I get downright disgusted with elected officials who say and do absolutely nothing during their entire terms until they are up for election and then they seek solutions to problems for the sake of publicity.

Albuquerque City Councilors Ken Sanchez and Don Harris are two such elected officials.

Both have done absolutely nothing for the last eight (8) years when it comes to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

Both are seeking re-election in October and now five (5) months before the election they come up with a proposal to help with the APD personnel shortage.

Sanchez and Harris are calling for a public vote on a charter amendment to add 375 APD Officers costing the City $16 million.

(See April 28, 2107 Albuquerque Journal. “Proposal seeks to add 375 APD officers; Charter amendment would cost the city and additional $16 million”, Metro & NM , Section C-1.)

The proposed charter amendment, which they want to put on the October 2 municipal ballot, would require the city to have 25 sworn police officers for every 11,500 residents in effect mandating that APD have 1,215 sworn officers.

The Charter Amendment is ill advised, not needed, and both Sanchez and Harris know it.

Many law enforcement experts believe that police staffing levels should be tied to work load and case load demands and not tied to population levels.

Councilor Ken Sanchez said in support of the Charter amendment “People in Albuquerque today do not feel safe. … I am very concerned. … I go to community meetings and that’s the number one concern – safety. They do not feel safe in their own homes.”

Guess what Councilor Sanchez, for the last eight (8) years you have been in office, people have not been safe in their homes, but only now that you are running for re-election you want to do something about it.

Since 2010, Albuquerque’s violent crime rate increased by 14% and property crime rates have dramatically increased by 14% to 20% percent.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that in 2015 violent crime and property crime in Albuquerque increased in by 9.2% and 11.5%, respectively.

In 2015, murders in Albuquerque spiked by 53%.

The truth is, there is no need for such a charter amendment nor any need for a public vote and the City Council could act if it wanted to.

There is clearly an element of hypocrisy with Sanchez and Harris calling for a public vote on APD staffing levels when they both voted for the ART Bus project and refused to put ART to a public vote.

Further, Sanchez and Harris voted for over $63 million dollars over the past two years in revenue bonds to build pickle ball courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down Central not seeking public input and bypassing the capital improvements process (CIP) that mandates public votes.

The use of revenue bonds is discretionary with the City Council requiring seven (7) votes and revenue bonds do not require significant review and public hearings as is required with capital improvement bonds.

A city council resolution could be enacted calling for the increase in APD personnel and giving raises and calling for retention and incentive bonuses and sign on and education pay to help with recruitment.

The City Council has the ultimate and final authority to fund APD to whatever level it wants with a simple majority vote and historically has done so for many years.

In 2009, both Sanchez and Harris were on the Albuquerque City Council.

Eight (8) years ago, APD was fully staffed with 1,100 officers, and Sanchez and Harris voted for the APD staffing and funding for 1,100 sworn officers.

Eight years ago, APD was the best trained, best equipped, and best paid in its history and sworn officers were consistently given raises, retention and incentive bonuses and sign on and education pay.

Over the last seven years, Mayor Berry and his appointed Chief’s destroyed one of the finest police departments in the country that will take years to recover.

Over the last eight (8) years, Sanchez and Harris have said nothing about APD management, not even when the Department of Justice found a ”culture of aggression” that lead to a federal consent decree and mandated reforms.

The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including controlling APD’s entire budget.

Sanchez and Harris have done nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms and have never challenged the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD to the City Council, Sanchez and Harris have essentially remained silent and declined to demand accountability in any meaningful way from the Mayor and hold the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms, let alone staffing levels.

Three years ago, the City Council reduced funding from 1,100 sworn officers to 1,000 sworn officers because of the Berry Administration’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements and Sanchez and Harris voted for the reduction in staffing.

APD is currently funded for 1,000, but employs only 856 sworn officers.

APD cannot recruit enough officers now to reach the 1,000 level, so what makes Sanchez and Harris think that a charter amendment approved by voters will do any good to add 375 more sworn officers to APD?

If Sanchez and Harris feel so strongly that we need 375 more officers, they should just introduce and city council resolution calling for it along with the $16 million funding, instead of calling for a charter amendment, but that would require a political backbone in a re-election year.

