Albuquerque Public Schools System (APS) is New Mexico’s largest school district, serving more than a fourth of the state’s students and nearly 84,000 students. APS operates 142 schools consisting of 4 K-8 schools, 88 elementary schools (K through 8th grade), 27 middle schools (6-8 th grades), 21 high schools (9th to 12th grade) and 2 alternative schools. APS students live in the city of Albuquerque and the towns of Corrales, Los Ranchos and the counties of Bernalillo and Sandoval, and the pueblos of Isleta and Laguna.

APS serves many students in need with nearly two-thirds qualifying for the federal school meals program. APS employs 14,000 total employees consisting of 12,000 full time employees, 6,063 teachers and librarians and 1,800 teacher aides. The school district serves 29,000 breakfast per school day and 41,000 lunches per school day.

Of the 84,000 APS students 16.6% are classified as “English Learners”, 17.2% are classified as “Students with Disabilities”, and 5.9% are in gifted programs. There are 29 APS authorized charter schools with 7,100 students attending the charter schools. APS is among the top 40 largest school districts in the nation and the largest in New Mexico.
The ethnicity of the APS 84,000 students is:

65.8% Hispanic
22.9% Caucasian/White
5.5% American Indian
3.2% African American
2.3% Asian American
0.2% are “other”

IMPACT OF FAILURE OF EXTENSION OF TAX MILL LEVY

On February 5, 2019, voters overwhelmingly rejected Albuquerque Public Schools’ (APS) two mill levy questions and a proposed bond that would have raised real property tax bills by 5%. According to media reports, all three questions on the ballot failed by wide margins.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1277156/last-chance-to-deliver-ballots-for-aps-special-election.html

The FIRST and most important ballot initiative that voters said no to involved money earmarked for maintenance of existing facilities. It was to be a continuation of the current tax rate. The current tax rate is at the end of its six-year cycle, and continued funding is needed to maintain APS current facilities. The funding protects the public’s investment in public schools.

The SECOND ballot initiative that voters said no to involved financing for new facilities and the purchase of needed equipment and technology.

The THIRD ballot initiative voters said no to asked voters for permission to sell an additional $200 million in General Obligation Bonds to be used solely for capital and equipment for the district.

Had all three initiatives past, they would have generated $900 million for APS over the next 6 years to help execute its full capital master plan which included $190 million over 10 years to maintain APS current facilities.

After the failure of the continuation of the mill levy for school maintenance, APS experienced an immediate impact. APS was forced to take discretionary funding which typically go to small projects identified by school administration away from schools to help pay for maintenance projects. The school system used operational dollars to fill the gap.

NOVEMBER 5, 2019 APS ELECTION BALLOT

After voters rejected February’s $900 million mill levy and 2 bond packages, the APS Board decided to put a $290 million proposal before voters in November. On November 5, 2019, voters will have a second chance to continue the mill levy tax they rejected in February.

On the November 5 ballot, APS is seeking voter approval to continue the tax mill levy at the previous amount, which would generate $190 million over six years. APS is also wanting to issue $100 million of bonds over four years. The money being requested is “capital money”, meaning it can only be used for building maintenance and improvements.

APS is asking voters to approve a significantly reduce package with no tax increase. The $190 million-dollar request is a far cry from the February rejected request of $900 million.

APS has identified 23 capital projects for voter approval. The projects include 7 school construction projects, turf fields, school equipment expenses and primarily maintenance work at the schools. In the February election, 34 construction projects had been identified.

$92.3 million in maintenance is the biggest sole cost that the election dollars will go to for aging schools. The maintenance includes heating, ventilation and air conditioning, roof, infrastructure and pipe repairs. Money will also go toward removing lead from aging pipes to ensure safe drinking water. APS has stressed that elevated levels of lead in schools’ water systems has largely been resolved for elementary schools, but the plumbing is still being flagged as a funding priority. APS has moved onto testing water at middle schools and high schools.

The mill levy and bond package also is slated to go towards school equipment and charter schools.

MONEY FOR NEW CLASSROOMS

According to APS Officials, the list of construction projects is based on the level of importance. The repair and classroom construction projects that will be financed are as follows:

$9.4 million for classrooms at Jackson Middle School (APS has started work at Jackson Middle School and its Career Enrichment Center and Early College Academy.
$7.6 million will go toward new classrooms at the Career Enrichment Center and Early College Academy.
$5.4 million for Monte Vista Elementary School.
$25.8 million to Janet Kahn School of Integrated Arts.
$8.5 million to Lavaland Elementary School.
$3.9 million to Navajo Elementary School.
$5.7 million for Rio Grande High School for its gym to become Title 9 compliant.

OTHER PROJECTS

Other projects included are:

$3 million will be allocates for turf fields at 2 high schools, 2 middle schools and up to five elementary schools.
$10 million allocated to bring schools into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
$12.3 million will go to these School Improvement Funds.
$4.5 million for security projects.
$30 million of the mill levy is required to go to state-authorized and APS-authorized charter schools.
$18 million for bus depots is being proposed. APS is operating buses out of the center of the metro to get buses all over the district and APS is using contractor-owned depots. The goal is to put one bus depots on the West Side, one in the southwest and one in the East Mountain area to cut down on travel time.

CONSOLODATED ELECTIONS BALLOT

The Local Election Act (LEA) was passed by the New Mexico Legislature in 2018. The Local Election Act provides for consolidated local elections to be conducted in New Mexico. November 5, 2019 will be the first consolidated elections for the City of Albuquerque, which will include 4 City Council elections and capital improvement bonds, the Villages of Tijeras and Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, the Albuquerque Public School Board, CNM, the Albuquerque Metropolitan Arroyo Flood Control District and the Ciudad Soil and Water Conservation Board. Voters will get one ballot for the races that pertain to them when they go to vote based on their voter registration. The Bernalillo County Clerk’s office is administering the consolidated election and the election is not expected to cost the individual entities anything.

For APS, the ballot will have its mill levy, bond package and three APS Board of Education seats: districts one, two and four. Election Day is November 5. Absentee voting begins is October 8. Early voting begins on Oct. 19. The state will cover the cost of the election.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1369626/aps-asks-voters-to-ok-pareddown-capital-package-ex-lions-share-of-money-would-go-toward-school-maintenance.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is clear from the reduction of the February bond package from $900 million to $290, or a two thirds reduction, that APS learned a very valuable lesson and has now prioritized the most important projects. The number of projects to be funded has gone from 34 projects to 23 capital projects. All the projects that will be funded are capital improvement projects meaning that they are not a part of the APS operating budget which is funded by the state’s funding formula per child. All the 23 projects are investments in tangible assets, brick and mortar projects, not management and personnel.

Because of the extent of the number of schools that have depreciated and deteriorated and exceeded their useful “shelf life”, the APS school system and the citizens of Albuquerque are confronted with a financial dilemma, refurbish or tear down and rebuild many of our public schools. As is the case with any building, private and publicly owned, APS schools and facilities age and eventually have to be torn down and rebuilt, as was the case with Del Norte High School in the last few years. Many of the elementary schools are so old they are falling apart for lack of maintenance, upkeep and age. There is little doubt that the passage and the continuation of the mill levy for school maintenance and repairs is critical.

Property taxes will not increase if voters approve extension of the mill levy but would decrease if the mill levy is not approved by voters. The mill levy is the main revenue source for maintenance of the school facilities. The financing cannot be spent on operational expenses such as salaries.

Voters of Albuquerque are urged to vote ‘YES” on November 5 for continuation of mill levy dedicated to school maintenance.

On Tuesday September 10, the Albuquerque Journal published my guest editorial and entitled it “We can’t wait for Congress. NM Should act to prevent mass shooting now”.
Below is the guest commentary in full with the Journal link followed by a postscript on additional legislation that should be enacted:

Congress refuses to enact reasonable and responsible gun control measures by banning all assault weapons.

