Updated: SOS Agrees: Paseo Can Appear on Fall Ballot

Mayor Richard Berry told reporters just now that he “absolutely” will support putting the Paseo bond question on the Nov. 6 ballot, if the council can’t muster the seven-vote super-majority needed to pass the bonds without an election.

Berry maintains, however, that council approval is the cheapest way to get moving on the project, so he prefers that option to an election. The city could end up having to share some election expenses with the county if it places Paseo on the fall ballot.

City Council approval “is the easiest route to go,” Berry said in a news conference this afternoon.

Berry said he will leave it up to the city clerk whether the minimum-wage question also would go on the November ballot. A coalition of activists gathered enough petitions signatures to force a vote on that issue, and the City Charter requires the city to schedule an election within about 90 days.

That proposal calls for raising the minimum wage in Albuquerque by $1 an hour, to $8.50. Supporters want it on the Nov. 6 ballot.

The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office issued a statement today affirming what Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver already said: The city’s Paseo del Norte bond question can go on the Nov. 6 ballot, despite initial advice to the contrary from the state attorney general’s office.

The full text of the announcement is below. My story from last week with the clerk’s explanation is here. Mayor Richard Berry is expected to speak on the issue later today.

SANTA FE — On August 16, Attorney General Gary King issued an opinion in which he concluded that a municipality may not propose a question on the general election ballot. However, at the request of the Secretary of State, Attorney General King has modified his position to allow the Paseo Del Norte interchange question to appear on the general election ballot, subject to certain conditions.

“The Attorney General has agreed that the City, County and State can conduct a concurrent election, placing the question on the general election ballot for Albuquerque city voters,” said Dianna Duran, Secretary of State. “I am pleased that the Attorney General has decided that we can include the Paseo question on the ballot while still following state law.” Although the election will officially be conducted as two concurrent elections, City voters will be able to vote on the Paseo question at the Bernalillo county early voting sites or vote centers on election day, or by absentee ballot.

In order to receive a ballot with the Paseo question on it, voters must be eligible to vote in Albuquerque city elections.

Before the City, County and State can move forward, however, the City of Albuquerque must resolve any disputes between city ordinances or the city’s charter, and statewide election law. Primarily, the Attorney General’s office has opined that the City is responsible for addressing the conflict between the City voter identification requirements and state law. If the City is able to resolve that issue, then the City, Bernalillo County and the Secretary of State would enter into an agreement to include the question on the ballot. “This is undoubtedly the least expensive and least confusing option for the taxpayers,” said Duran, “and I am optimistic that any remaining hurdles can be resolved quickly.”

The deadline for the printing of the ballots is September 11.
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