August 19, 2022, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) released an Economic Update on the state’s unemployment rates.  Highlights of the report are as follows:

New Mexico’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.5 percent in July, down from 4.9 percent in June and down from 7.0 percent in the previous year. The national unemployment rate in July was 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent in June and down from 5.7 percent in July 2021.

Total nonagricultural payroll employment grew by 31,700 jobs, or 3.9 percent, between July 2021 and July 2022. The majority of gains came from the private sector, which was up 31,500 jobs, or 4.9 percent. The public sector was up 200 jobs, or 0.1 percent. Most private sector gains were in the private service-providing industries, which were up 21,400 jobs, or 3.9 percent, while the goods-producing industries were up 10,100 jobs, representing an increase of 10.6 percent.

Within the goods-producing industries, mining and construction employment rose by 8,000 jobs, or 11.8 percent. The majority of gains were within the construction industry, which grew by 6,700 jobs, or 13.7%.  Mining employment was up 1,300 jobs, or 6.9 percent, over the year.

Manufacturing was up 2,100 jobs, or 7.6%. Within manufacturing, durable goods manufacturing employment was up 1,400 jobs, or 9.2%, over the year.  Non-durable goods manufacturing was up 700 jobs, or 5.6%.

Within the private service providing industries, trade, transportation, and utilities was up 2,400 jobs, or 1.8%. Within this industry, retail trade was up 1,800 jobs, or 2.0%; transportation, warehousing, and utilities was up 800 jobs, or 3.2%; and wholesale trade was down 200 jobs, or 1.0%.

Professional and business services was up 5,400 jobs or 4.9%.

Education and health services was up 5,100 jobs, or 3.8%. Within the industry, educational services was up 4,300 jobs, or 26.7%, and health care and social assistance was up 800 jobs, or 0.7%.

Leisure and hospitality experienced a gain of 10,200 jobs, or 10.9%, compared to the previous year, while miscellaneous other services was up 200 jobs, or 0.7%.

Employment in information and financial activities declined from July 2021; information was down 800 jobs, or 7.3 percent, while financial activities was down 1,100 jobs, or 3.3%.

Within the public sector, state government was up 1,000 jobs, or 2.0 percent. Within state government employment, state government education added 1,400 jobs, representing an increase of 7.7%.

State government excluding education was down 400 jobs, or 1.3 percent. Federal government was down 200 jobs, or 0.7%, from last year’s level.

Employment in local government was down 600 jobs, or 0.7%. Within local government, local government education was down 1,100 jobs, or 2.6%, and local government excluding education employment increased by 500, or 1.0%, from last year.

The link to the Department of Workforce Solution report is here:

https://www.jobs.state.nm.us/vosnet/gsipub/documentView.aspx?enc=JdKtFhuODzQ+aO5C6MuCGQ==#:~:text=New%20Mexico%27s%20seasonally%20adjusted%20unemployment,5.7%20percent%20in%20July%202021.DI

DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

The August 19   Department of Workforce Solutions (DWS) reported that New Mexico’s unemployment dropped to the lowest it has been since September 2008.  The DWS  reported that the unemployment rate for the state in July stood at 4.5%, a drop from 4.9% in June of this year and a year-over-year decrease from 7% from July 2021.  This is the second month in a row the unemployment rate has come in below 5% this year.

Even with the unemployment rate dropping, there is still a need for more workers across all industries.  According to DWS, online job postings have soared over the past year. State records show that more than 23,000 new jobs were advertised online in New Mexico than the same time last year.

The largest gains in employment came in the goods-producing sector.   It  saw an increase of more than 10,000 jobs year over year.   The construction industry saw an increase of 13.7%, or about 6,700 jobs, since the same time last year.  Professional and business services  saw an increase of 5,400 jobs.  The Department of Workforce Solutions  report showed Bernalillo County’s unemployment standing at 4.2% in July.  Santa Fe County had an unemployment rate of 4.1% and Doña Ana had a rate of 5%.

New Mexico’s employment levels have grown since plunging in the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic, the states   4.9% unemployment rate for June was the nation’s highest, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. The state’s unemployment trails nearly all other states across the country.  New Mexico’s unemployment rate is tied with Alaska.   Only the District of Columbia has a higher rate of unemployment.

According to state Taxation and Revenue Department data, while  national employment has rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, the state is about 10,000 jobs short of reaching its total workforce of 861,200 residents that existed in March 2020 at the beginning of the pandemic.

STATE STRUGLES WITH EMPLOYMENT SHORTAGES

Despite the reduction in unemployment rates, the state is struggling with a low workforce participation rate which is the measurement of working-aged adults that are participating in the labor force and who are looking for a job.  According to the Department of Workforce solutions (DWS), there is a need for more workers across all industries.  The DWS says it has been focusing on the issue by setting up programs funded largely by federal dollars and creating a template for outreach to non-working New Mexicans.

INDSUTRIES NEEDING FAR MORE WORKERS

According to the Department of Workforce Solutions report, industries where there is a major need for more workers include the construction industry, the health care industry, the manufacturing industry and government.   The Manufacturing industry saw an increase of 2,100 jobs needing to be filled within the last full year. Professional and business services  saw an increase of 5,400 jobs needing to be filled.

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Jim Garcia, the Executive Director for the Associated Contractors of New Mexico, said there is a need for increases in the construction industry.   Garcia noted that jobs in the construction industry typically start at $20 an hour.  The construction industry is looking to market higher paying jobs benefits to prospective job seekers. Garcia said this:

“We could use 5,000 more employees tomorrow. … There’s a heavy need for it now and we’re going to be an attractive future for a lot of people. …  Essentially, we became a good place to work. … It could be a lot of things, but, you know, you don’t have to have a degree to get in our industry and make a lot of money.”

THE HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY

Janna Christopher, director of clinical recruitment for Presbyterian Healthcare Services, handles the hiring of registered nurses, physical therapists and other licensed clinicians. According to Christopher, the hospital has seen an overall decrease in the number of applications through her office.

The decrease in applicants is not limited to Presbyterian.   Health care providers across the state are struggling with hiring and retaining clinicians.  Many health care providers are simply leaving the state’s health care industry and leaving the state to go elsewhere to be paid more. A 2021 report from the New Mexico Health Care Workforce Committee showed the state needed about 6,223 more nurses to hit benchmarks for the state based on population.

Christopher said Presbyterian has shifted its focus on new graduates, investing in its nursing residency program “so that we can really fill that void.”

THE LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

The leisure and hospitality industry had the largest growth in employment by headcount of all industries across the state.  The leisure and hospitality industry saw substantial growth over the past year with 11,000.

Jim Long, the CEO of Heritage Hotels & Resorts Inc., which owns Sawmill Market, Hotel Chaco and a list of other resorts across New Mexico, said that the growth in the Leisure and Hospitality Industry is largely due to the industry recovering slower than others. His company has seen an increase of about 750 employees in the past year, and it is still hiring.  Long said this:

“I don’t see it … [as a] hiring frenzy as much as just getting back to normalcy.”

GOVERNMENT

According to the DWS report, state government employment is down with 400 jobs vacancies while local government employment is down by 600 jobs, or 0.7 percent.  Local government education employment is down 1,100 jobs, or 2.6 percent, and local government excluding education employment increased by 500, or 1.0 percent, from last year.

REACTION TO UNEMPLYMENT RATES

Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham said the state’s lower unemployment rate is a win for the state. Grisham said this:

“We continue to see substantial job growth in nearly every sector, from hospitality and retail to construction and manufacturing. … As we continue to expand the state’s workforce by investing in free college and workforce training, creating more opportunities than ever for New Mexico families, our state’s economy is going to continue to improve.”

Belen Republican State Senator Greg Baca disagreed with the Governor’s positive assessment of the state’s low unemployment rate with Baca pointing to a University of New Mexico Bureau of Business and Economic Research that predicts slower economic growth for the state compared to the national average. Baca said this:

“This is politics at its worst. … The real story here is that New Mexico has the highest unemployment rate of any state in the country, and according to analysts, we are currently on track to experience slower than national economic growth.”

Links to quoted sources are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2525949/new-mexico-unemployment-rate-drops-to-45.html

JUNE 2022 DEPARTMENT OF WORKFORCE SOLUTIONS REPORT

The June 2022 New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions report on unemployment and job numbers are worth noting given the extent unemployment was reduced.

In June 2022, the Department of Workforce solutions reported the number of unemployed New Mexicans was 46,432, a decline of 32.5% or 22,393 people, from 2021. Since May 2020 when it peaked at 88,330, the number of unemployed has declined by almost half.  There are currently less unemployed New Mexicans than before the pandemic.

In June, New Mexico’s labor force saw an over-the-month increase of 0.1%, or 971 people. Since June 2021 the labor force grew by 5,779, or 0.6 percent. In June, New Mexico’s labor force saw an over-the-month increase of 0.1%, or 971 people. Since June 2021 the labor force grew by 5,779, or 0.6%.

Over the year, New Mexico’s total nonagricultural employment increased by 45,100 jobs, or 5.6 percent. Most of these gains were in the private sector, which was up 41,300 jobs, or 6.5 percent. The public sector was up 3,800 jobs, or 2.2%. Eight of the nine major private industry sectors reported employment increases over the year.

Leisure and hospitality reported a gain of 13,500 jobs, or 15.1%. Employment in mining and construction was up 8,300 jobs, or 12.7%. Most gains in mining and construction came from construction, which grew by 7,000 jobs, or 14.8%.

Mining employment was up 1,300 jobs, or 7.1%. Professional and business services employment expanded by 6,200 jobs, or 5.7%.