In August there were 38 murdered, 78 injured by AR-style weapons: in El Paso, 22 murdered, 26 injured; in Odessa/Midland, seven murdered, 25 injured; in Dayton, nine murdered, 27 injured.

New Mexico needs to act on its own before a mass shooting happens here.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1364035/we-cant-wait-for-congress.html?fbclid=IwAR1U7_YuEkdVcMkHwzUcORwYTquMEQSVgpt8tJJHKxnpGFFaWoWSGtsrv6A

POSTSCRIPT:

Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico Constitution entitled “Right to Bear Arms” states as follows:

“No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”

Because of Article II, Section 6 of the New Mexico Constitution, municipal and county governments arguably have limitations on their ability to prohibit firearms in government owned or operated facilities. Further, New Mexico has NO statutes prohibiting firearms in hospitals, places of worship, sports arenas gambling facilities or polling places although administrative regulations and orders may apply.

The New Mexico legislature should enact a statute prohibiting firearms to be carried in City and County buildings owned or operated facilities, hospitals, places of worship, sports arenas, gambling facilities and polling places.

SOURCE: https://lawcenter.giffords.org/local-authority-to-regulate-firearms-in-new-mexico/

For a related blog article on gun control laws see:

Three City Councilors Ignorant On Gun Control Laws And Grand Stand Before Election; NM Law And Court Rulings On Gun Control

On Wednesday September 18, Albuquerque City Councilors Isaac Benton, Pat Davis and Diane Gibson, citing more than a dozen shootings that have occurred at government buildings and public meetings around the country in the past 22 years, introduced legislation to ban guns on city properties. The ordinance bans guns on “any city structure, building, or office space which is owned, leased or otherwise occupied by the City for purposes of hosting the public, or conducting business with the public”. The proposed ordinance would include City Hall, all parks, libraries, and any place the City Council, city commissions or elected officials are holding an open meeting.

Davis on his own also introduced two other gun-related bills:

1. The first requires gun owners to keep their firearms locked up when outside of their immediate possession and control. The proposed laws would require people in Albuquerque to keep their guns locked in a safe at home or with a secure device in the car when they are not with them.

2. The second would make it illegal to threaten mass violence in Albuquerque, including over social media, which Davis said would allow police to initiate investigations sooner than they now can.

Violation of any of the proposed city ordinances would be a misdemeanor, meaning that the maximum penalty would be between 6 months to 1 year in jail and/or a fine of $5,000 if convicted in Metropolitan Court.

All 3 city councilors said they do not believe that the New Mexico Constitution should preclude communities from passing legislation they say would protect citizens.

City Councilor Pat Davis said of the proposed legislation:

“Quite frankly, we’re tired of waiting on Santa Fe and Washington to step up and do something. We’re living with our constituents every day who are worried about this.”

City Councilor Isaac Benton for his part said his primary goal is to keep guns out of public meetings and other places where residents must go to transact business with the government, such as when they file for building permits.

City Councilor Diane Gibson expressed the opinion that banning guns from city properties and meetings would create a safer environment for city employees as well as those who do business with the city or want to speak during public hearings. Gibson explained that the sometimes-contentious matters handled in public meetings and government centers do not mix well with guns. Gibson claims that she has heard from friends and acquaintances who are hesitant to attend public meetings and gatherings out of fear.

Gibson revealed the extent of her limited intelligence on the law and gun control issue when she said:

“I’m not naive; I understand there are going to be people who will not support this and will see it as just another firearm law, but the way I look at this is much broader than that. …”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1367798/abq-councilors-seek-to-ban-guns-at-city-properties.html?fbclid=IwAR0O2xs-KIII_3g3anVaqn6NNS-5WhontWrAw9FxbTEJCcthy3tgMdtC3VI

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/albuquerque-city-councilors-file-three-new-gun-bills/

MAYOR TIM KELLER’S EXECUTIVE ORDER

On August 16, Mayor Tim Keller issued an administrative instruction banning guns from city community centers and from the city’s health and social service centers. On September 23, The New Mexico Patriots Advocacy Coalition and Albuquerque resident Lisa Brenner filed a lawsuit alleging Mayor Keller’s executive order violates the New Mexico Constitution that prevents municipalities from regulating “an incident of the right to keep and bear arms”. The group acknowledges the right to keep and bear arms is not absolute right. The main argument of the lawsuit is that the New Mexico legislature has the exclusive authority to regulate guns.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1369995/new-suit-targets-kellers-gun-ban-at-community-centers.html

LOCATIONS WHERE NEW MEXICO STATUTES PROHIBITS THE CARRYING OF FIREARMS

The New Mexico legislature has enacted a number of statutes that prohibit the carrying of firearms in identified locations. Following is a listing of those statutes with the statute citations:

1.In an establishment licensed to dispense alcoholic beverages (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-7-3(A)) unless, among other exceptions:

The possessor has a valid concealed handgun license; and
The establishment: a) does not serve alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises; or b) is a restaurant licensed to sell only beer and wine that derives not less than 60% of its annual gross receipts from the sale of food for consumption on the premises, unless the restaurant has posted conspicuous signs prohibiting gun possession or verbally instructs the possessor that the carrying of guns is prohibited ( N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-7-3(A)(4). );

2. Within or upon any game refuge, unless the person is crossing the refuge over a public road or trail with the firearm unloaded, or the director of the refuge granted the possessor a permit ( N.M. Stat. Ann. § 17-2-12. );

3. In the confines of a county or municipal jail; (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-22-14(B).)

4. On the grounds of a designated adult correctional institution ( N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-22-14(A). );

5. On the grounds of a designated child detention or correctional facility ( N.M. Stat. Ann. § 30-22-14.1(A), (B)(1). );

6. For any loaded firearm, whether concealed or unconcealed, within a state park, except during designated hunting seasons or in certain authorized areas. ( N.M. Code R. § 19.5.2.20(A). )

7. Concealed handgun license holders are subject to the generally applicable possession prohibitions. N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-19-8(A) provides that nothing in the Concealed Handgun Carry Act, N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 29-19-1 – 29-19-14, are construed as allowing a licensee to carry a concealed handgun into or on premises where to do so would be in violation of state or federal law.

8. A licensee may not carry a concealed handgun on private property where signs are posted prohibiting the carrying of concealed weapons, or when verbally told of the prohibition by a person lawfully in possession of the property. N.M. Code R. §§ 10.8.2.16(F); 10.8.2.27. )

10. A concealed handgun license also is not valid in a courthouse or court facility unless authorized by the presiding judge of a court (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-19-11.) or on tribal land unless authorized by the governing body of an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo. (N.M. Stat. Ann. § 29-19-10. ) Local court rules may prohibit firearms in courthouses or judicial complexes, with the Bernalillo County Second Judicial District Court and the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court implementing such policies for court security.

New Mexico has NO statutes prohibiting firearms in the following places, although administrative regulations and orders may apply:

Hospitals;
Places of worship;
Sports arenas;
Gambling facilities; or
Polling places.

SOURCE: https://lawcenter.giffords.org/local-authority-to-regulate-firearms-in-new-mexico/

NEW MEXICO CONSTITUTION AND CASE LAW

Article II, Section 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico, entitled “Right to Bear Arms” states as follows:

“No law shall abridge the right of the citizen to keep and bear arms for security and defense, for lawful hunting and recreational use and for other lawful purposes, but nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons. No municipality or county shall regulate, in any way, an incident of the right to keep and bear arms.”

Article II section 6 was amended by voters on November 2, 1971 and November 2, 1986.

