Given its unique stature in American history and high degree of connection to the federal government and its money, Los Alamos is unique among counties in terms of its economy and public health. But the factors that served it well before the pandemic – including access to health care, low unemployment and a deep sense of community and resilience – also proved a recipe for success during it.
The stark contrast between Los Alamos and some of the surrounding counties in the North and Northwest drives home the point that higher incomes and more education are the keys to lifting up those counties.
We thought we were done with this but not quite.
Of course it's those "dreaded" government jobs that are funding the outstanding health and well being of Los Alamos where you won't hear a peep about "diversifying" the economy.
And ABQ finally appears to be making headway in dropping the made up mantra about the need to reduce dependence on government employment and begin addressing what really ails the economy and has for years. The private, jobs promoting group ABQ Economic Development may have pie in the sky hopes for their new strategic plan but they get a gold star for finally employing candor. That is essential if the jobs are to eventually come:
AED’s five-year goal is that Albuquerque rank in the top 25% of mid-sized markets in the U.S. for job growth. That would be a coup for the metro area, which only saw .7% job growth in the last five years, placing it in the bottom 25% for cities with a population of between 500,000 and 1 million people. . . The hurdles AED lays out aren’t insignificant--Crime, poverty, homelessness, ineffective education and workforce preparation. . . Ioanna Morfessis of IO.INC, a consultant that contributed to AED’s report, wrote of the 80 stakeholders she interviewed: “There is a somber acknowledgement that some fundamental human issues need to be addressed, as they are root causes, especially with respect to poverty,” Morfessis wrote. “Yes, it is possible to work toward ameliorating this condition and it will require a sustained commitment on the part of the entire community — all sectors and over a long period of time.”
That calls for a hallelujah. Those who have been pounding the table for years (since the Great Recession) over the city and state's social conditions crisis can give their fists a rest before they start pounding again.
It took a terrible decline for major players in the business community to finally come around to the fact that we are suffering a long term economic and social deterioration and to own up to the root causes and agree they must be addressed more forcefully. We won't say better late than never but it is most refreshing.
CRIME AND COPS (PT. 3)
Retired APD Sergeant and crime beat aficionado Dan Klein weighs in on the crime and cops debate sparked by comments here by APOA head Shaun Willoughby last Thursday and that has been on the blog in recent days:
Joe, I read the comments over the last couple days regarding Willoughby and crime and this points out the problem with Keller’s progressive supporters. They hate the police. There is nothing the police can do that they will ever like. One officers makes a mistake, or intentionally does an illegal act and they blame all police (think about how these progressives view every officer as a Derek Chauvin). This is going to be a high hurdle for Keller to leap as the New York City Democratic primary just showed us (a retired NYPD commander will probably be the next mayor of NYC, not a progressive guy, but a law and order guy). For these folks there is nothing the police can ever do right. They think police work is always “coffee with a cop” and “officer friendly.” They live in a world that doesn’t exist and they want police officers, who are human, to always act in a way that no other human is expected to act 100% of the time.
Retired police commander and Brooklyn borough president Eric Adams holds a narrow lead over former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia as the slow process of tallying ranked choice voting continues in NYC.
Tom Grover, a former APD office turned lawyer who often defends police officers in court, writes:
With all those comments “responding” to Shaun, nobody addressed his point directly: We are seeing a crime wave move into the place formerly occupied by law enforcement because of the adverse effect policies by office holders (like Tim Keller) have had upon police departments. Remember, Keller wanted to have APD staffed to 1,200….he’ll be lucky if it’s at 800 by the end of the year.
Okay, Tom, but don't forget the guy who preceded Keller--Richard Berry--who presided over the breakdown in APD that led to the Justice Department intervention.
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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021
(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2021