The Albuquerque Progress Report (APR) has been issued every two years since 1995 to show Albuquerque’s progress toward reaching a set of long-term goals, established with the input of its residents. Residents have convened every two to four years to determine and define Albuquerque’s goals.

The link to the recently published and available progress reports is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/progress

The “Citizen Satisfaction Survey” is a research study commissioned by the City of Albuquerque to assess residents’ perceptions of the overall quality of life in Albuquerque, satisfaction with City services, and issues relating to crime, safety, and the economy. The last citizen satisfaction survey was done in 2019 and released on January 21, 2020.

You can review the entire survey at this link.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6668008/FINAL-COA-Citizen-Survey.pdf

This blog article is an attempt to glean from both reports overall information to get an understanding the direction the city is going. Further, highlights of the 2020 Census and the New Mexico Data Book are provided to compare the city with the state.

2020 ALBUQUERQUE PROGRESS REPORT

On March 2, the City of Albuquerque released the biennial progress report for 2020. It’s a summary of progress across eight major goals set by the city council, compiled by the Indicators Progress Commission (IPC). The survey was conducted by Research and Polling.

The eight major goals the report looks at are:

• Human Development and Family
• Public Safety
• Public Infrastructure
• Sustainable Community Development
• Environmental Protection
• Economic Vitality
• Community and Cultural Engagement
• Governmental Excellence and Effectiveness

The link to the 2020 Progress Report is here:

https://documents.cabq.gov/progress/2020-albuquerque-progress-report.pdf

MAJOR FINDINGS

Below is a summary of major findings gleaned from the 2020 Albuquerque Progress Report.

QUALITY OF LIFE IN THE CITY

Nearly 60% of residents rated Albuquerque’s quality life as excellent or good, a jump up from 2018. More residents, about half of those surveyed, are feeling hopeful about the direction of the City. The survey found a significant jump in residents who see the City as responsive to their needs.

RESPONDING TO COVID-19

61% of respondents felt the City has handled the pandemic well, citing consistent communication with the public, and keeping residents safe and healthy while balancing support for business.
61% also felt that Albuquerque has done a better job than other cities in responding to the virus
60% felt that Albuquerque has done a good job keeping City services running amid the outbreak.

PUBLIC SAFETY AND APPEARANCE

Residents, like the City of Albuquerque itself, continue to identify crime as the top concern.

The majority felt that the Albuquerque Police Department did a good job of responding to protests. Levels of trust in police officers, reforms at the department and protecting resident’s constitutional rights are all trending upward.

75% of residents surveyed thought the creation of a new Community Safety Department was a good idea. This new cabinet-level department will send trained professionals to non-violent calls related to mental health, homelessness and addiction so police officers can stay focused on violent crime.

More residents are feeling safe alone outside both at night and during the day than in the past.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE EIGHT MAJOR GOALS

Below are the statistical highlights taken from each of the 8 categories followed by commentary:

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT & FAMILY (2019 STATISTICS ONLY)

Residents with health insurance coverage: Albuquerque 91.7% ; United States 90.8%
Residents with high school education or more: Albuquerque 89.4%; United States 88.6%
Residents exercising 3 or more days per week 67.0%
Homeowners paying 30%+ of income for housing: Albuquerque 22.1%; United States 21.1%
Renters paying 30%+ of income for housing: Albuquerque 46.0% ; United States 45.1%
Albuquerque Public School high school graduation rate 70.1%; United States 85.3%
Families living in poverty with children under 18 years old: Albuquerque 20.1% ; United States 13.8%
Obesity in population (New Mexico): Albuquerque 31.7% ; United States 30.9%
Number of people served by social services programs in Albuquerque: 915,528
Point-in-time homeless count (sheltered): Albuquerque 1,019

COMMENTARY

According to Dr. David E Peercy, President, APS Board of Education the reported graduation rate of APS for 2020 is not 70% but is 77%. According to Dr. Peercy, the “70%” was likely taken from the New Mexico Public Education Department (NMPED) website which includes charters for which APS has no responsibility for their graduation rate. Charter school graduation rates hovers around 49% and therefor brings down the APS graduation rate. The current APS graduation rate without charters is 77%. APS has been very proactive over the past several years to improve graduation rates. APS graduation rate has increased 13% in the past five years alone, including significant improvement in all our group demographics. The comparison with national algorithms used by the state of a “shared accountability” approach to calculating graduation rates is inaccurate and approximately 5% lower than it should be.

Families living in poverty with children under 18 years at 20.1% compared to the United States at the 13.8% is as alarming as it gets. The number of people served by social services programs in Albuquerque is reported at 915,528 ostensibly seriously inaccurate seeing as the recently released 2020 census count reports that Bernalillo County has a population count of 679,121.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/05/10/nm-vital-signs-are-clear-the-state-is-a-dying-business-and-elected-leaders-must-find-a-cure-a-path-forward-to-diversification-of-new-mexicos-economy/

PUBLIC SAFETY

Vacant properties count (2019) : 428
Avg. APD priority 1 call response time (receipt to on scene) in minutes: 10:33 minutes
Fatal Crashes per 100,000 population (2018): Albuquerque 14.10, United States 10.30
Residents feel safe outside during the day (survey) 2020: 87%
Residents feel safe outside during the night (survey) 2020: 68%
Property crimes per 100,000 population 2016: Albuquerque 6,179, United States 2,110
Violent crimes per 100,000 population (2019): Albuquerque 1,043, United States 379
Avg. EMS Life Support call response time (receipt to on scene) in mins (2019): 7:54 minutes.
Residents feel APD is respectful to citizen (survey) 2020: 48%

COMMENTARY

Not at all surprising, the most alarming statistics in the 2020 Albuquerque Progress Report are contained in the in the Public Safety category. Property crimes per 100,000 population in Albuquerque is a whopping 6,179 or upwards of 3 times the United States rate of 2,110. Violent crimes per 100,000 population (2019) for Albuquerque 1,043, once again upwards of 3 times the United States rate of 379. A disappointing 48% of residents who feel APD is respectful to citizen. The crime rates make it difficult to reconcile and contradict that 87% residents feel safe outside during the day (survey) at 87% and residents feeling safe outside during the night 2020 at 68%.

PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE

Public transportation riders per capita (2018): 0.20 (Integrated Transportation)
EPA compliance rate (peer average) 2019: 100% (Quality Water and Wastewater System)
Water loss (real and apparent) 2019: 9.1% (Reliable Water and Wastewater System)
PNM renewable energy portfolio standard (40% by 2025) 2020 : 20% (Sustainable Energy)
Residential energy consumption (million Btu) per capita (state-level) (2018): 100%
Walk Score 2020: 42 (Walkability)
Avg. internet download speed (Mbps) 2018: Albuquerque 93.08, United States 96.25 (High Speed Internet Access)

COMMENTARY

The city’s use of public transportation per capita at 0.20% is a reflection as to how big a failure the city has been in its efforts to improve public transportation with projects such as the ART Bus project down central. However, the city’s walkability rate of 42 out of 100 is encouraging.

SUSTAINABLE COMMUNIT DEVELOPMENT

Park Acres as percent of City Area 2019: 23%
Percent of people living within 10 minutes of a park 2019: 87%
Trust for Public Lands City Park Score Rating 2019: 58.0
New construction permits in Centers and Corridors 2019: 15.7%
Housing units per sq. mile 2019: 1,320
Downtown Office Vacancy Rate (H1) 2020: Albuquerque 15.5%, United States 11.4%

COMMENTARTY

With 87% of the city’s residents living within 10 minutes of parks, and close to 25% of the city’s area consisting of park acreage, the city’s investment in open space and planning has paid off substantially improving the overall quality of life.

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

Total pounds landfilled per person per day 2019: Albuquerque 3.49, United States 4.5
Open space acres per capita 2020: 0.053
EPA Air Compare (unhealthy days for general pop.) 2019: 0
Ozone Level (US Standard is 0.070 ppm as of Nov 2020) 2019: Albuquerque 0.071, United States 0.073
Gallons per capita per day water usage 2019: 121 gallons
Residential recycling rate 2019: 17%

COMMENTARY

It’s very encouraging that the city is outpacing the rest of the country when it comes to a number of environmental protections issues.

ECONOMIC VITALITY

Business registrations 2019: 4,966
Businesses still in business one year after starting 2019: 71%
Average weekly wages (target of $932) 2019: Albuquerque $945, United States $1139
Net change in working aged people moving to/from the state 2019: -4,803
Employment in government as % total 2019: Albuquerque 20.6%, United States 14.97%
Per Capita Income 2018: Albuquerque $42,536, United States $56,527
Average annual growth in per capita income 2019: Albuquerque 3.6% , United States 3.4%
Unemployment rate MSA (NSA) 2019: Albuquerque 4.6%, United States 3.7%
Residents feel hopeful in direction City is going (survey) 2020: 46%
Income inequality ratio (state-level data) 2019: Albuquerque 0.484, United States 0.485
Annual job growth 2019: Albuquerque 1.32%, United States 1.36%

COMMENTARY

Albuquerque’s low wages, per capita income, unemployment rates and reliance on government spending all point to the fact that the city has failed to diversify its economy. Albuquerque’s per capita income of $42,536 compared to the United States of $56,527 and 20.6% of Albuquerque’s work force is government related compared to the United States as a whole of 14%, are the biggest indicators that the state and city must get serious about economic development.

