Category: Local Government

Albuquerque’s push for more budget transparency collapsed Monday night as the City Council voted 1-8 against overriding Mayor Tim Keller’s veto of an ordinance that had passed 8-1 just three weeks earlier. The failed override leaves the city’s $1.5 billion budget process largely unchanged. The administration will not have to share detailed vacancy data, drop […]

A month after nearly losing her Albuquerque City Council seat, Klarissa Peña is back at the helm. The council elected Peña president in a 5-4 vote over Joaquín Baca. The same five councilors — Peña, Dan Champine, Renée Grout, Dan Lewis and outgoing President Brook Bassan — voted to install the new leadership. In separate […]

Albuquerque’s newest city councilor is starting with a simple idea: setting up an office in the district she represents. Stephanie Telles, the new councilor for the city’s Westside District 1, said she asked for office space in her district to make herself more accessible to constituents who struggle to get downtown to City Hall. When […]

The Albuquerque City Council is scheduled to choose a new council president and vice-president at its first meeting of the year tonight, a day after Mayor Tim Keller’s historic third consecutive inauguration and swearing in five councilors, including one newcomer. Stephanie Telles, who won the December runoff in District 1, joins returning councilors Klarissa Peña […]

“To move to a world in which so much operates off of power, off of money, off of favors and relationships that circle around power — to see it up close is different…” Six weeks after finishing third in Albuquerque’s crowded mayoral race, Alex Uballez sat down with City Desk on the patio outside Ex […]

Albuquerque is set to get a new 10-acre public park at the State Fairgrounds after state finance officials approved $67 million in bonds Tuesday. The approval, combined with a $22.35 million land acquisition bond cleared Dec. 9, commits more than $90 million to park space and pedestrian upgrades ahead of a final redevelopment plan expected […]

Albuquerque Police Chief Harold Medina will retire Dec. 31, ending a five-year run defined by controversy. Medina announced his decision on Wednesday and told APD commanders during his final staff meeting on Tuesday, according to a city press release. His tenure included a crash that seriously injured a civilian, a City Desk investigation that found […]

Albuquerque City Council President Brook Bassan is asking investigators to determine whether City Attorney Lauren Keefe violated conflict-of-interest rules by siding with Mayor Tim Keller’s lawyers in a months-long legal dispute over fire department staffing. The council voted unanimously Monday to add the investigation request to the Jan. 5 agenda for formal consideration, following a […]