Revitalization of East Central is moving forward at glacial speed. Paula Donahue, Planning Department, and consultant staff held 19 focus group meetings on August 7 and 8 to scope the broad issues for the East Gateway Sector Plan. Their report will be published in a week or two to (a) form the basis for a formal statement of work for contractual support and (b) initiate a dialogue with the public concerning what WE WANT East Central and adjacent areas to look like well into the future. This will address transportation, commercial development, residential character, schools, parks, and many other facets of standards for development. She has suggested that the Plan examine strengths and future needs of the area south of I-40, east of Wyoming Blvd, and west of Tramway Blvd, a much larger area than proposed for the MRA. Substantive work will commence very late this year or early in 2008.
The Metropolitan Redevelopment Area (designating blighted areas) was deferred by the Albuquerque Development Commission until a November 20, 2007, hearing. The commission clearly saw the “rush to judgment” implicit in the Council legislation, the lack of adequate public consultation, unanswered questions concerning the effects of “blighting” on property values, and the need for more public involvement. Commission Chairman Alex Romero was fairly direct in asking Cynthia Borrego to schedule public forums to get residents’ and business owners’ concerns addressed before November. In a parallel action, the Council legislation was deferred for 90 days—tentatively until November 19; given the November 20 ADC hearing, the Bill might be further deferred.
Council and Committee Meetings:
The meeting dates for the City Council, Finance and Government Operations committee, and Land Use, Planning, and Zoning committee are posted at http://daystar2.cabq.gov:81/calendar/#current. Note that agendas are not normally posted until Friday afternoon for a Council meeting on the following Monday—72 hours is normally all the advance notice that we get.
Fiscal Advisory Committee has not met yet, but will identify appropriate projects that might be funded by City, County, or State in future budgets. Several projects have already been suggested, and more will result from the Sector Plan process. We need to establish reasonably-priced priority projects that will enhance the appearance, livability, and economic health of our community.
Annexation of an 85-acre residential area in Juan Tabo Hills West (bounded by Juan Tabo Hills, Kirtland AFB, and the Tijeras Arroyo was approved by the County Commission on September 13. This is a reduced plat of land, with exclusion of 70 acres in the Tijeras Arroyo and 45 acres north and west of the arroyo; those will be dealt with later. The developer addressed our concerns about dedicating park land, limiting access, protecting the arroyo, and meeting or exceeding community norms.
Separately, City legislation (R-07-273) has been introduced to adjust the 2007 Component Capital Implementation Plan, adding $300,000 for the park in the 2009 program. That Bill will be voted on at the September 17 Council meeting.
Voter Education forum was considered, based on suggestions from two Coalition member-representatives. The League of Women Voters declined to sponsor and conduct an objective, balanced District 9 forum to address the propositions for changing the City Charter, ten bond questions, and (possibly) debate of issues concerning the recall of Councilor Harris. The League declined based on the many commitments already approved, so I’ve sent a summary and comments to member-representatives.
Election on October 2 includes five propositions to change the City Charter:
Regular elections will normally be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday, except when that falls on a recognized holiday or religious holiday.
No campaign contributions any candidate for mayor or city council from businesses or people doing business with the city.
Members of boards, commissions, and committees might be appointed by the Council if the Council passes an Ordinance to that effect.
Raising the salary of Councilors from $9,963 to $29,569 annually.
Extensive changes to make recall of elected city officials much more difficult.
There are ten bond issues on the ballot:
Public safety $12,184,000
Senior, family, community center, community enhancement $14,090,000
Parks and recreation $37,491,000
Energy conservation, public facilities, system modernization $13,972,000
Library $ 3,081,000
Streets $45,193,000
Public transportation $ 7,323,000
Storm sewer system $10,403,000
Zoo, biological park, museum, and cultural facility $ 6,136,000
Affordable housing $10,100,000
The separate ballot for District 9 offers a choice of recalling or retaining Councilor Harris in office.
Web site development, slowly but surely, will use www.eastgatewaycoalition.org. The prototype site is up, with only the election summary paper posted at this point. Leroy Tafoya, the webmaster, and I plan to meet with the developer on September 17 to work on adding more material to the web site.
Neighborhood Task Force was formed and has met in “public” meetings to discuss neighborhood and homeowner association governance and roles of the Office of Neighborhood Coordination. Despite requests for meeting dates and places, notice was apparently not made to associations in District 9. As I understand it, the task force will recommend something to regulate homeowners associations; will probably not recommend legislation concerning neighborhood associations; and will recommend a more independent Office of Neighborhood Coordination. The next meeting will be held on September 25 at 6:15 pm in the City Council committee room on the ninth floor of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County building (One Civic Plaza).
Legislation is a continuing task to follow the meeting agendas, as well as multiple and sometimes complex Bills on East Gateway Sector Plan/Metropolitan Redevelopment; Tijeras Arroyo studies; and other matters. Some timely items will be heard September 17:
R-07-295, notification of Council meetings. Some Associations support adding words to require posting of meeting dates and agendas on the city web site. State law only requires posting in the lobby of City Hall—19th Century technology.
R-07-257 and R-07-277 deal with determining how much and how the City should contribute to funding the Metropolitan Detention Center. These ideas should have been addressed well before the Council voted to give Bernalillo County $9,000,000 earlier this year.
R-07-278 proposes a $100,000 study for a Tijeras Arroyo Bio-Zone preserve, while R-07-279 (t0 be heard later) requires the Mayor to proceed with the $300,000 Tijeras Arroyo Transportation study.
Next Coalition meeting is tentatively scheduled for October 25, 2007, at the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center.
Roger Mickelson 323-9273 fhvhaRoger@aol.com
