The city council election in Albuquerque’s district one presents a unique challenge: all candidates on the ballot are challengers. The race is without an incumbent, as previous councilor Louie Sanchez is running for mayor.
Those vying for the district one seat — which represents the central west side of Albuquerque — are Daniel Gilber Leiva, Ahren Griego, Joshua Taylor Neal and Stephanie Telles.
Daniel Gilber Leiva
Leiva is a University of New Mexico Law School graduate and serves in Albuquerque’s Economic Development Department, working with small businesses seeking grants and guidance navigating Albuquerque bureaucracy. He says his law degree is a major help in working as a policymaker, as well as his time on the Economic Development Department, lending him specialized experience.
“I’m uniquely poised to step in, day one, with an understanding of how the city actually works to be able to get the work done,” Leiva said.
He says he envisions a collaborative relationship with UNM, where city council and the University and its associates — such as UNM Hospital — uplift each other and the wider community, pushing toward what he calls, “the Albuquerque of the future.”
“What I’m looking for is an Albuquerque that we can all be proud of, and that doesn’t necessarily have one very strict definition,” Leiva said.
Leiva has a desire to repair the relationship between the city council — which has previously been contentious — in order to ensure citizens’ needs are met, he said. Leiva said that lawmakers must be active in their communities, as that is the only way to understand citizens’ needs. He discussed the city council’s power over the budget as a way to hold the mayor accountable, but also a need for similar and specific goals to ensure productive collaboration.
In the past, city councilors have been allocated $1.5 million to improve their district. Leiva said he would devote that money to cleaning and beautification efforts, including cleaning up litter and weeds. He also proposed a plan to let district community members vote on how they would like to see the money used.
Albuquerque youth leaving the city is what Leiva highlighted as the city’s most pressing issue. To solve this issue, Leiva said he hopes to support small businesses and simplify the process of starting a small business, create more affordable housing and upgrade workforce development, allowing young people to build careers that they can be proud of, he explained. He also highlighted a desire to bring more “play” to Albuquerque and the west side, such as coffee shops, libraries and community centers.
“If we can instill that sense of community, and then we give people good career paths, good jobs, and then people can actually afford to live here in Albuquerque, that’s the recipe for success, to me,” Leiva said.
Ahren Griego
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Ahren Griego is a retired firefighter captain who spent 23 years with the Albuquerque fire department. Griego said he brings experience working with city council to his candidacy.
Griego said he has yet to think too deeply about his vision for the relationship between city council and UNM, but is eager to consider it, as working with the University also benefits Albuquerque youth and working families.
A smooth local government, which requires collaboration with the mayor’s office, is what Griego sees as his function as an elected official, he said.
“I got to make sure that their needs, their wants, are being addressed. It’s not an issue of whether a person can and cannot get along with other elected officials. It’s a matter of respecting what the needs of the constituents are for the entire city,” Griego said with regards to the sometimes tense partnership between city council and the mayor.
Griego said he is interested in prevention of crime and the money allotted to councilors would go to that, if he were elected. He hopes to invest in the youth, creating and supporting programs that prevent them from ending up involved in crime or on the streets by providing affordable after school programs.
“With the youth, every investment that we make in our youth is an investment in crime prevention. I look forward to working with nonprofits to try to find affordable options for kids, before school, after school, across all spectrums of interest, art, science and athletics,” Griego said.
Griego identified crime as the biggest issue facing the city, but added he is glad to see crime numbers coming down and thinks that repairing the city’s reputation and morale is important. He highlighted the success of the UNM Lobo Football team, the Balloon Fiesta, the Flamenco Institute and the Galles racing team as examples of Albuquerque excellence and points of pride.
“We don’t got to go look towards any other country or community for that. We have winning examples of inspiration within our own community, and those are the kind of things that we need to support to get our families and our kids and our people believing back in our city again,” Griego said. “If we can turn the corner with the homeless crisis that we’re experiencing, and the violence and youth crisis that we’re experiencing, Albuquerque is ready for a comeback.”
Joshua Taylor Neal
Neal is a civil engineer working in city planning and landscape development, having worked on the Netflix Studios in Mesa del Sol and the west side Amazon plant, he said. He feels the collaboration skills necessary to the council seat and gained by his work in engineering will translate to a legislative position, Neal said.
Neal said his plans for the University and the city tie in to his overall plan to address crime, saying that reducing crime in the UNM area will attract more students.
“You know, (prospective students) may come to UNM and see all the homeless people, they may hear about the crime statistics and turn away from wanting to come to UNM,” Neal said. “I think if we want UNM to be successful, then we have to address some of the issues that affect the reputation and the perception that people have when they come to visit New Mexico.”
Neal identified mutual respect and bipartisanship as necessities for a productive relationship between the city council and the mayor’s office. He says he possesses those necessary traits and hopes to bring them, despite little formal political experience.
“I’m a moderate person. I’m by no means a politician. I’m just an engineer that works here in town, and I’m running for office because I want to make our city a better place, and so I’m willing to work with anybody who shares that same goal of making Albuquerque a better place, regardless of whether they are Republican or Democrat, progressive or conservative,” Neal said.
Neal said he hopes to allocate money to make the west side more walkable. He wants to reduce pedestrian and cyclist-related accidents by implementing sidewalks and infrastructure more friendly to non-car modes of transport.
He reiterated his desire to decrease crime and the cost of living as the most important issues facing the city overall. Neal also said Albuquerque’s gross receipt tax system can put off developers and the permitting process in the city is too complex and sluggish.
Stephanie Telles
Telles is a forensic accountant who worked under the State Auditor as the Director of the Government Accountability Office. She said her experience allows her to bring budget expertise to city council.
Telles is also a part-time UNM faculty member, teaching in the Anderson School of Management at UNM. She envisions a strong, close relationship between the city and the school, providing economic opportunities for students and graduates, Telles said.
Telles said that balancing various voices and ideas is an important part of any leadership role, but that balance requires a degree of emotional intelligence that she hopes to bring to the relationship between the city council and the mayor’s office.
“The biggest thing is to ensure that where the focus remains always right, making sure that whatever conversations are had, we’re having them in the best interest of the people, because it’s public service. It’s not self service,” Telles said.
Telles said she wants to invest the money allocated for councilors into supporting small businesses, particularly businesses run by members of marginalized communities, as well as better infrastructure and support for the unhoused. She wants to reclassify 911 operators as emergency responders, rather than their current status as clerical workers. The reclassification would grant better benefits and increase recruitment, which would then improve response times, she said.
Telles said the biggest issue facing Albuquerque is public safety, particularly as it relates to children and seniors.
“The big piece would be expanding our Albuquerque Community Safety department under (Albuquerque Police Department) so that more trained professionals can respond to calls about mental health, homelessness, any sort of substance abuse,” Telles said. “We really need to focus on actual, proven policies like well-lit sidewalks, stable housing, more youth programs to keep kids engaged.”
Addison Fulton is the culture editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at culture@dailylobo.com or on X @dailylobo
