Saturday, April 17 was the first day that candidates for Mayor and City Council seeking public financing were allowed to start circulating nominating petitions for signatures and allowed to solicit the $5.00 qualifying donations for public financing. The commencement time for privately finance candidates to collect nominating petition signatures for Mayor is June 8 and for City Council it is July 6.
According to the City Clerks web site, there are 4 candidates for Mayor, 2 candidates for the District 9 City Council position and 1 candidate for the District 7 City Council position seeking public finance. The District 9 city council seat is being vacated by 4 term Republican City Councilor Don Harris. Two term District 7 City Councilor Diane Gibson is saying privately she is not running but has not yet made any announcement .
There are 3 city council districts where no incumbent and no candidates are seeking public finance at least thus far but that is expected to change. Public finance candidates for Mayor and City Council are required to agree to a spending cap in writing and are prohibited from soliciting and asking for any other donations.
According to the City Clerk’s web site, there are two measured finance committees that have been established, both ostensibly organized to promote law enforcement, to address public safety and to support candidates. Given the treasurers listed and alternative contacts, it can be deducted who those measured finance committees will be supporting and promoting for Mayor.
The link to the city web site is here:
https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates
CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR
The 4 candidates for Mayor listed in the order of appearance are:
1. NICHOLAS BEVINS:
According to news reports, Bevins, who is autistic, is not currently employed, and said he dedicates his time to volunteering and activism, whether that is picking up needles at local parks, participating in Black Lives Matter protests or delivering care packages with Albuquerque Mutual Aid. Bevins is a grassroots activist and was a Bernie Sanders for President 2020 campaign organizer. Bevins said that he is “running out of a sense of urgency for my generation and future generations who face countless threats such as climate change and economic inequality which are going unaddressed.”
https://www.abqjournal.com/2383801/several-vying-for-abq-mayors-office.html
https://www.facebook.com/APSVerlandCoker
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayoral-race-starting-to-take-shape/6050304/
2. MANUEL GONZALES, III: Sheriff Manuel Gonzales III was sworn into office on January 1st 2015. He is a two term Bernalillo County Sheriff who is term limited and whose term as Sheriff ends January 1, 2023. Listed as the Treasurer for the Gonzales Campaign is Dolores Gonzales-Limon, his wife.
http://www.bernalillocountysheriff.com/bernalillo-county-sheriff/sheriff-manuel-gonzales-iii.aspx
3. TIM KELLER: Mayor Keller is seeking a second 4-year term. He is a former State Senator and former NM State Treasurer.
Andrea Plaza is listed as the Treasurer for the Keller Campaign. According to a GOOGLE search Andrea Plaza is founder and executive director of Encuentro, a non-profit that provides services to immigrants. She is a 25 year resident of New Mexico with roots in Colombia by way of North Carolina. Her professional background includes working with immigrant women in the field of microenterprise development and educational and asset building programs for immigrant families.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1300585/one-on-one-with-andrea-plaza.html
Listed as an “alternate contact” for the Keller campaign is progressive political consultant Neri Holguin who is a well-known, very progressive consultant who progressive candidates go to manage their campaigns. Holguin is the campaign manager for Keller’s re-election bid. She has clientele all over the state. Holguin is the principal of “Holguin Campaigns and Communications”. Her web page includes the listing of the following clientele:
Isaac Benton, Albuquerque City Council, District 2 , 2019 campaign.
Isaac Benton, Albuquerque City Council, District 2 , 2013 campaign.
Pat Davis, Albuquerque City Council, District 6, 2019 campaign.