Following is a summation of New Mexico case law, with case citations, interpreting Article II, Section 6:

In State v. Rivera, 853 P.2d 126 (N.M. Ct. App. 1993), the Court of Appeals of New Mexico held that regulations that are reasonably related to the public health, welfare and safety do not violate article II, § 6. The court found that New Mexico Statutes Annotated § 30-7-4, which criminalizes negligent use of a deadly weapon, was a reasonable use of the state’s police power and did not violate the state constitution. (Rivera, 853 P.2d at 129.)

Similarly, in State v. Dees, 669 P.2d 261, 264 (N.M. Ct. App. 1983), the court of appeals rejected an Article II, § 6 challenge to former section 30-7-3, prohibiting the carrying of a firearm into a licensed liquor establishment. The court found that section 30-7-3 is “not an infringement upon the right to bear arms.” (Dees, 669 P.2d at 264.)

Conversely, in City of Las Vegas v. Moberg, 485 P.2d 737 (N.M. Ct. App. 1971), the court of appeals held that a local ordinance banning the carrying of all firearms, concealed or unconcealed, violated article II, § 6. In Moberg, the court distinguished between laws that merely regulate the carrying of firearms and the laws that completely prohibit the carrying of firearms. The court stated that a law prohibiting the carrying of concealed firearms is a permissible regulation of Article II, § 6. The ordinance at issue, however, prohibited the carrying of all firearms and was therefore a violation of Article II, § 6.

See also United States v. Romero, in which the court stated, in dicta, that the right conferred under article II, § 6 is not absolute and is subject to reasonable regulation. (484 F.2d 1324, 1327 (10th Cir. 1973). )

In 2004, the Supreme Court of New Mexico interpreted the meaning of the last phrase of the first sentence of article II, § 6, which reads “nothing herein shall be held to permit the carrying of concealed weapons.” In State ex rel. New Mexico Voices for Children, Inc. v. Denko, the court upheld a statute allowing license holders to carry concealed handguns, N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 29-19-1 – 29-19-13, 2004-NMSC-11, 135 N.M. 439, 90 P.3d 458, rejecting the argument that the phrase prohibits the carrying of concealed weapons.

In Denko, the court held:

“The [New Mexico] Constitution neither forbids nor grants the right to bear arms in a concealed manner. Article II, Section 6 is a statement of neutrality, leaving it to the Legislature to decide whether, and how, to permit and regulate the carrying of concealed weapons.”

SOURCE: https://lawcenter.giffords.org/state-right-to-bear-arms-in-new-mexico/

THE GOVERNOR AND THE NEW MEXICO LEGISLATURE HAVE BEEN ACTING ON GUN CONTROL

During the 2019 legislative session, laws mandating background checks on gun sales and a law prohibiting the possession of guns by convicted domestic abusers were passed and signed into law by Governor Michell Lujan Grisham.

On August 13, 2019 Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham convened a Domestic Terrorism Summit which by all accounts was successful. After the summit, major proposals were announced including:

1.Increase hate-crime penalties. The criminal penalty for those convicted of hate crimes would be increased. Currently, if a criminal defendant is proved to be motivated by the victim’s race, religion, age, gender or sexual orientation, the jail sentence can be enhanced by one year.

2. Expand the state’s mental health system. This has been a major priority of the governor given her longstanding positions on mental health over the years.

3. Create a new anti-terrorism law enforcement unit. This no doubt will be the responsibility of the Department of Homeland Security to implement and coordinate statewide law enforcement efforts.

4. Improve data-sharing about potential threats. The state Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department will start enrolling all 33 county sheriffs in a data-sharing program so individuals deemed a potential risk can be flagged and monitored.

5. Extending background checks on private gun sales to sellers of firearms.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Albuquerque City Councilor’s Pat Davis and Isaac Benton are both running for another 4-year term on the Albuquerque City Council. With the proposed ordinances, Pat Davis, Isaac Benton and Diane Gibson show an ignorance of the law and an inflated understanding of their authority as Albuquerque City Councilors.

The proposed City Council ordinances they are sponsoring are nothing more than a reelection publicity stunt by Pat Davis and Isaac Benton 6 weeks before an election to get them on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal and the news stations, and Gibson went along with it. It worked, but will it work with the voting public come November 5, 2019 election?

https://www.abqjournal.com/1369995/new-suit-targets-kellers-gun-ban-at-community-centers.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/albuquerque-city-councilors-file-three-new-gun-bills/

All three cited more than a dozen shootings that have occurred at government buildings and public meetings around the country in the past 22 years. Only now are they suggesting that the city do something and after Mayor Tim Keller issued an administrative executive order.

The New Mexico Patriots Advocacy Coalition filing a lawsuit over Mayor Keller’s Executive Order banning guns on city property alleging it violates the New Mexico Constitution that prevents municipalities from regulating “an incident of the right to keep and bear arms” is seriously misplaced. It is an action that should have been brought against the City Council. The Mayor’s Executive Order is not legislation enacted by the City Council, the city’s governing body. It is an “administrative order” or “management executive order” on the use of public buildings and facilities such as that implemented by the courts designed to protect the public. The Office of the Mayor has inherent authority to issue executive orders on the use of city own facilities.

All 3 of the proposed city ordinances likely violate the New Mexico Constitution prohibiting municipalities from enacting legislation regulating citizens “right to bear arms” under Article II, Section 6 of the Constitution of New Mexico. The proposed city ordinances clearly exceed the authority of the Albuquerque City Council which is zero under the New Mexico Constitution. It is as if the 3 City Councilors did not even bother to ask the City Attorney’s office to brief them on the state’s existing gun control laws, but no doubt they wanted the publicity.

City Councilor Pat Davis said no city in the state has challenged the constitutional provisions which is simply not the case. In City of Las Vegas v. Moberg, 485 P.2d 737 (N.M. Ct. App. 1971), the court of appeals held that a local ordinance banning the carrying of all firearms, concealed or unconcealed, violated Article II, § 6 of the New Mexico Constitution. What is an outright lie is when Davis says Santa Fe is not doing anything, which is not the case given the legislation enacted in the 2019 legislative session and the Governor’s gun control summit. Even more legislation is likely to be considered for the 2020 New Mexico Legislature.

Gibson complains that contentious meetings before the city council and government centers do not mix well with guns. That may be true, but what she forgets to mention is that APD has armed APD officers stationed at each city council meeting. APD security can be demanded at public meetings, and there is a security desk at the entrance of city hall. Further, the Office of the Mayor has full time APD security detail. There have been times in the past where city councilors have been threatened with violence and city hall has been locked down. Like it or not contentious meeting are part of the process.

When City Councilor Diane Gibson says “I’m not naive; I understand there are going to be people who will not support this and will see it as just another “firearm law …” what she really is doing is showing an absolute ignorance of her authority as a city councilor and the laws and rights under the US and New Mexico constitutions. The only time Gibson sounds intelligent on the law is when she keeps her mouth shut.

INCLUDE CONTROL LEGISLATION IN CITY’S 2020 LEGISLATIVE PACKAGE

Each year the city council enacts its “legislative package” resolution before the New Mexico Legislature requesting and identifying legislation and projects that the city wants the Governor to support and that the legislature should enact. It’s no secret that the legislature will be seeking to enact further gun control laws that the Governor will also want to support.

Councilors Davis, Benton and Gibson should abandon their efforts to have the City Council enact gun control legislation and simply add all 3 proposals to the 2020 city legislative package, but that would mean no publicity for them.

Legislation the City Council should consider being put in the City’s 2020 Legislative package should include:

1.Repeal the New Mexico Constitutional provision that allows the “open carry” of firearms. This would require a public vote. There is no doubt such action would generate heated discussion given New Mexico’s high percentage of gun ownership for hunting, sport or hobby.

