EDITORS’ NOTE: THIS BLOG ARTICLE WAS ORGINALLY PUBLISHED ON OCTOBER 16 BUT WAS INADVERTINGLY DELETED. IT HAS BEEN UPDATED WITH CORRECTIONS AND CLARIFICATTIONS.
After upwards of six months of speculation, Democrat Pat Davis And Republican Trudy Jones have made it official and announced that they will not seek another term on the Albuquerque City Council. Both Davis and Jones said they intend to serve the remainder of their terms which run through the end of 2023. Both Jones and Davis said they are ready to make way for some new voices on the council. A total of 4 City Council seats will be on next year’s municipal ballot and include District 2 now represented by progressive Democrat Isaac Benton and District 4 now represented by conservative Republican Brook Bassan.
REPUBLCAN TRUDY JONES
Republican Trudy Jones, now 73, was first elected to the City Council in October 2007 to represent District 8, Albuquerque’s Far Northeast Heights and Foothills. She has been elected 4 times to the council and will complete 16 years of service in 2023. She is a retired real estate agent and said she was drawn in 2007 to the public service element of the council. She said her focus since becoming a city councilor has been improving public facilities in her district and said she is especially proud of the investments in parks and roads.
As a city councilor and as a realtor, it was not at all surprising that her primary interest was in land-use planning and zoning matters. She was the co-sponsor of the city’s Integrated Development Ordinance, which in 2017 replaced the city’s old zoning code, and chairing the city’s Land Use, Planning & Zoning committee for the past three years. She was a staunch supporter of the disastrous ART Bus project down the center of Central. This past year she voted to support “Safe Outdoor Spaces” which are government sanctioned tent encampment for the homeless and “motel conversions” which will allow the city to purchase motels to be converted to long-term low-income housing. Jones said she wants to shepherd various infrastructure projects to the finish line before leaving office.
Jones joked about her departure from the city council saying:
“I’m old and grumpy. … Now, I’m giving people enough notice that someone – several people, I would hope – should step up and decide to run for this seat.”
DEMOCRAT PAT DAVIS
Democrat Pat Davis, now 44, was first elected to the City Council in 2015 succeeding City Councilor Rey Garduno and in 2019 Davis was elected to serve another 4 year term. Davis represents District 6, which encompasses the International District, Mesa Del Sol, Nob Hill, Southeast Heights, and the University of New Mexico.
Davis is a former Washington D.C. police officer. He came to New Mexico soon after being involved with a police officer shooting where he shot an African American man twice in the shoulder who was fleeing from Davis at a “traffic stop”. Davis was sued in Washington, DC over the shooting and he relocated to Albuquerque and became a UNM Campus Police officer. Davis was sued for civil rights violations as a UNM Campus Police Officer and he was accused of conducting unlawful “search and seizures” at homes without a search warrant. At least 2 of the civil rights violation cases Davis was sued over as a UNM Campus Police Officer settled out of court for upwards of $75,000.
Davis relocated to New Mexico and became a “progressive Democrat” saying his Republican conservative philosophy had changed, especially with respect to law enforcement, and saying he had done a few things as a police officer he was not “proud of”. When Davis left the UNM Campus Police, he started a new career and founded Progress Now, a politically progressive nonprofit and was employed as its Executive Director. When it was revealed that Davis as a police officer was involved with the shooting of an African American in Washington, DC, Progress Now demanded that he resign as President of the Albuquerque City Council and from the City Council itself. The demand for his resignations came at the height of the “Black Lives Matter” movement and after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis, Minnesota Police Officers.
In 2016, the then first term city councilor Pat Davis ran for the United States Congress to replace then Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham who decided to run for Governor. Davis withdrew from the congressional race when he polled at 3% and could not raise the money to run a viable campaign with Deb Haaland ultimately being elected to congress.
Davis is considered one of the leading progressives on the city council and worked on the city’s early solar energy initiatives and co-sponsored legislation that strengthened the city’s immigrant-friendly status, and another bill that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana years before the state legalized recreational cannabis. Once elected to the city council, Davis became a staunch supporter of the disastrous ART Bus Project, Republican Mayor Berry’s $120 million legacy project, and voted repeatedly to fund the project that ultimately destroyed the character of Route 66. Davis refused to advocate to put the ART Bus project on the ballot for public approval and told his constituents that the city council did not have the authority to place it on the ballot for approval which was simply false.