ABQ Forward Together MFC, PAC supporting Tim Keller for Mayor, 2018
Tim Keller, State Senate District 17 , General Election campaign 2012
A link to the clientele of list of “Holguin Campaigns and Communications” is here:
http://www.neriholguin.com/clients/
Neri Holguin was the chairperson “ABQ Forward Together”, the progressive measured finance committee that was formed specifically to raise money to promote progressive Tim Keller for Mayor in 2017. “ABQ Forward Together” raised over $663,000 for Keller’s 2017 bid for Mayor as Keller qualified for public financing and given $340,000 for his 2017 campaign for Mayor. In 2009, Neri Holguin was the campaign manager for former State Senator Richard Romero against then Mayor Marty Chavez and RJ Berry. Many believe within the Democratic Party that Romero split the Democratic vote with Chavez resulting in the election of Mayor Richard Berry. The link to a detail blog article on the 2017 election is here:
https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/11/13/tim-kellers-1-3-million-campaign-for-mayor/
It is more likely than not Mayor Keller will also be relying upon his longtime political consultant Alan Packman to advise him and consult as was the case in 2017. Packman is currently working for the city as an at will employee earning upwards of $80,000 a year and can only work on Keller’s re election by taking annual leave during the work day or taking a leave of absence.
4. PATRICK BEN SAIS:
Patrick Sais, 53, is a retired school bus driver who said he has been active with the Young American Football League and has served as a volunteer on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. Sais lives in Southwest Albuquerque and running for Mayor is the first time he has run for office. He said as mayor he would focus on protecting the city’s police – who he believes have been treated unjustly – and improving opportunities for youth, including potentially through city-run education in trades. An Albuquerque native, Sais said he’s running because he does not like Albuquerque’s crime or the country’s current direction.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2383801/several-vying-for-abq-mayors-office.html
City Clerk records list a woman by the name of Jacqueline Elizabeth Molina as the Treasurer for the Sais campaign. No other information on Ms. Molina can be located.
MAYOR NOMINATING PETION SIGNATURE PERIOD AND PUBLIC FINANCE DONATIONS
Due to COVID-19, new procedures that allow the candidates to collect signatures online, while also permitting them to still gather them in person, have been implemented. The City Clerk’s office has created a new website, in collaboration with New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, that will use the Secretary of State’s voter registration database for verification purposes before allowing a signature. The clerk’s office has also established a second website that allows voters to make $5 contributions for candidates seeking public financing.” Both of the city’s web sites is a huge difference and should make things a lot easier, but only time will tell.
The city website to sign a petition for a candidate is here:
The City Clerk webs site to make a $5.00 qualifying donation is here:
https://cleancampaign.cabq.gov/
Candidates will be available and listed on the two sites as follows:
Publicly Financed Mayoral Candidates: April 17 – June 19
Publicly Financed City Council Candidates: May 31 – July 5
Privately Financed Mayoral Candidates: June 8 – August 10
Privately Financed City Council Candidates: July 6 – August 10
From April 17 to June 19, 2021, publicly financed candidates for Mayor must gather both 3,000 signatures from registered voters within the City and the $5.00 qualifying donations. Each name and signature on the nominating petition is reviewed and compared to the voter registration rolls. If the person who has signed the petition name is not on the voter registration rolls, it is disqualified. Therefore, far more than 3,000 signatures are needed to take into account disqualified signatures. Consequently, as many signatures above the 3,000 requirement is recommended for a “buffer” in order to ensure the minimum number of nominating signatures are secured.
From April 17 to June 19, 2021, or 64 days, is also the only time allowed to collect 3,779 qualifying donations of $5.00 for public financing of $660,000. The $5.00 donations are made directly to the City and the $5.00 donations must come from only registered city of Albuquerque city voters. In order to collect 3,779 qualifying donations over the 64 days allotted, a candidate’s campaign must collect at least 59 donations a day plus 3 more.
(64 collection days X 59 donation collected each day = 3,776 + 3 more donations = 3,779 required donations from registered city voters).
Collecting any amount of a donation to the City for a candidate sounds a lot easier than it really is, but the web sites should help.
None of the donations can come from those who do not reside within the city limits nor come from any one not a resident of the city. In 2017, there were 8 candidates for Mayor with only Tim Keller qualifying.
