City Council - Regular Meeting

Thank you.

Welcome, everyone. Today is June 1st, 2026. The 13th meeting of the 27th Council will come to order. All councillors are present this evening. We will move on to the pledge, both in English and Spanish, and a moment of silence first. Thank you so much. Please join us in the pledge.

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. .

Thank you, everyone. Vice President Champagne.

Madam President, thank you. Civic parking, civic positive parking passes are provided for members of the public. You can obtain a parking pass from the council staff at the table near the chamber entrance. Members of the public, city staff, and the media have the ability to view this meeting in person and on live streams through four different platforms, GovTV on Comcast Channel 16, the GovTV website, YouTube and Zoom webinar. The live streams can be accessed from most smartphones, tablets, and computers. Also, this meeting is closed captioned. You may enable the closed captioning services on your television or device at this time. The video recording of this and all past Council meetings will remain available for viewing at any time on the City Council's website. Council staff is available via telephone if members of the public need assistance finding the videos online. Please call 768 I'm sorry, 505-768-3100 for assistance during business hours Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The council will take a break at approximately 7 p.m. this evening if needed. With regard to decorum in the chambers, we want tonight's meeting to proceed and be as civil and respectful as possible. Please do not make any personal attacks and please no applause, snapping, or other outbursts in the meeting. The president will provide one warning To anyone causing that disruption, upon a second or continued disruption, that individual will be asked to leave the chambers and, if necessary, security will be asked to escort that person out of the chambers. Such removal from the council chambers will be effective for the remainder of the meeting. If continued disruption occur, the president may recess the meeting until order is restored and, if necessary, may clear the chambers of persons participating in the disturbance. The meeting will go a lot smoother if we are respectful of one another. council staff has received over 100 public comment requests for tonight's meeting pursuant to the council's rules and procedures public comment will be reduced from two minutes to one minute to allow everyone time to speak please begin editing your comments to fit within this time frame now counselors at this time we will have administration question and answer counselor rogers

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. My question is for APD. And I see Chief of Staff coming down.

Good evening, Council.

Hello, thank you so much for being here. So of course, we all heard about three officer involved shootings in one week. And so I'm very concerned. And so ACS, I think you'll be next. Specifically for the one where we had a mental health emergency. I think my question is, why was ACS not dispatched to that call?

Madam President, Councilor Rogers, thank you for the question. I think what might be best is if we have a chance to do a complete dive. These investigations, as you know, there's administrative investigation and criminal investigation that occurs after these incidents. And so part of that is fact gathering as to all the circumstances leading up to the incident, what happened at the incident, and also what happens afterwards. And so there will be a complete investigation that happens where we'll be transparent and release all those findings. But I think that it might be best if we wait till the investigation's done so we know all the facts.

Thank you for that. Madam President, I'd like to go to ACS to find out if they've looked into that. Thank you, Director Escobar. Have you looked into this particular case and found out why ACS, for the one that said specifically he called 911, his family called 911, because he was feeling like he wanted to harm himself? And so I'm interested in why ACS was not dispatched to that call.

Madam President, Councilor Rogers, thank you so much for the question. It is something that we hold near and dear to our mission. So this is something that we are looking into, working directly with APD as well as the Emergency Communications Center. Our goal would to be once APD is able to finish everything that they need to, we would like to work on what was actually said during the 911 call. And because we have such a great relationship with APD, we're going to be able to do that. So it's really echoing what APD just said, letting the investigation play out in a way so that we can understand who and when and why everything got dispatched the way that it did so that that we know if there was growth for us as a department then we can. I really just want to take a moment and thank Albuquerque Police Department's communication center and the way that they triage calls for us. We haven't ran and it's very important that we run everything through them and that safety element is important for our responders. And so we're always been thankful for them, but always understanding there's room for growth and they've always been really open about being able to do that.

Thank you, Madam President. And I appreciate that. I think this is something I continue to talk about, is the dispatch disconnects that we sometimes have. Luckily, knowing that this first individual had a weapon, we know APD probably would have been the right responder to begin with. But I'm interested in what happened in that call and the dispatch call and what I'm hearing directly from the family about just the circumstances. So I think that's the one I'm really wanting us to dig in and find. I mean, obviously, a loss of life in any case is not our desired outcome. But to see that we had three in one week, a five-day span, is absolutely concerning. And I would like to see how we are going to stop that from continuing to happen. And I think that's another reason that I wanted to bring that up for public, also, is that there are very specific dispatch rules on when APD can be sent out and when ACS should be sent out and even when fire is sent out Fire has their own dispatchers so that they make sure that they're taking with their knowledge of fire service They're able to help but ACS isn't doing that ACS isn't dispatching their own like in the dispatch center I know we have one or two folks that help but I think that this is a place or we need to once and for all figure that out and Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. Oh, and sorry, last, just comment, not for this topic, but just from, we had our international fest this weekend at Phil Chacon Park, and I just wanted to give a special thank you so much to Parks and Rec. Parks and Rec was absolutely amazing in helping, and all of the staff at Parks and Rec. It was really an amazing event. I just wanted to shout out Parks and Rec, and thank you so much. for helping us activate the entire filter Con Park this weekend with 4500 people coming over to the International District Park. So thank you for International District Park. No filter Con Park. Thank you.

One second director. Did you want to? You came down here. I wanted to give you a chance if you wanted to address it as well.

Madam President, counselor. Yes, I want to make sure that, you know, especially when it comes to these investigations, we're just as concerned as everyone else because this is our community, especially when you see them back to back. And I come from a place that we're going to go ahead and make sure that we investigate everything on both sides. The APD did a fantastic job. But, yes, we have additional resources that we need to make sure we're deploying. And I did speak also with our 911 operator, actually our union president, to just find out because that's where it starts, right? what was said and the tone of everything kind of sets a tone as to how we're going to respond and just want to make sure that you understand we're going to look at everything and we're going to hold people accountable regardless and we want to make sure the community knows that we're doing everything possible to protect them. Thank you.

Councillor Tayes and Councillor Feiborne is it something to do with this or okay go ahead Councillor Tayes.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I just, just as a follow up, as you look into everything, as you do your fact finding, which I wholeheartedly support, I want to reemphasize, you know, dispatch protocols could be at high risk. For noncompliance due to, you know, chronic understaffing, limited wellness support within the communication center, lack of first responder recognition, and the demands of the extended 16-hour shifts that are being placed on dispatch personnel right now. So during your fact-finding, as you're reviewing these, one of the things I would like you to consider and to ask yourself is, do we think 911 dispatchers... if they were not so overworked, had greater access to wellness resources, were recognized as first responders, were not routinely working 16-hour shifts, do you think this dispatcher disconnect volumes would decrease? And so that's a question that I hope that you will think think during your fact finding as we move forward with how we address and how we, you know, make sure our dispatchers have the tools and resources that they need to do their jobs. Thank you.

Madam President, Councilor Diaz, yes, we'll make sure we follow up on all these things and take into account all those factors.

Councilor Lewis. Thank you, Mr. Vice President. So I did want to mention real quick. We had the West Side, new West Side YMCA that was opened up over the weekend and joined the mayor and the ribbon cutting and appreciate the mayor in his office and also to the YMCA. Just a great new facility on the West Side that will just serve thousands of families on the West Side. So it was a great celebration. They had a big grand opening on Saturday, so. But a question for the administration, for Ms. Singel. So Ms. Singel, back at the mayor's last State of the Union address, made some pretty strong statements about reducing fees for restaurants, some promises that were made. You know the media I think every one of the media that's here tonight. They all reported on that And you know some of them reported that the you know, you know the mayor statements that he said he would would cut restaurant fees Recognizing that they were pretty high Some of that some of the stations reported that the mayor had said that That he would reduce all fees for restaurants and that was being reported and then they asked you to give some clarification of that and you You know were quoted in the paper and you know other other news outlets and saying that you clarified that saying that the mayor's proposal the mayor would push to reduce you know not do away with restaurant fees or some of those permits permitting fees and But would reduce those fees and so I'm just wondering you know Why why why was that proposal not in this this in your budget proposal this year this last month?

Madam president councillor Lewis. I believe what I said was that the proposals that we would not propose increases to fees in the budget process, which related to this specifically, we did not propose increases to restaurant or health permits. If you remember when we did our previous fee increase, or fee proposal where we shifted how we were doing inspections for food, We worked together actually with city council to reduce the impact to small business micro businesses and others to put that both in the ordinance as well as in the procedures and that I think reflected our commitment to recognizing the types of businesses that have those health and restaurant typically restaurants or other small businesses and the impact to them. So we did not propose any sort of shift or increase in restaurant inspection fees, even though I think if you, when we looked at it, the department had made the adjustment based upon the workload associated, not the workload to individual but based upon the type of inspection that we have to do the variety of inspections that we're doing to ensure that we're meeting the standard and inspecting businesses uniquely and differently based upon their needs but based upon the type of business they are so I think you know I was quoted multiple times I think rate related to this based upon the fact that our proposal for the new budget would not Proposed increase to fees and that is what we related to restaurants.

We did not do so Madam president, so you I mean did you change your mind because no that was clearly you weren't saying that you weren't gonna increase you clearly said That the mayor was proposing to decrease to decrease fees on restaurants So did you all change your minds that the man changes mind? There's no no intention of doing that whatsoever now. I

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, I think we are always looking at the opportunities we have to reduce fees or reduce costs to businesses or others. And I think when you think about this perspective and the change that we had related to the fee structure for these inspections, I'm more than happy to go back and do more evaluation on that. I don't think it's a change in mind. I think it's when we look at the realities related to the budget this year, we all know that the budget challenges we had this year related to very low growth in GRT. and increase in pay for employees. We are in a different budgetary position today than we have been in previous budget years. It was a challenging year for all of us to present a balanced budget that allows us to keep all of the services we have as a city for the residents of this community.

And Madam President, so you changed your mind. So I mean, I mean, It would be better if you just said we changed our minds, or we couldn't do it, or we don't want to do it anymore. I think that would be a little more honest. But I understand. You've got a boss that you work for that changed his mind, or it's not a priority for him anymore. But again, I would expect that there would be some kind of proposal, even a proposal, even if you felt like, hey, leave it up to this council, but some kind of a proposal. After making such strong statements that every one of these media outlets reported on, spent a lot of time, you know on TV and print and with expectations that Restaurants would get a pretty big relief to the massive amount of costs that they have to pay for and small businesses in this city But let me just another question. So tonight, I mean I understand that the the the 25% minimum wage increase was something that you all proposed and

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, we worked alongside multiple Councillors related to a minimum wage bill that is before you all.

And so you're supportive of a 25% minimum wage. I mean, I was assuming because it came from you all. I mean, it was, you know, I got calls from your office and, you know, your staff called all the counselors several months ago saying this is our priority and this is what we want to do, right?

Madam President, Counselor, yes, we're supportive of increases to minimum wage for our workers in our community.

Yeah, okay. No, I appreciate that. I mean, I appreciate you owning it. You know, a 25% increase to a minimum wage that we're hearing tonight for final action was, you know, since you all proposed it, in that process of preparing it, giving it to, you know, hoping that some counselors would sponsor it, and then working with them on it, was there an economic study done or economic impact done on how would it impact small businesses, how would it impact the overall economy of the city, and even with that type of an increase?

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, our staff looked into multiple market factors as well as looking at other cities and looked across the state as well as the region related to similar wage increases or minimum wage ordinances. So multiple different analysis was done. The City Council's official economic impact study that is in your rules and What was not conducted at this time?

Okay, so I mean real economic impact study, you know, of course wasn't done. How about how about any feedback from? The business community this you know, the small businesses that just power our economy in the city We're back when you were proposing this to the council and Were there conversations, any conversations, any feedback during that time on the business community, you know, restaurants, the hotels, small businesses in the city that would, you know, some of the associations on any feedback to the bill?

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, I believe we've had discussions with business. I think official feedback sought was not during this specific time. The previous minimum wage proposals that we've had in the past, we've had discussions with community. and business related to this matter. We've had discussions, obviously, with individuals that would benefit from the increase of minimum wage.

Okay. Yeah, so no economic impact study, no feedback from any of the industry, I mean, the people that would be affected by this the most, no, nothing received back. So thank you. Appreciate you being honest about it. We're being forthcoming. Thank you, Madam President. Councillor Grump.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. For CAO Stengel, when was the decision made to close 311 on Sundays and why?

Madam President, Councilor Grau, I'm happy to start this, but I also have Executive Administrative Officer Victor Leon here as well, who did much of the analysis with the 311 operations. That said, this is related to an analysis of the call volume that we have related into 311 and demand that we have for calls that are beyond the regular hours Monday through Friday or Monday through Saturday. So they did a full analysis of call volume and the opportunity for ensuring that we can be available and have a timely response during the hours that we receive more calls than others. Important to note that anyone that has a 311 matter, they can also continue to submit those on Sundays. It is not necessarily that you cannot submit a 311 ticket. It's simply just by phone that you can. The app and the online forms still work on obviously on Sundays and they are being triaged by supervisor staff to make sure that those are still going to departments and ensure that they're getting out. But this was really focused on how we can ensure that we can provide more service at the times when we have a much higher call volume.

Is this a permanent change?

Madam President, Councillor Grout, it is a, we are always paying attention to call volume and feedback that we get. So right now this is based upon ensuring that we can serve at the times that are most needed. If we see a different trend and we can see what calls come in that we are not answered, if that makes sense, in the off hours, we would adjust based upon that.

Thank you. The 768 helpline now goes to 311. So are homeless people only supposed to need help Monday through Saturday?

Madam President, Councillor Grout, that's a good question. It may be just a phone routing, phone tree routing issue that we need to solve for. We can absolutely look into that. Not intended to be. without service on on Sundays. I'm surprised that it's routed that way so I will check into that.

Yes I think that's important. Can people leave a message at 3 1 1.

Madam president councilor I don't know the answer to that. So let me. I think it's preferred that folks don't do that route. We would prefer those calls to be routed differently. But let me check.

I actually know the answer because I called yesterday.

Oh.

You can't leave a message.

Madam President, perhaps you could answer that.

Madam President, members of the council, I feel like you already know the answer, but I can definitely verify that if we need to have that route to the ability to record a message, we can certainly include that in the configuration.

So what is your typical call volume on Sundays?

Madam Chair, members of the council, I'll defer. I don't have the information in front of me, but I can provide that information.

Okay. How much do we save by not having calls on Sundays?

Madam Chair, members of the council, it's not so much a matter of saving as being able to reallocate and optimize our resource allocation. So by making sure that we do this analysis, we can make sure we can more appropriately reallocate those resources to high volume periods.

Thank you. I think we should revisit this policy. I think we need to have that available. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Vice President, I have just a couple more questions. Yes, ma'am. This is a concern that I have heard several times. This is a scenario. I'm going to put a picture in your head. Somebody calls 911. There's a down and out. And nine one round routes it to ACS ACS goes out to the bus stop where the down-and-out individual is They get there and then they decide that they need to call AFR because they're not an EMT So now we've delayed that treatment AFR getting there on time and so then AFR realizes okay, so this this individual needs to go to the medical sobering center and Um, just needs to sober up and, and get some liquid in them, good liquids and hydrate the right way and, and all the things. Um, so then they call Albuquerque ambulance and Albuquerque ambulance shows up and then they, AFR says, okay, I need you to take these guys over this fella to the medical sobering center. And the Albuquerque ambulance says, well, no, I don't want to take them there because they'll turn me away. I'll just take them to UNMH. So I see a few problems in this whole scenario. This scenario is real. It's happened several times. And so there's a disconnect. We're not getting somebody that needs help. I don't know how to solve this, but it's a problem. So we've just now used a whole bunch of resources, and we still haven't addressed what we said we would do with the medical sobering. So I think HHH needs to look into the provider to see why they're turning people away. There's gotta be more to the story. But I've heard this several times. This is not the first time. And then I will just, There was an individual in my district that was having a mental issue, and SWAT was called, APD was called, and I asked if ACS was called, and they said no. So again, I don't know the policies, but I thought that when somebody's having a mental issue, that that's what ACS was there for, to help with those calls. The good news, nobody was hurt with this individual. But again, it was just, I'm just not sure our processes, I don't know what it is. And I want things to work for everybody. And efficiently and effectively and wisely.

Madam President, I think it, Councilor Grout, I think it's really important for us to get several things on the record because I think for the public to understand and know the specifics and the protocols related to medical issues as well as behavioral health issues at calls and how they intersect with our 911 dispatch center. Specifically, and I'll turn it over to our fire chief, but specifically a down and out is a medical event and if it's a call into 911 and that is what is described It is considered a medical event, and EMS would be dispatched. And I want to make sure that Chief has an opportunity to address how that works, as well as the fact that AFR and Albuquerque Ambulance and the Medical Sobering Center have really been working through all of that transport challenge. And I think we can speak to that as well.

Madam President and Councillor Graut, I'll start with just the question related to a response to a down and out call. Down and out is kind of a term used for a cluster of different types of calls that AFR or ACS would respond to. One of the most important things is that if the person calling it in stops and talks to the individual and asks them questions. Those questions get outlined by our dispatchers, which are all, as you know, firefighters and EMTs. They're able to determine if they have a medical emergency versus maybe just in need of shelter. So a lot of these calls come in to 911 without somebody stopping. They just see somebody on a bench. They may assume that they're sleeping. Those calls would be routed through APD dispatch to ACS and they would respond. They would be the first responder to make contact with that individual. And then at that point, because it's a third party caller, they would either determine that that person does not have any medical needs or if they have medical needs, the ACS responders are trained to respond. ask enough questions to get the proper AFR response. To make it a little more complicated, if they are just seriously intoxicated and are in need of some medical care and transport, that's actually a call that we've worked through with Albuquerque Ambulance and our efficiency for our response that Albuquerque Ambulance would respond to without AFR because they have a high transport rate. But really the key to determining who goes initially and to keep it efficient is for that caller to actually ask, you know, stop and ask the person what what services that they need. We also know that that's not a reality when you're driving down and you see somebody laying on the street. Most people are not going to stop. They don't know if they're safe and they're just going to call. But we really encourage that stop to call. Sorry, that stop to question so that we can get the most efficient response possible from the very start of the call.