Both City Councilors have opponents for re-election.

City Councilors Ken Sanchez and Don Harris have both served multiple terms.

Sanchez and Harris should be thanked for their past service and move on and not be elected to another term in that they are part of the problem at city hall.

There are nine (9) candidates who have been certified by the City Clerk and who names will appear on the 2017 ballot for Mayor. (See April 29, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, “9 of 16 mayoral candidates qualify for ballot”, Metro & NM Section, Section C-1.)

All candidates should be congratulated and thanked by voters for their willingness to run.

Running for Mayor is not an easy task and requires candidates to really hustle to get the 3,000 qualifying nominating signatures from registered voters.

Four (4) years ago, there were only three (3) candidates for Mayor and just 19% of eligible voters voted.

With nine (9) candidates, I am hoping voter turnout will increase substantially.

In 2013, there was only a 19% turnout of registered voters in the Mayor’s race.

According to the City Clerk’s office, following are the qualifying candidates who secured the required number of nominating signatures from registered voters:

• Former Bernalillo County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta, a Democrat.
• Former state Democratic Party Chairman and private attorney Brian Colón.
• Republican Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson.
• Republican Ricardo Chaves and founder of Parking Company of America.
• University of New Mexico undergraduate Augustus “Gus” Pedrotty.
• Independent Susan Wheeler-Deichsel and founder of the civic group Urban ABQ.
• Republican City Councilor Dan Lewis.
• Democrat first term State Auditor Tim Keller.
• Independent Michelle Garcia Holmes, a retired Albuquerque police detective.

The election is Tuesday, October 2, 2017.

If no candidate gets 50% of the vote, a runoff election will be held one month later between the two top vote getters.

Following are issues voters should be thinking about and a few questions the candidates should be asked about:

PERSONNEL AND SERVICES:

1. Will you replace the current Chief Administrative Officer, City Attorney, Chief of Police, Fire Department Chief, Chief of Staff, Chief Operations Officer and all other current
department directors and if so with whom?
2. Are you in favor of, and will you lobby for, a state “right to work statute” that would impact or eliminate city employee unions?
3. Are you in favor of privatizing city services or work such as public safety, the 311 call center operations, the bus system or the maintenance and repair work done at city facilities such as the Bio Park?

APD and CRIME:

1. What is your position on the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and mandated reforms?
2. Should the City seek to renegotiate or set aside the terms and conditions of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and if so why?
3. Should the APD Chief, Assistant Chief, Deputy Chiefs and APD command staff be replaced?
4. Should a national search be conducted for a new law enforcement management team to assume control of APD and make changes and implement the DOJ consent decree mandated reforms?
5. Should the function of Internal Affairs be removed from APD and civilianized under the city Office of Inspector General, the Internal Audit Department and the City Human Resources Department?
6. What are your plans for increasing APD staffing levels and what should those staffing levels be?
7. Are you in favor of the proposed charter amendment that seeks to add 375 Albuquerque Police Officers at a cost of $16 million dollars a year and that would require the city to have 25 sworn officers for every 11,500 residents and if so, how would you pay for such an increase?
8. Are you in favor of allowing retired APD sworn police officers return to work and be paid both their PERA pensions and salary, also known as double dipping?
9. What would you do as Mayor to enhance civilian oversight of APD and the implementation of the Department of Justice mandated reforms?
10. Since 2010, there have been 41 police officer involved shootings and the city has paid out $60 million to settle deadly force and excessive use of force cases. Should the City return to a “no settlement” policy involving alleged police misconduct cases and require a trial on the merits or a damages jury trial?
11. What are your plans or solutions to bringing down high property and violent crime rates in Albuquerque and does your plan include community based policing?
12. Should APD personnel or APD resources be used in any manner to enforce federal immigration laws and assist federal immigration authorities?
13. Should the City of Albuquerque create a Department of Public Safety, consolidating Police, Fire and 911 operations under a single civilian Public Safety Director?
14. Should the City of Albuquerque consolidate law enforcement and fire services with Bernalillo County and create a single agency under one governing authority?
15. The City of Albuquerque has a vehicle forfeiture program where vehicles are seized by the city when a person is arrested for the second time for DWI, the City secures title to the vehicles and they are sold at auction. Are you in favor of the program or would you order the program stopped?
16. Should the City reinstate the “red light camera” program where civil traffic citations are issued to combat and reduce intersection traffic accidents?

