Albuquerque City Council Meeting - December 2, 2024
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Albuquerque City Council Meeting - December 2, 2024
The 21st meeting of the 26th City Council was called to order at 5:00 PM with eight members present; Councilor Sanchez was excused. The agenda included presentations, an administration question-and-answer period, a consent agenda, public comments, and multiple legislative actions including amendments to the City Council's state legislative program.
Presentations
- Valerie Martinez, Chair of the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Board: Presented the 2024 board report. She highlighted that the Parks and Recreation Department oversees 289 city parks (2,800 acres), 147 miles of trails, and managed 257,931 golf rounds in 2023. The board recommended streamlining appointment processes, allocating $80,000 for park activation (0.16% of department budget), and improving the PRD website. Albuquerque ranked 15th in the nation for park systems by the Trust for Public Land but scored only 59 in investment.
- Tracy Weaver, Executive Director of SARA NAM: Described the nonprofit's work providing two-year supportive housing for homeless families. SARA NAM is building a new campus on the West Side with 23 homes; phase one (10 homes) is complete. Alumni have an 86% stability rate post-exit. The city provides $10,000 in discretionary funding; no vouchers from HHH are used.
Consent Calendar
- EC-24-242: Authorization of funds for Endeavors shelter services – Withdrawn by Administration (8-0, Sanchez excused).
- EC-24-257: Q1 FY25 ABQ RIDE Quarterly Security Report – Receipt noted (8-0).
- EC-24-258: Reappointment of Dr. Sheila Hundley to Senior Affairs Advisory Council – Confirmed (8-0).
- EC-24-259: Appointment of Mr. Gene Gutierrez to Cable, Internet and PEG Advisory Board – Confirmed (8-0).
- EC-24-260: Appointment of Mr. Mathew Munoz to Municipal Golf Advisory Board – Confirmed (8-0).
- OC-24-27: Acknowledgement of Housing Needs Assessment – Postponed to December 16, 2024 (8-0).
- R-24-94: Bikeway and Trail Facilities Plan – Postponed to December 16, 2024 (8-0).
- R-24-99: Mayoral and Council Legislative Agenda – Withdrawn by Sponsors (8-0).
- R-24-105: Acceptance of grant funds from Aspen Institute – Passed (8-0).
Administration Q&A
- Supportive Housing Coalition (SHC): Vice-President Grout questioned the administration about prepayments to SHC. Chief Administrative Officer confirmed the city discovered SHC mismanaged funds, leading to unpaid landlords. The city directly paid landlords about $234,000 to prevent evictions and is transitioning ~117 vouchers to other providers. The city also has other vendors with prepayment agreements, but no other situations requiring direct landlord payments. Councilor Grout expressed concern about the misused funds and requested a list of all prepaid vendors.
- Downtown TIFF / MRA: Director Bruner explained that a downtown Tax Increment Financing district is being authorized. Property tax increment is estimated at ~$20,000/year initially; gross receipts tax revenue is uncertain and will be analyzed over the first year. The city has existing MRA districts (West Central, East Central, Manal, Downtown, University) but previous TIFF efforts failed due to disputes with the county assessor. Councilor Rogers questioned staff capacity and governance; Director Bruner noted 3% of TIF funds can be used for administration.
- ACS Staffing: Director Escobedo reported the Animal Control Services is budgeted for 137 positions with 24 vacancies; all vacancies are posted.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Solo Garcia Shooting (Matthew Garcia): Multiple speakers (Bianca Garcia, Fred Garcia, Bernadette La Junese, Trevor Selby, Rebecca Walker, Savannah Woods, and others) demanded release of full lapel footage of the October 18, 2024 killing of Solo Garcia by APD Officers Precious Cadena and Zachary Earls. They alleged officers disarmed him before shooting, waited 45 minutes to search, and that APD has a history of cover-ups. Speakers called for the officers to be fired and for the city to redirect funding to housing and crisis services.
- Support for Cooling Bill (O-59): Several renters (Mohammed Al-Jabori, Adriana Wyaki, Layla Salim) urged council to pass O-59 requiring cooling systems in rental units. They cited extreme heat risks, especially for elderly and asthmatic residents.
- Opposition to Anti-Homeless Ordinances: Marcelin Kostiner criticized proposed ordinances (O-56, O-57, O-58) for criminalizing homelessness and urged the city to adopt trauma-informed approaches.
- Domestic Violence Funding: Tadesea Garcia, chair of the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Commission, asked for $1.87 million in state funding for victim services.
- Solid Waste Confusion: Kurt Von Fink reported contradictory information from Solid Waste employees about yard waste pickup in trash bins.
Discussion Items
- EC-24-248 and EC-24-249: Mayor's appointments to the Small Business Regulatory Committee – Postponed to December 16, 2024 (8-0) to allow completion of additional appointments.
- EC-24-262: Mayor's recommendation of award for property manager Monarch Properties for city-owned affordable housing (including Glorieta, Candelaria Gardens, and Tingley Southwest properties – total 694 units, 312 affordable). Councilor Rogers raised concerns about Monarch's history of illegal evictions per a Searchlight New Mexico investigation. The administration stated that city contracts require strict eviction reporting and that funds are used for management/upkeep. The contract management fee is $282,000 annually (~$407/unit). Approved (8-0).
- OC-24-26: City Council Legislative Program for 57th State Legislature – Initially moved for receipt noted. Four floor amendments were adopted:
- Councilor Fiebelkorn: Added District 7 priorities (animal welfare trust fund, poverty solutions, tenant protections, addiction recovery, behavioral health, domestic violence, gun control, immigrant protections). Passed 8-0.
- Councilor Peña: Changed title from "City Council Priorities" to "City Council District Legislative Program" and replaced "priorities" with "program" throughout attachments. Passed 8-0.
- Councilor Bassan: Added District 4 to shooting range support on page 10 and changed page 2 title to "Individual City Council District Programs". Passed 8-0.
- Councilor Rogers: Added District 6 priority: "Establish immediate options for behavioral health and addiction services as alternative to jail for non-violent offenders." Passed 8-0.
- EC-24-263: 2025 Mayor-Administration Legislative Requests – The CAO summarized priorities in crime (Metro Crime Initiative), homelessness, and housing. Passed (8-0).
Key Outcomes
- Consent calendar: All items approved with noted actions (withdrawals, postponements, confirmations).
- EC-24-248 and EC-24-249: Postponed to December 16, 2024.
- EC-24-262: Approved (8-0) for Monarch Properties as property manager.
- OC-24-26: Received as noted, as amended (four amendments), 8-0.
- EC-24-263: Received as noted, 8-0.
- O-59 (Cooling Bill): Revived from committee and placed on December 16, 2024 agenda for action (7-0-1; Councilor Champagne voted no).
- R-24-105 (Aspen Institute grant): Placed on consent and passed.
- General: No financial instruments or appeals were considered. The meeting adjourned at 7:44 PM.
Meeting Transcript
While you're either away or while they're secured in that room. Be sure to secure your trash cans, our push food away from the edge of the counters. Our furry friends really like to get the 21st meeting of the 26th council will come to order. Councilor Sanchez is excused this evening. All other counselors are present. I believe Councilor Brasan will be joining us on Zoom this evening. I will start with a moment of silence and then the Pledge of Allegiance. We'll have somebody officially lead that next time. Council Grub. Thank you, Mr. President. Civic Plaza parking passes are provided for 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 meeting in person and on live streams through four different platforms, Gov TV 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 50573100 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 decorum in the chambers, we want tonight's proceedings to be as civil and respectful as possible. Please do not make any personal attacks, and please no applause or other outbursts during the meeting. The meeting will go a lot smoother if we are all respectful of one another. Mr. President. We have two brief presentations tonight. Thank you, Mr. President. There's going to be a brief presentation from Valerie Martinez, the chair of the Metropolitan Parks and Recreation Board regarding the 2024 board report. Good evening, thank you, and happy holidays. And I'd like to thank you, Councilor Champine and your staff for facilitating this presentation. So we also exist in part to recommend to the city council and to the mayor policy recommendations for the parks and recreation department. And so I wanted to start with a glimpse of parks and recreation, which most of you know about and uh residents of Albuquerque know about, um, but the depth and breadth of what the parks and recreation department does, and that's what we take up in our meetings of the board. So and I'm gonna read through not everything but most of this for those who can't visually see it. So park management, uh PRD oversees 289 city parks, that's 2800 acres, 147 miles of multi-use trails, 173 play areas, 21 dog parks, a greenhouse, urban forestry, there's an aquatics part of the department with 15 silk facilities that includes pools and spray pads, also swim lessons, water exercise classes, polo teams and swim teams, lifeguarding, scuba, and more. The recreation part of PRD, youth and adult sports, balloon fiesta park and the golf and event center, the Esperanza Bicycle Safety and Education Centers, there are two, adventure sports, we have a BMX track, an indoor track, 17 softball fields, four skate parks, 136 tennis courts, 41 pickleball courts and more on the way, model airplane and model airplane parks. The department also includes golf, that's four courses, 543 acres, and in 2023, 257,931 golf rounds. The department also oversees open space, 30,596 acres of open space, conservation of natural and cultural resources, education programs, a visitor center, shooting range, and a horseman's complex. The budget for the parks and recreation department for the fiscal year 2025 is 50,901,000. So I'm here to talk about our 2024 report. The board hasn't issued a report for a few years, so we're very proud of this report, and it covers the time from October 2022 to June 28th, 2024. The duties and responsibilities of our advisory board are the following. We recommend policies to the mayor for overall development of the park system. We meet at least quarterly, we actually meet almost every month, and we hold additional meetings at our discretion. We encourage people to attend our board meetings if they have anything that they would like to present or concerns about the park system. We conduct open public meetings, we conduct subcommittees, we review the design and plan for a project or a park or a recreation facility, the system inventory of parks and recreation, the master plan for park and recreation system, and we are responsible for preparing and submitting an annual report. Our board consists of 11 members, all of whom shall reside in the city of Albuquerque. You can see the list there as well as the vacancies, which I'm gonna talk about in a little bit. There is an application process for board on the board, and I'll talk a little bit about more in that.
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