OPINION: What's the state of our city?

Albuquerque will soon be in the thick of a mayoral race, and we will be surrounded by commercials, debates, forums and yard signs. As the campaign season kicks into gear, it’s worth asking: What’s the real state of our city?

We already heard from the incumbent, Mayor Tim Keller, who delivered his annual State of the City address Aug. 23 at the Albuquerque BioPark Botanic Gardens. Keller is asking for a third term to leave his mark on the Duke City.

Today, the Opinion section is beginning a series on the state of the city — the other six mayoral candidates and the Republican Party of New Mexico were asked to summarize their state of the city in an op-ed. We’re running two columns today and will run additional submissions in subsequent Sunday pages, with the hope of giving readers a glimpse at the vision each candidate has for the city.

Mayoral races often are less about left-right talking points and political ideology, and more about the day-to-day issues residents are facing. Do people feel safe? Can businesses thrive? Do children have a hopeful future?

Being mayor is a tough gig. The city is made up of around 30 departments and offices, so the mayor has to help manage the city’s animals and pets, trash, economic development, health, housing and homelessness, planning and parks, to name a few.

We’re all affected by those, so the mayoral election is critical for all of our futures.

That’s where you come in. In recent weeks, readers answered a similar call and have been opining on the state of New Mexico’s health care system. We’ve published more than a dozen op-eds and letters on the topic, and we have more columns in the hopper for future editions.

Now, we’re asking readers to write their own state of the city op-eds. What works in Albuquerque? What feels broken? Where do we see progress, and where does it seem like we’re backsliding? We want to hear from a diverse group of residents from different backgrounds, neighborhoods and careers.

For many of us, crime, homelessness, housing and economic development are critical issues where we want to see progress. But I’ve also read plenty of columns and letters about weeds and dead grass at city parks, pets, cycling paths, transportation and the outfields at Los Altos softball fields, where the Albuquerque Journal Screaming Eagles softball team is limping toward a dead-last finish in its inaugural season.

In the months ahead, we’re going to hear a lot from the candidates. They are going to spell out their agendas and visions for Albuquerque. Coverage of the campaigns is going to fill local media outlets and our mailboxes will be stuffed with campaign flyers.

Before we get into all that, let’s take the city’s temperature. Let’s let candidates know what matters most to us, and what direction we want the mayor to take us in.

We’re going to hear a lot from the candidates. So lets give them a place where they can hear from us.