OPINION: Uballez needs a quick, bold vision to make runoff election

Mayoral candidate Alex Uballez and I seem to agree that Albuquerque suffers from low expectations. But how we advance is where we differ somewhat.

The Journal’s Editorial Board met with Uballez for more than an hour on Sept. 16. I hadn’t met him before and I was impressed.

Uballez answered every one of my questions, ranging from inquiries about the city’s unreliable bus service, to the plea deal offered to former Albuquerque attorney Thomas Clear III, architect of the DWI bribery scheme, while Uballez was U.S. attorney for New Mexico.

He didn’t drag on with long answers, and he welcomed my follow-up questions, even though they may have interrupted his train of thought.

That’s a great way to win over the media, not to mention voters: He listened. And he responded directly to our questions. In that regard, I could tell it was his first campaign for political office. He hasn’t yet mastered the art of dodge and pivot, and I like that.

Uballez, in my estimation, has a bright political career ahead of him if he chooses that path. Whether he can unseat an incumbent and finely polished mayor is the pressing question. As I told him at the conclusion of our meeting, “I’m persuadable.”

Uballez is attempting to out-flank Keller’s political left, and he’s making some progress. On Monday, Uballez landed the endorsement of Equality New Mexico. While not the biggest deal, we can be darn tootin’ that Mayor Tim Keller would have welcomed the endorsement from the state’s premier education and advocacy organization for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender civil rights that has more than 5,000 members in Albuquerque. Furthermore, Marshall Martinez, executive director of Equality NM, told me they have a high propensity for voting.

“Our decision to endorse Alex Uballez and not Tim Keller for Albuquerque mayor is purely based on action and commitment,” the Albuquerque-based group announced online. “While we applaud the work that Keller has done for Albuquerque, we also must acknowledge the fact that, time and time again, he has failed to listen to LGBTQ New Mexicans when making decisions that impact them. Queer and trans New Mexicans know what they need, and Keller’s decisions have not reflected those needs, making him ineligible for an endorsement from Equality New Mexico.”

I could hear echoes of “ouch” from Team Keller on the 11th floor of City Hall. Uballez needs to build on that momentum in the coming days and weeks because time is running out before absentee voting begins on Oct. 7.

Back to low expectations.

Uballez didn’t agree with me on my pipe dream of transforming Expo New Mexico into an entertainment mecca anchored by an NBA-level stadium. He isn’t against building a stadium, but he doesn’t support moving the New Mexico State Fair from the fairgrounds in the International District.

“It would break my heart to see it move,” he told us. “I think we deserve nice things here, but I think we’re also going into a budgetary crisis.”

“The city we live in now is far worse than it was 10 years ago,” he later added. “We’ve got to address homelessness.”

OK, so where’s the vision? That’s my criticism of the mayoral candidates, a lack of vision. We need to aim higher than fully staffing the Albuquerque Police Department and being compassionate to those experiencing homelessness. Those are the basics, just a baseline, upon which we must build to become a great American city. Great cities, for example, have major professional sports franchises. We’re stuck in the minor leagues, no offense to the Isotopes and New Mexico United, who are jewels of the city and have brought us one step away from the big leagues.

Uballez should answer every question with a simple response: How do you feel about traffic congestion and our bridges? “I want to build a new one.” How do you feel about a soccer stadium? “I want to build a new one.” What about our senior centers, parks and aquatic facilities? “I want to build a new one.”

He can figure out priorities and funding mechanisms after he’s elected. For now, people like myself just want some dang vision beyond shuffling around homeless encampments.

Uballez has a lot of factors going against him. He’s not a native New Mexican, and that matters in Democratic circles in a state stuck in 17th-century colonial dissonance and the fallout of 19th-century war.

He didn’t meet the threshold to qualify for public financing. He’s in a crowded field of seven candidates, one of whom, Darren White, is the only Republican in the race and therefore figures to receive about a quarter of the votes. Another, Keller, a second-term incumbent with a carefully managed public image, can count on about 40% of votes. That doesn’t leave Uballez much room.

The way I see it a month and a half before the Nov. 4 election, it’s a race between White and Uballez to make the runoff election against Keller, assuming Keller doesn’t receive more than 50% of the votes in the initial round, which he could if a clear challenger doesn’t emerge.

Uballez needs to build enthusiasm and present bold initiatives to be that challenger. It’s going to take vision and money to articulate it as Keller takes to the airwaves with up to $30,000 of city funding to run his 30-minute State of the City speech from August on five local TV stations before Oct. 5.

Keller has near-100% name recognition among Albuquerque voters. But that doesn’t mean 100% of voters will support him. With eight years of city governance comes eight years of baggage.

As tempting as focusing on the baggage may be, it’s not enough against an undefeated professional politician with a formidable political machine that has enabled Keller to be the only mayoral candidate to have qualified for public financing in the last three elections.

“Our city deserves more than either Mayor Tim Keller’s spin or other candidates’ gloom; it deserves a future,” Uballez wrote in a Sept. 14 Journal op-ed. “Albuquerque is not hopelessly broken. Albuquerque is full of possibilities. We can build a safer, stronger city. We just need new leadership to make it happen.”

More of that, please. That’s the kind of vision it’s going to take to defeat Keller and overcome his power of incumbency.