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Ranked choice voting defeated
The Albuquerque City Council killed a proposal to use ranked choice voting for municipal elections Monday night.
Proponents argued that this process would save millions of taxpayer dollars. Meanwhile, opponents said that the new system would confuse voters and that most were not educated enough to research and rank multiple candidates.
Ranked choice voting is already used in municipalities across the country, including locally in Santa Fe and Las Cruces.
鈥淚鈥檓 not calling people dumb or confused,鈥� said Councilor Dan Lewis.
Instead, Lewis argued that the ranked choice system itself is confusing. Lewis pointed to Santa Fe, where even years after implementation, some voters are still unclear on the process.
Ultimately, the measure was voted down on a 6-3 vote.
Councilors Dan Champine, Dan Lewis, Brooke Bassan, Ren茅e Grout and Joaqu铆n Baca , as well as Council President Klarissa Pe帽a voted against the ordinance. Councilors Nichole Rogers, Tammy Fiebelkorn and Stephanie Telles voted in favor of ranked choice voting.
Firefighters honored
While many of us work at desks, behind cash registers or in front of computer screens, for some, a day鈥檚 work is hurtling into burning buildings.
Over the past three months, a dozen Albuquerque Fire Rescue instructors went into 145 simulated burning buildings to train other firefighters. To run more than 700 firefighters through a live firefighting course, some instructors headed into two burning buildings each day.
鈥淲hat they did was not really humanly possible, but somehow they made it and they're still all smiling back here,鈥� said Fire Chief Emily Jaramillo.
The City Council honored those fire-tested instructors during Monday's meeting.
鈥淲e really need heroes in this community and that's you,鈥� said Councilor Tammy Fiebelkorn.
Albuquerque Fire Rescue firefighters were honored Monday for conducting 145 live fire trainings for more than 700 firefighters over the past three months. From right to left, Battalion Chief Will McMullen, Capt. Nikolaus Gallagher, Capt. Josh Cisneros, Lt. Mateo Martinez and driver Patrick Ryan. Courtesy of Albuquerque Fire Rescue On the agenda: ranked choice voting and more
Tonight, Albuquerque city councilors will debate whether to adopt ranked choice voting.
If passed, ranked choice voting would replace the city鈥檚 current runoff system for municipal elections. Instead of voting for one candidate, citizens would rank their favorite candidates numerically. If their preferred candidate is eliminated, their vote is then added to the tally of their second-choice candidate.
This continues until one candidate receives a decisive majority vote, effectively eliminating the need for a runoff election.
Most councilors, however, are against the measure. Five of the nine councilors voted against reviving the bill at last month鈥檚 council meeting.
Councilors Dan Champine, Dan Lewis, Brooke Bassan and Ren茅e Grout, as well as Council President Klarissa Pe帽a voted against reviving the bill.
However, with just a slim majority of 5-4, the bill was revived and will be discussed at the council meeting tonight.
If approved, Albuquerque wouldn鈥檛 be the first municipality in New Mexico to test out ranked choice voting. Currently, both Santa Fe and Las Cruces use this system.
Other topics on the agenda for tonight include a ballot question that would ask the public to vote on whether the director of Albuquerque Public Safety should be confirmed by the city council, similar to the process for a police or fire chief.