Employment in Trade, Transportation, and Utilities was up 4,400 jobs, or 3.3%.  Within the industry, retail trade was up 2,600 jobs; transportation, warehousing, and was up 1,200 jobs; and wholesale trade was up 600 jobs.

Miscellaneous other services employment grew by 1,100 jobs, or 4.0%.

Manufacturing was up 2,400 jobs, or 8.8%, with the majority of jobs in durable goods manufacturing.

Education and Health Services was up 4,900 jobs, or 3.6%. The majority of gains within the industry were in education services.

Information Technology was up 500 jobs, or 5.3%.

Financial activities was unchanged from the rate in June 2021.

In the public sector, local government was up 3,000 jobs, or 3.3 percent. Employment in state government was up 1,100 jobs, or 2.2 percent.

The federal government reported a loss of 300 jobs in New Mexico, or 1.0 percent.

Over the year, the Albuquerque metro area grew by 16,200 jobs in total nonfarm employment, representing a gain of 4.3 percent.

The following is the breakdown in the private sector industries that  added jobs:

Leisure and hospitality:  up 5,500 jobs, a 13.9% increase

Trade, transportation, and utilities:  up 3,900 jobs, a 6.3% increase

Mining and construction employment: up 3,300 jobs, a 13.0% increase

Professional and business services:  up 1,700 jobs, a 2.8% increase

Manufacturing: up 1,000 jobs, a 6.2% increase

Information and Technology:  up 500 jobs, a 9.8% increase

Miscellaneous other services: up 400 jobs, a 3.5% increase

Education and Health Services: up 300 jobs, a 0.5% increase

Financial activities was unchanged from the previous year’s employment level.

Public sector, state government: up 200 jobs, a 0.8% increase

Federal government: down 400 jobs, a 2.7% decrease

Local government:  down 200 jobs, a 0.6% decrease

Links to Department of Workforce Solutions source materials are here:

Click to access LMR_2022_June.pdf

https://www.dws.state.nm.us 

https:// www.jobs.state.nm.us/analyzer.

DRAMATIC SPIKE IN STATE REVENUES

On August 16, during a meeting of the influential New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee held in Chama, New Mexico, legislators were told the state will have a staggering projected $2.5 billion in “new” money during the 2023 budget year that starts on July 1, 2023.  The total revenue is forecast is to rise from $9.2 billion in the fiscal year that just ended to nearly $10.9 billion for 2023.   The projections were reported by the LFC executive economists.

The LFC economists reported that the $2.5 money, which represents the difference between current spending levels and projected new revenue, is in addition to a projected budget surplus of nearly $3.8 billion for the current fiscal year and with upwards of $2.6 billion to go into the state’s early childhood trust fund.

The LFC economist report indicated New Mexico’s economy will experience slower than national economic growth in the near term but will have relatively faster growth in 2023.  The LFC economist report said the state’s economic outlook is tied to inflation, monetary policy, and other broader economic mechanisms as the national outlook.”

The projected $10.9 billion in revenue for the coming fiscal year will be more than double the $5.4 billion in revenue the state took in a little over a decade ago during the 2011 fiscal year.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It’s truly pathetic how Republicans such as Republican State Senator Greg Baca refuse to acknowledge the leadership of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham when it comes to job creation and economic development. It is Republican fools like State Senator Greg Baca who “plays politics at its worse”  with his propaganda conveniently ignoring what happened for the full 8 years under the leadership of former Governor “She Whose Name Must Not Be Spoken”. 

Under the former Republican Governor’s watch for 8 years, and with the “lock step” loyalty of the likes of Senator Greg Baca, New Mexico’s unemployment rates reached the all-time record high of 7.8% and for a full 7 years of her 8-year term unemployment rates hovered at 7.8% and 6.1%.   Vacancies in state government spiked and reached all-time highs as she gutted state government and programs to balance the budget proclaiming as Republicans do that government was too big in order avoid any and all tax increases.  The Republican Governor destroyed the state’s Public Education System to the point that in a landmark court hearing, a judge declared at risk students were being deprived of the constitutional right to an education and the same Republican Governor gutted the State’s Mental Health Care system falsely claiming criminal by 15 mental health care providers with the Attorney General investigating and eventually absolving the 15 mental health care providers of all wrongdoing.

In 3 years and 6 months under the leadership of Lujan Grisham, the unemployment rate is now 4.5% and is going down even further, the education system is finally being funded as it should, the state’s mental health care system is being restored and economic development is surging.  Despite all the negativity espoused against Governor Mitchell Lujan Grisham by the Republican party and her weatherman Republican opponent, it is clear that the state is in fact pulling out of and is on the road to a full recovery of the effects of the pandemic.  The states revenues are up dramatically with the state experiencing record levels of income and the State’s unemployment rates are in fact making a dramatic decline to pre pandemic levels.

On August 16, during a meeting of the influential New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee held in Chama, New Mexico, legislators were told the state will have a staggering projected $2.5 billion in “new” money during the 2023 budget year that starts on July 1, 2023.  The total revenue is forecast is to rise from $9.2 billion in the fiscal year that just ended to nearly $10.9 billion for 2023.   The projections were reported by the LFC executive economists.

The LFC economists reported that the $2.5 money, which represents the difference between current spending levels and projected new revenue, is in addition to a projected budget surplus of nearly $3.8 billion for the current fiscal year and with upwards of $2.6 billion to go into the state’s early childhood trust fund.

The LFC economist report indicated New Mexico’s economy will experience slower than national economic growth in the near term but will have relatively faster growth in 2023.  The LFC economist report said the state’s economic outlook is tied to inflation, monetary policy, and other broader economic mechanisms as the national outlook.”

The projected $10.9 billion in revenue for the coming fiscal year will be more than double the $5.4 billion in revenue the state took in a little over a decade ago during the 2011 fiscal year.

WHAT’S DRIVING THE SURGE

According to the economic projections reported, the revenue flow is showing no signs of slowing down.  It is inflation related consumer spending, strong wage growth and increased oil production that is spiking the state’s revenue flows to historic heights.  The Legislative Finance Committee (LFC) chief economist Ismael Torres told the committee this:

“Consumer spending has remained strong, wage growth has been robust, and high oil and gas revenues are supported by global supply-side constraints raising prices and encouraging production expansion. … It’s remarkable to see New Mexico is the only state that has recovered to pre-pandemic levels [in oil production]”

What is driving the historic surge in surplus revenue is oil production in the state’s Permian Basin. Oil and gas revenue strength is pushing severance tax and federal royalty collections higher above their 5-year averages.  Upwards of two-thirds of the projected revenue growth for the fiscal year 2023-2024 budget year will come directly from oil and natural gas receipts.

Torres told the committee that New Mexico is projected to produce 590 million barrels of oil during the current budget year.  The state is becoming more and more reliant on oil and natural gas as a revenue source.  A whopping 35% of the state’s direct revenue comes from the oil and gas industry and it is up from 31% of all revenues during the fiscal year just ended.

While oil and gas is New Mexico’s biggest source of income, other sectors also are projected to flourish in the next fiscal year. Manufacturing is expected to grow 41%, and economists are forecasting a 27% increase in leisure and hospitality services.

LFC economists noted that inflation is driving up gross receipts tax collections as a result of rising costs for food, construction materials and other goods and services, as well as personal income taxes linked to higher wages.

SPENDING INCREASES

State spending has increased by about 30% over the past 3 years, with Governor Lujan Grisham signing off this year on a $8.5 billion state budget.  Lujan Grisham has increased spending dramatically over the last 3 years for public education, teacher pay raises, early childhood development programs, economic development programs, tax incentives, rebuilding the state’s mental health care system decimated by the previous Republican Governor, crime initiatives and law enforcement pay raises and tax rebates for state residents.

Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham who is seeking a second term sought to take credit for the record-high revenue levels and said this in a statement:

“The record-high revenues we are anticipating are no accident.   They are a direct result of responsible fiscal policy on the part of this administration and the healthy economic climate we are fostering.”

The spending growth drew sharp criticism from TV weatherman Republican Governor candidate Mark Ronchette who said he would push to use surplus funds for annual rebates and tax cuts if elected.

“ONCE-IN-A-CENTURY” OPPORTUNITY

The revenue surge could prompt a feeding frenzy in a state with high Medicaid enrollment levels, ageing roads and bridges, and a public school system that for years has been among the worst in the nation.

Gallup Democrat Senator George Muñoz called the revenues a “once-in-a-century” opportunity and said this

“If we want to really change, for once and for all, and keep our commitment to reducing tax rates, lowering the [gross receipts tax and] making New Mexico competitive with other states, this is one of the greatest opportunities we could have. … You can change the complete path of this state … Your phones are going to be ringing off the hook [with demands on how to use the new revenues].”

Senator Munoz proclaimed the spike in state revenues   could allow New Mexico to avert the big budget swings consisting of   cycles of spending growth followed by cuts that have plagued the State for at least the past decade if not longer.  Muñoz suggested $1 billion of the state’s additional revenue could be used to overhaul New Mexico’s tax code, even though such changes could have lasting budgetary impacts.

WORDS OF CAUTION

Despite the optimism expressed by Senator Muñoz, other committee lawmakers and top state budget officials expressed caution, saying the recent revenue growth will likely not be sustainable in the long term.  Finance and Administration Secretary Debbie Romero had this to say:

Finance and Administration Secretary Debbie Romero warned lawmakers that they will have to consider supply chain issues, a possible economic recession and volatility in the global energy market and the impact of the ongoing Ukraine conflict on energy markets as risks to the state’s revenue forecast.  Romero said this:

“I think the number one thing to be cautious about is growing our budgets.”

Gallup State Representative Patricia Lundstrom, the LFC’s chairwoman, said year-over-year spending growth should be kept in line with the state’s annual average over the past decade.

