is being given extensive and expensive training that should be reserved for sworn police officers and not civilians

TJ Wilham as an Albuquerque Journal reporter eight (8) years ago wrote highly biased stories against the Chavez Administration.

When Berry was elected, he went to work for Berry as his spokesman along with Chris Ramirez who left Channel 4 and later returned to the station.

City Hall insiders say TJ Wilham and Chris Ramirez did not get along and Ramirez was forced out, which may now explain Channel 4’s story to some degree.

TJ Whilham is paid paid $39.50 an hour or $82,160 or more than double what he made as a newspaper reporter, not including benefits from the City such as sick leave, annual leave and health insurance which adds about 20% to his base salary.

All too often political operatives take high paying political jobs with an elected administration knowing full well they are at-will employees assuming the risk of termination in exchange for a lucrative salary.

When their time finally runs out they seek the protections of personnel rules and regulations that are more designed to protect long term employees who make significantly less.

It’s the sense of entitlement to continued city employ net by Berry loyalist that is so very disturbing.

I remember 8 years ago, Mayor elect Berry during the transition sent one of his political operatives to the Mayor’s Office who wrote down the names off of names plates to get correct spellings of all the at will employees who worked in the Mayor’s office.

Berry then sent out termination letters and he filled the positions with his own loyalists.

I did not care, knew the risks and just retired.

http://krqe.com/2017/09/05/krqe-poll-albuquerque-voters-weigh-options-for-mayor-cite-crime-as-top-concern/
http://www.freeabq.com/2017/09/07/dinekki-poll/

On September 5, 2017 KRQE reported the first poll of any news agency in the 2017 Mayor’s race.

Since mid-July, political insiders and pundits have claimed private campaign organization polls had Tim Keller with a comfortable lead with his poll numbers in the high twenties or low 30s, while Dan Lewis and Brian Colon were running neck and neck for second place, with all the other candidates having very low single digit poll numbers.

Since mid-July, inside sources have also said campaign polls showed that there was high “undecided” number of voters, as much as 43%.

The KRQE poll appears to have confirmed what has been going on since mid-July, however some of the candidates did not perform as well as what was expected, especially Dan Lewis and Tim Keller.

The consistent take on the race has been that it will be Keller and Lewis in a runoff, but the poll makes that face off cloudy at best.

The poll was one of 500 likely registered voters conducted by automatic phone calls with a margin of error which reduces accuracy.

The poll was also taken before any of the candidates began to spend on radio and tv commercials.

KRQE reported each of the candidates polled as follows:

Democrat State Auditor Tim Keller – 22%
Republican City Councilor Dan Lewis – 11%
Former Democratic Party Chair Brian Colon – 10%
Republican County Commissioner Wayne Johnson – 8%
Independent retired APD Police Officer Michell Garcia-Holmes – 6%
Republican businessman Ricardo Chavez – 5%
Democrat Gus Pedrotty – 1%
Independent Susan Wheeler Diechel – 1%

The biggest winner in the KRQE poll was “undecided” at 36%.

Based on the numbers, the KRQE poll is probably more a reflection of name recognition than public support which would explain why Democrat State Auditor Tim Keller, Republican Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis and former Democratic Party Chair Brian Colon and Republican County Commissioner Wayne Johnson are the top four tier candidates.

Despite all the Mayoral forums held, the local press has been somewhat dormant on covering the race and coverage has been very skimpy.

At least three televised debates have been scheduled.

A 36% for undecided voters should not be a major surprise seeing as very little has happened when it comes to the candidates spending major amounts of money on campaign TV and radio commercials and printed materials except for Brian Colon.

In the KRQE report, UNM Political Science Professor Gabe Sanchez suggested that Tim Keller, because Keller registered 22% in the poll, which was twice as much as each of the next two candidates, that it is “plausible” for Keller to get to 50% and avoid a runoff.

Expecting that there will be no runoff is very wishful thinking given the numbers presented and the fact that the poll was taken before political commercials had begun to run.

Many political pundits and insiders were expecting Mr. Keller to have at least 30% or more in the KRQE poll given his high name recognition as State Auditor, his very considerable support within the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, his endorsements and the substantial union contributions to his measured finance committee or PAC.

Had Keller done better at say 35% in the poll and not the 22% he garnered, avoiding a runoff would have been plausible.

Based on the KRQE poll, it is likely Tim Keller will be in the runoff but it is not likely he will get more than 50% to avoid a runoff.

Republicans Dan Lewis at 11%, Wayne Johnson at 8% and Ricardo Chavez at 5% are dividing up the conservative Republican vote, with Wayne Johnson increasing his criticism of Lewis and within striking distance of overtaking Dan Lewis and giving Johnson the possibility to reach the runoff.

