Drug dealing, home burglaries, violent crime, package thefts, car break-ins, homeless taking up permanent residence in abandoned homes, broken windows, front and back yards full of trash and debris, yards full of weeds, inoperable vehicles parked in front yards, graffiti vandalism are all signs of a declining neighborhood and contribute to declining property values.

Because of our high crime rates, Albuquerque is suffering from a serious decline of many of our neighborhoods, including a few areas that are considered financially well off with high end homes.

The Ridgecrest area is one of those areas reported on by KRQE News 13.

http://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/albuquerque-neighbors-band-together-to-take-on-crime-wave/1104772795

“Buildings that were empty, the blight that had spread throughout some of the busier streets, and yeah the crime. The crime was palpable. … There was an absolute decline in the neighborhood,” said Helen Petropoulos to KRQE News 13.

Dave Hancock who also lives in the Ridgecrest area said:

“It got us to sort of look around and go, ‘do we wanna move or what’s really going on? We all get numb to things that go on and we’re into our day-to-day routine, and so you look around and all of a sudden, the park lights not working – well how long hasn’t it worked? Cause you’re not paying attention to what’s going on.”

Instead of moving, the Ridgecrest neighbors decided to take “crime fighting” into their own hands.

The Ridgecrest neighbors got to know each other better and exchanged phone numbers and started a neighborhood watch program.

The neighbors started to patrol their neighborhood together at night.

When the Ridgcrest neighbors spotted squatters living in an abandoned home and reported it to the city, the city did not do anything about it.

The neighbors bought wood and boarded up the windows themselves and put a lock on the gate.

When the neighbors spotted a car cruising the block at night with no lights on, casing homes, they called 242-COPS and a patrol car showed up right away.

This is what you call “citizen activism” and taking back your neighborhood and it works.

IT HAS NOT ALWAYS BEEN THIS WAY, NOR THIS BAD

According to the Channel 13 news report, it was six years ago that the Ridgecrest residents began to notice a real decline in their neighborhood.

Six years ago was the same time that the Safe City Strike Force was gutted and dismantled by the Berry Administration and after Darren White took over the program as the Director of the Safe City Strike Force.

In 2001, the Safe City Strike Force was formed to combat blighted, substandard residential properties that had become magnets for crime.

Thirty to forty-five 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 and comprised the strike force.

The Safe City Strike Force was directly under the City Legal Department with a Deputy City Attorney in charge to enable it to take court actions and negotiate settlement agreements.

For eight years, seventy to one hundred fifty 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 Safe City Strike Force routinely prepared condemnation resolutions for enactment by the Albuquerque City Council to tear down substandard buildings.

The city’s Safe City Strike Force also targeted hundreds of properties, both residential and commercial and took civil enforcement action against blighted and substandard properties and cleaned upped and boarded up properties found to be substandard.

The Safe City Strike Force took code enforcement action back then against a few vacant homes in the Ridgcrest area.

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

In eight years, the Safe City Strike Force took civil enforcement action against upwards of 6,500 properties, both commercial and residential.

COMMUNITY ACTIVISM MAKES A DIFFERENCE

Criminals and especially drug dealers need to know that residents and neighbors are watching them.

A huge part of community-based policing is neighborhoods coming together and knowing who lives in the neighborhood and what is going on in their neighborhood and be proactive in reporting crime.

When residents are alert and report suspicious activity, it makes a difference.

I recall about 12 years ago, neighbors in the South East Heights got together and targeted streets and residential homes in the La Mesa/Trumbull area that were being used for illicit drug sales.

The Southeast Heights neighborhood associations and community activists became so enraged with the amount of crime in the area that they organized and did actual “marches to take back the neighborhood” and protested properties that had become “magnets” for crime.

Groups of anywhere between 25 to 40 neighbors and property owners would get together and walk the streets with signs and armed with “bullhorns” and chant slogans for the drug dealers to get out of their neighborhood.

“Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Drug Dealers Gotta Go” or “What do we want? Drug dealers gone NOW!” are the chants I can recall.

Police escorts and code enforcement officials would escort the neighbors during their marches.

Neighborhood clean ups were also organized with the city’s help.

Many high ranking Department Heads, including the Mayor and the Chief Administrative Officers, would get out into areas of the city and do trash clean up armed with rakes, shovels and garbage bags.

The city partnered with the activists and took action.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) identified homes they believed drugs were being sold by the owners or tenants.

APD’s Criminal Nuisance Abatement Unit and Code Enforcement Teams targeted areas separately with “sweeps” and law enforcement tactical plans utilizing specialized units.

The Safe City Strike Force would do “sweeps” of the area handing out citations for city code violations such as weed and litter citations.

I recall the former Mayor Martin Chaves and even then State Senator Tim Keller would participated every now and then.

The protest marches turn out to be very effective and made a difference driving out narcotics dealers in the neighborhoods.

EIGHT YEARS OF NEGLECT AND NO ACTION

In December 2009, Republican operative Darren White was appointed Chief Public Safety Officer, oversaw the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and was appointed Director of the Safe City Strike Force.

Darren White has always had the remarkable talent of destroying everything he touches, which is what he did with the Safe City Strike Force and APD.

In January, 2010 the Berry administration and Darren White began to systematically dismantle the Safe City Strike Force.

Eight years later in 2018, the Safe City Strike Force has one employee, its Director who is a code inspector, and the Safe City Strike Force exists in name only in the Planning Department and not the Legal Department where it started and belongs.

For eight (8) years, little or next to nothing was done by the City of Albuquerque to address blighted and substandard residential properties despite repeated demands from neighborhood associations and property owners.