In her first term, Governor Michell Lujan Grisham appointed Pat Davis to head up her task force to formulate legislation for the legalization of recreational marijuana, which was in fact legalized in 2021 by the New Mexico legislature. Davis has formed a cannibus consulting firm that helps clients with applications for state cannibus licensing and compliance. Davis is said to charge upwards of $10,000 to assist in securing a cannabis license for his clients.
Davis said he would still like to make headway on gun control policy before he leaves the city council. His 2020 proposals to require gun locks and secure storage for firearms, and to ban guns at City Hall and other city facilities failed and he acknowledges the current council composition makes it unlikely he will gain traction on those issues. Davis is building a small media network as publisher of three independent newspapers: the Corrales Comment, the Sandoval Signpost and The Paper.
By announcing his intentions now not to seek a third term, Davis said he is giving others interested in his job a chance to “research and build networks.” Davis had this to say about his departure from the city council:
“I think the city has got to find some new voices to help move us forward. I want to give some folks an opportunity to try that and maybe somebody else will be more successful than I would be. … I have a lot of other things going on. … I can leave the City Council and still have a voice from the newspaper job that I could do more work in.”
The link to quoted news sources is here:
https://www.abqjournal.com/2549631/two-city-councilors-say-they-wont-seek-reelection.html
BOTH DAVIS AND JONES FAILED AT APD POLICE OVERSIGHT
The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including controlling its budget. Jones and Davis did nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” and “excessive use of deadly force by APD.” Neither have ever challenged the previous and the current Mayor Administrations and the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.
Each time the Federal Court appointed Monitor presented his critical reports of APD to the City Council, Jones and Davis remained silent. Both declined to demand accountability from Mayors Berry and Keller and hold the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms. Both Jones and Davis have never attended a single one of the federal court hearings on the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and the 16 Federal monitors report hearings.
MOST EGREGEOUS VOTES
The most egregious votes by Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis was that they voted for the final adoption of the ABC-Z Comprehensive Plan in 2017, now called the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) which is now having long term impact on our neighborhoods and favors developers.
It was in 2015 that former Mayor Richard Berry during his second term started the rewrite process of the city’s comprehensive zoning code and comprehensive plan to rewrite the city’s entire zoning code. It was initially referred to as the ABC-Z comprehensive plan and later renamed the Integrated Development Ordinance (ID0) once it was passed. In 2015, there were sixty (60) sector development plans which governed new development in specific neighborhoods. Forty (40) of the development plans had their own “distinct zoning guidelines” that were designed to protect many historical areas of the city.
Simply put, the IDO is and has always been an abomination that favors developers and the city’s construction and development industry. The 2017 rewrite was a rush job. It took a mere 2 years to rewrite the entire zoning code and it emerged as the Integrated Development Ordinance. The ABC-Z project rewrite was nothing more than making “gentrification” an official city policy and the “gutting” of long-standing sector development plans by the development community to repeal those sector development plans designed to protect neighborhoods and their character.
COUNCIL TURNOVER
The 2021 municipal elections resulted in a turnover of 4 city council seats out of 9 with 2 city councilors deciding not to run again and two other Democrat incumbents losing to challengers. The City Council went from a 6 to 3 Democrat “progressive” majority to a 5 to 4 Democrat majority that is decidedly more conservative leaning thanks in large part to the election of Westside conservative Democrat Louie Sanchez who defeated progressive Democrat Lan Sena, who was appointed by Mayor Tim Keller after the death of City Councilor Ken Sanchez, and the election of right wing Republican Dan Lewis who defeated Democrat Cynthia Borrego. Lest any one forgets, 5 years ago City Councilor Lewis ran and lost to Mayor Tim Keller in a landslide. Lewis is already telling his supporters he intends to run for Mayor again in 2025.
After the December 7 City Council runoff election, the 5 Democrats on the new city council as of January 1, 2022 are:
District 1 Conservative Louie Sanchez (Elected on November 2 defeating Lan Sena.)
District 2 Progressive Isaac Benton
District 3 Moderate Klarissa Peña (Ran unopposed on November 2 .)
