On Monday, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham held a lunchtime session with Albuquerque business leaders at the National Hispanic Cultural Center.
Lujan Grisham scheduled the informational session to hear from business leaders on what they feel it will take to get crime under control and how to get it done.
“This is not about dialing up any kind of political temperature,” Lujan Grisham began. “This is about dealing with the fact that New Mexico is in real trouble. And don’t take my word for it, because I’m going to give you some startling data.”
The more than hour-long conversation focused on public safety concerns in New Mexico, with Lujan Grisham stating crime is not just an Albuquerque problem and that, for example, violent crime in Las Cruces has risen by 68% in the last year.
“We (have) to be mindful of all of the work that we’ve done together — and look no further than your managed care organizations and for hospitals, they can’t manage it,” she said. “There is not one solution that will address this.”
The governor spoke about how New Mexico is a state that hasn’t modernized its competency laws or its commitment laws.
She said both are tricky because the state is dealing with a current statutory structure where defendants don’t need competency requirements to stand for trial.
Lujan Grisham said 16,000 competency cases have happened since 2017 where defendants have been released into the community. Of those, 3,291 involve serious felonies — rape, trafficking, attempted murder, assault, battery, robbery and felony-level arson.
“These aren’t easy cases and are highly dangerous individuals who are on our streets,” she said. “I think we’re now at around 4,000 requests for police assistance.”
Lujan Grisham then went to talk about what business owners from across the state are experiencing.
She said every single day, she hears from the business owners who are dealing with broken windows, dead bodies or discarded drug paraphernalia.
“The fact that we have so much risk, and it’s escalating so quickly, it’s incredibly telling,” she said. “We have to mitigate this risk. We’re not going to be able to redevelop Downtown if your employees aren’t thrilled to work there. It’s not only Downtown anymore. It’s in every segment. People don’t want to come to work. They don’t feel safe. They can’t park. They won’t walk to their cars. They can’t go to a restaurant or can’t shop, they can’t go anywhere.”
The governor then opened up the room to questions.
Joanie Griffin, a Chamber board member and founding principal of Sunny 505, said her business was broken into over the weekend and asked what Albuquerque business owners can do to curb the problem.
Lujan Grisham gave examples of other states — such as Florida, Colorado, California, Texas, Washington and Oregon — that have fixed commitment and competency laws.
She referenced California enacting a statewide order for no public camping, as well as many states putting limits on pedestrians.
Del Esparza, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Chairman of the Board, expressed his concern for the result of the special session, as well as wanting to know what the community can do to move forward together.
Esparza also asked if the governor would call another special session.
“Your Legislature can call themselves into special session,” she says. “I wouldn’t recommend that because they can’t create guardrails. So then you can end up with five weeks of nothing getting done. They could ask me to call another one, and I would do that at any time. But if (the feeling) doesn’t shift, it just means I’m making people angry, and making people angry is not a strategy.”
Lujan Grisham said in the 60-day session in 2025, the Legislature could set itself a schedule of seven days to get to the public safety bills. She referenced 2013, when the rocket docket tackled 40 bills in five days.
“Do not have these bills the last two days of session,” she said. “Don’t get distracted with other things.”
Adam Silverman of Geltmore LLC presented possible solutions including:
- Safe sites — which would give unhoused people a place to go while getting the support they need to get back on track.
- Storefront Grant — the city used to have a grant for businesses in Downtown where the grant money would help them get the tools needed to deter crime, such as cameras, bars on windows, etc.
- Metropolitan Redevelopment areas — which would used condemnation in Class Eight counties only situated in the Metropolitan Redevelopment areas to get rid of dilapidated properties where the “zombies” who don’t want to participate in our society go.
The business gathering emphasized the need for urgent action to address these issues, including mandatory data sharing, increased penalties and changes to competency laws.
The group also discussed the importance of mental health care reform in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for criminal justice reform and youth violence prevention.
Speakers also stressed the importance of collaboration among government, law enforcement and the public to address these complex issues.
GACC President and CEO Terri Cole thanked the governor for putting together the special session and said the Chamber continues to support change in public safety and Downtown.
“This is not just an Albuquerque problem,” Cole said.
Lujan Grisham said that the entire community needs to come together and collaborate.
“We need everyone at the table,” she said. “We need to all be rowing in the same direction.”