Eight years later, virtually all the progress that was made to clean up neighborhoods and bring down the crime in the city’s neighborhoods is virtually gone.

A conservative estimate is that there are approximately 4,000 substandard residential properties throughout Albuquerque that are in need of serious repair, clean up and many are vacant that have become magnets for crime and that bring down surrounding property values.

To complicate matters, the Albuquerque Police Department is so seriously understaffed that it is unable to do tactical plans or “sweeps” for civil code enforcement with Planning Department inspectors on a consistent and sustained manner in city neighborhoods.

In 2018, APD has only 878 sworn police but with only about 450 in field services handling calls for service throughout the city and on three shifts.

PROPOSED APD FUNDING AND REINSTATEMENT OF SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE

On March 30, 2018, the Keller Administration submitted its 2018-2019 fiscal year city budget to the Albuquerque City Council for review and budget hearings.

Spending highlights in the 2018-2019 city budget include a significant financial commitment to APD and for crime reduction.

The Keller Administration is proposing spend $88 million dollars over a four-year period and return to community-based policing and increase the number of sworn police officers from the current 878 positions filled to 1,200, or by 322 sworn police officers.

The 2018-2019 proposed Keller budget includes $3.9 million for the city’s Code Enforcement Department and to fund the Safe City Strike Force.

The $3.9 million appropriation is a respectable commitment to reinstate a program that was dismantled by the previous administration.

Further, $102,000 in new appropriations is being proposed to undertake board ups of blighted properties and begin the process of condemnation and demolition of properties declared a nuisance.

Eight years ago, the Safe City Strike had $1 million in funding for board ups, teardowns and condemnations.

The $102,000 for board ups of blighted properties is a good start, but significantly more will be needed to address the approximate 4,000 substandard properties throughout Albuquerque.

CONCLUSION

Funding the Safe City Strike Force may not be a gloried legacy construction project like the ART Bus project, a library or fire station that Mayor’s and city councilors always love taking credit for in order to be remembered.

Notwithstanding, fully funding and staffing the Safe City Strike Force will go a long way to getting rid of blighted residential properties, which only sully entire neighborhoods and put residents in danger and bring property values down.

In the final analysis, neighborhoods should not be forced to take matters into their own hands as what has happened in the Ridgcrest neighborhood area.

The conservative newspaper columnist Cal Thomas penned one of his columns arguing that a debate between Fox News Host Laura Ingraham and 17 year old David Hogg, one of the survivors of Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, would resolve a recent controversy started by Laura Ingraham with a “tweet”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1155809/a-debate-would-resolve-ingrahamhogg-dustup.html

Ingraham’s tweet was “David Hogg rejected by four colleges to which he applied and whines about it. Dinged by UCLA with a 4.1 GPA … totally predictable given acceptance rates.”

The tweet garnered considerable news coverage by the national media.

Apparently Cal Thomas and Lara Ingraham felt the tweet was fair game seeing as that Hogg has become one of the many faces of the gun control movement with the Parkland shooting starting a nationwide movement for gun control supporting a ban on the manufacturing and sale of assault weapons.

Cal Thomas and Lara Ingraham prefer to ignore what has been happening in this country and instead vilify a 17 year old kid.

Since 1995, the United States has had 95 mass shootings, including seven of the 11 deadliest.

Three of the 11 biggest mass shootings in American history have now taken place in the United States in the last five months.

The mass shooting with guns in the last 10 years include: Orlando, Florida (49 killed, 50 injured), Blacksburg, Va. (32 killed), San Ysidro, Cal (21 killed), San Bernardino, (14 killed), Edmond Oklahoma (14 killed), Fort Hood (13 killed), Binghamton, NY (13 killed) Washington, DC (12 killed), Aurora, Colorado (12 killed), Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn (21 children and 6 adult staff members killed) and the largest mass shooting in this country’s history that occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada with at least 59 dead and at least 515 wounded.

And now the country can add the Parkland Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Parkland shooting that resulted in 17 children’s deaths.

After so many mass killings, it is difficult to refute that something needs to be done about semi-automatic and automatic guns such as the AR-15, or the type used in all the mass shootings and that are the weapons of choice for mass murderers.

The difference with the Parkland shooting and all the other mass shootings is that it has finally ignited a national discussion on gun control with the March for Our Life’s movement, and it was the children of our county that have said enough is enough.

Cal Thomas asserted Hoggs “overnight victim status” apparently in the eyes of the left insulates him from the criticism of not being able to get into a prestigious college.

Laura Ingraham apologized for the tweet and went immediately on vacation.

David Hogg for his part called Lara Ingraham a bully, rejected the apology and called for his followers to boycott Ingraham’s show and her sponsors, with many of her sponsor’s cancelling their sponsorships costing FOX News millions.

What is so laughable is how Cal Thomas goes to Ingraham’s defense and says he met Laura Ingraham in the early ’80s when she was a student at Dartmouth College, so she would have been between 18 and 22, and he says she was smart, articulate and opinionated back then defending first amendment rights of a conservative school newspaper to satirize

Thomas goes on to describe Ingraham as “a kind, compassionate woman and a practicing Roman Catholic … a single mother of three adopted children … and a breast cancer survivor”.

Those are very nice words about Laura Ingraham, but David Hogg is a “smart, articulate and opinionated” 17 year old who saw his fellow classmates get killed and is a survivor of a mass school shooting and his religion is no one’s business.

Cal Thomas opined that if Hogg thought he was being bullied by a tweet, how would he react to a real bully who punched him in the face.

Thomas suggested that instead of adopting a “poor me” stance, what Hogg should have done was asked to appear on Ingraham’s show where the two could have debated gun control.