THE ALBUQUERQUE ECONOMY:

1. What strategy would you implement to bring new industries, corporations and jobs to Albuquerque?
2. Albuquerque’s major growth industries include health care, transportation, manufacturing, retail and tourism with an emerging film industry. What programs would you propose to help or enhance or grow these industries?
3. Do you intend to keep the current Director of the City’s Economic Development Department and support staff?
4. To what extent should tax increment districts, industrial revenue bonds and income bonds be used to spur Albuquerque’s economy?
5. What financial incentives do you feel the city can or should offer and provide to the private sector to attract new industry and jobs to Albuquerque, and should that include start-up grants or loans with “claw back” provisions?
6. What sort of private and public partnership agreements or programs should be implemented to spur economic development?
7. What sort of programs or major projects or facilities, if any, should the city partner with the State or County to spur economic development?
8. What programs can the city implement to better coordinate its economic development with the University of New Mexico and the Community College of New Mexico (CNM) to insure an adequately trained workforce for new employers locating to Albuquerque?
9. Are you in favor of the enactment of a gross receipt tax or property tax dedicated strictly to economic development, programs or construction projects to revitalize Albuquerque that would be enacted by the City Council or be voter approved?
10. Do you support the continuation of the “Innovate Albuquerque” program or its expansion?
11. What programs can Albuquerque implement to insure better cooperation with Sandia Labs and the transfer of technology information for economic development?

CITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT:

1. What is your position on the two-year rewrite of the City’s comprehensive plan known as ABC-Z project which is an attempt to bring “clarity and predictability” to the development regulations and to attract more “private sector investment”?
2. As Mayor, what do you feel the City can do to promote “infill development” and would it include the City acquiring property to be sold to developers and the formation of public/private partnerships?
3. What do you feel the City can do to address vacant residential and commercial properties that have been declared “substandard” by city zoning and unfit for occupancy?
4. Should the City of Albuquerque seek the repeal by the New Mexico legislature of laws that prohibit city annexation of property without county approval?
5. What is your position on the Santolina development project on the West side and should it be annex by the City to provide utility services?
6. What is your position on City and County consolidation for all government services, including zoning and development?

EDUCATION:

1. Should the City of Albuquerque have representation or be included on the Albuquerque School board, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents and the Community College of New Mexico Board?
2. What should the City do to help reduce high school dropout rates?
3. Should the City of Albuquerque advocate to the New Mexico legislature increasing funding for early child care development programs and intervention programs with increased funding from the permanent fund?
4. What education resources should or can the City make available to the Albuquerque school system?

POVERTY AND THE HOMELESS:

1. What should be done to reduce the homeless population in Albuquerque?
2. What services should the City provide to the homeless and the poor if any?
3. Should the City continue to support the “coming home” program?
4. Should the city be more involved with the county in providing mental health care facilities and programs?

PROJECT PLANNING AND FUNDING:

1. The Albuquerque Rapid Transit Project (ART) is a $129 million-dollar project including $69 million Federal Transportation (FTA) grant that has yet to be approved by congress. Should ART be completed?
2. If the tatotal $69 million ART grant is not approved by congress, where do you propose the money should come from for any shortfall, the general fund, revenue bonds or a tax increase?
3. Are you in favor of increasing the city’s current gross receipts tax or property taxes to pay for essential services and make up for lost gross receipt tax revenues caused in part by the repeal of the “hold harmless” provision and that has mandated budget and personnel cuts during the last 7 years?
4. Do you feel that any and all increases in gross receipts taxes should be voter approved?
5. Are you in favor of diverting any funding from the Bio Park tax enacted by city voters that will generate $250 million for other services or projects not associated with the Bio Park?
6. The City has borrowed over $63 million dollars over the past two years to build “pickle ball” courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing voters and using revenue bonds as the financing mechanism to pay for big capital projects. Do you feel revenue bonds is an appropriate funding mechanism for large capital improvement projects as identified?

ANIMAL WELFARE
1. Are you in favor of replacing the current Director of the Animal Welfare Department?
2. What is your position on the City’s “catch and release” program for feral cat’s that upon being caught by the city’s Animal Welfare Department, they are spade or neutered and then released?
3. What would you do to promote dog and cat adoptions or should the city euthanize all animals after a thirty (30) day hold?
4. What is your familiarity with the HEART ordinance and do you feel it is too restrictive and should it be amended or repealed?

BALLOT INITIATIVES:

1. What is your position on the mandatory sick leave initiative known as the “Healthy Workforce” ordinance mandating private businesses to pay sick leave to employees and that will appear on the October 3, 2017 ballot?
2. Should the City and the City Attorney’s office enforce the increase in the minimum wage enacted by voters?
3. Should the City and the City Attorney’ enforce the mandatory sick leave initiative if it is enacted by city voters?
4. What is your position on the proposed increase in public financing for Mayoral candidates from $360,000 to $640,000 that will appear on the October 3, 2017 ballot?
5. Do you intend to ask for or rely upon a measured finance committee to set up to promote your candidacy for Mayor?
6. Should major capital improvement projects such as the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project (ART), be placed on the ballot for voter approval and should there be a specified amount before a public vote is required?
7. What is your position on the ART Bus project and should it be stopped or scaled back if Congress does not fund the $69 million federal grant?
8. Should Albuquerque become a “sanctuary city”?
9. Should the issue of Albuquerque becoming a “sanctuary city” be placed on the ballot for voter approval?

CONCLUSION

Voters are entitled to and should expect more from candidates than fake smiles, slick commercials, and no solutions and no ideas.

Our City needs more than promises of better economic times and lower crime rates for Albuquerque.

Voters need to demand answers and find out what candidates really stand for and what they intend to do once elected.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/04/19/art-funding-still-in-doubt/

This Albuquerque Free Press article explores the question where will the city get the money to complete the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project if doesn’t get the $69 million federal transit grant it has applied for?

I was delighted to make a comment for the article.

City officials are saying the city has an extra $69 million to complete the $126 million ART project by the end of the year, but they are not saying where it’ll come from.

The one glaring and surprising mistake in this article is where our State Auditor and candidate for Mayor Tim Keller says he suspects that Berry’s administration could find ART bus money in the city’s risk management fund.

Keller should know better to even make the suggestion.

The City of Albuquerque is a “self-insured entity”, meaning that by state law a certain percentage of projected liability losses from lawsuits and injury claims against the City must be set aside to avoid being required to secure a liability insurance policy by the State.

The City could never afford such a policy and that is why it is self insured under state law.

The penalty for not adequately funding the risk management fund as required by law is the city loosing its “self insurance” status and certificate which is quite serious and would probably have an impact on our bond ratings.

During the last 7 years, Albuquerque has paid out of the risk management fund over $60 million dollars to settle police misconduct cases for deadly force and excessive use of force cases.

The city has a Risk Management Director and claims adjusters and all payments out of the risk management fund must be approved by the Risk Manager and/or the Claims Review Board.

Raiding of the risk management fund for a capital improvements project such as the ART Bus project is clearly illegal.

Councilor Pat Davis saying the city could use federal highway fund money it gets that is administered through the Mid-Region Council of Governments to make up for the $69 million loss for the ART bus project is very embarrassing and reveals he has no idea what he is talking about.

Dave Pennella, the Metro Planning Organization administrator for MRCOG, disputed Davis’ claim by saying “The money cannot come from any other federal funding sources that we have.”

Then you have City Councilor Diane Gibson saying she didn’t know where the city would find the money for the ART Bus project if the $69 million grant is not approved saying “It would really be nice to know”.

Diane Gibson is my City Councilor and has voted repeatedly for the ART Bus project and funding.

Gibson said to a neighborhood association meeting she “was tired of carrying the Mayor’s water” on the ART Bus project.

Gibson voted to spend the $69 million federal grant money that has yet, and may never be, appropriated by congress.

It would have been nice for Diane Gibson to have asked a few questions where the money would come from if the $69 million grant money is not forthcoming.