Links to quoted news sources are here:

https://www.sfreporter.com/news/morningword/2022/08/18/state-economists-forecast-25-billion-revenue-boom/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2525070/nm-revenue-explosion-continues-as-lawmakers-weigh-next-steps.html

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/new-mexico/articles/2022-08-18/oil-gas-revenues-to-drive-new-mexicos-next-budget-windfall

Oil, gas revenues drive New Mexico’s projected budget windfall (lcsun-news.com)

SEVERENCE TAX REVENUES UP

On August 20, Taxation & Revenue Secretary Stephanie Schardin Clarke in a news release reported that Severance tax revenues are projected to increase from $644 million in Fiscal Year 2022 to $987 million in Fiscal Year 2023, and increase of $343 Million. Federal and state rents and royalty revenues are projected to increase from $808 million in Fiscal Year 2022 to $1.01 billion in Fiscal Year 2023.

The improved revenue projection suggests total general fund reserves will increase to about 36.7% of recurring appropriations, or $2.73 billion, at the end of Fiscal Year 2022 and 44.8%, or $3.76 billion, at the end of Fiscal Year 2023.

In addition, Cannabis Excise Tax has an estimated general fund revenue of $22.7 million for Fiscal Year 2023 and revenue is forecasted to grow by about 10.6% per year

Finance And Administration, Taxation And Revenue Secretaries Report General Fund Revenue Outlook To New Mexico Legislative Finance Committee

LFC CAPITAL OUTLAY QUARTERLY REPORT

On August 19, 2022 Legislative Finance Committee released its report on the state capital outlay. It was reported that the state has nearly $4 Billion in outstanding capital funds that will be spent.

According to the report, strong state revenues and an influx of federal funds have contributed to historically large investments in capital projects at the same time supply chain, construction cost, and labor issues are slowing progress on the projects, contributing to outstanding balances of $3.8 billion across about 4,600 active projects.

The following key points are listed in the August LFC Capital Outlay Quarterly Report:

• “At the start of FY23, outstanding capital outlay funds totaled approximately $3.8 billion, including projects authorized by the Legislature through 2022 ($2.1 billion), earmark projects ($295.6 million), supplemental severance tax bonds for public schools ($539.2 million), and special appropriations to capital projects ($905.9 million). The last figure represents uncommitted and unspent funds from $977.4 million in special appropriations during the 2021 special and 2022 regular sessions.
• The Board of Finance split the severance tax bond sale for new projects into two issuances due to market conditions. Roughly $322.5 million was sold in June, with a second sale planned for September.
• Roughly 4,600 active projects are underway.
• Funds for state-owned projects have been spent more quickly than local project funds, with 56 percent of statewide appropriations through 2021 expended compared with 39 percent for local projects.
• Severance tax bonds are the primary source of outstanding balances, accounting for 65 percent of unexpended funds ($1.5 billion). Other major sources include general fund ($360.5 million) and general obligation bonds ($239.6 million).”

$823 MILLION IN THE 2022 CAPITAL BILL WAS ROUGHLY EVENLY SPLIT BETWEEN LOCAL AND STATEWIDE PROJECTS

“In Senate Bill 212, the 2022 Legislature appropriated $396.2 million to 79 statewide projects and $394.2 million to 1,147 local projects, with the local project funds distributed at the discretion of individual senators, representatives, and the governor.

Major statewide appropriations in the bill include

• $20 million for a Department of Public Safety administration building in Albuquerque, • $20 million for new small homes at the New Mexico Veterans’ Home,
• $20 million for a film academy, • $26 million for public safety radio communications infrastructure, and
• $75 million for maintenance and repair of public schools. Appropriations to local projects in 2022 fell into several major categories
• $87.2 million for water, wastewater, solid waste, and utilities projects; • $48.5 million for law enforcement and public safety projects;
• $46 million for highways, roads, and bridges;
• $35.2 million for parks and recreation projects; and
• $33.1 million for public school projects. Both the number and average dollar value of appropriations to local projects have increased since 2018, but it remains difficult to fully fund critical infrastructure with capital outlay.

The $394.2 million appropriated to local projects in 2022 represented a 563 percent increase over the $59.5 million that went to local projects in 2018. The increase in revenue has allowed lawmakers to fund more projects at higher amounts.

For instance, 222 water, wastewater, dam and acequia projects received capital outlay in 2022 compared with 86 in 2018, and the average value of those appropriations was 204 percent higher in 2022.

Nevertheless, most of those appropriations were likely insufficient to fully fund the projects. The average capital outlay appropriation to water projects was roughly $298 thousand in 2022.

 In comparison, the average project award from the Water Trust Board was $2.1 million.”

The link to the full August 19 LFC Capital Outlay Quarterly Report which list projects is here:

Click to access Capital%20Outlay%20Quarterly%20Report%20August%202022.pdf

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The upcoming 2023 New Mexico legislative session that begins January 17 is a 60-day session. The is no doubt the debate on how to spend the historic surpluses is now underway.  Job creation, economic development,  public education,  early childhood care development programs, the courts and law enforcement funding, funding for our behavioral health care system destroyed by the previous Republican Governor, major infrastructure needs such as road and bridge repair,  complete funding of the 222 water, wastewater, dam and acequia projects identified by the 2022 legislature, major capital outlay projects,  funding for  the courts and the criminal justice system, funding for the Public Employee Retirement funds to deal with underfunded liabilities and benefits  and tax reform will all be likely topics of discussion during the 2023 legislative session.

Indeed, the 2023 legislative session could very well turn out to be a “once in a century opportunity” to really solve many of the state’s problems that have plagued it for so many decades.

On August 16, 2022, the online news outlet New Mexico Sun published a Pete Dinelli column on the City Planning Department granting an application to allow Dawn Legacy Point to establish a Safe Outdoor Space at  1250 Menaul, NE for a homeless tent encampment to house woman who have been victims of “trafficking and exploitation”. Below is the column followed by the link:

HEADLINE:  Mayor Tim Keller ‘sneaks’ approval of ‘safe outdoor space’

“On July 30, Dawn Legacy Point filed the first application ever for a ‘Safe Outdoor Space’ homeless encampment. On August 8, the City Planning Department approved the application for a homeless campsite at 1250 Menaul, NE. Dawn Legacy Point said the homeless encampment will provide accommodations for upwards of 50 women who are homeless and who are “sex-trafficking victims” and other vulnerable populations.  

The City Planning Department unilaterally reviewed the application behind closed doors with no notice to surrounding businesses or neighborhood associations, no public hearing and no public input. The application was “fast tracked” by the Planning Department to approve the application just 8 days before the City Council was scheduled to repeal the Safe Outdoor Spaces zoning use on August 16.

There is no getting around it. What the Planning Department did does not pass the smell test. The application approval was as sneaky and underhanded as it gets. The planning Department decided it had the authority to simply grant the application before the City Council votes to repeal Safe Outdoor Spaces on August 15.

With acquiescence from Mayor Tim Keller, the Planning Department approved the Safe Outdoor Space on city owned property valued at $4,333,500 to be operated by Dawn Legacy Point and subsidized by the City to house women in tents who are victims of “trafficking and exploitation”. It is something that progressive Democrat Keller should be absolutely ashamed of with “trafficking and exploitation” victims being housed in tents as a housing solution thereby being exploited gain by denying them proper housing.

What is being created at 1205 Menaul, NE is a location for victims to become victims once again. The actual location is troubling and has the potential of becoming a magnet for crime, prostitution or illicit drug trade. It’s located in close proximity to a truck stop known amongst law enforcement for prostitution and illicit drug activity. It’s directly across the street from a major call center, a motel suites and is walking distance of Menaul Boarding School and apartments. Occupants of the ‘Safe Outdoor Space’ are obviously not confined and would be free to go and come as they pleased and could easily wind up uninvited wherever they want to go. This includes the truck stop and disrupting the peaceful use and enjoyment at nearby locations or engaging in illicit activity. 

Dawn Legacy Pointe board chair Kylea Good bragged that the approval represents years of “behind-the-scenes work” with the Keller Administration and others going along to get approval at the exclusion of the public. Why bother going public and being transparent when you can sneak around city hall with the mayor’s support to get something you want and the general public be damned.

It’s repulsive and irresponsible when applicants Kylea Good and Brad Day proclaim that the Safe Outdoor Space encampment will be for “sex-trafficking victims”. When the words “trafficking and exploitation” are used, what is being talked about are woman who are victims of crime such as kidnapping or forced prostitution. They are saying that they want to provide tents in city sanction encampments to women who have already been victimized believing they are somehow acting compassionate. Victimized women need actual, compassionate treatment and permanent housing that is safe and secured and not living in a tent city. 

Safe Outdoor Spaces are not the answer to the homeless crisis. “Safe Outdoor Spaces” will be a disaster for the city as a whole. They will destroy neighborhoods, make the city a magnet for the homeless and destroy the city’s efforts to manage the homeless through housing. 

The homeless crisis will not be solved by the city, but it can and must be managed. Safe Outdoor Spaces represent a very temporary place to pitch a tent, relieve oneself, bathe and sleep at night with rules that will not likely be followed. The answer is to provide the support services, including food and permanent lodging, and mental health care needed to allow the homeless to turn their lives around, become productive self-sufficient citizens and no longer dependent on relatives or others.

A Mayor loses credibility and public trust when they cram a political agenda down people’s throats. What Mayor Tim Keller has done is to cram Safe Outdoor Spaces down the throats of surrounding property owners. Mayor Tim Keller has mishandled the homeless crisis, including the closing of Coronado Park. Safe Outdoor Spaces and Coronado Park are Mayor Keller’s symbols and legacy of failure as the city deals the most vulnerable homeless population, female victims of “sex-trafficking”.

The link to the New Mexico Sun guest column is here:

Mayor Tim Keller ‘sneaks’ approval of ‘safe outdoor space’ | New Mexico Sun

CITY COUNCIL ENACTS MORITORIUM ON SAFE OUTDOOR SPACES

The Dawn Legacy Point homeless tent encampment is a “Safe Outdoor Space” zoning conditional use.  “Safe Outdoor Spaces” are organized, managed homeless encampments with 40 designated spaces for tents that allows for upwards of 50 people, require hand washing stations, toilets and showers, requires a management plan, 6 foot fencing and social services offered

On Monday, August 15, the Albuquerque City Council passed on a 6 to 3 vote a moratorium that bars the City Planning Department from accepting or approving any pending applications for Safe Outdoor Spaces. Under the legislation, a complete moratorium is in effect until August 1, 2023, unless the City Council enacts a separate bill removing them totally from the zoning code.

Mayor Keller has up to ten days to decide to veto or sign the legislation of do nothing in which case it becomes law. The fact that the vote was 6-3 likely means the council has the necessary votes to override a Keller veto.

The vote was bipartisan. Voting YES for the moratorium where Republicans Brook Bassam Renee Grout, Trudy Jones, and Dan Lewis who were joined by Democrats Klarissa Peña and Louie Sanchez. Voting “NO” on the moratorium were Democrats Isaac Benton, Pat Davis and Tammy Fiebelcorn.

Before passing the moratorium legislation, the City Council amended the bill to ensure that the moratorium stopped the City Planning Department from approving any “pending” applications and to add language stopping the city from authorizing any “Safe Outdoor Space” on city property.

The prohibition to stop the city from authorizing “Safe Outdoor Spaces” on city own property was likely in reaction in part to the City Planning Department approving a Safe Outdoor Space Homeless campsite application made by Dawn Legacy Point to be located at 1250 Menaul Blvd, NE.

The tent encampment is to be located on two parcels of city own open space lots at 1250 Menaul, NE. The city sanctioned encampment is intended to provide accommodations for “sex-trafficking victims” and other vulnerable populations.

Still pending before the city council is another resolution that will totally eliminate and prohibit “Safe Outdoor Spaces” from the Integrated Development Ordinance altogether. The City Council will likely vote on the legislation eliminating or prohibiting Safe Outdoor Spaces from the IDO within a month to 6 weeks.

MARTINEZTOWN – SANTA BARBARA NEIGHBORHOOD APPEAL

On Monday, August 15, the Martinez Town – Santa Barbarbar Neighborhood Association (SBMTNA) filed an appeal requesting the City Planning Department to reverse its decision and deny the Safe Outdoor Space application of Dawn Legacy for 1250 Menaul. Specifically, the neighborhood association wants the City and the Planning Department to set aside and rescind its approval and not allow any Safe Outdoor Space at 1205 Menaul, NE.

Under the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO), appeals of zoning application approvals must be filed within 15 days from when an application is approved and within 30 days of filing of the appeal, the city must hold on the appeal.

On August 16, the City Planning Department sent a  “Notice of Appeal” to SBMTNA that its appeal filing had been accepted and that a Notice of Hearing will be sent scheduling the appeal before a Land Use Hearing Officer.   The assigned docketing information is:

CITY COUNCIL APPEAL NUMBER:  AC-22-11

PLANNING DEPARTMENT CASE FILE NUMBER: PR-2022-007490, VA-2022-0023

APPLICANT:  Santa BarbaraMartinez Town Neighborhood Association

AGENT: Loretta Naranjo Lopez

The major grounds for the appeal are outlined in the appeal documents filed and they are:

1. The City Planning Department failed to follow City policies, procedures, and regulations required for the approval of the Safe Outdoor Spaces and applications for “special use” or “conditional use” zoning.
2. The city planning department “fast tracked” the Dawn Legacy application to approve the application just 8 days before the City Council could repeal the Safe Outdoor Space amendment on August 16 thereby acting in bad faith and to the determent of other property owners and businesses in the area.
3. The City of Albuquerque Planning Department unilaterally decided to review and grant the Dawn Legacy Point application behind closed doors without any public input, without notice to adjacent and surrounding property owners and without any public hearings.
4. The City of Albuquerque failed to notify the SBMTNA of the Safe Outdoor Space application filed by Dawn Legacy Pointe for 1250 Menaul NE and failed to allow input thereby denying the association due process.
5. The City Planning Department gave preferential treatment to the Dawn Legacy applicants by working with the applicants to identify city property to be used for a Safe Outdoor Space and with the City Family and Community Services Depart agreeing to fund operating costs, with both city departments not affording other potential applicants the same opportunity.
6. The city council failed to enact operating procedures for Safe Outdoor Space encampments and failed to provide direction to the City departments charged with approving or disapproving Safe Outdoor Spaces applications and has allowed approvals to be made without any kind of objective, standards-based decision-making process.
7. Dawn Legacy has submitted a plagiarized operating procedure of a nonprofit unsanctioned encampment in another city and the City accepted those operating procedures.
8. The security plan offered Dawn Legacy Pointe and approved by the city for the homeless camp is defective and insufficient for the campsite to ensure safety of the tenants.
9. The City of Albuquerque Planning Department and the Solid Waste Department are knowingly allowing the establishment of a public nuisance in the form of a Safe Outdoor Space in the Martinez Town Santa Barbara Neighborhood. The Planning Departments actions are tantamount to the City allowing Coronado Park to become the city’s DeFacto city sanctioned homeless encampment in violation of the city’s own public nuisance law and city ordinances.
10. The City of Albuquerque Planning Department did nothing to provide processes for development decision of 1250 Menaul NE to ensure a balance of the interests of the City, property owners, residents, and developers and ensure opportunities for input by affected parties.
11. The operation and existence of a Safe Outdoor Space encampment at 1250 Menaul NE will have a determental impact on the Martinez Town Santa Barbara neighborhood and will adversely affect property values and interfer with residence peaceful use and enjoyment of their residential properties.
12. The encampment as proposed for 1205 Menaul, NE will become a magnet for crime and prostitution, or illicit drug trade given that it is in close proximity to a truck stop known for prostitution and illicit drug activity amongst law enforcement. The location is directly across the street from a major call center and a Quality Inn & Suites and within walking distance of Menaul Boarding School and apartments. Occupants of the Safe Outdoor spaces are not confined and are free to go and come as they please and could easily wind up uninvited wherever they want to go, including the truck stop, and disrupt the peaceful use and enjoyment at any one of those locations or engage in illicit activity themselves.

Under the Integrated Development Ordinance (IDO), appeals must be filed within 15 days from when an application is approved. On August 8 the City Planning Department approved the Dawn Legacy application. The IDO also requires that within 30 days after an appeal is filed, a hearing must be held on the appeal. In the case of the Martineztown-Santa Barbara Neighborhood Association, the hearing must be held on or before September 14.

PLANNING DEPARTMENT REFUSES TO ACCEPT APPEALS; TIME RUNNING OUT FOR OTHER APPLICANTS TO APPEAL  

Confidential sources have confirmed that when Santa Barbara-Martinez Town Neighborhood Association attempted to file its appeal on August 16, the agent attempting to file the appeal was turned away.  The planning department initially refused to accept the filing of the appeal.  It took over 4 four hours before the appeal documents were accepted and only after a threat was made by the Martineztown-Santa Barbara Neighborhood Association that it would go to the press and complain.

Another confidential source has claimed that the Crown Plaza has attempted to file an appeal, and the Planning Department has refused to accept the appeal. It is also understood that the Menaul School and the T-Mobil call center across the street from the Dawn Legacy Safe Outdoor Spaces want to file an appeal.

The City Attorney and the City Clerk, if they have any lick of sense of fair play and due process of law, should contact the Planning Department and tell it to knock it off refusing to accept appeal filings of those who have a legitimate right to appeal by those who want to appeal.

Because the Dawn Legacy Point application was approved by the Planning Department on August 8, the other effected property owners have only until August 23 to file their appeal.

APPEAL MUST MOVE FORWARD

Despite the city council placing a moratorium on Safe Outdoor Spaces, it was a moratorium only for “pending applications” and not “approved applications” such as the Dawn Legacy Point “Safe Outdoor Space” located at   1205 Menaul, NE

The Martineztown – Santa Barbara neighborhood has made it clear it intends to   keep moving forward with its appeal. The Martineztown-Santa Barbara Neighborhood Association feels that it has been betrayed and discriminated by the city with the city totally ignoring the historic community’s needs for decades.

Loretta Naranjo Lopez, president of the Matineztown – Santa Barbara neighborhood association said this:

“The association is tired of the discrimination and racism toward the neighborhood. … The city has imposed on the residents’ methadone clinics, crime, property destruction and filthiness throughout the neighborhood. The residents and their properties have been under threat for a long time. This needs to stop now.”

“As you can understand, [we are] very angry that the city didn’t even have the decency to meet with us.  …  We cannot take it anymore. Something has to get done. There has to be a plan. And they need to listen to the community. …  We have no services here no community center for the seniors or the youth. We were, we’re tired of what they’ve done to us.”

Victor Apodaca, a resident of Martineztown-Santa Barbara said this:

“You know, now they’re hearing our voice, you know, they apparently it didn’t seem like they just, they had a, they had a solution. You know, they shut down Coronado Park without having a solution.”

Sources have said that the homeless that have been evicted from Coronado Park are making their way to Martineztown an attempting to set up camp at its park and other open space areas.