Thank you. Hi, Director. I met a president concert ground. Thanks for your question and to complicate matters even more We do receive a list from AFR early in the beginning of each week for any of the calls or potential transports to Medical sobering because it's a voluntary program They report to us who has been transported who denied transport and also why I am AFR may not have thought it would be appropriate and then at our weekly meeting we review that data for process improvement So I along with AFR ACS and our provider do review transports as well as intakes over the course of the week So I would encourage you if there's somebody a specific time frame If you'll let me know we can look directly into why anyone would be denied from it. Okay.

Thank you Yeah, so it's the transport that said we don't want to take them there because they are denied dropping them off.

And then we also, excuse me, Madam President and Councilor Grau, there are specific medical criteria that clients need to meet in order to come to medical sobering. And one of those is they have to be able to come to standing without significant assistance. And so sometimes we do see people who are not appropriate for medical sobering due to their inability to self-transport, self-ambulate. Well, that's interesting.

I'm not sure I need to understand why you can't pick them up and move them. Like, why can't you assist them? Is there a reason why you can't help them? Because if they're that intoxicated, do they need to go to the hospital?

Madam President, Councilor Graut, so our medical directors worked with the Medical Direction for Med Sobering to determine criteria that would, where we wouldn't be sending really sick people because a lot of times when you're detoxing, whether that's from alcohol or different types of substances, you have other medical issues going on, and so we have a list of criteria that our providers follow that we have to see, vital sign parameters, and one of them is, yes, the first responders can absolutely move them onto a bed, but then once they get into med sobering, a lot of times this can create other issues when the individuals are so intoxicated that they can't walk. It usually means there's other things going on as far as with their vital signs, which all kind of works together and is why that group of people we can't take there. There's just too many other comorbidities going on that they need to be assessed in the ER. And then once they start to fall into those parameters, we've been working on how we then can have them transported from there to Med Sobering to kind of continue with those types of services.

Very interesting. It's very interesting. I think the communication... needs to be ironed out a little bit because I'm still the scenario that I mentioned the ambulance immediately said no we're not going to take them there because they always turn us away or they turn us away often so that has nothing to do with what does the ambulance not know are they turning them away because of the criteria they're not meeting or like is there a communication We don't, everybody doesn't know the whole process. I don't know, I don't know what's missing.

Madam President, Councillor Grout, if we know the exact date of that incident, we can look into that specific crew because it might be, I'm curious what other circumstances were going on. They may have said they would be turned away because they knew their vital signs didn't meet the parameters to go. or if they felt, if they feel like they, or if they've been turned away, that's an area that, that's why we have that weekly meeting with all the services and all the service providers to work through things like that because sometimes it is a misunderstanding on the first responder side or it could be where they are getting turned away. I know we did have to work a couple of communication issues out early on that our responders had some confusion on. Things like that.

I hope it gets fixed and it's much smoother for everybody, for the patients and the responders and the doctors and just everybody. We need to make it efficient. Thank you.

And Madam President, Councilor Graf, if I may just add, we recognize some of the communication issues several months ago, and we've been doing a very focused effort on education and training with all of our first responders, all of our partner groups, the general population, the community, to really get a better understanding of what medical sobering can do and recognizing that the community, that it will benefit is much broader than just potential down and out populations even. And so we have been really putting a lot of energy into that communication work and I think there's always opportunity for it to get better. I would suspect that their weekly triage meetings are getting better actually in terms of how we're being more successful. We know we can do better all the time and we've really focused in on that. Thank you for that.

Madam. Thank you very much. Mr. Vice President, I just have one more thing to say.

Okay. Councillor Gatt, we do have a time limit as far as how long the directors can stay. Anything after 5.30, we have to direct to the CAO. So I want to be accommodating to the other councillors that might have questions. Can we go back to it after we're done?

Sure. I was just going to invite.

Oh.

Make an announcement.

Announcement. Okay.

Thank you, though. Madam. See this Saturday is our fifth annual touch a truck event and it's at the corner of want to bow and central and it is a lovely event all of the city departments the big trucks and the police cars and the fire trucks and The front loaders and the aviation big shovel snow moving Machines are there and it's a free event for everybody. It's from 10 to noon and And there will be food trucks and lots of vendors, but it's free to everybody. And I'd like to invite you to take your children and your grandchildren and enjoy it. That's all.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Tate. Councilor Tate, before we go to yours next, Madam CAO, I know I can't tell your directors that they are allowed to leave if you want to have them stay, but at this point I think the direct questions per our rules will be directed towards you. And then I'd like to take the moment to make an announcements guys. There's a lot of people that want to get in here tonight So, please we can't reserve seats for for people that aren't here. Does it first come first basis? so please accommodate for people wanting to sit and do understand that there is a Outside in the in the waiting area we have a televised so that if the seat does come available you can move in but please Accommodate for everybody coming in concert is I believe you said you had a question. Oh, we'll go to Council Feebacorn then.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. Really quickly, this is for the administration. We passed R23-127 back in June of... 23 and we have yet to get one of the annual reports on that I've asked about it many times I've asked about it on the dais we're now missing 23 report 25 report and now we're past due on the 26 report and I'm just wondering what's going on I got an email I got a an advance look at it from the director but it's supposed to be in the goldenrod it's supposed to be coming to council I think my fellow council would also like to see that Can you give me a hint on when we're going to get a report on the R-23 and R-127?

Madam President, Councillor Feeblecorn, just to make sure I'm referencing, R-127 is related to the parks?

It's the Supporting Pollinator Conservation Efforts and Recommitment to BCD USA Standards.

Council President, Council People Court, I know we have submitted one, I think last week, and we will get the rest for you, especially that 23 one as we gather that information.

Thank you, Mr. Vice President. It is not on the letter of introduction tonight. So it has not been submitted. I would just, I would really like to see it officially submitted. We are three years late. So just, I will leave it at that. Be great if it was on the next letter of introduction.

Madam president council feeble corn.

It'll be we walked it down and it'll be on the June 15th Madam CIO if you would do I think we're missing a couple of legal updates as well I think we're about a year and a half behind

Madam president council champagne a couple what legal reports Legal updates. I think they're supposed to be submitted to council by quarters, and I think we're missing like six quarters Two quarters madam president councillor champagne City attorney Lauren Keith is online. I think she has an Potential timing update on several of those. I don't want to speak for her, but we recently spoke about it. I

Yeah. Madam President, Councilor Champagne, there's one overdue report. And they're with me. We've had some major deadlines in the past month or so that I've had to handle, but we will be getting those out shortly.

Thank you. Seeing no more questions, we'll move on to proclamations. Madam President, there is a presentation tonight for Ms. Christine Berner, the city economist, who will provide an update on the cannabis and gross receipts tax. Ms. Berner.

Madam President, Mr. Vice President, members of council, I do have a quick presentation for you.

There we go, that's the GRT.

So I'm happy to say it's rather positive. Revenues are holding steady. GRT growth based on the 1.22% was 6.2% growth over this time last year, and this is for March. And the year-to-date growth is now at 4.7, so that's holding steady as well. Most sectors did well. Many were actually in double-digit growth over this time last year. We'll talk arts and entertainment, professional and scientific, even retail with 6.1% growth. Construction, 0.7%, so very slow, but at least it was still positive. I think we can just go ahead and go to cannabis at this point. And I'm happy to say cannabis was positive as well, grew 8.5% for March, and year-to-date is 2.6% over this time last year. So I can stand for questions. I didn't notice any anomalies in the revenues, any lump sums from the state, so I do believe this is actual growth.

Council Lewis, Mr. Vice President, is this is this that these numbers change the forecast for this next year at all? I mean, we're still showing a negative growth forecast for next year.

Madam President, Councillor Lewis. No, it would not. We are the and that's because the FY26 revenue is still within the parameter of expectations and the growth for FY27 is based on the expectations for FY26.

Gotcha. So we're still showing a negative growth when it comes into the next year, correct?

Madam President, Councillor Lewis. I don't believe it's negative. I believe that growth for GRTs at just under 2%, if I'm not mistaken.

What if we were just to project, say, construction? Do we break those down in that regard? Do we project the next year, look at just the construction number that's up 0.7% right now?

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, I just misunderstood your question. I believe you were referring to employment that was supposed to decrease for FY26. Yes, that is still at a decrease. These numbers reflect not employment, but gross receipts for construction.

Okay. And then do you know why the fluctuation in the marijuana tax that we get?

Madam President, Councillor Lewis, I have no idea. It's all over the place. It was negative for the longest time. I do think that the Taxation Revenue Department was going to try to do some compliance, and perhaps they're working on that, and it's time for me to circle back around with them. That could be why we've seen some positive growth for the last couple of months.

We need that money, because we need more people smoking pot so we can give cash out to people for the programs that we have. But I'm just wondering why it fluctuates so much. So anyways, thank you, Madam President. Councilor Rogers.

Thank you, madam president. I'm so grateful for cannabis for that exact reason. Um, cause we could reinvest it into the community and that's a beautiful thing. But my question is just to remind me when the hold harmless for the medical home, harmless ends. So I know that was a pretty big disbursement, but I know we're, we're waiting for it to end when remind me when that ends. Does it end? I know there's a phase out coming, right?

Oh, madam, madam president, um, counselor Rogers. Of course, I'm going to space that. It's, I believe, FY30 is the last year, if I'm not mistaken. But let me double check and get back with you if I'm wrong about that.

Thank you. That would be especially important for our budgeting coming up, that we're not going to have all that to use, which is what scares me also. So thank you. Thank you, Mr. Vice President.

Madam President, that concludes the presentation. Thank you, Ms. Berger.

Thank you, Vice President Champagne. We are now on to the journal. I move approval of the May 27th journal.

Second.

There's a motion and a second by Committee of the Whole Chair Grout. All those in favor say yes and raise your hand and keep your hand up please.

Yes.

That passes unanimously, thank you. We are now on to communications and introductions. And are there any changes to the letter of introduction? And I have a couple. So EC163, I move that the rules be suspended for the purpose of placing EC163 on tonight's agenda for action. EC163 is approval of outside counsel for legal services agreement with North Star Legal Group, LLC. Second. There's a motion to second by Committee of the Whole Chair, Grout. All those in favor signify by raising your hand and saying yes. Yes. Please keep your hands up. Yes. Opposed, no. That motion passes unanimously. Next, we are on to R40. I move the rules be suspended for the purpose of placing R40 on tonight's agenda for action. R40 is approving and authorizing a request to utilize $140,000 from Fund 265 FY25 Rapid Rehousing Project to support continued housing for 31 households through Heading Home Continuum of Care Permanent Supportive Housing Program. Second. There's a motion and second by Committee to hold Chair Grout. All those in favor, say yes and raise your hand.

Yes.

Opposed, no. Motion passes unanimously. I move approval of the letter of introduction. Second. There's a motion and second by Vice President Champagne. All those in favor, say yes and raise your hand.

Yes.

Opposed, same motion. Motion passes unanimously. Thank you. I'm just trying to make sure we have a clear voting record. I know we were told by the staff it gets a little confusing sometimes, so I'm just asking that we keep our hand held up for a moment or two. So we are now on to reports of the committees. There are none. Deferrals and withdrawals. Councillors, are there any deferrals or withdrawals at this time? Councillor Grau.

Madam President, by request 025, amending Chapter 14, Article 8 of the revised ordinances of Albuquerque 1994 to create a tax increment finance board and update the powers of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Agency and City Council accordingly. I move deferral to June 15th. Second.

There's a motion and second by Vice President Champagne. All those in favor of deferral of 025, please raise your hand and say yes. Yes. Opposed say motion. Motion passes unanimously.

Is that a no?

Oh, is that a no?

No, it's a yes.

Oh, okay. Let me just make sure we're okay. Yep. Go right ahead.

Thank you. Thank you, Madam President. I have a deferral on R2635. Where is it? Approving the application and petition of the Pulte Homes of New Mexico for formation of the Savio Ridge PID pursuant to the PID Act moved to defer.

Our 2635. Yes. Our 2635. Our 2635. Mm-hmm. There's a motion in the second by Councilor Fiebelkorn. Are there any, Vice President Champagne?

That's not on the consent agenda. That's actually on the agenda.

It's final.

Oh, it's final. Okay. I want to be sure I'm getting the right thing. Thank you.

Thank you. Madam President, just to confirm, are you deferring it to June 15th? Mm-hmm. Correct.

Thank you. So there was a motion and a second by Councillor Feeblecorn. If there are no questions, all those in favour say yes and raise your hand. Opposed, same motion. That passes unanimously. So we are now on to the consent agenda. We have two individuals who have requested to speak on EC 95 and EC 163 listed under the consent agenda. There is a one minute time limit and the bell will ring to indicate your time is up. Mr. Cornelius, can you please call the first speaker and if your comments can be germane to each item and then we'll call you up again on the second item.

Thank you, Madam President. Our first speaker is Brick Josie, followed by Letts Otto. My apologies if I have that backwards.

And this is on EC 95.

Madam President, Council Members, While I understand the city's need to manage workloads using outside contractors, outsourcing real estate and legal services introduces major financial and constitutional risks that this council needs to heavily scrutinize. From the fiscal standpoint, you must account for long-term scope creep. Private firms may offer short-term staffing flexibility but their billing rates are significantly higher than city staff wages. If project hits delays or complex land disputes arrive, private entities will just bill for every phone call, email, and court hour. Then what looks like short-term savings will end up draining taxpayer dollars far faster than maintaining internal city staff.

Thank you.

Brick Jonesy.

Thank you, Councilors, for this. President, Councilors. Following up on him, second, and probably more importantly, this is a right-of-way issue. It's not just expanding asphalt, it's about access, ingress and egress. So when the city utilizes private contractors, it risks handing public matters over to entities that prioritize private property laws over constitutional protections. So we see friction in the APD Center with the Family Advocacy Center that this privately owned building houses vital public services and private management issues unlawful trespasses, citizens engaging in First Amendment protected activities, and it triggers massive constitutional liabilities. Private contractors routinely lack training required to navigate these legal quasi-public forums. If an outside firm misjudges right-of-way stuff, then you guys are held liable. So I urge you to demand explicit clarity for what constitutional law training will will this contractor receive and how that's going to be overseen by you so that we don't waste taxpayer dollars and don't violate people's First Amendment rights. Thank you.

So we are now on EC 163. Mr. Cornell, yes.

That was our only speakers signed up, I believe. Or did we? I was not aware of any others. Oh, same. OK. Let's opt out. My apologies.

Madam President, Council Members, once again, this item is fast-tracked for immediate action, leaving public completely in the dark regarding what civil or labor disputes this private firm is being hired to defend. This brings up a massive systematic issue with how the city spends our money. Right now, at city leased facilities like the Family Advocacy Center, we see severe friction points where private management attempts to trespass citizens engaging in First Amendment protected activity. When these situations occur, it's due to a failure of proper training.

Break, Jonas.

Thank you again. I think you guys are getting the thing here. If city employees and law enforcement were trained properly on how to navigate these quasi-public spaces, these constitutional crises wouldn't even happen in the first place. Yet instead of investing tax dollars up front into rigorous constitutional training to prevent violations, you guys are relying on legal contingency plans. You see, with this fast tracking of private law firms like North Star at premium corporate rates, you're asking taxpayers to basically sign a blank check to defend bad actions after the fact. Taxpayers shouldn't be funding protection of civil rights through, should actually be protecting proactive training. Not funding a private legal shield to protect the city from accountability when things go wrong. Civil rights violations should never be treated as just a cost of doing business. So I'm urging you again to stop rubber stamping these outside council agreements and defer this action on this item until we have total transparency of what this contract is covering up. And let's start investing in training our staff properly instead of paying private lawyers to clean up the messes. And thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. So now we are on. Are there any changes to the consent agenda? Councillor Grau.

Madam President, I pull item D, EC102, off the consent agenda. EC102 is transmitting third quarter update of fiscal year 26 objectives.

Thank you. Councillor Grout, you have another one.

I do. I pull item X, R24, off the consent agenda. R24 is amending the adopted capital implementation program of the City of Albuquerque by supplementing current grant appropriations and approving new projects.

Thank you. Seeing no others, for those individuals on tonight's consent agenda who are being appointed to serve on a board or commission, thank you for your willingness to serve if you're in the audience or if you're online. Thank you so much. I move approval of the consent agenda. There's a motion to second by Vice President Champagne. All those in favor of the consent agenda, raise your hand and say yes.

Yes.

Opposed, same motion. Passes unanimously. Now we are on to Councillor Grout. These are the items that were pulled off the consent EC 102. Thank you Madam President.

Not sure who to address these questions to. This has to do with the third quarter update for the fiscal year 26 objectives. The reason I pulled it off is there are this report we're supposed to get quarterly but a lot of the items were not addressed uh... a lot of the reports and it's similar to uh... council people corn she was asking about a report that's been due for a while uh... So let me just start with goal in general. Departments responsible for feeding children, seniors, animals, prioritizing providing nutritious food in their programs, services, and facilities. You didn't respond to that. Let me just say a few things. convert, no, let's see, move 300 unsheltered into housing. You reported 50 people received housing, no report on how many, or you reported 50 people received services, but no report on housing. creating a tracking system for 311 calls received by APD, AFR, and ACS? Has the tracking system for 311 calls been created? So these are just a few of the things. There are a lot of items on this objectives, the objectives that We should be, you know, we we have this objective for a reason. And when we're supposed to be knowing how our taxpayer dollars are spent, we need to make sure that we have that accountability. And and so the reporting is not just suggested, it's. It's supposed to be done.

Madam CAO. Madam President, Councillor Grout, Josh Anderson works with each of the departments related to all of the requirements on these reports, and I think he can speak exactly to which items were included this time versus in the biannual report that we did recently.

Thank you, Madam chair and counselor. Uh, so as a CAO mentioned, I, I do know objectives 22 and 23 did require quarterly report, which is included, uh, at our media report, which I do believe met, uh, the requirements of a, of a third quarter report for objectives. We did include those if there's any that we missed. I think we can address those in our fourth quarter report because there's still a few more to come as well as our September report regarding obstacles that were found within our reporting. But we did submit second quarter mid-year reports in January. I think they had final action in April. So we were more than happy to clarify or address any of those missed ones at the end of the year.

Okay. I have a long list. of things that didn't get addressed and and it's important we want to make sure that we're just we're we're accountable and and so that's it's important yeah we'll need to get together all right thank you okay thank you i move approval or receiving noted for ec 102.

There's a motion and a second by Councillor Brisson for receiving noted of EC102. All those in favour say yes and raise your hand.

Yes.

