NAME: Michaela Chavez
POLITICAL PARTY: Republican
OCCUPATION: Bookkeeper
CITY OF RESIDENCE: Albuquerque
RELEVANT EXPERIENCE: Experience in managing daily accounting functions for small businesses and budgeting
EDUCATION: High school – Sandia Preparatory School; 3 years of college – DeVry University
AGE: 41
CAMPAIGN WEBSITE: michaelafornm.com
1. What is the top priority in your District and how would you address it as a county commissioner?
My number one priority is making Bernalillo County a place we can be proud of again, a county that doesn’t have fast food restaurant employees encased in bulletproof glass. We deserve to live in a county that is educated and growing not overwhelmed with crime, drugs and homelessness.
2. Under what circumstances, if any, would you support a tax increase? And what types, if any, would you support?
None
3. What do you think should be the county’s top three capital project priorities?
We need to evaluate current capital projects to ensure they are viable and we can afford them before proceeding with new ones. Bernalillo County taxpayers do not have endless funds and we cannot spend those tax dollars as if they are endless.
4. What, if anything, do you think the county should be doing differently with regard to how it manages and uses the behavioral health tax?
We need to be using this money to help get the homeless the help they need, medications, etc., and getting them off the streets and out of our neighborhoods. They began taxing our residents with no idea what they were going to do with the money.
5. What kind of metrics do you think the county should monitor to determine if it is spending the behavioral health tax revenue effectively?
That depends ultimately on what they actually spend it on. Are they filling in budget gaps or helping people that need it.
6. What role, if any, should the county commission play in advising the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office on matters related to public safety?
None. The sheriff is elected and answers to the voters himself.
7. What are your ideas for improving conditions for both employees and inmates at the Metropolitan Detention Center?
The detention center must be made safe for all that work or are incarcerated there.
8. How would you work to improve the economy in Bernalillo County?
Bureaucracy and red tape stifles economic growth. Becoming more business friendly is imperative. Our neighboring counties are getting the businesses that should be here in Bernalillo County because they foster a more welcoming environment to growth and expansion. We need to provide opportunity for the people.
9. What specific strategies do you have for reducing homelessness?
We must use the behavioral health tax to help the homeless that we can. However, we can no longer tolerate violence, lawlessness and hard drug use on our streets. We have laws in place that prohibit illegal activity and we need to enforce them. This will require a coordinated effort with the city, county and state.
10. Would you have voted to certify the county’s 2020 general election results? Why or why not?
No response
Personal background
1. Have you or your business, if you are a business owner, ever been the subject of any state or federal tax liens?
No.
2. Have you ever been involved in a personal or business bankruptcy proceeding?
In 2011 when the recession occurred my husband was laid off and had to find new employment. While he was fortunate to find new employment our health insurance changed. The new insurance deemed my pregnancy a pre-existing condition and therefore did not cover it. We were bombarded by medical bills and had no choice but to file personal bankruptcy.
3. Have you ever been arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drunken driving, any misdemeanor or any felony in New Mexico or any other state? If so, explain.
No.