LATER TIMES FOR PRIVATELY FINANCE CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR
The time for privately financed candidates for Mayor to collect signatures is much later from publicly finance candidates. That time is from June 8 to August 10, 2021. Privately Finance Candidates for Mayor must also gather 3,000 signatures from registered voters within the City.
Privately financed candidates have no fundraising or spending limits. Privately financed candidates can raise and are free to accept campaign contributions from whatever legal source they want including contributions from individuals, businesses and corporations within the city, county, state or out of state and there is no city voter registration required.
There is no limit on what privately financed candidates can spend on their campaigns. However, there are limits on individual contributions privately financed candidates can accept from donors. Specifically, Article XIII, Section 4(e) limits the total contributions from any one person, with the only exception being the candidates themselves, and the private contribution cannot exceed 5% of the salary of the elected official at the time of filing the Declaration of Candidacy.
You can find the timeframes here:
http://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/privately-financed-candidates
CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES
On the November ballot this year will be the 5 odd numbered city council districts of the 9 city council seats. The council seats up for election are City Council seats 1, 3, 5, 7, and 9. The time frame for City Council candidates to collect nominating petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying donations for public finance is different than those seeking the Office of mayor.
The City Council incumbents are as follows:
District 1 City Councilor Lan Sena (Democrat): She represents Albuquerque’s Central West Side. She was appointed to the City Council in March 2020, by Mayor Tim Keller. Sources are saying she is running for a full term, but she has not as yet been listed by the City Clerk as seeking public finance.
District 3 City Councilor Klarissa Peña (Democrat): She represents the southwest part of Albuquerque. She was elected to the City Council in October, 2013. Sources are saying she is running for another 4-year term, but she has not as yet been listed by the City Clerk as seeking public finance.
District 5: City Councilor Cynthia D. Borrego (Democrat): She represents the Northwest part of Albuquerque. She was elected to City Council in November 2017. Councilor Borrego is the current President of the City Council and sources are saying she is running for a second 4-year term but she has not as yet been listed by the City Clerk as seeking public finance.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2382147/gibson-will-not-pursue-third-council-term.html
District 9: On February 27, City Councilor Don Harris (Republican), first elected to the City Council in 2005, announced he is not running for another term (as if anyone knew he has been on the council for 14 years). District 9 is the far Southeast Heights and Foothills.
https://www.abqjournal.com/2362329/harris-will-not-seek-fifth-city-council-term.html
DISTRICT 7
Thus far, the City Clerk’s Offices lists only one candidate running for City Council in City Council District 7, but that is likely to change with one more rumored to be running. The city clerk lists Tammy Fiebelkorn as running for the postion.
Tammy Fiebelkorn has been active in the energy industry since 1994. Currently, Ms. Fiebelkorn is the President of eSolved, Inc., an energy and environmental consulting firm. She manages alternative fuel, air quality and outreach projects for clients throughout the U.S. Areas of specialization for Ms. Fiebelkorn include project planning, economic and environmental analysis, project funding, legislative analysis and lobbying and financial management. Nancy Arenas is listed as the Treasurer, but no further information is available.
http://e-solved.com/fiebelkorn.shtml
Eli Il Yong Lee is listed as an “alternate” contact for the Fiebelkorn campaign. Eli Il Yong Lee is a well-known progressive political consultant and former Executive Director of the Center for Civic Policy. He is a former board member of the State of New Mexico Dr. Martin Luther King. Jr. Commission, appointed by Governor Bill Richardson and has years of experience in issues related to elections, redistricting and ethics, and has worked on efforts to pass the “Open and Ethical Elections Code”.
