Checks and balances: Here's how ABQ voters can increase City Council's power

Albuquerque voters could increase the City Council’s power this election. Or not.

In June, the City Council passed three charters — one of which was vetoed by Mayor Tim Keller — that could shift power from the mayor’s administration to city councilors.

One of the amendments would increase the council's say in the hiring and firing police and fire chiefs. The other makes changes to a committee that settles disputes between the council and the mayor’s administration.

If voters in the general election pass the two amendments, they will go into effect Jan. 1.

Balance of power

Albuquerque has a strong mayor system, meaning the mayor appoints and removes department heads, holds veto power and runs the day-to-day operations. In weak mayor systems, these responsibilities and powers are shared equally among the mayor and council. In the country’s 100 largest cities, there are 47 strong mayor systems according to Ballotpedia.

Council President Dan Lewis believes the amendments could balance city leadership.

“City Council has given the administration a blank check. They have everything they need, and the problem with the administration is an organizational failure by the mayor,” Lewis said. “Giving some decisions to the people that are a little bit closer to the people of Albuquerque, their constituents, the City Council, I think, is just a good balance when it comes to bringing on and removing these positions.”

Lewis also believes the amendments could increase accountability between the administration and council.

“The mayor already blames us for these challenges, anyways. ... The council has a job to do. The administration has a job to do. This just helps to get some more accountability for some of these important positions,” Lewis said.

Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn voted against both amendments making their way to the ballot. She said the process was fast-tracked and not done properly.

“I had to say ‘no’ because I don’t feel like we went through the required process, which should have been a proposal of a bill. It would have gone to committee, it would have had a series of public hearings, and then the end result would have been something that we would all feel comfortable with,” Fiebelkorn said. “I did not feel that we had that thoughtful conversation. There were amendments flying back and forth on this fast track. No one was really clear as to what we ended up with, and I don’t feel like that’s how we should be changing our city charter.”

Fiebelkorn also said she doesn’t fundamentally support the amendments and supports the current city charter.

“I think there’s a balance between the administration and City Council that was really thought out in our charter. And it was thought out in a really good manner to provide that kind of checks and balances between the different types of government,” Fiebelkorn said.

Councilor Nichole Rogers, who joined Fiebelkorn in voting against the amendments, did not respond to requests for comment.

The mayor said in a statement that after working with the City Council, he was OK with the increased input the amendments would give it.

“After initial serious concerns about the measures, we worked with Council to put these revised proposals on the ballot,” Keller said. “The proposal about ‘separation of power disputes’ is now workable albeit not really necessary; and the proposal to change the way we hire and fire public safety chiefs gives reasonable checks to both the mayor and Council.”

The chief(s)

If passed, the first charter amendment would give the City Council the power to remove the fire chief and police chief, without cause, by a 7-2 vote.

Harold Medina was appointed chief of Albuquerque Police Department by Keller in 2021. In 2024, the police chief — at times with the mayor — has made headlines.

In January, local news outlet City Desk ABQ — whose publisher is former city councilor Pat Davis — reported that a text obtained through an open records request showed Medina, in a text message with Keller, discussed a plan to “hammer the unhoused.” In February, Medina crashed a department truck into a vintage Mustang while fleeing gunfire near the International District and was reprimanded by the Internal Affairs Division for his handling of the crash, notably, not turning on his lapel camera.

The department is also under an ongoing investigation by the FBI for alleged corruption related to its officers’ handling of DWIs.

Councilor and former APD officer Dan Champine said he believes the frequency at which Medina has been in the news drove the proposed charter.

“If you had a police chief that was doing his job and was showing improvement within the department and with the public and with crime and safety within our city, I don’t think it would have raised this question or shown this issue,” Champine said.

APD did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A former APD officer and one of Medina’s most vocal critics, Councilor Louie Sanchez said he believes that the amendment will increase transparency within APD leadership.

“Transparency is the cornerstone of good police work. And I think it’s the citizens that are demanding and want to know what’s going on and want to know what the real story is,” Sanchez said. “We need to have meaningful change, and I think making sure that there’s a more transparent process means that there will be some meaningful change.”

Sanchez — who voted in favor of both amendments on the ballot — believes the amendments, if passed, will strengthen the checks and balances between the mayor’s office and the council.

“We have closed the public’s mouths on so many other issues. It’s important that they get to have a voice,” Sanchez said.

While the amendment would give councilors the power to also remove the fire chief, current Chief Emily Jaramillo said she is not worried about losing her job anytime soon.

“Thankfully, I believe our exemplary track record at AFR speaks for itself, and we will continue to work with City Council and the Mayor to serve the people of Albuquerque,” Jaramillo said in a statement.

But she is skeptical of how much power the amendment would give the council.

“Continuity of leadership is crucial for fire and police, so it’s concerning that a chief could be removed without cause under the new proposal.”

Separation of powers

The other amendment on the ballot, a separation of powers, changes the way the mayor’s administration and the City Council settle debates.

The bill forces the mayor to appoint a member to the Intragovernmental Conference Committee — which exists largely to resolve disputes between the council and administration — within 60 days of a vacancy. The Intragovernmental Conference Committee is made of three members: the appointee from the mayor’s office, an appointee from City Council and a chairperson, who is selected by the council and mayor’s appointees.

Keller appointed Bob White to the committee in May, but Champine and Lewis say Keller’s office has dropped the ball on appointing members in the past.

“We noticed that if the mayor didn’t put forth some people, or the City Council didn’t put forth some people, that it would create a stagnance that needed to be adjusted,” Champine said.

While the City Council passed the two charter amendments that made their way to the ballot, a third was vetoed by the mayor.

That proposed amendment would have changed the threshold necessary for the mayor or councilors to win an election from over 50% to whichever candidate got the most votes. The mayor called it “undemocratic” in a July news release.

Lorie MacIver, a retired nurse who has lived in Albuquerque for 21 years, is concerned about the amendments on the ballot and worries that if the amendments pass, councilors could wield their power to “score political points.”

She added that she found the language of the amendment on separation of powers confusing and believes there should have been “more public information put out before this showed up on the ballot.”

“I understand that we need checks and balances, but the city of Albuquerque as a whole elected Tim Keller mayor for good, for bad, for ugly, whatever,” she said. “The citizens elected him the mayor, and in that, he got certain powers.”