Opposed, same sign. Motion. 8-1. 8-1? That was a no? Okay.

um next counselor grout um r24 thank you madam president um r24 we have a floor amendment um we need to add a little bit to this um this resolution um i won't read it all but um there is an oh i need to move the bill that's right i move approval of r24 there there's a motion a second by um counselor grow okay so i would like to move a floor amendment um and this is um adding 900 000 that was authorized and approved by the state of new mexico grants and capital projects approved by the 2024 and 2025 state legislature these projects are authorized to be appropriated to specific grant or capital fund upon the execution of an agreement between the parties with the provisions that the amounts will be adjusted to reflect actual federal state and or private contribution participation the above senior grant appropriations were part of a larger 10 million dollar grant allocated To the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term Services Department in 2025, the Bernalillo County Splash Pad Grant was a transfer from Bernalillo County.

There's a motion and a second on floor amendment number one. All those in favor say yes and raise your hand. Yes. Opposed, no. Motion passes. We are back on R24 as amended. I move approval. So there was a motion and a second already for approval. Urge your support. Thank you, Councillor Graut. All those in favor, say yes and raise your hand.

Yes.

Opposed, say motion. Motion passes unanimously. So now we are on to announcements. Councillor Lewis.

President there'll be a finance government operations committee meeting on Monday June 8th 5 p.m.

The council committee room 9th floor suite 9 0 0 3 the city of Albuquerque government center Councillor Besson madam president there will be a land use planning and zoning committee meeting on Wednesday June 10th at 5 p.m. And the Vincent E Griego chambers basement level of the Albuquerque government center and this will be a hybrid meeting Thank you.

Now we are on to financial instruments councillor Rogers by request are 25

Thank you, Madam President. R25, making findings in connection with the Mesa del Sol Public Improvement District 1, resolution authorizing the issuance of sale of Mesa del Sol Public Improvement District Number 1, special levy improvement revenue bonds series 26A, in an aggregate principal amount, not to exceed $14 million, and the Mesa del Sol Public Improvement District 1 Special Levy Refunding Revenue Bonds, Series 2026B, in an aggregate principal not to exceed $6 million.

I move a do pass.

Second.

There's a motion and a second by Councilor Grout for R25. Councilor Rogers.

Thank you, Madam President. And we have, I think, Mr. Meerhead here to talk us through what this is all about. Thank you, Mr. Meerhead.

absolutely council president council rogers thank you uh chris murray with the model firm the resolution in front of you relates to mesa del sol public improvement districts which were formed in 2008 when that development was first created this is related to one of five public improvement districts which as you know are created to support residential development in a collaboration with the city in a master development way. Mesa del Sol in PID 1 has issued bonds in 2013 for some initial improvements. Part of this financing is to approve the refunding of that debt for Interest cost savings which benefit the property owners the other series of bonds relates to new improvements of the district that have been put in and would reimburse the developer consistent with the development agreement The resolutions in front of you. This is a debt of Mesa. That's all public improvement district not a debt of the city It is paid with special levies that are currently being assessed against the property under the city's PID policy it is required that any public improvement district bond that is issued comes back to the council for confirmation that the bonds are issued consistent with the initial formation, which was in 2008, as well as the city's PIT policy. We have reviewed all of that and can recommend to you that all of that is in compliance. Should you choose to approve this, the district's lined up, ready to issue these bonds, subject to your approval. Happy to answer your questions about it.

Thank you, Madam President. The only thing I would add is just for the public in plain speak, what we're doing is we are adding a new development basically to, it's the Savio Ridge Public, that's the name of the public improvement district, PID.

That's the one that's different.

Oh, that's, oh, sorry. Right.

Yeah, so this is Mesa del Sol. Got it. Thank you. I'm ahead of myself on the next one. Oh, that's all right. That's right. So yeah, this is out south of the airport. Everybody's familiar. Thank you, Madam President. And so pin one, this has been formed. The Savio Ridge, subject to your approval at the next meeting.

Thank you. And I don't see that there's anyone signed up to speak, correct, Mr. Cornelius? Okay. Well, with that, if there's not any... Questions from councillors? Councillor Rogers to close. I urge your support. Thank you. There's a motion and a second for approval for a due pass of R25. All those in favor say yes and raise your hand.

Yes.

Opposed say motion. Motion passes unanimously. Next item is R35 that was deferred so we are on to appeals. There are none. Now we are on general public comments. Members of the public can provide live public comments to the council in person or virtually if they have signed up for public comment per the instructions published on the agenda and our website on Friday. Here are the public comment ground rules. Each participant has one minute to present. Comments are to be addressed to the counselors only through the council president. Any disruptive conduct will result in removal from the meeting. There is a one-minute time limit, and the bell will ring to indicate your time is up. Mr. Cornelius, can you please call the name of the first speaker?

Thank you, Madam President. Our first speaker is Debbie Reynolds, followed by Jamie Gallardo.

Madam President, councillors, thank you for your work. I have a couple of things to say about raising the minimum wage. It seems to me inflationary. These business owners, if we increase their labor costs by 25%, they're just going to pass that on to us, to the consumers. The price of your lot of burger is going up, the price of your dry cleaning, your car wash, All of those kind of entry-level jobs that serve us will be more expensive, and they'll be more expensive for the people who are getting the 25% raise. So it just leads to a domino effect of more pricing, higher pricing, and not necessarily a good thing for people at the entry level. My first job at KFC, I learned to show up on time. I learned to be well-dressed. I learned to make change. I learned to be nice to the boss's wife, even if I didn't like her. So I think these entry level jobs are fine. They're not designed to support a family.

Jamie Gallardo, followed by Grace Dukes.

Good evening, Councillors. Thank you for your time and all the work that you do. Okay, so my name is Jaime Gallardo, and I'm a citizen here of Albuquerque, the great city of Albuquerque, and I'm also a small business owner. There's no question that wages need to grow. The challenge before this city council is ensuring we raise wages in a way that strengthens working families without unintentionally driving costs even higher onto the very people we are trying to help. The proposal to increase Albuquerque's minimum wage from $12 to $15 per hour deserves serious discussion. But equally important is a proposal to permanently tie future wage increases not only to inflation, but also to HUD fair market rent increases for two bedroom apartments. Supporters often point to cities with 15 plus minimum wages. Denver, which has $18 an hour minimum wage. Portland, in comparison, we're at 12, and the rent's for us only 1,600, whereas the rent's for Denver's at 2,300. So I implore this council to put serious consideration into really putting a plan together to really discuss how this is going to affect not just small businesses, but all the citizens of Albuquerque. Thank you.

Grace Dukes, followed by Sarah Towns.

Counselors, it is Pride Month. Today we celebrate but also mourn the lives of the trans souls lost to senseless violence. Part of the NSPM 7 memo issued from the President last September designates radical gender extremism as domestic terrorism. I am likely on a domestic terrorist list because of my identity as a transgender person. A list that they do intend on using one day, whether you are ready to accept it or not. Will you continue to stay silent while your people are executed on the streets for the crime of being ourselves? Do more for us. Protect transgender souls. Shield laws are nothing without further protection, and our lives depend on your courage to act. So on this first day of June, I say happy Pride Month. And I implore you and the mayor to remember that when you raise this flag in Civic Plaza tomorrow. Because paired with Trump's inaction, Keller's policies, Baca's policies, too. Raising that flag is more symbolic than anything. Remember, there is no pride without trans people. And when they come for us, they will come for everybody else, too.

Sarah Towns, followed by Adele Rose Bennett Herrick.

Hi, can I get the camera on the projector? Oh, there we go. Thank you. Good evening, counselors. I'm Sarah Towns, and I'm a Christian pastor whose members come mostly from districts 8 and 9. I had a member come to me facing eviction this week. She's a college graduate. She works full time. Why can't she afford rent? Well, there's an online hourly pay to rent calculator, and that's what's on the screen. At $12 an hour, it says you can afford a $624 a month apartment. On Zillow in Albuquerque, there are currently zero units at that price. The closest one is in Portales. So if you're a single individual, we're not even talking about families with kids. Unless you want to live in your car, stay in a shelter, or commute from Portales, you have to make more in Albuquerque. At $15 an hour, it says you can afford $779. Now at that price, there are 146 options. They aren't great options, but that's better than nothing. We cannot continue criminalizing homelessness when there are zero options for housing at the current wages. Please put a moratorium on sweeps and pass 033. Thank you.

DALE ROSE BENNETT HERRICK, FOLLOWED BY MITCHELL GIBBS.

Y'all need to respect people's time. The one minute thing is understandable when we're this packed. But it really hurts people every single meeting to plan for less time to speak. Now. Happy Pride Month again. I always enjoy thinking about what kind of administration is going to, sorry, excuse me, what kind of regime is going to scrub this footage right here, right now. stop criminalizing human beings on stolen land, and let's do something nice for workers.

Mitchell Gibbs, followed by Joe Cardillo, followed by Deborah Montoya.

I was trying to figure out how to sum up my experience in New Mexico since September of last year in 60 seconds. And the best thing that I could tell you is if you've never Googled a 1934 Nazi soldier poster for prisoner insignias, I ask that you do because we can stand at Civic Plaza where Prickly Pear Park is. And there's an upside-down patch that would be black, and they called them vagabonds. But that's the same thing as homeless people. I live on the streets of Albuquerque. I was displaced from California. I have no employment. Access to resources are limited. You have to be a resident to gain some access to some resources. And here we are criminalizing and adding fines to homeless people. And like they discuss the cost of living and rent, the average landlord requires that you make three times the rent per month just to be able to reside and qualify to live in that. So stop criminalizing homeless people. My name is Mitchell Gibbs. I'm a transgender man. Stop criminalizing trans people. Nazis came for the trans people first.

Joe Cardillo, followed by Deborah Montoya, followed by Raul Hernandez.

Good evening, council president, counselors. I think everybody in this room knows that costs for groceries and gas are rising. Housing is increasingly hard to find. Homelessness is rising, and this council frankly seems paralyzed. That includes no votes on common sense protections for renters. No on increasing voting access and saving $1.7 million in taxpayer funds. That's my money. That's our money. No on taking small, really small steps to increase housing. But you have voted yes quite recently on criminalizing free speech and hurting our neighbors who are trying to get off the streets. And that yes vote has sent a clear message. I think we've also seen that. Our police already seem to be escalating confrontations. And I'm worried about use of force and, frankly, lawsuits that we've already seen that have cost us millions of dollars in taxpayer funds as well. What you're doing right now is not working. You're not providing financial oversight on the mayor and the mayoral administrations. You're not addressing housing. You're not addressing rising costs. And you're not showing leadership. especially to the majority on this council. This isn't gonna work for us, this is gonna work for our families.

Deborah Montoya, followed by Raul Hernandez, followed by Beatriz Caldera.

Good evening, Madam President and counselors. My name is Deborah Montoya. I'm the author of Old Town Plaza in Albuquerque, and I'm here to oppose the Old Town Rail Trail plan for a residential zone vacant lot in our neighborhood. The residents most affected by this project were not informed nor consulted before it advanced. The city of Albuquerque and West Old Town Neighborhood Association with its small five-member board failed to notify residents, which will severely affect neighborhood character, residence, privacy, safety, and quality of life. I respectfully ask Madam President and Council.

Madam President, hold on one second. I believe this is a quasi-judicial matter and she can't be speaking on that issue.

Hold on one second. Councillor Baca, so let's just, so hi. Just so that you know, some items that we have in front of us are quasi-judicial, so we shouldn't be hearing comments from the public related to this. So we have our attorney with Council Services who can help explain this further. And then once she does, I will go to you, Councillor Baca.

Actually, can I say one thing? I just received a voice message from Joaquin Baca, and he mentioned that I could come to this meeting today.

Madam President, so I was responding to a voicemail from Ms. Montoya. My understanding is it's city land. It's not private land. My understanding was that doesn't qualify under the quasi-judicial.

Councillor Baca, let Ms. Culladon explain first, and then yes.

Madam President, Councilor Baca, unfortunately I'm not familiar with the project that we are discussing at this moment, but there is a limitation, as the Council President mentioned, on public comment on quasi-judicial matters outside of the formal public hearing on that matter. And so if this is something quasi-judicial, then we'd have that limitation on comment. So we don't necessarily have the answer.

I think we can ask our city attorney. She's probably online. We just want to make sure that we can vote on it when it's time. Yes, thank you, Madam President. I was actually just texting Ms. Coulidon.

I'm not aware of a particular hearing either that's pending on this matter. I do see Mr. Padilla speaking. Maybe he's getting some information on that. I don't know if the administration is aware of a hearing in connection with this particular parcel.

Madam President, I am not aware of the pending hearing on the matter.

Okay, thank you. So it doesn't, Ms. Montoya, if you're, where did Ms. Montoya? Oh, okay. Okay, so we can let Ms. Montoya complete her comments when she's done. We just want to make sure that some of these items are not quasi-judicial when we're having someone... No, I don't know. Okay. Okay. Councillor Baca.

Thank you, Madam President. That was, my understanding, it's the rail trail on city land. It's not quasi-judicial because it's already happening. And I know the city had had some public meetings and she wanted to speak, but I just told her to go to public comment like everybody else. So I don't have any yay or nay or anything. I just simply let her know.

Thank You councillor bucket we had a couple of counselors and we're just concerned with it being quasi judicial so I paused just so that we can ensure that we're not making any kind of mistakes here so if somebody can find miss Montoya so that she can start her to her minute over again I would appreciate that we will move on mr. Cornelius to this next speaker until she comes in Thank You madam president up next we have Raul Hernandez followed by Beatrice Caldera

Presidente y miembros del Consejo Municipal, mi nombre es Raúl Hernández, soy trabajador en Albuquerque. contribuyendo a la economía de esta ciudad desde hace años y soy miembro del centro. Hoy vengo a apoyar la ordenanza del salario mínimo porque los bajos salarios en nuestra ciudad ya no alcanzan para vivir con dignidad. Muchas personas como yo trabajamos a tiempo completo, pero aún así no podemos cubrir lo básico como la renta, la comida, el transporte y los servicios. Esto nos obliga a vivir con estrés constante. a tomar dobles turnos o a tener varios trabajos solo para sobrevivir. Yo trabajo como mesero y como aún con las propinas no me ajusta, tengo que trabajar con mi hijo en otros turnos para poder solventar mis gastos. El problema no es la falta de trabajo, es que los salarios no reflejan el verdadero costo de vivir en Albuquerque. Esto afecta no solo a los trabajadores, sino también a nuestras familias, nuestra salud y estabilidad de toda la comunidad. La solución es clara y aumentar el salario mínimo para que el trabajo sea suficiente para vivir. Un salario justo reduce la rotación, fortalece los negocios locales y permite que las familias tengan estabilidad. Por eso apoyo la ordenanza. Un salario digno no es un lujo. Es una necesidad básica para poder vivir con dignidad. Muchas gracias.

Gracias.

May I run to Madam President of English Rendition? Good evening, Council President and members of the City Council. My name is Raul Hernandez and I am a worker in Albuquerque. I have been contributing to the city's economy for many years. I am also a member of El Centro. Today I'm here to support the minimum wage ordinance because low wages in our city are no longer enough to live with dignity. Many people like me work full time, yet we still cannot afford basic necessities such as rent, food, transportation, and utilities. This forces us to live under constant stress, work double shifts, or take on multiple jobs just to survive. I work as a waiter, and even with tips, my income is not enough, so my son and I have to work additional shifts to make ends meet. The problem is not a lack of work. The problem is that wages do not reflect the true cost of living in Albuquerque. This affects not only workers, but also our families, our health, and the stability of our entire community. The solution is clear. Raise the minimum wage so that work is enough to live on. A fair wage reduces turnover, strengthens local businesses, and helps families achieve greater stability. That is why I support this ordinance. A living wage is not a luxury. It is a basic necessity for living with dignity. Thank you.

Beatriz Caldera, followed by Sofia Vega.

Good afternoon, presidents and members of the municipal council. My name is Beatriz Caldera. I have lived in Albuquerque for more than 16 years. I am a working mother and a member of the center. Today I come to support the minimum wage ordinance because the workers in construction, in the care of children and elderly people, in restaurants, in hospitals and in many of the essential jobs, we are the ones who maintain this city functioning. But the reality is that despite our contribution, today many working families can no longer live with dignity. Yo soy cabeza de familia y trabajo en un restaurante de cocina y a veces de dishwasher cinco días a la semana, 12 horas diarias. Gano 14 dólares la hora y como no me alcanza para llevar lo necesario para mi familia en mi día de descanso, limpio una casa para tener un sueldo extra. Aún así no alcanza para pagar la renta, la comida, la gasolina, la luz. El costo de vida sigue subiendo, pero nuestro salario no. Por eso hoy les pedimos que apoyen esta ordenanza. Thank you. Excuse me, just as the interpreter, if you can let everyone know, I can say it in Spanish if you want me to, but just to let everybody know that their comments are limited to one minute.

Good evening, Council President and members of the City Council. My name is Beatriz Caldera. I have lived in Albuquerque for more than 16 years. I am a mother, a worker, and a member of El Centro. Today I'm here to support the minimum wage ordinance because those of us who work in construction, child care, elder care, restaurants, hospitals, and many other essential jobs We are the ones who keep this city running. But the reality is that despite our contributions, many working families can no longer live with dignity. I am a head of household. I work in a restaurant as a cook and sometimes as a dishwasher, five days a week, 12 hours a day. I earn $14 an hour, and because it is not enough to provide for my family on my day off, I clean houses to earn extra income. Even so, It is still not enough to pay the rent, food, gas, and utilities. The cost of living continues to rise, but our wages do not. That's why today we are here asking for your support for this ordinance. A minimum wage increase is not a gift. It is justice for those of us who work already sustaining the city every day with our work. When workers are doing well, the entire community is doing well. Thank you.

We'll be going back to Deborah Montoya, followed by Sophia Vega.

And you can have your entire minute back, so apologies.

Thank you. As I previously mentioned, I'm here to oppose the Old Town Rail Trail Plan for a residential zone vacant lot in Old Town. The residents affected by this project were not informed or consulted before it advanced. The City of Albuquerque and West Old Town Neighborhood Association with its small five-member board failed to notify residents, which will severely affect neighborhood character, residences, privacy, safety, and quality of life. It would also be located one block of Reginald Chavez Elementary School, and there are so many safety concerns. I respectfully ask Madam President and Council to pause this project, require traffic and safety studies, and work directly with the residents in this process. Thank you for your time and consideration. Thank you.

