Sierra Club Building Bridges to the Outdoors Newsletter

The February 2010, Building Bridges to the Outdoors Newsletter from the Sierra Club features an article regarding the resolution sponsored by Albuquerque City Councilor Rey Garduño to join the Leave No Child Inside Coalition of New Mexico.

Special Thank You to Sierra Club of New Mexico for all of their amazing work with youth!

You can read the newsletter here.

Voting Record; Feb. 1, 2010 City Council Meeting

EC-09-14 Recommendation of Award to Quote Unquote, Inc. for Public Access Television Operation Services
Motion: Approve
Voted: For
Status: Passed

EC-09-17 Recommendation of Award to InteRel Consulting for "Hyperion Design and Implementation"
Motion: Approve
Voted: For
Status: Passed

O-09-87 Approving The Formation of The Albuquerque Renewable Energy Financing District; Identifying The Method By Which Property Owners May Execute Agreements To Have Their Property Included In The District; Providing For Governance of The District; Establishing Parameters Relating To The Issuance of District Bonds; Providing That Bonds and Other Obligations of The District Will Not Be Obligations of The City (O'Malley, by request)
Motion: Withdrawn by Sponsor
Voted: For
Status: Passed

O-09-95 Annexing Forty Acres, More or Less, Located In Tract 5, Northerly Portion, Section 17 T11N, R2E, Paradise Hills (In The General Area of Rainbow NW, Between Paseo Del Norte NW and Faciel NW), and Amending The Zone Map To Establish SU-1 For Major Public Open Space (MPOS) Zoning (Benton, by request)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-09-7 F/S(2) Declaring The City of Albuquerque's Commitment To Developing A Strong
"Town-Gown" Relationship and Engaging In An Ongoing, Cooperative Partnership With The Largest Higher Education Institutions in Albuquerque - The University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College - and Bernalillo County For The Benefit of The Institutions and of The Citizens of The Albuquerque Metropolitan Area; Resolving To Participate In The Development of a Comprehensive Transportation Study; Designating Previously Appropriated Funds For The Purposes of This
Resolution (Benton)
Motion: Do Pass as Substituted
Voted: For
Status: Passed

M-10-1 Supporting The Albuquerque Public Schools' Bond/Mill Levy Election On February 2, 2010 (Sanchez)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-30 Providing Partial Funding For The Construction Of Fire Stations 2 And 7 And Providing Funding For The Acquisition Of Marked Police Vehicles; Making Appropriations Within The Photo Enforcement Fund 288 And The Capital Acquisition Fund 305 (Sanchez, Benton)
Motion: Do Pass as Amended
Voted: For
Status: Passed

To view the consent agenda, deferals, and other City Councilors votes, click here.

Report: Less Than Half of NM Households Have Internet Access

from SWOPblogger, a great post and article about the lack internet access in our communities.

The Social Science Research Center (SSRC) recently published a report of their findings in New Mexico, which indicates that there is a serious digital divide in our state. Less than half of New Mexico households have access to the internet, a serious problem in the modern world.

This article by Gloria Williams investigates the impact of internet access in New Mexico in the wake of the SSRC report. In the article, Andrea Quijada of the New Mexico Media Literacy Project touches on the importance of the internet:

"As all information gets moved online, people's very real lives depend on the Internet, from public assistance, to immigration statues, to health, to education, to people's right to live with self-determination."

These issues are important today because the Federal Communication Commission is currently developing policies around Internet usage. Groups like NMMLP and SWOP are pushing for the FCC to adopt principles of net neutrality and universal broadband, to assure that the Internet is controlled by the people that use it and accessible to everyone.

Not surprisingly, telecom corporations are opposed to these ideas.