District 6 Progressive Pat Davis
District 7 Progressive Tammy Fiebelkorn
After the November 7 runoff election, the 4 Republicans on the new city council are:
District 5 Conservative Dan Lewis (Newly elected)
District 4 Conservative Brook Bassan
District 8 Conservative Trudy Jones
District 9 Conservative Renee Grout
Because of the 2021 municipal election and its move to the conservative right, it has frequently taken to attempting to repeal progressive policies adopted by the previous city councils. That includes the city’s plastic bag ban repeal by the current council, attempting repeal the Mayor’s authority to issue emergency public health orders to deal with the pandemic and weighing whether to replace the zero-fare bus pilot program.
2023 MUNCIPAL ELECTION
The two other City Council District seats that will be on next year’s 2023 municipal ballot are District 2 represented by 4 term Democrat City Councilor Isaac Benton and first term District 4 Republican Brook Basaan. Benton and Basaan have not yet said if they will be running again, but if they do, it is expected they will have strong opposition.
DEMOCRAT ISAAC BENTON
Democrat Isaac (Ike) Benton, 71, is the District 2 City Councilor and was first elected to the council in 2005 and has been elected 4 times to 4 year terms. Benton is a retired architect and avowed urbanist. Benton’s city council district includes a large area of downtown Central and the North Valley which leans left and is heavily Hispanic. Benton ran unopposed in 2015. In 2019, Benton had 5 opponents with 4 having qualified for public finance. Four of his opponents were Hispanic males ranging from the ages of 28 to 39, and one was a Republican Hispanic female. In 2019 Benton was forced into a runoff with Zack Quintero, 28, who was a recent UNM Law School graduate and economist and Benton won the election. Quintero for his part ran unsuccessfully for State Auditor this year and eventually became the statewide campaign field coordinator for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s successful re election campaign.
Benton, like Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis, voted for enactment of the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO) in 2017. What is ironic is that Benton’s City Council District 2 has the biggest concentration of historical neighborhoods and it is the one district that is now being adversely affected the most by the IDO as it encourages gentrification.
Benton, like Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Pat Davis, did nothing when it came to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms mandated by the Court Approved Settlement Agreement after the Department of Justice found a “culture of aggression” and excessive use of deadly force by APD. Benton never once challenged the previous and the current Mayor and the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.
REPUBLICAN BROOK BASAAN
Republican Brook Bassan is the District 4 City Councilor and she is serving her first 4 year term on the city council. In 2017 Republican Brook Bassan was elected to replace retiring 4 term Republican City Councilor Brad Winter. The major borders of District 4 are generally Montano/Montgomery on the South, Tramway on the North, Academy/Ventura/Holbrook on the East and Edith on the West.
It was in June of this year that Brook Bassan became embroiled in controversy when she supported and was the chief advocate and sponsor for “Safe Outdoor Spaces” amendment to the Integrated Development Ordnance (IDO) that now permit 2 homeless encampments in all 9 city council districts. Safe Outdoor Spaces are city sanctione homeless encampments designed to have 40 designated spaces for tents allowing upwards of 50 people, requires hand washing stations, toilets and showers, require a management plan, 6 foot fencing and require social services offered.
On June 16, a neighborhood association meeting was scheduled in Bassan’s City Council District where Bassan agreed to speak to discuss efforts to combat crime. Upwards of 150 angry constituents showed up and all hell broke loose during and the meeting and it degenerated into a heated discussion of Bassan’s sponsorship of “Safe Outdoor Spaces”. Within days after the meeting, Bassaan issued a formal apology to her constituents for her sponsorship that generated front page Albuquerque Journal coverage and she withdrew her support of “Safe Outdoor Spaces”.
Bassan introduced legislation to place a moratorium on the land use as well as a repeal of the land use, but the damage has been done with upwards of 6 applications for Safe Outdoor Spaces made with 3 approved and with one appealed. The moratorium passed on a 5-4 vote and Mayor Keller vetoed it and the Council failed to override the veto with the necessary six votes. The repeal is still pending with the City’s Environmental Planning Commission holding a hearing on the repeal and recommending that the city council repeal the legislation. It likely the repeal will pass on a 5-4 vote, Mayor Keller will veto it and the Council will fail to override his veto with the requited 6 votes.
2022 CITIZEN PERCEPTION SURVEY SUGGESTS MOOD FOR COUNCIL CHANGE
Given the fact that upwards of 4 city councilors could be replaced in the 2023 municipal election, the mood of the city and likely issues merit discussion for potential candidates.