The links to quoted news source material are here:

https://newmexicosun.com/stories/630378009-the-association-is-tired-of-the-discrimination-and-racism-toward-the-neighborhood-sbmtna-opposes-approved-safe-outdoor-space-encampment

Martineztown residents frustrated over planned camp (krqe.com)

In the event that the Planning Department hearing officer decides not to grant the Martineztown-Santa Barbara appeal, the neighborhood association would have the option to appeal the decision to the city council as a whole. The City Council has the ultimate authority to grant or denying zoning change applications.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS  

In New Mexico politics, this is what you call brazen “political movidas.”

The entire process and sequence of events  from Mayor Tim Keller supporting and funding “Safe Out Door Apaces” to the tune of $950,000  and cramming a political agenda down the publics throats, to the city council creating and reversing course to allow Safe Outdoor Spaces, to Dawn Legacy Point filing an application  for a ‘Safe Outdoor Space’, to the city giving preferential treatment to Dawn Legacy Point for location and operations funding, to the City Planning Department  fast tracking  and granting the application, to the Planning Department refusing to accept appeals all  reeks of political  corruption and incompetence at all levels of city hall.

It is this type of city government dysfunction and sinister “political movidas” that results in contempt of elected and government officials.

Frank Baca is a life-long resident of Albuquerque, having graduated from Rio Grande High School, Yale University (B.A., History) and the UNM School of Law. Mr. Baca is  retired after 40 years of practicing law, including work as a criminal defense lawyer and as a prosecutor. Mr. Baca has submitted the following guest column to www.PeteDinelli.com for publication.

DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this guest column written by Frank Baca  are those of Mr. Baca  and do not necessarily reflect those of the www.petedinelli.com blog. Mr. Baca  has not been paid any compensation to publish the guest column and has given his consent to publish on www.PeteDinelli.com.

A CRIMINAL JUSTICE INTERVENTION PROPOSAL

“Recently, I  experienced a situation that I heard about occurring in other locations but never thought I would personally experience, that being an attempt to evict an extremely violent and uncooperative “tenant.”   I never thought I would be writing an obituary for Ricky Newman. One reason is, I do not know Ricky Newman.  He was a squatter living in a unit in a small apartment complex that I own.   He was abusive to his “girlfriend” and to the various female neighbors in the complex; he threatened and assaulted people and pets, damaged property and generally made life miserable for a whole lot of innocent folks.

 I had predicted on many occasions, to police officers, probation officers, assistant district attorneys and basically to anyone who would listen, that he would eventually kill someone or be killed. The latter occurred on or about July 19, 2022 when he was found lying dead along 2^nd street, a victim of homicide. I am not prophetic but, quite frankly, it was not difficult to see he was on a path towards destruction, of self or otherwise.  I do not know the circumstances of his life and upbringing that caused him to become who he became. I strongly speculate that he contributed greatly to his own condition by a multitude of bad choices.

 It is not total speculation.  A brief review of his criminal record shows a dozen or so arrests for domestic violence and many, many other charges, including Aggravated fleeing from an officer, Aggravated DWI, Aggravated Assault and Battery-you get the picture. At the time of his death, he was on pre-trial release and awaiting disposition of charges for Receiving Stolen Property and Felon in Possession of a Firearm. He left a trail of destruction that, in fact, leads me to believe that the world is now a safer place to live.

 After his life ended the way  it  did, I wrote an email to friends and family to vent over the experience. The result is a conclusion that is an approach to deal with violent individuals who are causing havoc in an array of contexts and not only evictions.  The approach I suggest  is similar to the crisis intervention initiative that APD currently maintains, but it must be  much broader. There may be similar programs that currently exist in other jurisdictions.

 The approach must be broad, as crises comes in many shapes and forms, including mental health/suicide issues, substance abuse, domestic violence, homelessness and financial desperation. This approach involves boots-on-the-ground intervention, which serves the purposes of addressing the underlying causes of the dysfunctional conduct and the safety concerns of the immediate victims and the community at large.

A key aspect of my proposal is to develop “teams” comprised of the following components: 

1.   People with multi-disciplinary backgrounds,
2.   Government involvement (law enforcement, CYFD, probation and parole) 
3.   Non-profit service providers involvement (domestic violence, housing,  substance abuse etc.).

The tactical approach would involve the following steps:

 1.  Contact the individual/family in question based on calls for service from ANY of the above-listed entities or members of the public (APD program only takes referrals from a patrol officer)

2.  The intervention would be with NO intent to file new charges (with obvious potential exceptions).

 3.  There would be temporary separation of all the individuals involved to identify issues.

 4. Law enforcement must offer the individuals a no-nonsense assessment of future consequences and to advise them that they will be closely monitored.

 5.  non-profits should offer the individuals immediate access to resources (housing/treatment etc) and

 6.  Both law enforcement and non-profit reps MUST communicate with victims (they become the eyes and ears of both groups and they can start to feel safe).

 7.  Social workers to make contact with the family members of the targeted individuals who could be helpful in many ways.

 Follow up measures would be critical.  Support of the  “the team” and acknowledgment of the importance of their work is crucial.  The private sector or  business community could be involved in this aspect.  On-going communication with victims is also vital to demonstrate that their concerns are being heard.  Regular follow-up by “the team” with the targeted individuals and family members.”

 FINAL COMMENTARY

 Had Ricky Newman been taken into custody, as was attempted, or had he been diverted to an in-patient substance abuse treatment program, he would be alive today and the community and his family would still be safe.

 I absolutely advocate for consequences for violations of the law.  It’s  a matter of common sense. However, I also understand that to end the cycle, often requires more than punishment. I further understand that this proposal only scratches the surface and this approach requires funding. I am calling on elected officials to develop a task force to consider and fine-tune this model. This approach absolutely requires political will and support.

On Wednesday, August 18, at 4:00 PM., Mayor Tim Keller conference, along with city officails, held a press in front of a vacant,  clean up and fenced off Coronado Park and made the announcement that Coronado Park was officially closed to the public making good on a promise he made on June 27 to close the park by the end of August.

Mayor Keller Keller said  the closure of Coronado Parke does not represent  “any kind of a comprehensive strategy” to resolve homelessness crisis. Keller said this:

“The actions taken today by the City of Albuquerque are made necessary by the threats to public health, safety and the environment that this encampment has created. … Let no one think, however, that these actions represent a comprehensive strategy for resolving the problem of what we commonly call the homeless in Albuquerque or anywhere else in America.

I know that burden is on me as your mayor, I know that, but it’s also on everyone else in this community.  … That means the homeless themselves, that means every provider involved, that means everyone complaining about this on social media, we’ve all got a role to play. And it is not just to complain about the problem.  … In June we shared that we were evaluating all of our homeless policies. As part of this, in July we stated that we have to close Coronado Park. Throughout the next few months, we’ll continue taking our all-of-the above approach to help our city cope with these issues.”

Mayor Keller added that the yearslong “status quo” and public safety risks at the park including drug and human trafficking to those who lived at the park and those who provided them services had become “no longer acceptable.”

Chief Administrative Officer Lawrence Rael’s cited the prolonged challenge with the homeless at the park and said this:

“Homelessness at Coronado has been a challenge for nearly a decade … But we have to draw a line and simply stop a situation that is obviously unacceptable, regardless of what we do next.”

The city also cited lack of sanitation posing a health risk to those at Coronado Park and playing a role in the park closure, as well as overall damage to the park.  Drug trafficking at the park had reached a crisis level. Albuquerque Police Department announced that they recovered several different firearms at the park, as well as narcotic drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin. The department has received over 400 phone calls this year regarding Coronado Park.

During the August 18 news conference, APD  police Commander Nick Wheeler said police will keep people out of the park by increasing patrols in the area, with help from State Police, and respond to trespassing calls from businesses and residents. He said they will first issue citations and, if that doesn’t work, make arrests. Wheeler said this:

“It’s not illegal to be homeless, but it is illegal to break the law. And my guys are going to hold everybody accountable. … ”

SELF PROCALIMED “MAYOR OF CORONADO” PARK ARRESTED

In an interesting twist to the closure of the Coronado Park, APD  Commander  Nick Wheeler said many of the people who lived at the park were “afraid to get services”, and he made this disclosure:

“When I asked about what they were afraid of, they explained to me that they were afraid of the self-proclaimed ‘mayor.’ … The most vulnerable folks, the unhoused, that were living in Coronado Park, every day they were victimized [by this guy.]”

Wheeler was alluding to Joseph Garcia, who called himself “the Mayor of Coronado Park.”  Police arrested Garcia Monday in the shooting death of Andrew Aguilar, who was killed inside the park. Wheeler said Aguilar was shot because he didn’t want to pay rent to live in the park.  Wheeler made it clear  that those living at the park felt safer after Garcia’s arrest.

CLEAN UP AND PLACEMENT EFFORTS

On June 27 when Keller announced the closure of the park, between 120 and 150 homeless would camp in the park nightly. By Tuesday, August 17 when the park was officially closed and after weeks of what the city has called “intensive outreach” and contact with the homeless campers, the number was down to 30 to 40 and 15 subsequently accepted transportation to a shelter.

Spokeswoman for Family and Community Services Katie Simon said that part of the city’s intensive outreach, the city did more than 110 surveys of those who had been living at Coronado Park. She said that 24 were either given a motel voucher or transported to a shelter, two were given tickets to travel housing out of state and two were taken to the hospital.

Since June 27, the city has taken great pains to clean up Coronado Park and do extensive outreach to the homeless that resided there to provide services. According to one news report, upwards of 20 tons of trash and debis were removed from the park.  Virtually all the trees in the park are dead and the city will cut them down. The city intends to strengthen the new fence around the park.

During the last month, the city provided services to those in need at the park. APD has received over 400 phone calls this year alone regarding Coronado Park and APD police and metro security patrols will reportedly be monitoring the area to keep people out of the park.