2. Ban in New Mexico the manufacture, sale and distribution to the general public of semi-automatic firearms, AR-15 style rifles, assault weapons, semi-automatic pistols, semi-automatic shotguns and weapons to the general public in New Mexico.

3. 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.

4. Require 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.

6. Enact “red flag” legislation for a violence restraining order and allow for an “extreme risk protection process” to prohibit an individual deemed by a judge as posing a danger to themselves or others, from the purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law local law enforcement to remove firearms and ammunition in the individual’s possession.

7. Expand restrictions on firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor.

8. Allocate funding to the school systems and higher education institutions to “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.

9. Enact a statute prohibiting firearms to be carried in City and County buildings, hospitals, places of worship, sports arenas, gambling facilities and polling places.

CONCLUSION

Now that Davis, Benton and Gibson have gotten their publicity, maybe the City Attorney will tell them the City will in all likely be wasting thousands to defend the legislation if enacted by the City Council in court. The City Attorney Office needs to use sufficient resources to defend the Mayor’s Executive Order banning firearms in municipal offices and facilities. With any real luck, voters will see that Pat Davis and Issac Benton are grand standing and will vote them both out of office come November 5. As for Diane Gibson, her district is stuck with her for two more years.

Mayor Tim Keller and his administration have set up a charitable foundation known as the One Albuquerque Foundation/City of Albuquerque Foundation. Under the federal Internal Revenue Service tax code, it is a 509(a)(3) charitable “supporting organization” which is defined as:

“… a charity that carries out its exempt purposes by supporting other exempt organizations, usually other public charities. … This classification is important because it is one means by which a charity can avoid classification as a private foundation, a status that is subject to a more restrictive regulatory regime.”

Mayor Tim Keller in a statement proclaimed “Every day, people in Albuquerque ask how they can step up and be part of addressing our city’s greatest challenges.” Keller has identified crime, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), officer recruitment and retention as challenging. In response, the Keller Administration set up the foundation to give citizens the option to make donations to help support municipal government endeavors including APD police retention and recruitment.

A city spokesperson said the city estimates the One Albuquerque Foundation/City of Albuquerque Foundation could bring in $400,000 annually. According to spokesperson, the city says it intends to apply donations not just toward first responder police officer recruitment, but also homelessness reduction efforts, youth programming and workforce development.

The city is already operating the One Albuquerque Housing Fund, collecting donations for services such as housing vouchers and rental assistance to help the homeless. It raised upwards of $17,600 over eight months.

According to city officials, the new foundation has no designated staff, but its board has approved a contract for fundraising and will make any necessary staffing decisions. Further, city officials say the foundation will comply with the Inspection of Public Records Act, New Mexico’s sunshine law.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1369627/donations-support-police-retention-recruitment.html?fbclid=IwAR1dGc8ULDx_zMR7tJKrWGHs0DhbewI-myYQ6FGS7W4E3ZUxU1fvJrAUPwM

MASSIVE INVESTMENT IN POLICE RECRUITMENT, EXPANSION, AND RETENTION

APD’s goal is to spend $88 million dollars starting last year in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 sworn officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers. The massive investment is being done in order to full fill Mayor Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates. Last year’s 2018-2019 fiscal year budget provided for increasing APD funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040. This year’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget has funding for 1,040 sworn police.

The APD recruiting plan to grow the size of the department includes the city increasing police officer hourly pay and increasing longevity incentive pay. In 2018, the Keller Administration and the APD Union negotiated and agreed to a 2-year contract. The approved contract provides that the pay rate for officers with zero to 4 years of experience went from $28 to $29 an hour. Starting pay for an APD officer right out of the APD academy is $29 an hour. Under the two-year contract, officers with 4 to 14 years of experience are paid $30 an hour. The new contract pays senior officers between $30 to $31.50 an hour. Officers with 15 years or more experience are paid $31.50 an hour. The rate for sergeants went from $32 to $35 an hour, and lieutenants pay went from $36.70 to $40.00 an hour.

The pay rate for patrol officers first class with zero to 4 years of experience is $29 an hour or $60,320 yearly base salary calculated as follows: 40 hours a week X 52 weeks a year = 2,020 hours at $29.00 an hour = $60,320 yearly base salary. Officers with 4 to 14 years of experience are paid $30 an hour. Senior officers are paid between $30 to $31.50 an hour. Officers with 15 years or more experience are paid $31.50 an hour. The rate for sergeants is $35 an hour, and lieutenants are $40.00 an hour.

The approved longevity pay scale effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2019, and that will replace the 2018-2019 is as follows:

For 5 years of experience: $100 will be paid bi-weekly, or $2,600 yearly
For 6 years of experience: $125 will be paid bi-weekly, or $3,250 yearly
For 7 to 9 years of experience: $225 will be paid bi-weekly, or $5,800 yearly
For 10 to 12 years of experience: $300 will be paid bi-weekly, or $7,800 yearly
For 13 to 15 years o experience: $350 will be paid bi-weekly, or $9,100 yearly
For 16 to 17 years or more: $450 will be paid bi-weekly, or $11,700 yearly
For 18 or more years of experience: $600 will be paid bi-weekly, 15,600 yearly

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Public safety and police protection is not a charity, but an essential government service. Asking the public to make donations to be applied to police retention and recruitment is about as obscene as city government can get. Public safety and police protection is a government function and service paid by taxpayers and not a charitable function. It is highly questionable if a government entity can collect donations for retention and recruitment of police officers.

Albuquerque Police Officers are some of the best paid law enforcement in the country when you add their hourly pay, incentive pay and overtime pay, not to mention their defined benefit retirement program guaranteeing them as much as 90% of their base salary which the city matches what is paid by the employee.

The listing of the city’s 250 top wage earners includes 140 rank and file police officers who are patrol officers first class. The 140 top wage city hall wage earners employed by the Albuquerque Police Department include patrol officers first class, sergeants, lieutenants, commanders the deputy chiefs, and the chief with annual pay ranging from $101,000 a year up to $192,937 a year. 124 sworn police officers were paid between $101,633.11 to $192,037 for 2018

As noted, Police Officers beginning pay is $60,000 and with overtime can earn in excess of $100,000 a year. Sworn police are paid retention bonuses of between $4,000 to $16,000 a year. APD has a $177 million annual budget and already has significant funding in the millions for recruitment.

There may be nothing wrong asking for donations for charitable causes such as vouchers for helping the homeless, a true charitable cause, but that should be done with programs such as United Way, which the City has participated in before. But applying donations to an essential service such as public safety is as ridiculous as it gets, especially after the city council raised taxes by $55 million a year and especially Mayor Tim Keller breaking his pledge not to raise taxes unless there was a public vote on it.

You got to wonder if the Keller Administration will be issuing tin cups to all sworn police officers to attach to their utility belts so they can stand next to the panhandlers on medians and ask for donations for their retention bonuses.

The blog article is a “deep dive” report into the City of Albuquerque’s Homeless numbers, what the city is doing now to help and the prospects for the new emergency shelter.

In the year 2000, the non profit New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness was formed. The coalition is a coalition of agencies that assist people who are homeless throughout the State of New Mexico. According to their web page, programs that are offered by the coalition include:

1. bi-monthly membership meetings,
2. workshops on best practices for assisting the homeless,
3. advocacy at the local state and federal levels for policies that will end homelessness,
4. technical assistance to agencies developing new programs or for improving existing programs, and
5. management of the New Mexico Homeless Management Information system.”

https://www.centerfornonprofitexcellence.org/nonprofit-directory/nonprofit/1086

The coalition has an annual budget of around $750,000. Through its volunteer fundraising committees, it raises funds to distribute to direct service agencies that are providing exceptional housing and services to people who are homeless. The Coalition relies upon volunteers for the Advisory Board and its Veterans Helping Homeless Veterans Committee to help raise funding for projects that have the ultimate goal of ending homelessness.

