Albuquerque received a $13.7 million dollar gift from Bernalillo County in the form of the Route 66 Visitor Center. Bernalillo County Commissioners voted unanimously to transfer ownership and responsibility of the visitor center to the city at their meeting held Feb. 20. Commissioners also gave funding to Serenity Mesa to help teens who need detox […]
Housing & Homelessness
Posted inBernalillo County, Housing & Homelessness, Local Gov.
Youth detox, homelessness initiatives pick up new funds
Bernalillo County Commissioners have approved a three year, $3.5 million contract with Serenity Mesa Recovery Center as part of its Behavioral Health Initiative (BHI). The initiative passed at its regularly scheduled meeting Feb. 20. The city of Albuquerque contributed $930,000 of the funds. Serenity Mesa is a youth detoxification center on Albuquerque’s Southwest Mesa. The […]
Posted inLocal Gov.
Money flows from county coffers
Bernalillo County has millions of dollars waiting for commissioners to spread around when they meet up on Tuesday Feb. 20, for their regular meeting. Commissioners will also hear reports from the University of New Mexico Hospital and from UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research on the impact of the sprawling Santolina Development planned for […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Housing & Homelessness
Downtown Albuquerque: Reboot
Editor’s note: This is the first installment in a series titled Downtown Albuquerque Reboot, about the city’s center, its challenges and the plans to address them. Read about vacant buildings here, peruse a photo essay about lowriders here, read about crime here and end with what the area has to offer here. Big front porches […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Housing & Homelessness
City-owned Los Altos Lofts marks a housing first
The conversion of hotels and motels into housing is not a new concept in U.S. cities — Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Denver and Austin have done it — but Albuquerque’s latest project is a distinctive one. Los Altos Lofts, located at 10330 Hotel Ave. NE, is the first hotel-to-apartment conversion and renovation that’s owned and overseen […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Courts, Justice & Safety, Housing & Homelessness
New police oversight board meets after year hiatus
After more than a year, the city’s Civilian Police Oversight Advisory Board met Feb. 8 to get organized on how to go about clearing a backlog of more than 82 civilian complaints against the Albuquerque Police Department. This was their first meeting in more than a year after city councilors did a major revamp of […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Education, Housing & Homelessness
Safe spaces equal safe schools
These days, creating safe spaces in our schools is becoming as important as creating safe schools. Not all on board Some parents at Double Eagle Elementary in Albuquerque are upset at the signage in the school designating where the Safe Zone space is. Specifically, the Pride flag signage. But APS doesn’t have any rules regarding […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Housing & Homelessness
Q&A: New housing director faces complex homelessness crisis
Gilbert Ramírez took the helm at the city’s Health, Housing & Homelessness (HHH) department Jan. 1, replacing outgoing director Carol Pierce. The position is a high profile one, as the city contends with a dual crisis of increased homelessness and lack of affordable housing. Roll-in additional complexities like mental health and addiction issues and Albuquerque, […]
Posted inAlbuquerque, Housing & Homelessness
City Council OKs spotlight on blighted motels, voucher program
The Albuquerque City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Monday night that creates an 11-member working group tasked with reforming the city’s emergency voucher program and addressing the blighted motels where they are often used. Councilors Renée Grout and Nichole Rogers said they sponsored the bill because the city’s blighted motels not only pose a health […]
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Who will be APD’s new watchdog?
Tackling the problem of revamping the city’s housing voucher program is set to be debated at Monday’s Albuquerque City Council meeting. Also on the government table is taking a look at selecting a director of the struggling Civilian Police Oversight Agency. CPOA Leader Albuquerque’s police oversight agency has been without a permanent executive director since […]