By Stephanie Guzman, reporter for Albuquerque Business First
While they agreed on updating the city’s comprehensive plan and the importance of creating more jobs, seven candidates running for Albuquerque City Council disagreed on some key issues affecting the business community at a luncheon forum Monday.
Current council members Isaac Benton, Brad Winter and Trudy Jones joined newcomers Israel Chávez, Patrick Davis, Samuel Kerwin and Hess Yntema in a forum debate.
The seven talked about various issues during a NAIOP-New Mexico event at theAlbuquerque Marriott in front of hundreds of real estate professionals. Kent Walz, editor of the Albuquerque Journal, moderated the forum.
The most contentious topic was the Fair Workweek Act, an ordinance that would’ve required businesses to make schedules far in advance and allow hourly employees to accrue sick leave pay. However, the ordinance never made it to the council floor for a vote.
Benton, who is running unopposed and co-sponsored the ordinance, said the bill didn’t receive a robust discussion. He said he still supports medical leave and schedule control.
Yntema, who was the former assistant city attorney and has worked as a prosecutor in Bernalillo County, didn’t think the ordinance would even be legal and argued there wouldn’t be an enforcement mechanism. Winter, who has sat on the council for 16 years, received applause when he said it was the council’s job “to support job growth, not regulate it.”
The candidates also differed on whether they would support Albuquerque Rapid Transit along the Central Avenue corridor.
Both Chávez and Davis said they supported ART, but thought it was important to make sure local businesses along Central didn’t suffer.
“There are some small businesses in Nob Hill operating with such a small margin, they’re not going to survive construction and they’re worried,” Davis said.
Kerwin, a 23-year-old about to graduate from UNM, said he didn’t support ART and instead said he’d like to see the city invest in doubling the number of buses along major thoroughfares across the city.
The candidates also talked about how they would support job growth.
Chávez said Albuquerque needs to prepare itself for the new economy by emphasizing the tech sector. He also thought Albuquerque could do more to not lose its young people to markets such as Austin and Denver.
“I want to grow a city with local opportunities and careers, not just jobs, where people can sustain a family and a life and stay here for good,” Chávez said.
Kerwin said he wants to incentive local businesses to move into vacant storefronts along Central.
Davis, a former police officer for 10 years, said Albuquerque is not recovering from the recession fast enough, in part because people and businesses don’t feel safe. He said he’d like to see the city do more to fix its police department.
Jones, who is running unopposed in her district, said the city and the mayor have done a lot for businesses, including marketing itself better and creating the Economic Development Action Account (EDAct) fund. But she also thought Albuquerque should invest more in education so workers could get the training they need to find better jobs.
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