COMMUNITY AND CULTURAL ENGAGMENT

Total attendance at the ABQ BioPark 2019: 1.22M
Total attendance at the Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta 2019: 866,414
Total Community Fund and United Way Program Support 2019: 7.2M
Residents rate quality of life as either “excellent” or “good” (survey) 2020: 59%
Voting Participation Rate (% of voting age pop.) 2018: Albuquerque, 35.7% , United States 50.0%
Residents believe cultural & racial relations are positive (survey) 2018: 61%

COMMENTARY

The number one tourist attraction in the state of New Mexico is the ABQBio Park. During the 2015 municipal election, Albuquerque voters wisely approved with an overwhelming majority the voter petition drive initiative to increase the gross receipts tax for the BioPark. The tax will raise $255 million dollars over 15 years for the BioPark. The gross receipts tax initiative for the BioPark was needed because some $20 million dollars plus in repairs and maintenance to the facilities were needed and major repairs were ignored for eight years. There are $40 million dollars in upgrades and exhibits that are occurring to this day

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/02/28/any-raid-on-biopark-tax-funds-political-bad-faith-betrays-voters-trust/

GOVERNNMENTAL EXCELLENCE AND EFFECTIVENESS

Number of days required for commercial building permit approval 2019: 12 days
311 Call Quality Average 2020: 98%
City responsiveness to community needs (survey, scale 1 to 5): 3.3
General Obligation S&P bond rating 2019: AAA rating

2019 CITIZEN SATISFACTION SURVEY

The “Citizen Satisfaction Survey” is a research study commissioned by the City of Albuquerque to assess residents’ perceptions of the overall quality of life in Albuquerque, satisfaction with City services, and issues relating to crime, safety, and the economy. On January 21, 2020 the City of Albuquerque released the results of the 2019 study, the latest survey taken. The survey was of 607 adults living in Albuquerque and conducted November 8 to 24, 2019 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4% points.

The 2019 survey questionnaire consisted of 48 questions. The final survey report is 105 pages long and contains multiple bars and graphs to illustrate the results. The survey was done by Research and Polling, consider by many as the very best polling service as to accuracy in Albuquerque.
You can review the entire survey at this link.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6668008/FINAL-COA-Citizen-Survey.pdf

The 105 page “Citizen Satisfaction Survey” contains an executive summary in 8 major categories:

1. FEELINGS OF PERSONAL SAFETY,
2. CHANGES IN CRIME,
3. HOMELESSNESS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES,
4. ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT
5. ALBUQUERQUE FIRE RESCUE
6. THE ECONOMY
7. YOUTH PROGRAMS
8. MULTIPURPOSE ARENA/SOCCER STADIUM

Following are edited summaries:

1. FEELINGS OF PERSONAL SAFETY

“Overall, the vast majority (87%) of residents say they feel either very safe (57%) or somewhat safe (30%) when alone outside in their neighborhood during the day.

79% feel either very safe (37%) or somewhat safe (42%) in Uptown, compared to just 6% who feel unsafe.
73% feel either very safe (29%) or somewhat safe (44%) in Old Town compared to just 10% who feel unsafe.
70% feel either very safe (29%) or somewhat safe (41%) in the Cottonwood Mall area (just 5% feel unsafe).
67% feel either very safe (30%) or somewhat safe (37%) in City parks in your neighborhood, though 20% of residents feel either somewhat unsafe (11%) or very unsafe (9%)
64% feel either very safe (23%) or somewhat safe (41%) walking, hiking, or biking trails in the City. Eleven percent feel unsafe on these trails.
51% of residents report feeling either very safe (11%) or somewhat safe (40%) in the Nob Hill/University area, though 28% say they feel either somewhat unsafe (21%) or very unsafe (7%).
38% feel either very safe (6%) or somewhat safe (32%) Downtown. Forty-four percent of residents say they feel either very unsafe (17%) or somewhat unsafe (27%) when they are Downtown.
35% of residents say they feel either very safe (8%) or somewhat safe (27%) in the Coors Blvd. and I-40 area, though nearly two-fifths (38%) of residents feel unsafe in this area (12% have no opinion).

When residents who feel each of the different areas of the City are unsafe were asked (unaided) to give the reasons why, they are most apt to mention homelessness, drugs/drug use, and a high crime rate.”

2. PERCEIVED CHANGES IN CRIME

“Residents were asked if they feel different types of crimes in Albuquerque are going up, going down, or not changing. Overall, 64% of residents believe violent crimes are going up and 62% feel that crimes involving guns are going up.

The plurality of residents (43%) feel home burglaries are going up in Albuquerque, compared to 18% who say home burglaries are going down and 31% say this is not changing.”

3. HOMELESSNESS, SUBSTANCE ABUSE AND MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES

“Homelessness, substance abuse, and mental health are major issues facing many cities throughout the nation with no easy solutions. Just 13% of residents give the City positive marks for addressing the homelessness issue. The majority of residents (59%) feel the City is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness, while 26% give the City a mixed review on how it’s handling the issue.

Nineteen percent of residents also agree the City of Albuquerque is doing a good job of providing support for people with mental health issues, though 51% disagree. Although the City of Albuquerque is making considerable efforts to address these issues, many residents appear to be either unaware of what is being done, or do not believe the programs have been effective to date. All of these issues will take time and as the City continues to develop new programs and facilities to address these issues, public perceptions should change over time.”

4. ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT

“When it comes to the Albuquerque Police Department, half the residents (49%) believe APD is doing a good job addressing public safety issues and making quick responses to emergencies, while 22% have mixed feelings and 27% do not believe APD is doing a good job in this regard. Overall, these results are similar to those observed last year. Residents are somewhat polarized when it comes to how well APD is doing when it comes to interacting with people who have substance abuse and mental health issues.

While 35% believe APD is doing a good job in their interaction with those who have substance abuse or mental health issues, 28% disagree, and another 28% have a neutral/mixed opinion. The survey results also show that 40% of City residents say the Albuquerque Police Department is doing a good job working with the U.S. Department of Justice to implement new policies and reforms designed to reduce the use of force and encourage policing that ensures residents’ constitutional rights. Approximately one-in-five residents (21%) rate APD poorly for implementing the new policies and reforms, while 27% have neutral/mixed feelings.”

5. ALBUQUERQUE FIRE RESCUE

“Residents continue to view Albuquerque Fire Rescue highly as 84% of residents agree the Department is doing a good job responding to emergency medical services needs and making quick responses to medical emergencies, with 53% who strongly agree and just 3% who disagree. The majority of residents (55%) also agree that Albuquerque Fire Rescue is doing a good job interacting with people who have substance abuse and mental health issues, compared to 11% who disagree. It is interesting that 55% of residents feel Albuquerque Fire Rescue is doing a good job interacting with people who have substance abuse and mental health issues compared to 35% who feel APD is doing a good job interacting with this population.”

6. THE ECONOMY

“Residents were read various statements relating to the City of Albuquerque and the economy, and for each one, asked to rate how strongly they either agree or disagree using a 5-point scale where 5 is strongly agree and 1 is strongly disagree.

42% agree the City of Albuquerque is doing a good job of attracting out-of-state companies to open in the city, though 25% disagree and 27% have neutral or mixed feelings.
31% agree the City of Albuquerque is doing a good job of helping local businesses and entrepreneurs create jobs, though 26% disagree and 33% have neutral/mixed feelings.
20% agree the City of Albuquerque is doing a good job of keeping young local talent from leaving the city, compared to 43% who disagree (28% have neutral/mixed feelings) While the City has made strides in encouraging new businesses and economic development, the survey results show that many residents either believe more still needs to be done, or perhaps are not aware of what is being done to encourage more economic development.”

7. YOUTH PROGRAMS

“There is a perceived need for more before school, after school and summer programs for kids, as nearly three-in-four residents (74%) agree that more of these programs are needed, with 54% who strongly agree. Just 7% of residents do not agree that Albuquerque needs more before and after school programs and summer programs. Nearly nine-in-ten (84%) parents with children under the age of 18 feel more of these programs are needed.

Although there is a perceived need for more youth programs, there also appears to be a lack of knowledge about the programs that currently exist. Just two-fifths of the residents surveyed say they are aware the City offers summer and before and after school programs for kids. Among parents with children under 18 years of age, 64% say they are aware of these City programs for kids. Thirty-six percent of the parents with children under the age of 18 say they have kids who participate in the City summer and before and after school programs. Hispanic parents (45%) are much more likely than Anglo parents (26%) to say they have children who participate in the programs.”

8. MULTIPURPOSE ARENA/SOCCER STADIUM OR A PERFORMANCE ART CENTER

“There appears to be strong public support for building a new multipurpose arena that could house soccer games for New Mexico United, or a standalone soccer stadium. Two-thirds of survey respondents say they support building a new multi-purpose arena that could be used for New Mexico United soccer games and other events, compared to 24% who are opposed. Furthermore, 61% of respondents say they support a new standalone soccer stadium for New Mexico United, compared to 29% who are opposed.

In a separate question, residents were informed the City of Albuquerque is considering either building a new performing arts center or renovating existing facilities such as the KIVA Auditorium to bring in Broadway shows, popular musicians, and other national touring acts and further revitalize Downtown. They were then asked, if they would prefer that the City build a new performing arts center or renovate an existing facility, assuming the costs would be approximately the same. The majority of residents (55%) say they would prefer renovating an existing facility, while 30% would prefer building a new performing arts center.”

https://www.petedinelli.com/2020/01/27/annual-citizen-satisfaction-survey-reveals-decreased-optimism-transportation-ignored-citizens-not-one-burque-for-satisfaction-meaning-to-mayor-keller/

2020 CENSUS HIGHLIGHTS

On April 26, the results of the 2020 United States Census were released. Overall, the national growth rate was 7.4% between 2010 and 2020, the second slowest in U.S. history. The 2020 US Census reflects New Mexico had an anemic 2.8% growth in population since 2010.

