-----Forwarded Message-----
From: "Pat Davis, City Council"
Sent: Aug 1, 2016 9:26 AM
To: Ronald Halbgewachs
Subject: National Night Out Tomorrow Night; Updates from the City

Ronald -- When I was a police officer, National Night Out was always one of my favorite events.  As officers, we usually saw people only at their worst, but National Night Out was a chance for us to meet neighbors who appreciated our work and enjoy each other's fellowship in block parties and cookouts. As we all work to get back to our community policing roots in Albuquerque events like this matter even more.  This year, National Night Out occurs on Tuesday and I'll be out in the District all night to attend as many events as I can. Learn more about these events and find your neighborhood's events on our website here. WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO? Last Friday night, I moderated a forum at the Albuquerque Mennonite Church on gun violence and violence prevention in ABQ.  The panel - Father John Dear, Senator Cisco McSorley, Rev. Sue Joiner of 1st Congregational UCC, Pameyla Herndon, Esq. of the NAACP, Miranda Viscolli of New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence and District Attorney candidate Raul Torrez helped us focus our energy on violence prevention efforts we can all lead.  Thanks to that great group and our hosts for this well attended event (on a rainy Friday night!) PROJECT UPDATES New! Officer Daniel Webster Children's Park Groundbreaking After years of neighborhood organizing and a big effort by former Councilor Rey Garduño, we broke ground last month on the new Children's Park in the South Los Altos Neighborhood. This park will be a one-of-a-king park for kids: a miniature version of Albuquerque, complete with a mini-Rio Grande, balloon fiesta park and playground equipment designed to replicate the Big-I and other ABQ landmarks! I was proud to sponsor legislation to name this park after fallen Officer Daniel Webster who was a great dad and kid at heart. The new park is in the beat he served.  Thank you to his parents and wife who joined us for the groundbreaking event. Zuni Road Restriping In our last email, I told you about the big efforts underway to update one of our city's most dangerous roadways.  It's taken a little patience from us all to navigate the orange barrels and shifting lanes, but now we have a safer roadway for pedestrians and bicycles and a new center turn lane keeps slowing and turning vehicles out of east/west travel lanes which makes driving down Zuni much easier for us all. Bicycle lane markers were going in this weekend and the whole project should be done this week. Thanks again to County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins who partnered with me to secure the final funding to allow this project to move forward now (instead of waiting until 2018 as originally planned!) Zia Park Improvements Earlier this year, I met with some active members of the Highland Business & Neighborhood Association and staff from Zia Elementary School to discuss a process for improvements to Zia Park, the largest green space in the neighborhood.   I'm happy to report that Sean and I have met with the Parks Department's planners to develop a budget and plan to improve the walking track and bring back some of the community use spaces which have gone unused lately.  Thanks to HBANA and Zia Elementary for kickstarting this project - I look forward to bringing you updates soon. A new renewable energy goal for ABQ Before our July break, I asked fellow councilors to defer action on a bill to set a new solar/renewable energy standard for city facilities. I co-sponsored that bill with Councilor Benton.  During break, our staff held a series of meetings to investigate the capital and fiscal requirements to increase the city's renewable generation levels under a number of scenarios. At tonight's city council meeting, I will ask the Council to defer this bill until later this month so that we can present our findings to the public before taking a vote. If all goes well, we'll announce that date soon. #StopGunViolence updates You might remember that I brought together more than a dozen community groups and leaders in June to make recommendations for local actions we could take to decrease gun crimes and gun-related violence in Albuquerque.  We've taken some of those recommendations and council staff has been working with various city departments over the break to see which ones we could implement quickly and effectively.   National Night Out events give us a good chance to talk to our neighbors about our own experiences as victims, survivors and worried residents.  I'll be out tomorrow night to hear your concerns and ask for your help to support these initiatives when we roll them out later this month. New Comprehensive Plan and Integrated Development Ordinance ABC Comp Plan - First Public Hearing: The first public hearing in front of the Environmental Planning Commission takes place next Thursday, August 4 in the Vincent E. Griego Chambers in the basement of City Hall.  Parking will be validated. The hearing is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m.  Public testimony will be taken in the afternoon and after the dinner break.  You can sign up to speak at any time, so come when you can! The staff report and two presentations from EPC study sessions in July are available online.  Staff report and attachments Presentation from July 7 Study Session - Update Overview Presentation from July 28 - Comments Overview There's still time to send in written comments for EPC review.   Send your comments by 1 p.m. on August 2!   Written comments received after that time will be forwarded to City Council for consideration during the next step in the adoption process. The Citizen-led Healthy Workforce (Guaranteed Sick Leave) Ballot Initiative Qualified for the Ballot In July, the coalition of citizens working to place a guaranteed sick leave ordinance on our ballot submitted the required number of signatures to the City Clerk.  Tonight I'll sponsor legislation adopting an election resolution and asking the County Commission to place that question on the November ballot for voters.  You can learn more about their efforts on their Facebook page here. HAPPENING IN OUR DISTRICT Sat. Aug 7, 10am - 3pm: Kutz4Kidz™ 2016 “The 2016 Kutz4Kidz™ Back to School Event is a charity project aimed at providing free haircuts, backpacks, school supplies and medical exams for underprivileged children in our community, just in time for back to school. The average cost of school supplies per student in the Greater Albuquerque Area ranges from $75 to well over $100 (depending on grade level)! Many children served at this event, have little or no means to return to school with the proper school supplies needed. With the high costs associated with returning back to school, this event will serve as a resource to help children feel comfortable going back to school. This is a big event drawing thousands of underprivileged kids and their parents each year.  Learn more on their website here. WANT TO HELP US BRING PROGRESS TO ABQ?  GET INVOLVED There are several openings on city boards and commissions.  If you are interested in serving on any, please contact Sean Foran in my office for assistance applying.  Congratulations to District 6 residents Daniel Solares, Pamela Weese and Carolyn Gonzales who were recently appointed to city boards! Here are a few new openings we flagged for district residents: Citizen's Independent Salary Commission  The City of Albuquerque’s Accountability in Government Oversight Committee is seeking applicants to serve on the Citizens’ Independent Salary Commission.   The Citizens' Independent Salary Commission was created with the authority to set the salaries of the Mayor and Councilors.  The Commission has the authority to evaluate the annual salaries and determine whether they should be increased or decreased.  The Commission meets every other year to review the salaries paid by the city to the Mayor and Councilors.  If after the review the Commission determines that the salary should be increased or decreased, the Commission files a written salary schedule with the City Clerk indicating the proposed salary. Other Boards and Commissions  Patrick Davis for ABQ · 3926 Simms Ave SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108, United States This email was sent to ronhalbgewachs@peoplepc.com. 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