https://www.cabq.gov/council/documents/charter-review-task-force/eli_il_yong_lee.pdf
DISTRICT 9
Thus far, the City Clerk’s Offices lists 2 candidates running for City Council in City Council District 9, one as a public finance candidate and one as a privately finance candidate. The 2 candidates are:
1. Andrew Lipman Mr. Lipman has resided in Albuquerque for the last 28 years. According to his campaign web page, he has “been a community activist, philanthropist, and organizer in Albuquerque’s City Council District 9 for nearly three decades. He currently is a member of the Urban Enhancement Trust Fund Committee, representing District 9 and prior to that served as Government Affairs Director for the Four Hills Village Association for three years. He is a board member of the East Gateway Coalition of Associations. He and his wife currently reside in Four Hills Village. The city clerk lists Charley Rhodes as the Treasurer and lists Garrett Swensen as an alternate contact for the campaign. No confirmed information could be found regarding Mr. Swenson nor Mr. Rhodes.
2. BYRON K POWDRELL: Mr. Powdrell ran 4 years ago for city council in a 3 person race. He is was born and raised in Albuquerque and he is a member of the well-known Powdrell family, the son of Willie Powdrell and related to the owner’s of Powdrell’s Bar be Que. Mr. Powdrell is the owner and manager of 99.9 The Beat LPFM, Albuquerque’s first successful non-profit, low power radio station.
Carlos McMahon is listed as the Treasurer for the Powdrell campaign. Mr. McMahon is a retired State of New Mexico Private Investigator and owner of the McMahon Agency, a private investigations firm also known as McMahon Private Investigations, LLC.
PUBLIC FINANCE CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL
From May 31 to July 5, 2021, publicly financed candidates for City Council must gather 500 qualifying signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent. From May 31 to July 5, 2021, or approximately 4 weeks, publicly finance candidates for City Council can collect the $5.00 donations. There are varying number of $5.00 donations for each council district.
PRIVATELY FINANCED CANDIDATES FOR CITY COUNCIL NOMINATING SIGNATURES
The time for privately financed candidates for City Council to collect signatures is from July 6 to August 10, 2021. Privately Financed Candidates for City Council must gather at least 500 signatures from registered voters within the district the candidate wishes to represent.
Privately financed candidates have no fundraising or spending limits. Privately financed candidates can raise and are free to accept campaign contributions from whatever legal source they want including contributions from individuals, businesses and corporations within the city, county, state or out of state and there is no city voter registration required.
There is no limit on what privately financed candidates can spend on their campaigns. However, there are limits on individual contributions privately financed candidates can accept from donors. Specifically, Article XIII, Section 4(e) limits the total contributions from any one person, with the only exception being the candidates themselves, and the private contribution cannot exceed 5% of the salary of the elected official at the time of filing the Declaration of Candidacy.
You can find the timeframes here:
http://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/privately-financed-candidates
2021 ELECTION MEASURED FINANCE COMMITTEES
Under the City of Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, a Measure Finance Committee is a political action committee (PAC), person or group that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure within the City of Albuquerque. Measure Finance Committees are required to register with the City Clerk within five (5) days once they have raised or spent more than $250 towards their purpose.
All Measure Finance Committees must register with the Albuquerque City Clerk, regardless of the group’s registration as a political action committee (PAC) with another governmental entity, county, state or federal. Measure finance committees are allowed to commence fundraising at anytime but are required file financial statements and limits on donations are provided by law.
Measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates. However, a Measure Finance Committee that receives aggregate contributions more than 30% of the Mayor’s salary from one individual or entity, must incorporate the donor’s name into the name of the committee. No Measure Finance Committee is supposed to coordinate their activities with the individual candidates running for office, but this is a very gray area as to what constitutes coordination of activities and it is difficult to enforce.
“ELEMENTARY MY DEAR WATSON”
According to City Clerk records, 2 measured finance committees have been formed for the 2021 municipal election. It does not take Sherlock Holmes to figure who the 2 measured finance committees will be promoting and spending money on his behalf as well as the influence they will have if he is elected Mayor. The names and purposes stated as well as contacts and treasurers lead directly to Sherriff Manny Gonzales. Those measured finance committees and their purpose are listed as follows:
1. RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR A BETTER ALBUQUERQUE
STATED PURPOSE: “SUPPORT ALBUQUERQUE MAYORAL CANDIDATE WHO WILL IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR IT’S CITIZENS AS WELL AS OPPOSE CANDIDATES THAT ARE DETRIMENTAL TO THE FUTURE GROWTH AND SAFETY OF ALBUQUERQUE”.