I suspect the combined 24% of the poll numbers reflected by Lewis, Johnson and Chaves are highly reliable conservative voters, most likely Trump supporters, but if none of these three make it into the runoff, the real question raised is will their voters sit out the runoff election and not vote for any Democrat?

Expect campaign spending on commercials to change dramatically, and it has already started.

Brian Colon ran TV commercials all last week featuring Attorney General Hector Balderas endorsing him, with no other candidate running commercials.

The Balderas endorsement was critical to help Colon solidify the Hispanic vote as well as the more traditional wing of the Democratic Party in order offset the progressive wing of the Democratic party which is supporting Keller.

The Colon commercials began running after the poll was taken and the effect of those commercials is probably not reflected in the KRQE poll.

Tim Keller this week started 15 second commercials, but given the amount of public finance money he has remaining, the ad will get limited play.

Over the next four weeks, a considerable amount of money will be spent on radio, tv, phone banking and door to door canvassing.

According to the August 11, 2017 Campaign Finance Reports, following are the closing balances for each of the candidates available for advertising and their campaigns:

Brian Colon – $535,579.82
Ricardo Chaves – $373,228
Tim Keller – $227,229.00
Tim Keller Measured Finance Committee – $77,172.00
Wayne Johnson – $207,770
Dan Lewis – $169,600
Michell Garcia Holmes – $33,300
Susan Wheeler Dieshel – $5,955.23
Gus Pedrotty – $3,091

The candidates have no doubt spent and raised more money during the last month and the next fiancé reports are due September 10, 2017.

A wild card is if money will be raised and spent to run highly negative ads against anyone of the four major candidates, which is more likely against the front runner Keller.

As is the case with any election, voter turnout will be critical.

Early voting also starts on September 13, 2017 and the candidates need to double down on media.

The mandatory sick leave initiative will also be on the ballot and just may increase voter turnout, but that will cut both ways as having the potential to increase voter turnout of progressives and conservatives.

A coalition of 27 business organizations has been formed to oppose the mandatory sick leave initiative and has raised over $100,000 to oppose it and you can expect more and an aggressive campaign to defeat it as was done with the “soda tax” in Santa Fe.

From a historical standpoint, municipal elections are very low voter turnout with between 20% and 25%.

The reliable municipal voters tend to be 50 years and older and conservative.

Four years ago, only 19% of eligible voters voted in the lowest voter turnout since 1977.

You can count on negative advertising to be initiated against anyone of the four front runners which will no doubt have an impact on the race because negative advertising works.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/09/05/free-press-appeal/

For the last few months, the ALB Free Press has published a number of my blog columns without any charge on my part except me expressing my appreciation. The ALB Free press during the last three years has filled the void created by the Albuquerque Journal and news station’s failure to cover stories that hold our elected officials accountable and responsible. It would be a damn shame if the Alb Free Press no longer publishes. I for one hope people will come forward and help by contacting dennis@freeabq.com or calling (505)306-3260 or (505) 200-2410.

Below is an open letter from the Alb Free Press published September 4, 2017 that I hope people will share and read:

OPEN LETTER TO READERS OF THE ALB FREE PRESS

It has become apparent to the publisher of ABQ Free Press that advertising support for our news product does not exist and will not exist in the foreseeable future.

What Will It Take For ABQ Free Press To Survive?
If you think you can help, write us at dennis@freeabq.com

BY DAN VUKELICH

ABQ Free Press needs your input as we prepare to make a decision on whether this independent local news outlet can survive.

It has become apparent to the publisher of ABQ Free Press that advertising support for our news product does not exist and will not exist in the foreseeable future.

In the three-plus years since the first issue of ABQ Free Press rolled off the presses on April 23, 2014, we’ve had six advertising sales managers — none of whom could move the needle to bring us anywhere near profitability.

Some of them said we were “too edgy” and that potential advertisers wanted us to be less confrontational or that we were too “negative”.

(For the record, Mayor Richard Berry’s administration long ago stopped informing us of news conferences, significant announcements or availabilities by top city officials — all of which has hindered our access to news and sources.)

At the recommendation of our last advertising manager, we tweaked the newspaper’s layout and boosted our entertainment coverage to make the paper more saleable, although we resisted her entreaties to emulate the Weekly Alibi because, in our opinion, one Alibi is more than enough.

In the end we were forced to stop publishing a printed newspaper. The end to ABQ Free Press as a free weekly came last March 15.

We were and are being read. During its life, the print run of the newspaper varied from 20,000 and 60,000. For most issues, we printed 25,000 to 35,000 copies. Returns more or less held steady at a little less than 10 percent at our 400-plus locations from Belen to Santa Fe.

Through data we gathered during periodic online reader polls, we saw our reader demographic get younger and better, with a majority of our readers falling into the 25 to 54 age group sought by advertisers.

