Hello Albuquerque,
I hope your year has been off to a good start, and that you’ve had the opportunity to celebrate Black History Month by enjoying some of the great exhibits and activities Albuquerque has to offer. As you may know, it’s been an eventful year already, as the state legislature just wrapped up a 30-day session. While we’re working every day to build a stronger city and support Burqueños, we’ve been clear that we need the state’s help to tackle some of our most pressing challenges. We went into this legislative session with clear objectives, set during our Metro Crime Initiative, to take tangible action to address the broken criminal justice system. We gave it all we got, and the outcome was a mixed bag.
We got some important wins, like expanding the Violence Intervention Program, increased funding for the judicial system, stronger penalties for gun crimes, and fixes to the ankle monitoring system and auto theft laws that will help APD on the frontline. We also currently have allocations of over $50 million in funding for important projects that will address infrastructure needs, enhance community resources, and contribute to public safety.
We’re grateful for the progress we made and the MCI items that passed, but we know this doesn’t mean we have justice for victims of violence. It doesn’t close the revolving door of crime, and it doesn’t mean we’re going to rest in pursuing the help with homelessness and crime that we need. We’ll continue to pursue fixes to the system that will keep Albuquerque and New Mexico safe.
Sincerely,
Mayor Tim Keller