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Wednesday, September 28, 2016

FBI Says ABQ And NM Face Some Of The Highest Crime Rates In America; What Do The Powers-That-Be Say About That? Plus: Oil Bear Ready To Strike State Coffers Some More, And: Colón Kicks Off Mayoral Bid  

Chief Eden and Mayor Berry
With the drugs and the poverty comes the crime. And how. From the FBI:

Both violent crime and property crime in Albuquerque increased (in 2015) by 9.2 percent and 11.5 percent, respectively. The violent crime rate – which was 966 per 100,000 residents – was higher than rates in cities with comparable populations, including Tucson, Louisville, Ky., Las Vegas, Nev., and Oklahoma City. The property crime rate was also higher than that of Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and Louisville. . . Meanwhile,  overall property crimes in New Mexico rose 4.4 percent last year while those crimes decreased nationwide.

And then there's the latest crime fad here:

The estimated number of motor vehicle thefts in New Mexico was 8,526, or a 35.5 percent surge from the 2014 estimate. That spike was well above the percentage increase nationally. The FBI says the estimated number of motor vehicle thefts in the nation was 707,758, or a 3.1 percent increase.

And not to be forgotten, the murder rate in the state is way up as well, much more than the national average.

The number of homicides. . . jumped by nearly 16 percent in 2015 from the year before, well above the percentage increase seen nationwide, according to the FBI. The estimated number of homicides in New Mexico last year was 117, a 15.8 percent increase from 2014. The estimated number of homicides nationwide in 2015 was 15,696, a 10.8 percent jump from the year before, the FBI said.

Well, maybe we just cut taxes some more and all those businesses rejecting locating here because of the out-of-control crime and drugs will look the other way? Not.

This being the election season, the Governor is blaming the state senate Democrats for not passing more tough on crime legislation. Republican Mayor Berry, in a rare comment on anything controversial, says he's conducting a study to find out why crime is spiking here:

Come on, Mayor. Again, it's drugs, poverty, lousy wages and few jobs. We don't need no stinkin' study. But we do need a fully staffed and reformed APD ready to protect us, more emphasis on drug prevention and treatment and more jobs.

APD Chief Eden, like Gov. Martinez, continues to shift the blame. He says:

There is this thought that we cannot overcome, with the judiciary branch in the state, that these career criminals are not dangerous to our community,"

Again with that, Chief? Then crack down on the career criminals. Let them know they are being watched and you aren't going to tolerate their behavior (within Justice Dept. guidelines) instead of throwing your hands up in the air as our community suffers. Of course, you need a fully staffed department to do that.

When are the alleged business leaders in this community--at the ABQ Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Forum, NAIOP and the publisher of the ABQ Journal--to name a few--going to hold the administrations in Santa Fe and ABQ to account for what's happening here? When does the brown nosing for government contracts stop and the problem solving begin? Can you imagine if this were Marty Chavez with this crime rate? They'd hang him in effigy from the tallest tree in Old Town.

From the outside looking in New Mexico looks increasingly like a place that is either not being governed or is ungovernable. As the saying goes, we have been left to our own devices.

MAYOR'S RACE ?

ABQ attorney and former NM Dem Party Chairman Brian Colón kicked off his '17 ABQ mayoral campaign last night at the South Broadway Cultural Center. Dozens gathered there to enlist in Colon's volunteer group.

Colón is a well-connected, affable personality who ran flat when he was the Dem nominee for Lt. Governor under Diane Denish in 2010. He has been cultivating support for mayor for months now and is expected to be a major candidate.

Colón's social media postings the past year have been upbeat about the city. Like the other candidates and potential candidates, he has yet to make a case for himself on the key issues facing the city. But there's time. The election is over a year away.

DOWNWARD ARROW

Another arrow is pointing the wrong way. As our energy Alligators predicted, the amount of oil being being pulled from the ground around here is starting a slow motion crash.  It's not unexpected as the price per barrel remains in the cellar. But low production combined with the low prices could mean an even bigger state budget deficit this year.

KICKING IT

The Santa Fe New Mexican is kicking the ABQ Journal's butt. There's really no other way of putting it after the New Mexican--for the fourth time in five years--has been awarded the General Excellence award for large state newspapers by the NM Press Association.

The ink-stained wretches at the capitol city paper are constantly denounced by the Governor's political machine as being a bunch of liberal liars. But as Shakespeare wrote eventually the "truth will out." That's good news for the prize winning New Mexican and not so good news for the bacchanalian bunch in Santa Fe throwing bottles from balconies and desperately trying to spin facts into farce. 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2016
 
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