As Election Day quickly approaches, the candidates for Albuquerque mayor continue to dash around the city with their packed campaign schedules.
During their tour, they met at the University of New Mexico’s Student Union Building to discuss policing, public transit, the city’s economy and homelessness.
The forum was hosted in part by students from the UNM Law School and held on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Of the field of six certified candidates, Mayling Armijo, incumbent Mayor Tim Keller, City Councilor Louie Sanchez and Alex Uballez were the four present, alongside write-in candidate Patrick Sais, who will not appear on the ballot.
While Election Day is Nov. 4, early voting began on Oct. 7 and all voting locations opened on Oct. 18. Same-day voter registration is available at all Bernalillo County voting centers during early voting and on Election Day.
Armijo discussed her connection to the University and was the only person on stage who attended UNM. Keller also mentioned his accomplishments regarding UNM, especially in the area of quantum computing.
“We want to have UNM downtown, because the hub of quantum computing right now is being built downtown, and leading that charge is the University of New Mexico,” Keller said.
One of the main topics each of the candidates came back to was public safety.
Keller touted his reformation efforts within the Albuquerque Police Department and his plans to further incorporate technology and civilians into the city’s policing.
Sanchez said he wants to cut “bloat” among the upper levels of APD, get officers back out on the streets and enforce the laws at the lowest levels.
Sais said he believes there is a lot of corruption in the department. On public transit, he said it is “very dangerous in those buses,” and he wants to reinstate fares for the buses.
“I propose that we charge people, stop charging taxpayers money to run those buses for free — better security on those buses and let’s move forward. Let’s make Albuquerque a better place,” Sais said.
Uballez said he wants to implement an early intervention system into APD and let officers get back to “old-fashioned police work” instead of having to respond to addiction and homelessness-related calls.
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When it came to how the candidates would improve the city’s economy, Uballez said he wants to invest more in the youth of the city by having a senior-level liaison between the mayor’s office, the University and the Albuquerque Public School District to connect students with jobs upon graduation.
Uballez also said he wants to create a municipal solar authority to build the solar panel and energy storage industries in the city.
“I would like to see solar cover our entire city because with the solar in our city, we could power the entire Southwest,” Uballez said.
Armijo said she wants to decrease permitting times to both boost the amount of small businesses, but to also create more housing in Albuquerque. She also pointed to the rise in property insurance prices as to why small businesses are stagnating.
“If you want job growth, you have to create an environment where you welcome businesses, and that is making sure crime is low and quality of life is there; that is education, parks, all the little things,” Armijo said. “You want it to be safe, and you want to enjoy it without impediments. And that’s what businesses look for in economic development.”
Sanchez said that crime is the biggest issue for small businesses.
“Small businesses are the backbone of our city, but with crime, it makes it difficult,” Sanchez said. “We need to be enforcing laws at the lower level so that we can make sure that we keep our city safe. Keeping our city safe and making our city safe will attract small business and large business alike.”
Jaden McKelvey-Francis is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @jadenmckelvey