Cal Thomas said Hogg didn’t make the request for a debate but instead Hogg took a swipe at Ingraham in the media.

Thomas goes on to suggest there was “something a little cowardly about” Hogg not asking for a debate.

Like it would be a level playing field for a 17-year-old to go on a right wing talk show so that its host can grill him for the entertainment of her listeners.

At the end of the column, Thomas says in part let “David Hogg speak his immature mind” , let Ingraham speak her mind, “assuming Hogg doesn’t want to adopt another role, that of coward” by not debating.

What is truly cowardly and immature is the likes of Cal Thomas, age 75, Laura Ingraham age 54, with a combined age of 129, feel free to vilify a 17 year old kid.

Cal Thomas showed his ignorance or at the very minimum his age not being familiar with social media bullying.

There have been recent stories in the news where teenagers have committed suicide over social media taunts, but for Cal Thomas real bulling is only physical assault and battery.

Cal Thomas and Ingrham are “media savvy”, have millions of listeners and readers.

Both Thomas and Ingraham have no problem dishing it out claiming they are exercising their first amendment right of free speech and of the press and say what they do is not bullying.

The second anyone who they disagree, such as Hogg, shoves it right back at them, they come unhinged, cannot take it and attack that person on a very personal level with ridicule.

What I am enjoying is a bunch of 17 year old victims making total fools out of both of them and the National Rifle Association.

What I am enjoying immensely is watching Laura Ingraham losing millions in advertising sponsors over her ridicule of a 17-year-old boy for “whining” about not being able to get into a college of his choice.

I believe the First Amendment is safe in the hands of our millennials such as David Hogg and his classmates.

The NRA does not recognize the first amendment of free speech is just as important, if not more important, than the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms.

Both the First and Second Amendments, as well as the United States Constitution, and all the other amendments combined, is what makes this country great.

What does not make this country great is a billionaire wearing a red hat that says Make America Great Again (MAGA) and who praises a Russian dictator who interfered with our last presidential election.

Paul Moya, age 30, is one of eight (8) candidates seeking the Democratic nomination for New Mexico’s First Congressional District to replace Mitchelle Lujan Grisham who is running for New Mexico Governor.

Mr. Moya is a graduate of Los Lunas High School, went on to get his undergraduate degree at Notre Dame in Business Finance and his graduate degree in Education from Harvard and he is fluent in Spanish.

Paul Moya is a successful small-business owner as CEO of Millennial Labs, a full-service consulting firm that has impacted leaders from organizations ranging from Acura to the United States Department of Defense.

If elected, Mr. Moya would become the youngest member of congress and be the youngest hispanic in history to cast a vote in congress.

Thus far, I have not heard much of any discussion of this country’s ongoing gun control debate amongst the Democrat candidates for Congress, until now.

On April 4, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal published the following guest editorial authored by Paul Moya under the headline “In ongoing gun debate, it’s no longer acceptable to hide behind partisan lines”:

“I was incredibly inspired by the “March for Our Lives” [demonstrations that occurred on March 24], and I was proud to support the students who marched here in Albuquerque. While this event and debates around gun violence have been politically charged since the terrible massacre in Parkland, (that) Saturday’s marches were a sharp reminder that an entire generation has grown up practicing active shooter drills, fearful of when tragedy might strike their own school. These students are afraid – yet empowered – and it is past time we create comprehensive strategies to keep our schools safe.

What can we do to prevent gun violence and tragedy from impacting future lives? One answer is to actually listen to the students and focus on what they’re saying will make them feel more secure. As Albuquerque march organizers so eloquently declared: “Safety to us looks like prevention, intervention, and support services.” So, let’s start there.

When reviewing plans put forth by elected officials and candidates, I find they are often limited in scope and do not adequately address those three critical elements – prevention, intervention and support services. Physical security, such as metal detectors or armed resource officers, may make schools look more secure, but they don’t address what happens before an armed gunman arrives. Gun legislation, including universal background checks and bans on assault weapons, high-capacity magazines and bump stocks may restrict access and limit potential carnage, but it, too, fails to deal with what’s happening with the individual.

That’s why, as important as physical security measures and gun legislation might be, we must also shift the culture of our schools to prevent students from reaching a psychological or emotional point where they view gun violence as an answer in the first place. This is fundamental to keeping our students safe.

Schools must be appropriately funded to promote environments free of bullying, harassment, discrimination and assault. We must expand mental health services and ensure there is adequate staffing in schools to provide care for those who need it most. Likewise, we must reform school discipline to avoid ostracizing troubled students through exclusionary practices. Instead, we want them to remain engaged in the school and their community through positive emotional, behavioral and academic success plans.

Next, we need to strengthen bonds (among) law enforcement, mental health care professionals and school leaders, allowing them to better work together to identify threats and intervene when necessary. More practically, this means reforming legal barriers that prevent information sharing when a threat is made. And we need time-limited restraining orders allowing local law enforcement to intervene and remove firearms from an individual who has threatened violence against themselves or their community.

Finally, we must conduct scientific research to confront this public health crisis. To that end, Congress must repeal the Dickey Amendment and allow gun violence research at the CDC. (The recently enacted) spending bill included language to allow for research to be conducted – a positive development – but it lacked federal funding to actually do it. We can find evidence-based ways to reduce gun violence that respect Second Amendment rights, but we cannot do it without congressional resources.

This is a complex problem, and the fix will not be quick or easy. The good news is most Americans are listening: With 97 percent voicing public support of universal background checks and 67 percent supporting an assault weapon ban, the voices of our students are getting through. Now will our elected officials listen up or let them down again?”

