Q&A Albuquerque City Council District 1 Stephanie Telles

Name: Stephanie Telles

Political party: Democrat

Age: 41

Education: New Mexico State University, 2008: BA, Government, BA, Philosophy (emphasis: ethics). Supplementary, Law & Society. University of New Mexico, 2013: MBA. Certified Fraud Examiner, 2016

Occupation:

Small Business Owner/Consultant: Fraud examiner, fraud risk management and mitigation, trainer and facilitator. Part-Time Faculty at UNM, Anderson School of Management (Accounting). Part-Time Faculty at Central New Mexico Community College (Accounting)

Family: Married in 2013, one young daughter born in 2020.

Relevant experience: Former Director, Government Accountability Office with the NM Office of the State Auditor. Executive Leadership, Interim Treasurer: United Academics of the University of New Mexico (UA-UNM) #6662. Member, Policy Advisory Committee: New Mexico Aging and Long-Terms Services Department. Member, Library Advisory Board: Albuquerque-Bernalillo Library District. Board of Directors, Vice-President: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, NM-Chapter. Member, Advisory Committee: Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, Global. Albuquerque Business First, New Mexico Diverse Business Leader Honoree, 2020. Albuquerque Business First, New Mexico Forty Under Forty Honoree, 2018.

Campaign website: stephanieforabq.com

1. What is the biggest issue facing the city of Albuquerque today, and how would you address it?

For Burqueños, crime and homelessness are the biggest concerns. Too many neighbors feel unsafe. But public safety isn’t about punishment, it’s about protecting lives. Real safety means housing, healthcare, and opportunity. Poverty, homelessness, and untreated addiction drive instability that fuels unnecessary crime. I’d reinvest in people: homes, schools, and good jobs.

2. What is your strategy for improving public safety?

We cannot punish our way to peace. I’d increase funding for programs like ACS, invest in youth, and support violence-interruption. Stability through housing, healthcare, and jobs reduces unnecessary crime. When people thrive, neighborhoods thrive, and Albuquerque becomes safer for everyone.

3. Under what circumstances, if any, would you support raising taxes?

Before raising taxes, we must begin with due diligence. Albuquerque has enough money if it’s allocated wisely and protected from potential waste and abuse. I strongly oppose raising taxes on working families. Instead, we should ask more of wealthy, out-of-state corporations so public dollars strengthen local, small-scale, life-giving economies.

4. What specific industries should the city target with economic development incentives?

Incentives should support small-scale, local economies rather than fund extractive corporations that take our resources and leave. Investing in local entrepreneurs targeting industries rooted here such as local manufacturing, Indigenous enterprises, outdoor recreation, neighborhood services, and expanding the clean-energy economy will create lasting jobs and keep wealth in our communities.

5. What are your economic development strategies for boosting small, local businesses?

My concern is giving high-dollar incentives to out-of-state corporations that exploit our resources and cut jobs once agreements expire. Instead, we should invest those dollars in local businesses and entrepreneurs. One corporation may promise 200 jobs, 200 Burqueño-owned businesses could create hundreds more, keeping wealth here where it belongs.

6. What steps would you take to increase affordable housing and address a growing homeless population?

I’d tackle restrictive zoning and developer-driven priorities that make it hard for working families to afford or remain in homes amid inflated costs. Redirecting subsidies from luxury projects to affordable single-family and community-based housing while expanding wraparound services that will reduce homelessness and build safer neighborhoods rooted in care.

7. When it comes to mental health and substance abuse issues, which services would you prioritize under a new state behavioral health law?

The new law establishes a regional framework positioning Albuquerque into the Metro Region, where challenges include homelessness in the city and care shortages in rural areas. I’d prioritize collaboration to expand community clinics, mobile crisis teams like ACS, and culturally rooted harm reduction, centering peer supports, and family therapy.

8. Do you support Albuquerque’s current immigration policies in light of the U.S. Department of Justice’s determination it is a sanctuary jurisdiction? How would you instruct local law enforcement to work with federal immigration officials?

Yes. Albuquerque must remain a sanctuary city and local law enforcement should never act as an arm of ICE. Our officers should focus on local safety, not federal immigration agendas. Immigrant families are part of our community, protecting their rights protects us all.

9. What large infrastructure projects would you push for in the city's next capital implementation program?

I’d prioritize people-first infrastructure such as safer more reliable transit, water sustainability, broadband, and community hubs. We need third-spaces that uplift multigenerational families and provide accessible, affordable centers where childcare and eldercare are provided together reducing burdens on unpaid family caregivers.

10. What plans do you have to raise the quality of life for Albuquerque residents?

Individual well-being depends on collective well-being. My plans to raise the quality of life include supporting and driving initiatives that honor the whole community with affordable housing, accessible and affordable childcare, eldercare, and transit and a focus on local business development. We all do better when we all do better.

11. What specific metrics would you use to gauge your success?

I’d measure success by fewer families losing homes, fewer overdoses, and fewer people jailed for poverty. Success also means more affordable housing units built, more local businesses expanding, higher wages, and more Burqueños reporting they feel safe, supported, and proud of their neighborhoods.

12. What differentiates you from your opponents?

Lived experience. I’m a working mom, small business owner, and a caregiver; I know what it’s like to juggle competing priorities and that perspective gives me real, applicable experience to solve problems. I will bring steady leadership rooted in empathy, resilience, and deep understanding on how to navigate.

13. Name one issue not mentioned in the questions above that you would plan to tackle.

By 2030, 40% of the Metro Region will be 65+, making us one of the nation’s oldest urban areas leading to shrinking workforce challenges with rising retirements, and heavier caregiver burdens. Senior-ready housing, stronger care infrastructure, and diversified job strategies ensuring long-term stability for families and our economy is urgent.

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?

No.

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?

No.