The truth is, the money will probably have to come out of the general fund and will have to be approved by the City Council or the City will need to find another funding source such as to issue revenue bonds.

The City Council could even enact a one-eighth of a cent gross receipts tax with a sunset clause.

Political pundit Joe Monahan is reporting that Republican New Mexico Lieutenant Governor John Sanchez has decided not to run for Governor but to instead to run against Democrat United States Senator Martin Heinrich. (See April 14, 2017 post “Lt. Gov Sanchez Publicly Attacks Sen. Heinrich And Appears Poised for Senate Bid” at http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/)

Political insiders are also saying that Republican US Congressman Steve Pierce has decided not to run for Governor, but for re-election to his safe Southern Congressional seat.

With the departure of Republican heavy weights John Sanchez and Steve Pierce running for the GOP nomination for Governor, the Republicans are left with discredited light weight Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry as a front runner for the Republican nomination.

I for one hope that Berry runs for Governor so that he will be held accountable for the disastrous ART Bus Project, for what has done to destroy a once great police department, what he has done to city government and the Albuquerque economy and to end his political career.

If elected, a Governor Richard Berry will do to New Mexico what he has done to Albuquerque the last seven years.

By his permission, below is an April 18, 2017 FACEBOOK post sent to me by Pete Wierzbicki that sums up what Mayor Richard Berry has presided over and done to Albuquerque during the last seven (7) years and it should be a required read for all those running for Mayor:

FACEBOOK POST BY PETE WIERZBICKI:

“Albuquerque has fallen to the bottom and in many cases dead last of every meaningful ranking in the country, including economy, jobs, crime, education, real estate, desirability, and traffic. (For example, #404 in economic recovery.)

ABQ has become a sea of litter and garbage — it will take years and millions of dollars to clean up — it’s been accumulating for 7 years.
Complaints fall on deaf ears, and the Mayor said “It’s the windy season’s fault.”

Ninety percent of the beautiful nighttime landscaping that Mayor Chavez put in is malfunctioning or completely dead and it also has been so since Berry became mayor.

Murder, drugs, violence, gangs, homelessness, and city scandals abound.

APD is understaffed and short 200 police officers.

The ART is a colossal disaster and the city lied to feds to secure funding.

This mayor and city council are 100% responsible for all of this and none of them should ever be voted into public office again.

Vote no for Berry for governor and no for Lewis or any other city Councilor for mayor.

See the facts that no one is talking about:

The Year 2006: Mayor Martin Chavez

1. Albuquerque ranked #1 – yes FIRST, by Forbes Magazine as best place for business and careers in the entire country.http://www.forbes.com/2006/05/03/06b…ness_land.html

Today, under Mayor Berry and this city council — Recent Reports And Data:

1. Forbes Magazine — Albuquerque #162 for doing business — July 29, 2015
— just ahead of Clarksville, TN, Allentown PA , and DETROIT, MI (#169)
http://www.forbes.com/best-places-fo…verall_page:16

2. “New ranking puts ABQ in cellar for economic growth” – September 29, 2015
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq…ic-growth.html

3. “2015’s Cities with the Fastest Growing Economies” – Albuquerque ranked #404 – September, 2015
https://wallethub.com/edu/fastest-growing-cities/7010/

4. Bureau of Labor Statistics – Metropolitan Employment Rankings — Albuquerque ranked #324 – August 2015
http://www.bls.gov/web/metro/laummtrk.htm

5. Colliers US Downtown Office Vacancy Rates — Albuquerque Dead Last — December 2014

Click to access medi…e_d8_Final.pdf

6. Wikipedia: Traffic analysis firm INRIX in 2013, ranks the top 65 worst US traffic cities — Albuquerque #18
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_congestion

7. The Albuquerque metropolitan area’s 0.3 percent growth rate in the year that ended July 1 put it in 77th place among the nation’s largest 100 metro areas, according to a Brookings Institution analysis of population trends.
http://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerq…on-growth.html — July 2014

8. 2017’s Best & Worst Cities for Jobs – Albuquerque #119 out of 150 – Jan 4, 2017
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-cities-for-jobs/2173/