That's everyone's first warning, whoever claps.

Sophia Vega, followed by Lance Alpha, followed by Brick Jonasy.

Good evening, council presidents and members of the city council. I will be reading this in my sister's absence. My name is Sophia and I'm proud to contribute to our community by providing childcare services. Today I am here to support the minimum wage ordinance because given the economic challenges we are facing, many early childhood education workers need to work two jobs just to cover basic expenses such as food, rent, utilities, and other necessities. Even though I earn a little over $15 per hour, I still struggle to make ends meet. Just like many of my coworkers, raising the minimum wage to $15 per hour would provide workers with greater economic stability and help my family meet their basic needs. That is why I support this ordinance, and I respectfully ask you to vote yes. Thank you.

Let's upvote, followed by Brick Jonesy, followed by Blake Eliasson.

Madam President, council members, I've made you all aware of what's going down at the Family Advocacy Center. And we also were talking about how money is spent on legal services because people aren't properly trained. Well, this is what happened to me from a police officer at the Family Advocacy Center.

A lot of problems over at the city council as well.

So apparently these people cause problems over at the city council. This is from a deputy commander at the family advocacy center on her own goddamn body camera. Given these people that have this private building, all they think they got all the power in the world just to come up and say, hey, I don't like that guy with a camera in a publicly available area for ingress and egress. They searched all over the building for us like we were dogs. This is unacceptable. And I strongly suggest you look into this because you've already got one suit on your ass. And this is another one.

Brick Jonasy, followed by Blake Eliason, followed by Francesco Artist. The overhead, please.

Yeah, I'm trying to draw as much attention to it as possible. You know, this guy, obviously. But I do want to talk about something else while this is playing. That public comment thing. I understand it. I think it's a good idea to limit the comment when it's a lot of people like this. But when it's like 50, maybe a minute 45. When it's 60, a minute 30. When it's 70, I'm talking to you, Pena. Because it's your discretion your discretion, you can choose to give people more time when it's more people speaking, right? It doesn't always have to be one minute. It's one minute this time, but there are, as we were told, over 100 people speaking. That's understandable. One minute when it's 50, it's kind of ridiculous, don't you think? Arnold Martinez, I mean, might as well work for you.

Blake Eliason, followed by Francesco Artist, followed by Dr. Lisa Christopherson.

Good evening, President and counselors. My name is Blake. I live in District 7 and I work as an economics researcher. I'm imploring you tonight to vote in favor of raising the minimum wage. You will hear comments tonight against doing so. I would like to inform you that many of those comments will come from an organization called Americans for Prosperity. This is an organization funded by large companies publicly traded on stock exchanges around the world, and that's okay. Companies have a fiduciary legal obligation to their shareholders, and raising the minimum wage is bad for shareholders. But as you can see, it's very good for Albuquerque, and you do have an obligation to the city of Albuquerque. As such, I urge you to vote in favor of raising the minimum wage tonight. Thank you.

Francesco Artis, followed by Dr. Lisa Christofferson, followed by Kristen Cummings.

Overhead, please. This is my mother's prayer book.

Blessed be God.

Some people swear to defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and New Mexico. May God help me. With my hand on the Bible, it has a lot of meaning. For others, the Bible is a simple book. Tanto varrebbe giurare su un rotolo di carta igienica. Le anime che affrontano l'agonia della donazione per avere recitato il rosario ogni giorno che potessi ascendere la posizione del tuo potere. Pregano che tu ti perata e concediti alla giustizia. Please restart my timer for English translation. This is my mother's prayer book. May God rest her soul. Some people swear the oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America and New Mexico, so help you God. With hand on the Bible, and it actually means something. To some, the Bible is just a book. May as well be swearing the oath on a roll of toilet paper. the eternal souls facing the constant agony of damnation for saying the rosary every day so that you could be in a position of power, pray that you repent and turn yourself in.

Dr. Lisa Christopherson, followed by Kristen Cummings, followed by Audrey Mitchell.

Lisa Christopherson with New Mexico Stronger Together Coalition. Two comments tonight. One comment about APD killing three people in five days. One comment about vulnerability, homelessness, and behavioral events. So 2014, the DOJ, their report was the basis for the CASA agreement. Eleven years, Albuquerque had an agreement with the U.S. DOJ, and I'd like to say you also had a promise with Burqueños. that APD would reduce excessive force and that they would be transparent with their reporting and the processes. Of the eight things listed on that CASA agreement, six of them they were able to complete, and two of them the DOJ identified that the problem was problematic and was the creation of that cost agreement. There was a culture of aggression in APD and an unconstitutional pattern of excessive force with disproportionately affected vulnerable people. And here we are again, 11 years later. Thank you very much for the questions that you asked. We had a meeting yesterday. Thank you, Councillor Feeblecorn, for attending. That's the number one thing that we found that was the problem. Thank you.

Kristen Cummings, followed by Audrey Mitchell, followed by Trevor Selby.

Last Monday, I injured my shoulder while hiking. If you've never worked a minimum wage job, such an injury might be a nuisance. It's annoying, but you have the benefit of health care, paid leave, and savings from a comfortable salary. But what does an injury like this mean to someone making minimum wage? Without the use of my dominant hand, it would be pretty difficult to fold clothes or wait tables or cook. I can lift 50 pounds one-handed, but it better be pretty compact and not cumbersome. So we've just ruled out most retail, food service, a good deal of logistics and warehouse work. What does missing a week of work mean to someone on minimum wage? It won't necessarily put them on the street right away, but it will probably cause them to miss payments on some bills. Late fees add up, and those late fees will compound. Needing to pay late fees means continuing to pay bills late in order to afford last month's late fees, which means more late fees. It means skipping meals because you can't afford groceries. It means going back to work before you're fully healed, risking permanent disability. If it gets bad enough, you start alternating, paying rent one month and bills the next. Make enough late rent payments, and your landlord might just terminate your lease. Then you better hope your car holds out so you have some place to live. This is how it happens. When the cost of living exceeds or just matches the minimum wage, then one accident means falling into a hole you can't climb out of. Standing up for the working class means voting for policies that improve their situation at every opportunity, not watching them fall into a hole and then judging them for being there.

Audrey Mitchell, followed by Trevor Selby, followed by Marceline Costner.

Good evening, Council President and members of the City Council. My name is Audrey Mitchell. I serve as the Corporate Director of People and Culture for Total Management Systems, a family-owned hotel management company that owns and operates hotels here in Albuquerque and throughout New Mexico. I hear what everybody's saying about the cost of living and the uncertainties. As an employer here in Albuquerque, I want to be clear that we are already paying $15 an hour for most of our positions. Our tipped employees are paid $10 an hour. We provide health care benefits. We provide a 401 with a match. The concern before us is not whether employees deserve fair wages. The concern is whether this ordinance creates a sustainable framework for employers and employees in the years ahead. The most troubling part of this proposal is the tie to the HUD fair market rent calculations. If we can work together on this, maybe we can come up with something that's a little more staggered, a little more easy for us to sustain in going forward. We can't have these increases To be unknown, we need to be able to plan for these. We just hope you listen and work with us.

Trevor Selby, followed by Marceline Costner, followed by Leandra Schuller.

Good evening. I'm here to support Ordinance 33. I think the minimum wage needs to be increased. I am one of the few constituents who's fortunate enough to already make more than $15 an hour, make $15.50, and I work full time. And I ride my bike to get around. I do not have a car payment. I do not pay for insurance or gas. And even then, even with a fortunate living circumstances, I was very lucky with the rental that I found. Even then, I am paying a majority of my paycheck on the bare essentials. That is food, rent, electricity, phone bill, internet, et cetera. This is not negotiable. We need higher wages. People are suffering. People are making sacrifices that they don't need to make. I know this is probably going to be a close vote, but it only takes the four core sponsors plus one to get this passed and make sure that working families are represented in the city of Albuquerque. Thank you and happy pride.

Marceline Costner, followed by Leandra Schuller, followed by Jess Lannan.

I think you're going to hear plenty of people that make the economic argument to why we need to be raising minimum wage tonight. I think you should consider that all of these people have gotten off work, they have work in the morning, and they're here to let you know how much this means to them and how much this affects their lives. I think this is really important. I think you should listen to them. I think you shouldn't just sway towards one side. I think you should really think about this. Additionally, I think we should think about like, I don't think this needs to be an anti small business thing. i really care about small businesses i love small businesses and i think if we could figure out a way to tax incentivize at the end of the year so the small businesses can get something back for to compensate for the loss that they're going to have for having to pay employees more i think it's all around win because if we bolster that for them those employees can come back around And the next year I have more money to spend at local businesses. I know when I have more money in my pocket, I'm way more likely to go to a smaller business. I think this is really important, and APD should really stop killing people.

Leandra Schuller, followed by Jess Lannan, followed by Marina Herrera.

Hello counselors. So I support raising minimum wage and I love that we have universal child care. Those have both will. My concern is have we with the universal child care with the pay pay raises can we help the schools if for some reason that early child care gets pulled away like a different governor who's already like for example they're trying to sue it already. What will parents do if we have to pay more if that service gets pulled away. It's made a difference in me being able to go back to school and some people couldn't afford child care at all. So you had to pick. Are you going to be at home or are you going to work. And that's not a decision that we should have to make. So I'm hoping that we could talk to our senators as well and see if we can help fund that cut the extra fee because they they do deserve to be paid more. But what will happen if we lose early child care. Thank you all I appreciate it.

Just Lanham followed by Marina Herrera followed by Patrick Gallegos. Marina Herrera followed by Patrick Gallegos followed by James Freeman.

Hi, my name is Marina Herrera, and I'm here on behalf of the Rio Grande Foundation and Economic Think Tank. I urge you to oppose the plan to raise Albuquerque's minimum wage from $12 to $15 an hour and index that rate to inflation. The problem is that in economics, nothing is free. Arbitrary mandated wage increases are borne by businesses. Between the ever-increasing taxes, the crime crisis, and the expensive cost of security and insurance, Small and family businesses cannot survive a 25% increase in wages. This will leave small and family businesses with the losing proposition of either cutting hours, automating, increasing prices, or closing their doors. This is the opposite of affordability. Instead of breaking the backs of local businesses, the city should be lobbying and pushing the legislature and governor to reduce taxes with the massive oil and gas surpluses available. That would actually reduce the cost of living and increase affordability in Albuquerque. Thank you.

Patrick Gallegos, followed by James Freeman, followed by Tad Yaminski.

Hello, city councilors. My name is Patrick. I'm an Albuquerque resident here to speak in support of 033 for the raising of the Albuquerque's minimum wage. There's a cost of living crisis happening across the country. Housing costs, food costs, and rising gas prices are forcing many working people to decide between feeding their families, paying rent, and paying off their medical debt. Albuquerque faces extreme poverty below the national average, making us particularly vulnerable to further economic crises. The duty of the city is to protect its workers and provide for all its people, not just the interests of corporations or businesses. Workers are the drivers of all economic development. And if workers can't afford to live, there is no economy. We make the world run, and we deserve the bare minimum to be able to exist and take care of our communities. This minimum wage increase is an essential reform, but also one that is frankly a drop in the ocean of what is truly needed to protect the interests of workers, the poor, and the marginalized. Our social safety net from wages, social security, and health care access is constantly being rolled back in favor of contracted private outsourcing of public wealth welfare our task as working people is to continue to demand the city to work for us and build a future that serves people first not profit so that albuquerque can be the city was always meant to be a city made for the working class james freeman followed by tad numitzki followed by megan yosis on zoom

I'd like to tell you about someone I met several months ago. Brittany Means was assigned to one of my nine pitch shifts during the last count. Right away I could tell something was different about this young lady. She approached the survey taking with complete fearlessness. Later I discovered she was an award-winning author. I picked up her book and couldn't put it down. To say it touched me profoundly would be an understatement. Miss Means was born dead and then lived for a while in a car and later in a huge black barn out in the cornfields of rural Indiana. A graduate of Ball State University and the University of Iowa's nonfiction writing program, her debut memoir, Hell If We Don't Change Our Ways, earned a Kirkus-starred review and picked as best book of fall 2023 by People Magazine. Currently, Ms. Means lives in Albuquerque and keeps chickens, edits, and watches many horror movies. Britney's childhood was a blur of highways and traumas and collapsed any effort to track time, riding shotgun as her mother struggled to escape abusive relationships. Britney didn't care where they were going, to a roadside Midwestern motel, a shelter, or the barn in Indiana. The cluttered mansion her Pentecostal grandparents called home as long as they were together, but every so often, her mom would surprise her and leave.

Can I request a point of privilege and give him an extra minute, please?

Thank you. As Brittany grew older and questioned her own complicated relationships and the poverty, abuse, and instability that enveloped her, she began to recognize that hell wasn't only the place she read about in the Bible. It was the cycle of violence that entrapped her family. Through footholds such as horror movies, neuropsychology, and strong bonds, Brittany made sense of the cycle and finds a way to leave it. While untangling the web of her most painful memories, Brittany crafts a tale of self-preservation, resilience, and hope with a unique narrative style, a sparkling example of the human ability to withstand the most horrific experiences and still thrive. That was written by the Indiana Book Society before they gave her the 2024 Book of the Year Award. If I didn't know Brittany and how successful and well-adjusted she is, I can say I wouldn't have made it 10 pages into this incredible book. We're having an event at HopeWorks next Friday. That's what the flyer that she's got right there is, and I'd like to invite you all to attend. She's going to be the speaker, and she's going to be signing her books, and she will melt your heart. Thank you.

Tad Niemiecki, followed by Megan Yosis, followed by Aurora Silva.

Would you give me overhead? That's good enough. Yes. My name is Tad Niemiecki, and I am really tired Here is after meeting Ms. Lopez or Mrs. Lopez at city council office spending about aligning issue what we have problem sitting with city council about five or more points violation our civil rights including racism, sexes by Clarissa Pena that is everything that criminal which is going to Department of Justice and then civil and lot more be dark and expose City Council at I don't have time

Megan Yosis, followed by Aurora Silva, followed by Sally Deradke.

Good evening council president counselors. I am here to speak in favor of the minimum wage increase to $15 an hour. So there's all kinds of evidence that people are struggling with increased prices and stagnant wages, especially the price of housing. Only 5% of apartments that cost less than $800 a month are vacant on average compared to 26% of rentals costing more than $2,000 a month. So people are snapping up affordable apartments, but there are few buyers for anything higher end. There's been a lot of discourse with this council on ordinances to require pooling and to make slumlords keep apartments safe and livable. An increase in the minimum wage will increase people's purchasing power and cause living conditions to improve. People's mental and physical health will improve. When working class people make more money, that money moves through the community and generates additional economic activity. And also people are... more likely to have extra space, which prevents their friends and family from falling in homelessness. So I do strongly support this, but I also think it isn't enough. The minimum wage should be more like $22 an hour for a single adult, according to the MIT Living Wage Calculator. Thank you so much.

Aurora Silva, followed by Sally Duradki.

Hello, my name is Aurora Silva. This month is Pride Month, and I want to wish everyone here a happy Pride, especially all the queer and trans people with whom I share community with. To all of you who are queer, trans, or like myself, both, remember that our continued existence and joy are resistance. I moved to Albuquerque three years ago because of worsening political oppression in Texas, where I grew up and transitioned. a very grateful community that has welcomed me and that I've adopted. Albuquerque has shown itself to be a place that believes in queer and trans rights. But queer and trans rights are more than just the explicit rights like access to gender affirming care or the ability to marry and raise a family. They include implicit rights too, the right to be free of exploitation, the right to a living wage, the right to housing and food and healthcare. Those are queer and trans rights too. That's why we beseech the City Council to support all queer and trans rights, both explicit and implicit, to raise the minimum wage and to make existing an Albuquerque more possible for those on the margins. After all, human rights are both queer and trans rights.

Thank you very much. Sally Duravky.

Hi, my name is Sally Duracki. I'm a parent of three little kids. My husband is a health care provider. I have to say that I have trouble listening to the city council meetings. I'm disheartened often by votes that seem to go against what would be best for the people of Albuquerque. Talking about things like rank choice voting, criminalizing homelessness, fees. But I am very encouraged tonight to see my councilor, I'm in district two with councilor Baca, co-sponsoring the rental unit habitability ordinance and raising minimum wage. I support both of those really strongly. I think that when we are in a room that has a lot of power in it, we should consider the people that are not able to be in that room that we are affecting. And the people that are being affected a lot by this are working class people of Albuquerque that can't be here tonight because they are working their minimum wage jobs. So please consider those individuals as you are making your vote tonight. Thanks.

Up next, we have Harold Pope Jr. Senator Harold Pope Jr.

Counselors, Harold Pope Jr., State Senator from District 23 on the West Side. I'm here to support O2633 and this effort to raise the minimum wage and also look at cost of living adjustment. I want to first thank the sponsors and commend you for this work because it recognizes a simple truth. that the cost of living does not stand still, and neither should the wages of people who keep our city running. Everyday Albuquerque residents are working hard, serving our food, caring for our loved ones, stocking shelves, cleaning buildings, and keeping businesses operating. Yet too many people are struggling to find affordable housing, groceries, and pay for utilities, transportation, and healthcare. So I just want to thank you once again. I know it's a short time limit. I feel like when we have you guys up in the Senate and we limit that. So I just want to continue to work with all of you because it's a responsibility of the state as well to do what we can do and bring the resources here to the city. Thank you. Thank you for allowing me to speak.

Madam President I could not find Gary Lucero in Zoom so that concludes general public comment. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much, Mr. Cornelius, and thank all the public speakers. The clock up there is wrong, so it is actually 6.55 now. So we're going to take a break and we'll return at 7.25.

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music plays

welcome back everyone we are now on item 14 final actions thank you everyone so this is 033 thank you We are on 033. This is Councilor Spiegelkorn, Baca, Rogers, and Theas by request.

Thank you, Madam President. 033, amending ROA 1994, Chapter 13, Article 12, the Albuquerque Minimum Wage Ordinance to increase the minimum wage rate, change the calculation method for annual cost of living adjustments, and remove obsolete provisions. I move a do pass. Second.

There's a motion in the second by Council tears for a do pass of all 33.

