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June 20, 2001

   
   
Retired ABQ Parks Chief Tries Variety of Jobs
   
By Renata D'Aliesio
Journal Staff Writer
    Mike Walker has bounced from job to job since retiring from the city of Albuquerque in 1996.
    Walker, who worked 21 years for the city, seven as director of the Parks and Recreation Department, has been a marketing coordinator for America First Mortgage, has filled in as a substitute teacher at Albuquerque Public Schools, has helped raise funds for the University of New Mexico Development Office and has worked on business development for Conseco Finance.
    "I've just kind of dabbled in this and that," said Walker, 54, who lives in the East Mountains.
    Today, Walker is an advocate for the Rape Crisis Center in Santa Fe, helping it with fund-raising and development. He's also a volunteer for Bob Schwartz's campaign for mayor. Schwartz is a former Bernalillo County district attorney.
    "At my age I don't want to just do anything. I don't know if I want to start a full-blown second career," he said.
    "I was a pretty hard charger at one time," he said.
    Walker lost his parks director job in a reorganization of city departments in 1992 that reduced the number of departments from 23 to 16. He continued working for the city for four more years.
    The reorganization led to one of the city's most high-profile legal battles: Walker and one of his assistants, Carl Jackson, sued the city for allegedly violating their civil rights. After spending nearly $900,000 in legal costs, the city settled the lawsuit, paying Walker $75,000 and Jackson $14,000.
    "I liked my career with the city," Walker said.
    The reorganization "took me out of the picture," he said.
    "I was in the prime of my life."
    Walker remarried the same year he retired from the city.
    Actually, it was more of a reunion, he said, because he and his new wife, Cynthia, were high school sweethearts.
    He said before they hopped on a plane for Las Vegas, Nev., to marry, they returned to the spot of their first meeting.
    "We went back down to our old high school, at the corner where we met at 16, and toasted each other," he said.
    Classes at Rio Grande High School were on, though, so Walker says they toasted with Kool-Aid instead of champagne.