9. NOV 30, 2016 MID-SIZED METROS WITH FASTEST GROWING GROSS REGIONAL PRODUCT ARE PROVO, FAYETTEVILLE AND CAPE CORAL; SLOWEST ARE PALM BAY, ALBUQUERQUE, SYRACUSE
Albuquerque #2 Slowest Regional Product
http://headlightdata.com/medium-sized-metros-with…/

10. The Best Places For Business And Careers
2016 RANKING ABQ #138
http://www.forbes.com/best-places-for-business/list/3/…

11. Albuquerque is the 5th most violent city in the nation
Updated: 6:59 PM MDT Aug 12, 2016
http://www.koat.com/…/albuquerque-is-the-5th…/5072628

12. Fortune: ABQ the worst city in the U.S. to own a home
http://nmpoliticalreport.com/…/fortune-abq-the-worst…/

13. ABQ ranked among worst real estate markets
https://www.abqjournal.com/…/abq-ranked-among-worst…

14. Albuquerque ranks 113 out of 150 for Most and Least Recession-Recovered Cities.
http://www.bizjournals.com/…/new-ranking-puts-abq-in…

15. Albuquerque ranks near bottom in list of best, worst cities for families
http://krqe.com/…/albuquerque-ranks-near-bottom-in…/

16. Albuquerque Really Is Like Breaking Bad
http://ideas.time.com/…/why-breaking-bad-rings-true-to-me/

17. NM again ranks 49th in child well-being, 50th in education
http://www.lcsun-news.com/…/nm-again-ranks…/86140070/

18. Colliers US Downtown Office Vacancy Rates — Albuquerque Dead Last — December 2014

Click to access 4Q_NA_Office_d8_Final.pdf

Sorry for some of the truncated links.

If anybody wants them I can provide.”

The first quarterly finance reports for the October 3, 2017 Mayor’s race have now been filed with the Albuquerque City Clerk. (See April 18, 2017 Albuquerque Journal , page A-1, “Money already pouring into mayor’s race; new entrant lends himself $300K”)

Most of the candidates are “dirt poor” and probably “money green with envy” given what a few of the other candidates have been able to raise in private financing.

There are 16 candidates for Mayor registered with the City Clerk’s office with only State Auditor Tim Keller qualifying for public finance by collecting 3,800 qualifying $5 donations.

Following is what has been reported raised in cash from January 15 to March 31, 2017 by the candidates:

Deanna Archuleta, Democrat, former Bernalillo County Commissioner – $140,943
Ricardo Chavez, Republican, Founder of Parking Company of America – $300,000 (personal campaign loan)
Elan Colello, Democrat, CEO of a virtual reality company – $0 reported
Brian Colon, former State Democratic Party Chairman and attorney – $351, 553, ($389,834 to date)
Lamont T. Davis, City Employee – $0 reported
Mitchell Garcia Holmes, Independent, retired APD police detective – $ 6, 120 cash ($9,900 in kind)
Rachel Golden – $0 reported
Wayne Johnson, Republican, Bernalillo County Commissioner – $100,876
Timothy Keller, Democrat, first term New Mexico State Auditor – $380,0000 (City Public Financing)
Dan Lewis, Republican, Albuquerque City Councilor – $100,876 (Not including $90,000 carry over for a total of $190,000)
Scott Madison, Democrat, employed by Sandia Labs – $0 reported
Stella Ann Padilla, Democrat, community activist and Old Town resident – $3,495
Ian Page – $0 reported
Augustus “Gus” Pedrotty, University Student – $1,707
Jacob Shull – $0 Reported
Susan Wheeler-Deischel, Independent, founder Urban Albuquerque – $1,583 ($475 in kind)

Under Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, the maximum allowed contribution from any one individual donor or corporation is $5,193 which represents 5% of the Mayor’s salary.

I suspect the $5,193 donation cap could be easily challenged under “Citizens United”.

Only three candidates have secured the required 3,000 signatures to get on the ballot: Dan Lewis, Tim Keller and Michelle Garcia Holmes.

All candidates have until April 30 to submit their nominating petitions.