DINELLI COMMENTARY

Since 1995, the United States has had 95 mass shootings, including seven of the 11 deadliest.

Three of the 11 biggest mass shootings in American history have now taken place in the United States in the last five months.

There is no doubt we have a deadly mass shooting epidemic on our hands.

The mass shooting with guns in the last 10 years include: Orlando, Florida (49 killed, 50 injured), Blacksburg, Va. (32 killed), San Ysidro, Cal (21 killed), San Bernardino, (14 killed), Edmond Oklahoma (14 killed), Fort Hood (13 killed), Binghamton, NY (13 killed) Washington, DC (12 killed), Aurora, Colorado (12 killed), Sandy Hook Elementary School, Newtown, Conn (21 children and 6 adult staff members killed) and the largest mass shooting in this country’s history that occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada with at least 59 dead and at least 515 wounded.

And now the country can add the Parkland/Stoneridge High School shooting that resulted in 17 children’s deaths.

After so many mass killings, it is difficult to refute that something needs to be done about semi-automatic and automatic guns such as the AR-15, or the type used in all the mass shootings and that are the weapons of choice for mass murderers.

The difference with the Parkland shooting and all the other mass shootings is that it has finally ignited a national discussion on gun control with the March for Our Life’s movement, and it was the children of our county that have said enough is enough.

And the National Rifle Association (NRA) no doubt realizes that a sleeping giant has now been awaken and that two generations of voters are now “pissed”.

The millions of people who marched on March 24 in Washington, DC and in cities all over the country is a reflection just how upset voters are and was a clear message to congress the time has come to tell the NRA and the politicians they have in their pockets to pound sand.

The Pew institute has reported that millennials cast 34 million votes in 2016 election, nearly double the number they cast in 2008.

“As of November 2016, an estimated 62 million Millennials (adults ages 20 to 35 in 2016) were voting-age U.S. citizens, surpassing the 57 million Generation X members (ages 36 to 51) in the nation’s electorate and moving closer in number to the 70 million Baby Boomers (ages 52 to 70), according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Millennials comprised 27% of the voting-eligible population in 2016, while Boomers made up 31%.”

Over 4 million new voters will become 18 and old enough and eligible to vote in the 2018 election.

Combined, millennials and Generation Xers cast a slight majority of total votes cast in 2016, more than the Baby Boomers and older voters for the first time in decades.

OTHER PROPOSALS TO CONSIDER LOCALLY AND NATIONALLY

There are many legislative proposals, albeit too controversial for many running for office and who hold office to stomach, that could be considered on a state level and on the federal level that could be proposed or enacted by our federal and state officials and those running for office.

In New Mexico, our legislature could consider:

1. Repeal the New Mexico Constitutional provision that allows the “open carry” of firearms. This would require a public vote and no doubt generate heated discussion given New Mexico’s high percentage of gun ownership for hunting, sport or hobby.
2. Prohibit in New Mexico the sale of “ghost guns” parts. Ghost guns are guns that are manufactured and sold in parts without any serial numbers to be assembled by the purchaser and that can be sold to anyone.
3. Requiring in New Mexico the mandatory purchase of “liability insurance” with each gun sold as is required for all operable vehicles bought and driven in New Mexico.
4. Enact a gun violence restraining order and extreme risk protection process to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law local law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual’s possession.
5. Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person, including dating partners, convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor.
6. Mandate the school systems and higher education institutions “harden” their facilities with more security doors, security windows, and security measures and alarm systems and security cameras tied directly to law enforcement 911 emergency operations centers.

On a federal level, congress could consider:

1. Implementation of background checks on the sale of all guns.
2. Close the “Charleston loophole” or “delayed denial” where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without FBI clearance.
3. Call for the update and enhancement of the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NCIS).
4. Institute mandatory extended waiting periods for all gun purchases.
5. Implement mandatory handgun licensing, permitting, training, and registration requirements.
6. Ban “bump-fire stocks” as was used in the Las Vegas mass shooting and other dangerous accessories.
7. Ban future manufacture and sale of all assault weapons and regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program.
8. Impose limits on high capacity magazines.
9. Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.
10. Institute mandatory child access prevention safe storage requirements and prohibit the sales of handguns with “hair triggers”.
11. Provide more resources and treatment for people with mental illness.
12. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers.
13. Implement micro stamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun.
14. Produce ‘x-mart guns’ with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability.
15. Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases.
16. Prohibit open carry of firearms.
17. Digitize Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire (ATF) gun records.
18. Require licensing for ammunition dealer.

CONCLUSION

Now that we are in an election year, New Mexico voters need to demand the positions from our candidates for Governor and for the New Mexico legislature where they stand on gun control.

Just as important, voters need to ask those running for congress where they stand on gun control and say what they think needs to be done to do to stop the mass shootings.

Congressional candidate Paul Moya has articulated a clear path forward when he talks of prevention, intervention, and support services reflecting someone who should be seriously considered to be sent to congress.

http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/04/03/millennials-approach-baby-boomers-as-largest-generation-in-u-s-electorate/

I was invited to attend an April 3, 2018 “focus group” meeting with no real explanation what it was about, other than it was a program called “QWorks”.

The invite came from Gus Pedrotty, the 23-year-old who ran for Mayor of Albuquerque last year.

DIGRESSING A BIT FOR CLARITY

Sixteen people originally announced for Mayor, but only 8 qualified with enough signatures to get on the ballot, and Gus was one of them.