Not that it helped pay the bills, but we’re proud to note that the newspaper won dozens of journalism awards, including top honors in statewide and multi-state newspaper contests for investigative reporting, news reporting, analysis, columns, editorial writing and page design.

If we had to pick a label, we’d call ourselves progressive. Readers continue to tell us that we fill a void in the political spectrum between the conservative and establishmentarian Albuquerque Journal and the liberal but often-vapid Alibi which, despite periodically laying off its staff en masse, somehow manages to survive.

Over our life, we have focused on several core issues we believe are our raison d’etre: pointing out the incompetence of the leadership of the Albuquerque Police Department; understanding the causes of APD violence, which is not unrelated to the previous point; understanding the causes of our city’s crime wave (also related); interpreting the upheaval of health care; understanding the causes of our poor economy; demanding government transparency and accountability, especially at City Hall; and exposing the remarkable short-sightedness of the Richard J. Berry’s Albuquerque Rapid Transit project.

Now, it’s clear that despite the cost reductions realized in March following our transition to an online-only news product, and despite this site’s growing visitation and mushrooming social media following, advertising revenue remains maddeningly elusive.

Which brings us to the point of this letter:

If you are among the thousands of people who have told us over the years that you value what we do, we need your guidance on whether a shift from ABQ Free Press away from an advertising revenue model to a voluntary subscription revenue model is possible.
What would you be willing to pay to support this news outlet? How often would you be willing to pay for it? How many of you are out there? If we’re missing something in our slimmed-down online coverage that might sway you, what would that be?

What we’re asking is: Tell us whether you see a path to survival for us. The times are that dire. Time is short.

Dan Vukelich is the senior editor of ABQ Free Press. He began the groundwork for publishing ABQ Free Press in the summer of 2013. Save for tweeting about the latest outrage from President Donald Trump, he stepped back from a daily role in the organization last April.

The Albuquerque Journal did another Sunday front page article on Albuquerque’s crime wave this time concentrating exclusively on the Southeast ABQ area reporting how beleaguered residents want the area cleaned up and are the victims of chronic crime.

(See September 3, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “LIVING DANGEROUSLY; Beleaguered residents wants Southeast ABQ area cleaned up”, page A-1)

The first two sentences of the story set the tone:

“A trip down the dusty sunbaked streets of what the city of Albuquerque has optimistically named the “International District” reveals an area awash in drug deals, fast food trash and discarded needles. It’s common knowledge to the residents of this area that many still call the “War Zone” that it is in the midst of a crime epidemic.”

The Albuquerque Journal did an accompanying article on all the candidates for Mayor and how crime reduction will be their top priority if elected.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1055481/crime-is-top-priority-for-mayoral-candidates-2.html

What is amazing is that the Albuquerque Journal did a front-page story on the crime in Southeast area of the city and failed to get any comment what so ever from the Mayor, the Chief Administrative Officer and the Chief of Police on what they have done over the years or intend to do to bring down crime in the area.

But then again why ask them what they have done when the answer is “absolutely nothing”.

None of the candidates for Mayor were asked about what they will do to bring down crime in the Southeast area.

It is interesting, but not at all surprising, how the Berry Administration makes a big production about their crime reduction efforts in the downtown business area but pretty much ignores the most vulnerable people who are victims of crime in the poorest area of the city.

EXTENT OF THE PROBLEMS

What was depressing is the following paragraph in the Journal article:

“While only 6.7 percent of Albuquerque’s population lives in the area bounded roughly by Carlisle and Eubank and Lomas and Gibson, the residents experienced at least 27 percent of the city’s murders between 2014 and 2016. And more than 10 percent of the 12,444 addresses in the area have experienced one or more incidents involving violent crime. Theft is rampant, too: One if four addresses have reported a property crime in the past three years. In these neighborhoods, daily life regularly intersects with crime on the streets.”

According to a recent study, in the past three years, the biggest and most violent area of the city is the area roughly from Carlisle to Eubank and from Lomas to Gibson and that part of city accounted for 27 percent of the murders, 20 percent of carjacking’s and 37 percent of nonfatal shootings.

(See August 11, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1, “The 5 most violent areas to live in Albuquerque”)

The Southeast area of the city has some of our most vulnerable citizens.

The Albuquerque Journal story does not mention that the Southwest area of the city has the highest poverty rate, highest unemployment rate, the highest percentage of illicit drug arrests, the highest high school dropout rates in the city, many factors that contribute to high crime rates.

Highland High School has one of the lowest graduation rates in the city at 49% and the highest dropout rate of any high school.

The Southeast area also has the highest rate of rental units with government subsidized housing as well as many “substandard” properties which many people would classify as “slumlord” properties.

