The Albuquerque City Council wants state lawmakers during next year’s legislative session to focus on public safety, behavioral health and homelessness, according to the wishlist the Council approved Monday night.
Councilors are also asking legislators to approve multiple capital outlay requests during the legislative session, which starts next month.
Among the council’s legislative priorities are requests for stricter penalties for certain criminal offenses, rent stabilization programs and low-income utility rate assistance. One priority calls for behavioral health and addiction services to be an “alternative to jail for some non-violent offenders.”
The councilor’s list of capital outlay projects includes improvements to the Route 66 Visitors Center, building a trauma-sensitive shelter, healthcare and case management housing complex for unhoused seniors in District 6 and building an aquatic center at North Domingo Baca Park.
Council President Dan Lewis and Councilors Brook Bassan, Dan Champine, Renée Grout and Louie Sanchez are also requesting renovations and updates to the Albuquerque Shooting Range Park, which received some backlash from firearm instructors several months ago for its “unsanitary conditions.”
Councilors also approved Mayor Tim Keller’s administration’s legislative requests that include crime and homelessness initiatives. Those policy and program requests include expanding affordable housing, reducing gun violence and strengthening collaboration and procedures. Some of the specific requests include:
- Establish medical check protocols between the University of New Mexico Hospital and the Metropolitan Detention Center
- Require parole/probation officers to notify police and victims when offenders are released
- Implement “Duke City Stats” to other jurisdictions in crime strategy and tracking
- Establish vacant and dilapidated building policies
Chief Administrative Officer Samantha Sengel told councilors that most requests for the mayor’s Metro Crime Initiative have been the administration’s focus for multiple years. Sengel said that the Metro Homelessness Initiative is the administration’s opportunity to ensure “we’re providing support for individuals that are unhoused as well as encourage our inventory of available housing.”
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