The chairperson of the “Retired Law Enforcement for a Better Albuquerque is Jason Katz and the Treasurer is listed as Sistine Jaramillo. Upon information and belief, Jason Katz is a former and retired Chief Deputy of the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and is a longtime supporter and has worked for Gonzales. No background information could be located on Sistine Jaramillo.
2. SAVE OUR CITY
STATED PURPOSE: TO ADDRESS THE SERIOUS CRIME AND LEADERSHIP PROBLEM IN ALBUQUERQUE
The Chairperson of “Save Our City” is Sam Vigil and the Treasurer is Republican State Representative Bill Rehm.
SAM VIGIL
Sam Vigil is the husband Jacquiline Vigil who was gun down in her car backing out of the family home driveway in the early morning hours as she was leaving for the gym. She is the mother of 2 state police officers. The main suspect in Jacqueline Vigil’s murder is Luis Talamantes-Romero, was a known criminal who was in this country illegally. On January 22, 2021, it was reported that Sam Vigil filed a lawsuit blaming the city’s immigrant friendly, or sanctuary city ordinance, for APD officers not acting sooner to make an arrest potentially preventing the murder of Jacqueline Vigil. Sam Vigil also traveled to the White House last summer to attended a press conference along with Sheriff Manny Gonzales to support President Trump’s funding of law enforcement. Vigil also spoke at the 2020 Republican Convention that nominated Donald Trump.
Vigil said in an interview with the Albuquerque Journal that he is scared of Albuquerque crime, and “something has to be done.” He said he views Mayor Keller as the “leadership problem” and that unless Keller makes dramatic policy changes, Vigil sees unseating the mayor as the committee’s central purpose and said:
“I haven’t talked to the rest of the committee, but that’s my personal preference right now.”
https://www.abqjournal.com/2381547/vigil-forms-political-action-committee-to-defeat-keller.html
BILL REHM
Republican New Mexico State Representative Bill Rehm, District 31, Bernalillo County, has been a State Representative since 2006. Rehm retired in 2000 from BCSO Sheriff’s office as Captain. Rehm is considered a reliable conservative supporter of law enforcement efforts in the New Mexico Legislature. When asked by the Albuquerque Journal the things he would propose to address the state’s high crime rate he said he has proposed and sponsored legislation increasing the penalty for felons possessing firearms and those using a firearm in the commission of a crime and a 3-strikes legislation to give life sentence to criminals who injured or kill three different times. He also said we must increase mental health reporting to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) preventing gun purchases. When it comes to crime he has said the courts must end the “catch and release of felons.” Rehm opposes the legalization of recreational marijuana, opposes New Mexico becoming a “sanctuary state” and supports “right to work” legislation. Representative Rehm is a member of the powerful House Judiciary Committee, the Courts, Corrections & Justice Committee, and the Criminal Justice Reform Committee.
https://www.abqjournal.com/1169433/nm-house-district-31-candidate-bill-rehm.html
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS
Keller and Gonzales will likely qualify for the $661,309.25 in public finance by collecting 3,779 qualifying $5 donations made to the city by registered voters. The same cannot be said for Mayor candidates Nicholas Bevins and Patrick Ben Sais given the extreme difficulty it takes to collect that many $5 donations unless you have hundreds of dedicated supporters. In order to collect 3,779 qualifying donations over the 64 days allotted, a candidate’s campaign must collect at least 59 donations a day plus 3 more.
(64 collection days X 59 donations a day + 3 = 3,779)
If Bevins and Sais fail to collected the 3,779 qualifying donations of $5.00 for public financing of $660,000, they can always revert to and elect to private financing. They are still required to collect the 3,000 in nominating petition signatures.
