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Growth on minds of District 6 candidates for Albuquerque City Council
Explaining shoplifting
City Council District 6 candidate Rey Garduño has been criticized for failing to disclose on newspaper questionnaires that he was cited for shoplifting about 20 years ago.
When asked on a Tribune questionnaire about whether he had been charged with any misdemeanors, Garduño initially answered "No." He later asked to amend his answer after an Albuquerque Journal story noted he had also left out the shoplifting charge on that paper's questionnaire.
Gardu¤o said he walked out of a store unaware of a cordless phone in one of his bags that he had not paid for.
He said he received a citation for the offense, went to court and was assigned to attend three petty larceny courses, which he did.
Garduño said he assumed that by attending those courses the citation would be removed from his record.
"This is not a blame on anybody except myself," Garduño said. "I've advocated my entire life for equality and justice. My one past mistake shouldn't overshadow that fact."
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Albuquerque City Council District 6, an area known mostly for the urban hipsterdom of Nob Hill, isn't faced with the same growing pains as places like the West Side.
Yet, it's Albuquerque's growth that is emerging as a key policy issue in Tuesday's election.
Four candidates are hoping to replace Councilor Martin Heinrich, who is vacating the seat to run for Congress.
Each of them - Rey Garduño, Joanie Griffin, Kevin Wilson and Blair Kaufman - has advocated for some form of smart growth, and most have made the need for more infill development a key campaign talking point.
But it's the city's development on the fringes that has caused the candidates to split. Here is a snapshot of their feelings on growth and other key campaign issues:
Rey Garduño: A retired public affairs official with University of New Mexico Hospital, and a self-described community organizer, Garduño, 63, has likely the most pronounced viewpoint on growth.
Garduño wants to provide incentives for infill development, but stands opposed to issuing tax breaks, such as tax increment development districts, on projects outside the city's water service boundaries. That would include large-scale developments such as the 55,000-acre project on the West Mesa by SunCal Cos.
"I have the political will to say that developers need to pay for the cost of development," Garduño said. "If we are going to have new developments, anything that is outside of the service area, then those developments need to be self-sufficient; they should be able to pay for their infrastructure."
Garduño is also pushing a mass transit plan that involves using small, fuel-efficient buses to traverse neighborhoods and connect commuters with central corridors. He also wants to highlight the district's diversity by promoting things such as ethnic parades and festivals.
Joanie Griffin: The owner of a public relations firm, Griffin, 48, is also pushing for more infill, but sees outward growth as inevitable.
"I'm all in favor of planned communities like Mesa del Sol and SunCal, where you have mixed-use properties and where they're using preservation techniques," she said.
Griffin is advocating for an increase both in the number of police officers on neighborhood streets and the amount of resources given to gang-prevention efforts.
She also wants to learn the root of what makes companies choose cities other than Albuquerque by reaching out to firms that had once considered relocating to the city.
"If 17 out of 20 (companies) say the same thing, maybe we need to enact another policy," Griffin said.
Blair Kaufman: On the development front, Kaufman, the principal of Chaparral Elementary School, also says growth is inevitable, but is worried about whether the city is prepared to handle it.
"How are we going to support the older neighborhoods when it seems like we look more at development going on the edges of the city," he said.
Kaufman, 57, said he hopes to improve upon the city's transportation infrastructure by going after all of the federal and state funding possible to solve transportation issues.
"That's what the role is of a councilor - set the vision," he said.
He is also running on his experience as an elected official, having served 12 years on Central New Mexico Community College's governing board, and as an educator.
"I do not believe the school board should be composed of people appointed by the city government," Kaufman said, challenging a plan often discussed by Mayor Martin Chavez. "But I do think we need to quit squabbling and get people together."
Kevin Wilson: For 20 years, Wilson, 42, has owned the specialty store Addicted to Comics and Hobbies. He said he's also grown active in the community, having helped develop a sector plan for Nob Hill.
While supportive of smart outward growth, he's using his experience with sector planning to see that similar plans evolve as the neighborhoods intended.
"I've got the experience and know what it's going to take," he said. "I think it would be really hard for someone who's never done this before to walk in and try to know what's coming out from (city planning) committees."
He also hopes to abate speeding in neighborhoods. Rather than implementing controversial speed humps, he wants citizens to call the city to report high-speeding areas and then have police officers deployed to operate speed traps in those areas as a deterrent.
Wilson also wants to expand a bike patrol program from main streets into neighborhood streets to combat property crime.
He has also conceived a plan for the city to generate solar power that could be sold to energy-thirsty states like California and use the revenue to pay for future water resources.
