Albuquerque City Council President Klarissa Peña has introduced an ordinance that would repeal the city’s administration question-and-answer period, removing deadlines and public posting requirements for how the mayor’s office responds to councilor questions.
Ordinance O‑26‑7 was introduced Jan. 21 and is scheduled for a public hearing Feb. 2 before the City Council. If approved, it would amend the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque by eliminating the codified rules that require timely, written and publicly posted responses from the administration, while keeping attendance requirements for budget hearings and council meetings.
The proposal matters because it changes how councilors obtain information from city leadership and how much of that exchange is visible to the public.
Under current law, the administration must answer questions submitted at least one business day before a meeting either verbally at the meeting or in writing within one business day. The administration must provide written responses to questions asked during meetings within seven business days. Those deadlines would be removed under the ordinance.
The repeal would also eliminate the requirement that the Council Services Department post all questions and answers on the City Council website. It would remove language that distinguishes between factual questions that require written responses and opinion-based questions that do not. Councilors would still be able to ask questions during meetings, but the ordinance would remove legal guarantees that responses are timely or publicly available.
The section targeted for repeal is part of the Revised Ordinances of Albuquerque (ROA) 1994, the city’s official code of laws, originally compiled in 1994 and updated over time, that lays out how and when the administration must respond to councilor inquiries.
The ordinance keeps in place requirements that the mayor or a designated representative attend budget hearings and that the city attorney or a designee attend all council meetings. It includes a severability clause and would take effect five days after publication by title and general summary.
Residents may sign up to speak at the Feb. 2 council meeting to comment on the proposal.
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