Links to quoted news sources are here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2525180/city-coronado-park-is-officially-closed.html

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/city-of-albuquerque-closes-coronado-park/ar-AA10MmYX

City of Albuquerque closes Coronado Park (koat.com)

Coronado Park is officially closed – KOB.com

LONG TERM USE MAY INCLUDE SELLING PARK TO THE STATE

Keller said the city has not determined exactly what to do with the park property in the long term and figuring out what to do with the park will take time.   Keller did say the city has 3 main options as to what to do with the park. Those options include:

1. Make it a park again
2. Build a fire station expansion and training area, or
3. Build supportive, affordable housing

As to making the area a park again, Keller but pointed out the city is planning a park on the Walker property blocks away.  Keller said this:

“That’s where a park should be, in the heart of the neighborhood, not next to a highway.”

The Walker property is an entire block of vacant land where 21 residential homes and businesses between 5th and 6th and Summer and Rosemont streets were once located and that were demolished by the city. The property is directly north of the Wells Park Community Center and was later purchased by the city at a cost of approximately $1.8 million. All the structures were boarded up and abandoned and often used by squatters and the homeless and criminals for drug trafficking. It was on September 2, 2007, that it was reported that the entire block of vacant homes, which were all owned at the time by 86-year-old Anne Davis Walker were demolished.  The demolition cost the city $189,000 and Davis Walker paid back the city within a year. The demolition of all 27 structures was negotiated by then Deputy City Attorney and Safe City Strike Force Director Pete Dinelli. The Safe City Strike Force is a best practices program that Mayor Keller abolished and defunded.

https://www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2007/09/03/story6.html

What Mayor Keller did not disclose is that the State has expressed an interest in purchasing the park. On August 4 an event was held for Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham where she spoke as she campaigns for reelection. During her comments, the Governor took time to discuss crime in Albuquerque and how she is committed to programs to reduce the city’s out of control violent crime rates.

While discussing the City’s crime, Governor Lujan Grisham in particular brought up the closure of Coronado Park. In what can only be considered a surprise announcement, the Governor said that her administration wants to purchase Coronado Park. Her plan is to build a facility or complex on the land for service providers to the homeless which would include private providers and state and city providers so that there will be one centralized location for services being provided. The Governor did not disclose exactly how far along the purchase plans are but a confidential source has said the State had been in contact with the Keller Administration.

KELLER’S CLOSURE CRITICIZED FOR FAILURE TO CONFERE WITH STAKEHOLDERS AND LACK OF ANY PLAN

Mayor Keller was severely criticized for making the decision to close the park without conferring first and getting input from the surrounding neighborhoods, especially the Wells Park neighborhood, local businesses and stakeholders. Critics complained that Keller made the decision without a plan for what to do next after the park closed. Keller took issue with the criticism that he made the park closure decision without first notifying or consulting with key constituencies justifying his decision by saying the situation at the park had become a major crisis that needed to be dealt with immediately

Wells Park Neighborhood Association President Doreen McKnight said this:

“It’s hard for us to take a position on this — whether or not we think it’s a good or bad idea — if nobody communicates with us and there’s no plan.”

The Mental Health Response Advisory Committee is in charge of advising the city on issues related to chronic homelessness. Max Kauffman, who co-chairs the committee, said Keller’s announcement came as a surprise. Kaufman said this:

“Now we’re in the position of having to react to it rather than getting ahead of it, helping to make sure that they’re considering all the factors that are relevant to people experiencing homelessness and they’re taking good care in how they’re executing this policy, and whether to execute this policy at all.”

The link to quoted news source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2519038/keller-city-will-close-coronado-park.html

A petition was presented to the City Council on August 15 by the New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness where the city was asked to pause closure plans. It criticized the city for leaving people who are homeless out of the closure decision.

The leadership of the city’s Mental Health Advisory Committee raised concerns over the abrupt announcement and closure of the park by the Mayor.  The Mental Health Advisory Committee is mandated by the Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) with the U.S. Department of Justice dealing with APD Police reforms. The committee is charged with advising the city on issues related to chronic homelessness. The city did not notify the committee or seek its guidance about closing the park before Keller publicly announced that was his plan.

On Tuesay, August 16, the city gave the committee a presentation on the closure of Coronado Park.  However, co-chair Rachel Biggs said they did not solicit the group’s feedback nor even bother mentioning that the park would close the next day. Biggs had this to say:

“We raised concerns that the lack of involvement in plans for something such as closing down Coronado Park could put the city at risk of being non-compliant [with the Court Approved Settlement].“

The link to quoted news source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2525180/city-coronado-park-is-officially-closed.html

HISTORY OF A PARK CLOSURE AND REASONS GIVEN

Over the last 5 years, Coronado Park became the “de facto” city sanctioned homeless encampment with the city repeatedly cleaning it up only for the homeless to return the next day. City officials have said it was costing the city $27,154 every two weeks or $54,308 a month to clean up the park only to allow the homeless encampment to return.

Residents and businesses located near the park complain to the city repeatedly about the city’s unwritten policy to allow the park to be used as a homeless encampment and its use as a drop off by law enforcement for those who are transported from the westside jail. At any given time, Coronado Park had 70 to 80 tents crammed into the park with homeless wondering the area.

The biggest factor and justification in closing the park is crime.  Criminal activity has spiked at the park over the past three years. The city park has an extensive history lawlessness including drug use, violence, murder, rape and mental health issues. In 2020, there were 3 homicides at Coronado Park. In 2019, a disabled woman was raped, and in 2018 there was a murder. APD reports that it was dispatched to the park 651 times in 2021 and 312 times thus far in 2022. There have been 16 stabbings at the park in the past 2 and in the past 30 days APD has seized from the park 4,500 fentanyl pills, more than 5 pounds of methamphetamine, 24 grams of heroin and 29 grams of cocaine. APD also found $10,000 in cash. All the seized drugs were tied to a single bust in late June that occurred at a nearby motel, not the park, though an APD spokeswoman said the suspect was “mainly doing all their distributions [at the park].”

The links to quoted news sources are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/coronado-park-closed-homeless/40724118

https://www.abqjournal.com/2519423/were-not-going-to-wait-any-longer-mayor-says-of-coronado-park.html

On June 27, calling it “the most dangerous place in the state of New Mexico” Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference standing in front of Coronado Park to announce its closure and to discuss his reasons for ordering the parks closed and saying it was imperative even without a fully formed plan for how to do it and what happens next.

The primary reason Keller gave for closure of the park was the extent of the crime. According to APD in the last two years there have been at least five homicides, 16 stabbings and 20 assaults. In 2021 APD responded to 651 calls at the park, and as of July 21, 2022 there have been 312 calls for service.

https://www.koat.com/article/coronado-park-closed-homeless/40724118

Keller said this :

“We’re not going to wait any longer. We have all the evidence we need that says that we have to do something different. … It is not going to be something where every question is answered, and every plan is thought out. … We do not have the luxury of a perfect plan. … At this point, if we don’t close the park now, it will never be a park again. … There was unanimous consensus that at a minimum, temporarily, this park has to close. … This is the first step. We welcome everyone to help us problem-solve, but someone has to step up and make a decision … And that’s what people elected me to do.”

Keller said the immediate closure of the park would be “messy” and that dispersing park residents could create other problems.

CITY SPENDS MILLIONS A YEAR TO HELP THE HOMELESS

The City of Albuquerque has adopted the Housing First policy as mandated by the federal HEARTH Act in order to secure federal funding.

On May 16, the Albuquerque City Council voted to approve the 2022-2023 fiscal year city budget which will begn on July 1,2022 . The 2022-2023 approved city budget provides major funding of upwards of $60 Million to deal with the homeless. Included in the adopted budget is funding for Safe Community programs that deal with issues such as substance abuse, homelessness, domestic violence and youth opportunity.

Following is a listing of approved funding:

• $24 million in Emergency Rental Assistance from the federal government, which the City will make available in partnership with the State.
• $4 million in recurring funding and $2 million in one-time funding for supportive housing programs in the City’s Housing First model. In addition, as recommended by the Mayor’s Domestic Violence Task Force, the budget includes $100 thousand for emergency housing vouchers for victims of intimate partner violence.
• $4.7 million net to operate the City’s first Gateway Centerat the Gibson Medical Facility, including revenue and expenses for facility and program operations.
• $500 thousand to fund Albuquerque Street Connect, a program that focuses on people experiencing homelessness who use the most emergency services and care, to establish ongoing relationships that result in permanent supportive housing.
• $1.3 million for a Medical Respite facility at Gibson Health Hub, which will provide acute and post-acute care for persons experiencing homelessness who are too ill or frail to recover from a physical illness or injury on the streets but are not sick enough to be in a hospital.
• Full funding for the Westside Emergency Housing Center which is operated close to full occupancy for much of the year. On October 23, 2019, it was announced that Albuquerque’s West Side Emergency Housing Center was expanded to provide a coordinated approach to homelessness. The homeless use that facility to get medical care, treatment for addiction and behavioral health, job placement and case management services. The west side shelter now has the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, Presbyterian Hospital and Alburquerque Health Care for the Homeless providing medical services two days a week. It also has case management services being provided by Centro Savila, funded by Bernalillo County. Job placement opportunities are being provided by workforce connections.
• $500 thousand to fund the development of a technology system that enables the City and providers to coordinate on the provision of social services to people experiencing homelessness and behavioral health challenges

The link to news source material:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1381895/westside-shelter-adds-computers-behavioral-health-care-and-career-services-ex-mayor-says-the-move-is-part-of-the-citys-multipronged-approach-to-homelessness.html

The Fiscal Year 2023 budget includes the following funding for Safe Community programs:

• $1.8 million to develop what will be Albuquerque’s only medical substance abuse facility dedicated to youths likely housed at the Gibson Health Hub.
• Full funding for the Violence Intervention Program that deals with both APD and Family & Community Services departments, including the first phase of School-Based VIP in partnership with APS.
• $736 thousand to fully fund the Assisted Outpatient Treatment program.
• $730 thousand for a partial year of operation of a Medical Sobering Center at Gibson Health Hub, which will complement the social model sobering facilities available at the County’s CARES campus.
• Full funding for service contracts for mental health, substance abuse, early intervention and prevention programs, domestic violence shelters and services, sexual assault services, health and social service center providers, and services to abused, neglected and abandoned youth.