Gus Pedrotty is a native of Albuquerque, graduated from Albuquerque High Scool, and a graduate of the University of New Mexico with two bachelor’s degrees, one degree in chemistry and one in psychology.

From my observation, Gus was the biggest winner in the 2017 Mayor’s.

Even though he garnered 8% of the vote, the experience he gained and the respect he earned, far exceeded the seasoned politicos he ran against.

It is not often that I do a double take when I see someone give a speech or read a profile of a candidate for office.

It’s the cynic in me that has developed after forty (40) years of practicing law mostly as a trial attorney, prosecutor and including being a Judge.

I attended a number of debate forums and each time Mr. Pedrotty held his own, was poised, articulate and knowledgeable of city government and how it works and more importantly, he had viable solutions.

It was a pleasure to watch the emergence and development of a candidate that had a very fresh prospective of what we need to do to turn Albuquerque around.

Gus was not the product of political handlers, political consultants and he did not parrot slogans and talking points for applause, but a candidate who genuinely cared about the city.

During Gus’s campaign for Mayor, his lack of funding required his supporter’s to produce a series of political commercials that ran on FACEBOOK that enabled him to run a social media campaign.

The extended political commercials were slick and impressive and just as good, and some would say even better, than many ads produced by political advertising companies for thousands of dollars.

Some of Pedrotty’s FACEBOOK commercials were so good and eye catching that getting 50,000 to 60,000 views was not uncommon.

My biggest fear after the Mayor’s race was that Gus would fade away like so many do after an election is lost that is of course if you’re some old guy enjoying retirement and whose hobby is writing articles on a political blog.

I feared that like many of our young people, Gus would give up on Albuquerque and move on out of state to seek fame and fortune elsewhere.

It did not happen and Gus has stayed.

ONE PEDROTTY IDEA ADOPTED BY MAYOR TIM KELLER

One major idea that Candidate for Mayor Pedrotty proposed was a “community outreach program” to respond to indigent or homeless people or people in crisis.

The Tim Keller Administration in fact adopted the idea and is proposing in the 2018-2019 budget allocating $3.2 for the “AFD Mobile Health Care and Community Outreach Program”.

The mobile Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) unit will have a paramedic and a person on board who can do community outreach and respond to indigent or homeless people or people in crisis.

The goal is to free up time for police officers and firefighters to respond to more pressing calls for service.

The program will shift resources from high cost reactive strategies, including a full crew responding to a 911 call from someone who does not actually need an ambulance.

The program will shift those calls to less resource-intensive approaches like home or site visits to common callers and community risk reduction efforts for private residences and public places.

The program will also include a robust and visible Basic Life Support Unit presence in the Southeast Heights and other high needs area.

This new program will allow the Albuquerque Fire Department to provide additional services as a partner to the city-wide effort to interrupt the cycle of crime and lead to a safer city.

THE QWORKS FOCUS GROUP

The April 3, 2018 focus group meeting had a nice turnout of about 15.

Former Mayor Martin Chavez and City Councilor Klaresa Pena attended.

The focus group quickly caught on that QWorks stands for “how Albuquerque works” as in how city government works or what is going on around the city and its neighborhoods.

The organizers of QWorks are all in their twenties with each having a deep commitment to making Albuquerque a better place to live, work and raise a family.

The group includes Gus Pedrotty, A. J. Hedrich, Joshua Romero, Sara Collins, Alexa Ogunsanya, Timothy Carlton McQueen, Brendon Gray and Gabe Gallegos and at least twelve other highly motivated millennials.

In a real sense, each one of these people reflect the city’s future.

The group was originally organized to elect Gus Mayor, but after the election, the group met and wanted to continue to advocate and make a contribution to Albuquerque.

Each and every one of these “millennials” bring different talents and experiences to the group, including writing skills, video production skills, marketing skills and the understanding how social media works.

According to Gus, “[QWorks] comes out of a reflection on how communities organize, what motivates engagement, and how to create more passive opportunities to inspire action, all while increasing the level of knowledge on civic engagement, how the city works across our city’s electorate”.

The immediate goal of QWorks is to start by producing 30 to 60 second social network media messages to inform the public how city government programs work and what is going on in Albuquerque socially, culturally and politically.

Pod casts are probably being contemplated by the group.

QWorks presented nine 60 second public information messages that were slick and impressive to the focus group.

Many would call them “public service” announcements, but the videos are far from that and they are entertaining and very informative.

All the attendees were asked to grade the messaging with grading sheets on each and with both positive and negative comments.

What is impressive is that QWorks took three (3) very mundane topics, produced 3 separate videos for each topic, and made the topics interesting, informative and with humor.

The topics were: Neighborhood Associations and How They Work, The RFP Process (Request for Proposals) and “Solid Waste and Recycling”.

All three topics I thought no one could ever make interesting to anyone unless they are a policy wonk.

All the work on QWorks so far has been strictly voluntary by the group members.

QWorks wants to eventually become a “nonprofit” corporation.

CONCLUSION

I have found that my generation (over 60) has a real bad habit of underestimating the talents, abilities and wisdom of millennials that QWorks represents, and we do so at our own peril and loss.

QWorks has the real potential of being a refreshing voice advocating solutions to our cities problems.

This is one group of millennials that need to be encourage and helped by all.

You can reach QWorks at their email: qworks.abq@gmail.com

Please stay tuned for QWorks!

There are times criminal defense attorneys really have not much to work with when trying to get reduced sentences for their client’s and use what is called a “Hail Mary” pass to plead for mercy from the Judge.

It was reported that a violent felon was sentenced to life plus 36 years in prison after being found guilty by a jury of first degree murder for the heinous crimes of the rape and of bludgeoning to death a 29-year-old woman.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1154354/wouldbe-baker-gets-life-for-killing-woman.html

The violent bastard got exactly the sentence he deserved.