Each year, the City of Albuquerque commissions a survey to assess residents’ satisfaction with various City services and issues relating to crime, homelessness, and public safety. The study is required by City ordinance. On September 6, the City has released the City of Albuquerque Citizen Perception Survey dated August 2022. The link to review the full survey is here:
https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/documents/final_coa-citizen-sat-2022.pdf
Five major categories covered by the survey are:
Quality of Life
Personal Safety
City Services
Homelessness
Direction City Is Going
Albuquerque Police Department
The edited summary results of the survey are as follows:
SURVEY RESULTS ON QUALITY OF LIFE
“… When residents were asked, in an unaided, open-ended manner, what they believe are the things that make Albuquerque special, the most common responses include [the following]”:
“Weather or climate: 31%
The culture: 26%
The diverse population: 18%
Friendly people: 15%
The Sandia Mountains: 15%
The food/cuisine: 13%
When asked unaided what values are most important to Albuquerque, residents responded as follows:
23% of survey respondents mention family
17% cited safety/security
12% cited pride in community and culture/preserving culture are each mentioned
11% cited diversity.
17% of residents did not offer a response.
Residents rated the quality of life in Albuquerque as follows:
48% of residents rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good at 42% or excellent at 6%. 30% give a fair rating.
17% of residents feel the quality of life in Albuquerque is either poor at 12% or very poor at 5%.
Fewer than half the respondents, 48%, rate the city’s quality of life as “excellent” or “good,” down from 59% in 2020. Though “good” remains the most common rating at 42%, 17% rated it as “poor” or “very poor. The percentage of residents who rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent has fallen from 54% in 2018, and 59% during the height of the pandemic in 2020 to 48% currently.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON QUALITY OF LIFE
The survey results revealed that over half those surveyed, 52%, say they are concerned about the city’s direction. This compares to 43% who say they are hopeful. In the December 2020 survey, 50% said they were hopeful. The percentage of residents who say they are hopeful about the direction of the City has fallen from 50% in December of 2020 to 43% in 2022.
Although 43% of residents say they are either somewhat hopeful with 34% or very hopeful with 9% about the direction of the City, 52% say they are either somewhat concerned at 30% or very concerned at 22%.
Anglo residents with 58% are more apt than Hispanics with 44% to rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent.
It is not surprising that many residents are concerned about the direction of the City given the challenges currently being faced across the nation. The survey noted that residents across the nation have concerns about where the country is heading as a whole. [An example is] the website RealClear Politics calculates the average of different polls conducted among voters and adults across the nation and currently shows that an average of 74% believe the country is currently going on the wrong track, while an average of just 18% feel the country is heading in the right direction.
SURVEY RESULTS ON PERSONAL SAFETY
Crime and feelings of personal safety are important components to perceived quality of life. Overall, 81% of Albuquerque residents say they feel in their neighborhood during the day. (Very Safe at 51% + somewhat at 30% = 81%)
However, the 81% drops to 57% felling safe at night. (Very safe at 24% + somewhat safe at 33% = 57%.) In other words, there is a day and night different of 24%. The gap has narrowed from 2020, when 68% reported feeling safe in their neighborhoods at night and only 24% said they felt unsafe.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON “PERSONAL SAFETY”
One of the most disturbing statistics from the Citizen’s Survey is that only 57% of those surveyed felt safe at night in their own homes. It likely that 57% is on the very low side. At the core of citizens do not feel safe in their homes at night is the City’s high violent crime and homicide rates.
An Albuquerque Journal poll found that 82% of the public feel that crime is very serious, 14% said crime is somewhat serious for a staggering total of 96%. Albuquerque has seen a major spike in violent crime and the rates are some of the highest in the country.
In the last 3 years, Albuquerque has had a breaking number of homicides each year. In 2021 the city had 117 homicides. As of August 30, APD reports that there have been 88 homicides, with the city well on it way to breaking the 2021 all time record.
apd-homicide-list-for-web-site-as-of-02sep2022.pdf (cabq.gov)
SURVEY RESULTS ON CITY SERVICES
The percentage of residents who feel Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs has dropped from 48% observed in 2020, which was an all-time high dating back to 2011, to 32% a 17% drop. Specifically, 32% agree Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs, 38% have a neutral opinion, 28% disagree that City Government is responsive.
These results are similar to those observed in previous studies dating back to 2011 with the exception of the 2020 study which saw a big spike in positive reviews. The 2020 results may have been an anomaly given that so much attention was being given to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated shutdowns coupled with the fact that the majority of residents give City Government high marks for the City’s response to COVID.
