Mayor Tim Keller signed the tax increase bill with no press conference, no fanfare, and no one looking on.

It was found out by ABQ Reports by looking at the City Council website.

Too bad and what a missed opportunity for Keller.

Mayor Keller should have appeared before city council to announce his decision, perhaps even sign the bill in front of them, and allowed himself to be asked questions by both the City Council and the public.

Words, appearances and actions matter when you are a candidate as well as an elected official.

A promise not to raise taxes without a public vote by any candidate for mayor is meaningless when said from the get-go and nonsense that should not be taken too seriously.

No candidate for mayor really knows what is going on with city finances until he/she actually look at the books.

Keller making the promise as a candidate was at best idealistic and at worse being foolish just to garner votes to get elected.

Candidate Keller saying he would draw from various agencies, departments and programs where large, misappropriated budgets existed to deal with any city deficit sounded fantastic but was not very realistic after the eight years of budget cuts and downsizing of government.

Any candidate for office usually regrets making promises regarding raising taxes to get elected; just ask former President George H.W. Bush when he said “Read my lips, no new taxes!” and lost to Bill Clinton.

Candidate Keller promised and made the commitment to be transparent and he should be just that with his actions, even if it’s reversing a promise he made on taxes.

Being transparent does not mean you look one way and then the other to make sure no one is looking to do something you promised not to do, which is called being sneaky.

Following is the March 19, report published by ABQ Reports:

KELLER SIGNS TAX INCREASE BILL

March 19, 2018
|

BY: Dennis Domrzalski

Mayor Tim Keller has broken his campaign promise to put all tax increase proposals to city voters by signing an ordinance to raise the gross receipts tax in the city by three-eights-of-a-cent, or $55 million a year.

Keller signed the bill on March 15, according to the City Council’s website.

The 0.375 percent gross receipts tax would be applied to most goods and services sold in the city and would bring the city’s gross receipts tax rate to 7.875 percent. The tax hike will take effect on July 1.

Keller and city councilors said the tax increase was needed in order to fund a projected $40 million city budget deficit and to help in hiring up to 300 more police officers. The City Council approved the increase by a 8 to 1 vote on March 5.

In early March, Keller told the Albuquerque Journal that he would have to renege on on his campaign promise to take all tax hike proposals to city voters.

“I remember my stance on that, and I want to try and keep that stance and I believe in that stance,” Keller told Journal reporters and editors. But, “it would be fiscally irresponsible for me to say we should wait three years to get funding for law enforcement.”

Keller had said during the mayoral race that he would raise taxes only as a last resort for public safety and only with voter approval.

On Monday, March 5, 2018, the Albuquerque City Council voted to raise the city’s gross receipts tax rate by three-eighths (3/8 ths) of a percentage point to deal with a $40 million project deficit for fiscal year that commences July 1, 2018 and to fund public safety and hire more police to increase ranks.

On April 1, 2018, the Keller Administration will be submitting the city budget for fiscal year 2018-2019 to the city council for public hearings and approval.

The gross receipts tax increase of 3/8th of a cent could potentially raise an additional $30 to $40 million in revenues this year when it goes into effect July 1, 2018 and upwards of $55 million each year thereafter.

The City of Albuquerque has a total general budget of $955.3 million dollars, of which $529.6 million is the general fund which goes to providing essential services.

“Public Safety” represents 29% of a $529.6 million general fund budget appropriation and includes both the Albuquerque Fire Department and the Albuquerque Police Department.

The city’s deficits and public safety are not the only problems Albuquerque faces.

One area that is just as important as a public safety for a city for any number of reasons is its economy, yet only $3.6 million was dedicated last year to the Economic Development Department and that was a decrease of 24.1% from the fiscal year 2017.

A major challenge is to turn our economy around after eight (8) years of total stagnation and failed economic development policies by the previous administration.

A vibrant and growing city economy will go a very long ways to eliminate one of the major root causes of crime which is poverty and to provide the essential services demanded by the public.

CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

The City had a total operating revenue and budget of approximately $955.3 million for fiscal year 2018 that ends on July 1, 2018.

Gross receipts tax makes up for 64% of the City’s general fund revenues.

29% of all city appropriations goes to public safety (police, fire, 911, emergency operations center, ect.) and 20% goes to infrastructure (street system, water and sewer system, ect.) for a combined total of 49% of all city expenditures.

The remaining 51% of city expenditures goes to providing all other essential and government services involving some 23 other city departments.

The City of Albuquerque does have an Economic Development Department and its mission is “develop a more diversified and vital economy through the expansion and retention of businesses; develop appropriate industry clusters and recruit target industries; and assist new business start-ups and promote the film and music industries.”

“The Economic Development Department supports the tourism and hospitality industries through collaboration and oversight of the City’s contractors. The department also fosters international trade efforts and increased international business opportunities for Albuquerque companies.”

The question that needs to be asked is if city hall under a new administration is serious or even committed to economic development and diversifying our economy?

For the previous administration, the answer was a loud NO based on the resources allocated by the previous administration.

The fiscal year 2018 proposed budget for the Economic Development Department was $3.6 million, a decrease of 24.1% from the fiscal year 2017 original budget and employs nine (9) full time employees which does not sound like much for an effective economic development plan for diversifying the Albuquerque economy.

During the last eight (8) years, Albuquerque’s Economic Development Department has not convinced nor attracted a single major corporation or business to relocate to Albuquerque.

With the enactment by the council of the three-eighths (3/8 ths) of a percentage point, more than enough recurring revenue should be generated to deal with the deficits, police officer shortage, the expansion of APD and fund economic development.

We will soon find out just how serious the Keller Administration is about economic development when the new 2018-2019 budget is submitted on April 1, 2018.

The funding to the Economic Development Department should be increased to $15 million a year and the staffing should also be increase significantly.

Funding for start up businesses with claw back provisions well as industrial revenue bonds and tax breaks should be explored.

THOSE WHO SHOULD TAKE CHARGE TO TURN ECONOMY AROUND

Turning our economy around is not just the Mayor’s problem, nor government’s problem, but all of our problem.

As a community, we need to decide what kind of City we want to become and identify our needs; otherwise we are destined to continue our economic death spiral.

As a community, we can do things to turn our City economy around, diversify our economy and reduce our reliance on federal government funding.

A community effort to identify our needs has been done in the past and should be undertaken again.

It is a community effort that should be led by the Mayor, the Albuquerque City Council, the Bernalillo County Commission, the Albuquerque business community, civic organizations and include charitable organizations, and the City’s and County’s Economic Development Departments.

ALBUQUERQUE’S POOR ECONOMIC RANKINGS

During the last eight years, 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.

Even though Albuquerque is the largest city economy in the State, New Mexico is number one in unemployment and number one in children living in poverty.

It has been reported that Albuquerque lost 14,900 jobs during the last 10 years, which is roughly 4 jobs a day.

According to one Brookings Institution report, the Albuquerque metro area’s economy was so bad between 2009 and 2014 that it almost fell off the charts of three measures of economic health.