However, the defense attorney no doubt raised a few eyebrows during the sentencing hearing.

It turns out that around the same time the murder occurred, the defendant was trying to open a business that would employ people convicted of crimes, who had done their time or who were out of jail.

At the time of sentencing, the defense attorney argued that his client was a gifted “cheesecake baker” who had big plans to open a cafe on Central and name it the “Felony Cafe”.

The defendant even put up a large sign that reads “CRIME SCENE, COME ON IN”.

The slogan was to be “It is a crime it tastes so good.”

During the sentencing, the defense lawyer was quoted as saying:

“He, by all accounts, baked wonderful cheesecakes. … His idea was, ‘Let’s get jobs for these folks, we’ll call it the Felony Cafe. I will hire people who have gotten out of custody who want to make their lives better.”

The defendant himself said at his sentencing “I was trying to help people. … I wasn’t trying to hurt [the victim].”

Rumor has it that Terri Cole, the President and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, has already cancelled the guy’s chamber membership as part of her efforts to reduce crime in downtown Albuquerque after telling a task force last week that our high crime rates were interfering with economic development and the GACC membership.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/03/30/albuquerque-chamber-of-commerce-makes-one-want-to-puke/

On March 30, 2018, the Keller Administration submitted its 2018-2019 fiscal year city budget to the Albuquerque City Council for review and budget hearings.

See Albuquerque Proposed 2018-2019 Budget:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/10f8KtmPHa2DzX-zftbeepPk2354tgYCF/view

This is the very first operating budget since taking office submitted Mayor Tim Keller.

When you include the city’s enterprise funds, which are standalone departments such as the Aviation Department and Solid Waste Department financed by revenues generated from fees charged, the total city budget approaches $955.6 million.

The City of Albuquerque general fund budget is $574.8 million of the total $955.6 million budget.

The $574.8 million is the general fund which goes to providing essential services, including police and fire protection.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and the Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) combined budgets comprise 28.6% of all general fund expenses.

Both APD and AFD budgets combined comprise nearly 48% of all general fund total appropriations of $574.8 million.

As expected, the budget contains a significant increase in spending for “public safety”.

THAT NEW TAX INCREASE

The Keller Administration was left with a $40 million-dollar projected deficit that would have required extensive budget cuts, layoffs or furloughs or further cuts in essential services.

In response to the projected deficit, the city council enacted a three-eighths increase in gross receipts tax.

The three-eighths cent gross receipts will go into effect July 1, 2018.

The new tax is expected to generate $40 million this year and expected to bring in a projected $50 million annually thereafter.

Keller’s 2018-2019 budget increases the general fund spending by 8.4% from $530 million to $574.8 million.

The total Keller general fund budget for fiscal year 2018-2019 is $574.8 million which is an increase of approximately $40 million from the 2017-2018 fiscal budget that ends June 30, 2018.

The City Finance Department is projecting general fund revenues to be at $582 million in the coming fiscal year, which is a 9.6% increase from the current fiscal year.

The projected revenue from the new 3/8 gross receipts tax increase enacted by the city council will be enough to cover the deficit and fund further operating expenses reflected in the general fund.

An impressive 80% of the new monies generated from the new tax increase will go to fund APD and the AFD and their programs.

APD and AFD are the two largest city departments because the departments employ the most number of employees.

Following is a review of both the APD and AFD budgets with the information gleaned from the 2018-2019 proposed budget.

THE ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT LAST YEAR BUDGET AND PROPOSED KELLER BUDGET

LAST YEAR’S FISCAL YEAR REMEMBERED

For the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) had a general fund budget of $171.8 million approved which included an increase of $7 million or a 4.2% increase for the Department.

The adopted 2017-2018 General Fund budget for APD had funding for a total of 1,484 full-time positions which consists of funding for 484 civilian support staff and funding for 1,000 sworn police officers.

Although funded for 1,000 sworn officers for the 2017-2018, APD is ending the year with 878 sworn police officers, with only 436 are assigned to field services, divided into three working shifts, less any of those on vacation, sick leave or in court.

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, APD made 9,527 felony arrests, 18,562 misdemeanor arrests, 1,338 DWI arrests, and 2,701 domestic violence arrests.

The SWAT Unit was activated 59 times in the 2017-2018 fiscal year.

(Note: SWAT is the unit that was the subject of the 2014 Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation report for excessive use of force and deadly force with the DOJ finding a “culture of aggression” within APD.)

The homicide clearance rate for the 2017-2018 fiscal year was 70%.

THE 2018-2019 PROPOSED BUDGET FISCAL YEAR

The proposed 2018-2019 fiscal year budget for APD is $190,200,000 million.

This represents an increase of 11.5% or $20 million from the original fiscal year 2017-2018 budget level of $170.6 million.

The 2018-2019 proposed APD budget funds 1,560 full time employees and includes funding for 1,040 full time sworn police and 520 full time civilian positions as compared to last year’s 1,000 fully funded sworn police positions and 484 full time civilian positions.

Albuquerque has six (6) APD area commands.

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, field service officers responded to 420,000 911 calls for service.

APD EXPANSION, RECRUITING AND STAFFING PLAN

The Keller Administration is calling for an $88 million dollar of additional funding and increased costs for APD over the next four fiscal years from 2018 to 2022.

In the 2018-2019 proposed budget, $12.8 million is being proposed to carry out a four-year plan for recruiting new officers.

APD currently has 878 sworn police but budgeted for 1,000 officers.

