Beginning her sixth year on city council, Brook Bassan will lead it

Brook Bassan, the stay-at-home mother and Albuquerque native who has spent the past five years representing the city’s Northeast side on the Albuquerque City Council, has been elected council president.

Her election comes on a unanimous vote and via a nomination from the council’s — now former — Vice President Renée Grout.

The council president is tasked with holding decorum in the chambers and leading council meetings.

For vice president, Bassan nominated the council’s most-tenured member, Klarissa Peña, who represents the Southwest side of the city. Peña was elected to the position by the council.

Grout was chosen to head the committee of the whole, which Peña chaired last year.

The appointments come following a year that saw City Councilor Dan Lewis, one of Mayor Tim Keller’s fiercest critics, head the council. Bassan and Lewis have often voted together on legislation.

Five of the council’s nine members are up for election this year. Peña, Grout and Lewis’s seats will be on the ballot in November, as will Louie Sanchez and Tammy Fiebelkorns’.

Keller is also up for reelection and announced in August that he would run again, chasing the unachieved feat of serving three consecutive terms as Albuquerque mayor.

Bassan was first elected in 2019, beating Ane Romero in a runoff election and replacing Councilor Brad Winter, who represented the district for two decades.

While she cruised to a win in the 2019 runoff, getting 7% more of the vote than Romero, Bassan faced a much stronger challenge in 2023 from attorney Abby Foster.

Foster’s bid to unseat Bassan earned 5,075 ballots while Bassan brought in 5,228.

Prior to wielding the gavel, Bassan chaired the Land Use, Planning, & Zoning Committee in 2024 and also sat on the Intergovernmental and Legislative Relations Agency and Accountability in Government Oversight Committee.

While Bassan represents a traditionally Republican district and has a moderate-Republican voting record, she crossed (unofficial) party lines at the council’s last meeting to be the deciding vote on a bill from Fiebelkorn, one of the most progressive councilors, that requires landlords to provide tenants cooling.

Correction: This story and headline have been updated to reflect the amount of time Bassan has served on the council and clarify the process to which Peña became VP.