Of the largest 100 metro areas in the U.S., Albuquerque ranked 100th, 99th and 83rd in the three areas measured by the Brookings Institute: Growth, Prosperity and Inclusion.

According to the same Bookings Institute report, economically hobbled cities like Jackson, Miss., and Rochester, New York, fared better than Albuquerque. Albuquerque ranked 99th for economic growth, 83rd for prosperity and 100th for inclusion, which measures how an area’s poorest residents are doing in the economy.

According to US Census reports, more people are leaving the State than moving in, and our youth are leaving Albuquerque in droves to seek employment with a future elsewhere even after they get their college education at our universities.

On October 1, 2017 Wallet Hub, a personal fiancé website, published the story “Fastest Growing Cities In America”.

https://wallethub.com/edu/fastest-growing-cities/7010/#city

Albuquerque ranked 450th in economic growth among 515 cities in the United States according to the Wallet Hub report.

Wallet Hub ranked the cities using 15 metrics, including population growth, unemployment and poverty rate decrease, job growth and other measures.

Among large cities, Albuquerque ranked 60th out of 64.

Among all cities, Albuquerque fared especially poorly on unemployment rate decrease (481); job growth (446); growth in number of businesses (443); median house price growth (433), and regional gross domestic product growth (433).

According to US Census reports, more people are leaving the State than moving in, and our youth are leaving Albuquerque in droves to seek employment with a future elsewhere even after they get their college education at our universities.

ALBUQUERQUE’S ECONOMIC OUTLOOK

In 2016, the Bureau of Business and Economic Research (BBER) at the University of New Mexico (UNM) did a report on Albuquerque’s economy and outlook.

BBER used local statistics and national forecasts of our state and local economy to come up with a job history and job projections.

A portion of the University’s BBER 2016 report and forecasting model was contained in a section of the City of Albuquerque’s Proposed Budget for Fiscal Year 2017-2018.

Most of the data has remained constant with no dramatic changes over the last year, with the exception perhaps being and uptick in construction and the service industries.

(See City of Albuquerque “Proposed Budget Fiscal Year 2018, pages 46, 47, 48, 49 atwww.cabq.gov/dfa/budget/annual-budget)

Following is the section contained in last years 2017-2018 City of Albuquerque proposed budget that merits consideration:

“The Albuquerque economy declined in sync with the national economy, but has lagged in its recovery.

Total employment in the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) increased in the third quarter of 2012 but this gain was due to a change in processing by the department of Workforce Solutions and not in actual employment.

The 4th quarter of 2014 and all following quarters through the 1st quarter of 2016 show increases with growth.

The UNM BBER forecast of employment in October 2016, has positive non-agricultural (non-ag) employment growth beginning in FY/13, though as mentioned above, FY/13 is due only to a technical adjustment.

The growth in total employment in FY/14 was 0.4% and FY/15 growth in total employment was 1.4% and with one estimated quarter FY/16 is expected at 1.7%.

The Albuquerque economy lost over 27,000 jobs from FY/08 to FY/12 a loss of 7% of total employment.

About 13,000 jobs were added in FY/13 to FY/16.

In FY/17 employment was expected to increase 1.5% and remain near this level for the remainder of the forecast.

The economy does not approach FY/08 employment levels until FY/19.

This puts the Albuquerque recovery over four years behind the national economy in terms of reaching post-recession employment levels.

Government employment limits growth, with private sector employment growth exceeding total employment growth from FY/12 through FY/21.

Construction has improved somewhat and is now helping the economy.

The unemployment rate continues to decline, but some of this is due to discouraged workers leaving the labor force.

In calendar year 2015 there was somewhat a reversal of this with a slight increase in the unemployment rate caused in part by people re-entering the labor force.

The [unemployment] rate is expected to slowly decline to 5.3% in FY/20 and FY/21.

This is above the unemployment rate for the U.S. for the entire forecast period.”

City hall and the Economic Development Department need to address Albuquerque’s growth industries if the city is going to have any chance of turning our economy around.

ALBUQUERQUE’S ECONOMIC GROWTH INDUSTRIES

The BBER study also discussed the following nine (9) major Albuquerque industries or economy sectors:

1. Retail and Wholesale Trade
2. Transportation, Warehousing and Utilities
3. Manufacturing
4. Education and Health Services
5. Accommodation and Food Services
6. Real Estate & Financial Activities
7. Professional and Other Services
8. Information
9. Government

Following is information provided on each industry or sector:

1. RETAIL AND WHOLESALE TRADE

“These sectors [retail and wholesale trade] account for about 15% of employment in [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. It is a particularly important sector in terms of the Gross Receipts Tax (GRT); making up about 30% of GRT. As the recession hit, the closure of stores and reductions in purchases substantially hit employment and GRT in this sector. The sector is expected to have employment growth of just over 0.8% in FY/17 and FY/18 with a jump to over 1.5% in FY/19 and tailing off for the remainder of the forecast.”

2. TRANSPORTATION, WAREHOUSING AND UTILITIES

“This sector while important, only accounts for 2.5% of employment. Employment growth in this sector was weak before the recession hit and then declined substantially in FY/09 and FY/10. The expectations for the forecast are a robust recovery with growth over 2% in FY/17 following a decline of 0.6% in FY/16. With this growth, the sector does not reach the pre-recession high in the forecast period.”

3. MANUFACTURING

“This sector accounts for about 4.5% of employment in the [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. It is an important sector as it creates relatively high paying jobs that bring revenue from outside the area. (Emphasis added.) It also generates purchases of materials and services in the local economy making this sector’s impact greater than its employment share. After substantial job losses including closing of Eclipse Aviation and GE, the sector posted small gains in FY11 and FY/12. In FY/13, FY/14 and FY/15 the sector declined and is expected to post a small increase in FY/16 and FY/17 before suffering losses in the remainder of the forecast. FY/21 employment is only 72% of the employment of FY/08.”

4. EDUCATION AND HEALTH SERVICES

“This sector is predominantly health services and accounts for 15.7% of employment. Albuquerque is a major regional medical center that brings people into the area for services. Presbyterian Hospital and its HMO are one of the largest employers in the area. This was the only sector that increased through the recession and continues to be a primary driver for economic growth. Growth slowed in FY/14 but increased in FY/15 and is expected to reach 4% in FY/16. Growth stays above 3% in all years but FY/21 where it slows to 2.9%. This sector is the largest contributor to employment growth in the forecast period adding about 10,000 jobs (36.6% of total job growth) from FY/16 to FY/21.” (Emphasis added.)”

5. ACCOMMODATIONS AND FOOD SERVICES

“This category includes eating and drinking establishments as well as hotels and other travel related facilities. It accounts for 10% of employment in [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. The sector is a major contributor to both [Gross Receipts Tax] and Lodgers’ Tax. FY/14 and FY/15 had growth of over 3%. This slowed in FY/16 to near 2% and after increasing to over 2.5% in FY17 remains below 2% for the remainder of the forecast. The sector reached its previous peak of FY/08 in FY/14.”