The 2018-2019 proposed budget calls for APD to increase its ranks to 1,040 officers in the upcoming fiscal year, which starts July 1, 2018.

The Keller Administration APD expansion will be over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 officers and expand APD from the current 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers.

The Keller Administration intends to implement a hiring and recruitment program to offer incentives, pay raises and bonuses to join or return to APD.

The $88 million dollars for expanding APD will include expanded academy training and the vehicles and other equipment that additional officers will require.

The recruitment and hiring plan proposes to add 100 new police officers per year until a 1,200-staffing level is reached.

The ultimate goal is to return to community-based policing and reduce spiking crime rates.

At a minimum, the expansion plan calls for $32 million dollars in recurring costs.

The recurring costs do not include the price of recruitment strategies nor pay increases designed to recruit and retain officers.

Midway through the current fiscal year, APD had 836 sworn officer’s despite being fully funded for 1,000 sworn police officers for the past three fiscal years.

The number of sworn police is currently 878 at the beginning of 2018.

The Keller Administration is proposing to increase the number of sworn police officers from the current 878 positions to 1,200, or by 322 sworn police officers, over a four-year period and return to community-based policing.

Based on past performance, increasing APD personnel will be very challenging.

Increasing APD from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040 sworn mandates that in order to get to the 1,040 figure by this time next year, APD and the APD Police Academy will need keep up with expected retirements and will have to hire at least 162 new officers either as new recruits or as lateral hires.

In 2016, the department graduated more than 90 cadets from its academy, and because of retirements and other departures, the department had a net gain of only six (6) officers.

1,000 to 1,200 applicants are needed to get a class of 40 cadets.

In 2016 APD had 90 retirements.

The net gain in 2017 was almost zero.

Currently, APD has 878 sworn police officers and in 2017 graduated 73 cadets.

The biggest problem that the budget does not acknowledged is that if APD has the same number of retirements and departures that it had last year, it will mean that the department’s number of sworn officers will shrink and not grow.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE (DOJ) ALLOCATION

The 2018-2019 proposed budget allocates $2.3 million for compliance and implementation of the police reforms mandated by the settlement agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ).

This is an appropriation that in no way can be considered voluntary but is mandatory under the federal APD consent decree.

During the last three years, the Berry administration and APD command staff resisted the reforms.

It is anticipated the reform process will take at least another three years to implement.

Thus far, significant progress has been made by the Keller Administration with a stronger commitment to implement the agreed to reforms.

ALLOCATION FOR PROCESSING BACKLOG OF RAPE KITS

The 2018-2019 APD proposed budget allocates $1.9 million to address a backlog of more than 4,000 untested rape kits.

$1.5 million will be outsourced and $383,000 will be used to hire four (4) positions at the APD crime lab which will include one (1) DNA forensic scientist, two (2) latent forensic scientists, and one (1) latent technician.

The rape kit backlog was identified by Keller when he was the New Mexico State Auditor.

It is critical that the backlog of rape kits be processed for felony prosecutions.

All too often, DNA evidence and a victim’s testimony are the only evidence available to obtain a conviction for rape and child sexual abuse.

DNA evidence found in rape kits is the type of evidence used to identify and convict rapists, especially serial rapists.

All too often, DNA evidence results in a conviction of an innocent defendant being thrown out and another criminal identified.

PROPERTY CRIME INITIATIVES

The 2018-2019 proposed budget allocates $1.8 million for the “Property Crime Reduction” to help address the city’s rising property crime rates, especially auto thefts.

In February, 2017, FBI statistics revealed property crimes in Albuquerque increased by 13.3 percent, bucking the national trend of decreases in burglaries and larcenies.

Albuquerque reported 38,528 property crimes, or 6,860 per 100,000, and 6,236 total burglaries, or 1,110 per 100,000 residents.

Auto thefts in the Albuquerque jumped by the highest percentage with 7,710 motor vehicle thefts reported in 2016, an almost 50 percent increase over the year before.

That was seven times the percentage change on a national level.

BERNALILLO COUNTY AUTO THEFT SUPPRESSION EFFORT

The 2018-2019 APD proposed budget allocates funds for three additional “bait cars” in order to make far more auto theft arrests.

Last year, the National Insurance Crime Bureau ranked the Albuquerque and Bernalillo area as having the highest rate of cars stolen per capita.

Auto-theft is a nexus to all the other crimes and auto thieves are responsible for most other crimes.

On March 21, 2018, the “Bernalillo County Auto Theft Suppression Effort” was announced where the Albuquerque Police Department, Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police were joining forces to address the city’s and the county’s out of control auto theft rates.

The auto theft suppression effort will include tactical operations that combine technology, resources, manpower and intelligence from all three of the law enforcement agencies to arrest more suspects and recover more stolen vehicles.

PROPOSED MISCELLANEOUS APPROPRIATIONS TO APD

$416,000 will be allocated for paralegal services to assist with APD case preparation.

$655,000 is proposed to be appropriated to the “special investigations” division to adequately fund and support continued operations.

$1.2 million is being allocated to fund current data maintenance contracts and technology projects.

$4 million will be allocated for the purchase of new police vehicles.

$3.9 million is being set aside in reserves for the hiring of 40 additional sworn police officers to be added to the 60 additional officers already budgeted.

PERFORMANCE BASED STATISTICS

The City of Albuquerque budget is a performance-based budget where each department provides a listing of previous years accomplishments and formulate performance measures to justify their proposed and submitted budgets to the Mayor and then the Albuquerque City Council for approval.

