Albuquerque City Council Meeting - May 6, 2024: Budget, Bond, Ordinances, and Appeals
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Albuquerque City Council Meeting - May 6, 2024
The Albuquerque City Council held its ninth meeting of the 26th Council on Monday, May 6, 2024, from 5:00 PM to 10:47 PM in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers. All nine councilors were present. The agenda included presentations, a consent agenda, a bond ordinance, an appeal, general public comments, several final actions on ordinances and resolutions, and numerous approvals.
Consent Calendar
- EC-24-67: Declaring 2117 Osuna Rd NE not essential for municipal purposes – Approved 9-0.
- EC-24-92: Mayor’s Recommendation of Award for food and beverage concessions at Sunport – Approved 9-0.
- EC-24-93: Commuter airline terminal lease with Advanced Air – Approved 9-0.
- EC-24-96: Five-year forecast FY2024 to FY2028 – Receipt noted 9-0.
- EC-24-122 to EC-24-135, EC-24-139, OC-24-11, R-24-26, R-24-43: Appointments, awards, and resolutions – All approved or confirmed 9-0.
- EC-24-127 (Youth Advisory Council appointment) was withdrawn by administration 9-0.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Biopark Funding: Multiple speakers (Bruce Hendrix, Sue Leidig, Antonio Aguilar) expressed strong opposition to proposed budget cuts, warning that inadequate funding could jeopardize AZA certification and animal care. They requested $200,000 for food/medication, $500,000 for Asia expansion operations, and $561,000 for six staff positions including a veterinarian.
- Immigrant-Friendly Policies (R-24-45): Over a dozen speakers (Fabiola Landeros, Andrés Escabel, Litzi Martinez, Beatrice Caldera, and others) spoke against the proposed amendment to weaken sanctuary city policies, arguing it would deter crime reporting, increase racial profiling, and harm community trust.
- Recycling RFP (EC-70): Michael Cadigan (Universal Waste Systems) argued the bidding process was flawed and the award lacked cost containment. Dan Darnell (WM), Mark Snedeker, and Frank Sanchez voiced support, emphasizing WM’s commitment to a new state-of-the-art facility.
- Bond Ordinance (O-24-10): Speakers Winter Torres, Damon Eli, Dr. Arthur Kaufman, Terry Schletter, and others urged support for funding the West Side Emergency Housing Center, Gibson Health Hub, and other projects, stressing the need for renovations and improved conditions.
- Human Rights Ordinance (O-24-5): Anami Das (Human Rights Board) and Janice Herrera supported the update, noting the ordinance’s efficiency in handling discrimination complaints.
- Food Service Ordinance (O-24-15): Carol White (NM Restaurant Association) supported the ordinance but expressed concern about increased fees and duplicate charges.
Discussion Items
- ACS 24/7 Operations Presentation: Director Mariel Ruiz reported that ACS has taken over 63,000 calls in 2.5 years, with a 46% increase in call volume since FY23, and now operates 24/7. The program costs less than 2% of the city budget. Councilor Sanchez raised concerns about police transport and asked for collaboration to free officers.
- Participatory Budgeting Presentation: UNM students presented plans for participatory budgeting in District 6, aiming to involve community in capital discretionary spending.
- Administration Q&A: Councilor Fiebelkorn thanked staff for assisting stranded train passengers. Councilor Sanchez questioned the administration about former CAO Sarita Nair’s sick leave payout, citing an OIG investigation. Councilor Grout asked about disc golf at Puerto Del Sol golf course and e-bike regulations on open space. Councilor Sanchez and Rogers debated APD’s handling of a protest that blocked Louisiana Blvd for hours; Deputy Chief Brown defended the decision to avoid escalation.
- Appeal AC-24-6: The council accepted the Land Use Hearing Officer’s recommendation to uphold the EPC’s approval of a cannabis retail, restaurant, and townhome development near Coors and 7 Bar Loop, including variances for landscape buffer and building heights. The vote was 9-0.
Key Outcomes
- O-24-10 (Gross Receipts Tax Bonds): Passed as amended 9-0. The amendment added $4 million for youth shelter in District 7. The bond authorizes up to $22.5 million for multiple capital projects including Southwest Public Safety Center, Gibson Health Hub, West Side Emergency Shelter, and a law enforcement helicopter.
- O-24-5 (Human Rights Ordinance Amendment): Passed as amended 9-0. An amendment to strike “sex assigned at birth” from definitions passed 5-4; the final ordinance passed unanimously.