6. REAL ESTATE & FINANCIAL ACTIVITIES

“This is two sectors and includes finance, insurance and real estate including credit inter mediation. It accounts for about 4.5% of employment in the [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. The financial crisis, the consolidation of banking, and the collapse of real estate impacted this sector. FY/13 shows an increase of 1% with FY/14 increasing 1.8%. Growth tapers off through the remainder of the forecast. In FY/21 the sector remains 367 jobs below the level of FY/08.

7. PROFESSIONAL AND OTHER SERVICES

“This category is a grouping of four service sectors (Professional and Technical, Management of Companies, Administrative and Waste Services, and Other Services). The category accounts for 18% of the employment in … [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. It includes temporary employment agencies, some of Albuquerque’s back-office operations, and architect and engineering firms that are closely tied to construction. It also includes Sandia National Labs (SNL). While the national labs gained some positions in FY/11 through FY/15, the sector as a whole was weak. This began to change in FY/15 as construction services (engineering and architecture) began adding jobs, though the sector as a whole declined. The sector shows expected growth in FY/16 of less than 1%. Growth then exceeds 1% every year in the remainder of the forecast with a peak growth of 2.6% in FY/18. In FY/21 it still remains 3,300 jobs below the peak of FY/08.”

8. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS

“This sector includes businesses in telecommunications, broadcasting, publishing and internet service establishments. It also includes the film studios. It accounts for about 2% of employment in … [Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area]. FY/13 posted solid growth, but FY/14 showed a substantial decline and FY/15 declined again. FY/16 is expected to show growth of over 3%, but slows to under 1% growth until FY/21.”

9. CONSTRUCTION

“Construction is typically cyclical, with significant swings in building and employment. Construction is an important sector and has an impact on the economy larger than its employment share of 5%. This sector lost 12 thousand jobs from FY/07 to FY/13. In FY/07 its employment share was 8%. After falling consistently from FY/07, employment in construction began increasing at the end of FY/13. FY/14 grew 2.8% and 2.4% in FY/15. Employment is expected to increase only 1.2% in FY/16, but then increases to near 3% in FY/17 and remains in the 2% to 3% range for the remainder of the forecast.It is one of the fastest growing sectors in the economy for the forecast period. Even with this growth construction employment in FY/21 is forecast to be 26% or 8,000 jobs below the FY/07 peak.”

10. GOVERNMENT

“The government sector makes up almost 21% of the Albuquerque’s Metropolitan Statistical Area employment. The largest part of State and Local government is education. Local Government includes the public schools and State Government includes the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College. The local sector also includes Indian enterprises. The Federal Government makes up 4.4% of employment; nationally Federal government makes up 3.4% of total employment. This doesn’t include military employment which is counted separately. Active military is around 6,000 or about 1.7% of the total non-agricultural employment. Nationally military is 1% of total non-agricultural employment. Government employment slowed and decreased in FY/11 through FY/16. Local and State employment decreased due to declines in tax revenue and the inability to fund the same level of employees. State and Local are flat in FY/13. State government has been stronger with growth of 2.4% and 11.3% in FY/14 and FY/15. It is expected to grow 4.2% and then decline or remain at low levels of growth for the forecast. Local government has been flat and is expected to show little growth in the forecast. The major sources of state and local jobs are education, though the Labor department does not keep individual counts for these jobs at the local level. Federal Government after growing strongly in FY/10 showed little growth in FY/11 and declines in FY/12 through the remainder of the forecast. This occurs due to the federal government taking steps to reduce its expenditures. The forecast shows continued losses in federal jobs except in FY/19 to FY/21 largely due to hiring for the 2020 census.”

QUALITY OF LIFE LEGISLATION APPROACH

In 1987, the Albuquerque City Council engaged in a process of public hearings to determine and identify what type of facilities and projects were needed for a growing city that would enhance our quality of life and make Albuquerque an attractive City to raise a family.

In 1987, the City Council held extensive public hearings for months, throughout the City, to get public input on what should be built.

The business community, the private sector and many civic organizations got behind the effort and participated.

By a unanimous, bipartisan vote, the Albuquerque City Council enacted the “Quality of Life” legislation that resulted in the construction of the Albuquerque Aquarium, the Albuquerque Children’s Science Museum, the Botanical Gardens and the Balloon Museum.

Originally, a performing arts center was identified as a needed facility with funding included, but the funding was later struck down by a voter initiative.

Years later, the private sector, without any government funding but with reliance on private fund raising and contributions, built the Hispano Cultural Center which has a performing arts venue that fills the void for a performing arts center.

The “Quality of Life” legislation funded the acquisition of critical open space with open land acquisitions completing the final phase of what forms the backbone of our “urban parks”.

The “Quality of Life” legislation included a ten-year quarter cent sales tax with a sunset clause, and the tax has long since expired, but the facilities were designed and built.

The “Quality of Life” tax was not put on the ballot for a public vote thanks in large part to strong community support and the extensive public hearings held by the Albuquerque City Council and the forging of a public consensus of what needed to be built.

Money was also approved by the 1987 City Council to fund major improvements to our zoo, a major remodeling and expansion of our Convention Center, and the largest expansion and remodeling of the Albuquerque Sunport in Albuquerque’s history.

Looking back on it, what would Albuquerque be today without all of the “quality of life” facilities, our expanded open space and urban parks system, the expanded convention center, improvements to the zoo and the expanded airport?

Each “Quality of Life” facility contributes to our City character and helps make our City an attractive place to live, work, and raise a family.

Without the “Quality of Life” projects you cannot help but wonder if Albuquerque would be nothing more than just another dying, dusty little southwestern town.

TRY INVESTING IN OURSELVES

The same approach used in 1987 for the Quality of Life legislation can be done today to develop a successful economic development program, with or without an “economic development” tax voted upon by taxpayers.

There have been major cities where voters have agreed to tax and invest in themselves to repair or rebuild their communities and facilities.

Albuquerque and Bernalillo County voters did it to an extent in 2014 with the enactment of the Mental and Behavioral Health tax and again in 2015 with the BioPark gross receipts tax voter initiative.

In 2014, Albuquerque and Bernalillo County voters overwhelmingly voted to impose a one-eighth percent gross receipts tax to improve access to mental and behavioral health care services in the county.

The one-eighth percent gross receipts tax voted by taxpayers for mental health is to be used for the purpose of providing more mental and behavioral health services for adults and children in the Albuquerque and Bernalillo County area, and to provide a safety net system that develops mental health care not otherwise funded in New Mexico.

During the 2015 municipal election, Albuquerque voters wisely approved with an overwhelming majority the voter petition drive initiative to increase the gross receipts tax that will raise $255 million dollars over 15 years for the BioPark.

The BioPark, with its zoo, aquarium and botanical gardens, is the number one tourist attraction in the State of New Mexico.

With the enactment of both the mental and behavioral health tax and the BioPark tax, voters said they wanted to invest in their community, increase services and repair and preserve facilities that help make Albuquerque a great and unique City.

Albuquerque’s taxpayers must be convinced by its political and business leaders of the importance of investing in major public facilities, construction projects and infra structure and for economic development.