A DESCRIPTION OF HOMELESSNESS IN NEW MEXICO

According to the New Mexico Coalition To End Homelessness, the cause of homelessness and the number of homelessness can be described as follows:

“Homelessness is caused by poverty and a lack of affordable housing. Homelessness has grown dramatically since the 1970’s due primarily to the steady decrease in public benefits for people living in poverty including welfare payments and public housing. In part because of the decrease in spending for public housing, there has been a steady decline in affordable housing. According to the National Coalition to End Homelessness, between 1970 and 1995, the gap between the number of low-income renters and the amount of affordable housing units in the U.S. went from almost no gap to a shortage of 4.4 million affordable housing units.

Based on the Coalition’s 2005 homeless count, there are at least 17,000 people who experience homelessness in New Mexico over the course of a year.”

https://www.nmceh.org/pages/homelessness.html

HOMELESS “POINT IN TIME” COUNT

Each year the “Point in Time” (PIT) survey is conducted to determine how many people experience homelessness on a given night in Albuquerque, and to learn more about their specific needs. The PIT count is done in communities across the country. The PIT count is the official number of homeless reported by communities to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help understand the extent of homelessness at the city, state, regional and national levels. The PIT count represents the number of homeless people who are counted on one particular night. This year, the count in Albuquerque was made on January 28, 2019.

The City of Albuquerque contracted The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness to conduct the annual “Point in Time” (PIT). In even-numbered years, only homeless people who stay in shelters are counted. In odd-numbered years, a more comprehensive count is conducted counting people wherever they can be found including people sleeping in cars, in parks, beneath underpasses, commercial entry ways, alleys and anywhere they can be found.

According to city officials, The PIT count requires the use of the HUD definition of “homelessness”. PIT following the HUD definition of homelessness and counts only people who are sleeping in a shelter, in a transitional housing program, or outside in places not meant for human habitation. Those people who are not counted are those who do not want to participate in the survey, who are sleeping in motels that they pay for themselves, or who are doubled up with family or friends

ABQ’S HOMELESS COUNT CONTINUES TO RISE

According to the 2019 Point-In-Time count, there are 1,524 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people counted in Albuquerque . This is 206 more homeless than the 2017 PIT count that recorded 1,318 homeless people in the city limits. The 2017 survey found that there were 1,318 people reported experiencing homelessness on the night of the count, which then was an increase of 31 people over the 2015 PIT Count. The 2015 survey count found 1, 287 people reported experiencing homelessness on the night of the count.

For 2017, 379 people self-reported as chronically homeless, which was an increase of 119 people over the 2015 PIT Count. PIT counted 39 more people who self-reported as chronically homeless who were sheltered and 80 more people that self-report as chronically homeless who were unsheltered in 2017. The 2019 PIT report states that most people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Albuquerque were residents of Albuquerque before becoming homeless.

Lisa Huval, Deputy Director for Housing and Homelessness in the city’s Department of Family and Community Services expressed the opinion that there is no definitive answer for why the number of homeless has risen. Huval said it may be partly because the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness is getting better each year at locating and counting unsheltered homeless people.

According to Huval, people who keep track of the homeless population believe there are more homeless encampments than in previous years and she said it suggests “there’s an increasing number of folks who are sleeping outside” This in turn, may be a reflection of the opioid epidemic affecting communities across the country, including Albuquerque. Huval put the problem this way by saying:

“Often, substance abuse makes it difficult for people to access shelters, or makes them unwilling to access shelters, so they prefer to sleep outside … [Although the count shows an increase] we [also] know it’s an undercount, because it’s really hard to find people who are living outside, particularly if they don’t want to be found.”

For the full Albuquerque Journal report see:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1355819/annual-count-shows-citys-homeless-numbers-up.html

ACTUAL NUMBER OF HOMELESS MUCH BIGGER

Government agencies and nonprofits report that the city’s homeless numbers are greater than the 1,524 found and the number of homeless in Albuquerque approaches 4,500 in any given year.

The nonprofit Rock At Noon Day offers meals and other services to the homeless. Noon Day Executive Director Danny Whatley reported that there are 4,000 to 4,500 homeless people in the Albuquerque area. What is alarming is that according to Whatley, the fastest-growing segments are senior citizens and millennials (ages 23 to 38 in 2019).

Albuquerque Public Schools (APS) is New Mexico’s largest school district, serving more than a fourth of the state’s students and nearly 84,000 students. APS spokeswoman Monica Armenta stated the number of homeless children enrolled in district schools, meaning kids from families that have no permanent address, has consistently ranged from 3,200 to 3,500. APS serves many students in need with nearly two-thirds qualifying for the federal school meals program. The APS school district serves 29,000 breakfast per school day and 41,000 lunches per school day.

The centralized citywide system known as the Coordinated Entry System that the city uses to track the homeless and fill supportive housing openings reports that approximately 5,000 households experienced homelessness last year.

CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE SERVICES TO THE HOMELESS

The Family and Community Services Department is a key player in the City’s effort to end homelessness. The Departments services include prevention, outreach, shelter and housing programs and supportive services.

The City of Albuquerque has at least 10 separate homeless service provider locations throughout the city. The entire general fund budget for the Department of Family and Community Services is approximately $41 million. The $41 million is not just exclusive funding for services to the homeless.

The service offered by the Family and Community Services Department are directly provided by the city or by contract with nonprofit providers. The services include social services, mental/behavioral health, homeless services, health care for the homeless, substance abuse treatment and prevention, multi-service centers, public housing, rent assistance, affordable housing development, and fair housing, just to mention a few.

The following homeless services are funded by the City of Albuquerque, HUD’s Continuum of Care grants, Emergency Shelter Grants, and other grants administered by the City of Albuquerque:

1. Emergency Shelters for short-term, immediate assistance for the homeless for men, women, families, emergency winter shelter and after-hours shelter. The city’s West Side Emergency Housing Center has up to 450 beds available. The shelter is now open year-round. The operating cost of the facility is $4.4 million a year.

2. Transitional Housing assistance designed to transition from homelessness to permanent housing.

3. Permanent Supportive Housing for homeless individuals dealing with chronic mental illness or substance abuse issues

4. Childcare services for homeless families

5. Employment Services and job placement for homeless persons

6. Eviction Prevention or rental assistance and case management to prevent eviction and homelessness

7. Health Care services for homeless individuals and families

8. Meal program providing for homeless individuals and families in need

9. Motel Vouchers or temporary vouchers for homeless individuals with immediate medical issues and families with children, where emergency shelters cannot accommodate them. The city spends $8 million a year to provide 775 vouchers for rental assistance and to move homeless people from the street into housing. In the 2019-2020 approved city budget, an additional $2 million was added to the fund which will allow another 125 to 150 people to get into housing.

10. The Albuquerque Heading Home program initiative which moves the most medically fragile and chronically homeless people off the streets and into permanent housing. Since its inception in 2011 to January, 2017, it has placed 650 people into housing that assists with housing and providing jobs.

PERMANENT EMERGENCY SHELTER

The city’s West Side Emergency Housing Center is the old west side jail that was closed for decades and then later converted for winter shelter for the homeless. One of the community jail pods has wooden cubicles constructed in order to give the homeless a little privacy. The westside facility is deteriorating needing major repairs and remodeling for use. The West Side Facility is not sustainable, it is 20 miles from downtown where the city transports by shuttle the homeless. It costs the city $4 million dollars a year to operate the West Side Emergency Shelter and upwards of $1 million of that is spent to transport people back and forth to the facility.

The building of a new and permanent emergency shelter has been planned now for a few years. The city hopes to break ground on a centralized 300-bed facility shelter in Albuquerque as early as 2021. The shelter would be opened 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to help families with children and single adults. Building a permanent shelter is a major goal to move people from the streets into permanent housing.

