Minutes of member meeting 2022-01-06

Attendance

Present

Members of the Caucus:

• Albuquerque Interfaith
• Pat Bartels
• ViAnn Beadle
• Javier Benavidez
• Karen Bentrup
• Susanne Brown
• Athena Christodoulou (Political Director)
• Cricket Courtney
• Colton Dean (At-Large Officer)
• Marianne Dickinson
• Dan Fay
• Patricia French (Vice-Chair)
• Pia Gallegos
• Barbara Grothus
• Elene Gusch
• Marjorie Germain
• Cheryl Harris (Chair)
• Susan Hering
• Jay Levine
• Flora Lucero
• Roger McNew
• Cindy Madrid
• Sarah Manning
• J.D. Mathews
• Michelle Meaders
• Samuel Nevarez (Congressional District 1 Chair)
• Karlyne Nordholm (webmaster)
• Scotti Romberg
• Greg Seeley
• Susan Selbin
• Maurreen Skowran
• Michael Sperberg-McQueen (Secretary)
• Terry Storch
• Paul Stokes
• Joe Tapia
• Dorothy Wilkinson
• Jane Yee

Also two people who attended under the names "michael" and "Uph".

Guests

• Eric Griego Montoya

1 Call to order and quorum check

The chair called the meeting to order at 6:30 pm.

2 Introduction of guests, members, and executive committee members

The chair welcomed our guest. Eric Griego Montoya is the former head of the Working Families Party of New Mexico; he is currently serving as Outreach Coordinator for the City of Albuquerque.

3 Eric Griego Montoya

Eric Griego Montoya spoke to the caucus briefly about his background and his role with the city, which he undertook after finishing a Ph.D. he started long ago. He and the Mayor served together in the state senate and were allies; he would not have joined the administration if he had not been convinced that the Mayor shares his progressive values. His role with the city is to help the administration do a better job of engaging with citizens on all issues, and helping with the course corrections that will from time to time be necessary.

We followed EG's remarks with a question and answer session, moderated by PF and SN.

Questions addressed a broad range of topics:

• the role of Albuquerque in the state especially in light of the fact that parts of the Albuquerque area are now included in each of the state's three Congressional Districts;

• redistricting within Albuquerque;

• public safety and the crime rate in Albuquerque

• the progress of police reform

• law enforcement retention issues

• job qualifications for the public safety department

• whether to shift to an elected police chief

• traffic safety

• the prospect of a constitutional amendment guaranteeing environmental rights

• shortage of housing, rent rises, possibilities for rent control

• the city's policy towards the unsheltered and the practice of clearing encampments by destroying and discarding the possessions of those living there

• city policy on environmental justice issues

In his answers, EGM stressed the work that has been done and the progress that has been made, but also the amount of work that remains to be done.

On many issues, he noted, progressives take a holistic view of problems: it is important to address the root causes of crime and homelessness, not just their superficial symptoms. Some of those root causes include lack of economic opportunity, which means progressives need to focus on local economic development, which he said the Mayor has done and continues to do, emphasizing support for local small business over seeking big windfall investments from large outside corporations. Quality of life is an important but easily overlooked factor in economic development: investments in the arts and public transport have direct relevance to economic development.

He noted that in a city government, the mayor cannot do things alone; major initiatives in Albuquerque require majority support in the city council. He urged progressives not only to keep up pressure on the Mayor but also to put pressure on the members of the city council.

4 Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at 8:03 pm.