A proposal before the Albuquerque City Council would create a task force to review the city's charter.
The Proposed Task Force
The proposal had originally been pitched as creating an 11-member voting task force, with members appointed by councilors and the mayor, according to a preview published by abq.news. That early version also called for an independent, nonvoting chair, work beginning in January, at least monthly meetings and public input gathered along the way, with the City Council ultimately deciding which recommendations would go before voters. The ordinance was sponsored by Councilors Renée Grout, Stephanie Telles, Rogers and Champine, per a separate preview from citydesk.org, which also reported the measure was originally scheduled for consideration in a meeting set for Monday, Oct. 19, at 5 p.m.
Dan Champine amended the proposal to create an 11-member task force.
Debate Over Representation
Under the plan, each councilor and the mayor would select one member, while the council as a whole would choose the 11th member as chair.
Telles pushed back sharply, rejecting the idea that newer councilors should defer to more senior colleagues on substantive legislation. “Seniority isn't an argument. Mansplaining isn't an argument. I was voted to represent my district from day one, not after a waiting period of a year,” she said. Telles also said she had reached out to her cosponsors before the Nov. 2 meeting and later told colleagues she had spoken with two cosponsors to apologize if she had acted out of turn, adding that she had tried to reach Rogers, who did not return her call.
Rogers Declines to Close Out the Debate
Rogers, for her part, offered a terse response to the exchange rather than engaging further. “My mom says if you don't have nothing nice to say, don't say nothing,” she said, and she declined to close the debate on the floor. The sparring reflected a broader dispute over mayoral power and legislative control that shaped much of the meeting.
Tammy Fiebelkorn also discussed her vote on the proposal.
What Happens Next
The updated resolution left the City Council to decide which recommendations would go before voters and called for the task force's work to begin in January.
How Albuquerque's Plan Compares to Santa Fe's
Albuquerque's fight over appointment ratios echoes a process already underway in Santa Fe, where the City Council unanimously appointed nine members to a Charter Review Commission, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican. A September resolution required Santa Fe to form that new commission by April, and under the city's code, each council member and the mayor select one commission member apiece. The panel will study the balance of power between Santa Fe's mayor and council, including whether to revise the strong-mayor government structure adopted there in 2018 — making it the city's second Charter Review Commission in less than five years, after one that met in 2022 and 2023.
Separately, Albuquerque's own posted municipal code describes an existing seven-member Charter Review Task Force appointed by the mayor with the advice and consent of the City Council, serving a term of six months or until the task force presents its final report, and required to hold one or more public hearings where residents are encouraged to share views on the charter. It remains unclear how that existing code provision squares with the newly approved ordinance's 15-member structure.