When I was with the city from 2001 to 2009, I saw way too many slumlords property owners in the area charging top dollar to rent their properties to some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Many slumlords refuse to make repairs when needed, even when the health and safety of tenants were at risk, with many tenants reluctant to complain to slumlords for repairs for fear of eviction.

There is a sizable percentage of minorities and people of color who live in the Southeast area including the city’s largest percentage of undocumented or non-United State citizens who live in the area.

It is common knowledge within the immigrant community that undocumented residents are afraid to call law enforcement when they are victimized fearing they may be arrested by United States Customs and Immigration and deported.

What is so very disappointing is that there was an eight (8) year period from 2001 to 2009 where considerable progress was made to bring down crime in the International District, clean up the neighborhoods and make the area safer.

“WEED AND SEED” FEDERAL PROGRAM

From 2001 to 2009, the city and neighborhood activists worked closely with the United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney’s Office and secured federal grants known as the “Weed and Seed” program.

The U.S. Department of Justice’s “Weed and Seed” program was an innovative and comprehensive approach to law enforcement and community revitalization with the ultimate goal to prevent and control violent crime, drug abuse, and gang activity in targeted areas.

The program attempted to “weed out” violent crime, gang activity, and drug use and trafficking in target areas, and then “seed” the target area by restoring the neighborhood through social and economic revitalization.

The Federal “Weed and Seed” program had three major objectives:

(1) develop a comprehensive, multiagency strategy to control and prevent violent crime, drug trafficking, and drug-related crime in target neighborhoods;
(2) coordinate and integrate existing and new initiatives to concentrate resources and maximize their impact on reducing and preventing violent crime, drug trafficking, and gang activity; and
(3) mobilize community residents in the target areas to assist law enforcement in identifying and removing violent offenders and drug traffickers from the community and to assist other human service agencies in identifying and responding to service needs of the target area.

By all accounts, the federal “Weed and Seed” program was a success.

All the funding for the “Weed and Seed” program is now gone and the Southeast area has deteriorated immensely.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM AND INVESTMENT MADE A DIFFERENCE

The Southeast Heights neighborhood associations and area community activists became so enraged at one time with the amount of crime in the area that they organized and did actual “marches to take back the neighborhood” and protest properties that had become “magnets” for crime and demanding that action be taken by the city.

The Albuquerque Police Department use to target the area with “sweeps” and law enforcement tactical plans utilizing its specialized units.

The city’s Safe City Strike Force also targeted hundreds of properties, both residential and commercial in the International District and took civil enforcement action against the properties.

The city’s Planning Department secured federal grants upwards of $1 million dollars for clean ups and board ups of substandard properties by the Safe City Strike Force that were designated as blighted properties.

The Safe City Strike Force took action against violent bars in the area on Central that were magnets for crime.

Many Central bars have hundreds of calls for service a year placing a drain on law enforcement resources.

A few of the bars located on or near Central that were closed or torn down by the Safe City Strike Force include the Blue Spruce Bar, Rusty’s Cork and Bottle, the Last Chance.

Another program that was initiated by the city was the “Metropolitan Redevelopment Pilot Project” for the Southeast area of the city.

The City’s Family and Community Services Department secured funding for the purchase of real property that was designated as “blighted” under federal standards and considered substandard.

The residential real property was purchased at “fair market” value without any city condemnation and substandard structures leveled and the property cleared and then sold for redevelopment.

There were entire areas that were cleared in the Southeast heights and where multi-residential units were constructed, including for low income and subsidized housing.

PROGRESS GONE

For the last eight years, little to nothing has been done by the City of Albuquerque to address the serious crime problem in the Southeast area with crime rates spinning out of control.

Eight years later, virtually all the progress to bring down the crime in the Southeast area and clean up neighborhoods is virtually long gone.

The Albuquerque Police Department is seriously understaffed in it felony units and unable to do tactical plans and “sweeps” on a consistent and sustained manner in the Southeast area.

APD has only 430 sworn police in field services handling calls for service throughout the city and on three shifts.

There are many times reported that there are only seven or eight sworn police officers patrolling the Southeast area command in a shift.

CONLCUSION

For eight (8) years, the Albuquerque Journal and news outlets have failed to hold the administration accountable in any meaningful way regarding our crime rates.

All the candidates for Mayor have come up with crime reduction plans, but only a few discuss the underlying causes of crime.

I am very curious that once the new Mayor is elected, will that person be “hands on” and willing to get their hands dirty and make the necessary tough decisions to get things done when it comes to APD, bring our crime rates down and not just blame our judicial system.

December 1, 2017 cannot come too soon with the swearing in of a new Mayor and the appointment of a new Chief Administrative Officer and new Chief of Police.