New Mexico’s growth rate for the years 2010 to 2020 can be described at best as anemic. The census data reflects that New Mexico’s population growth slowed to a disappointing 2.8% over 10 years since 2010. This is the lowest population increase since the state’s 1912 statehood. The census count released puts the state population at 2.1 million in 2020, a net change of just 58,000 additional people since 2010.

The state’s growth was concentrated among adults over 65 which reflects an aging population for the state. According to the census data the under-18 population shrank by 8%. According to the census report:

“Given the status quo, New Mexico is heading toward having more, older New Mexicans using relatively expensive public services including Medicaid and Medicare, and fewer, younger New Mexicans in school and working.”

22% of the state’s total population is age 65 or older and is projected to increase to 42% by 2030.
10.9% of the state’s children are being raised by a grandparent.
47.7% of all households with children are single parent households as compared to the 32.5% national average.
10.8% of the population are veterans.

NEW MEXICO DATA BOOK

On April 10, the New Mexico Human Services Department (HSD) has released the 2021 State of New Mexico Data Book. It is only the second time that it has been compiled. The data book provides a comprehensive, data-driven summary of social, economic and health statistics for New Mexico. It contains specific county-by-county statistics and makes comparisons to national measurements.
The Data Book contains various sections, representing the types of information most frequently requested by a broad range of stakeholders. The link to the 351 page 2021 New Mexico Data Book document is here:

https://www.hsd.state.nm.us/2021-data-boo

Following are major highlights of the Data Book:

POPULATION BREAKDOWN

22% of the state’s total population is age 65 or older and is projected to increase to 42% by 2030.
10.9% of the state’s children are being raised by a grandparent.
47.7% of all households with children are single parent households as compared to the 32.5% national average.
10.8% of the population are veterans.

New Mexico has 5.5 full time primary care physicians per 10,000 people while the national average is 7.9 full time primary care physicians per 10,000 people.
New Mexico has 17.7 general hospital beds for patient care per 10,000 people while the national average is 23.5 beds for patient care per 10,000 people.
New Mexico has 2.2 intensive care beds per 10,000 people while the national average is 2.7 intensive care beds per 10,000 people.
37.2% of New Mexico’s population receives federal Medicaid benefits and Children’s Health Insurance benefits as of July, 2020 as compared to the 23% National Medicaid enrollment.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The results of the 2020 Albuquerque Progress Report and 2019 Citizens Satisfaction Survey, when reviewed together amount to taking the pulse the city, its private and public sectors and of its citizens.

No city can be just a cop on every corner, a fire truck on every street, a jail in every quadrant, a garbage dumpster at every turn, streets without potholes and buses like ART that no one will ever use. Any truly great city must include facilities that enhance the quality of life of its citizens, such as libraries, zoos, museums and aquariums, facilities like the ABQ Biopark, Balloon Museum, parks and recreation facilities and open space.

When reviewing both together, it is clear that Albuquerque has a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the country. However, when compared with the rest of the State, the city is doing much better.

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 3,779 qualifying donations of $5.00 to secure $661,309.25 in public financing.

EDITORS NOTE: Privately financed candidates for Mayor must gather more than 3000 nominating petition signatures from registered voters within the City from June 8 – August 10, 2021.

NOMINATING PETITION SIGNATURES

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, the signature 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.

$5.00 QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS FOR PUBLIC FINANCE

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 $661,309.25. 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).

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.

CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR

According to the City Clerks web site, there are 4 candidates registered for Mayor. The 4 candidates for Mayor listed in the order of appearance on the City Clerks web page 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. Bevins is a grassroots activist and was a Bernie Sanders for President 2020 campaign organizer. In a recent FACEBOOK video Bevins announced his withdrawal from the race.

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. The link to the Sheriff’s biography is here:

http://www.bernalillocountysheriff.com/bernalillo-county-sheriff/sheriff-manuel-gonzales-iii.aspx

3. TIM KELLER: Mayor Tim Keller is seeking a second 4-year term. He is a former State Senator and former NM State Treasurer. A link to the Mayor’s biography is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/about-mayor-timothy-m-keller-and-first-lady-elizabeth-j-kistin-keller-phd-sb

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 sought elective office.

https://www.abqjournal.com/2383801/several-vying-for-abq-mayors-office.html

PROCESSED PETITION SIGNATURES:

As of Friday, May 21, with more signatures gathered on Saturday and Sunday, following are the updated City Clerk numbers for Processed Petition Signatures starting with the candidate with the most and ending with the least collected:

MAYOR TIM KELLER

Required Petition Signatures: 3,000
Verified Petition Signatures: 2,729
Rejected Petition Signatures: 361
Remaining Petition Signatures Needed: 271
Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met: 91%

SHERIFF MANNY GONZALES

Required Petition Signatures: 3,000
Verified Petition Signatures: 1,639
Rejected Petition Signatures: 203
Remaining Petition Signatures Needed: 1,361
Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met: 55%

PATRICK BEN SAIS

Required Petition Signatures: 3,000
Verified Petition Signatures: 453
Rejected Petition Signatures: 391
Remaining Petition Signatures Needed: 2,547
Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met: 15%

NICHOLAS BEVINS

Required Petition Signatures: 3,000
Verified Petition Signatures: 366
Rejected Petition Signatures: 58
Remaining Petition Signatures Needed: 2,634
Percentage of Verified Petition Signatures Met: 12%

Bevins in a recent recorded message on his Facebook page said he was withdrawing from the race because the pandemic and the special election congressional race made it too difficult to collect nominating signatures and he did not see a path to collecting the required 3,000 petition signatures to make the November ballot by the June 19 deadline. You can review the official withdrawal here on his FACEBOOK page:

https://www.facebook.com/Nicholas.D.Bevins

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates/petition-qualifying-contribution-tally-1

PROCESSED $5.00 QUALIFYING CONTRIBUTIONS

As of May 21,with more $5.00 qualifying donations gathered on Saturday and Sunday, following are the updated City Clerk numbers for Processed $5.00 Qualifying Contributions starting with the candidate with the most collected and ending with the least collected:

MAYOR TIM KELLER

Required $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 3,779
Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 2,527
Rejected $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 185
Remaining $5.00 Qualifying Contributions Needed: 1,252
Percentage of Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 67%

SHERIFF MANNY GONZALES

Required $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 3,779
Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 1,724
Rejected $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 93
Remaining $5.00 Qualifying Contributions Needed: 2,055
Percentage of Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 46%

NICHOLAS BEVINS

Required $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 3,779
Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 28
Rejected $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 0
Remaining $5.00 Qualifying Contributions Needed: 3,751
Percentage of Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 1%

PATRICK BEN SAIS

Required $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 3,779
Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 3
Rejected $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 1
Remaining $5.00 Qualifying Contributions Needed: 3,776
Percentage of Verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions: 0%

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates/petition-qualifying-contribution-tally-1

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

As of May 24, there are only 26 remaining days until June 19 for candidates for Mayor to collect the mandatory 3,000 nominating petition signatures from registered city of Albuquerque voters and to collect the 3,779 qualifying donations of $5.00 from city of Albuquerque registered voters.

MAYOR TIM KELLER

Thus far, and based on 26 remaining days to collect signatures and $5.00 qualifying donations, Mayor Tim Keller is in the most comfortable position to collect both nominating petition signatures and $5.00 qualifying donations. The Keller campaign has collected 91% of the necessary nominating petition signatures and 67% of the $5.00 qualifying donations with 1,252 remaining donations to be collected. Collecting the remaining 1,252 donations is doable, but still difficult, and will require collecting an average of 48 donations a day.

SHERIFF MANNY GONZALES:

Based on the time remaining, it appears that Sheriff Manny Gonzales is having difficulty in collecting both the nominating petition signatures as well as the $5.00 qualifying donations. Gonzales has collected 55% of the required 3,000 signatures and needs to collect another 1,361 more, which is doable over the remaining 26 day remaining to collect.

Gonzales is struggling to collect the verified $5.00 Qualifying Contributions and has collected 1,724 donations or 46% and needs to collect another 2,055 donations or at least 79 donations a day for the next 26 days. If Gonzales does not qualify for public finance, he could declare he will seek private financing and stay in the race but it will be a major setback to his campaign. Gonzales will no doubt ramp up private donation efforts but donors will be reluctant to contribute to both him and a measured finance committee. Another impact of failure to qualify for public finance will be to dry up private contributions to the two measured finance committees set up to promote him.

Sources are also saying that Republican political operative and consultant Jay McClesky, know for his slash and burn tactics, is managing the Gonzales campaign and for that reason may be trying to turn things around for the Sheriff by tapping into Republican support for Gonzales. McClesky managed both former Republican Mayor Berry’s campaigns for Mayor as well as both campaigns for Republican Governor “She Whose Shall Not Be Named”.

NICHOLAS BEVINS

Bevins has collected a mere 366 nominating signatures out of 3, 000 and even fewer 28 qualifying $5.00 donations out of 3,779, will likely not make the ballot as a “public finance” candidate but could still opt to run as a privately financed candidate or a write in candidate.