Someone to open. Thank you, madam president so I think everybody knows that the minimum wage has been very low in the city of Albuquerque for quite some time we have not seen a real increase and right now if there are 2 people. living together in our city both working full-time minimum wage jobs they cannot afford a two-bedroom apartment and I think that that says that there is a definite disparity between what it actually costs to live in our community and what our minimum wage is and so we are just bringing it up to a reasonable amount and with that I will stand for any questions.

And open by Council feeble corn. We have now will go on to unless there's any other comments by sponsors. If not, we'll go on to amendments. And we have a floor amendment number a Councilor Baca.

Thank you, Madam President. I won't be introducing that.

OK, thank you so much. So then we have floor amendment number. Labeled B. And you guys don't have those in your packet. I think those are going to be distributed. And I don't know where Charisse is at.

Ms. Coulodon. Madam President, in the meantime, I can get the amendment shared up on the screen if you'd like. OK, why don't we do that? It's

Thank you, Madam President. I just had a quick question. Are these also on the iPads for us to look for them? They're not.

Madam President, we can add those as well.

We'll just go ahead and go to public comment first. Why don't we do that? Mr. Cornelius, can you call the first speaker?

Thank you, Madam President. Our first speaker is Grace Dukes, followed by Sarah Towns, followed by Carol White.

No business which depends for existence on paying less than living wages to its workers has any right to continue. That is not radical. That is basic human decency. FDR said it in 1933. It is still true today. My roommate and I don't know if we can afford to renew our lease when rent goes up in December. The only way that we can afford rent is because we live in subpar Class C housing that isn't up to standards. I'm lucky I have parents I can call. Most people don't. And over half of renters are cost burdened right now. That is exploitation. Raising the minimum wage does not hurt honest businesses. The opposition to this is coming from corporate bad actors who decided that their profit margins matter more than whether their workers can feed their families. This council has a choice. Stand with working people or stand with the people getting rich off them and show that once again, you stand to do private equities bidding. And I'll be talking later about how you do NAOP's bidding.

Sarah Towns, followed by Carol White, followed by Adea Rose Bennett-Herrick.

Hi, I'm a Christian pastor whose members are mostly in districts eight and nine. I oversee the operations of a church. We have a staff of 10 people. We raised our minimum wage to $15 an hour over four years ago. And we're doing great. We didn't have to cut hours. We didn't have to cut staff. Paying people enough to live has consistently strengthened our organization. No one is loyal to a $12 an hour job. Recruiting, training, lost productivity cost businesses thousands. In the three years after Denver raised its minimum wage, the city outpaced the rest of Colorado in job growth, wage growth, and sales tax revenue. Beyond economics, my faith teaches us that we are all created in the image of God, and work should not trap people in poverty. The only businesses hurt by this will be the ones who survive by paying people less than they can live on. That's not a business model worth defending, morally or economically. Thank you.

Carol White, followed by Dale Rose Bennett Herrick, followed by Mitchell Gibbs.

Can I have the overhead? There we go. Madam President, members of the Council, my name is Carol White. I'm the CEO of the New Mexico Restaurant Association and represent the majority of restaurants in Albuquerque, 70% of which are small independent restaurants. I ask you to consider the reality restaurants face when the Council considers a 25% increase in the minimum wage, a $3 increase in base wage raises, All wages. So a small restaurant with 25 full-time employees would pay an additional $156,000 per year in payroll. That's on top of what they're already paying, and that does not include FICA and all the other taxes. Our restaurant operators are already facing higher costs for food, labor, insurance, and security. We are not talking about a healthy industry that can easily absorb sudden wage increases. We're talking about businesses that are already making painful choices just to stay open. Across the city, we've all seen restaurants shrink hours, close for lunch, close early, cut dinner services because they cannot afford to stay open. That matters to workers too. When restaurants reduce hours, employees lose shifts, lose income, and sometimes lose the stability they need to keep making ends meet.

Adele Rose Bennett Herrick, followed by Mitchell Gibbs, followed by Paloma Parra.

I worked in those kind of restaurants. And let me tell you, there's no such thing as sub-minimum work. So I don't think there should be any such thing as sub-minimum wages. It is frankly ridiculous that restaurants and many other businesses operate on such razor-thin margins and then additionally create extra cost to the consumer and call that tips and then make acronyms about it. A dignified wage is the real solution here. And this will separate the good restaurants from the bad restaurants. This will separate workers from

Mitchell Gibbs, followed by Paloma Parra, followed by Joe Cardillo.

So in a former life, I was a property manager, and it's relevant to the topic of raising the minimum wage. The average landlord requires three times rent per month. So that means if your rent is $1,250, you require three times that income per month. And when you're looking at the minimum wage being $12.50, you're not even making one and a half times that to be able to qualify to even rent an apartment or a house. And there's also that age gap of generational wealth is not evenly distributed. So some of us have had barriers to access, especially if you're a person of the global majority. So in the instance of an earlier public commentary, it's human dignity to not be able to make enough money to afford even your rent. Rent across the United States is 75% of the average American's income. That gives them 25% for basic daily living. It's inhumane. Rates minimum wage.

Paloma Parra, followed by Joe Cardillo, followed by Araceli Monnier. Joe Cardillo, followed by Araceli Monnier, followed by Rosalio Hernandez.

Good evening, council president and counselors. I noticed I'm paying $2 more for a bottle of salsa currently in the last couple of months. I'm also paying a lot more when I go out to eat. I'm paying a lot more for gas. Really, just kind of paying a lot more for pretty much everything. And I kind of wonder, you don't have to put your hand up in the room, but if your costs have gone down in Albuquerque, go ahead and raise your hand. I don't really have to turn around to get an answer to that. So if the costs have gone up and the cost of housing has gone up, wages can't go up? Where's that $2 for that salsa bottle going? Where's that extra $1.50 on my plate of huevos going? I mean, I'm not mad at our small businesses and local businesses. I understand. I've run a business, not a restaurant. But I've run a business. I understand there's a business model to be had and to pay attention to. But raising the minimum wage is pretty much common sense. And I'm glad to see some counselors put it forward. And I'd like to see it passed as written, because it's very well written. This ordinance puts responsibility back onto employers where it belongs. If you can't pay a living wage, there's a problem with the business model. Workers and taxpayers, like all the folks in this room, shouldn't be subsidizing companies that pay poverty wages. Full stat. Pass the bill. Pass it as is. Thank you very much.

Araceli Monge, followed by Rosalio Hernandez.

Buenas tardes, Presidente, y miembros del Consejo Municipal. Mi nombre es Araceli Monge, y he residido en esta ciudad por más de 25 años, y soy miembro del centro. Hoy vengo a apoyar a la ordenanza del salario mínimo porque yo he laborado hasta en dos trabajos distintos en un restaurante donde me pagaban 14 la hora. Y aún así, junto con el sueldo de mi esposo, no alcanzaba para cubrir una renta de casa ni para sobrevivir. Después, con gran esfuerzo y logros académicos, ahora logré un trabajo como asistente de educación especial en APS. donde ahora gano $23 la hora. Pero aún así, con mi sueldo y el de mi esposo, la realidad sigue siendo difícil. El pago de automóvil para poder trabajar, la gasolina, los servicios, la comida, y la renta de casa de $2,300 hacen que cada mes sea una lucha constante. Por eso pido la aprobación a la ordenanza por la situación económica que nos aqueja día con día debido a los altos costos de vida y bajos salarios que estamos experimentando en estos momentos. Gracias.

The English rendition is good afternoon, Madam President and members of the City Council. My name is Aracely Monge and I have lived in the city for more than 25 years and I am a member of El Centro. Today I'm here to support the minimum wage ordinance because I have worked even two jobs in a restaurant where I was paid $14 per hour and even then together with my husband's income, it was not enough to cover the rent or make ends meet. Later, through great effort and academic achievement, I was able to secure a job as a special education assistant at APS, where I now earn $23 per hour. But even then, with my salary and that of my husband's, the reality remains difficult. The car payment needed to be able... It's hard to make the car payment... To be able to go to work, pay the gas, utilities, food, as well as pay the $2,300 rent makes it a constant struggle to survive every month. That is why I ask for the approval of this ordinance due to the economic situation that affects us day by day because of the high cost of living and the low wages we are currently experiencing. Thank you.

Rosalio Hernandez, followed by Nora Nevarez.

Good afternoon, President and members of the Council. My name is Chelsea, and I will be reading my uncle's testimony. My name is Rosalio Hernandez. I am a member of El Centro and the owner of Taqueria Mexico for the past 30 years. Today, I am here to support the minimum wage ordinance because my experience When wages are too low, workers not only struggle to cover their basic needs, but they also live under constant stress, which affects their stability and their performance to work. This results in high turnover, frequent absences, and constant need to train new staff. A restaurant depends on its people. Customers don't just come back for the place. They come back for the flavor, the seasoning, and the consistent quality that is provided by the people in the kitchen. If cooks and staff are not paid well, they leave, and the business loses experience, consistency, and even customers. In my case, I pay my coworkers $15 an hour, and I have seen the difference. There is more commitment, more stability within the team, and better customer service. That's why I support this ordinance and ask you to vote in favor for the $15 minimum wage. Thank you.

Norah Novartis, followed by Olga Santana, followed by Christy Martinez.

Hoy vengo a apoyar esta ordenanza de salario mínimo porque en el cuidado infantil los salarios bajos provocan alta rotación de maestras. Y cuando una maestra se va, no solo se pierde a una empleada, se rompe la estabilidad emocional de los niños. Muchos pequeños pasan hasta nueve, diez horas al día en la guardería. Esto es su segundo hogar. Necesitan continuidad, caras conocidas y brazos en los que confiar. La rotación constante genera estrés e inseguridad en la niñez. En mi guardería pago 20 la hora y he visto menos rotación, menos ausencias y un equipo más estable. Eso mejora el cuidado y también fortalece mi negocio. Por eso apoyo la ordenanza y les pido un voto. Gracias.

Olga Santana, followed by Christie Martinez, followed by Bobby Curtis.

May the interpreter provide the English rendition?

Oh, my mistake.

Thank you. Good evening, Council President, members of the City Council. My name is Nora Nevarez. I am a mother, grandmother, child care provider, and member of El Centro. Today I'm here to support the minimum wage ordinance because in the child care center, low wages lead to high turnover amongst teachers. When a teacher leaves, it is not just the loss of an employee. It's the loss of the emotional stability of, it causes a disruption in the emotional stability of the children. Many young children spend up to nine hours a day in child care. This is their second home. They need consistency, familiar faces, and trusted caregivers. Constant turnover creates stress and insecurity for children. In my child care center, I pay $20 per hour, and I have seen less turnover, fewer absences, and a more stable team. This improves the quality of care and also strengthens my business. That is why I'm supporting the ordinance, and I respectfully ask that you vote yes. Thank you.

Olga Santana, followed by Christy Martinez, followed by Bobby Curtis.

Good evening, council members. My name is Olga Santana, and I am a workers' rights organizer with El Centro de Igualdad y Derechos, an organization with more than 6,000 workers and immigrant members. We are proud that in our city, immigrant workers represent an essential part of the workforce in sectors such as construction, agriculture, services, caregiving, and energy. However, today we are here to support the minimum wage ordinance because we are facing a clear reality. Wages in Albuquerque are no longer enough to live on. Working families are being forced to choose between paying rent, buying food, paying for gas, or purchasing medication while the cost of living continues to rise. In addition, many workers face wage theft and other workplace abuses. That is why we support the ordinance to raise the minimum wage to 15 per hour. This measure is a concrete solution that will help thousands of workers meet their basic needs and strengthen the local economy because when workers earn more, they invest in our communities. Thank you.

Christy Martinez, followed by Bobby Curtis, followed by Dennis Curtis.

Hello, Madam President and Councilors. My name is Christy Martinez, and I am with the Libra Initiative, and I respectfully urge you to vote against increasing the minimum wage through Resolution 2633. While the intention behind raising wages is understandable, we must also consider the unintended consequences for workers, families, and small businesses in Albuquerque. Many local businesses are already facing higher costs for rent, utilities, insurance, and supplies. When government mandates additional labor costs, businesses often have to raise prices, reduce employee hours, delay hiring, or automate jobs, or in some cases, even close their doors. The people most affected are often the very individuals we seek to help, entry-level workers, immigrants like myself, young people seeking their first job, and small business owners trying to create opportunities in our community. When labor costs raise faster than productivity or revenue, fewer opportunities become available for those seeking to enter the workforce. Thank you.

Bobby Curtis, followed by Dennis Curtis, followed by Allison Riley.

Good evening, Madam President. My name is Bobbi Curtis, and I am from Americans for Prosperity. I urge you to oppose the proposed minimum wage increase. At Americans for Prosperity, we believe everyone deserves the opportunity to succeed and to earn higher wages. The question is, whether a government mandate is the best way to make that happen. A 25% increase in labour costs will be especially difficult for small businesses, local restaurants and family-owned employers that are already struggling with inflation and rising operating expenses. Many will be forced to raise prices, reduce employee hours, delay hiring or cut back on expansion. Many employees will also be terminated. When hiring becomes more expensive, employers often become more selective, reducing opportunities for those who need them most. Higher wages are important, but lasting wage growth comes from a strong economy, thriving businesses, and more opportunities for workers to develop skills and advance. I ask you to consider the unintended consequences of this proposal and vote no on increasing the minimum wage to $15. Thank you so much for your time and for your consideration.

Dennis Curtis, followed by Allison Riley, followed by Paul Gessing.

Madam President, councillors, thank you for your service. This is a huge responsibility for you, but I must remind you that your responsibility is to your voters and the true taxpayers. Raising the minimum wage will destroy small businesses. It will eliminate jobs. It will eliminate full time jobs. It will even eliminate some people who have health care and it will inflate our local economy. I encourage you to enforce gathering taxes that are not paid properly and maybe make CNM more affordable so that people can raise their skill level and their education and go get a better job. At one time, I worked as a minimum wage earner, and that forced me to get a better job, to get more education. I encourage you not to raise the minimum wage. Thank you.

Allison Riley, followed by Paul Guessing, followed by Angie Thurman.

Good evening, members of the council. My name is Allison Riley, representing the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce. We respect the intent of this ordinance, but ask you to consider industries where reimbursement rates or contracts limit the ability to adjust prices. For example, home health and hospice care. The true cost of paying $15 an hour when you factor in payroll taxes and administrative costs is about $23 an hour. Currently, the recommended reimbursement rate is, at most, $20.40 an hour. leaving operators operating at a $3 deficit per hour. This results in essential services becoming financially unsustainable in Albuquerque. Our biggest concern is the automatic escalator. A predictable one-time increase is different from creating a formula that raises costs every year regardless of economic conditions. Economists in the bluest areas of the country have also backed up these propositions, claiming that businesses will cut positions, hire one person for two roles, or invest in automation. So we urge you to consider alternatives that support both employers and businesses. Thank you.

Paul Guessing, followed by Angie Thurman, followed by Kieran Hill. Angie Thurman, followed by, oh, I'm sorry. Yes, Angie Thurman, followed by Kieran Hill, followed by Blake Eliasson. Kieran Hill, followed by Blake Eliasson, followed by Denise Fore.

Hello, my name is Kieran Hill, and I'm here to argue against raising the minimum wage. I understand why people want it, and I understand a lot of that. But realistically, it doesn't do very much good. There's a small percentage of the population that gets minimum wage. When minimum wage is raised, A percentage of those people will do better and they'll make a little bit more money for a short period of time until inflation makes it null. But what we won't see is we won't see the people who can't get a job. Immigrants, a homeless person trying to not be homeless anymore, trying to get a job and won't get hired because they've raised the standard above where he can begin to participate in the economy. Minimum wage shouldn't be a career, and it shouldn't be a living wage. It should be a starting job, and it should be something to help you to get somewhere better. Thank you.

Blake Eliason, followed by Denise Fore, followed by Joseph Fore. Denise Fore, followed by Joseph Fore, followed by Tina Poncho.

Madam President and City Councilors, I oppose the ordinance as presented. We are not a city like Santa Fe, Phoenix, or Denver. A couple of years ago, I drove over the state line into California. I stopped at a fast food restaurant to get breakfast. While I was at the counter, a gentleman came in to get a senior coffee. He was told that he didn't give the cashier enough money. He questioned why he had to pay more than what he had been. He was told the minimum wage went up. In studies done at the University of California, it has shown that an increase in minimum wage will reduce employee hours, increase prices, and possibly eliminate jobs, even using automation. There are many factors in this ordinance which are confusing and difficult to understand, such as the $2,500 benefit payments for insurance or childcare, Making it tied to average cost of rent and cost of living index is confusing and requires additional paperwork and problems for small business owners. Employees' raises should be based on performance, and we need to give incentives to employees to get a promotion, work to get better educated, or reduction in taxes. Thank you.

Joseph Foer, followed by Tina Pancho, followed by Jonah Bearden.

Madam President, counselors, my name is Joseph Foer and I am speaking in opposition to the minimum wage increase. I believe what we're dealing with here, based upon some of the earlier comments that an exhaustive study has not been done, research hasn't been done, businesses haven't been consulted, what we're looking at is a new term that I learned recently. It's something called suicidal empathy. and that is when compassion becomes the highest good, trumping truth, boundaries and survival, it stops being compassion, it becomes suicide for the society that is trying to bring this forward. If we don't do enough study, if we don't look at this properly, we are actually doing more damage to the people that we are pretending to help because we are so empathetic in their cause. Thank you very much.

Tina Poncho, followed by Jonah Bearden.

I'm going to ask the security to exit them out. I think that when people are making public comment, I think that everybody has their due in front of this council, and I don't think that we should be ridiculing anyone.

Madam president, yes.

Thank you.

It was actually. Adele Rose Adele. So I'll just be the one speaking. Mr. Dale Rose, can you please leave? This will just prolong the evening. We'll end up having to clear the chambers. We're going to take a five minute recess. Thank you very much. Okay, thank you. We're back in session. So I'm going to start with, I don't, I'm not as familiar with the terms, the pronouns. So to Mr. Adele Rose, next time he comes in, I just want to make sure that, you know, I, to Ms.? that I want to make sure that, you know, that I apologize for not knowing the pronouns. I'm not real familiar with that, so that was not intended. Thank you so much. Okay, Mr. Cornelius.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Our next speaker is Tina Pancho, followed by Jonah Bearden, followed by Justin Rogers. Jonah Bearden, followed by Justin Rogers, followed by Mona, excuse me, Madison Potter.

Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the council. My name is Jonah Bearden. I'm a business, poli-sci, and public service student at the University of New Mexico, where it is against policy to mispronounce someone. Just wanted to say that. I support the minimum wage increase with a huge but. The narrative is two-sided. One supports minimum wage increase to match the living wage, and the other does not support it for business concerns. Raising minimum wage has the potential to support both sides if, and only if, the cost of living decreases in hand. This is a great ordinance for the majority of burkinos if you balance it with providing equal, equitable, and no barrier to entry public services, like making housing affordable, transit, rehabilitation, health care, et cetera. The concerns raised are valid because these local small businesses do not have the trust in you all yet to know that their investments into their employees is going to the correct place. They would be satisfied in the end because their operating expenses would decrease because of it. Please increase the minimum wage and decrease the living wage with your future actions like not criminalizing marginalized groups who have been failed by our current systems that are wasting tax dollars. Happy Pride Month and thank you all.

Mr. Cornelius, I think that it is muted on Zoom, we're being told. So we did, okay, great. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Madam President.

And to the last speaker, I'm sorry, I was trying to figure out the Zoom on mute. I agree with you. I think we should learn that, you know, that was an error, so I apologize.

Good evening Madam President and Council happy Pride Month and thank you for modeling how when we do make a small mistake we can own it and apologize to the person and try to learn and do good at that so I appreciate that and I also appreciate this council bringing up some things that can help renters and workers tonight yeah I know lots of us are not always here to say oh we're so happy with this council in fact you hear a lot more of the negative but I want to say thank you for bringing up these ordinances tonight To the minimum wage, I spoke on Friday at lunch with a small business owner and was asking her what she thought of it because I've never been an employer. She says, we already pay our workers more than $15 an hour. So that's great. I'm glad to hear that. The difficulty is when you are a good business owner like that, you have to compete with bad business owners who pay poverty wages and can lower their prices. And then one other thing, I do agree that a 25% increase all at once is a big jump because prices didn't stay stagnant until this year. So I think these businesses should have always been paying people more. The minimum wage went up in 2023. They could have gone up $1 a year each of the last three years. And if someone had done that, they would owe their minimum wage employees about $9,000 of back wages for that gradual increase. So that would be my proposal. Please pass this ordinance.

Mona Madison Botter, followed by Mara Janz, followed by Kristen Cummings.

Good evening, Madam President and council members. My name is Mona Madison Botter. I am a local business owner, but I'm going to speak about a good personal friend of mine that could not be here tonight that demonstrates how this will impact the whole community. She owns two restaurants, one on the west side in Albuquerque, one in Santa Fe. Minimum wage in Santa Fe is higher. Her expenses are higher, cost of food is higher. She said if you guys pass this, her prices absolutely have to go up or she has to lay off people or cut new hires. I think that's a great example of why we need an economic study, why we need the small business input, and I think it'd be, I'm trying to think of the right word, It would behoove you to do those studies before you make this vote. Therefore, I encourage you to defeat this at this point. There's no doubt there's a crisis with the cost of living. There's no doubt everybody would like a $3 an hour raise. I think this is shortsighted in trying to fix a problem that's bigger than a $3 wage increase. Thank you.

MARA JAMS, followed by Kristin Cummings, followed by Justina Galloway.

Good evening, Madam President and counselors. Please vote no on increasing the minimum wage from $12 an hour to $15 an hour. I am a retired APS school teacher. When I was getting my education degree, I also had three part-time jobs. We need minimum wage jobs for people to get their foot in the door, but they are entry level jobs. And that's why I had three of them. I proved myself as a dependable good worker and received pay increases based on merit. We need more entry level jobs to create the opportunities like I had. I also had two roommates back then. So that's how you afford a good apartment. You have roommates. So please oppose the government-imposed minimum wage increase. And June is the month of the sacred heart of Jesus. Thank you.

Viva Cristo Rey.

Viva Cristo Rey.

Kristen Cummings, followed by Justina Galloway, followed by Matthew Stackpole.

Minimum wage carries a stigma in this country. If you earn a minimum wage, you're seen as lazy, even if you work double shifts. If you earn minimum wage, you're seen as stupid, even if you graduated during a recession and had to compete with veterans with 15 plus years experience in your field. And as the cost of living rises when your wages fail to support you, you're accused of wanting a handout. Working people don't want a handout. We want a hand up. We want agency to provide for ourselves without begging. That is precisely what a minimum wage increase enables. Every job should be able to provide a life with dignity. If not, then what are we working for? Responsible business owners are already paying $15 an hour, but they have to compete with businesses that undercut by underpaying their workers. How can we justify a business owner making a living when the employees whose labor that business is built upon cannot make a living with their wages? Voting against a minimum wage increase in this economy is not supporting small businesses. is supporting exploitation. And quite frankly, I don't wanna support a business that isn't gonna pay its workers a living wage. So I'm gonna do my own audit of all the businesses I support, and anyone, if this does not pass, who does not pay a minimum wage to their employees, I will be personally boycotting. Let's see how good that is for business.

Justina Galloway, followed by Matthew Stagpole, followed by Prakash Sundaram.

Madam President and Council, my name is Justina Galloway. My first job taught me responsibility, communication, and work ethic, as well as I was raised on small businesses. Entry-level jobs are often stepping stones that will help people gain experience and move up. I'm concerned that raising the minimum wage to $15 could make it harder for young people and those entering the workforce to get that first opportunity. When labor costs rise significantly, employers may hire fewer inexperienced workers or expect more experience for jobs that were once entry level. as well as creating major challenges for small business owners or young people that desire to own a business and could deter them from pursuing that option. I encourage the Council to protect opportunities for future workers by voting no on this proposal. Thank you.

Matthew Stackpole, followed by Prakash Sundaram, followed by Nathan Manning.

Madam President, members of the Council, my name is Matthew Stackpole and I'm Government Affairs Executive Vice President for the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce. The Chamber recognizes the rising costs are a serious concern for Albuquerque families, workers and employers. However, 2633 is not a targeted housing policy or carefully measured economic development proposal. It has drafted it as a significant new wage mandate on local employers who are already facing higher rent, insurance, utilities, supply cost taxes and other operating pressures. The Chamber opposes this ordinance as drafted. At a minimum, we could not even begin to consider support unless three major changes were made. First, the increase to $15 an hour must be phased in over three years. Albuquerque's effective minimum wage is currently $12 an hour, so moving it to $15 at once is a 25% increase in the wage floor, and that affects payroll, taxes, overtime pricing, staffing, and ultimately the cost paid by customers. Second, the fair market rent component must be removed from the annual adjustment formula. Local businesses should not be held responsible for rising housing costs that are driven by many factors outside their control. Housing affordability is important, but it should be addressed through housing policy, not by turning payroll obligations to a two-bedroom rent estimate. Third, this ordinance should be referred to a standing committee for stakeholder input and economic analysis before action. Thank you very much. Thank you for your time.

Prakash Sondaram, followed by Nathan Manning, followed by Marceline Costner.

Madam President, councillors, thank you. Our company has been headquartered in Albuquerque since 1995. We own and operate six properties in the city of Albuquerque and employ more than 200 employees. We are job creators in this community. We already pay $15 per hour for our entry-level positions, plus health care, dental, vision, and 401 . For employees who participate with our benefit programs, the additional employer cost is approximately $2.95 per hour, bringing the effective entry-level compensation cost to $17.95 per hour. That's before payroll, taxes, workers comp pay, leave, training, and other employment costs. Our concern is subsection C, which places future wage policy on autopilot through an automatic formula tied to CPI and fair market rents. We don't want to be put in the position of cutting benefits to pay for future increases tied to CPI. The Albuquerque City Council is elected to evaluate facts, hear public testimony, and exercise good judgment. Minimum wage policy should remain within the authority of elected officials rather than being delegated to an automatic formula without consideration to other factors specific to Albuquerque. Autopilot policy is not good policy.

Nathan Manning, followed by Marceline Costner, followed by George Gundry.

Good evening. Good evening, counselors and members of the community. My name is Nate Manning. I own and operate assisted living communities in Albuquerque's northeast and southeast neighborhoods. First, I want to express that we value our caregivers and staff. They provide compassionate care to seniors every day and they deserve fair wages and respect for the important work they do. However, I'm concerned about the consequences the proposed minimum wage increase will have on our seniors. Labor is by far our largest operating expense, accounting for nearly 50% of our entire budget. Increased labor expenses will result in higher monthly rates for residents, many of whom live on fixed incomes such as Social Security or retirement savings. Families already struggle to afford quality senior care, and additional cost increases will place assisted living out of reach for many more Albuquerque seniors. A citywide wage mandate will have unintended consequences for seniors, reducing affordability and access at a time when Albuquerque's aging population needs more care options, not fewer. I respectfully ask the council to carefully evaluate this impact on seniors in Albuquerque. Thank you.

Marceline Costner, followed by George Gundry, followed by Thomas Abeyta.

I've heard a lot of mention of rising costs tonight. And I think the understandable end to that for all of us is that our costs are going up. It's getting more and more expensive no matter where you're at. We're in the same damn boat, you know? And it's crazy to have us fighting each other and tearing each other apart over this stuff, whether I can't survive as a business and I can't survive as a human being working at this business. It's pitting each other against each other and there really needs to be something. I don't think it needs to be this crazy. But I think when we don't address things or pass rental protections or do other things to make costs go down in other ways, it just becomes more and more of a factor. My rent will not stop going up, keeping me at the same wage, which, you know, it'd be great if we lived in the world where minimum wage was just entry-level jobs and high schoolers, but it's not. I also want to mention Great to see the coke founded Americans for prosperity here and that I heard business owners earlier talking about automation talking about Seething at when when will I be able to have automated dishwashers? When will I be able to do that?

Like that's not a point we George Gundry followed by Thomas a beta followed by Rhiannon Samuel. I

Thank you, Councillors, for having us speak. I own Tomasita's Albuquerque, employing more than 80 people. We're a full service restaurant here in Albuquerque. I'm speaking specifically against the tipped rate increase in this proposal. If the goal is to help workers with the lowest earnings, a high tipped hourly rate misses the mark. It requires restaurants to give raises to employees who are already among the highest paid hourly workers in the building, while leaving fewer resources available for employees who earn less. I analyzed a full year of my payroll data for my restaurant. The average income of all tipped employees, including bussers, servers, food runners, was $27.44 per hour. The average pay of the kitchen employees was $20.66 an hour. The servers averaged well over $35 per hour with tips. Those are annual averages across all shifts, not just busy nights. Restaurants operate on a finite labor budget. Every additional dollar mandated for tipped employees is a dollar that we cannot use for raises, staffing, and career opportunities for our cooks, dishwashers, et cetera. So no matter how much you increase prices, dollars remain limited. The proposal forces me to give a raise to employees that are already making $30 an hour, so I don't have the money to give a raise to the people in the kitchen, like many of the folks in blue shirts here who are only making $16 or $17. That is against the spirit of minimum wage, and I ask you to not pass this proposal. Thank you.

Thomas Sabata, followed by Rhiannon Samuel, followed by Keith Murray. Excuse me.

Hello, my name is Thomas Abeyta, and today my comment is not just directed at President Pena or the council, but to you, the audience at home. If you're watching at home, you might be wondering, is city council going to pass a $15 minimum wage? Are my politicians bribed by all of the restaurants in this room right now? And why are so many balding men and Botoxed women here to support anti-minimum wage efforts? It's a good question, and I think I have some answers for you. Let's read a little story I call Dan Lewis's emails. Could I have the top, please? One second. If I could have like five seconds back so I could show this. The top? Oh, it's coming. There we go. All right. Well, I advise those of you at home to pause your screen and read this email. It's from Dan Lewis. Hold on. Let me get into character.

Steve, would you make a specific list of me of lines in the bill that you would delete out? I realize that you would like to delete the entire bill, but this is one strategy that I can use to kill it.

Just make a specific lines that you would like to delete or change and just send it to me. That's to our folks over at the Apartment Association of New Mexico, Steve Grant. So if you're wondering, thanks for the talk, I appreciate that. Are my politicians collaborating with the lobbyists in this room to make their bills happen or to kill the ones they don't like? The answer is yes. Here it is. Dan Lewis sends the information he wants to his lobbyists. They say, here's the language I want. Delete this. Write this. Put this amendment in. And I'll do it for you. That's what Dan Lewis's game is. But that's not all. Because on his own campaigns, he says he's funded by the Realtors Association. Well, I was looking at Councillor Pena's campaign materials and it says of that association, of that fund, who's funding it? The Restaurant Association. We've heard from them tonight. Well, here's my question to you, Dan. Since those folks over at the Restaurant Association print media for you and your campaign, are you going to do what they say the way that we want the other workers?

Do you represent them or your voters? This is your second warning. So, yes. You got a warning earlier, and then, yeah. So if you can escort him out. Yes, please, thank you so much.

Escort it out?

Yes.

Or?

Check and warning.

For my second warning, I'm being escorted out?

Mm-hmm, yes.

Could I at least have a little bit of understanding of why I'm being removed?

Those are the rules. I don't know if the director wants to mention the rules.

Am I alone here? If I can't, my phone number is on speaker on my behalf.

I think I'm, you know, scheduled to speak more.

I haven't really insulted anyone else. I haven't gone out of my way.

This was your second warning, and this is going to be your third warning. So you're escorted out.

I'm asking for clarification on why you're removing me.

Because those are the rules.

Okay, well, they are.

Ms. Coulodon, can you refer to the rules? But you're still being escorted out. Thank you.

That's fine. But I'd still like my own folks to speak up.

Madam Chair, I'm confused also. You gave them a warning, which means it's a warning. Earlier. Earlier. And this was the second.

So how many warnings do people get? And we just did a third.

We're now at almost fourth.

Yeah.

Yeah. Are we going to have to recess again?

We are going to recess for another five minutes. Thank you very much.

Thanks for watching!

Thank you. We're back in session. I don't know where Councillor Tayes, if she can come in. And then I think we're missing a couple of councillors. But while they're coming back, I am going to go ahead and have Vice President Champagne read the rules again.

Thank you, Madam President. With regard to decorum in the chambers, we want tonight's proceedings to be as civil and respectful as possible. Please do not make any personal attacks, and please no applauding or snapping or other outbursts during the meeting. The president will provide one warning. To anyone causing a disruption upon a second or continued disruption, that individual will be asked to leave the chambers. If necessary, security will be asked to escort that person out of the chambers. Such removal from the chambers will be effective for the remainder of the meeting. If continued disruptions occur, the President may recess the meeting until order is restored, and if necessary, may clear the chambers of persons participating in that disturbance. The meeting will go a lot smoother if we are respectful of one another. Madam President.

Thank you, Vice President Champagne. Mr. Cornelius, can you please call the next speaker?

Thank you, Madam President. Rhiannon Samuel, followed by Keith Murray, followed by Vanessa Spinoza.

Thank you. Good evening, counselors. Thank you for your patience tonight, hearing from so many people with a lot of passion and differing opinions. My name is Rhiannon Samuel, and I represent NAOP. We represent the built environment and thousands of employees across New Mexico. NAOP joins a broad coalition of businesses and industry organizations in opposition to O2633. Albuquerque is competing for everyday jobs, investment, and business expansion. Policies that increase labor costs, particularly when combined with rising taxes, insurance costs, regulatory environments, and construction costs, it makes it more difficult for employers to grow, hire, and invest in our community, a strong economy. is ultimately what drives wage growth. We should focus on policies that attract employers, expand housing supply, and create pathways to higher paying careers, rather than adopting measures that may have unintended consequences for job creation and economic competitiveness. For those reasons, NAOP stands in solidarity with our industry partners, and we respectfully urge you to vote no. Thank you.

Keith Murray, followed by Vanessa Spinazzola, followed by Tiffany Cunningham.

Good evening, Madam President, council members. My name is Keith Murray. I own two businesses here in Albuquerque. We moved here for those businesses. My partner, Jennifer, she was born here. Her whole family's been here for over 300 years. We thought this was a good place to set up operations. Like many of these people here, I was a minimum wage worker. I worked really hard. I was a private in the Army. And for 45 years I struggled and did things and things start coming into play with my business and everything like that. So we work really hard. I have a very diverse workforce here from Albuquerque. We have one side on the west side and one right over here in Wind Rock area. I think that you have a very tough decision tonight to make, and I'm in opposition of the minimum wage. I feel that there's a lot of things that can come into play for those things, but I truly believe that some of the focus has been mentioned tonight, and I think that we should look at some of the things that could help first-time workers with education, employability skills, high school graduations, and stuff like that. And I was wondering, Madam President, could somebody translate this in Spanish for me? I noticed a couple other people were able to do that. And I was wondering if someone could read this statement for me in Spanish?

Yes, we have a translator here.

Is that possible, I'm sorry?

Yes, it is.

Thank you. If you just read this in Spanish for me, please.

Oh, you want English to Spanish?

English to Spanish, please.

The interpreter is going to need five seconds to review. I'm sorry. I urge the, I urge the, I urge the committee, sorry, I'm going into English. Le animo a la comision a que anden con cautela cuando hablen del salario, sobre los incrementos del salario mínimo cuando son más del 25%. Los pequeños negocios locales, especialmente los restaurantes, seguido operan con margen muy pequeño y no pueden absorber los incrementos rápidos tan fácilmente como las cadenas grandes. Cuando los costos de trabajo incrementan de una manera rápida, los negocios seguido tienen que incrementar los precios, reducir las horas, o recortar la contratación de personal, que puede hacer que el alimento o la comida sea más costosa para las familias trabajadoras. Si nuestra meta es ayudar a las personas a ganar salarios más altos de una manera duradera, yo pienso que un mejor enfoque sería enfocarnos en la educación, entrenamiento laboral, y asegurarnos de que los estudiantes se gradúen de la escuela preparatoria o high school para que estén listos para trabajar. Dándole a las personas jóvenes mejores habilidades y experiencia laboral práctica crea una vía sostenible para tener Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. And I just wanted to say, Mr. Murray, that I think they're already translating as you speak. It's my understanding. But as a courtesy, yes. As a courtesy, I just allowed that to happen. But just so everyone knows moving forward, it is already being translated. So thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. You went above and beyond. Thank you. Mr. Cornelius.

Thank you, Madam President. Vanessa Spinozola, followed by Tiffany Cunningham, followed by Gary Skidmore.