Albuquerque’s city budget is a “performance based” budget to predict how APD and AFD will fair statistically when it comes to responding to calls for service and solving crimes and responding to AFD emergency calls with the staffing and resources the departments have.

APD PERFORMANCE STATISTICS REPORTED FOR 2017-2018 GENERAL FUND BUDGET USED FOR 2018-2019 BUDGET PREPARATION

Following is the detailed breakdown of the performance statistics for the 2017-2018 fiscal year:

Number of sworn officers approved: 1,000, Actual ending : 878
Number of cadet graduates approved: 80, Actual graduated: 43
Number of calls for service, Actual: 564,610
Average response time for Priority 1 calls, Actual: 12:16 minutes
Number of felony arrests, Actual: 9,527
Number of misdemeanor arrests, Actual: 18,562
Number of DWI arrests, Actual: 1,338
Number of domestic violence arrests, Actual: 2,701
Percentage Homicide clearance rate, Actual: 70%
Number of alcohol involved accident investigations, Actual: 568
SWAT Activations, Actual: 59
Bomb Squad Activations, Actual: 132

THE ALBUQUERQUE FIRE DEPARTMENT PROPOSED 2018-2019 BUDGET

The 2017-2018 fiscal year general fund budget for the Fire department was $75.5 million.

For the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the AFD budget was decreased by 1.6% or $1.2 million below original budget.

The 2018-2019 proposed AFD budget is $82.9 with an overall increase of 8.5% or 6.5 million above the 2017-2018 budget.

AFD’s 2017-2018 budget funded 711 full-time positions.

AFD’s 2018-2019 proposed budget funds 730 full time-positions.

All Albuquerque Fire Department firefighters are not only firefighters but are also fully licensed emergency medical technicians (EMTs) or para medics.

AFD provides service to the community 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Firefighters are assigned to 22 engine companies, 20 rescue companies, seven ladder companies, two heavy technical rescue (HTR), two hazardous materials response units, and when needed, four brush trucks used as wildland response units.

AFD facilities include Headquarters and Dispatch with fire stations located and scattered throughout the city.

APD and AFD do have some shared facilities and substations and share the 911 emergency dispatch center and emergency operations center.

AFD MOBILE HEALTH CARE OUTREACH PROGRAM

The Keller Administration is proposing to spend $3.2 million dollars to develop and establish the “AFD Mobile Health Care and Community Outreach Program”.

The AFD Mobile Health Care and Community Outreach Program will consist of six positions and three rescue vehicles.

The mobile Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) unit will have a paramedic and a person on board who can do community outreach and respond to indigent or homeless people or people in crisis.

The goal is to free up time for police officers and firefighters to respond to more pressing calls for service.

The program will shift resources from high cost reactive strategies, including a full crew responding to a 911 call from someone who does not actually need an ambulance.

The program will shift those calls to less resource-intensive approaches like home or site visits to common callers and community risk reduction efforts for private residences and public places.

The program will also include a robust and visible Basic Life Support Unit presence in the Southeast Heights and other high needs area.

This new program will allow the Albuquerque Fire Department to provide additional services as a partner to the city-wide effort to interrupt the cycle of crime and lead to a safer city.

The AFD Mobile Health Care Outreach Program was a program and concept proposed by Mayoral candidate Gus Pedrotty.

The program makes perfect sense and should be implemented on an expedited schedule.

The Keller Administration is to be commended for adopting the suggested program.

The program is a clear and dramatic reflection of the change in attitudes and priorities from the previous administrations attitude of favoring a reduction in social services.

AFD PERFORMANCE STATISTICS REPORTED FOR 2017-2018 GENERAL FUND BUDGET USED FOR 2018-2019 BUDGET PREPARATION:

In the 2017-2018 fiscal year, the Albuquerque Fire Department was dispatched to 105,981 emergency calls for service.

Following is the detailed breakdown of the performance measures for the 2017-2018 fiscal year:

Number of calls, Actual: 174,426
Number of hazardous materials condition, Actual: 2,044
Number false alarm calls, Actual: 5,160
Number of other emergency, Actual: 10,192
Number of other (non-emergency) calls, Actual: 60,000
Number of calls dispatched, Actual: 110,000
Number residential fires, Actual: 172
Number non-residential structural fires, Actual: 37
Number hazardous materials incidents, Actual: 684
Number wildland fires, Actual: 64
Number medical first responder calls (Basic Life support), Actual: 65,000
Number Advanced Life Support Calls, Actual: 45,000
Number of Firefighters trained in Wildland Task Force, Actual: 190
Number of Firefighters Trained as Technical Rescue Technicians, Actual: 70
Number of Citizens Trained at Comm. Training Center, Actual: 3,500
Number arson cases cleared, Actual: 18
Number fire related injuries, Actual: 14
Number citizens trained in prevention techniques, Actual: 16,000
Number of children educated, Actual: 20,000
Number of plans reviewed, Actual: 3,500
Number of initial inspections, Actual: 5,500
Number of Cadets Graduating from Academy, Actual: 30
Number of Trained Paramedics, Actual: 230
Number of Firefighters Trained in Professional Development Program, Actual: 100

CONCLUSION:

Both the Albuquerque Police Department and the Albuquerque Fire Department represent the communities first line of defense when it comes to public safety.

Both departments represent 48% of all general fund total appropriations of $574.8 million.

Given the sure volume of calls for service that both departments handle in any given year, and given our high crime rates, it should come as no surprise that 48% of all general fund appropriations is going to public safety.

The submitted 2018-2019 city budget submitted by Keller is where “the rubber hits the road” when it comes to public safety and reducing our high crime rates.

The City Council will now have budget hearings and vote on the proposed budget.