Assessing Homelessness, Housing & Public Safety Under Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller

This week on New Mexico in Focus, senior producer Lou DiVizio sits down with Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller for an exclusive, in-depth interview. The mayor assesses the city’s growth and continued challenges in four major issue areas: homelessness, housing, public safety and policing. Lou asks the mayor how a proposed zoning change could change the real estate market in the city and by extension impact homelessness by increasing housing stock. Plus, the mayor responds to questions about the ongoing reform effort in the Albuquerque Police Department after nine years under a Department of Justice consent decree.

Gene Grant and The Line Opinion Panel react to the mayor’s comments from our exclusive interview and to some of the larger themes from the state of the city address. The group responds to Mayor Keller’s promises regarding the Gateway Center and his vision for growing the number of affordable housing units around the city. The panel also discusses the work done so far by the Albuquerque Community Safety Department and the mayor’s plan to triangulate federal gun-free zones and enforce federal penalties across the city’s downtown area.

Michelle Otero was the City of Albuquerque’s Poet Laureate from 2018 through 2020. This year, FlowerSong Press published her prose book, “Vessels: A Memoir of Borders.”  In conversation with Our Land’s Laura Paskus she talks about the challenges and rewards of writing about family, trauma, and history.

Host: Gene Grant

The Panel:
Serge Martinez, professor, UNM School of Law
Lan Sena, former Albuquerque City Councilor
Tom Grover, attorney, former Albuquerque police sergeant

Segments: 

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller: Housing & Homelessness
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio
Guest: Tim Keller, (D) Mayor of Albuquerque

Lightening the Load for Future Generations
Correspondent: Laura Paskus
Guest: Michelle Otero, Author, “Vessels: A Memoir of Borders”

Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller: Public Safety & Policing
Correspondent: Lou DiVizio
Guest: Tim Keller, (D) Mayor of Albuquerque