During the 2019 New Mexico Legislature, the city secured $1 million in capital outlay money to start the architectural design for the facility. Another $14 million for construction is needed. On the November 5, 2019 election ballot $14 million in general obligation bonds to build the emergency facility will be on the ballot for voter approval

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/city-of-albuquerque-unveils-plans-for-new-homeless-shelter/?fbclid=IwAR1Q_SyA4U1Q-yNqKtZVm3yayWn4eby7CxeYeKZ5MAN7VTiewd_9LRIfeZ4

GENERAL OBLIGATION BOND FUNDING

General obligation bonds provide funding for essential services such as police and fire protection, street maintenance and improvements, public parks and recreation projects, bus and public transit priorities, libraries and museums, social services to the homeless and and community facilities.

In February of this year, “2019 Decade Plan and General Obligation Bond Program” was released to the Albuquerque City Council. The released “2019 Decade Plan” lists over $800 million worth of taxpayer funded bond projects for the next 10 years but all the funding is not voted upon at once but voted upon in increments every two years. “General obligation” bonds are subject to voter approval every 2 years to fund various city capital projects. The next bond cycle up for voter approval is on November 5, 2019. $127 million in projects that are part of the Decade Plan will be on the November ballot for final voter approval.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/city-councilors-raise-questions-concerns-over-mayor-keller-s-project-list/1766843701

The November 5, 2019 general obligation bond being request contains almost $50 million in community facilities that includes:

$14 million for the proposed emergency shelter for homeless facility.
$5 million going to affordable housing projects.
$2.8 million for Community, Health, Social Services Centers.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is far from certain that the $14 million to build the permanent emergency homeless shelter will be approved by voters. If it’s rejected by voters, much of the blame will rest squarely on the shoulders of elected officials because of their past actions which resulted in the loss of public trust.

SNEAKY FUNDING

The acute need for an emergency shelter has existed for at least 10 years. Notwithstanding, the city councils’ priorities did not recognize the need. On January 2, 2017 the Albuquerque City Council, including Pat Davis, Diane Gibson, Ike Benton, Ken Sanchez and Republicans Don Harris, Brad Winter, and Trudy Jones all voted to borrow over $63 million dollars over two years using revenue bonds to build pickle ball courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing the voters. The $65 million dollars was borrowed with the Albuquerque City Councilors voting to use revenue bonds as the financing mechanism to pay for big capital projects they wanted. There’s no need for an election if seven of nine councilors agree to authorize the use of revenue bonds. You can read the full story here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/919263/revenue-bonds-find-favor-in-abq.html

ART BUS PROJECT

The Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) Bus was a $130 million capital project to build a rapid bus line down the middle of 9 miles of central with bus stations and canopy stops in the middle of central. It was a project that was never put to a public vote, yet the City Council voted for the project and Mayor Tim Keller made the commitment to finish it. The ART Bus project has been a total disaster resulting the destruction of the character of Route 66 and having a negative impact and resulting in several businesses going out of business. Now the council and the mayor wants the public to vote for emergency shelter funding.

KELLER BREAKS NO TAX INCREASE WITHOUT PUBLIC VOTE

In 2017 on the campaign trail, Mayoral candidate Tim Keller said he would raise taxes as a last resort for public safety but only with voter approval. On March 8, 2018 the Albuquerque city council voted 8 to 1 to raise the city’s gross receipts tax rate by three-eighths of a percentage point with Democrats Isaac Benton, Cynthia Borrego, Pat Davis, Diane Gibson and Klarissa Peña and Republican Don Harris also supporting the measure. Councilor Brad Winter, a Republican, cast the dissenting vote. The tax generates upwards of $51 million a year. The main rational for the tax increase was that the city was facing a $40 million deficit, a deficit that never materialized. Within days after the City Council enacted the tax, Mayor Keller went back on his pledge “no tax increase without a public vote”. After the tax was enacted that took effect July 1, 2018, no money was budgeted for the building of the emergency shelter.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1141748/council-votes-for-three-eighths-tax-increase.html

ORPHAN MONTH REVENUES DIVERTED TO OTHER PRIORITIES

During the 2019 budget cycle, it was revealed that the city would have a one time $34 million windfall as a result of the city changing its gross receipts tax collection. It was referred to as and an “orphan month”. It was an accounting policy shift that extended the window in which the city can recognize the revenue. The accounting reset resulted in an extra $34.3 million in one time revenue. According to the Keller Administration the accounting policy change was a “correction” of current practices and it aligns the city finances and accounting practices with state government financing and nearly all other governmental entities around the country. The $34.3 million was a “one-time, lifetime” boost in revenues that the city could not apply toward recurring costs.

The Keller Administration announced that $29 million of the $34.3 million would be applied to numerous one-time investments the Keller Administration felt were important. One-time investments include:

$6 million for public safety vehicles such as police cars for new police cadets.
$2.3 million for park security.
$2 million for the business recruitment and growth.
$2 million for housing vouchers and related programs.

None of the $34.3 million was dedicated to the homeless shelter with a decision made to ask for general obligation bonds of $14 million.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2019/04/04/orphan-month-windfall-of-34-million-used-for-1-1-billion-city-budget-no-new-taxes-city-to-charge-for-car-crash-clean-ups-and-vehicle-fires/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1299497/abq-budget-could-surpass-1-billion-for-the-first-time.ht

APS BONDS AND TAX FAILURE

On February 5, 2019, voters overwhelmingly rejected Albuquerque Public Schools’ (APS) two mill levy questions and a proposed bond that would have raised real property tax bills by 5%. All three questions on the ballot failed by wide margins. Had all three initiatives past, they would have generated $900 million for APS over the next 6 years to help execute its full capital master plan which included $190 million over 10 years to maintain APS current facilities. Many political pundits believe the APS bond and tax increase failed because the general public perception that APS and the elected School Board has mismanaged the school system and not enough is spent on the classroom.

CONCLUSION

Having a central homeless shelter run by the city is long overdue and there is a clear need for it. The number of homeless in Albuquerque continues to rise each year. It is likely that a permanent shelter will have a real impact on removing a good portion of the homeless from the streets and get them the help they desperately need.

Voters in November will in essence be asked to decide between building a homeless shelter and cleaning up the Albuquerque Rail Yards versus providing funding to maintain and repair APS public schools.

If the $14 million in bonds fails, or any of the bonds fail, you can attribute the loss to the cynicism voters have of government and elected officials and the lack of trust they have of them including the current city council and Mayor Tim Keller.

When it comes to government projects, a “money pit” can be loosely defined as a capital improvements project with very little use by the public that consumes an increasingly large amount of taxpayer money more than what was first anticipated resulting in a drain on essential services. Many critics believe that the Rail Runner is a prime example of a money pit where there has been major taxpayer outlay with little benefit to the general public. The disastrous ART Bus project is another example. The Railyard Development will be yet another if it is not done correctly.

In 2007, the city bought the Albuquerque Rail Yards site for $8.5 million. The historic and vacant Albuquerque Rail Yards are within one mile of the Downtown area located south of Downtown between the Barelas and South Broadway neighborhoods. The historical significance of the Rail Yards to Albuquerque in many ways is equal to that of Route 66 Central. Both reflect real milestones in the city’s history, growth, development, commerce, industry and transportation. Both need to be respected and preserved to some extent because of the historical significance to the city.

It was cringe worthy when former Republican Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry called the ART Bus project “a world class project” and a “game changer” and he and the city council crammed it down the throats of citizens without a public vote. The ART bus project was nothing more than a $130 million-dollar construction project to build a cheesy 9 miles of bus service that has resulted in the destruction and character of historic Route 66.

