FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sept.

22, 2013 ICYMI: Albuquerque Journal Endorses Mayor Berry for Second Term 'Give Berry 4 more years to make city even better' ALBUQUERQUE, NM Citing that the city has turned a corner and is moving in the right direction, The Albuquerque Journal emphatically endorsed Mayor Berry for a second term today. The editorial ticked off a number of tremendous challenges that Mayor Berry overcame during his first term in office, including a $90 million budget shortfall. Editorial: Give Berry 4 more years to make city even better The Albuquerque Journal By: The Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board September 22, 2013 http://www.abqjournal.com/266987/opinion/give-berry-4-more-years-to-make-city-evenbetter.html When Richard Berry took the reins of Albuquerque almost four years ago, the city was not in a good place. It faced: A $90 million budget shortfall. Unemployment that topped 8 percent. A capital budget that had been raided for 8 mills tens of millions of dollars a year to cover operations, salaries and raises. A lack of transparency regarding city spending, staffing, contracts and pay. Bureaucratic red tape, inequitable impact fees based on location and an over-the-top energy code that bogged down construction projects. A major traffic interchange well over its design capacity affecting 56 million commutes each year. An at-risk homeless population running up huge public safety costs. And a commitment to education that amounted to little more than before- and afterschool care.

Berry came to the job with experience as a state legislator in the minority party who had little choice but to build consensus to get things done. Its a skill that has served the city well as he has tackled each of these challenges in turn. The city addressed more than $160 million in shortfalls during his term, turning in balanced budgets each year. It avoided layoffs in its city workforce, and a recovering local economy added 7,200 jobs from June 2012 to June 2013. It returned an annual $3 million to the capital budget from operations, with more promised. It won awards for its ABQ View portal that put the citys business contracts, salaries, benefits, construction projects, internal audits, political contributions, travel expenses and more online for its real bosses, the taxpayers. It equalized impact fees, instituted a business center to bring information together for new and expanding companies, implemented E-Plan Review and FastTrax to streamline plan review and approval, and set up a green path to expedite cutting-edge building projects. It built metaphoric bridges with the state and federal governments, leading the way with $50 million for the $93 million rebuild of the literal bridges of the Paseo del Norte/Interstate 25 interchange. It housed more than 200 of the citys most vulnerable, chronically homeless, recording an impressive 89 percent retention rate after a year and saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars on calls for police and emergency medical services. It joined with Sandia High School to offer an International Baccalaureate program, the University of New Mexico on a planning/architecture facility Downtown, private industry to give high school students Running Start for Careers training, Southwest Learning Center on an aeronautics/math/science academy, and Innovate + Educate on a system to get potential employees skilled up to enter the workforce. Has it been a term without controversy and mistakes? No. Critics especially would say he didnt move quickly and decisively enough to address problems at APD, which seems sapped by low morale and is the target of a Justice Department probe into use of force. The number of officers is down, but so are crime rates. And Berry supported innovative reforms such as lapel cameras for officers. Berry has run the city more like a business than a political machine. His first CAO was a prominent Democrat. Overall, his pragmatic fiscal stewardship, his drive to propose game-changing projects and his commitment to be accountable to voters have put the city in a much better place than it was when he took office. He says he loves Albuquerque, has a passion for the job and wants a second term to really improve (the citys) value.

The Journal recommends voters re-elect Mayor Richard Berry so he can do just that. This editorial first appeared in the Albuquerque Journal. It was written by members of the editorial board and is unsigned as it represents the opinion of the newspaper rather than the writers. ###