Channel 13 did a very in-depth report on the number of vacant homes that are scattered across the city of Albuquerque. The link to the full story is here:

http://krqe.com/2017/08/09/albuquerque-struggles-to-address-vacant-home-problem/

The report went as far to say that many of the residences become magnets for crime that neighbors say is spilling onto their streets, creating a danger to nearby kids and families.

It was reported that in 2016 alone more than 1,300 vacant homes were added to the City of Albuquerque’s Vacant Building Registry.

This year so far, nearly 500 vacant homes were added to the city’s registry which does not t include vacant homes that exist within the city not on the city’s list.

A conservative estimate is that there are about 3,000 vacant homes and not including vacant commercial buildings.

Now we have my own Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson coming to the rescue in a re- election year introducing a resolution to create a seven-member task force to try and address the vacant home problem.

Gibson claims “other than zoning enforcement which is weeds and litter and that type of thing, we don’t have a lot of influence”.

Gibson is simply not telling the truth when she says the city does not have a lot of influence when in fact there are many civil remedies available to the city.

According to Gibson, she wants her “task force” to come up with recommendation for solutions and recommendations to the problem of vacant residential properties.

A task force to study the problem is nothing but a waste of people’s time by a City Councilor who has failed her constituents and one that needs to be voted out of office.

During the last four (4) years, Gibson’s constituents have complained repeatedly about the numerous vacant homes in her district.

Gibson has told her constituents at a neighborhood association meeting to their shock she cannot do anything about the numerous vacant and boarded up homes declared and posted substandard in her district.

The truth is that Gibson could introduce condemnation resolutions to force property owners to do something about their properties or instruct the City Attorney’s Office to file Nuisance Abatement Actions, but she refuses to act.

Each city councilor is given $1 million out of the general fund to designate for use on projects in their districts and the money could be used for tear-downs.

SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE WAS THE SOLUTION

In 2002, the Safe City Strike Force was formed to combat blighted commercial and residential properties.

Thirty (30) to forty-five (40) representatives from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Albuquerque Fire Department, the Fire Marshal’s Office, the Planning Department Code residential and commercial code inspectors, Family Community Services and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office participated comprised the strike force.

Seventy (70) to one hundred fifty (150) properties a week, both residential and commercial properties would be reviewed by the Strike Force.

The Safe City Strike Force would handle referrals from the general public, neighborhood associations, the Mayor and the Albuquerque City Council.

The Albuquerque City Council would be given weekly updates on the progress made in their districts on the nuisance properties found.

The Safe City Strike Force routinely prepared condemnation resolutions for enactment by the Albuquerque City Council to tear down substandard buildings.

I estimate in the 8 years I was Director of the Strike Force we took civil enforcement action against some 6,500 properties, both commercial and residential.

The Code Enforcement Division of the Planning Department secured $25,000 in federal grant funding for the Safe City Strike Force its first year of its existence for tear downs of blighted properties.

By the seventh year, the Code Enforcement Division of the Planning Department secured almost $1 million a year in funding for board ups and teardowns by the Safe City Strike Force.

NO EXCUSE FOR BLIGHTED, SLUMLORD PROPERTIES

Albuquerque and the commercial real estate sector may be on hard economic times, but that does not mean commercial property owners and landlords can just turn their backs on making repairs and do nothing to maintain their properties.

Not being able to afford to make repairs is not a good excuse when it comes to substandard commercial and residential buildings.

If commercial and residential rental property owners cannot afford to make repairs and keep maintenance up, then they need to sell their properties to someone who can.

Nuisance and blighted properties bring down property values and can endanger an entire neighborhood when the property becomes a magnet for crime, especially when used for a crack house or meth lab.

A magnet for crime property is one that has an extensive history of calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department and where crime occurs.

A review of the total number of calls for service a year is used in part to determine if a property is a public nuisance or a nuisance under city ordinances.

Residential rental landlords and motel owners need to provide housing that is safe, secure and livable for all tenants.

Tenants are legally entitled to safe, secure, clean, living quarters with working utilities when they pay their rent.

As director of the Safe City Strike Force, I saw way too many slumlords charging top dollar to rent their properties to some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Many slumlords refuse to make repairs when needed, even when the health and safety of tenants are at risk.

Slumlords have the financial upper hand with their tenants and have the attitude with their tenants that if you do not like what I am renting to you, then get the hell out.

Undocumented or non-United State citizens are also reluctant to complain to slumlords for repairs or the police because of fear of eviction or deportation.

Slumlords are also quick to evict when there is a missed monthly rental payment.

Some of the more egregious instances where property owners refused to make costly repairs and where health and safety was an issue involved heating and air condition systems that broke down during peak usage times.

