Council overrides mayor's veto over reallocated funding. Then directs it right back.

The City Council this week overrode a veto from Mayor Tim Keller that sought to stop redirecting $500,000 for an urban trail project to a West Side sports complex.

However, a separate measure passed by council during the same meeting could restore that funding back to the trail in the future.

Councilors voted 8-1 on Feb. 3 to reallocate about 1.5% of the funding for a seven-mile Albuquerque Rail Trail to the Ken Sanchez Westside Indoor Sports Complex. Keller vetoed the legislation on Feb. 20.

On Monday, the council voted 8-1 to override that veto, two votes more than the 6-3 threshold required to overrule the mayor. Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn voted against it.

“I think that the way this veto occurred is completely inappropriate, disrespectful and enraging,” Council President Brook Bassan said.

Keller told the Journal in February that his administration was working with the council to find middle ground and request funding for the Ken Sanchez Center from the state.

The council on Monday also passed a resolution to move $500,000 at a later date from the Ken Sanchez Center to the Rail Trail.

The resolution, sponsored by Councilors Joaquín Baca and Louie Sanchez, also passed on a 9-0 vote.

“The Rail Trail is going to be a multi-year, very lengthy project, and right now we can get some money to take care of business immediately and have an indoor sports complex,” Sanchez said.

Baca added that he felt the veto blew the situation out of proportion.

The proposed urban rail trail aims to connect Downtown, Old Town, the Rail Yards and surrounding neighborhood with a loop trail. The estimated cost of the trail ranges from $60 million to $90 million and is expected to complete by 2028.

The project has been allocated $40 million so far.

“This is what our community asked for, restoring funding, so the Rail Trail can keep moving forward and become a transformative landmark for Albuquerque,” Keller said in a statement Tuesday morning. “By working together, we’ve kept construction on track, without having to choose between projects or neighborhoods.”