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This year isn’t Pete Dinelli’s first dash for the mayor’s office.
His 1989 campaign produced a flier with the headline: “Pete Dinelli … He’d make a fine mayor!!!”
He’s aiming a bit higher this time with slogans that include:
♦ “Serious Solutions for Serious Times”
♦ “Right man, right time, right job”
In any case, Dinelli came out swinging in his campaign announcement last weekend, outlining a “three-count indictment” of Mayor Richard Berry’s administration. Dinelli said his campaign would focus on public safety, economic development and ending “outrageous” out-of-court settlements.
In 1989, Dinelli was 37 and completing a four-year term on the City Council. Louis Saavedra, the just-retired president of the Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute, won the mayor’s race that year.
In a door card from the ’89 campaign, Dinelli highlighted growth and development. He said he wouldn’t “stand idly by while our quality of life is threatened by a thoughtless growth policy.”
He noted his background in the District Attorney’s Office, where he handled prosecutions for murder, rape and child abuse. That’s been a theme for Dinelli this year, too.
No other candidate has formally announced a mayoral run so far this year. We’re likely to have a good idea of the field in about a month.
Feb. 16 is the start of the signature-gathering period for candidates to get a spot on the ballot.
Potential candidates include Berry, who hasn’t said whether he will seek re-election; U.S. Department of Agriculture executive Terry Brunner; former Lt. Gov. Diane Denish; City Councilor Ken Sanchez; retired police Sgt. Paul Heh; and Steve Smothermon, pastor at Legacy Church.
The election has the potential to shake up the City Council, not just the mayor’s office.
Six of the nine council seats will be on the ballot this year. A few of the races will certainly bear watching.
In District 2, where the mayor appointed Roxanna Meyers to fill a vacancy, voters can expect to choose between her and Isaac Benton, who’s already on the council as the representative from District 3. Benton now lives in District 2, thanks to redistricting triggered by the Census.
Benton’s old District 3, then, will be wide open for new candidates.
District 1 could also end up open, because incumbent Ken Sanchez is weighing whether to run for mayor instead of re-election to the council.
Finally, District 7 might end up open, too, as incumbent Michael Cook says he hasn’t decided yet whether to seek re-election.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal
