It’s hard to get politicians to agree on anything these days, but every candidate who is running to be the mayor of Albuquerque understands the two major issues facing the city: crime and homelessness.
Incumbent Tim Keller and his two main challengers — Sheriff Manny Gonzales and radio personality Eddy Aragon — have put fighting crime and addressing a growing homeless situation as the primary themes of their campaigns. Patrick Ben Sais, a vocal write-in candidate, has also expressed his concerns about rising crime and the homeless.
“The thousands of people I’ve interacted with have said the No.1 issue in our community is crime,” Gonzales said in an interview with the New Mexico Sun. “My job as a representative of the people is to address that issue. The next issue is homelessness. They’re all connected to the staggering economy.”
Albuquerque candidate for mayor Patrick Ben Sais
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Sais agreed.
“Crime is out of control. Homelessness is out of control. But all politicians want to do is talk about it," Sais told the New Mexico Sun. "They don’t do anything about it. So I have to step up and help the people of Albuquerque.”
Keller, a former state auditor, became mayor in 2017 on a platform to curb crime, address homelessness, and develop economic incentives for businesses and jobs for residents. Those issues remain, accompanied by an unprecedented pandemic that rattled the economy of the largest city in New Mexico.
An Albuquerque native with degrees from Notre Dame and Harvard, Keller believes he did a good job during his first term and is running on a record that has seen the addition of 400 police officers and an increase in the budget of the Albuquerque police department. To address the homeless situation, the city purchased the Gateway Center, a 572,000-square-foot facility for $15 million, according to the Business Journals. The city’s largest-ever financial commitment to the homeless will proved shelter, food, water, safety, and training for those in need.
“This challenge is huge,” Keller said when the Gateway Center was officially announced. “And we know this challenge has gotten way worse during the pandemic. For us this about actually doing something. Not just talking about it, not just discussing it, not just harping about the details. This is about action.”
Homicides have gotten way worse, too. As of Oct. 25, 2021, Albuquerque has seen 89 homicides. That compares to a total of 76 in 2020.
Gonzales has pounded on that issue during his campaign.
“If it’s not the worst, it’s definitely among the worst crime problem per capita in the country,” Gonzales said of Albuquerque. “It’s not a safe place. High crime is driving away the middle class. They’re leaving for other parts of the country to find jobs in Austin, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Phoenix. They’re leaving Albuquerque because they’re afraid to raise their families and afraid to live here. People don’t feel like they’re really free.”
An Albuquerque native and former Marine, Gonzales has a tough-on-crime stance that rebuffs any notion of defunding the police. “Government belongs to the people,” he said, “and people want police. They want to feel protected.”
Gonzales didn’t offer many specifics when it comes to dealing with crime other than providing an environment for police to feel “safe, valued, trained, equipped, and supported” to do their job. He said he would “de-politicize” the department to prevent “an us-vs.-them" culture.
“I want to restore Albuquerque and make it a safe place to live,” Gonzales said,” and do commerce and do tourism. I’ll listen to the people of the city of Albuquerque and take their major concerns and start working actively to make Albuquerque what they want it to be.”
Keller has criticized Gonzales and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department not reporting all homicides to the public in a timely matter, for saying his deputies wouldn’t wear body cameras, and for admitting campaign fraud.
Sais, a retired truck driver and part-time caregiver, doesn’t care much for politicians in general and promises a fresh approach to city government. “It’s been 2½ years since I decided to do this,” he told the New Mexico Sun. “As a normal person, I’ve lived in normal situations. I’ve talked to the homeless and tried to find out what kind of help they need.”
Aragon is banking on his popularity with his radio listeners to give him a late surge at the polls. Like Keller, he is a graduate and former football player at St. Pius X High School.
“For the past six years, I have focused on political issues all day every,” he wrote on his campaign website. “From my legal and financial compliance as a broadcaster to my marketing and communications work for our small business advertisers, to my meetings with citizen groups, to talking every day for three hours to the people of Albuquerque and New Mexico. … I fight every single day to make New Mexico and Albuquerque better places for our families to live.”