FINALLY!  

When I took office, neighbors in the Southeast Heights and South San Pedro neighborhoods asked me to take a new look at revitalizing the abandoned shopping center at Kathryn & San Mateo.

We found that city departments had responded to more than 300 calls for service - including serious crimes - around that property in just a few years.

I reached out to the owner to discuss a plan and started working with Council staff to look for a public use. 

I'm proud to announce that after more than a year of planning and working, I authorized the use of $1.5 million in public safety bond dollars to purchase the property to build a long-needed new Area Command for APD's Southeast Area officers.  The site is being cleared now and the city will soon take full possession.

• See what neighbors Helen Petropolous and Dave Davney told KOAT about the plans

Our current station was built decades ago, without internet or space to support programs we need today.  Our new station will be built for the 21st Century - with a community policing focus to help our neighbors and officers work together to solve problems.

Once the site plan is complete for the new area command, I've directed our staff to create a community input process to design the rest of the site based on community input for parks, workforce housing and job creation.

This is the largest influx of public dollars in this area in decades and I'm excited to see the City working with neighbors to bring back this neighborhood center.  I hope it also serves as a catalyst for more private development to reconnect Gibson and Central business corridors.


Add your ideas: Weigh in on my Facebook page here.

Wednesday at City Council: Immigrant-Friendly City Resolution

Almost 600 'Burqueños have signed our public petition supporting a reaffirmation of Albuquerque's Immigrant-Friendly status.  I'll share those comments with other Councilors Wednesday night at our City Council to consider the resolution sponsored by Councilors Peña, Benton, Gibson and myself.

Opponents are already organizing, but you can help by signing our public petition to be shared with other Councilors, the Mayor and our community.

SIGN: "I SUPPORT ALBUQUERQUE'S IMMIGRANT-FRIENDLY CITY STATUS"

On Friday, I introduced legislation to carve out APD funds to bring back community bicycle patrols along Central Ave from UNM through Nob Hill.  

The tragic shooting of a promising young UNM student is the unfortunate latest chapter in Albuquerque's growing crime problem.  As a former UNM Police Lieutenant, I know how much parents trust us - UNM and the University neighborhoods - to take care of their children.  Unfortunately, UNM has been forced to pull back from more proactive patrols in the neighborhood and APD's officers are too often catching up to calls that already happened to do the proactive community policing we need along Central.

While I've supported hiring 25 new Police Service Aides to prioritize property crime prevention and investigations and voted to fully staff APD, our academy can't hire and train the 200 officers we need overnight.

Along Central Ave, customers are fighting orange barrels to find their favorite shops, but they won't do that if they don't feel safe.  

I hope you'll support my legislation to enhance our community policing efforts by bringing back our bicycle patrol team and dedicating a crime prevention specialist to the District 6 Central Ave Corridor.

Use our "Contact Your Councilors" forms to show your support before Wednesday's meeting.

Over the past few months, I've heard from dozens of residents concerned about cuts to our library capital funds proposed in the Mayor's 2017 Capital budget.  I've long been a fan of our libraries and the opportunities it provides for our children and for self-learning, especially in a world going digital.  I'm proud to report that the Council voted to restore $500,000 in the Mayor's proposed cuts, along with the final city funding needed to begin building our new International District Library on East Central Ave.

Thank you for organizing to support the plan restoring those cuts.  The Council will vote on the final bill this Wednesday night.

-- Pat