I suspect when it is all said and done, only seven candidates will be able to secure 3,000 signatures from registered voters to get on the ballot.

I have no doubt that the finance reports were what I call an “Oh S” moment in politics by under financed candidates.

The finance reports will motivate people to raise even more money as they chase each other to compete and to run commercials.

It really must be nice to be Ricardo Chavez and be able to just pull out your personal check book and write a check for $300,000 to run for Mayor.

Ricardo Chavez is a highly-respected businessman in Albuquerque and needs to be congratulated on his financial success and thanked for the contributions he has made to Albuquerque.

The biggest advantage of being able to “self-finance” is being able to say your beholden to only yourself and the biggest disadvantage is fooling yourself that you can just buy an election by financing it first not even knowing if you can get on the ballot by collecting 3,000 nominating signatures.

It is probably just as nice to be Brian Colon, Dan Lewis, Wayne Johnson and Deanna Archuleta to be able to ask your best “friends” to write you personal checks for $5,193.

What I found disappointing is Brian Colon referring to his $5,000 plus donors as “key stake holders” in the community giving the impression you need to be wealthy and able to make big contributions to be a key “stake holder” in his campaign or for that matter in the community given our city economy and New Mexico having the highest unemployment rate in the United States.

Tim Keller has got the best of all political campaign finance world’s by getting public financing to the tune of $380,000, claiming he is “walking the walk” and running a “grassroots campaign” while at the same time really being disingenuous when he accepts $380,000 in taxpayer, public finance money to run for Mayor and he does not make any sort of public commitment to decline assistance or request that no measured finance committee assist him to get elected or spend money to run commercial ads on his behalf.

According to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office and campaign finance reports filed, Mr. Keller received contributions of $487,276.66 and had expenditures of $545,372 as a candidate for New Mexico State Auditor and for this reason you can expect his State Auditor contributors to form a measured finance committee of one form or another on his behalf to help him run for Mayor.

(See https://www.cfis.state.nm.us/media/CandidateCandidateList.aspx?es=17&fn=Tim&ln=Keller)

The same highly paid political consultants that ran Keller’s campaigns for State Senate and State Auditor are running his campaign for Mayor and have already been paid $17,000 for the Mayors race this year alone and in 2016, Keller paid one political consulting firm $22,944 and another $14,018 from his State Auditor Campaign account according to Secretary of State records.

Four years ago, Mayor Berry raised over $910,000 in nine (9) months.

There is still over five (5) months left to raise money by the candidates for Mayor.

If no candidate gets 50% or more of the vote, a runoff is held between the two top vote getters, which means any successful candidate needs money to finance their campaigns both in the first election and then for the run-off if they make it.

I predict it will take $1 million to be successful to make it to the run-off and another $500,000 for the run off.

The influence of big money in elections allowed by the US Supreme Court Decision Citizens United is destroying our democracy.

Political campaign fundraising and big money influence are warping our election process.

Money spent becomes equated with the final vote.

Money drives the message, affects voter turnout and ultimately the outcome.

All too often, good, decent and qualified candidates do not run because they cannot raise the money.

Albuquerque municipal elections need campaign finance reform and enforcement.

On November 28, 2016, I posted at www.PeteDinelli.com my blog article “2017 Mayor’s Race Needs Public Finance Reform.”

I live in Albuquerque City Council District 7 which is basically the “mid heights” around Coronado and Winrock shopping centers and that includes the State Fair grounds.

Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson is the City Councilor for District 7.

I am a native of Albuquerque, as is my wife Betty, and we both have lived and been registered to vote in the district for over 50 years, we have raised a family in the district, and at one time I served as the City Councilor for the District.

Four years ago, I supported and voted for Diane Gibson without any reservation as did my extended family.

I cannot and will not support Diane Gibson for re-election even if she is the only one on the ballot and running unopposed.

To say the least, I am very disappointed in Gibson’s job performance and feel Gibson has not represented District 7 very well and has accomplished very little other than attending city council meetings and holding monthly coffees with constituents and drawing her city council salary.

I hope someone who wants to do a good job for the district runs against Gibson.