PATRICK BEN SAIS

Sais has collected has collected a mere 453 nominating signatures out of 3, 000 and a paltry 3 qualifying $5.00 donations out of 3,779. It’s Sais will not make the ballot as a “public finance” candidate but could still opt to run as a privately financed candidate or a write in candidate.

AMOUNT RAISED BY 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.

Measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates. 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.

According to City Clerk records, 3 measured finance committees have been formed for the 2021 municipal election, 2 measured finance promoting and spending money on behalf of Manny Gonzales and one promoting Tim Keller. The measured finance committees and what they have raised according to the Second Campaign Finance Reports filed on May 10, 2021 are as follows:

1. RETIRED LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR A BETTER ALBUQUERQUE: $550 Cash Balance

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/Reports/FetchReportToPDF.aspx

STATED PURPOSE: “Support Albuquerque mayoral candidate who will improve the quality of life for its 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: $16,495 Cash Balance

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 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. 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.

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/OrganizationDetail.aspx?OrganizationID=7109

https://www.abqjournal.com/2381547/vigil-forms-political-action-committee-to-defeat-keller.html

3. BUILD BACK ‘BURQUE: $0.00 Cash Balance

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/Reports/FetchReportToPDF.aspx

As of April 26, one measured finance committees has been formed to support Mayor Tim Keller’s bid for a second 4 year term . The Measured finance committee is identified as “ BUILD BACK ‘BURQUE”.

STATED PURPOSE: “Support mayor Tim Keller’s re-election to a second term for the city of Albuquerque”

The Chairperson for “Build Back ‘Burque” is Michelle Mayorga. According to the American Association of Political Consultants “Michelle Mayorga has spent nearly 2 decades working on campaigns, progressive issues, and in local and national administrations. She previously served as Western Field Director at the AFL-CIO, Western Political Director at the DCCC, and Coordinated Director for the Democratic Party of New Mexico in 2012.”

https://theaapc.org/awards/40-under-40/class-of-2016/michelle-mayorga/

The Treasurer for “Build Back ‘Burque” is Robert Lara. Mr. Lara is a licensed New Mexico attorney and is the former State Treasurer of the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/OrganizationDetail.aspx?OrganizationID=7112

4. ABQ FIREPAC (NO FINANCE REPORTS FILED)

On May 12, a fourth measured finance committee named ABQ FIREPAC when it filed its registration with the city clerk. The stated purpose is to “ SUPPORT CANDIDATES WHO SUPPORT PUBLIC SAFETY & FIRE FIGHTER ISSUES”. What this measured finance committee is the local firefighter’s union.

Every election year, the local firefighters get very involved with municipal elections with endorsements and contributing to campaign efforts. The firefighters union not only provides campaign materials such as sign, but also provide volunteers for phone banking and other activities. Four years ago, ABQFIREPAC reported that it raised and spent $67,000 on the Mayor’s and City Council races.

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/OrganizationDetail.aspx?OrganizationID=7121

The two measured fiancé committees set up to promote Sheriff Gonzales have raised a paltry $17,050 combined. It is not at all likely they will be able to raise the amount of public financing of $661,309.25 that is available. It is the $661,309.25 in public finance that would make Sheriff Gonzales a viable candidate. As a candidate for Sheriff, Gonzales never ever came close to raising such a large sum of money. Keller on the other hand has done it. Both the measured finance committees for Gonzales are headed up by individuals who are ostensibly volunteers, totally unaccustomed to or who do not have access to the type of massive political contributions necessary to run a Mayor’s race.

Mayor Tim Keller’s measured finance committee identified as “ BUILD BACK ‘BURQUE” on the other hand has two highly connected individuals in the Democratic Party. Further, the Chairperson for “Build Back ‘Burque” is Michelle Mayorga and she has 20 years’ experience working on campaigns, progressive issues, and in local and national administrations. It’s likely “Build Back Burque will be relying upon Mayor Tim Keller’s contribution list of donors that contributed hundreds of thousands in campaign donations to his campaigns for State Senate and State Auditor. Keller’s measured finance committee may have not raised anything to date, but that will change dramatically as the race heats up.

THE CHALLENGES WE FACE

If things continue as they are, it is more likely than not that there will be only two candidates for Mayor out of the 4 announced, who will make the November 2, ballot. Further, it is more likely than not that Mayor Time Keller will be the only candidate that will qualify for public finance, with Sheriff Manny Gonzales falling far short of collecting the 3,779 qualifying $5.00 donations. It’s a damn shame.

The city is facing any number of problems that are bringing it to its knees. Those problems include the coronavirus pandemic, business closures, high unemployment rates, exceptionally high violent crime and murder rates, continuing mismanagement of the Albuquerque Police Department, failed implementation of the Department of Justice reforms after a full six years and millions spent, declining revenues and gross receipts tax, increasing homeless numbers, lack of mental health programs and little to none economic development.

The city cannot afford another mayor who makes promises and offers only eternal hope for better times that result in broken campaign promises. What is needed is a mayor who actually knows what the hell they are doing, who will make the hard decisions without an eye on the next election, not make decisions only to placate their base and please only those who voted for them. What’s needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems, a debate that can happen only with a contested election.

There is plenty of time for other candidates to run as privately financed candidates and raise private campaign donations. 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.

The commencement time for privately finance candidates to collect the 3,000 nominating petition signatures for Mayor is later and is June 8 to August 10. Privately finance candidates can collect donations at any time.

Anyone one interested in running for Mayor and who has a real love for this city and is concerned about what is happening is encouraged to contact the City Clerk’s office.
The link to the city web site for candidates is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates

https://campaignfinance.cabq.gov/PublicSite/SearchPages/CommitteeSearch.aspx

On Friday, May 21, the Albuquerque Journal Published a guest column entitled “Groups Oppose Bernco Sheriff’s Run For Mayor”. It was written by Brianna Gallegos, the President of the Young Democrats of New Mexico. Below is the guest column in full with the link to the Journal article:

“On behalf of the following caucuses and affiliated organizations within the Democratic Party of New Mexico – the Adelante Progressive Caucus, the Black Caucus, the Hispanic Caucus and the Young Democrats of New Mexico – we must ensure our elected officials uphold values that are key to our Democratic platform.

We stand in strong condemnation of Manny Gonzales and the actions he’s taken as sheriff. He is no Democrat and does not stand for the Democratic values that we fight for, and we cannot support his candidacy for mayor. These opinions are from these Democratic caucuses of the Democratic Party only and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the DPNM or other caucuses within the DPNM.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

After reading the 550-word guest column, one can only wonder if the blog article entitled “Führer Trump’s Favorite Democrat Sherriff Manny Gonzales Runs For Mayor; A DINO And Law Enforcement Dinosaur” published on April 20 was used as source material. The link to that blog article is here:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/04/20/fuhrer-trumps-favorite-democratic-sherriff-manny-gonzales-runs-for-mayor-a-dino-and-law-enforcement-dinosaur/

The Journal Guest column is very polite, but does indicate the tone of the campaign for Mayor will be taking over the next few months. It is more likely than not, the column was written by organizations that are already supporting Tim Keller for a second term, they just did not come out and say it. You can expect supporters of Sheriff Gonzales will be compelled to write their own column regarding Tim Keller which will likely center on Keller’s weaknesses.

LESS THAN STELLAR KELLER MAKES MANNY VIABLE

Democrats are very reluctant to acknowledge the shortcomings of Mayor Tim Keller out of sure sense of loyalty. Usually, any criticism of Keller in private with Democrats results in extreme hostility that is almost cult like.

There is no doubt that the city’s out of control crime rates will be the number one issue in this year’s Mayor’s race. That is the only reason why Sheriff Manny Gonzales poses a real threat to Keller. Had Mayor Tim Keller done a better job, and kept all of his promises the likes of Manny Gonzales being a viable candidate would not even be an issue.

For more on Keller’s broken promises see the below blog article entitled “Mayor Tim Keller’s Promises Made, Promises Broken As He Seeks Second Term; Voters Will Decide If Keller “Has Done A Good Job”.

Keller is the front runner now because of his incumbency, but as the body count mounts things are only going to get worse for him. His popularity will be taken down with each body count increase. His 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.

BURQUE BROS FAIL TO BRING DOWN VIOLENT CRIME

There is little doubt that crime will be the biggest issue in the 2021 election for Mayor. There is one very big thing that Mayor Keller and Sheriff Manny Gonzales have in common and that is they have been both failures in bringing down the cities violent crime. It is disappointing that inept “Burque Bros” Tim Keller and Manny Gonzales are running for mayor and are the two top contenders. Both are seeking public financing and will likely make the ballot.

Mayor Tim Keller, who has been in office for over 3 years, and Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales, who has been in office over 6 years, have both been ineffective in bringing down the city’s and the county’s crime rates. Sheriff Manny Gonzales and his BCSO are just as hapless in dealing with spiking crime rates as Mayor Tim Keller and APD.

During the last 3 years under Mayor Tim Keller’s leadership as well as the leadership of Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales, things have only gotten worse in the city as well as the county when it comes to murders and violent crime rates. When you listen to both, you hear them say things will get better. Gonzales especially says he can do better than Keller as mayor. Gonzales doing better than Keller as Mayor is not at all likely given he has failed at the county level during his entire tenure as Sheriff and he has failed to keep up with changes in law enforcement and constitutional policing practices.

With Keller and Gonzales, we are faced with walking into a voting booth, holding our nose and voting for the lesser of two evils, or just not voting at all.

