Economy
Richard Berry: “In the two years before I took office as mayor, we lost 22,000 jobs in the city. In the last 12 months alone, we’ve gained 7,000. We’re adding jobs, and that’s good news … Albuquerque’s adding 75 percent of all the jobs in New Mexico so we’re on the right track.”
Pete Dinelli: “We’ll invest in our infrastructure and also in our neighborhoods. The goal is to expand our economy, and the way we’re going to do that is by adding new industry into the Albuquerque area and go after growth industries.”
Paul Heh: “We have the Wild West here. People in Europe, people in this country that do not know what the Wild West is want to know about it. Why don’t we have major events every other month?”
APD
*RB:*“In the last three years, the FBI crime rate in the city of Albuquerque is the lowest crime rate in the last 20 years. I’m proud of my police department and I’m proud of my officers and I work with them every day.”
*PD:*“Our streets are not safe. As mayor of Albuquerque, I will reorganize the Albuquerque Police Department. We’ll put more police on the streets. We’ll change cop management. Most importantly, we will make sure we bring down those response times.”
*PH:*“I would have 1,200 police officers in my department. I will install a chief locally from here who the officers will respect and who will respect the officers. That chief will have to lead these officers to regaining the trust and respect of the community.”
Breaking Bad
*RB*“Albuquerque has a wonderful reputation. If you talk to people around the country, even around the world — and I’ve traveled around the country and around the world being the head cheerleader for our community — people have a very, very positive outlook about Albuquerque.”
*PD*“Albuquerque has a reputation for being a violent city. That’s what we have to be realistic about. The department of justice is probably the biggest black eye in Albuquerque’s history. It’s having a great impact in being able to track jobs.”
*PH*“Absolutely, it’s not the image that we want to portray to the rest of the world. We have to combat that … Crime is up in every single category. Somebody’s going to get killed in Albuquerque. We have to change it.”
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Education
*RB*“We are going to take the research that comes out of UNM and to commercialize that research. We’re looking at a site along Broadway and Central to create an enterprise zone where people can take research that they come up with. We’re creating a very robust workforce.”
*PD*“I believe that the fact that we have so many young people leave Albuquerque is very indicative of the fact that we have failed leadership in economic development in the last four years … Education is the number one impact in being able to track jobs in the Albuquerque area.”
*PH*“College isn’t for everyone. College is a wonderful thing … but a lot of people can’t afford college. I want to start trade schools. I want to combine with CNM and charter schools. If you want to drop out of school, drop into a trade school.”
Downtown
*RB*“We want to make sure we’ve got great public sector investments. Currently, we have a $25 million Convention Center upgrade that will help us attract business investment … We’re bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Central Avenue as the next logical step to public transportation.”
*PD*“We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got a major commitment in the downtown area. ENERGIZE ABQ does just that … We will invest in the Downtown area. We will try to identify to identify the kinds of industries that we can attract.”
*PH*“It’s not just Downtown that you see vacant store fronts. It’s all over the city … I talk to the Downtown merchants. I go to the Downtown restaurants. I patronize them. They are hurting for business. We’ve got to bring business into the city, and under my plan, we will get businesses.”
Why vote for me?
*RB*“We took over during some very difficult times. We didn’t cut services to the city, we didn’t lay off workers, and we didn’t raise your taxes … We’re going to continue to work on your behalf, and we’re going to continue to build bridges.”
*PD*“I was born and raised in this community. I love my city and I love it very deeply. I know that we can do better than we have over the last four years. We have to ask ourself this question: Is Albuquerque better off than four years ago? … To me, the resounding answer is no.”
*PH*“I am not backed by any political party. I am not a politician. I am one of you. This is your chance to stand up with me and try something new to change and reform this city. The first day I take office, the process will start. I’m standing here with my rock, and my rock is your vote.”