Residents were asked to rate how well Albuquerque City Government is handling specific issues using a five-point scale where five is excellent and one is very poor.
47% give City Government positive marks with a score of 4 or 5 when it comes to maintaining city parks and open space areas.
34% give positive ratings supporting renewable and clean energy programs.
34% give positive ratings for maintaining roads and streets
32% give positive ratings for supporting the local economy
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON CITY SERVICES
It’s very clear from the survey that dissatisfaction with city response to community needs has increased dramatically. The percentage of residents who feel Albuquerque City Government is responsive to community needs has dropped from 48% observed in 2020, which was an all-time high, to 31% found in 2021, a 17% decline. This is very difficult to accept, let alone understand, given that Mayor Tim Keller has submitted, and the City Council has approved in 2 consecutive years the 2 largest city budgets in its history, one for $1.1 Billion in 2021 and the other for $1.4 billion in 2022.
On May 17, 2021, 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
On May 16, 2022, the Albuquerque City Council approved the 2022-2023 city budget. The overall budget approved by the city council was for $1.4 Billion with $841.8 representing the general fund spending with an increase of $127 million, or 17.8%, over the 2021-2022 c budget of $1.2 Billion.
The link to city approved budgets is here:
https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/budget/annual-budget
SURVEY RESULTS ON THE HOMELESS
“The issue of homelessness continues to be a major challenge in Albuquerque as it is in many other cities.
70% feel the City is doing a poor job of addressing homelessness
9% of residents give City Government positive marks for addressing the homelessness issue
20% give a mixed or neutral rating.
The percentage of residents who give the City positive scores for addressing homelessness had risen from 13% in 2019 to 29% in 2020 but it has now fallen by 20% and is 9% currently.
Although there has been a lot of attention focused on homelessness in the news, % of Albuquerque residents say they are aware the city is the Gateway Center. The shelter will be a 24/7 shelter providing to women experiencing homelessness during the first phase of its operation.”
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON THE HOMELESS
The Citizens Survey of 70% feeling the city is failing in its response to the homeless is likely inaccurate and the public attitude has only gotten worse. A recent Journal poll found that 77% of the general public believes the homeless crisis is very serious and 16% feel it is somewhat serious with a staggering total of 93%. What is clear from the Citizen Perception Survey is that Albuquerque residents are dissatisfied with the Keller Administration’s response to the homelessness crisis despite the city’s huge financial commitment to dealing with the homeless. The survey confirms that residents feel Mayor Tim Keller and his admiration are failing.
70% of citizens survey respondents rate the city poorly for its performance in dealing with the homeless crisis. This includes 41% who gave city hall the lowest possible rating. Meanwhile, only 9% gave the city’s homelessness response a favorable review. In other words, 7 times more people rate the city poorly on the issue than offer a positive assessment. This is a dramatic change from 2020 when only 36% gave the city poor marks for how it was tackling homelessness, including just 22% who offered the worst rating, while 29% provided a positive assessment. There has been a dramatic 20% drop in how people feel the city is dealing with homeless from 29% in 2020 to 9% in 2022.
The 9% approval rating in the citizens survey is likely very alarming to Mayor Tim Keller and his administration. Since day one from becoming Mayor on December 1, 2018, Mayor Keller has made dealing with the homeless a major cornerstone of his administration so much so that he advocated the construction of a 24-7 homeless shelter. This ultimately resulted in the purchase of the massive 560,000 square foot Gibson Medical center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, for $15 million. The facility is being renovated and it is anticipated to open in the winter of 2022 as a 24/7 shelter.
The Keller Administration has adopted a housing first policy when it comes to dealing with the homeless crisis which also includes funding provided to at least 10 service providers. This past fiscal year 2021 ending June 10, 2021, the Family and Community Services Department and the Keller Administration have spent upwards of $40 Million to benefit the homeless or near homeless. The 2021 adopted city budget for Family and Community Services Department provides for mental health contracts totaling $4,329,452, and substance abuse contracts for counseling contracts totaling $2,586,302 and emergency shelter contracts totaling $5,688,094, affordable housing and community contracts totaling $22,531,752, homeless support services contracts.
Mayor Keller’s 2022-2023 approved budget significantly increases the Family and Community Services budget by $24,353,064 to assist the homeless or near homeless by going from $35,145,851 to $59,498,915. A breakdown of the amounts to help the homeless and those in need of housing assistance contained in the 2022-2023 budget is as follows:
$3,773,860 total for mental health contracts (Budget page105.)