The link to a related blog article entitled “Keller And Gonzales Run For Mayor; Both Failures In Bringing Murder Rates, Crime Rates Down; City And County’s 2021 Homicide Rates Likely To Break All Time Record”

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/04/28/keller-and-gonzales-run-for-mayor-both-failures-in-bring-murder-rates-crime-rates-down-city-and-countys-2021-homicide-rates-likely-to-break-all-time-record/

THE CHALLENGES WE FACE

The city is facing any number of problems that are bringing it to its knees. Those problems include the coronavirus pandemic, business closures, high unemployment rates, exceptionally high violent crime and murder rates, continuing mismanagement of the Albuquerque Police Department, failed implementation of the Department of Justice reforms after a full six years and millions spent, declining revenues and gross receipts tax, increasing homeless numbers, lack of mental health programs and little to none economic development.

The city cannot afford another mayor who makes promises and offers only eternal hope for better times that result in broken campaign promises. What is needed is a mayor who actually knows what the hell they are doing, who will make the hard decisions without an eye on the next election, not make decisions only to placate their base and please only those who voted for them. What’s needed is a healthy debate on solutions and new ideas to solve our mutual problems, a debate that can happen only with a contested election.

There is plenty of time for other candidates to run as privately financed candidates and raise private campaign donations. The commencement time for privately finance candidates to collect the 3,000 nominating petition signatures for Mayor is later and is June 8 to August 10. Privately finance candidates can collect donations at any time.

Anyone one interested in running for Mayor and who has a real love for this city and is concerned about what is happening is encouraged to contact the City Clerk’s office.

The link to the city web site for candidates is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/vote/candidate-information/2021-candidates

LINKS TO RELATED BLOG ARTICLE ARE HERE

Der Führer Trump’s Favorite Democrat Sherriff Manny Gonzales Runs For Mayor; A DINO And Law Enforcement Dinosaur

Mayor Tim Keller’s Promises Made, Promises Broken As He Seeks Second Term; Voters Will Decide If Keller “Has Done A Good Job”

Keller And Gonzales Run For Mayor; Both Failures In Bringing Murder Rates, Crime Rates Down; City And County’s 2021 Homicide Rates Likely To Break All Time Record

Paul Harvey was a far-right conservative radio talk host who for decades was on NPR radio. He would give background narratives on people, things and events as entertainment on his famous segment “The Rest of the Story” always ending with the catch phrase “and now you know the rest of the story.”

Axios is an American news website. In addition to news articles, Axios produces daily and weekly industry-specific newsletters, two daily podcasts and a documentary news series on HBO. Axious is known for its very short and condensed reports that do not go into great detail on the news reported.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axios_(website)

AXIOUS REPORT

On May 14, AXIOUS published on its internet web page an article entitled “Crime jumps after court-ordered policing changes”. The article was written by Russell Contreras, the Justice and Race reporter at Axios covering the policies and agencies at the heart of the administration of justice and how it impacts people of color. Following is the article with the internet link:

“Most police agencies in recent federally court-ordered reform agreements saw violent crime rates skyrocket immediately, according to an Axios examination of departments under consent decrees since 2012.

Los Angeles County, a region of 10 million people, saw a colossal rise of 61% in its violent crime rate following a consent decree with the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — an agency with a troubled history among Latinos and Black residents.

EDITORS NOTE:

The AXIOUS article contained a chart that outlined the percentage increase in crime in 7 of the largest communities two years before the consent decrees. Following are the reported increases in crime by percentage:

Baltimore: 11%
Cleveland: 13%
Maricopa County, Arizona: 19%
New Orleans: 20%
Seattle: 27%
Albuquerque: 36%
Los Angeles: 61%

“Yes, but: Municipalities with less than 50,000 people that entered into consent decrees saw violent crime rates decline.

The big question: Will the reform movement inspired by the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor be able to withstand the backlash against rising crime that has halted other changes to police departments?”

https://www.axios.com/police-consent-decrees-crime-jump-reforms-330f12b6-01ef-48ad-9e84-a65b4d78e7e7.html?fbclid=IwAR33H3dlGujQUvZdhKZhfhMCPwO2nqIO8HRDa82tE1qU4lyC4AIZa0KaBOo

COMMNETARY AND ANALYIS

In the spirit of Paul Harvey, now for the “The Rest of the Story.”

The AXIOUS report is misleading or at worse false when it implies the shooting of homeless camper James Boyd somehow had something to do with the DOJ consent decree and the mandated reforms. Homeless camper James Boyd was shot and killed by APD on Mar 24, 2014. It was two weeks later on April 10, 2014, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, submitted released is scathing 46-page investigation report on an 18-month civil rights investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). In other words, the DOJ was wrapping up their investigation when Boyd was killed and the killing was not one of the reasons for the DOJ investigation. You can read the entire DOJ report here.

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2014/04/10/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf

DOJ INVESTIGATION

The DOJ investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems of APD. The DOJ investigation “determined that structural and systemic deficiencies — including insufficient oversight, inadequate training, and ineffective policies — contribute to the use of unreasonable force.”

Based on the investigation and the review of excessive use of force and deadly force cases, the DOJ found “reasonable cause to believe that APD engage[d] in a pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force, in violation of the Fourth Amendment … . and [the] investigation included a comprehensive review of APD’s operations and the City’s oversight systems.”

Federal civil rights laws make it unlawful for government entities, such as the City of Albuquerque and APD, to engage in a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officers that deprives individuals of rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The investigative report found a pattern or practice of use of <em>“deadly force” or “excessive use of force” in 4 major areas:

1. The DOJ reviewed all fatal shootings by officers between 2009 and 2012 and found that officers were not justified under federal law in using deadly force in the majority of those incidents. Albuquerque police officers too often used deadly force in an unconstitutional manner in their use of firearms. Officers used deadly force against people who posed a minimal threat, including individuals who posed a threat only to themselves or who were unarmed. Officers also used deadly force in situations where the conduct of the officers heightened the danger and contributed to the need to use force.

2. Albuquerque police officers often used less lethal force in an unconstitutional manner, often used unreasonable physical force without regard for the subject’s safety or the level of threat encountered. The investigation found APD Officers frequently used take-down procedures in ways that unnecessarily increased the harm to the person. Finally, APD officers escalated situations in which force could have been avoided had they instead used de-escalation measures.

3. A significant number of the use of force cases reviewed involved persons suffering from acute mental illness and who were in crisis. The investigation found APD’s policies, training, and supervision were insufficient to ensure that officers encountering people with mental illness or in distress do so in a manner that respected their rights and in a manner that was safe for all involved.

4. The investigation found the use of excessive force by APD officers was not isolated or sporadic. The pattern or practice of excessive force stemmed from systemic deficiencies in oversight, training, and policy. Chief among these deficiencies was the department’s failure to implement an objective and rigorous internal accountability system. Force incidents were not properly investigated, documented, or addressed with corrective measures by the command staff.

BIG DISTINCTION OF ALBQUERQUE’S CONSENT DECREE FROM ALL THE OTHER CONSENT DECREES

What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from the other federal investigations of police departments such as Baltimore, Cleveland, Maricopa County, Arizona, New Orleans, Seattle and Los Angeles and their consent decrees is that the other consent decrees involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. The DOJ’s finding of a “culture of aggression” within APD dealt with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that were mentally ill and that were having psychotic episodes.

AXIOUS FAILS TO REPORT POLICE UNION OBSTRUCTING REFORMS

When it comes to the city of Albuquerque and APD , the glaring omission in the AXIOUS report is the fact the police union has aggressively opposed all the DOJ reforms. The truth is found in all the Federal Monitor reports. The police union membership include the APD Sergeants and Lieutenants and it is they that have been the biggest impediments in implementing all the Court Order reforms over the last 6 years. The police union and rank and file have essentially done whatever they could do, and at different times, to interfere with the reform efforts.

CONSENT DECREES

The claim is false that APD’s Court Approve Settlement Agreement is the cause of city’s increases in crime. The false claim reflects a level of ignorance of just how consent decrees work.

The AXIOS quotes Stephen Rushin, associate professor of law at Loyola University Chicago, but does not give the “rest of the story.”

Rushin’s academic report found an uptick in crime among the 31 cities that came under federal oversight between 1994 and 2016. The study also found those increases were temporary and diminished into statistical insignificance over time.

Stephen Rushin, the study’s co-author and a professor at the Loyola University Chicago School of Law had this to say:

“To say that … [consent decrees] don’t work, at minimum is misleading. … I don’t think anyone, even folks who have spent their life doing this, would think it’s perfect. But I think to say that it just doesn’t work and everyone knows it, that’s not true. … It would be fair to say there’s some empirical support for the claim that consent decree cities have seen maybe an uptick in crime relative to unaffected cities. … But, again it’s more complicated because our research … found that after a few years, that relationship goes away.”

According to Professor Rushin, other experts said that crime rates aren’t the only factor to consider when weighing the potential costs and benefits of consent decrees. For instance, a widely cited study from the University of Texas-Dallas found that cities operating under such agreements saw a decrease in civil rights lawsuits against police. The link to the University of Texas-Dallas study is here:

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9133.12295

Professor Rushin went on to say:

“These [crime] numbers are not destiny and there are good examples of cities as big as Chicago going through these kinds of very disruptive processes and coming out the end a much safer and seemingly more constitutional police department”.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2757809

One example is Los Angeles, which operated under a consent decree between 2000 and 2013. A 2009 report from the Harvard Kennedy School found that crime did rise in the first couple years of the consent decree, but at a pace no faster than it did across all of California.

http://lapd-assets.lapdonline.org/assets/pdf/Harvard-LAPD%20Study.pdf

DERELICTION OF DUTY

The problem always has been and continues to be that APD management, the police union and its membership have not fully embraced the reforms. In fact, all three have resisted them from time to time, at different times, as has been repeatedly documented by the federal monitor in at least 4 reports over the last 3 years.