- O-24-15 (Food Service and Retail Ordinance): Passed as substituted 8-1. The floor substitute aligned fees with risk-based categories. Amendment to prohibit duplicate fees failed 2-7. Amendment to freeze fees at May 1, 2024 levels failed 2-7. The final vote was 8-1 (Councilor Lewis opposed).
- O-24-16 (Elections and Petitions): Passed 9-0. Cleans up outdated language and aligns with state statute.
- R-24-14 (Violence Intervention Fund Grant): Passed 9-0. Authorizes grant application to NM Department of Health for gun violence prevention.
- R-24-25 (Library Grant): Passed 9-0. Accepts $98,348 from NM State Library.
- R-24-27 (Comprehensive Plan Update): Passed as amended 9-0. Adopts updated Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan.
- R-24-31 (Tree Canopy Grant): Passed 9-0. Authorizes application for USDA Forest Service urban forestry grant.
- R-24-34 (Sustainability Resolution): Substituted and postponed to May 20, 2024, by unanimous vote.
- Deferrals: EC-24-40, EC-24-89, and EC-24-136 were postponed to May 20, 2024, by unanimous votes.
- Approval EC-24-70 (Recycling Services): Approved 8-1 (Councilor Peña opposed). Awards contract to WM for recyclable material processing.
- Approval EC-24-40 & EC-24-89: Deferred to May 20, 2024, to allow further work on housing plans.
- Approval EC-24-136: Deferred to May 20, 2024, pending clarification.
Other Business
- The meeting adjourned at 10:47 PM.
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone. The ninth meeting of the 26th Council. All counselors are present this evening. We'll have a moment of silence and then the Pledge of Allegiance in English and Spanish. For which it stands. One nation, under God, indivisible. Liberty and Justice for all. Civic Plaza parking passes are provided for members of the public. You can obtain a parking pass from council staff at the table near the chamber's entrance. Members of the public, city staff, and the media have the ability to view this message this meeting in person and on live streams through four different platforms. WTV on Comcast Channel 16, the Gov TV website, YouTube and Zoom webinar. The live streams can be accessed from most smartphones, tablets, or computers. Also, this meeting is closed captioned, and you may enable the closed captioning services on your television or device at this time. The video recording of this and all past council meetings will remain available for viewing at any time on the city council's website. Council staff is available via telephone. If members of the public need assistance finding the videos online, please call 5057-3100 for assistance during business hours Monday through Friday, 8 to 5 p.m. The council will take a break at approximately 7 p.m. this evening. With regard to the decorum in the chambers, we want tonight's proceedings to be as civil and respectful as possible. Please do not make any personal attacks or please no applause or outbursts during the meeting. The meeting will go a lot smoother if we are all respectful of one another. All right, we're on proclamations and presentations. This is item three in the agenda. We'll start off with a proclamation recognizing the municipal clerks week. Ethan Wasson, our Watson, our city clerk, Chris Peck, Deputy City Clerk to accept. Welcome you all. Mr. Clerk, welcome. Thank you. As you know, the clerk's office works really hard on hearings on IPA and on records management for the council and the city, and we are thrilled to have the council's recognition on this most hallowed of clerks weeks, the professional municipal clerks week. So we really appreciate the recognition. With me tonight is Chris Pack, our deputy city clerk, who came to us from the district court where he worked uh for almost 10 years on the mortgage uh settlement for closure program. And he's been a huge addition to our office, and we're really uh working to modernize all the functions around records. So thank you very much. Well, great. Well, thank you for serving and uh we hope you uh get a lot of honor this week, a lot of recognition for all that your office does. We uh certainly appreciate your counselors. Any comments or questions for the clerk? Thank you all very much. Appreciate it. Next, we have a presentation uh from uh the associate administrative officer regarding ACS, uh, Miss Mario Ruiz. Welcome. Thank you, Council President Lewis, City Counselors. I'm gonna start my five minutes. I can do it. So today I'll be presenting on our 24-7 operations early on. We talked a lot about um wanting to make sure that everybody was briefed on the outcomes of this and making sure that safety was at the forefront. So, very briefly, as many of you know, we started, it's been two and a half years, we did community engagement, we did implementation, we started off slow, we increased um six months in, and that two and a half years we are now 24-7. Just in the last two and a half years, we've taken over 63,000 calls for service. We are on pace for a 46% increase since FY23, and again, we are only less than two percent of city budget, so your bang for your buck is there.
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