This is the link to my Albuquerque Journal Guest column published TWO years ago on August 28, 2014 and entitled “Mayor Fails to Address Real World Problems” https://www.abqjournal.com/…/mayor-fails-to-address-real-wo…. I post this now because Mayor Berry appeared recently before his buddies at the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce to talk about his $60,000 study on why Albuquerque has such high crime rates and what he intends to about them. This is the first time in seven years of being in office I can recall Berry has acknowledged Albuquerque has a crime problem, but he again blames everyone else and tries to say things are not that bad under his watch compared to THIRTY years ago! What I said three years ago during the campaign still holds true today, but things have only gotten worse with increased crime rates, APD and our economy.

Blaming “mindset” and our reliance of federal funding for a failure to diversify our economy ignores the fact that there has been a complete failure of leadership by the business community and elected officials to do what needs to be done to diversify our economy. https://www.abqjournal.com/874273/nm-mindset-tied-to-death-spiral.html

Organizations such as the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Forum and the National Association of Commerce and Industry (NAIOP) must share some responsibility for having done little next to nothing over the last eight years to to attract new businesses to Albuquerque.  The City of Albuquerque under the Berry Administration has failed to attract one single corporation to re-locate to Albuquerque.

The City of Albuquerque could use all sorts of financial incentives for economic development such as tax increment districts (TIDS), industrial revenue bonds, even fund and economic development investment program for initial start up funding with claw back provisions. The City should be concentrating on growth industries like health care, manufacturing, transportation and shipping and especially the film industry which I think is Albuquerque’s future. Public-Private partnerships in the growth industries where ever possible should be developed.

Albuquerque can turn itself and our economy around with an aggressive and massive investment to reinvent itself like has been done by great American cities such as Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, Columbus, Denver and others that have invested billions in their communities.

Albuquerque’s taxpayers must be convinced by its leaders of the importance of investing in major projects, and not just cram such projects down our throats like the ART bus project.

The injunctions are denied but the two federal lawsuits and the appeal still continue. https://www.abqjournal.com/874701/u-s-appeals-court-refuses-to-halt-construction-of-abq-rapid-transit.html The Berry Administration is gambling with taxpayer’s money to cram ART down taxpayer’s throats.  Note the fact that the City bears the risk of starting work before the Court of Appeals and the District Court make a final decision in the cases. Also remember the Federal money has yet to be approved.   What this means is, taxpayers just may wind up footing the bill on two major fronts for Berry’s Boondoggle:  the Plaintiff business owners and opponents of ART in the lawsuits could prevail against the City for millions of dollars in damages which will have to be paid by the City. Also, if the Feds wind up denying the $69 million grant, the City will have to find the money elsewhere in the budget.

This is what you call trying to re-invent the wheel for publicity sake. http://krqe.com/2016/10/25/proposed-vacant-building-ordinance-getting-significant-changes/

In 2004 when I was a Deputy City Attorney and head of the Safe City Strike Force and when the City was taking aggressive enforcement actions against  nuisance properties, both residential and commercial,  the City enacted the Vacant Building Maintenance Act.  It actually requires property owners to register their vacant buildings, repair them and keep them maintained. The Albuquerque Uniform Housing Code and the Albuquerque Commercial Building Codes also have numerous provisions allowing city enforcement actions against  both residential and commercial properties that endanger the public health, safety,  and welfare and that are blighted properties.

Under existing ordinances, civil and criminal action can be taken against property owners and the properties  that have become a nuisance and a danger to public safety.  Under existing city ordinances, property owners can be cited for code violations in not maintaining their properties up to city codes.  Additionally, Albuquerque has one of the strongest Nuisance Abatement Ordinances in the country that allowed the Safe  City Strike Force to take aggressive code enforcement action against blighted properties, both residential and commercial, that had become nuisances and magnets of crime resulting in calls for service to APD and a drain on police resources.

Existing ordinances allowed the Safe City Strike Force to take  enforcement actions against approximately 1,000 residential properties a year and  over  50 motels along central, vacant strip malls, entire residential areas,  hundreds of blighted commercial and residential properties and properties use to commit crimes such as meth labs, drug houses and violent criminal activity. The City also had available funds that were used to condemn and tear down structures that were beyond repair.

Rather than trying to enact ordinances already on the books to garner publicity and favor, the City Council should provide sufficient funding to enforce existing ordinances that have proven effective in the past.