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

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LEADERSHIP REQUIRED

Albuquerque must redefine its identity, take bold and aggressive, calculated risks to attract and create high-paying jobs to keep our youth and talent from leaving.

Albuquerque is one of the few major metropolitan cities its size that does not have a City operated entertainment venue or facility, as was the Civic Auditorium, but relies extensively on higher education facilities such as the UNM’s “The Pit” and Popejoy Hall.

Improving our schools and vocational systems, reducing dropout rates, are critical to diversifying Albuquerque’s economy.

Albuquerque as a community needs to voice our demands loud and clear to our New Mexico House and Senate members that they need to be far more aggressive in improving and funding our education system and fund early childhood care and intervention programs and mental health care programs and stop wasting time on “all crime, all the time” agendas increasing criminal penalties, but rather getting to and solving the root cause of crime: poverty, poor education system, high unemployment, drug addiction, to mention just a few root causes of crime.

City economic development efforts need to be better coordinated with our vocational institutions to identify new industries that can be attracted to Albuquerque and insure Albuquerque has the trained workforce to accommodate any new industry.

Albuquerque can and must expand and find better ways to use financial incentives for economic development such as tax increment districts (TIDS), industrial revenue bonds, and even fund economic development investment programs such as initial startup funding with claw back provisions.

Albuquerque needs to pursue with a vengeance real growth industry like heath care, transportation and manufacturing, and the film industry to diversify our economy.

Public-private partnerships in the growth industries where ever possible should be encouraged and developed.

Special emphasis and support should be given to Albuquerque’s film industry which is developing, expanding and proving to be very successful in providing well paying jobs.

Albuquerque’s taxpayers must be convinced by its leaders of the importance of investing in major projects and in our neighborhoods to make Albuquerque more of a “walk able” City, where people can raise their family, work and make a living and have recreational and entertainment opportunities all within a small radius thereby reducing our reliance on the automobile.

A well designed, efficient mass transportation system is a basic essential service that must be provided by any major city.

Any mass transportation system that is developed must truly serve the entire community and not just a small geographic area such as is the poorly designed ART bus project which is destroying historic Route 66.

More community centers with recreational facilities would be a good start achieving a walkable city.

The City of Albuquerque needs to partner more with the State of New Mexico wherever possible.

A good first start in partnering with the State is to find a new vision for the State Fair grounds and how that very valuable gem in the center of Albuquerque can be better utilized to serve the Albuquerque community.

A suggestion would be for the City and State to jointly fund a tear down the old Tingly Coliseum and construct a multipurpose, state of the art facility that could be used for entertainment and sports events and operated year-round with a joint powers agreement.

Other joint powers agreements can be entered into between the City, State and County for the mutual use of facilities.

CONCLUSION

On April 1, 2018 when the Keller Administration submits its very first budget, city residents will get a real look at how committed the new administration is in turning our economy around.

With the three-eighths (3/8 ths) increase in city tax revenues, the Mayor and the City Council have an opportunity to make a real commitment to economic development, if they want.

The funding to the Economic Development Department should be increased to $15 million a year and the staffing should also be increased significantly in order to promote and seek businesses to relocate to Albuquerque.

Our political, business and civic leaders need to show far more backbone and commitment to improving and diversifying Albuquerque’s economy.

Otherwise, we are destined to become a dying, dusty southwest city without any real potential for growth and better economic times.

Mayor Tim Keller signed the tax increase bill with no press conference, no fanfare, and no one looking on.

It was found out by ABQ Reports by looking at the City Council website.

Too bad and what a missed opportunity for Keller.

Mayor Keller should have appeared before city council to announce his decision, perhaps even sign the bill in front of them, and allowed himself to be asked questions by both the City Council and the public.

Words, appearances and actions matter when you are a candidate as well as an elected official.

A promise not to raise taxes without a public vote by any candidate for mayor is meaningless when said from the get-go and nonsense that should not be taken too seriously.

No candidate for mayor really knows what is going on with city finances until he/she actually look at the books.

Keller making the promise as a candidate was at best idealistic and at worse being foolish just to garner votes to get elected.

Candidate Keller saying he would draw from various agencies, departments and programs where large, misappropriated budgets existed to deal with any city deficit sounded fantastic but was not very realistic after the eight years of budget cuts and downsizing of government.

Any candidate for office usually regrets making promises regarding raising taxes to get elected; just ask former President George H.W. Bush when he said “Read my lips, no new taxes!” and lost to Bill Clinton.

Candidate Keller promised and made the commitment to be transparent and he should be just that with his actions, even if it’s reversing a promise he made on taxes.

Being transparent does not mean you look one way and then the other to make sure no one is looking to do something you promised not to do, which is called being sneaky.

Following is the March 19, report published by ABQ Reports:

KELLER SIGNS TAX INCREASE BILL

March 19, 2018
|

BY: Dennis Domrzalski

Mayor Tim Keller has broken his campaign promise to put all tax increase proposals to city voters by signing an ordinance to raise the gross receipts tax in the city by three-eights-of-a-cent, or $55 million a year.

Keller signed the bill on March 15, according to the City Council’s website.

The 0.375 percent gross receipts tax would be applied to most goods and services sold in the city and would bring the city’s gross receipts tax rate to 7.875 percent. The tax hike will take effect on July 1.

Keller and city councilors said the tax increase was needed in order to fund a projected $40 million city budget deficit and to help in hiring up to 300 more police officers. The City Council approved the increase by a 8 to 1 vote on March 5.

In early March, Keller told the Albuquerque Journal that he would have to renege on on his campaign promise to take all tax hike proposals to city voters.

“I remember my stance on that, and I want to try and keep that stance and I believe in that stance,” Keller told Journal reporters and editors. But, “it would be fiscally irresponsible for me to say we should wait three years to get funding for law enforcement.”

Keller had said during the mayoral race that he would raise taxes only as a last resort for public safety and only with voter approval.

On February 27, 2017, the City of Albuquerque issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) entitled “City of Albuquerque Skyline Competition for The Tallest Building in New Mexico” for downtown Albuquerque, just nine (9) months before Mayor Berry was to leave office.See here – Albuquerque Skyline Competition RFP.

Then Mayor Richard Berry wanted developers to erect a commercial “iconic and skyline-defining” building of at least 360 feet high in downtown Albuquerque using city owned property that would be sold or leased to a developer who won.

City owned property where the skyscraper was to be built and located was 3rd street and Marquette or 2nd street and Silver.

In addition to the land, Berry wanted the city to offer lucrative tax breaks.

Berry’s’ former Chief of Staff Gilbert Montano at the time said of the development:

“The millions of dollars that this investment could create, spur and develop for our downtown and our city, the Class A office space, the multi-use live work play opportunities that these types of developments can provide also is a tangible benefit that we hope to see created.”

This is what you call a “field of dreams” development of “build it and they shall come.”

Albuquerque, because of its history, and population, is not high rise or skyscraper type of city and anyone who thinks so is sadly mistaken and does not know the city’s history.

COMMERCIAL OCCUPANCY RATES AND RESIDENTIAL RENTAL RATES

There are major problems with downtown occupancy rates with many commercial buildings and store fronts vacant.

