City Desk ABQ Archives - City Desk ABQ

Albuquerque’s record $1.5 billion budget heads to the state, without Keller’s signature

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños and city workers can breathe a sigh of relief as the city’s new $1.5 billion budget becomes law without the stroke of the mayor’s pen. The plan avoids resident trash fee hikes, locks in funding for core community services from public safety to senior programs and includes upcoming […]

Civic Plaza in downtown Albuquerque with the City Hall building pictured in the background. (Roberto Rosales)

Why did the city cancel 311 on Sundays? Councilor quizzes mayor’s office after getting no answer

City Desk ABQ: How that story came together Jesse Jones is a local government reporter with City Desk and The Paper. This column covers his work uncovering what’s behind a news tip he received about City Hall. Whether you’re reporting graffiti, looking for a swimming pool schedule, seeking homeless services or trying to track down […]

A storefront for Smokers Town sits across from the University of New Mexico campus along Central Avenue. Under a newly proposed city ordinance, future smoke shops would face strict buffer zones preventing them from opening near existing cannabis dispensaries or other nicotine retailers. (Jesse Jones)

How a new zoning ordinance could send future Burque smoke shops up in smoke

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Smoke shops and cannabis dispensaries have become a common sight in many Duke City shopping centers, but city leaders may soon make that boom go up in smoke. Concerned about the increasing concentration of 21-and-over shops, a city councilor is proposing new zoning rules that would limit how many […]

City Councilor Brook Bassan, co-sponsor of the revived proposed gross receipts tax increase that would go before Albuquerque voters in Novembe. (Jesse Jones)

ABQ councilors try again on tax hike — but this time, voters will decide

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Following the defeat of a similar measure in March, a pair of City Councilors are reviving a nearly half-percent sales tax proposal to fund neighborhood improvements and city services. The measure would ask Burqueños to pay slightly more in exchange for neighborhood infrastructure upgrades and higher pay for city […]

An Albuquerque Environmental Health Department employee deploys a mosquito surveillance trap. The city's five-person Urban Biology team uses data collected from these traps to monitor roughly 20 local species and track high-priority public health threats like West Nile virus. (CABQ)

Return of the ‘ankle-biters’

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Duke City residents looking forward to patio season may think they got through an unusually quiet spring bug season unscathed, but Albuquerque — currently ranked 38th on Orkin’s Top 50 Worst Mosquito Cities List — local health officials expect to see a spike in mosquito populations very soon. The […]

Saggio’s restaurant near UNM placed a hiring sign Tuesday afternoon. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales for the Paper

Wages vs. Rents: Albuquerque council set to vote on historic $15 minimum wage overhaul tonight

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Burqueño workers and small business owners could soon feel the impact in their wallets as the City Council prepares to vote tonight on an overhaul of the city’s minimum wage law. As written, the proposal would break from the state’s minimum wage base for the first […]

Renée Grout was reelected chair of the Committee of the Whole on Monday, a role that oversees the city's $1.5 billion budget and capital improvements program. Grout previously served as council vice president in 2023 and 2024.

ABQ tries to break its heavy metal habit with new copper theft law

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — Drivers and pedestrians are navigating dark stretches of East Central Avenue after copper thieves have ripped wiring from streetlights, prompting a pair of city councilors to tighten Albuquerque’s scrap metal recycling laws in an effort to curb the vandalism. Rather than creating a new law, Councilors […]

A sign at the city's only Safe Outdoor Space located at the New Creation Church. (Jesse Jones)

Council said no to more safe outdoor spaces but Mayor Keller started one anyway. Now the funding and future may be in jeopardy.

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Almost a year ago, Mayor Tim Keller told reporters the city needs 100 more Safe Outdoor Spaces for its homeless population but the city council has never gotten on board with authorizing zoning and ordinance changes to get anywhere close. Even now, the city has only one privately run […]

A city bus leaves the Alvarado Transportation Center in downtown Albuquerque where most people transfer buses to reach their destination throughout Albuquerque. Photo by Roberto E. Rosales/The City Desk. January 19th, 2024.

Why Burqueños might feel safer on buses

By Jesse Jones, The Paper. — Burqueños riding public transit may be feeling safer lately as new ABQ Ride data shows security calls across the transit system are dropping even while ridership continues to grow. Data reviewed by City Desk from ABQ Ride’s third-quarter report shows safety calls dropped 21% from last year, averaging 1,871 […]

The Albuquerque City Council debates the city budget during the May 18 council meeting. (Jesse Jones)

After mayor warns of budget woes, Council OK’s city’s biggest budget ever

By Jesse Jones, City Desk in The Paper. — The City Council passed the city’s largest-ever budget, $1.5 billion, Monday night overcoming earlier warnings from the mayor that future spending would have to be cut to meet slower economic projections. The spending plan, passing 7-2, with councilors Brook Bassan and Dan Lewis voting against it, […]