Sean Willoughby, the union president, has said that police officers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being investigated, fired or disciplined. The police union has never articulated in open court and in clear terms exactly what it is about the reforms that are keeping rank and file from “doing their” jobs and “why they hate” the CASA as articulated by the union president.

It’s likely the union feels what is interfering with police from doing their jobs include the following:

The mandatory use of lapel cameras,

APD can no longer shoot at fleeing cars,

APD police can no longer use choke holds,

APD police need to use less lethal force and not rely on the SWAT unit

APD police must use de-escalating tactics and be trained in crisis intervention, and management must hold police accountable for violation of standard operating procedures.

It is a dereliction of duty if APD officers are intentionally and willfully “slowing down getting to dispatches and to not act when they need to” act. It is a dereliction of duty for an officer to simply refuse to act, refuse to take a call for service or intentionally delay the time to respond to a 911 emergency call, or refuse to make an arrest when the officer sees a crime in progress or has probable cause to make an arrest. The argument that “Officers fear that doing their job, will cause them to lose their job” is a feeble attempt to undercut and discredit the reform process in the hopes of bringing it to an end.

Simply put, if an APD police officer does their job and follows constitutional policing practices and procedures as they are required to do, there is nothing to fear and there will be no discipline let alone termination. If any police officer does not want to do their job and not follow constitutional policing practices as mandated by the consent decree, they are part of the problem and need to leave APD or find another line of work.

REASONS CITY’S CONSENT DECREE NOT CAUSING CRIME INCREASE

The APD Police Union and supporters have gone to questionable lengths contacting the news media to discredit the City’s 6-year-old settlement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the 271 mandated reforms alleging the consent decree is the cause of the City’s increase in violent crime and saying police cannot do their jobs.

Now the Police Union is engaged in a $70,000 ad campaign to discredit the reform process and to have the general public to tell the elected officials the reforms must stop and its a choice between the reforms of continued high crime. Sean Willoughby, the union president, has actually said “You can either have compliance with DOJ reforms or you can have lower crime. You can’t have both”.

There are 3 very strong reasons that the argument the City’s consent decree is causing an increase in violent crime in Albuquerque is false:

FIRST: Critics of the DOJ settlement falsely assume without definitive data that crime has increased because of the consent decree. Albuquerque’s increases in violent crime can be attributed in part to the national trend in violent crime. FBI statistics reveal that Albuquerque has the dubious distinction of having a crime rate 194% higher than the national average. The FBI has never linked the city’s consent decree to the rise in violent crime nor keeping APD from doing its job.

SECOND: Virtually all DOJ consent decrees are tailored to individual community needs. All other consent decrees deal with racial profiling and “systemic racism” and the use of excessive force and deadly force. Albuquerque’s consent decree is totally different. The DOJ investigation of APD did not deal with “racial profiling” nor “systemic racism” but with APD’s use of force with persons suffering from acute mental illness and in crisis. The DOJ found APD’s policies, training, and supervision failed to ensure that police encounters with people having psychotic episodes did so in a manner that respected rights and that were safe.

THIRD: Arguing that violent crime has increased in other cities that have consent decrees is a diversion tactic . It is a tactic used by police unions to interfere with the reform process of consent decrees. On June 6, 2020, a New York Times published the “How Police Unions Became Such Powerful Opponents to Reform Efforts”. According to the article as demands for police reform have mounted across the country in the aftermath of police violence or deadly shootings, unions have emerged as significant roadblocks to police reforms and change. The greater the political pressure for police reform, the more defiant police unions become in resisting police reforms. Police unions aggressively protect the rights of members accused of misconduct. Police unions can be so effective at defending their members that cops with a pattern of abuse can be left untouched, ostensibly undisciplined and they remain on the force.

The link to the entire New York Times article is here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/06/us/police-unions-minneapolis-kroll.html

CONCLUSION

Instead of resisting the consent decree, APD management, the police union and police officers must embrace the reform effort. The union and its media sympathizers also need to knock it off with attempting to influence the judge by use of the media to send the Federal Judge a message. The union attorney is more than capable of filing pleadings in support or opposition of the CASA, present evidence under oath to the Judge and make argument in a court of law.

Only until APD becomes in complete compliance will APD be able to fight crime without violating people’s civil rights and thereby allow the dismissal of the DOJ consent decree. One thing for certain is that only APD management, the police union and all APD police officers can make the consent decree actually work and have the court dismiss it sooner rather than later.

On May 17, the Albuquerque City Council voted unanimously to approve the 2021-2022 city budget of $1.2 billion, $711.5 million of which is the General Fund. The General Fund covers basic city services such as police protection, fire and rescue protection, the bus system, street maintenance, weekly solid waste pickup, all city park maintenance, city equipment, animal control, environmental health services, the legal department, risk management, and payroll and human resources.

With 27 different departments, the city employs upwards of 6,400 full time employees to provide the essential services city wide. The $1.2 billion proposed budget is an increase of upwards of $105 million, or 9.5%, over the current levels. The general fund spending increases to $711.5 million, an increase of $39 million, or 5.8%, from present.

The city link to the budget is here:

https://documents.cabq.gov/budget/fy-22-proposed-budget.pdf

The $711 million approved operating budget is 5.8% higher than current year general fund spending.

CITY EMPLOYEE PAY RAISES

The City Council approved a pay increases for city employees who did not see an across-the-board bump this year. The spending plan includes a 3% cost-of-living increase for the municipal government workforce. The Keller Administration had requested a 2% pay increase.

FREE PUBLIC BUS SERVICE

The council also amended the original budget by shifted money to fund free fares on city buses. Free public bus service had been discussed by the City Council before the COVID-19 pandemic. City Councilor Lan Sena said free bus service is even more important as the city emerges from the health crisis and related economic shutdown. The city currently offers free bus rides to certain passengers, such as students under 25 and people over 60, but the amended budget will provide enough money to expand it to everyone.

FUNDING FOR GATEWAY CENTER HOMELESS SHELTER

On February 18, 2021 the Keller Administration purchased the Lovelace hospital on Gibson Boulevard in Southeast Albuquerque for $15 million. The facility is a massive 529,000-square-foot building with upwards of 50% of it is said to be vacant. The city intends to convert the medical center into a Gateway Center which will add health resources for the city along with services for the unhoused, including centrally located shelter beds and supports to connect people with housing.

The City Council approved $4 million for programming at the city’s planned Gateway Center homeless shelter and services hub inside the old Lovelace hospital. The Council also approved an amendment to add $100,000 in one-time money to develop a health center with a pharmacy on the premises.

APD BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS

As has been the case for all past budgets submitted by the Keller Administration, public safety continues to be the number one priority of the proposed 2022 city budget. For that reason, the major aspects of APD’s Budget merits review.

The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) continues to be the largest budget department in the city. APD’s approved general fund operating 2022 budget is upwards of $222 million, or roughly 4.5% higher than fiscal year 2021 existing levels. Ultimately, the City Council approved nearly all the APD funding the Keller Administration requested in the budget proposal submitted on April 1.

Highlights of the APD proposed budget include:

Funding for 1,100 sworn positions and 592 civilian support positions for a total of 1,692 full-time positions. It also includes funding for new positions, including 11 investigators to support internal affairs and the department’s reform obligations under the Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement, and two communications staffers.

APD has 998 sworn officers after the March graduation of cadets from the APD academy, but is down to 987. Last year’s budget also had funding for 1,100 officers, but APD has failed over the last 7 years to reach budgeted staffing levels.

$2.3 million in funding to annualize funding for 44 additional sworn officer positions added in FY/21.
$3.5 million for a 2% Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA), subject to negotiations for positions associated with a union, health benefits and insurance administration.
$1.6 million for a net increase of 20 full-time positions for two full-time positions for the communications services department, one operation review language access coordinator, one senior buyer, one office assistant to support the Southeast Area Command Station and one office assistant to support the Northeast Command Station. Three full-time positions to support the Real Time Crime Center and 11 investigator positions to support internal affairs and compliance with DOJ.
$1,100,000 million for seven full-time positions added intra-year FY/21 at a total cost of including benefits and reduction of $126 thousand in contractual services for a net cost of $931 thousand.
$800,000 for the Department of Justice Independent Federal Monitor required under the Court Approved Settlement Agreement that is still pending after 6 years.
$400,000 for the Use of Force Review contract,
$800,000 thousand for the maintenance agreement for the new CAD/RMS software.
$106,000 for the family advocacy center lease.
$2,000,000 one-time funding increase Risk Recovery, which represents funding to cover litigation.
$74,000 for the Crisis Intervention (CIT) ECHO project.
$90,000 designated for the student loan forgiveness program for APD Officers.
$986,000 thousand for electronic control weapons (TAZER weapons).
$90,000 thousand for the CNM Cadet Academy.
$50,000 for the drag racing tactical plans from FY/21.

Funding for the following new positions are included in the proposed budget:

One senior advisor to the Mayor and CAO and one internal investigations manager were created.

One violence intervention data analyst and one violence intervention special projects manager were created to support the critical mission of reducing violent gun crime in the City.

One Superintendent of Police reform position created to provide guidance in reshaping the training, internal affairs and compliance with the Department of Justice and the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) reforms.

One Assistant City Attorney was created for APD.