The link to the enacted 2022-2023 proposed budget is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/dfa/documents/fy23-proposed-final-web-version.pdf

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Allowing the homeless to use, congregate and camp in Coronado Park in violation of city laws and ordinances should never have been considered as an option to deal with the homeless crisis given all the resources the city is spending to help the homeless. This so called “grouping” of the homeless at Coronado Park was sanctioned by Mayor Keller, a mayor who for his entire first term made dealing with the homeless crisis a corner stone of his administration. A Mayor whose administration spent $40 million in 2022 and will spend another $60 million in 2023 to provide assistance to the homeless. A Mayor who saw to it that the city purchased the 529,000 square-foot Lovelace Hospital facility on Gibson for $15 million to have it converted into a Gateway Shelter and who made the westside shelter a 24-7 facility.

It was disingenuous for Mayor Keller to say just a few weeks before he announced closure of the park that  “[The federal courts] will not allow us to just walk in and arrest someone because they’re homeless and the current situation beats the alternative. … .“ The situation at Coronado Park did not beat the alternative of having a zero tolerance of allowing an illegal encampment at a city park and allowing the homeless to squat all over the city and not enforce the law.

It was Mayor Keller who allowed a once beautiful and pristine park dedicated to public use to become a festering blight on the community. Simply put, Coronado became an embarrassment with the city violating its own ordinances and nuisance laws by allowing overnight camping and criminal conduct in the park thus creating a public nuisance both under state law and city ordinance. Coronado Park became the symbol of Keller’s failure as Mayor to deal with the homeless crisis and he had to deal with a nuisance property of his own creation.

The homeless crisis will not be solved by the city nor by Keller, but it can and must be managed. The management of the crisis by Mayor Keller is to provide the support services, including food and lodging, and mental health care needed to allow the homeless to turn their lives around, become productive self-sufficient citizens, no longer dependent on relatives or others.

Too many elected and government officials, like Mayor Tim Keller, have a hard time dealing with the fact that many homeless adults simply want to live their life as they choose, where they want to camp for as long as they can get away with it, without any government nor family interference and especially no government rules and no regulations.  The city and Mayor Keller cannot just ignore and not enforce the city’s  anti-camping ordinances, vagrancy laws, civil nuisance laws and criminal laws nor pretend they simply do not exist.

Squatters who have no interest in any offers of shelter, beds, motel vouchers or alternatives to living on the street really give the city no choice but to make it totally inconvenient for them to “squat” anywhere they want and force them to move on. After repeated attempts to force them to move on and citations arrests are in order.

Mayor Tim Keller is to be commended for coming to his senses after a full 4 years and exercising his authority to issue executive orders to clean up and remove unlawful encampments and permanently close Coronado Park. Closure of Coronado Park is a good first step in announcing a new approach to the city’s homeless crisis. Now comes the real hard part to come up with a viable plan that will not make things worse for the area and the city.

The links to quoted news sources are here:

https://www.koat.com/article/coronado-park-closed-homeless/40724118

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/mayor-keller-reaffirms-plans-to-close-coronado-park/

https://www.abqjournal.com/2519423/were-not-going-to-wait-any-longer-mayor-says-of-coronado-park.html

https://www.abqjournal.com/2519038/keller-city-will-close-coronado-park.html

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/city-of-albuquerque-revisits-policy-in-hopes-to-combat-homelessness/

On August 16, after a full 15 months of delay since the Keller Administration purchased the sprawling Gibson Medical Center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, to  convert it into a 24-7  homeless shelter, the Keller Administration has finally secured the necessary zoning change to operate the facility as a 24-7 “homeless shelter.”  Zoning Hearing Examiner Robert Lucero has now   authorized the zone change after appeals were dropped by adjoining  property owners and the neighborhoods.

On October 6, 2021, it was reported that hearing examiner Robert Lucero had  postponed a decision on the city’s application for a shelter so the city could  finish finalizing key details to operate the facility. Lucero found that the city had demonstrated its shelter plan complied with Albuquerque’s Integrated Development Ordinance, but he said its case relied in part on “draft” operations plan for the proposed Gateway Center.  Lucero wrote:

“This matter should be deferred to allow the city the opportunity to finalize and adopt the operations plan on which rests a significant portion of the justification of the shelter application. ”

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2435869/gateway-shelter-zoning-decision-is-postponed.html

The zoning for the Gibson Medical Center facility allows for an “overnight shelter” but only as a “conditional use” that the city had to  apply under the Integrated Development Ordinance.   Within weeks of purchasing the facility, the city applied for the “conditional use” arguing there is a strong need for it to enhance Albuquerque’s demand for homeless services to an ever-expanding homeless population. Since the filing of the zoning application, the application has been bogged down in appeals filed by the surrounding neighborhoods.

In June at a press conference announcing the closure of Coronado Park, Mayor Keller himself complained about the delay and said this:

“The Gateway Center has been delayed years because of appeals based on zoning laws made by a small, tiny community that doesn’t want that thing to open. … [It has been tied up in an] endless purgatory of appeals.”

According to the city’s Family and Community Department, demolition and renovations are already underway at the facility.  The renovations include an emergency shelter, a  first responder drop-off, a detox center, and a  medical unit for people who are too sick to recover on the street, but not sick enough for the hospital.

The links to quoted news source material is here:

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/albuquerques-gateway-center-gets-zoning-green-light/

Gibson Health Hub is currently home to seven tenants, including three accredited hospitals, and various City of Albuquerque departments. Those tenants are:

AMG Specialty Hospital which is a long-term acute care hospital.

Haven Behavioral Hospital which is an   in-patient and out-patient treatments for individuals struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues.

Turquoise Lodge Hospital which is operated by the   NM Department of Health hospital and provides substance abuse treatment services to New Mexico residents.

Fresenius Kidney Care which provides  education, support, and care for kidney health.

Zia Health Management which is an in-home medical care provider.

VIP Trauma Recovery Center, which is   a central hub to connect victims of violent crime to trauma recovery services

The Encampment Outreach Team which secures ¼ mi radius around the facility  and connects individuals in encampments to service.

The city’s Violence Intervention Program offices have also moved into the facility.

The Albuquerque Community Safety Department (ACS) is the most recent tenant to have moved into the facility. The creation of ACS was announced on September 7, 2021.  It is  designed to replace APD sworn police with civilian social workers and trained mental health experts to respond to 911 calls involving the homeless, the mentally ill and drug addictions. The ultimate goal of the ACS is  to reduce the staggering number of 911 emergency calls to those who may be having psychotic episodes and to utilized de-escalation tactics and avoid use of force and deadly force.

The city’s 2022-2023 approved budget includes $12.6 million for the Gibson Gateway Center.  The funding includes $10.6 million to operate the Gateway emergency shelter and first responder drop-off, $1.3 million for the medical respite unit, and $730,000 for the medical sobering or detox unit.

OPERATION PLAN FOR GIBSON MEDICAL CENTER

As part of the zone change application, the City prepared an operations plan for the Gibson site and posted it on its website. The “Gateway Center at Gibson Health Hub Operations Plan” includes the services to be provided, including transportation and dining, security and related topics and it all centers on the facility being used as temporary housing homeless shelter.

The City of Albuquerque posted on its internet web site an 11-page draft of the “Gateway Center at Gibson Health Hub Operations Plan” for the homeless shelter. The draft the operations plan is dated August, 2021. The link to the 11 page “Gateway Center at Gibson Health Hub Operations Plan” is here:

https://www.cabq.gov/family/documents/operations-plan-draft-8-21-conditional-use-app.pdf

The Gateway Operations Plan provides that The Gibson Health Hub (GHH) is to be an anchor facility to fill healthcare and social service gaps. A large portion of the Gateway Center will be to provide shelter and services to the homeless. The mission of the Gateway Center will be to “provide a safe and welcoming place that provides a low-barrier, trauma-informed shelter along with services to the homeless using a client-centered approach.”

According to the operation plan, Gateway Center staff will conduct an assessment that will address any immediate issues that need to be resolved, including physical or medical health issues that may require a triage to more appropriate options. This may include referrals for medical respite, detox or recovery programs.

The Gateway Operations Plan outlines that service staff will conduct a general assessment with individuals and families to verify that the Gateway Center is an appropriate option. As part of this assessment, Gateway Center staff will assess whether the presenting individual or family can be safely diverted to a non-shelter alternative. The Gateway Shelter will establish a referral process for community organizations, including other homeless assistance providers and other local service agencies.

https://www.cabq.gov/planning/documents/CRPhandbook0512.pdf

KELLER’S HEAVY-HANDED APPROACH TO NEIGHBORHOOD

It was on Tuesday, April 6, 2021, that Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference in front of the Gibson Medical Center, formerly the Lovelace Hospital, to officially announce the city had bought the massive 572,000 square-foot building that has a 201-bed capacity, for $15 million.  In making the announcement, Keller said in part:

“The City of Albuquerque has officially bought the Gibson Medical Center, the cornerstone of our Gateway Center network. In total, this represents the largest capital investment that Albuquerque has ever made for the unhoused. We have roughly 5,000 homeless people.  This challenge [of homelessness] is huge. And we know this challenge has gotten way worse during the pandemic. For us, this is about actually doing something. Not just talking about it, not just discussing it, not just harping about the details. This is about action. … This is never meant to be permanent. It’s meant to be a gateway to services that can then lead to people enabling and changing their lives. …  What we’re looking at here is to move past this question of where … No matter how you feel about it, we’ve answered that question.”