$2,818,356 total substance abuse contracts for counseling (Budget page 106.), up by $288,680 from last year.
$42,598,361 total for affordable housing and community contracts with a major emphasis on permanent housing for chronically homeless.
$6,025,544 total for emergency shelter contracts.
$4,282,794 total homeless support services, up $658,581 from last year.
The links to the adopted 2021-2022 and 2022-23 approved budgets are here:
https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy22-approved-budget-numbered-w-hyperlinks-final.pdf
https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy23-proposed-final-web-version.pdf
SURVEY RESULTS ON DIRECTION THE CITY IS GOING
The percentage of residents who rate the quality of life in Albuquerque as being either good or excellent has fallen from 54% in 2018 to 48% in 2022. The percentage of residents who say they are hopeful about the direction of the City has fallen from 50% in December of 2020 to 43% in 2022. Although 43% of residents say they are either somewhat hopeful with 34% or very hopeful with 9% about the direction of the City, just over 52% combined say they are either somewhat concerned at 30% or very concerned at 22%.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON DIRECTION CITY IS GOING
The survey results on citizens perception on the direction the city is going should is a major red flag of failure for Mayor Keller and the City Council. A very disturbing trend revealed by the survey is that residents show less satisfaction with current quality of life in the city and there is growing concern about Albuquerque’s future. Although 50% of those surveyed believe Albuquerque is doing “about the same” as other cities dealing with problems and carrying out its responsibilities, the survey generally shows worsening perceptions of life in the city.
SURVEY RESULTS ON ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT
“Residents were asked to rate how strongly they either agree or disagree with several statements relating to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) using a 5-point scale where 5 is strongly agree and 1 is strongly disagree. [The results of the survey were]:
53% of residents agree APD is respectful in its treatment of citizens as indicated by a score of 4 or 5. This is up from 48% two years ago. That is down from 49% in 2019 and the lowest number for any survey going back to at least 2011. 20% strongly agreed compared to 15% who disagree, with a score of 1 or 2.
29% have neutral or mixed feelings about APD with a score of 3.
47% of residents agree APD reflects the values of the City’s residents, with 18% disagreeing and 30% have a neutral opinion of APD and 27% disagree.”
According to the citizen’ survey, 38% of residents agree APD is doing a good job of addressing public safety issues and making quick responses to emergencies, while 30% have a neutral opinion and 27% disagree.
A plurality, or 41%, of those surveyed said the ongoing U.S. Department of Justice-mandated reform effort within APD has had no impact, while 24% say it has been positive and 14% say it has been negative. There is no getting around it, even with the recent news that APD has improved in compliance levels with all of the reforms, APD still has a major image problem.
Over the last 7 years, the DOJ reforms have place great emphasis on implementing constitutional policing practices, increased training and crisis intervention and implemented community policing councils and a Citizens Police Oversight agency. Despite all the efforts made, an astonishing 41% of those feel the reforms have had no impact on APD.
COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS ON ALBUQUERQUE POLICE DEPARTMENT
The 38% of residents agreeing that APD is doing a good job with response times to emergencies is very low and should come as no surprise. There have been news investigative reports on APD’s response times for Priority 1 calls. Priority 1 calls include shootings, stabbings, armed robberies, sexual and aggravated assaults, domestic violence with weapons involved and home invasions. According to the data, the time it takes officers to get to a crime scene stayed relatively consistent between January 2018 to May 2021 and was roughly between 9 and 12 minutes. In 2020, it was reported that there was a 93% increase in APD response time over a 9-year period. In 2018, clearing a scene ranged from an hour to an hour and 12 minutes. Fast forward to 2021 and APD was averaging more than 2 hours to write reports, gather evidence and interview witnesses, a full hour longer than three years ago.
https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/abq-4ward-examining-apds-response-times/6204745/
https://www.koat.com/article/apd-response-times-continue-to-climb/31028667
FINAL COMMENTARY
The 2023 municipal election will indeed give voters a real opportunity to select upwards of 4 new city councilors that could dramatically change the direction of the city policy as well as the balance of power.
The city is at a crossroads and with any luck citizens who are truly concerned about the direction of the city will step up to the plate and run for city council and provide real choices and solutions to the city’s problems.