NEW COMMUNITY SAFETY DEPARTMENT

The approved 2022 proposed city budget provides for a Community Safety budget of $7.7 million with 61 total employees across a range of specialties in social work and counseling to provide behavioral health services. Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair said some calls that would normally go to APD will be transferred to the Community Safety Department by this summer or fall.

In was in June of last year that Mayor Tim Keller announced the creation of the Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS). The new department as announced was to be responsible to send trained professionals to respond to certain calls for service in place of armed APD police officers or firefighters. It was to be an entirely new city department that was to be on equal footing with all the other 19 city departments, including APD and AFRD, that have hundreds of employees and separate functions, tasks, and services.

The ACS as originally presented by Mayor Keller was to have social workers, housing and homelessness specialists and violence prevention and diversion program experts. They were to be dispatched to homelessness and “down-and-out” calls as well as behavioral health crisis calls for service to APD. The new department envisioned will connect people in need with services to help address any underlying issues. The department personnel would be dispatched through the city’s 911 emergency call system. The intent is to free up the first responders, either police or firefighters, who typically have to deal with down-and-out and behavioral health calls.

During last year’s budget process, the Albuquerque City Council severely parred down the proposed new department. The new department as originally proposed by Keller was to have 192 employees, Keller cut it to 100 positions and then the City Council gutted it to 13 positions. The projected budget went from $10.9 Million as originally proposed by Keller then it was reduced to $7.5 Million, the City Council then slashed the budget further to $2.5 Million.

CIVID-19 STIMULUS PLAN APPROVED

During the May 17 City Council final budget hearing, the City Council also approved a $60 million spending plan for the federal COVID-19 stimulus money received through the American Rescue Plan Act. Highlights of funding approved include the following:

$8 million for business grants, including $2 million specifically for the arts and entertainment sector with $500,000 of the $8 million for a proposed art center in the Sawmill neighborhood
$5 million for renovations at Albuquerque Police Department’s Downtown headquarters.
$5 million to renovate the city’s Pino Yards facility
$3 million for city employee premium/hazard pay
$4.2 million to help residents who do not qualify for other stimulus
$4 million for new police cars and cars for other city departments
$4 million to fix the Albuquerque Convention Center’s leaky roof and improve energy efficiency
$3 million for gunshot-detection software
$3 million for Local Economic Development Act grants
$2 million to repair the roof and make other updates of the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum
$1.3 million appropriation for housing vouchers/eviction prevention/domestic violence programs with $250,000 to go specifically to the Albuquerque Street Connect program.
$1 million for improved Downtown lighting
$900,000 for a Tingley Beach splash pad and other improvements

2 CENT GAS TAX HEADED FOR A PUBLIC VOTE

In a narrow vote of 5-4, the council voted in favor of putting a 2-cent-per-gallon tax on the November 2 ballot. The city council bill would impose a gas tax of 2 cents per gallon on all gas sold at stations within city boundaries. The tax money raised would be used to rehabilitate public roads in the city. The revenue generated would pay for public street and roadway system projects, including rehabilitation to improve safety. According to a study, the new 2-cent-per-gallon tax in Albuquerque would cost car drivers $9.48 per year and truck and van owners $13.20.

Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones had this to say:

“I’m not a great advocate of raising any kind of taxes, but this is the most fair – that I’ve been speaking about publicly for 5 years at least. … As our expenses go up in the city, the cost to maintain and add new roads to our city is astronomical.”

Johnny Chandler with the Department of Municipal Development emphasized the importance of the tax. Chandler said the areas that could really use the help are southeast Albuquerque, southwest mesa, and the westside/Taylor Ranch area. According to Chandler:

“Those roadways, that asphalt, it cracks and they need some love … Those roads need some rehab. We’re planning on doing those as well but this additional funding, if it gets passed by voters, they’ll see an immediate benefit in their community. You’re always trying to keep up. … If we had $500 million right now at one time, that’s about how much money we would need to make every road in the city of Albuquerque as good as possible.”

Right now, the city is seeing only seeing $20-30 million for road rehab, which is ultimately a complete repaving and restriping of a roadway.

Links to source material are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/abq-city-council-approves-new-gas-tax-ordinance-now-its-up-to-voters/36454379

https://www.abqjournal.com/2391944/metro-beat-abq-city-council-votes-on-federal-relief-spending-gas-tax.html

CONCLUSION

The enacted City Council’s Fiscal Year 2021-2022 budget will now be presented to Mayor Tim Keller for final approval and signature.

On Monday, May 17, Democrat Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez announced that he is running for New Mexico Attorney General, joining Democrat New Mexico State Auditor who announced on May 13 he too is running. Current New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas is term limited and is finishing up his second term.

In his announcement, Torrez, 44, had this to say:

“New Mexicans are looking for somebody who’s a fighter in the attorney general’s office and someone who has real experience to take on the job. If you look at the work that we’ve done inside the district attorney’s office, we’ve been able to secure additional resources, modernize that office, transform how it operates, bringing frankly new capabilities that no one had ever envisioned.

Fundamentally, believe we don’t have a system right now that provides adequate protections for the general public. … It’s undeniable that we’ve got a very serious public safety challenge in Albuquerque. … Violent crime is unacceptably high, murders are extraordinarily high. But what we need right now are individuals with experience in different systems, and who have worked as prosecutors and police leaders, who can draw on ideas from around the nation and try and move this community in a new direction. And I think I bring that to the table.”

Links to news sources are here:

https://www.krqe.com/news/politics-government/district-attorney-raul-torrez-to-run-for-attorney-general/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2391604/district-attorney-torrez-enters-race-for-ag.htmlbI

PERSONAL BACKGROUND

Raúl Torres was born and raised in Albuquerque. He is the son of long time Assistant United States Attorney for New Mexico Pres Torres. He is married to Nasha Torrez, who is also an attorney, and the couple have two teenage children. Raul Torrez went to Sandia Prepatory School, graduated from Harvard University, went on to receive a master’s degree from the London school of Economics, and attained his law degree from Stanford University and went on to be a White House Fellow under President Barrack Obama before coming back to New Mexico to become an Assistant United States Attorney. In 2016, Torrez ran to for Bernalillo County District Attorney and succeeded District Attorney Kari Brandenburg who served as DA for 16 years. Torrez was elected to second term on November 5, 2020.

MIXED REVIEWS ON CASE MANGEMENT

During his 5 years as District Attorney, Raul Torrez has had a number of management issues relating to cases his office has handled.

GETTING SCAMMED

According to a February 20, 2019 Channel 4 Investigates Report, an imposter “scammed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office” falsely claiming she was a victim in a case. The imposter demanded the charges dropped against the violent defendant and that he be released from jail. Below is the link to the Channel 4 report:

https://www.kob.com/investigative-news/4-investigates-imposter-tricks-bernalillo-darsquos-office-inmate-released/5253378/?cat=504

According to the news report, the Defendant Freddie Trujillo pled guilty in a 2017 aggravated assault case. Originally, Trujillo was placed on probation but in December 2018, Trujillo was jailed for violating his probation. Trujillo violated his probation when he physically attacked his estranged relatives, David and Mary Ann Baca. Trujillo was arrested after the attack on his relatives and jailed. One month later Trujillo was released from jail after the District Attorney’s Office dropped the charges against him.

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE CASE BACKLOG

According to a February 14, 2019 Channel 13 news story, an anonymous tipster within the District Attorney’s office sent News 13 pictures of stacks of domestic violence cases piled up on a table in the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office.

Below is the link to the story:

https://www.krqe.com/news/investigations/domestic-violence-victims-left-in-limbo-for-months-after-reporting-crimes/1776417417?fbclid=IwAR2h1vFytK-efAL-ldfY8TpC1iz-eVKDnDal0qB-Lv5jSM2pOrsUFjAltFY

The photos were of 3 stacks of roughly 500 domestic violence case reports. Each one of the domestic violence reports were linked to a domestic violence victim left waiting from 2 to 5 months without hearing anything after calling police reporting misdemeanor domestic violence crimes including assault, theft and restraining order violations. Torrez went on camera with Channel 13, but only after a week had passed giving him time to clear out the backlog. District Attorney Raul Torrez explained the stacks of reports were made up of “criminal summons” cases where police did not arrest anyone for various reasons such as suspects had already left the scene of the crime.

INDICTING AN INNOCENT MAN

In March, 2017, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez announced and took credit for his office indicting 15 young people, ages 20 to 28, on gang related racketeering and other charges in the spring 2017. The RICO indictment was based upon an investigation of an alleged gang which APD said had started out tagging the area around West Central and escalated to committing violent crimes. District Attorney Raúl Torrez held a news conference calling the defendants “members of one of Albuquerque’s more notorious street gangs.”

On Sunday, August 18, 2019 the Albuquerque Journal reported on its front page that one of the young men indicted was 20-year-old Adan Perez-Macias. It was reported he was not a member of the gang APD was investigating or any other gang. It turns out Adan Perez Marcus did not know and never met the others indicted. Perez Marcus was not even in New Mexico at the time the crime he was accused of committing.

District Attorney Raul Torrez labeled the wrongful indictment of Perez-Macias as “unfortunate” and said it could have happened in any case his office handled.
When discussing the wrongful indictment of Perez Marcus, Torrez said “We can be smart and be effective as institutions. We make mistakes and we learn from these mistakes and improve.” Torrez had no apology, no expression of empathy and no offer of help to 20-year-old Adan Perez Marcus. When DA Raul Torrez says it’s all about justice for victims, he apparently does not believe innocent people are entitled to justice nor any kind of an apology for being wrongfully accused by his office for crimes.