After his press conference, Keller came under severe criticism for his failure to reach a consensus and take community input before the Gibson Medical Center was purchased. Keller said he planned to confer with residents in the future. Keller made it clear either way, like it or not, the site had been selected and the Gibson Medical facility will be used to service the homeless population as a Gateway Center.

OPPOSITION EMERGES FROM NEIGHBORHOODS

After his April 6, 2021 press conference, Mayor Keller came under severe criticism for his failure to reach a consensus and take community input before the Gibson Medical Center was purchased for a homeless shelter. Residents of Elder Homestead, Parkland Hills, and Siesta Hills Neighborhood Associations led the efforts to aggressively oppose Keller’s plan to house hundreds of homeless residents in the District 6 Southeast Heights City Council District.  District 6 hosts more than 30 sites providing services to low-income and homeless residents. Area residents feared the clustering of unmanaged encampments and low rent by-the-night motels in the area will increase police calls for service and make things even worse for the area with a homeless shelter

Tony Lopez, a resident of nearby Siesta Hills neighborhood had this to say after Keller announced the purchase of the medical center:

“I just don’t think it was fair that it was thrown onto us without getting any input or allowing us to hear about it or allowing us to say something about it. It’s really frustrating for us because we already have an issue here at the present moment and they’ve got to find a better place which is away from neighborhoods.”

Other residents felt the facility should be used on a smaller scale to service a few dozen women and children, rather than a few hundred people. The biggest worry is that the Gibson facility will in fact be converted to “mega-shelter” as was originally proposed by Keller and that it will impact the neighborhood.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/protesters-upset-with-citys-plan-to-move-forward-with-gateway-center-in-se-albuquerque/6069693/?cat=500

On Friday, April 9, 2021 neighbors who felt they have been ignored and overlooked in the planning process and being asked to shoulder too big of a burden protested near the site. Some held signs with the messages:

“NO INPUT, NO INFO, NO FAITH IN GATEWAY”
“KELLER LIES ABOUT SIZE”
“I VOTED FOR A SUBSTATION AND ALL I GOT WAS THIS LOUSY MEGA SHELTER”
“KELLER NEVER ASKED US”
“GATEWAY = KELLER’S ART”
“KELLER NEVER ASKED US”
“MAYOR KELLER, NO MORE DISRESPECT”

Tony Johnson, who lives near the Gibson complex said he’s experienced homelessness himself, and had this to say:

“You’re not going to do that in our backyard, the way you wanna do it. … You need to talk to us first. I know what it is, but you’re not going to do something over here 24/7 and continue to affect our children and our schools and our community”.

Area resident Ivan Wiener, who participated in the protest said:

“I think there’s definitely middle ground, we have already told the city that we agree with people needing services, but it can’t be more than 50 to 70 beds in this place.”

Tamaya Toulouse who also lives near the Gibson complex, said she supports the city offering housing. However, she, and others, don’t trust the city to keep its promises, especially after spending decades revitalizing their neighborhoods.

She had this to say:

“If we’ve got 300 behavioral health folks here all day long – during the daytime spilling out into the streets with nowhere to go will further disenfranchise the southeast heights and that’s been going on for four decades too long already.”

Raven Green, who lives in the Elder Homestead Neighborhood had this to say:

“Over the last five or six years, [our area] has declined. It’s become unsafe. The crime is rampant.”

Toulouse and Green both say the Gibson Medical Center does not fit the certain criteria announced for the Gateway project, including walkability, access to employment, and a central location. Toulouse said:

“What does it need to have to be effective? Good transportation lines that Gibson line for buses is not anywhere in the middle of the city. “

Raven Green added:

“It’s concerning for everyone and people that live here, and the people that are going to be putting themselves in a vulnerable position going to the city, to try and get help.”

Vera Watson, a resident of nearby Parkland Hills neighborhood, said the city has too big of a concentration of social services in Southeast Albuquerque. Watson believes it contributes to crime. Watson said she voted for the bond question that generated $14 million for the Gateway Center and that she supports additional services for people who are homeless. However, she feels the city has neglected the surrounding neighborhoods while advancing the project. Watson said bluntly:

“I just think the mayor gave us his middle finger”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/774956/medical-center-at-old-lovelace-hospital-might-expand-to-other-uses.html

REDUCED MISSION FOR GIBSON GAETWAY HOMELESS SHELTER

The net result of the protests was the neighborhoods organized, held meetings with city officials and recruited attorney’s acting pro bono to assist with appeals.  The neighborhoods argued that the city needed to do more for homelessness, but not all in one place at one time. The neighborhoods were successful in negotiating greater input on the site development, including the city investing in lighting and infrastructure, security plans and creation of a “neighborhood council” to address unintended consequences. The city significantly reduced plans for the Gibson Gateway Center from an unlimited number of overnight beds to a homeless shelter for upwards of 50 women and those needing medical care.

Keller’s ambitious plan to house an undeclared number of homeless was refined.  The city’s website on the center reveals that, for Phase 1, “the Shelter and Engagement Center portion of Gateway will serve 50 single adult women-identifying individuals (on a yearly basis, up to 200 individual women). The First Responder Drop-Off will make up to 1,500 transports a year to needed services.”

On February 28, 2022 it was reported that the city decided to launch the Gibson Gateway Center with 50 beds for women. In the past, the City said the Gibson Gateway Center was to be a 24/7 operation to aid anyone regardless of gender, religion or sobriety but announced it would start exclusively with women asserting that it made sense from a resource’s perspective.

There are about twice as many “unsheltered” men as women in Albuquerque, according to an official 2021 count. However, Elizabeth Holguin, the city’s Deputy Director for Homeless Solutions, said that there are disproportionately fewer emergency shelter beds for women throughout the city with 155 for women compared to 463 for men, with another 107 that are flexible. She said the Gateway will help address that gap.

The women-only program also takes into account the dangers women face on the street.  Holguin said this:

“We’re committed to social justice and equity, and equity does really mean prioritizing the most vulnerable individuals in our society. … From our data we’ve seen homeless women are much more vulnerable than the general population and more vulnerable than homeless men as well.”

The city’s goal is to open the shelter by the end of 2022 and Officials say the facility should eventually accommodate up to 100 adults and 25 families, but beds for men and families will come in later phases.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Mayor Tim Keller has been very short sighted and has been feckless in his efforts to convert a facility designed, built and zoned for a hospital or medical services to a 24-7 overnight homeless shelter that required special zoning for a “conditional use”. Mayor Tim Keller has created a crisis with the closure of Coronado Park admitting he had no  plans and for that reason he should have reconsidered his desire to create homeless shelter and instead convert the massive Gibson Medical Center into a Homeless Behavioral Health Hospital And Drug Rehabilitation Treatment Center which is far more needed than a 24-7 homeless shelter.

HOMELESS BEHAVIORAL HEALTH HOSPITAL AND DRUG REHABILITATION TREATMENT CENTER

The highest and best use for the Gibson Medical Center facility is a hospital or medical facility, the purpose for which it was originally built for and for which it is already zoned. The massive 572,000 square-foot Gibson Medical complex would be ideal for  a “Homeless Behavioral Health Hospital And Drug Rehabilitation Treatment Center.”   Such a hospital could be staffed with full time physicians, counselors, social workers and mental health experts to provide the needed care to the homeless who are suffering from addiction or mental illness.   A homeless behavioral health hospital and drug rehabilitation treatment center at the Gibson Medical Center would fill that void and provide a facility that is absolutely necessary to provide medical and mental health care and drug rehabilitation  to the homeless.

KELLER’S  HEAVY HAND

Since being sworn in on December 1, 2017, Mayor Tim Keller made it clear that building a homeless shelter was one of his top priorities. City Hall deemed that a 24-hour, 7 day a week temporarily shelter for the homeless as critical toward reducing the number of homeless in the city.

When it comes to city projects and programs, the term “NIMBY” stands for “Not In My Back Yard”. It describes opposition to proposed projects by homeowners, property owners, and business owners. Three of the biggest issues that generate public outcry are the location of adult amusement businesses, methadone clinics and homeless shelters. Mayor Keller’s desire to build a 24-hour, 7 day a week city built and run homeless shelter is a classic case of NIMBY, but it is a problem he actually created and brought upon himself.

Mayor Tim Keller mishandled the homeless shelter site selection process from  the get-go. His press conference where he announced the purchase of the Loveless hospital was heavy handed, especially when he essentially gloated and said the location of the shelter had been decided upon, end of discussion, to bad, so sad, so get over it.

Keller’s comments in his June, 2022 press conference announcing the closure of Coranado “The Gateway Center has been delayed years because of appeals based on zoning laws made by a small, tiny community that doesn’t want that thing to open. … [It has been tied up in an] endless purgatory of appeals” were  also heavy handed and did not help much either and showed disrespect.

Neighborhoods need to be respected and citizens have every right to advocate what they believe in that is in the best interest of where they live, even if that means exercising their rights under the law to stop a heavy-handed Mayor from doing whatever he wants.

Mayor Tim Keller failed to build true consensus on what the city should do and where the shelter should go and he is the reason for the endless “purgatory of appeals”.  It was his arrogance not to seek out and listen to those who will have to deal with his legacy project.