Good evening, Madam President and Councillors. Thank you for your patience this evening. My name is Vanessa Spinozola. I'm the Director of Southwest Campaign Strategy for the National Employment Law Project, and I'm a resident of Albuquerque. While the new Albuquerque minimum wage won't be as high as Santa Fe's, which recently increased the minimum wage to $17.50, NELP is glad to see the proposals following one of the important new features of Santa Fe's law, which is the provision that ties future annual increases to a combination of rising inflation and housing costs. Should Albuquerque's minimum wage stay the way it is right now, tied to inflation, it would basically continue to increase the affordability gap because housing costs are not keeping up with inflation. Raising the minimum wage is an effective way to reduce poverty. A 10% increase in minimum wage reduces non-elderly poverty by 2% to 4%. A stronger wage floor generates savings in safety net programs, like SNAP and the Child Tax Credit, with fewer workers needing these programs. Additionally, the increased minimum wage permits more workers to access health care. Researchers in California estimated that after they passed their $20 minimum fast food wage, about 60% of Medi-Cal workers transferred off Medi-Cal and onto alternative health insurance. And as stated before, the economic benefits for low wage workers increases to all businesses because they're able to spend more. This is true that studies have shown even when businesses have to reduce hours in order to pass costs on to consumers. Thank you.

Tiffany Cunningham, followed by Gary Skidmore, followed by Tristan Kumar.

Good evening, Madam President and council members. Thank you for your time this evening. Please vote yes on raising the minimum wage a mere $15. That is peanuts. It's peanuts. Nobody can live off of that. And we heard tonight several people do work minimum wage jobs and try to support a family. It's not livable. But it's a step. So let's do it. I'm a teacher and I am being squeezed by this disaster of an economy, which I think we all know where it's coming from, top down. I think we can say with certainty at this point that trickle-down economics does not work It turns millionaires into billionaires and the working class into the working poor. We are getting squeezed and stepped on every single minute of the day, it feels like. I have a 17-year-old son. He works at Taco Bell. They can afford that. I was in Panda Express today. They start their workers at $16. So if they can afford it, why on earth can't our small local businesses, who are part of our tradition and culture, not get the support they need from you? Give them something so they can pay.

Gary Skidmore, followed by Tristan Kumar, followed by Angelina Crowley.

Madam President, City Council, Gary Skidmore, the owner of Holiday Bowl. We've owned it for four years. March 1st of 86 is when I purchased the business. The business has been here since 1958. One of the oldest businesses in the city of Albuquerque. We did a quick analysis. The 25% increase in one hit is going to hit our payroll at about $300,000 in additional payroll costs. Our payroll last year was $1.2 million that we paid to our employees. We have 55 employees. Your $12 employee goes to $15, but the person that's been with me for a year and a half who is at $15 now needs to go to $18. The person that's been with three years that's at $18 has to go to $21. And the effect threw out my entire payroll. To be able to replace this amount of money, I have two options. I can raise prices, which is what most people would have to do. Or I can try to see if I can't generate, in essence, an extra $1,000 a day to be able to cover what this increase is going to do. I would rather see a staggered pay increase if we're going to do a pay increase. And I promised Mr. Lewis I will not do any impersonations. Have a great night. Thank you.

Justin Kumar, followed by Angelina Crowley, followed by Jake Rivera.

Madam President, council members, and everyone who's attending here, my name is Tristan Kumar. I'm running for governor for the state of New Mexico as an independent candidate. I'm here to go against the bill. Until you guys actually do research on the data and seeing if raising minimum wage will actually affect our economy in a positive way, I feel like you guys should do the research behind that. What I know is if you increase it by 25% that the rest of the wages and cost of everything from grocery store gasoline will increase by 25% because the local business owners, especially the smaller business owners, cannot pitch that bill without making that money somewhere else. If they're getting cut and they're getting their costs to rise, they have to implement that cost to the consumer. So instead of raising it, I feel like I was speaking with Macy, and I think she was for the bill. I think a tax incentive for employee taxes should be reduced, and I think you guys should look at something along those lines in order to see what the city can do in order to prevent... the friction between the two communities. I think the communities need to work together, and I feel like the city could do more to reduce this deficit by finding other incentives than rather raising minimum wage, and you should also phase it out, not just instantly increase it. Thank you for your time, everyone. My name is Tristan Kumar. Have a wonderful day to everyone in this room. Thank you.

Angelina Crowley, followed by Jake Rivera, followed by Dr. Sonia Romero-Autry. Jake Rivera, followed by Dr. Sonia Romero-Autry, followed by Audrey Mitchell.

Good evening, council. Happy Pride. My name is Jake Rivera. I'm a constituent in the Northeast Heights For too long, rampant inflation and corruption have been forms of violence against the working class, telling us, don't complain, just work harder or die. According to MIT's living wage calculator, minimum wage in New Mexico that could actually deliver on the promise of the American dream, a family of four with one breadwinner, like it was originally intended to do, would be just shy of $40 an hour. Instead, we're here fighting for crumbs at a mere $15. I and my partner are forced to take time away from our daughter to work longer hours at multiple jobs, not even reaping the benefits of overtime pay, simply to keep food on the table. 75% of working Americans living paycheck to paycheck and over half of our unhoused neighbors are already employed as well. We will constantly suffer the heartbreak of having to deny our children the time and dedication they deserve from parents who love them. And the reason I keep having to give my daughter is I'm so sorry, kiddo. I've got to work longer hours to pay the bills. So consider after you've extracted everything from us and created a population with nothing left to lose, what then? Will you feel safe and happy knowing that you've made a desperate population increasingly angry with you, the decision makers? Tread carefully.

Dr. Sonia Romero-Autry, followed by Audrey Mitchell, followed by Tucker Richards.

Good evening, Madam President and city council members. My name is Dr. Sonia Romero-Autry, and I am the Albuquerque Teachers Federation Elementary Vice President. I have spent nearly three decades teaching in Albuquerque public schools alongside students, families, and educators. Every day we ask our children to come to school ready to learn but learning becomes harder when families are struggling to pay rent, buy groceries, afford medication, or keep gas in the car. The reality is that many of our parents and caregivers who support our students work multiple jobs and still cannot make ends meet. As educators, we know that student success is deeply connected to family stability. When families have access to fair wages and dignified working conditions, children come to school better able to focus, engage, and thrive. Stronger wages mean stronger families. Stronger families mean stronger schools. Many of the workers who make Albuquerque function, including our immigrant workers, care for our children, build our homes, harvest our food, and contribute significantly to our economy and tax base. They deserve the opportunity to support their own families with dignity. The minimum wage increase ordinance is an investment in our students, our families, and our future. Thank you for your time.

Audrey Mitchell, followed by Tucker Richards, followed by Joseph Greenwood. Tucker Richards, followed by Joseph Greenwood, followed by Tad . Joseph Greenwood, followed by Tad ,, followed by Caroline Stanczak.

Madam President, councillors, I'm a resident of District 2. I wanted to speak in support of this ordinance tonight to raise the minimum wage. And I just wanted to speak to kind of the basic economics here of when we're talking about supply and demand, namely housing. And I appreciate that this ordinance mentions housing costs because the way they've spiked has been pretty intense. And so just analyzing why that is, the city is currently 20,000 units short of where it needs to be. And we have an artificial constraint on that housing supply through outdated zoning rules, making it more expensive than it needs to be. So when it comes to the supply of housing, the IDO amendments in February could have been a significant step forward in helping to deal with that, allowing more multifamily housing throughout the city, which would have required no financing investment, just changes to the wording of zoning codes. This missed opportunity affects the situation. when we artificially constrain the supply of housing, we increase the cost of it through demand. Please support this minimum wage raise to compensate for this restriction on supply. Thank you.

Tad Numinski, followed by Caroline Stanczak, followed by Dan Garcia.

Excuse me just a second. My name is Ted Niemiecki. Raising minimum wages, that's eliminating small to medium-sized businesses. So it is not encouragement raising minimum wages for these people to succeed. Now look at here what's going on. I haven't not seen it homeless Mexican illegal. That's number one. Then seniors, living on the 1,000, 100, at least 100 in Ibikorki residents, living off social security, 1,000. How you expect that? Then price is going to go up on everything, especially food and other necessity. Thank you.

Caroline Stanczak, followed by Dan Garcia, followed by Emily A. Sanders on Zoom.

Thank you, Madam President and counselors, for the chance to speak. My name is Caroline Stanczak. I am a resident of District 8. I am here today in support of 02633 for a minimum wage increase from $12 to $15 an hour. After finishing at UNM, I had to take a full-time job in Santa Fe in order to afford to live in Albuquerque. After taking a job over an hour away from where I live, I still struggle with affordability. Rental prices have skyrocketed due to demand. Even with roommates, my rent is still over half of what I make. If you want to keep young UNM graduates in the city, we need to be able to afford to live in it. Based on a UNM study, minimum wage worker in Albuquerque has to work over 73 hours a week in order to afford a standard apartment. I urge you to pass O2633 and raise minimum wages even higher than $15 now. Thank you for your time.

Dan Garcia, followed by Emily A. Sanders, followed by Aurora Silva.

Thank you, Councillors, for letting me speak. I did give everybody a sheet. Hopefully they have them up here on what our prices have been. I mean, what are the wages get? I'll just mention two of them. The first server up on the top, Stephanie Jones, she works 40 hours a week. She gets $7.20 an hour plus tips. It said that she made $1,068 in tips. So her gross pay without the tips was $2.88. So she ended up making almost $34 an hour. OK, that's for the server. We go down to a busser. Yeah, over here it's. I want to do the. Dina. No, I don't know why I circled the book on the next page. It's Jesus Arona.

Madam President, point of order. I don't. I personally have a problem with. An employer. By name with giving us a list by name of their employees by name because you gave this to us. It's now part of the public record. Okay, I have an HR background, and I'm extremely, extremely uncomfortable with the fact that we're releasing his employees' information in a public meeting. Did you, sir, did you get consent from your employees to do this? To release their names and their titles?

Madam President, this is the gentleman's public comment. I'm asking a question. He has the ability to be able to say what he wants.

I ask for a point of order.

I have the floor, sir. Yes, Councilor Rogers has the floor. Councilor Lewis?

I would like an answer to my question. Did your employees consent to this information?

I'm going to answer your question. Honestly, I didn't ask the employees. I didn't think there was anything wrong with this, honestly.

Thank you, Mr. Garcia. I would just ask that you don't read their names publicly. If we have them here, that's one thing, but please do not read their names publicly. Thank you.

Okay, no problem. I apologize for that. Thank you.

Thank you, Council Rogers. Mr. Garcia, what we're going to do, though, once your comment is over, I think we're going to have our staff collect these, and then they can shred them.

Okay, appreciate that.

I hadn't had an opportunity to look at it until I just grabbed it, and I thought it was a sample.

So we go down to a busser that's working, say, 19 hours at $7.20 an hour. He made $137 of tips. He ended up at $16 an hour average. So the bussers and the service... What I'm trying to encourage is at least if you're going to raise the wages, I'm not opposed to it, and I'm going to make that clear. I would just like to raise them, if possible, at least a dollar an hour a year. And because of that, I don't know if I had enough time to talk. I don't know if that... I couldn't finish that.

You can go ahead. Give them another 30 seconds.

Okay, so... We're just asking if they could raise the minimum wage to $15. I got that. I mean, everybody probably deserves that. If they could raise it at least $1 an hour a year, or even $1.75, whatever it takes to get to the $3.50, to get to the other $3 an hour. The servers make very good money. The waitresses, if they didn't get... If this doesn't pass, it helps us raise the cooks. And just on the last page, annual cost, if this all goes through, it costs us $615,000 a year. And we've already cut down hours from our locations, and we've cut down quite a bit. Does anybody have any questions, hopefully?

Thank you, Mr. Garcia. Okay.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Letter on fixed income.

Yeah. If we can just all kind of pass them over to the president, I will make sure that they get disposed of. Thank you so much. Anyone who has a copy? Any of our staff? Any of our staff? No? This is it? Okay. Thank you so much. OK. Thank you so much. We are next speaker.

Thank you Madam President. We're now switching to zoom Emily A Sanders followed by Aurora Silva.

Do I wait for the timer to begin? Okay, great. Thank you guys so much for having the public comment tonight. I just wanted to come before you guys to let you know that I do support raising the minimum wage, allowing it... citizens here in Albuquerque to make at least $15 an hour, which quite honestly isn't really enough, but starts to move that point, allowing people to have better purchasing powers, helps reduce the poverty level and helps raise overall quality of life and well-being, being able to purchase ingredients, groceries, and essential items that they may need for their families. I do also recognize that sometimes it can be hard for business owners to make that transition, but it's one that has to be done in order to uplift our community and what that sometimes comes across. So thank you for being here and listening. Have a good night.

Aurora Silva, followed by Dr. Geraldo Cionello.

Hello, my name is Aurora Silva. I'm speaking in support of the ordinance to raise the minimum wage of annual cost of living adjustments. The cost of living continues to rise with many factors outside of control, but there are still many things we can do to help provide relief to everyone who lives here. One of the biggest things we can do is to provide everyone with a living wage. Passing this ordinance will give us one step closer to doing so. It won't be enough, but it will help tremendously in fighting poverty and homelessness. I wanted to talk about things that haven't been spoken about much yet, highlighting that raising the minimum wage could lead to general improvements in physical and mental health. Minimum wage increases have been shown to be associated with reducing the suicide rate, with positive improvements in family dynamics and child development, especially for those who work lower income jobs. There's recent evidence as well from analysis here in the States and in the UK that raising the minimum wage will not substantially negatively affect the number of jobs available. We also have significant evidence to support raising the minimum wage connected to a cost of living. That is also a position of the Albuquerque Teachers Federation, which I represent as a Fed rep. Thank you and have a great day.

Dr. Geraldo Cionello, followed by Gennaro Calderon Avila.

Good evening, Madam President and members of the City Council. I'm an alternative health doctor and minister. Please vote no and propose minimum wage increase. Why? No small business owners, no workers. Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, but they are struggling. 40% of them closed permanently during the pandemic, creating an increased cycle of poverty when wages cause prices to increase, hurting the very people you want to help. For those who survive, inflation has sent food and energy prices soaring, driving up costs for all consumers who need support from city council, not more costly mandates. How are small businesses going to afford this hike without raising prices on consumers who are already hurting? It is a self-defeating cycle. New Mexico and Albuquerque already have a similar or higher minimum wage than our neighboring states. yet we have worse economic outcomes. We cannot regulate our economy into prosperity solutions, lower taxes on food, mortgages, rent, utilities, or tax credit, et cetera. Thank you, and may God give you wisdom and discernment.

Gennaro Calderon Avila, followed by Teresa Storch. Gennaro, if you'd like to speak, you must accept promotion to panelists, please. Gennaro Calderon Avila, followed by Teresa Storch. You are muted, Gennaro.

There we go. Everything good? We're good to go. All right. Good evening, everyone. I am Genaro Calderon Avila. I am also a member of Olay. As a neighbor, I care about our families. I came to speak not only as a neighbor, but as a laborer as well. I understand very well the value each of us bring day in and day out. I work with a variety of voters, neighbors, family men and women. and I feel pride. Pride for what we do, but shame for what we all have to endure. Trips canceled due to rising costs, deciding between chosen sports or medication, and so much more. I've seen it from my household, my siblings, and my parents' households as well. I'm asking the Albuquerque City Council to pass Ordinance 2633 because it will create a path to a more dignified wage, better opportunities, and financial security for all of us. I'm not just speaking for myself. I'm asking you to listen to the voices of hardworking Mexican families, your constituents who deserve a seat and a meal at the table. And just a reminder, even if we don't enact anything, prices will continue to rise even if we don't enact anything. Thank you.

Teresa Storch followed by Brittany Means.

Madam President, counselors, Terry Storch, I ask you to support the rise in minimum wage. The reasons given by a lot of the speakers in front of me in support of it are articulate and You know, very, very moving. I appreciate some of the small business owners who came in who are paying their employees above minimum wage and thank you for doing that. All costs to a small business are passed on to consumers. whether it's rent, whether it's utilities, whether it's the cost of shipping things with tariffs, and the high cost of oil. So I would like to say that Albuquerque has gone through Paid sick leave has gone through increases in minimum wage before and we are still going strong. The small businesses are still employing people. So thank you very much and please pass this.

Brittany Means followed by Sean Kinney.

I'm Brittany Means, a local author. I'm here to support the increase in minimum wage. We keep hearing this argument that if we increase minimum wage, the cost of living will go up. And I can understand the argument if you were born literally this very evening and you've never been outside the chambers of this room. But if you go outside and look at the price of gas and the price of groceries and the cost of rent and the cost of basically everything, The cost of living is already going up and has been going up consistently for years and years, and wages have not matched those increases. And so this is kind of a no-nonsense measure to give people at least the image of a fighting chance in an increasingly unlivable world. And this idea that restaurants can't pay a livable wage because they can't afford to operate. People can't afford to eat. I'm sorry that I don't feel too sad about a bowling alley not doing as well as they could while there are people dying on the streets because they can't afford their rent. And if you're upset that people keep having outbursts in the chambers, it's because decorum means nothing when people realize that they're desperate and all of the avenues for recourse have been compromised by people who do not actually represent them. So this is the logical conclusion of a governing body not representing their constituents. You're going to see outbursts in the chambers. You're going to see more people dying in the streets. You're going to see things like this. This is what happens when you don't listen to your voters. Thank you.

Sean Kinney, followed by Jim Copeland.

Yes, hi, I'd like to speak in support of this bill, and specifically, in addition to raising it to $15 an hour now, also tying it to the cost of rent. These organizations like Americans for Prosperity and the Chamber of Commerce We can't actually see what happens when you raise the minimum wage. They said in places like California or Santa Fe, everyone's going to be unemployed, it's going to be the end of the world, and that did not happen. If what they're saying is true, then states with a very low minimum wage, like Louisiana and Mississippi, would be the richest states in the country, but they're not, they're the poorest, and people don't have money to buy anything that's not good for the economy. And yeah, for reducing the wage increases in the future, if the government could have better regulations on allowing more housing construction or building more public housing, that would be something that would prevent these businesses from having to pay even more in the future. Thank you.

Jim Copeland, followed by DeWall, Carl Rodwalla.