VICTORIA MARTENS MURDER

The most egregious mishandling of a prosecution case by District Attorney Raul Torrez involved the August 24, 2016 murder of ten-year-old Victoria Martens whose was killed and her body dismembered and then burned in the apartment bathtub where she was killed in an apparent attempt to dispose of her body. Initially, Jessica Kelly and Michelle Martens, Victoria’s mother, and Michell’s boyfriend Fabian Gonzales, were arrested and charged for the rape, murder and dismemberment of 10-year-old Victoria. District Attorney Raul Torrez personally took over the prosecution of the case.

On June 29, 2018 District Attorney Raul Torrez announced he negotiated a plea agreement where Michelle Martens plead guilty to child abuse of her daughter Victoria Martens. The plea agreement negotiated was to 1 count of child abuse, recklessly caused, resulting in the death of a child under 12. The plea agreement guaranteed a 12 to 15-year prison sentence and dropped the most egregious charges of murder and rape. With the plea deal, Michelle Martens faced a possible sentence of 12-15 years, and with good time she could be out of jail within 6 to 7 years.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1191031/michelle-martens-pleads-guilty-to-child-abuse-faces-12-to-15-years.html

Torrez also announced several charges against Fabian Gonzales were dismissed. District Attorney Raul Torrez said that much of the initial facts of the case were “simply not true”, yet Torrez had previously persisted in holding news conferences. The murder charge was dropped, but Gonzales is still charged with child abuse and tampering with evidence. He was released from jail in November, 2019. The trial for Fabian Gonzales is now set to begin on January 3, 2022, according to court documents filed on May 17, 2021. His trial is expected to last three weeks from January 3 through January 21, 2022.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/fabian-gonzales-trial-set-for-january-2022/6112178/?cat=500

The initial APD police investigation and reports alleged that it was Jessica Kelley that stabbed 9-year-old Victoria Martens and that Fabian Gonzales strangled her while Michelle Martens watched the murder. During a press conference, Torrez stated that his office’s investigation found Michelle Martens falsely admitted to committing the crimes when forensic evidence revealed she and her boyfriend Fabian Gonzales were not even in the apartment at the time of the murder and did not participate in the murder.

Raul Torrez had held a press conference after press conference after press conference in the case, including private meeting with the Journal Editors and reporters at the Journal Center. He had more than 3 front page Journal stories on the case and was interviewed by Chanel 4 on the “Eye on Albuquerque” Sunday program on plea agreements he has negotiated in the case.

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/07/09/da-torrez-political-damage-control-mission-accomplished/

District Attorney Raul Torrez in his various media interviews shared extensive details of the case and prosecution strategy on the pending criminal prosecution against two other defendants, two identified and one yet to be found. During a January 4, 2019 pretrial motion hearing, District Judge Charles Brown determined District Attorney Raúl Torrez had been “reckless” in his December 10, 2018 statement he made to the media about defendant Jessica Kelley’s absence of cooperation before her no contest plea.

On January 4, 2018, District Judge Brown said that Torrez should not have issued the December 10, 2018 statement at all. Judge Brown admonished Raul Torrez for the statement by stating from the bench in open court:

“I don’t know if it was [intentionally done] to deprive the defendant of a fair trial, or if the goal was to shift the light away from the District Attorney’s Office or to move light to the Albuquerque Police Department … I find it to be woefully inaccurate in its ambiguity. It could be interpreted in many ways – all of them positive to the District Attorney’s office, some to the detriment of others. The District Attorney also has an obligation to protect the due process right of the defendant. … [The District Attorney] … represents the state, which is everyone including the defendant and the defendant’s families … The District Attorney’s obligation is to the system.”

DA RAUL TORREZ ATTACKS CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM AND JUDICIARY

During his first term as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Raul Torrez attacked the New Mexico criminal justice system and judges on three fronts:

FIRST: TORREZ BLAMED THE COURTS FOR “REVOLVING DOOR” HIGH VIOLENT CRIME RATES

Soon after being elected DA, Torrez began to blame the courts for the rise in violent crime rates saying that the “revolving door” is the courts fault. Four years ago, Torrez accused the District Court and the Supreme Court’s case management order (CMO) for being the root cause for the dramatic increase in crime and the dismissal of cases. The Supreme Court issued the order mandating disclosure of evidence within specific time frames and to expedite trial. Torrez challenged the case management order before the New Mexico Supreme Court and also took action against an individual judge claiming the judge was requiring too much evidence to prove that a defendant was too violent to be released with bond.

Less than six months after being sworn in as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Torrez had the DA’s Office issue a report that outlined the problems he perceived since the issuance by the Supreme Court of the Case Management Order (CMO). The main points of the DA’s 2016 report were that defense attorneys were “gaming” the systems discovery deadlines, refusing to plead cases, demanding trials or dismissal of cases when not given evidence entitled to under the law. The District Court did their own case review of statistics and found that it was the DA’s Office that was dismissing the majority of violent felony cases, not the courts.

SECOND: 65% COMBINED DISMISSAL, ACQUITTAL AND MISTRIAL RATES

In mid-2015 the Bernalillo County 2nd District Court began shifting from grand jury use to implementing “preliminary hearing” schedule. Raul Torrez was sworn in as District Attorney on January 1, 2017 and from day one he opposed the shift to preliminary hearings.

District Attorney Raul Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller wrote a joint letter to the New Mexico Supreme Court requesting it to intervene and stop the plans of 2nd Judicial District Court (SJDC) to shift away from the use of grand jury system to a preliminary hearing system.

The District Court provided an extensive amount of statistics, bar graphs and pie charts to the New Mexico Supreme Court to support the decision to shift from grand jury hearings to preliminary hearing showing it was necessary. The statistics revealed the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raul Torrez had a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate with cases charge by grand juries. The data presented showed in part how overcharging and a failure to screen cases by the District Attorney’s Office was contributing to the high mistrial and acquittal rates.

The Supreme Court responded to the Torrez-Keller letter refusing to intervene but urging District Attorney Torrez to work with the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (BCCJCC) to resolve his concerns about ongoing cuts to the grand jury system.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/da-wants-nm-supreme-court-to-review-grand-jury-changes/5012558/?cat=500

THIRD: SHIFTING THE BURDEN OF PROOF

Bernalillo County District Attorney Raúl Torrez proposed a constitutional amendment that would create a “presumption” that a defendant is a threat to the public when charged with a violent crime and that they should be jailed until pending trial without bond or conditions of release. The presumption would shift the burden of proving dangerousness from the prosecution and require defendants accused of certain crimes to show and convince a judge that they should be released on bond or conditions of release pending their trial on the charges.

According to Torrez, the cases where a defendant would be required to show they do not pose a threat to public and should be released pending their trial would include “the most violent and serious cases” such as murder, first-degree sexual assault, human trafficking, first-degree robbery, crimes involving a firearm and defendants who are on supervision or parole for another felony. Such a shift of burden of proof could conceivably require a defendant to take the stand during a detention hearing before their trial and a waiver of their 5th Amendment Constitutional Right against self-incrimination.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1318399/da-to-unveil-new-pretrial-detention-proposal-ex-some-defendants-would-have-to-prove-they-should-be-released-pending-trial.html

PRAISE FOR ACTIONS

Torrez has won significant praise from defense attorneys for publishing a list of police officers with a history of dishonesty, use of force, bias or other issues that might make them unfit to aid in a prosecution.

In a letter dated October 14, 2020, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez notified the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) and the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) that his office was introducing a new disclosure policy. The policy is based on the 1974 United States Supreme Court ruling Giglio v. United States, 405 U.S. 150 (1972). The Giglio ruling requires the prosecuting agency, in this case the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, to disclose to a criminal defendant all information or material that may be used to impeach the credibility of the prosecution witnesses including police officers and sheriff officers who are witnesses for the prosecution in any case.

The Supreme Court ruling in the Giglio case in nothing new and has been required since 1972. The DA’s office formalizing the process is new. According to the DA’s office, it is being done now because of the dramatic “recent slow-down” in the criminal courts giving the time to develop a training protocol and the infrastructure to launch the new policy.

According to District Attorney Raul Torrez, the new system will bring transparency to the criminal justice system and hold prosecutors and law enforcement accountable. Torrez told both APD and BCSO in his October 14 letter:

In 2020, DA Torrez also filed a civil lawsuit accusing a heavily armed militia group of operating illegally as a military unit and trying to usurp law enforcement authority.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Both State Auditor Brian Colón and District Attorney Raul Torrez are already well-funded each reporting over $300,000 in their campaign accounts. It’s likely more will run. New Mexico State Senator Jacob Candelaria is said to be considering running for Attorney General as is former United States Attorney Damon Martinez who ran unsuccessfully for congress 3 years ago.

Whoever wins the Democratic Primary in June, 2022 will likely become the next Attorney General. The race between both Colon and Torrez is bound to be hard fought in that both have expressed they are interested in eventually becoming Governor or going on to serve in congress. Elected Attorney Generals have gone onto higher office including Toney Anaya who was later elected Governor, Jeff Bingaman who was later elected United States Senator and Tom Udall who was later elected United States Senator. Current Attorney General Hector Balderas is said to be looking at running for Governor.

Republicans are said to be looking for a candidate, but no names have surfaced. The last time New Mexico elected a Republican Attorney General was 34 years ago when Republican Hal Stratton was elected Attorney General of New Mexico and served from 1987–1990.