A truly “world class project” and game changer is the construction and development of facilities or infrastructure that costs billions of dollars of investment in a community, which is what the Albuquerque Railyards Development needs to represent. The 2014 adopted “City Council Rail Yards Master Plan” contains 6 guiding principles intended to serve as a framework to guide the redevelopment of the Rail Yards over many decades. Those City Council enacted principals can be reviewed in the postscript below to this article.

Albuquerque Rail Yards has 18 buildings still standing erected between 1915 and 1925 and include four major maintenance facilities built by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway on 21 acres of land. The Rail Yards have sat vacant and vandalized with broken windows and graffiti for decades. Currently, the area is the location of the seasonal Rail Yards Vegetable and Crafts Market and the Wheels Museum. The Albuquerque Rail yards has been used to film major movie productions and TV shows. Scenes for “Marvels Avengers,” the “Transformers”, “Terminator: Salvation,” Better Call Saul” and the TV hit show “Breaking Bad” have all been filmed at the abandoned and vacant facilities of the rail yards.

RAIL-YARDS MASTER DEVELOPMENT PLAN

On June 16, 2014, the Albuquerque City Council by a unanimous vote of 9 to 0 approved and adopted R-14-23 entitled “Railyards Master Development Plan and Site Development Plan For Subdivision To Provide The Appropriate Policy Framework And Regulations To Guide The Redevelopment Of The Railyard Site”. The Master Development Plan is 73 pages long but with tables, designs and photos it is 224 pages.

The Development plan was prepared by Samitaur Constructs. The “Railyards Master Development Plan and Site Development Plan” is highly detailed and takes great care to identify the historical nature of the Railyards, what affect it will have on the community and identifies what types of development should be considered. You can review the entire Railyards Master Development at this link:

https://www.cabq.gov/council/documents/rail-yard/RYMDP_Section1.pdf

On September 16, 2018 Mayor Tim Keller announced the city had severed its relationship between the city and Samitaur Constructs announcing the city had taken back management and control of the development. The city has upgraded one building, the blacksmith shop, where the Rail Yards Market Place takes place on weekends. Steps are also being taken to activating a second building to accommodate additional vendors and the city has submitted a contamination remediation plan to the State.

LELAND CONSULTING GROUP FINANCIAL REPORT

Leland Consulting Group is a Portland-based development consulting firm that was contracted to study the financial feasibility of redeveloping the Albuquerque Rail Yards. The Leland Consulting Group has determined that it will cost the city between $50 million and $80 million in infrastructure, environmental remediation and structural renovations to develop the property.

The city has completed an environmental study of the site and has submitted a voluntary remediation plan to the state. The city is moving forward with demolition of small non-historic structures for site improvements. The city has also submitted a state capital request for $15 million to support rail yard environmental remediation and site improvements.

The Leland report suggests 3 different levels of development of varying levels of density. The report notes redevelopment will occur over many years, making it impossible to predict the exact mix that would work. All the levels of redevelopment call for “adaptive reuse” of buildings on the property’s north side, which the report calls the Rail Yards’ “front door.” Proposed uses include Central New Mexico Community College’s film center, the existing Rail Yards Market, and new retail, restaurants and commercial tenants and residential homes.

The Leland draft report recommended 10,000 to 20,000 square feet of retail space in the Rail Yards over the next decade. According to the report, the focus should be on food and beverage tenants, vendors related to film or rail travel, existing area businesses looking to expand or “small, local vendors that build on the Rail Yards’ unique, historic and gritty character.”

The Leland development report suggests using large existing buildings near the Rail Yards’ center. The Boiler Shop and the Machine Shop alone has nearly 4 acres of enclosed floor space. There are facilities that would require renovation for concerts, festivals, special events, film productions and even team sporting events. Two scenarios suggest renovating and remodeling existing buildings to create 110,000 to 200,000 square feet of employment space. The Leland report suggests that is more space than likely needed over the next decade.

Housing is also recommended in the report. The report’s various scenarios include 65 to 160 mixed-income housing units near the Rail Yards’ southern end.

DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

The 3 separate development proposals to be considered are : low density development, medium density development and a high-density development. The Leland Report projects $50 million will be needed for the low-density development, $55 million preparation work for the medium density and $80 million for high density development. Leland is recommending that the city select the medium density development. The report does caution that the $55 million to $80 million estimates are strictly preliminary.

The medium density development would require $55 million for utilities, landscaping, cleaning up contamination and making improvements to the deteriorating structures on the property. It has been determined that the ground contamination cleanup is not as serious as was originally thought and will be less costly because the rail yards were once used for steam locomotive repair and not diesel or gas engine repair.

There is no commercial electrical grid service on the site which may require extensive investment or even a separate electrical generating facility. It has also been reported that there are options dealing with the removal asbestos and lead paint contamination that are available, such as not removing the lead paint but “encapsulating” it.

According to the financial analysis:

“As a conservative starting point, LCG recommends viewing these as costs [of $55 million to $80 million] that are likely to be borne by the City … These costs associated with ‘horizontal’ development (site preparation, transportation, utilities) will be necessary in order to set the stage for ‘vertical’ development (i.e., building improvements and new building construction, which are not shown).”

In other words, Leland is suggesting the taxpayer money be used for the $55 million to $80 million site preparation. In comparison, the ART Bus project was $130 million to build infrastructure and platforms up and down central.

The consultant’s estimates do not include the many other possible expenses, or hidden costs, associated with structural retrofits of two of the buildings “where evidence of past fire(s) were observed, which could affect the structure,” and the foundation retrofits and floor resurfacing in some of the buildings that are 100 years old. According to the report a more thorough “property and building conditions assessment” is required.

OTHER SOURCES OF DEVELOPMENT FUNDING IDENTIFIED

The Leland financial analysis report delves into potential funding sources that could be used to fund the Railyard Development but does so with a major caution when it says:

“Most of the funding sources … are subject to a political decision-making and allocation process; the Rail Yards site and vision will need to compete with other projects on the basis of its potential to advance the community’s economic development, equity and place making goals.”

In other words, the project has the potential of becoming a “political football”.

The Leland financial report identifies other revenue sources that could be used to fund the development. Chief among those revenue source would be a tax increment development district, also known as TIDD, for the area and possibly some adjacent areas. Under a TIDD most of the new gross receipts and property tax created by the development could be used to pay the infrastructure costs. Two major examples of successful TIDDs in Albuquerque include the Commons Uptown Shops Development as well as the Winrock Redevelopment project both on Louisiana and North of the Freeway.

According to the Leland Report:

“There is a compelling case for [a] TIDD at the Rail Yards, given the extent of necessary improvements, without which employment, commercial and housing development are unlikely to occur [however a TIDD requires at least 50% of the affected property owners to give the OK and that there are no existing TIDDs in Downtown Albuquerque]” With respect to the Railyards, the historical Barelas, South Broadway and San Jose neighborhoods will therefore have to give their blessing on a TIDD and no doubt will not if gentrification poses a major threat to those communities.”

During the 2019 legislative session, the legislature allocated $7.5 million in capital funding for the Rail Yards. On the November 5, 2019 election ballot, $5.5 million is general obligation bonds is being asked to be approved by voters for the Rail Yards by City voters. City Officials also report that there is $2 million left from previous bond elections and the city is also seeking federal for grants available for blighted areas.

The Leland report proposes $5.2 million in “philanthropic” funds with no substantive elaboration. The Leland market analysis report noted a recent report by the Urban Land Institute “that indicates other western metro areas are more likely to attract outside development and investment dollars than Albuquerque.”

The report suggests another $14.5 million from the state and other mechanisms, such as $5 million in public funds through the Local Economic Development Act (LDEA).

The big problem is that the City and the State are sorely lacking in local major investors, wealthy entrepreneurs, philanthropists and wealthy individuals and corporations having the financial ability and commitment to make major capital investments that will be required for the Railyard Development.