Albuquerque has a chronic commercial vacancy rate city wide of 22.8% based on information from CBRE, the largest real estate investment manager in the United States.

The downtown commercial office space vacancy rate is 35% according to local commercial real estate experts.

Rental of “Class A” office space is highly expensive with very few businesses existing in Albuquerque that can afford it.

Private companies who can afford Class A office space usually buy and build to suite and avoid renting office space.

On October 12, 2017, it was reported that the average rental price in Albuquerque, which includes both market-rate and affordable units, increased 3.3 percent over the year, from $799 to $823 in September of this year, with all unit types showing gains. See here.

The market occupancy rate of 95.8 percent was up from 95.4 percent the prior year, which are good numbers.

The numbers come from CBRE Albuquerque’s latest apartment market survey.

CBRE looks at rents at 194 apartment complexes across the city, totaling more than 40,000 units.

The survey said the average market-rate apartment unit in Albuquerque was $843 in September, 2017.

The anticipated rental units in the new “skyscraper” were to be luxury units with starting rental costs starting at between $1,200 to $1,500 per month.

Luxury condos units of 850 to 1,100 square feet, such as those recently completed on Central in Nob Hill, have sale prices of between $275,000 upwards of $350,000 for the units, raising the prospects of limited affordability by many.

A SYMPHONY OF VERY SOUR NOTES

On September 27, 2017, the winner of the “skyscraper contest” was selected and the proposed building design winner was “The Symphony Tower” by Geltomore, LLC.

The “Symphony Tower” was to be constructed at 4th and Marquette, and it would include office space, a hotel and condos. (See photo of artist rendering below.)

The “Symphony Tower” would have stood 34 stories tall and the idea was for the city to demolish the current City Hall and police station to be rebuilt later.

The magnitude of the project left concerns about downtown parking availability in that the “Symphony Tower” was to be the tallest building in Downtown Albuquerque.

Plans for the Symphony Tower were nearly approved.

In November, 2017, the Albuquerque Development Commission delayed approval of the project until the new Mayor was elected and sworn in on December 1, 2017.

On March 16, 2018, Mayor Tim Keller announced that the city would be scrapping the entire project.See here.

In announcing his decision to scrap the project, Keller said “I don’t think it’s important to have a tallest building. I think we need to use a metric that matters. We want something that actually helps rejuvenate and re-energize downtown in all sorts of ways.”

What Mayor Keller wants to do is determine what kind of development would bring people to downtown on weeknights and weekends.

Keller also went on to say:

“I think it’s important just for the public to know that just because it’s called the ‘Symphony Tower,’ it has nothing to do with the symphony or a performing arts center. … Usually when the taxpayers put in a lot of money, they get a public amenity in return. Whether it’s a performing arts center or something like that… and that connection wasn’t in [the Symphony Tower] proposal.”

Mayor Keller also said that for all the tax breaks the developer wanted, the development didn’t make any sense for city taxpayers.

The Keller Administration intends to issue another Request For Proposal (RFP) that will include the lot at Silver and 2nd the city owns.

The Keller Administration needs to consider making sure the RFP calls for designs of buildings in downtown Albuquerque that reflect the character or true history of downtown, especially if built on historic Route 66 Central Avenue.

A suggestion is to have architects and developers look at Albuquerque’s past and historic buildings that have been torn down for inspiration.

The Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on Lomas and built in 1998 is an excellent example of capturing New Mexico architecture. (See photo below)

REMEMBERING MISTAKES OF THE PAST

When I saw the news story that the plans for the 360 foot “skyscraper” the Symphony had been scrapped, I had a flashback to the Albuquerque I grew up in.

The architectural design of the Symphony building was not a reflection of Albuquerque in any way of what makes this city so unique.

I vividly recall the Franciscan Hotel that was at the corner of 6th and Central. (See photo below)

Across the street on the opposite corner from the hotel was H Cook Sporting store and I remember the rifle sign which was so very 40’s and 50’s.

I went to grade school at St. Mary’s a few blocks away and had a classmate whose father was the manager of the hotel and his family lived in a Hotel apartment.

The Franciscan Hotel was torn down in 1972, two years after I graduated from Del Norte High School, and there has been a parking lot there ever since where the hotel once stood.

Albuquerque has a very bad habit of destroying iconic structures, such as the Franciscan Hotel, the historic Alvarado Hotel and the Civic Auditorium, without making any effort to preserve them.

The ART Bus project with its futuristic canopy design bus platforms down the center of Central also fails to capture and reflect the historic significance of Route 66.

During a federal court hearing on March 15, 2018, regarding the APD consent decree, new Mayor Tim Keller appeared before Federal Judge Robert C. Brack who drove in early from Las Cruces with his law clerks.

The court hearing was held in the “ceremonial courtroom” of the old federal courthouse on Gold Street which was built in 1930 and restored years later in the 1980s and has been maintained because of its historical significance. (See photo below)

Both Federal Judge Brack and Mayor Keller opened their remarks by swooning and admiring the beauty and historical significance of the courtroom

From the bench, Judge Brake announced he brought his law clerks in early so they could take a tour of the old courthouse.

Albuquerque was indeed very lucky when the decision was made to keep and maintain the old federal courthouse on Gold Street instead of tearing it down when the new federal courthouse on Lomas was built.

Mayor Keller was born and raised in Albuquerque, but at age 40, is way to young to remember the Albuquerque I grew up in.

Notwithstanding his age, Mayor Keller’s comments about the old federal courthouse reflect he has real appreciation for Albuquerque’s history, far more than more than one of his predecessors could ever of had or even imagined when they were Mayor and who allowed such iconic buildings to be torn down.

Mayor Keller and the City did the absolute right thing to scrap the skyscraper.

CONCLUSION

When it comes to downtown Albuquerque, the lyrics of Joni Mitchell song need to be remembered:

They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot
With a pink hotel, a boutique
And a swinging hot SPOT

Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone?
They paved paradise
Put up a parking lot

Artist rendering of proposed “Symphony Skyscraper” at Third and Marquette

HOTEL FRANCISCAN TORN DOWN 1972

Photo of the old Federal Building and US Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, built in 1930:

Photo of the Pete V. Domenici United States Courthouse in Albuquerque, New Mexico built in 1998:

“It’s those changes in latitudes,
Changes in attitudes nothing remains the same.
With all of our running and all of our cunning,
If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane”

By Jimmy Buffet

Attending the March 15, 2018 status conference on the Federal Monitor’s most recent report on the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and the reform process, the lyrics of Jimmy Buffet’s hit kept running through my mind especially the line “If we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane”.

The hearing lasted for five (5) hours, and all the running and all of the cunning of the prior administration made it clear why very little progress was made with the DOJ reform process.

The March 15, 2018 status conference was in very sharp contrast to the one held last November, 2017 where Federal Judge Brack eviscerated and admonished the former Administration and the former City Attorney for secretly recording the Federal Monitor in order to show biasness and have him removed as the monitor.

