Reader Norm Gagne kicks off this edition of Vox Populi with an in-depth take on Mayor Keller, crime and our coverage:

Joe, Your blog has been tough on Mayor Keller of late because of the city’s continuing crime problems (Tuesday, August 7, 2018 among others). While I agree that the Mayor and Chief Geier are now responsible, along with the City Council, for addressing crime in the Duke City, the Mayor has been in office since last December, the Chief for less time and the problem has been festering throughout the terms of the previous two Mayors, Chavez and Berry and some of the underlying causes for long before that. From your blog:

Thursday, December 1, 2005 (Inauguration Day for Mayor Chavez’ last term and well before the onset of the Great Recession)

“ABQ's biggest problem is the ongoing crime wave and the poor image it has spawned nationally. It has also been a considerable impediment to economic growth. Chavez has done about all he can in getting tough on crime. Now we face difficult social and economic issues to beat this problem.”

Wednesday, September 28, 2016 (During Mayor Berry’s second term and in response to his proposal for a study on the causes of crime in Albuquerque).

“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.”

In his eight and one half months in office, Keller has gotten budget approval from the Council to hire one hundred additional officers this year and plans to ask for funding for one hundred more each year for the next three years. The final budget also includes money to address some of the underlying causes of crime. Keller had asked for more but some of the items were trimmed by the Council. Money was approved to fund compliance with the police reform settlement with the U.S. Justice Department and the Federal Judge overseeing compliance has lauded the change in the City’s attitude and cooperation. The Mayor has announced job creation plans and other measures aimed to address underlying causes of crime.

I don’t want to sound like a public relations agent for the Mayor. The problems are many, deep and some systemic, dating back generations - failure to develop private employment opportunities because of over dependence on Federal government spending for instance. Keller and Geier will be measured soon enough by their ability to bend the curve in the right direction. But it is a bit early to declare failure and predict political consequences because crime hasn’t gone away in less than nine months.

Thanks for the thoughtful note, Norm. Let me tackle your concerns.

First, the serious crime we noted in the December 1, 2005 blog did not turn into a multi-year crime wave which is what we have on our hands in 2018, in large part because of the economic decay caused by the Great Recession. As for the Sept. 28, 2016 blog, that does back your contention that Mayor Keller indeed inherited the crime problem. We agree.

Second, we did not declare Mayor Keller's administration a "failure." We pointed out that the myriad of other topics that he has addressed in his first eight months seem to be overshadowed by the ongoing and sinister crime wave that dominates the city's conversation. Further, we said if a year from now--after which the Mayor would have had over $50 million to employ from a new tax that took effect July 1--the crime wave was still wreaking havoc then there would likely indeed be political consequences because by then the mayor would have been in office 1 year and eight months.

Finally, let's note what former ABQ City Councilor, attorney and political analyst Greg Payne believes. He says that if in a couple of years the electorate is not satisfied on the crime front, the city could be ripe for a populist crime fighter ala former NYC Rudy Giuliani.

MLG AND THE WALL

Dem Guv nominee Michelle Lujan Grisham paid a visit to the border this week and made comments that had the state GOP claiming that she performed a "flip-flop" for "political convenience" and that “Lujan Grisham says she is now for border security, including a wall at the southern border." Did she flip? Here's the report from the Las Cruces Sun News. You decide:

Most of the fencing Lujan Grisham visited has been in place about a decade, the result of the Secure Fence Act of 2006. But an extension of the tall fencing — described as a "wall" for the first time this year by the Trump administration — that began earlier this year has sparked contention amid Trump's proposal to build a full-fledged wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. Asked her thoughts on the fencing, Lujan Grisham said she thinks federal lawmakers should listen to police and policymakers who are on the border. And if they "say that this physical barrier is going to help us, I think Congress has to have the resources to do that, and states need to be as supportive as they can." 

However, Lujan Grisham said spending tens of billions of dollars on a proposed wall will take away funding from manpower and technologies that "the experts in the field tell you would give you operational security" of the international border.

Meanwhile, questions arise again on how serious the Trump administration is about building a wall when it is offering peanuts to get the land needed for the project:

After months of negotiations, State Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn said he’s disappointed that the government’s appraisal of the land amounts to less than $9,000. He said that’s a fraction of the easement fees the state would receive for allowing a section of existing border wall and a road on the property near Santa Teresa, New Mexico. Dunn had hoped to sell the one-mile (1.6-kilometer) stretch of barren desert near where the borders of New Mexico, Texas and Mexico meet to the U.S. government for a “reasonable price. “I’m disappointed with the federal government’s confiscation of state trust lands and the compensation offered. President Trump continues his push to funnel billions of dollars to construct a border wall, yet his administration seems bent on shortchanging our beneficiaries.”

Dunn, elected as a Republican but since turned Libertarian, has been acting the part, pulling no punches with the R friendly oil and gas industry which is upset with him as well as the Trump administration. Why he wandered around running for the US House and then the Senate and not going for a second term at the land office only he knows. But with his straight talk to both R's and Dems the voters just might have given him another four years. 

THE BOTTOM LINES

The metro court trial of ABQ GOP State Rep. Monica Youngblood on an aggravated DWI charge has been reset from the late August date we reported to September 12. Judge Kevin  Fitzwater will handle the case. He is retired but is called in to handle the hot potato cases that the other judges won't touch. Maybe we should send him a pair of mittens to handle this one.

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2018