CITY’S RESPONSE TO FINANCIAL REPORT

Chief Operating Officer Lawrence Rael in reacting to the financial report had this to say:

“[The Leland financial report is an] estimate intended to help us plan. … The planning process is ongoing and involves many groups. As we gather input from the community and from the Rail Yards Advisory Board, we will refine the plan and the numbers will come into more focus … This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an economic and neighborhood catalyst in the heart of our city. … We will continue to seek funding in partnership with the State, County, and private sector to keep moving forward on this project.”

Rael added that a TIDD “may be considered” and said that the city will explore funding options and said the city has begun the recommended property and building conditions assessment.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1359516/rail-yards-site-prep-could-cost-city-50m-to-80m-million.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Chief Administrative Officer Lawrence Rael was 100% correct when he said:

“This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to create an economic and neighborhood catalyst in the heart of our city. … We will continue to seek funding in partnership with the State, County, and private sector to keep moving forward on this project.”

Much greater emphasis needs to be placed on the private sector. The city needs to find a major developer and investor who knows what it is doing and will to invest in the city.

SUCCESSFUL CITIES AT REVITALIZATION

Successful cities that have transformed blighted and struggling older areas of their cities have been Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Denver, Colorado, Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. El Paso, Texas has dramatically transformed its downtown area. The way each one of these cities did it was with a massive infusion of capital and building large capital projects costing billions of dollars.

Some of the best examples of billion-dollar investments are the building of the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City, the municipal railway running from the outskirts of Denver and through downtown Denver, Colorado or the River Area in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona. In Tulsa the BOK Center sparked hundreds of millions of dollars of redevelopment in adjoining neighborhoods.

In Oklahoma City, the Chesapeake Arena and adjoining Bricktown continue to expand. Previously blighted areas are being filled in with business developments, new housing, recreational facilities, and even cultural amenities. A key component has also been law enforcement to make people feel safe enough to move into those areas as they were being redeveloped. A key involvement to most if not all was seeking voter approval of the projects. Tulsa and Oklahoma City have been so successful that voters continue to approve new ones.

What is ill advised is for anyone to think the Rail Yard redevelopment can all be done with local talent and local and state investment tax dollars. It is laughable when the Leland report proposes $5.2 million in “philanthropic” funds making it obvious they do not know what a very poor state New Mexico really is not to mention Albuquerque being in the same position. The established Albuquerque business and development community and the accompanying construction industry tend to suckle at the tit of city government for projects without making any financial investment of their own. Such massive amounts of capital, usually in the billions of dollars, is needed to build large capital projects that could be built on the Railyards.

VOTER CYNICISM

The city faces the prospect that voters in November will say NO to the $13 million in capital improvements bonds for the Rail Yards development. Given the voters mistrust of elected officials because of the ART Bus project, the defeat of the APS tax levy in February and Mayor Tim Keller’s signing a tax increase last year breaking a campaign promise to put tax increases on the ballot, no one will be surprised if the ity capital improvement bonds (CIP) are rejected by the voters.

The blunt truth is that the City Hall and the State do not have the financial ability to undertake a cleanup and a massive investment and make capital improvements in the billions of dollars to revitalize Downtown Albuquerque. City Hall and the State do not have an understanding nor the business and investment experience background or the “savvy” in the private sector of what it’s going take to get the project done.

The 2014 adopted “City Council Rail Yards Master Plan” contains 6 guiding principles intended to serve as a framework to guide the redevelopment of the Rail Yards. The Rail Yards development in all likely cannot be done on the “cheap” and the city needs to recognize this fact. A $55 million to $80 million preparation work is probably on the cheap.

Architecture and historic rehabilitation to maintain the “integrity” of the site as a whole, with individual structures being rehabilitated will cost millions more. Given the magnitude of the development, the final price tag will probably approach $1 Billion. The Master Plan for the Railyards requires that the development complements all adopted plans for surrounding areas, including the Barelas, South Broadway and San Jose neighborhoods. This is critical to avoid gentrification of these very historical neighborhoods.

The city needs to solicit and recruit a major developer and investor with a proven track record of commercial, residential and historical preservation willing to enter a partnership with the city and make a financial commitment to the development. A major source of funding and private investment needs to be identified that recognizes this fact.

Otherwise the Railyards development will be “money pit” to taxpayers destroying yet another historical gem of the city, the way ART destroyed historical Route 66 in the central corridor.

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POSTSCRIPT

The 2014 adopted “City Council Rail Yards Master Plan” contains 6 guiding principles intended to serve as a framework to guide the redevelopment of the Rail Yards over many decades. Following are the 6 guiding principles quoted verbatim without editing:

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #1: JOB GENERATION, ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & ECONOMIC VIABILITY

The Rail Yards, once an economic pillar for the community, is envisioned to become a hub of economic activity again. The Master Plan provides a framework for renewed economic and business success for the Project Area and is sufficiently flexible to accommodate a variety of potential future economic uses and opportunities. The Plan also provides opportunities to generate quality, living-wage and high-wage jobs and programs that will link those jobs with community residents. The Master Plan recognizes that the success of the Project Area is directly related to the financial feasibility of the overall mix of uses that is ultimately developed. Implementation of the Master Plan should prioritize uses that are financially self-sustaining and, preferably, revenue-generating and minimize the City’s exposure to and obligation for direct costs and subsidies.

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #2: HOUSING INTEGRATING HOUSING :

Housing Integrating housing into the Rail Yards redevelopment of the site is important for three reasons: 1. To ensure the availability of affordable housing in the community; 2. To minimize possible displacement of people as a result of redevelopment; and 3. To create a true mixed-use environment and a constant presence on the site, which will increase the overall vibrancy and safety of the site. The Master Plan supports construction of the required Workforce Housing and includes opportunities for additional affordable and market rate housing. The development of housing at the Rail Yards will be coordinated with the City’s ongoing efforts to rehabilitate existing housing in the surrounding neighborhoods.

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #3: COMMUNITY CONNECTIVITY

The Master Plan complements all adopted plans for surrounding areas, including the Barelas, South Broadway and San Jose neighborhoods. The Plan supports current and planned economic activity in the Downtown area and encourages connections with existing attractions in the area—such as the Albuquerque Zoo and BioPark, Tingley Beach, Rio Grande State Park, the National Hispanic Cultural Center, the South Broadway Cultural Center, Old Town and its museums, Downtown Albuquerque and its amenities, the Alvarado Transportation Center, the Historic 4th Street Corridor, local sports venues, the Albuquerque Sunport, and others. The Plan reinforces the City’s transit goals and objectives, and supports pedestrian, bicycle, auto and public transportation to and from the site.

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #4: LAND USES

The Master Plan encourages new development on the Rail Yards site that balances new economic and design approaches with protection of the integrity and history of the Rail Yards and the surrounding residential communities. The Plan complements the goals in other adopted plans that cover or affect the Rail Yards site.

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #5: ARCHITECTURE AND HISTORIC REHABILITATION

The Master Plan recognizes the significant value of the existing Rail Yards historic resources, i.e. buildings and structures, to a local, state and national audience. The fundamental approach to site development will be to maintain the “integrity” of the site as a whole, with individual structures being rehabilitated and adaptively re-used for modern and functional purposes, in consultation with the New Mexico Society of Historical Preservation Office (SHPO).

GUIDING PRINCIPLE #6: ART AND CULTURE

The Master Plan encourages opportunities for promoting the art, history and culture of the site, the community and the region. The Plan sets aside space for a museum that celebrates the history of transportation, particularly rail transportation. Commercial and residential tenants, local community members, and visitors from near and far will be attracted by heightened aesthetics, comfortable, quality amenities, and a unique cultural vibrancy.