The City of Albuquerque can have an impact and reduce the number of blighted and substandard commercial and residential properties in Albuquerque by relying on existing nuisance abatement state law and city ordinances.

New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque have some of the strongest nuisance abatement laws in the country and enforcement action can be taken by the city.

NEW MEXICO LAW

New Mexico law states: “A public nuisance consist of knowingly creating, performing or maintaining anything affecting any number of citizens without lawful authority which is injurious to public health, safety and welfare or interferes with the exercise and enjoyment of public rights, including the right to use public property.” (See 30-8-1, NMSA, defining public nuisance.)

Under New Mexico law, civil actions for the abatement of a public nuisance can be taken in the form of seeking injunctive relief to secure temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions and permanent injunctions to abate the nuisance.

A civil action to abate a public nuisance may be brought by any public officer or private citizen in state district court against any person, corporation or association of persons who creates, performs or maintains a public nuisance. (See 30-8-8, NMSA, abatement of a public nuisance.)

New Mexico law empowers all cities in New Mexico by city ordinance to define a nuisance, abate a nuisance and impose penalties upon a person who creates or allows a nuisance to exist. (See 3-18-17, NMSA Nuisances and Offenses; Regulation or Prohibition)

CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE ORDINANCES

A City of Albuquerque ordinance defines a nuisance property as “any parcel of real property, commercial or residential, on which …illegal activities occurs, or which is used to commit conduct, promote, facilitate, or aide the commission of … any … [crimes or housing code violations].” (See 11-1-1-3, city ordinance defining Public Nuisance)

The nuisance abatement ordinance lists misdemeanor and felony statutes and housing and commercial codes.

Albuquerque’s Nuisance Abatement Ordinance states: “It shall be unlawful for any owner, manager, tenant, lessee, occupant, or other person having any legal or equitable interest or right of possession in real property … or other personal property to intentionally, knowingly, recklessly, or negligently commit, conduct , promote, facilitate, permit, fail to prevent, or otherwise let happen, any public nuisance in, on or using any property in which they hold any legal or equitable interest or right of possession.” (See 11-1-1-10, Public Nuisance Prohibited)

The City’s Uniform Housing Code defines a nuisance in part as “Any nuisance known at common law …” or “whatever is dangerous to human life or is detrimental to health, as determined by the health officer” or “any violation of the housing standards” required by the building and housing codes. (See 14-3-1-4, ROA 1994, Housing Code defining Nuisance).

In 2004 the city enacted the Vacant Building Maintenance Act which requires property owners to register their vacant buildings, repair them and keep them maintained.

Albuquerque’s housing and commercial codes define substandard structures and there are provisions that allow inspections and civil code enforcement actions.

Under existing city ordinances, property owners can be cited for code violations for not maintaining their properties in compliance with city codes.

Under the nuisance abatement ordinance, aggressive code enforcement action against blighted properties, both residential and commercial, can be taken where it is found that that the properties have become a nuisance and magnets of crime resulting in calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department.

CITY COUNCIL CAN FUND, BUT WILL NOT

For the last eight years, little to nothing has been done by the City of Albuquerque to address blighted and substandard commercial and residential properties in Albuquerque.

There is a lack of commitment by city hall to properly fund a program that was recognized as a best practice by municipalities throughout the country.

Albuquerque was safer and cleaner because of the work of the Safe City Strike Force.

Today, the Safe City Strike Force has one employee, its director, and the Safe City Strike Force largely exists in name only.

Existing code enforcement resources are already in place in the City Planning Department and the City Attorney’s office.

City Councilors are given $1 million each in discretionary funds out of the general fund to use as they see fit in their City Council districts.

All our City Councilors need to commit their discretionary money to good use for condemnations and tear downs of substandard buildings in their districts by the Safe City Strike Force.

Funding the Safe City Strike Force may not be a glamorous construction project like a library or fire station that city councilors always love taking credit for, but it would go along way to getting rid of blighted commercial and residential properties, which only sully entire neighborhoods and put residents in danger and bring property values down.

Diane Gibson needs to stop wasting people’s time with a task force and spear head the funding of the Safe City Strike Force.

All eight (8) of the candidates for Mayor have all come up with basically the same anti-crime plan to bring down our crime rates:

1. Replace the chief and perhaps the command staff
2. Increase funding to APD and the number of police officers from 850 to 1,200
3. Return to community based policing
4. Complete the Department of Justice Reform mandated by the consent decree

There really is nothing novel or new with anything that is being proposed by any of the candidates and it all relates to our criminal justice system.

The anti-crime platforms of all the candidates will take years to accomplish and even if implemented, the anti-crime plans may still not bring crime rates down.

What is ignored or at least forgotten by all eight of the candidates is that the City does in fact have any number of civil remedies to combat crime, but they are not being utilized and have been all but abandoned during the last eight (8) years.