Ten (10) good reasons that Gibson should not be re-elected are as follows:

FIRST: Gibson voted repeatedly for and supported Mayor Berry’s ART Bus project and funding. Gibson said to a neighborhood association meeting she “was tired of carrying the Mayor’s water” on the project. Gibson refused to advocate to put ART on the ballot for public approval, saying it was the Mayor’s project. Gibson voted to spend federal grant money that has yet, and may never be, appropriated by congress. The ART Bus project has been a total disaster resulting the destruction of the character of Route 66 and having a negative impact and resulting in a number of businesses going out of business. Gibson did not attend a single public meeting that was sponsored by the administration to listen to constituents complaints on the project.

SECOND: Gibson 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 properties have become magnets for crime with numerous calls for service to police and the boarded-up homes bring down property values. 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. The truth is that Gibson could introduce condemnation resolutions to force property owners to do something about their properties but she refuses to act. For 8 years, I was a Deputy City Attorney and Director of the Safe City Strike Force and we routinely initiated condemnation proceeding against substandard properties with city council condemnation resolutions and we torn down condemned properties including residential homes and motels along Central.

THIRD: Gibson declined to advocate meaningful changes to our public finance laws making it easier for candidates to qualify for public finance. Gibson served on a task force that was supposed to come up with major changes to our public finance ordinance. Gibson said “it’s supposed to be hard to qualify” and said it keeps out people “who are not serious candidates”, as if she should be the one deciding who are serious candidates. The only change proposed is increasing the amount of money candidates get and not the process and the lack of changes to the public finance laws favors incumbents such as Gibson.

FOURTH: The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD)including controlling its budget. Gibson has done nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms and has never challenged the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms. Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD to the City Council, Gibson has declined to demand accountability from the Mayor and hold the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms. Gibson failed to attend any number of the federal court hearings on the consent decree.

FIFTH: Gibson takes credit as the sponsor of the city ordinance amendments requiring equal pay for woman. The truth is that the equal pay ordinance only applies to city contracts and those who do business with the city. The ordinance is voluntary and gives preferential treatment on city contracts to those who voluntarily comply. The equal pay for woman ordinance should apply to all businesses licensed to do business in Albuquerque and it should be mandatory.

SIXTH: Gibson has never demanded the City Attorney’s office to enforce the existing Albuquerque minimum wage ordinance. Gibson claims to be in favor of increasing the minimum wage, but has never demanded that the Mayor direct the City Attorney to enforce the current city ordinance enacted by voters with a 2 to 1 margin. Currently there is a class action lawsuit where minimum wage workers are being force to defend the city minimum wage ordinance without city hall intervention or help.

SEVENTH: Gibson voted for the final adoption of the ABC-Z comprehensive plan which will have long term impact on our neighborhoods and favors developers. She declined to vote the deferral of enactment of the ordinance to allow more established neighborhoods to give input on the ordinance. The ABC-Z project rewrite is nothing more than making “gentrification” an official city policy and the “gutting” of long standing sector development plans by the development community to repeal those sector development plans designed to protect neighborhoods and their character for the sake of development.

EIGHTH: Gibson voted for $13 million dollars in revenue bonds to pay for the ART Bus project that was not voted upon by the public. The $13 million allocation should have been part of the capital improvements (CIP) program.

NINTH: Gibson voted for over $63 million dollars over the past two years in revenue bonds to build pickle ball courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down Central not seeking public input and bypassing the capital improvements process (CIP) that mandates public votes. The use of revenue bonds is discretionary with the City Council requiring seven (7) votes and revenue bonds do not require significant review and public hearings as is required with capital improvement bonds.

TENTH: Gibson voted to award Taser International, a five-year, $4.4 million contract for 2,000 on-body cameras for police officers, and cloud storage despite the fact the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office is investigating the $2 million no-bid contract the city entered into with Taser in 2013 because former Police Chief Ray Schultz began consulting work for Taser while he was still on the city’s payroll. This is one contract that should not have been approved as long as there is an ongoing investigation.

Dianne Gibson is part of the problem with city hall for any number of reasons, a few which I have listed.

The qualifying period to collect signatures to get on the ballot and the public finance donations to run for City Council has now begun.

I hope someone runs against City Councilor Diane Gibson who I can support.