My Op-Ed Piece in the Albuquerque Journal

from the Albuquerque Journal

Monday, January 25, 2010

Public Jobs Program Needed

By Rey GarduÑO
Albuquerque City Councilor
The current unemployment rate in Albuquerque is at 8.2 percent. A little more than a year ago in October 2008, the unemployment rate for Albuquerque was at 4.8 percent. There are similar numbers statewide as the rate has nearly doubled from last year, 4.5 percent to more than 8 percent. Lately, unemployment has been on the radar of our officials in Washington, D.C. In this kind of environment, Congress has two choices. Its members can either pretend to act by putting together a series of Band-Aid approaches, or they can adopt the real solution that is staring us all square in the face: a public jobs program. It's time to reinvest in our communities.

Read the rest here.

Also, read the Op-Ed piece by my SE Heights representative, County Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, here.

Voting Record; City Council Meeting, Jan. 20, 2010

AC-09-15 La Mesa Community Improvement Association Appeals the Board of Appeals Decision to Grant an Appeal, Thereby Reversing the Zoning Hearing Examiners Decision of Denial of a Special Exception to Section -16-2-17-(B)(15): a Conditional Use to allow for the proposed retailing of alcoholic drink for off premise consumption within 500 feet of a residential zone on all or a portion of Lo(s) 1-11, Block(s) 1, La Mesa Subdivision, Zoned C-2, Located at 7105 Central Ave. NE
Motion: Grant with Findings
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-09-328
Re-Establishing A Policy To Require a Nuisance Prevention Agreement Prior To Approval of The Issuance Or Transfer of A Liquor License In Certain Areas of The City
(Garduño)

Motion: Do Pass

Voted: For

Status: Passed

R-10-22 Supporting An Affordable Housing Project On A Parcel Presently Owned By The City; Conveying City Owned Property For The Purpose of Constructing An Affordable Housing Project; Designating $1,000,000 In City Affordable Housing Fund 240 For The Affordable Housing Project; Requesting The Administration To Follow City Procedures To Convey The Parcel and Approve A Contract For Funding To Be Used For The Purpose of Providing Affordable Housing For Lo- and Moderate-Income Individuals and Families (Garduño)

Motion: Do Pass

Voted: For

Status: Passed

R-10-23 Supporting and Joining The Leave No Child Inside Coalition of New Mexico (Garduño)

Motion: Do Pass

Voted: For

Status: Passed

EC-10-19 Fiscal Year 2010 Cost Reduction Plan
Motion: Receipt Be Noted
Voted: For
Status: Passed

EC-10-29 Approval of the Assignment and Assumption Agreement between the City of Albuquerque and Eclipse Aerospace, Inc.
Motion: Approve
Voted: For
Status: Passed

EC-10-30 Mayor's Appointment of Thomas L. Stahl to the Labor-Management Board
Motion: Confirm
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-09-16
Adjusting Fiscal Year 2010 Appropriations For Certain Funds and Program Strategies To Provide For A Reduction In Anticipated Gross Receipts and Other Revenues (Harris, by request)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-09-352
Relating To Capital Projects; Creating A Southern Boulevard Streetscape Project Eubank Drive To Juan Tabo Drive; Appropriating Funds In The Transportation Infrastructure Tax Fund 340 (Harris)
Motion: Do Pass as Substituted
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-20 Establishing Priorities For The 2011 Capital Improvements Plan; Defining The Criteria To Be Used In Rating Project Proposals; Assigning Weights To The Criteria; Allocating Amounts For Different Purposes Within The 2011 General Obligation Bond Program (Harris, by request)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-25
Approving and Authorizing The Filing of Agreement For A 2009 Cost Reimbursement Program With The Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and Providing For An Appropriation To The Police Department (Jones, by request)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-26
Approving and Authorizing The Filing of The Attached Agreement For A 2010 DWI Drunkbuster Overtime Enforcement Program With The State of New Mexico Department of Transportation, Traffic Safety Bureau and Providing For An Appropriation To The Police Department (Sanchez, by request)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

R-10-28
Amending The East Gateway Interim Design Regulations, Extending The Moratorium And The Term Of The Interim Design Regulations For The Sector Planning Area (Harris)
Motion: Do Pass
Voted: For
Status: Passed

To view consent agenda, deferred bills, and other Councilors votes, click here.