Attorney Steven Robert Allen, the policy director for the ACLU of New Mexico addressed the sharp contrast between the “Old APD” and the “New APD” when he said:

“It seems like night and day, after three years of them playing games with us. … It finally seems like the adults are in the room.”

All the parties and members of the public spoke of hope and optimism.

The March 15, 2018 hearing DOJ hearing was the first ever attended by any Mayor with Tim Keller appearing along with new Senior Public Safety Officer James B. Lewis, new interim Chief Michael Geier and new City Attorney Esteban Aguilar, Jr.

What was revealed for the first time is that Mayor Tim Keller reached out back in December and had meeting with the parties and the federal judge.

Federal Judge Robert Brack said he was so impressed with the new administration’s commitment to the reform process that he decided to keep the case after he goes on Senior Status in November and not give it to another federal judge.

What Keller told Brack is that he campaigned on the reform issue, that he owned it and that he will be judged by the progress APD makes or doesn’t make during his term in office.

Three major changes to the DOJ consent decree were discussed during the March 15, 2018 hearing:

1. A compliance bureau has now been established within APD, something Federal Monitor James Ginger has recommended from day one and that was totally opposed to and resisted by the prior administration.

APD has now completed a compliance plan, and created a compliance bureau for the reform process.

Compliance plans and bureaus have been absolutely critical to all the successful police reform efforts in other police departments dealing with consent decrees, which there are nine cities in the country under consent decrees.

The old APD command staff failed to develop the most basic of compliance plans on implementing the DOJ settlement agreement and for that reason, the new command staff needs an intense amount of technical assistance and personnel to help implementation.

2. The new “use of force” policy to streamline the investigative process was elaborated on.

Previously for any use of force instance, no matter the level of force used, a complete and full investigation that included separating arresting officers for interviews and identifying and interviewing of witnesses was required, all of which was labor intensive and time consuming.

There are three levels of use of force instances defined:

Level 1 use-of- force instances are defined as force that does not result in an injury and “that is likely to cause only transitory pain, disorientation, or discomfort.”

In other words, a level one “use of force” does not involve the infliction of bodily harm or injuries that may be sustained.

A Level 2 use-of-force instance could include striking or kicking a criminal suspect.

A Level 3 use-of-force would include using an electronic control weapon (TAZER) against a handcuffed criminal suspect or during a police shooting.

Under the agreed to changes, APD Sergeants will do a review, and not a complete investigation, of “Level 1” use of force instances.

One of the major arguments made to justify the changes was that sergeants were required to spend hours being part of an investigation of any and all types use-of-force case.

The changes should free up patrol officers to respond to calls for service.

Under the new policy, a supervisor, usually a sargeant, will review the officer’s lapel camera on scene, which police can do using their cellphones.

Within 72 hours of the incident, the supervisor is required to review police reports, documents, on-body camera footage and any other evidence involved with the use of force incident and then write an evaluation on whether policies were followed.

The final report is then required to be sent further up the chain of command.

Final evaluation reports will be filed with a separate bureau that is tasked with ensuring Albuquerque police are following the requirements of the settlement agreement and constitutional policing practices.

3. The Federal Monitor will suspend preparing six month reports until November of this year and he will provide “technical assistance” to APD as opposed to performing audits and gathering data.

Instead of preparing another 500 page audit report, Federal Monitor James Ginger will focus over the next six months to help APD build the procedural infrastructure to be able to comply with the reforms.

Federal Monitor Ginger won’t be issuing a seventh progress report in May but instead issue tow “mini-reports”, one in May and on in August.

“For two years we gave them technical assistance, but it wasn’t accepted or used,” Ginger told Brack.

CONCLUSION

For more on the three levels of use of force see following blog article:

Streamlining APD Use Of Force Investigations

The traditional time considered a “honeymoon” period with the media and any new Mayoral administration is six months, unless you’re a Democrat and dealing with the Albuquerque Journal engaged in a boxing match.

New Mayors need at least six months’ time to complete a transition, hire their staff and make appointments and prepare a budget that is required to be submitted every April 1 for the upcoming fiscal year.

Democrat Mayor Tim Keller had only two weeks from the day he was elected in the runoff to the day he was sworn in on December 1, 2017 for his transition but had to hit the ground running.

The first six months of any elected officials term usually sets the tone and the direction for the entire remainder of the term and the people appointed help the Mayor set the trajectory for the entire term.

The media knows full well the importance of their role in making sure they report accurately without bias what is going on with any new administration.

In politics, way too often, the relationship between an elected official and the media is like a boxing match that lasts for the entire term, especially when you’re a Democrat dealing with the Republican leaning Albuquerque Journal.

Less than four (4) months into the four-year Keller Administration, Mayor Tim Keller has won one (1) round with a positive editorial on his decisions and the Albuquerque Journal has won six (6) rounds with negative editorials on his decisions and administration.

ROUND ONE WIN BY THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

On December 1, 2017, the very day Mayor Keller was sworn into office, the Albuquerque Journal did a backhanded editorial congratulating him on his first day on the job and welcoming to his new office.

The editorial headline read “Welcome, mayor Keller; Now the hard part begins”.

The December 1, 2017 editorial stated in part as follows:

“Keller’s appointment of Oriana Sandoval, chief executive officer at the Center for Civic Policy, to a newly created position of “deputy city attorney” to focus on immigrant rights protection, refugee affairs, environmental justice and civil rights, is baffling. In every recent poll, Albuquerqueans have overwhelmingly called crime the major concern facing the city – not refugees or environmental justice. It’s unfortunate that one of the new mayor’s very first hires bolsters concerns raised by his opponents – that he would focus on a national progressive agenda vs. addressing local concern.”

In case anyone missed that, the Albuquerque Journal showed its card when it said “he would focus on a national progressive agenda vs. addressing local concern”.

The truth is, the appointment of one deputy city attorney, an interim one at that, did not mean a national progressive agenda as the Journal implied seeing as that the City Attorney’s office employs upwards of 35 attorneys.

Further, the new city attorney was not selected until recently, and even then the Journal had a problem with the selection as will be pointed out later in this article.

The Albuquerque Journal editors had no objections to the former Republican Mayor pursuing a hard right agenda of supporting “right to work” laws, opposing any increases in the minimum wage, refusing to enforce the city’s minimum wage ordinance, opposing the mandatory sick leave ordinance, being at impasse with all the city unions, reducing the size of city government at the expense of public safety, opposing any and all tax increases, opposing sanctuary city policies, not to mention supporting the “late term abortion” initiative that interfere with a woman’s right to choose.

ROUND TWO WIN BY THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

On January 8, 2018, the Journal won the second round of the boxing match with Keller.

On January 8, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal published its first negative editorial against Keller when Mayor Keller issued an executive order to cancel the proposed $39 million garbage transfer station at Edith and Comanche.

The editorial headline was “Why did Keller send $4 million in garbage fees to dump?”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1116148/why-did-keller-send-4m-in-garbage-fees-to-dump.html

Since day one, and throughout the development process, the garbage transfer station was very controversial with loud protests from area residents worried about traffic, noise and their property values.

