Mayor Keller delivers State of the City address

On the evening of Saturday, Aug. 17, the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo welcomed over 1,300 people to watch Mayor Tim Keller’s sixth State of the City address.

Two topics that surfaced frequently throughout the address were the challenges of crime and the unhoused community in Albuquerque. Keller also mentioned the issues of gun violence and fentanyl.

Keller highlighted some of the City’s upcoming projects and initiatives, including $200 million for redeveloping downtown and the expansion of the Gateway Center, which he said will accept hundreds of unhoused individuals and families and provide them with health resources.

After the address, spectator Joseph Candelario said the speech sounded promising, but was skeptical of whether the talk would turn into action.

“I think actions speak louder than words,” Candelario said.

Jennie Thornton, who said she came without knowing what to expect from the address, shared a similar sentiment to Candelario.

“I think that they're looking at some of the challenges of homelessness and zoning problems within the center of Albuquerque, but I don't know if the solutions are concrete … I think in this beautiful zoo setting, there were some lovely inspirational pictures and words for the big crowd, but details and spreadsheets are hard to convey somewhere like this,” Thornton said.

Less than one minute into the address, a crowd member expressed frustration over treatment of members of the unhoused community, saying that people are “dying on our streets,” and chanting “Housing is a human right,” before being escorted out by police.

Keller responded by saying he would spend a lot of time talking about the unhoused community and that the address was a family event.

“I just want to let folks know that there may be several of these incidents like this, and that's okay, but I do want to remind folks that this is about the state of the city and it's also about families. We're here together on picnic blankets and so forth,” Keller said to the crowd.

A few more disruptions continued as crowd members expressed concern with Albuquerque Police Department violence, rent control and the war in Gaza. Police escorted out these crowd members.

One of the accomplishments Keller mentioned was the decision to form the Albuquerque Community Safety department in 2020, which sends first responders with backgrounds in mental health to 911 calls related to addiction, homelessness and mental health.

“ACS responds 24/7, and has taken 80,000 calls helping those in need and freed up law enforcement to fight violent crime. That's 80,000 times we had the right response at the right time,” Keller said.

Keller said homicides are down by 30%. The murder rate has decreased 33% since 2022, according to KRQE.

Keller listed issues that he said still have a long way to go.

“We know that shoplifting is on the rise. We have arson in Old Town. We have vandalism and burglary (that) continue to plague our city. We have drug use and dealing all too often in plain sight, even on our bus system,” Keller said.

Discussion time was also allocated to the issues of childhood homelessness, teen gun violence and industrial development. Short videos were aired on the projection screen.

Candelario thinks the City needs to put more effort into mental health and rehab, he said.

“There's a lot of people out here that are struggling within their minds. And I mean, what can you do when you have issues? … These are people. It's somebody's family out there … nobody chooses to be like that. I know that everybody's got their addictions or vices. But give them more of a chance; offer more structures for them,” Candelario said.

Regarding the environment, Keller mentioned the arrival of Maxeon Solar Technologies to the Mesa del Sol neighborhood, which he said would create multiple jobs and bring Albuquerque to the center of the renewable economy.

Thornton said she is worried about the direction Albuquerque is headed.

“I'm noticing that the center of Albuquerque has gotten worse since I left 25 years ago, but the surrounding areas of Albuquerque in the far Heights and outside on the edges seem to be getting fancier and nicer, and that kind of donut effect in any city worries me,” Thornton said.

Keller also spoke about current jobs — specifically tipped employees.

“We’re also fighting for our servers, our restaurant workers and our day laborers. We want to see a raise in that minimum tipped wage, and we also provide free job training … so we want to fight to make sure that no one gets left behind in this economy,” Keller said.

This came amid the current debate to lower the minimum wage for tipped workers in Albuquerque. During an Aug. 5 City Council meeting, Councilors Renee Grout and Brook Bassan proposed an ordinance to reduce the tipped employee minimum wage to match the statewide minimum of $3 per hour, according to KRQE.

Keller concluded the address by asking spectators to picture themselves in 2026 on the soon-to-be Rail Trail in Old Town and downtown. This is among projects Keller said will help with redeveloping the urban core.

“Seeing is believing. We'll see what happens. Time will tell us,” Candelario said.

Leila Chapa contributed reporting to this article.

Paloma Chapa is the multimedia editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at multimedia@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88

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