LESSON LEARNED FROM KELLER
Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales has torn out a page from Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign for Mayor by seeking public finance and later relying on measured finance committees to raise more money and to promote his candidacy. It’s a warped and very misleading approach to campaign financing that undercuts the spirit and intent of the city’s campaign finance system. The problem is that reliance on measured finance committees is perfectly legal and one perfected by Tim Keller when he ran for Mayor the first time in 2017.
During the 2017 race for Mayor, Tim Keller was the only candidate out of 8 candidates that was able to secure public financing. In 2017, Keller was given $342,952 by the City in public finance in exchange for agreeing not to spend or raise and spend anymore. Keller made a big deal out of going the public finance road to run for Mayor saying he was opposed to dark money and collecting large donations for campaigns thereby being indebted to donors. Keller even went so far as to brag that by accepting public finance he was “walking the talk.”
The truth was, Keller’s public finance campaign was underwritten by at least 3 “measured finance committees” that raised thousands of dollars to promote Keller for Mayor. Keller did not discourage it but mislead the public when he said he was “walking the talk”.
“ABQ Forward Together” was the progressive measured finance committee that was formed specifically to raise money to promote progressive Tim Keller for Mayor. The measured finance committee chairperson was Neri Olguin a former campaign manager of Tim Keller’s when he successfully ran for State Senate and who is now an alternate contact for the 2021 Keller campaign. “ABQ Forward Together” raised over $663,000 for Keller’s 2017 bid for Mayor. The amount included cash donations or in-kind donations from the Working Families Party, Ole and the Center for Civic Action.
During the 2017 Mayor’s race, Keller received significant support in one form or another from the progressive organizations of OLÉ of New Mexico, the New Mexico Working Families Party, and Progress Now New Mexico. All 3 organizations or their membership in one form or another became very involved with the 2017 Albuquerque Mayor’s race.
When it was all said and done, a total of $1,358,254 was actually spent on Tim Keller’s 2017 successful campaign for Mayor. According to City Campaign finance reports, Keller was given $506,254 public finance money, $663,000 was raised by the measured finance committee ABQ Forward for Keller, $67,000 was spent by ABQFIREPAC on Keller’s behalf and $122,000 was spent by ABQ Working Families for Keller for a total of $1,358,254.
According to the city’s public finance laws, public finance candidates are given $1.75 cents per voter for regular elections and from 60 cents for runoff elections. In the 2021 municipal election, candidates for Mayor who qualify for public finance will be given $661,309.25. If the Mayoral candidate makes it into the runoff, they are given an additional 60 cents per registered voter.
GONZALES’S SHORTCOMINGS
Sherriff Manny Gonzales has never been involved in a high-profile race such as Mayor of Albuquerque that will require hundreds of thousands of dollars to run an effective campaign. His only hope is to qualify for public finance. The Sherriff Gonzales may have been elected twice by comfortable margins, but running for Mayor rather than Bernalillo County Sheriff is dramatically different as is the fund raising required. The measured finance committees may not be as successful as they hope to be all because of the candidate himself and his serious shortcomings.
No Bernalillo County Sheriff has gone onto to higher office. Gonzales brings to the table his law enforcement credentials, but that’s it. He is well-known for his opposition to civilian oversight and inability to work with other elected officials, often being at odds with the County Commission and the District Attorney’s Office. As mayor, Manny Gonzales will not listen to nor work with the City Council, let alone respect the Police Oversight Board and the Community Policing Councils. Gonzales is a throwback to the way law enforcement was many years ago before the Black Lives movement. He failed to keep up with the times by implementing constitutional policing practices within BCSO. He opposes many of the DOJ reforms. When Gonzales says, “I answer to the people who voted me into office,” he is saying he answers only to those who support him.