The city effectively used civil remedies from 2002 to 2009 that cleaned up our neighborhoods, made neighborhoods safer and helped bring crime down.

Currently, there are thousands of vacant or abandoned residential and commercial properties in Albuquerque that have become magnets for crime.

Something can be done immediately as the first step to reducing our crime rates and it involves civil remedies available to the City using existing resources.

SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE

In 2002, the Safe City Strike Force was formed to combat blighted commercial and residential properties.

Thirty (30) to forty-five (40) representatives from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Albuquerque Fire Department, the Fire Marshal’s Office, the Planning Department Code residential and commercial code inspectors, Family Community Services and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office participated comprised the strike force.

Seventy (70) to one hundred fifty (150) properties a week, both residential and commercial properties would be reviewed by the Strike Force.

The Safe City Strike Force would handle referrals from the general public, neighborhood associations, the Mayor and the Albuquerque City Council.

The Albuquerque City Council would be given weekly updates on the progress made in their districts on the nuisance properties found.

The Safe City Strike Force routinely prepared condemnation resolutions for enactment by the Albuquerque City Council to tear down substandard buildings.

I estimate in the 8 years I was Director of the Strike Force we took civil enforcement action against some 6,500 properties, both commercial and residential.

COSTS TO COMBAT MAGNETS FOR CRIME

Crime rates can be brought down with civil nuisance abatement actions.

The Safe City Strike Force took civil action against substandard properties that had become magnets for crime.

A magnet for crime property is one that has an extensive history of calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department and where crime occurs.

Residential and commercial properties used for prostitution and drug activity such as meth labs and crack houses are examples of magnets for crime.

A review of the total number of calls for service a year is what is used in part to determine if a property is a public nuisance or a nuisance under city ordinances.

Calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department to deal with properties that have become “magnets for crime” result in a drain on police resources and costs millions of dollars a year in taxpayer funds.

The average cost of a call for service to dispatch police officers to handle such minor calls as suspicious persons, loitering, loud parties and loud music cost taxpayers between $75 to $150 per call depending on the time spent on the call by police officers dispatched.

The Albuquerque Police Department handles anywhere from 600,000 to 750,000 calls for service per year consisting of priority 1, 2 and 3 calls made to the 911 emergency operations center.

BLIGHTED PROPERTIES

The most effective approach to address blighted properties is to initiate civil complaints and secure temporary restraining orders, preliminary and permanent injunctions.

As a Deputy City Attorney, I sought court orders to compel property owners to bring their properties into compliance with city ordinances, codes and state laws.

I routinely filed District Court civil complaints for injunctive relief or negotiated stipulated settlement agreements to abate nuisance properties.

Frequently, we would do interventions and met with property owners to negotiate stipulated settlements.

The Safe City Strike Force required slum lords to make repairs to their properties so that the properties could be occupied safely without exposure or threat of injury.

During my eight (8) years as Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I saw way too many slum lords charging top dollar to rent their properties to some of our poorest citizens with the landlords refusing to make repairs when needed, even when health and safety was an issue for the tenants.

Some of the more egregious instances where property owners refused to make costly repairs and where health and safety involved heating and air condition systems that broke down during peak usage times by the tenants.

The goal was always to try to work with the property owners and negotiates stipulated settlement agreements with them, either for repairs or voluntary tear downs.

TEARDOWNS AND BOARD UPS

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the tear down of an entire residential block of homes located at 5th Street and Summer in the Wells Park neighborhood area located north of downtown Albuquerque.

There were a total of 21 abandoned and vacant, boarded up properties that could not be repaired, owned by one elderly woman who agreed allowed a tear down of the structures by the City.

As Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I negotiated a voluntary tear down of an entire strip mall that had been boarded up for years, beyond repair, located near the former Octopus Car Wash on Menaul Street and Eubank.

The strip mall was constantly being broken into, with fires being set by the homeless, and at one time a dead body was found at the location.

Two long vacant and vandalized restaurants, the Purple Plum and a Furr’s cafeteria, both on far North-East heights Montgomery, were torn down by the Safe City Strike Force.

One year, Albuquerque experienced a huge spike in meth labs where almost 90 meth labs were found and identified and where the Safe City Strike Force was asked for assistance with contamination clean up.

CENTRAL MOTELS

The Safe City Strike Force required commercial property and motel owners to make repairs and they were required to reduce calls for service and address security on their properties.

The Safe City Strike Force took code enforcement action against 48 of the 150 motels along central and forced compliance with building codes and mandated repairs to the properties.

The Central motels that were demolished were not designated historical and were beyond repair as a result of years of neglect and failure to maintain and make improvements.

Central motels that had historical significance to Route 66 were purchased by the City for renovation and redevelopment.

The Central motels that the Safe City Strike Force took action against include the Gaslight (demolished), The Zia Motel (demolished), The Royal Inn (demolished), Route 66 (demolished), the Aztec Motel (demolished), the Hacienda, Cibola Court, Super-8 (renovated by owner), the Travel Inn (renovated by owner), Nob Hill Motel (renovated by owner), the Premier Motel (renovated by owner) the De Anza (purchased by City for historical significance), the No Name, the Canyon Road (demolished), Hill Top Lodge, American Inn (demolished), the El Vado (purchased by City for historical significance), the Interstate Inn (demolished).

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the demolition of at least seven (7) blighted motels that were beyond repair.

When people were displaced by enforcement actions taken by the Safe City Strike Force, the City’s Family and Community Services Department would provide vouchers to the displaced and assist in locating temporary housing for them.

VIOLENT BARS

The Safe City Strike Force took action against violent bars on Central that were magnets for crime.

Many Central bars have hundreds of calls for service a year placing a drain on law enforcement resources.

A few of the bars located on or near Central that were closed or torn down by the Safe City Strike Force include the Blue Spruce Bar, Rusty’s Cork and Bottle, the Last Chance Bar and Grill and Club 7.

The Safe City Strike Force closed Club 7 and the owner was convicted of commercial code violations.

As a Deputy City Attorney, I was co counsel with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office and brought charges against and convicted the Club 7 downtown Central Avenue bar owner that hosted a “rave” that allowed under age participants to mingle with adults and where a young girl was killed.

CONVENIENCE STORES

The Safe City Strike Force took enforcement action against a number of convenience stores on Central that had substantial calls for service to APD.

In 2005, The Safe City Strike Force identified convenience stores that had an unacceptable number of “calls for service” which resulted in the convenience stores being considered a public nuisance by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

Outdoor phones at the convenience stores used for illicit drug transactions were identified.

APD felt the convenience stores were relying upon APD to provide security at taxpayer’s expense rather than hiring their own private security company.

In 2005, as Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I was able to negotiate a stipulated settlement agreement with three major convenience store corporate owners of seventeen (17) convenience stores throughout Albuquerque and they agreed to pay for private security patrols.

FLEA MARKETS

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the closure of Louie’s Flea Market and the Star Flea Market, two Westside flea markets both on Old Coors Road South of Central.

Area residents felt the flea markets brought down property values.

Both flea markets had been around for decades and caused extreme traffic congestion on weekends they operated causing problems for the established or developing residential areas.

Both flea markets were found by the Albuquerque Police Department to be locations where stolen property was being sold and both had an excessive number of calls for service.

Neighbors of both markets said they would go to the flea markets and would find property stolen from their homes days before being sold.

HOARDERS

Some of the most tragic and heart breaking cases that the Safe City Strike Force dealt with involved “hoarders”.

Hoarding is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by excessive acquisition and an inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects or animals that cover the entire living areas or exterior of a home or property.

The Strike Force dealt with approximately 10 cases of hoarders.

One hoarder case I vividly recall involved an elderly woman who was housing over 60 cats in her 1,200 square foot, three bedrooms home. The home was not fit to be lived in as a result of contamination by the animals. Dead cats were found in her freezer.

The City removed the cats, cleaned up the property and placed a $40,000 lien on the home for the cleanup of the contamination.

Another hoarder had accumulated an extensive amount of items in his front and backyards to the extent that the area had become rat infested and the City forced a cleanup of the area.

CIVIL REMEDY FOR GRAFFITI VANDALISM

The increase in graffiti across Albuquerque is a damn shame and preventable.

Over ten (10) years ago, the City had a handle on it and reduced graffiti significantly.

In order to combat graffiti vandalism, the Safe City Strike Force initiated civil lawsuits against the vandals and their parents.

Over 120 civil lawsuits against well over 300 taggers and their parents to collect damages to City property and for the graffiti cleanup costs were files.

Close to $230,000 in restitution from the taggers was collected and the vandalism was reduced.

The City is spending close to $3 million dollars a year to clean up graffiti.

IT TAKES COMMITMENT

For the last eight (8) years, little or next to nothing has been done by the City of Albuquerque to address blighted and substandard commercial and residential properties.

There is a lack of commitment by city hall to properly fund a program that was recognized as a best practice by municipalities throughout the country.

The City of Albuquerque was safer and cleaner because of the work of the Safe City Strike Force.

Today, the Safe City Strike Force has one employee, its director, and the Safe City Strike Force exists in name only.

It has pained me to realize that eight years of success by the Safe City Strike Force is now totally wiped out and gone.

It pains me to know that all the accomplishments progress and the work to clean up Central and the City of Albuquerque and its neighborhoods has vanished.