The Journal noted the city council in 2014 had enacted a $2 rate increase on an 8-0 vote with one councilor absent.

The garbage transfer station was promoted by the previous Republican administration as a way to reduce the city Solid Waste’s Department carbon footprint and save the city between $2.5 million and $4.5.

Democrat Keller cancelled the transfer station, saying that permits would not be issued and that it was an example of “top-down government”.

An example of top-down government is the ART Bus project.

Keller also said the millions spent on planning and development costs for the proposed transfer station would not go to waste and that they were still “an investment that’s going to continue to provide a return” promising that a new location would be found.

The problem is, Keller offered no alternative site, has yet to do so, and that will delay the construction of the transfer station which is needed.

The Journal totally disagreed and said a new site was nearly totally impossible to find because of objections from any surrounding property owners and the “not on my backyard” attitude.

The Journal boldly opined that “new Mayor Tim Keller sent around $4 million in customers’ rates to the dump instead”.

ROUND THREE WIN BY THE ALBUQERUQUE JOURNAL

On February 1, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal won the third round against Keller when it published its editorial entitled “City deal smells like politics”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1127236/city-deal-smells-like-politics.html

The Journal editorial said in part:

“The $8 million settlement reached between Mayor Tim Keller’s administration and the Albuquerque firefighters union may be on the up and up. The administration says it was the best way to settle a longstanding dispute.
But on the surface, one could wonder whether it was, in fact, a generous reward for the union’s ardent support of Keller during his mayoral campaign.
The settlement stems from a year’s long lawsuit filed after city officials under then-[Republican] Mayor Richard Berry decided in 2010 to cut almost all employee salaries, including police and firefighters, due to a budget crisis.”

What the Journal editors failed to point out is that settlement negotiations were a very common practice used by the previous Republican administration to avoid going to trial when they settled case, after case, after case in police misconduct cases and dished out $62 million in negotiated settlements, some at $5 to $8 million at a time, to the families with relatives killed by police officers with the relatives filing wrongful death actions in Federal Court for “deadly use of force” and civil rights violations.

The Journal had no problem with a Republican Administration settling disputed cases for amounts that many thought were excessive.

The Journal questions a Democrat Administration settling a disputed case because of union support in an election calling the settlement “a generous reward for the union’s ardent support” even though it “may be on the up and up”.

City Risk management and city fund payouts must be screened and approved by the city Risk Management Committee and no Mayor has the authority to settle a case and order a check be issued based on political considerations nor as “a generous reward for political support.”

The Journal editors made no accusations against the past Republican administration of “a deal smelling like politics” or that a settlement was “a generous reward” with any of the settlements they agreed and entered into.

The Journal editors did not object when former City Attorney and Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry was sitting on the Risk Management Committee giving him authority over settling city cases with plaintiff attorney’s he knew and worked with in the past and who donated and supported the Republican Mayor when he ran.

ROUND FOUR WIN BY MAYOR TIM KELLER

On March 3, 2018, Mayor Keller won his first round, and thus far the only round, of the boxing match with the Journal editors with his appointment of former New Mexico Treasurer James Lewis as the “Senior Public Safety Advisor”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1140809/lewis-data-community-policing-what-apd-needs.html

The Journal editorial was entitled “Lewis, data, community policing what APD needs” and the editorial was one of the most glowing editorials seen in a very long time.

The editorial starts by first quoting James B. Lewis as follows:

“… We need to get the police back into the community, and we’ve got to get the community back into policing, they’ve got to be the eyes and the ears; they’ve got to be aware of what’s going on.”
– James Lewis, city’s senior adviser for public safety

The editorial continues in part:
“It’s not surprising former state Treasurer James Lewis would allow himself to be drafted out of retirement by new Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. Nor is it surprising he would be tasked with helping to rebuild trust between the Albuquerque Police Department and the community it serves as the city’s new senior adviser for public safety.
Lewis has a reputation as someone capable of stepping into difficult situations and getting things back on track. He did it as state treasurer on two separate occasions.
… [W]e have no doubt Lewis is up to the task, given what he has been able to accomplish in the past. …”

The editorial was more of a positive editorial on James B. Lewis recognizing his distinguished service career as opposed to Keller, but Keller wins the round because James B. Lewis was appointed by the Mayor after Lewis served on Mayor Keller’s transition team.

Surprisingly, the Journal did not say Keller appointed Lewis to the position as a payoff for Lewis’ support during the Mayoral election and working on the transition team.

However, the Journal editorial did point out Lewis was being paid $72,000 a year when that was not included in the original Journal story announcing the appointment.

ROUND FIVE WIN BY ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

Mayor Keller did the traditional Mayoral trek that all newly elected Mayors do, along with his Chief Administrative Office and Chief Financial Officer, to personally meet with the Journal editors in their conference room with the Journal no doubt recording the meeting, to discuss the upcoming city budget, city finances, and the $40 million-dollar projected city deficit for next year.

Such meetings with the Journal editors are a rite of passage for newly elected Mayors and are to be expected and should be encouraged.

Apparently, the editors were not impressed given the follow up editorial they published.

On March 4, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal won the third round of the match against Keller with its editorial entitled “Tax increase may be needed, but voters should decide” and said in part:

“We don’t envy Mayor Tim Keller or members of the Albuquerque City Council who must figure out how to plug a projected $40 million deficit in next fiscal year’s budget.”
…
“So, sure, the city needs revenue. But simply imposing the tax – without voter approval – is the wrong move. Especially if a special election can be held in a timely fashion.”
“[T]his proposed city tax increase will bring in far more revenue than the city is losing [from repeal of the hold harmless provision].”
“… Pushing a tax hike through without voter approval may be the most expedient solution, but it’s the wrong move – particularly given Keller’s repeated pledges on the campaign trail that voters would have final say on any tax increase. … [I]f the mayor and council believe this tax is the only way to address the city’s financial woes and the APD’s officer shortage, they should make their case to the voters and let them decide. Failing to go that route creates a credibility deficit for Keller, and that’s no way for him to begin his term as mayor.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1141025/40-million-question.html

The Journal editors want the city to hold a special election that would have to be a mail in ballot election and that would cost upwards of $500,000, money that would have to be taken out of the general fund and no doubt from essential services.

The Journal’s position on submitting a tax increase for voter approval is somewhat disingenuous seeing as that tax increases are rarely put on the ballot and left to the city council and yet the Journal did not feel that the ART Bus project should have been put on the ballot, when it is customary to put such capital improvement projects on the ballot.

Further, the city council not enacting the tax before April 1, 2018 meant that the tax could not be collected until January 1, 2019 and the budget that starts July 1, 2018 would have to be enacted on speculation and hopes that the voters would approve a tax increase.

Keller was asked by the Journal editors during the meeting about his campaign promise not to raise taxes without a public vote.

The Journal editors were at least courteous enough to give Keller an opportunity to give his rationale for his reversal.

Of his promise of no tax increase without a vote, Keller told the Journal editors:

“I remember my stance on that, and I want to try and keep that stance, and I believe in that stance,” but “it would be fiscally irresponsible for me to say we should wait three years to get funding for law enforcement” with Keller calling the proposed tax hike the “least worst option.”

