Residents - Do you participate in Town meetings, elections? (Albuquerque: appointed, crime)

[Caili]

I'd firstly like to say I'm not starting this topic with any prejudgemental ideas in my head at all -I'm just curious.

Reading the many topics about crime in Albuquerque, and the lack of police response, has anyone made a concerted effort to participate in town meetings and elections to try and institute some change?

Asking because of a recent mayoral election we just had in my little town (decidedly smaller than ALbuquerque at about 85,000). Our mayor for the last four years was a longtime local resident from an established family, operated a business in the town, and was known and loved by many. She promised a lot of beautification of our little town, and she did that - but was also in the pockets of major developers who received approval to go ahead with mega building projects that have swelled the capacity of our roads to accommodate the influx. This past year a group of concerned citizens organized and put forth a candidate who's promises are to fix the existing infrastructure and stop the rampant growth and development. He won by an overwhelming margin, so we'll see how he does with it all.

We don't have the crime issue that Albuquerque does, but it just seems to me that the citizens of Albuquerque might want to band together to promote local candidates who will institute changes in the system. I've always been a believer that local government is just as important as the 'big' government, but without representation from a large group of citizens, nothing will ever happen.

Sorry if that was rambling - it's early morning. And - again - I am not trying to start a s***storm, am just curious.

[Zoidberg]

A lot of residents of Albuquerque are mad as hell about the crime.
A lot of residents of Albuquerque are even more mad about ART.

NM, and by extension many of its sub-governments, looks a lot more like it's run by volunteers. Instead of drawing 6 figures, our legislators work for a measly per diem that covers travel costs or thereabouts and that's it. This means you see a lot more renaissance men and women, or perhaps jacks and jennys of all trades.

City councilors and county commissioners get paid to hold their jobs, but the pay rates are insultingly low.

These people have to make a living somehow, and there are not many of them who inherited enough wealth to make everything they do out front, above board, and demonstrably immune from conflicts of interest.

It's kinda like that car mechanic who offers to fix your car for half the price of anybody else. Sure, he could be a saint, or, he could be putting in substandard parts or sabotaging your car to bring in repeat business. The typical citizen's response to low salaries is, "well, that's all they're worth". So we do often end up getting what we pay for. Politicians getting caught for embezzlement or other kinds of corruption are a regular thing in this state, though I'm amazed at how many states are worse.

The crime situation is a little more nuanced than it would appear. It's not simply not enough police officers. It's like a soap opera at the upper levels, with the mayor's office, city council, police union, police leadership, and federal oversight and clean-it-up entities engaging in a regular game of thrones. With the changeout of mayoral administrations, it's widely hoped that mayor, council, and police leadership will become coordinated, where they haven't been for a while.

One of the benefits of public office here is so many positions are uncontested. If you can keep your lights on, while working around the demands of an elected (or appointed) office that doesn't pay very well, you too can get a political position.

There are neighborhood meetings, and of course the city council and county commission have open-to-the-public meetings. Unless there's a hot-button issue (crime and ART both may qualify here lately) they're usually very poorly attended.

Albuquerque's got way too much to offer to spend life discussing politics. We like our elections quick and over.