Good evening Madam President and members of the committee. My name is Jim Copeland and I'm the Executive Director of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Community Providers. I speak tonight to the impact the increase in minimum wage will have on these providers. Rates are set by state and federal governments. These providers contracted with the New Mexico Health Care Authority cannot raise their rates to cover this increase. Most of these providers are already paying at least $15 to be able to recruit the necessary workforce. What this ordinance will do is force these providers to increase their current wages to compete for the limited workforce with no opportunity to cover that increase. Why work to provide these critical services and supports to New Mexicans with developmental and intellectual disabilities when I can make $15 an hour performing any entry-level work that is much less physically, mentally, and emotionally demanding? This ordinance needs more time and more discussion. Thank you for your time this evening.

Good evening, everyone. On behalf of the Greater Albuquerque Hotel and Lodging Association, who I'm representing here tonight, in its current form, we do not support this bill. and uh and really i'll use my own personal example uh as a hotel owner and operator here in this town uh we've seen uh you know the last three years our revenue our gross revenue has been flat our industry standard says uh about 30 of your costs should go to payroll uh we've already been uh we're and again we pay uh 15 or more uh at our locations. And so when we're looking at this number, we're already at about 35% last year, where revenue is still flat. And this increase, because of the increase that would be caused by some of the lower wages going from 12 to 15, we'd go to maybe 18, 19 as our starting pay. And we're looking at about 45%, sorry, 44% would be of our gross revenue would go towards payroll. That's great, but we have mortgages. We have a lot of other expenses, property taxes, insurance premiums soaring. So with all those considerations, I think an economic impact study does need to be conducted. And that will give us a better idea of what businesses can, especially small businesses like ours, can afford. We lost money last year, and this would be devastating to us as well. So I do support that. you know, increasing in a responsible manner once studies are there, but because we care about our employees. But again, it has to be done in a more methodical manner and not in a way that's such a huge shock to business owners with such a one-time increase. So thank you again for your time. And again, I appreciate being able to express my thoughts.

Charlie Marquez, followed by Eric Contreras.

Madam Council President, Council Members, members of the audience. My name is Charlie Marcus. I'm here representing a large food manufacturer and New Mexico Healthcare Association, which represents all of the nursing homes in New Mexico. This proposal has been stated is too much all at once. 25% increase would automatically put Albuquerque businesses at a disadvantage to all of the businesses in the state. and likely across state borders. As you all know, this increase would be passed on to consumers, since these types of increases would not be able to be borne by the business. A manufacturing plant typically has about 300 employees. This equates to $1.872 million per year. A nursing home employs 50 to 100 employees, depending on their census. Most make above the minimum wage. However, the upward pressure on the employees, they will all expect a similar increase in wage. This could have implications of $624,000. All these costs presented are in the first year. These costs would likely double within five years. I urge you not to pass this piece of legislation. Thank you for your time.

Eric Contreras.

Good evening, councillors, Madam President. My name is Eric Contreras and I'm the Director of Business and Community Development with the Albuquerque Hispano Chamber. And we do support fair wages and recognize the importance of helping working families succeed. However, we have concerns about moving forward with a 25% minimum wage increase without sufficient input from the small business community. Many small and Hispanic-owned businesses operate with limited margins and do not have the financial flexibility larger corporations. Certain industries such as home health care, personal care service providers face additional challenges because they depend on fixed Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates and cannot simply raise prices to offset to increase labor costs. We're also concerned about the long-term wage escalation formula that ties future increases to both inflation and the housing costs potentially creating significant cost increases over time. It's Albuquerque's minimum wage at $15 now in 2027. By 2037, it will be $26.86. At the very least, the city should consider amendments that delay or gradually increase the minimum wage over a set period and reduce the removed index. So we ask the council to pursue a balanced solution that supports workers while preserving the small businesses that creates jobs, invest in our neighborhoods, and strengthen Albuquerque's economy. Let's make the right decision, not just a quick decision. Thank you.

Madam President, that concludes comment. Thank you.

Thank you. It is 9-10, and we are in our first bill this evening. We are going to go to the sponsors. We're going to go to the sponsors, and then we'll ask. I know you already opened, but I just wanted to make sure that I went to you to ask you if you guys had any other comments, because there are additional sponsors. I'm seeing none. Any of the councillors have any questions? No? Okay, so then we will go to the amendments. So we have, I have a few amendments. Okay, for the closing, okay. So I have a few amendments, and I'm gonna go ahead, if you guys can put it up on the screen. And I'm gonna start with floor amendment number D. And that'll be labeled floor amendment number one. And what this is, is beginning on page eight, line one, insert a new section 13.12.7 as follows. Additional wage increase for certain city employees. City employees earning 80,000 per year or less in any year in which the annual cost of living adjustment results in an increase to the Albuquerque minimum wage. The city employees earning 80,000 or less in annual base salary shall receive an increase equal to the same percentage increase applied to the Albuquerque minimum wage. This increase shall apply to all eligible city employees regardless of whether their compensation is at or above the Albuquerque minimum wage. The Mayor shall include these wage increases in the proposed operating budget presented to the City Council each year. Any wage increases required by this section shall become effective on the first day of the fiscal year immediately following the annual cost of living adjustment to the Albuquerque minimum wage. The wage increases required by this section shall constitute a minimum required adjustment and shall not be construed to limit the city's authority to provide greater wage increases. So what this amendment does is this would require the city to provide annual wage increases to city employees earning $80,000 or less when cost of living adjustment is made to the Albuquerque minimum wage. The increase would be equal to the same percentage increase applied to the Albuquerque minimum wage. the Mayor would be required to include the wage adjustment in the proposed operating budget submitted to City Council each year. The wage increases would take effect at the beginning of fiscal year immediately following the minimum wage adjustment. For example, if January 1, 2027 annual cost of living adjustment increases Albuquerque minimum wage by 1% from $12 to 12.12, then city employees earning 80,000 or less would also receive that 1% wage increase effective July 1. And the reason for this amendment is, is that if we're going to ask small businesses to follow the standard within this ordinance, then we're going to do this at the City of Albuquerque as well. So I would move a do pass for amendment number one. There's a motion and a second by Councillor Feeblecorn for floor amendment number one. Is there any discussion, questions? Councillor Bassan.

uh madam president i i want to also just take a minute to point out mr mr minaminski keeps talking to many of the people behind him and i don't know if you want to just put your eye on that but i also do have a question for the administration and how this would affect the budget moving forward uh madam president councillor bassan um well first just reading this

I'm trying to think about how this intersects with collective bargaining because a majority of our employees, their wages are bargained through the collective bargaining process. We would have to adjust obviously the wages in the proposed budget based upon this amendment when we send down a proposed budget annually to make the adjustment that would be projected in that annual CPI adjustment. I think we would still remain subject to collective bargaining for all of the final wage agreements or adjustments that we would make with each of those bargaining units.

Madam President, I would like to make a motion for an amendment number one to amendment D slash one. One. Thank you. Can we please add in the standard language that says not subject to collective bargaining that we normally have in kind of the standard verbiage?

Before we add that amendment in, I just want a clarification. Part of the budget ordinance that we're still working on, I think we have some councillors that are going to be participating in that. I just want to say that we really have been working to striving to actually eliminate the difference between wages and cost of living. So if we're talking about cost of living, that shouldn't be a wage negotiation tool. I mean, that's just cost of living, kind of what we're saying that we should ask small businesses to do throughout the city. So for that reason, I will not be able to support that amendment.

And so, Madam President, I guess I support this. I just want to make sure that we are circling back to prevent some of that. But if this is if you're saying that this would be something that regardless of how would that work legally if we have negotiations and yet we're still requiring the city? I support this because we should absolutely practice what we're trying to preach if that's going to be the case. So I get that part. I just don't want us to legally find ourselves in a bind with it. So I don't know, Ms. Coulidon, would collective bargaining not apply to this amendment?

Madam President, Councillor Besson, collective bargaining procedures would still apply to these increases and would need to be negotiated as referenced by the CAO.

Okay. So, Madam President, I'm going to, I mean, we'll see what the Council says, but I'll still want to make an amendment to this to try to include that in there.

Okay. So, for clarifying purposes, Ms. Couladon, it is currently, but if we do pass the budget ordinance that separates the two, then it would not...

Madam President, unfortunately, I'm not familiar with what's in the proposed budget ordinance amendment. That's a differentiation between cost of living adjustments and wage increases. Is that accurate?

Correct.

Madam President, I think it'd be important to ask our city attorney who is on right now to see, but I think what I've learned in the past is any type of wage increase would be subject to collective bargaining, but I'm not a lawyer. So I don't necessarily feel qualified to answer that.

Thank you. So, Ms. Keefe, before you answer, I just want to clarify the question. So the question is, is that we have a budget ordinance that we're still working on, and we have a committee I think put together now to try to address it. It didn't pass this past year, but it distinguished and I just want to be very clear and careful that it distinguished the difference between a wage increase and a cost of living. And so when we're talking about if that were to pass and this passes, then it isn't subject to negotiations because it's just a cost of living. Because then, in essence, we are asking small business owners that they should be able to negotiate the cost of living, but we're not allowing them to negotiate that.

So, Madam President, I believe the way that this would work would be the amount in this amendment would be a minimum that would be received no matter what, and that unions could bargain for additional increases. I don't think they could bargain for lower increases because this would be established through ordinance. So, I don't know if that answers your question specifically. I think this would be I don't know if this would be either a wage increase. I mean, I guess this would be a wage increase and not a cost of living increase because it would take effect no matter what the cost of living adjustment would be.

Madam President, may I ask? Yes. Yes. Madam President, Miss Keefe. So if we don't change this amendment and it just continues and passes as proposed right now, then are you saying that there will be no legal issue with collective bargaining because it can still be bargained even if we don't put in the traditional language that normally It seems from my recollection that we always include that if there's going to be something when it comes to any kind of wages and it's not subject to collective bargaining.

Madam President, Councilor Bassam, I believe we do include that language, but I don't necessarily think this would affect bargaining because we would still be able to bargain for higher increases, which is generally what would take place.

OK, so is the amendment prepared?

Madam President, Councillor Besson, and Mr. Cornelius, I'm on page three of this proposed amendment on OneDrive. And I added the highlighted language at the end, which reads, any increases pursuant to this section shall be subject to any applicable collective bargaining procedures.

So what I would like to do is I think I would like to vote on this amendment and have that as a standalone amendment because I cannot support that amendment.

If that's the desire of the... President, this is an offer to amend an amendment and so that's allowed if there's a second. But you're allowed to amend an amendment two times.

Correct, but there has not been a second as far as I know. Okay, so then we'll just proceed with the amendment as is. So if there's any additional questions, I would urge your support. Council Rogers. Thank you, Madam President.

I just had a couple questions. Just looking at the breakdown, we definitely studied the income of our city employees during the budget. And so just wondering where we got the $80,000 per year. Because when I calculate that by hourly, that's $34-something per hour. So I'm just wondering what the threshold for $80,000, given most of our employees are... Definitely not at 80,000. More than 5,000 employees I think are under that. So I just wondered where the 80,000 came from.

Correct. So this is one of the items that I wasn't sure about is the amount. I mean, I'm open to reducing that amount. But that was something that, you know, just going through the salaries and just trying to establish where that threshold is. So if anyone has an amendment to the amount, I'm open to that.

Thank you, Madam President. No, I just was wondering just your thought process of where it was, just looking at the information. I think at $80,000, which is way more than a counselor's salary, would be awesome for a lot of our employees. But I think financially, that worries me. I just don't want to pull out a number without being able to be thoughtful about it.

So I just wanted to know your thought process. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. So with that, I'll close and I urge your support. All those in favor of floor amendment number one, say yes and raise your hand. Yes. Opposed?

No.

I didn't get that number. Passed? Passed on the 6-3.

I think it was 5-4.

I had it 5-4.

Can I see the no hands one more time? Okay, let's do it again. The no hand? Yes, the no's. Opposed.

Thank you.

Okay, so that one passes. 5-4. Okay, so now we are on floor amendment number, labeled B, which will be now floor amendment number 2. And this one is the minimum wage rate. Without me reading the entire thing, I will read the explanation. This amendment proposes to implement the proposed $3 increase to the Albuquerque minimum wage over a three-year period. In 2027, the minimum wage rate would increase from $12 to $13. In 2028, the minimum wage rate would increase from $13 to $14. And in 2029, the minimum wage would increase from 14 to 15. The full $3 increase would be in effect as of 2029. In 2030, the annual cost of living adjustments would begin. So I move floor amendment number two.

Second.

There's a motion and a second for floor amendment number two by Councillor Besson.

Madam President, I have a question in C here. In the underlined deal, it says the average of the annual increase of the following two factors and rounded to the nearest multiple of five cents. What are the two factors?

Where did you read again? I'm so sorry.

On C?

Uh-huh.

On the back page of it, it says that the underlined, it says the average of the annual increase of the following two factors.

Rounded to the multiple. So I'm just cool it on. Can you explain that?

Yeah Madam President councillor champagne the text is cut off there because that's the end of the section that's being amended via this amendment, but the remainder of that section if you turn to the bill itself is on page 5 line 28 and The two factors that are proposed to go into the annual cost of living adjustments would be the increase in the CPI and the increase in fair market rent for a two-bedroom housing unit in Albuquerque, as published by HUD.

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Couladon.

Okay, so are there any additional questions? No one signed up to speak on this. Okay, so I will close. I heard your support on floor amendment number two. All those in favor, raise your hand and say yes.

Yes.

I don't see the, what was the number? If you keep your hand up for yes. Those opposed? No? No. Fails on a four-five. So then we are on to floor amendment label C. Yeah, there you go. And this is floor amendment number three. And it is. The explanation for this one is this amendment proposes to strike the proposal to use two factors to calculate the annual cost of living increases to the Albuquerque minimum wage. The increase in fair market rent for a two bedroom housing unit in Albuquerque published by HUD would not be considered. Instead, the increase in the consumer price at the CPI would be the only factor in consideration of the calculation consistent with the calculation method utilized under the current ordinance. I move floor amendment number three.

Second.

There's a motion and a second for floor amendment number three. Are there any questions? Councilor Tejas. Thank you, Madam President.

I just want to ask why we're not utilizing or what's the reason for not wanting to utilize CPI and HUD and the reason I'm asking is because one of the things we heard repeatedly throughout the evening from everyone who came forward particularly from our Business industry leaders is we need to do more studies. We need to have more information well The UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research, Cornell, Northwestern Affiliated Research, all of that exists, particularly the UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research actually conducted a study just last year on this. in particular led by Dr. Riley White at UNM Anderson that actually he developed this calculation specifically for New Mexico. And he did it comparing Santa Fe to other cities within New Mexico. So the study and the economic research does exist. It has been done. The Bieber research exists. It has been done. In fact, an entire calculation was developed by a UNM Anderson professor who does this research for a living. Actually, even former labor secretary Robert Reich came out in support of it, actually, and supported this, which is a pretty good endorsement, I would say, if former U.S. labor secretary supported it. That's why we utilized it, because it was developed specifically for New Mexico, specifically by doctors of economic policy for New Mexico. So I don't know why we wouldn't want to use that.

Was the question for someone?

Well, it's a comment.

Thank you. So do you have a question on this one as well?

Yeah. Thank you, Madam President. We're talking about HUD and the fair market rent report that helps to determine this. And what I found on HUD was that specifically for the fair market rent, it helps determine voucher payment standards, initial or rental renewal rates for Section 8, and rent ceilings for rental assistant programs. So is that the intent, is we're linking it to another program that gives out vouchers? I just want to point a clarification if somebody knows.

You're talking about this amendment? Yeah, because we're- This is both based on the current CPI. This just goes back to what it was. This just takes out the rental part of it. That is it.

Okay.

You're done? Yes. OK. Councilor Febekoine.

Thank you, Madam President. I did want to just speak to why the HUD language was included in the bill. We have Albuquerque minimum wage ordinance on the books right now. It increased the minimum wage in 2014, and it has an automatic index so that it grows up every year. And what we found is that it doesn't go up enough to cover the actual cost of living in Albuquerque. And so as looking around at other jurisdictions that have done this, we saw that one of the things that would make the most sense to keep minimum wage moving at the pace it needs to move so that people can actually afford to live in our community was averaging the consumer price index and the HUD fair market rate. for rent. Now, it's not tying it to anything that is a voucher or anything, but it is a documented number that is calculated by the federal government every year to tell us how much it costs to actually rent a place to live in our community. And so by averaging those two together, you get a more accurate representation of what it actually costs to live here. And I'll just quickly say that, you know, the CPI increase over the last 10 years has gone from, you know, 0.66 all the way up to 8.13 in one year. And similar increases for the HUD fair market rent went from a negative 6.7 in 2017 up to a 14% in 2023. So if you do that average over the last 10 years, the actual answer for our minimum wage, had we had this mechanism in place, would have shown lower increases in our minimum wage over four of those years and slightly higher in six of those years and so that's the rationale for including that really just trying to get at what the major cost of living is in our city and it is by far rent thank you

Any additional comments? No? Councillor Tis. Thank you, Madam President. I just want to quickly, and I'll do this very, very fast, but with regard to this Weber study and the review that was conducted by UNM Bureau of Business and Economic Research, it was the key findings here were essentially that find it here for you. Apologize, apologize. I just had it and then I clicked the button. So their research analyzed 410 fast food restaurants in following minimum wage increases found that the rise in minimum wage actually had a positive employment effect attributed the finding to possible explanation that unobserved demand shocks outweighed the negative employment effect of the minimum wage and that Employers face direct costs when hiring new workers, including recruiting, hiring, onboarding, and training. And with respect to that, you know, I teach payroll accounting at CNM, and one of the things that I calculated by the payroll information that was provided to me by our great business leaders here, one example I calculated was... based off of this model, FICA taxes are 7.65 of wages federally, a $3 hour raise for full-time worker increased FICA by only $318 a year, whereas The churn, the annual pay for lower wage jobs where there is turnover, such as in the restaurant industries, other service industries, actually costs between $3,500 and $5,000 a year. So to raise it by $3 an hour... actually saves thousands of dollars for our service industry employers. So thank you for providing that payroll information. It actually helped me calculate how much money you'd be saving with an increase. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

On floor amendment number three, seeing none, I will close. All those in favor of floor amendment number three, raise your hand and say yes. Yes. That motion fails on a 6-3. Oh, all those opposed, sorry. No, not me. What was that? That fails. One, four, five.

Madam President. I'll move to reconsider floor amendment number two.