The Keller Administration is proposing an $88 million dollar APD expansion program to hire 250 more police officers which in no way can be done without a tax increase and take care of a $40 million deficit at the same time.

Keller’s meeting with the Journal editors and what he said apparently accomplished little next to nothing considering they accused him of creating a “credibility deficit” by not having a public vote and the tax increase.

The Albuquerque Journal accusing Keller of creating a credibility deficit is difficult to accept given what they allowed for eight years from the previous Republican administration.

The Albuquerque Journal never challenge the credibility of the previous Republican administration for the repeated lies they engaged in, especially when it came to the ART Bus project, the deficits and cutbacks in city services.

The Albuquerque Journal also allowed the previous Republican Mayor to proclaim on its front page that his administration was a “hallmark of fiscal responsibility” without challenging that claim.

The September 25, 2017 Journal headline actually proclaimed “A hallmark of fiscal responsibility”.

On September 25, 2017, in his final Mayor State of the City speech, Republican Mayor RJ Berry proclaimed “the state of our city is strong,” and said Albuquerque’s next mayor will “inherit an efficient city government that is living within its means, a growing economy and close to $1.2 billion in infrastructure projects that have been built or are in the pipeline”.

The truth is the previous administration left Keller with a $6 million-dollar deficit for the current fiscal year and left Keller with a $40 million deficit which the Albuquerque Journal expects Keller to clean up, so long as there is a tax increase with voter approval.

ROUND SIX WIN BY THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

On March 13, 2018, the Journal won a fifth round against Keller for recruiting and selecting his own City Attorney outside the application process with the editorial headline “Why did Keller sidestep the process for city attorney?”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1144856/why-did-keller-sidestep-the-process-for-city-attorney.html

In 2009, a city charter provision was enacted requiring an open and competitive hiring process to fill the positions of city attorney and requiring city council approval of the appointments.

The city attorney position was in fact advertised and the city received 19 applications before the closing date of November 29, 2017 to apply.

Eight (8) years ago, there were over 90 applications for city attorney.

The problem is that the Keller Administration reach out in February, 2018 to someone who had not applied for the position and hired that person instead, and the appearance looked terrible with Keller’s commitment to transparency and accountability taking a hit.

The Journal opined:

“It’s unfortunate that the process to select … [the new city attorney] … was fraught with irregularities, and it sets a high bar for him and the administration to overcome to restore public trust.”

The editorial pointed out the names of two other city attorney applicants, including one former city councilor and a UNM general counsel, implying they were more qualified than the attorney selected because the applicants had extensive government experience.

The Journal editorial went so far as making a backhanded reference to the fact that the selected city attorney went to UNM law school at the same time as Keller’s Chief Administrative Officer.

The “victory dance” in the ring by the Journal against Keller on the City Attorney appointment was quoting City Councilor Brad Winter at the end questioning whether the selection process was “truly open and competitive.”

The Journal noted that the city attorney also represents the city council and that the council will have to approve the appointment with a super majority of six city councilors required as if encouraging city councilors to reject the appointment, no doubt on party lines, on a 5-4 vote.

ROUND SEVEN WIN BY THE ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL

The TV media reported that the City’s Inspector General did an investigation and found that between 2014 and 2016 more than 300,000 gallons of wastewater contaminated with oil, grease, brake and transmission fluids and cleaning products were emptied into the city’s storm drains at the city’s westside transit facility in violation of numerous federal safety and environmental regulations and having the likely danger of contaminating our drinking water.

The contaminated water was dumped into the storm drains on weekends to avoid detection on order of a supervisor because a hose was not long enough to reach the tank where the contaminated water is supposed to be stored.

The name of the supervisor, and others involved, have not been released and the Keller administration is saying those involved are in the disciplinary process, which is confidential, until a final decision is made.

On March 15, 2018 and on cue, the Albuquerque Journal published its editorial “ABQ needs to come clean on its dirty water story” and opined in the last sentence as follows:

“The alleged misconduct occurred during the prior administration. But the new Mayor Tim Keller administration — which has pledged transparency –needs to come clean on the dirty water story. That’s a way to send a message to the public and to employees that this kind of conduct won’t be tolerated”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1146280/abq-needs-to-come-clean-on-its-dirty-water-story.html

Interesting that the Journal declined use the Republican Mayor Berry Administration by name but specifically.

The Journal called out Mayor Keller to be transparent implying his administration will not be and that it would not do anything to show the kind of conduct would not be tolerated.

NO JOURNAL EDITORIALS ON REPUBLICAN APPOINTMENTS

For eight years, the Albuquerque Journal made no comment with the appointments of political Republican operatives by the former Republican Mayor.

I do not recall a single editorial on any of the appointments made by the previous Republican administration, even when Republican operatives like Darren White was appointed Chief Public Safety Officer and Rob Perry was appointed City Attorney and then Chief Administrative Officer.

Other well know Republican operatives with ties to Republican Governor Susana Martinez were also appointed as Department heads.

The Journal said nothing when Democrat David Campbell was appointed Chief Administrative Officer nor when he stepped down after less than a year with rumors of having been squeezed out by Republican operatives Darren White and Rob Perry.

Then there was the farce of selecting Republican operative Gordon Eden as APD Chief after a so called national search with Rob Perry in charge of the selection process.

Eden was selected Chief of Police, even though he had absolutely no prior experience in managing a municipal police department and even though such experience was specifically called for in the job description as well as the posting for the position.

Eden was hired over numerous other applicants that included Deputy Chiefs from other major cities.

The Albuquerque Journal editors made no accusation that the fix was in with the Gordon Eden appointment even though he was a political operative who served as the Public Safety Cabinet Secretary under Republican Governor Martinez and with Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry having close contacts with Jay Mc Clusky, the Governor’s go to guy for appointments.

CONCLUSION

In politics, you must always pay attention as an elected official when it comes to the news media and presume you will not be treated the same way as your Republican predecessor when you’re a Democrat being reported on by a Republican leaning newspaper.

Soon after taking office, a front-page color photo of Mayor Keller holding his old high school football helmet was published to accompany a flattering introductory story of the new Mayor.

Mayor Keller made an analogy of how taking head hits in football are like taking hits in politics.

Not really in that politics is more like a boxing match between two adversaries.

Mayor Keller is quickly gaining the reputation as an athlete who likes to participate in sports such as soccer, rugby, running in exhibition track meets and playing in exhibition football games as the quarterback.

After close to four months in office, Mayor Keller is probably discovering he is in a boxing match with the Albuquerque Journal and he cannot wear a football helmet to the match to avoid injuries to his approval ratings.

Mayor Keller needs to keep his guard up when dealing with the media and before he is knocked unconscious by the Albuquerque Journal.

Keller needs to start connecting with a few punches of his own on the delivery of all of his promises, especially when it comes to the Albuquerque Police Department and bringing down our high crime rates.

It’s going to be a long four-year boxing match to watch with many rounds ahead to be won or lost.

Stay tuned for Round 8 in the Duke City.