KELLER’S SHORTCOMINGS
Initially, there was no doubt amongst political city hall observers that Mayor Tim Keller would once again count on measured finance committees to raise him millions more and promote his candidacy as he did 4 years ago. Thus far, there are no measured finance committees organized for the promotion and the reelection of Mayor Tim Keller. There is good reason to believe none will be established. Those reasons include:
First: “ABQ Forward Together” raised over $663,000 for Keller’s 2017 bid for Mayor. At that time political consultant Neri Olguin was the chairperson of “ABQ Forward Together”. In 2021, Olguin is now identified as an “alternative contact” and campaign manager for the Mayor Keller campaign and as such she cannot chair a measured finance committee to raise and spend money for Keller’s promotion.
Second: In 2017, $122,000 was spent by ABQ Working Families, an affiliate of the New Mexico Working Family’ Party, for Keller. In 2017, Keller’s close political ally Eric Griego, a former city councilor and former state senator, was the state director of the Working Families Party. It has been reported within the last few weeks that Eric Griego has resigned from his position with the Working Family’s Party.
Third: Tim Keller now has a record he must run on and defend. It’s Keller’s record that likely will not generate the same enthusiasm progressive organizations had for him and that raised money to promote him. Keller’s accomplishments have been less than stellar. The city’s high murder rate is rising even further. There will be more violent crime during the hot summer as people break out of quarantine as things return to normal. Keller has not come close to the change he promised in 2017. After being elected, Keller signed a tax increase after promising not to raise taxes without a public vote.
Keller failed to make the sweeping changes to the Albuquerque Police Department, and his promised implementation of the DOJ reforms stalled so much that he fired his first chief. Keller has appointed Harold Medina – who has a nefarious past with the use of deadly force against two people suffering from psychotic episodes – permanent chief. Keller is not even close to reaching the 1,200 sworn police officers promised nor to community-based policing. Keller’s promise to bring down violent crime never materialized and four programs to bring down violent crime have failed. For three years, murders have hit an all-time record, with many still unsolved.
MEASURED FINANCE COMMITTEES WARP ELECTION PROCESS
The fact that measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates is what makes them a major threat to warping and influencing our municipal elections and the outcome. Any Measure Finance Committee can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and can produce negative ads to destroy any candidate’s reputation and candidacy.
The influence of big money in elections allowed by the US Supreme Court decision Citizens United is destroying our democracy. Political campaign fundraising and big money influence are warping our election process. Money spent becomes equated with the final vote.
Money drives the message, affects voter turnout and ultimately the outcome. It is disingenuous for any public finance candidate to secure taxpayer money first to run their campaigns, agree in writing to a spending cap, and then have their political operatives or supporters solicit or create a measure finance committee to help them get elected and spend massive amounts of money to give them an unfair advantage in the first election and then the runoff.
Voters need to follow the money and demand to know where the outside money known as “dark money” is coming from for any Measure Finance Committee and find out exactly who is trying to influence the election for the candidates. Voters need to beware of the candidates and their political consultants who are seeking help from measured finance committees to be fully informed as to who they are indebted to once they have been elected.
FINAL COMMENT
The city is facing any number of problems that are bringing it to its knees. Those problems include the corona virus pandemic, business closures, high unemployment rates, exceptionally high violent crime and murders rates, continuing mismanagement of the Albuquerque Police Department, failed implementation of the Department of Justice reforms after a full 6 years and millions spent, declining revenues and gross receipts tax, high unemployment rates, persistent and increasing homeless numbers, a lack of mental health and counseling programs and very little economic development, just to mention a few.
The city can go no longer afford to elect a Mayor and City Council based upon promises and nothing but eternal hope for better times and for a better future. What is needed are elected officials that actually know what they are doing and will make the hard decisions without their eye on the next election or to placate their base. It is hoped that there will be more than just one candidate opposing all the incumbents. What is needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems. Such a debate can only happen with contested elections.
It is hoped far more candidates who truly care about the city will run for Mayor and City Council with far more than just one or two making the ballot and qualifying for public finance.
A link to a related blog article is here: