The Albuquerque City Council convened on Monday, April 7, 2025, at 5:00 PM in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers. The meeting covered a wide range of issues including proclamations, a presentation on IPRA, multiple appeals, the 2025-2034 Capital Implementation Program, and the contentious allocation of opioid settlement funds. The council also addressed a corrective statement regarding Open Meetings Act violations from a prior meeting. All nine councilors were present.
Good evening, everyone. I would like to call the April 7th, 2025 council meeting to order. This is the 29th meeting of the 26th council. All counselors are present this evening. We're going to begin with a moment of silence and then the Pledge of Allegiance in English and Spanish. 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 meeting in person and on live streams through four different platforms. The live streams can be accessed from most smartphones, tablets, or computers. Also, this meeting is closed captioning 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 505-768-310 for assistance during business hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The council will take a break at approximately 7 p.m. this evening if needed. And with regard to decorum in the chambers, we want tonight's proceeding to be as civil and respectful as possible. Please do not make any personal attacks and please no applausing or snapping or any other outburst during the meeting. The meeting will go a lot smoother if we are all respectful of one another. We are going to proceed on to item agenda item number three, but before we do that, I know that it is something new that we've been doing lately where uh administration QA is happening at the end of the meeting. It was a request that we put it back towards the beginning. So it is going on to uh agenda item number four, just like it originally used to be. It will be something I plan on returning towards the end of the meeting unless there's another request coming out in the future uh moving forward. Counselors, moving on to agenda item number three, proclamations and presentations. Counselor Lewis, thank you, Madam President. Uh we have some folks here tonight, I believe, that are um uh regarding this proclamation on um organ donor uh month in the side of in the in the uh state of New Mexico. Those folks here tonight. Oh, yeah. Come on, come on down. We'd love to have you come down to the podium here. Ms. Espinoza, thanks for being here tonight and everybody. Well, these folks represent um some organizations that are very uh close to me and close to my heart and um and championing um some very good things in the state of New Mexico. And so I'm gonna um well, you know what? Let me let me give you all a chance to would you all before I read the proclamation. Let me give you a moment to talk a little bit about organ donation month and uh in the organization. Thank you, um, Councilor Lewis, Council President and Council. Thank you for having us so much. April is National Donate Life Month. And so I have with me Antoinette Sweena. Her son was a donor hero. He was six years old when he passed, and he saved four lives. Usually Joel Anthony. Um, I have Anne Marie, she's a liberal recipient. And her husband Joe's back there. He survived. He survived with her with me. Victoria, who's a liberal recipient, and Dale and Angela, Daryl, sorry, Daryl. Daryl received a heart as well. So just some of our community here from um Albuquerque that has been touched by organ donation.