#nmpol

It can take up to 200 days for recipients of a city housing voucher to find an available apartment to use it. In the meantime, people often end up couch surfing, living in cars and on the streets. One of the main reasons for the long wait, city officials say, is landlords who are reluctant […]

The Parks and Recreation Department (PRD) has reduced the amount of water it uses by more than 100 million gallons over the past three years, despite facing record heat. However, it is using more water than it was in 2019. Albuquerque’s Parks and Recreation Director Dave Simon told City Desk ABQ in an email the […]

Mayor Tim Keller was one of the 200 Democratic mayors who met with President Joe Biden over a video call Tuesday, City Desk ABQ confirmed.  Following his poor debate performance, Biden joined a call with the Democratic Mayors Association to discuss his vision for a second term and how they can support his campaign.  The […]

Those building new housing projects now have access to the Planning Department’s “Fast Housing” tool online to quickly find areas of town that qualify for expedited permits without additional fees. The Planning Department provides an optional, fee-based program called “FasTrax” — $1,000 minimum — to accelerate the plan review process and ensure completion by specific […]

Fresh off moving into its new headquarters, the Albuquerque Community Safety Department has a new — yet familiar — director. Jodie Esquibel, who had been the department’s acting director since March, officially took the permanent position Friday. In a press release announcing Esquibel’s selection, Mayor Tim Keller said ACS is transforming public safety in the […]

At the last City Council meeting, Councilor Klarissa Peña proposed an amendment to change the way salary increases work so all councilors receive a raise at the same time.  Currently, some make more than others after the Citizens’ Independent Salary Commission — the commission that determines their salaries — decided last year that councilors needed […]

Nick Ferenchak likes his quiet — whether sleeping at night or hiking in the Sandia Mountains — and he has a plan to preserve his quietude from noisy vehicles. Ferenchak, an assistant professor in the Gerald May Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering at the University of New Mexico, is the president of Not-A-Loud, […]

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller vetoed the City Council’s proposal to change the city’s voting system Tuesday — saying the measure would “remove a level of accountability our constituents deserve.” At their last meeting, councilors on a 6-3 vote approved a proposal to put on the November ballot a measure to eliminate the threshold to win […]