Albuquerque mayoral election could decide fate of controversial Downtown BID - Kylie Garcia, Albuquerque Journal
The fate of a proposed Downtown Business Improvement District could hinge on the city’s mayoral runoff this week, as supporters and opponents watch to see how the next leader of Albuquerque might influence the controversial effort.
“I think it’ll be significant,” Albuquerque attorney and BID proponent Bill Keleher said. Voters will decide between Mayor Tim Keller and challenger Darren White in a runoff on Dec. 9.
Albuquerque is one of the largest U.S. cities without a BID, a mechanism through which property owners pool their resources and pay money into the BID to support services such as cleaning, maintenance, security and marketing within the district.
The city of Albuquerque already provides some of these services, but property owners say it isn’t enough. Some local leaders and property owners are betting big on the idea that a BID is what Downtown Albuquerque needs to combat challenges of crime and safety, and revitalize the area as a walkable hub for living, working and recreating.
A petition to create a Downtown BID can only move forward to City Council for approval if it receives signatures from at least 51% of the proposed district’s property owners. Downtown’s proposed BID has more than 180 property owners and 30%, totaling 50 signatures, had signed the petition as of Wednesday, according to Keleher, who’s leading the BID effort.
“We are 60% of the way to where we need to be to get enough signatures and there are plenty of property owners (left) to talk to,” Keleher said.
Candidate take
The Keller administration has backed the push for a Downtown BID, touting it as complementary to Downtown’s Tax Increment Financing District, or TIF, approved by the City Council in December. The TIF allows the city to capture up to 75% of the growth of gross receipts and property taxes collected Downtown for reinvestment into the district.
“When growth is led by local stakeholders, it can take off and be sustained regardless of changes in government or politics,” Keller wrote in an email to the Journal. “A BID helps ensure continuity, momentum, and a shared sense of ownership over downtown’s future, and that’s what we need to keep moving Albuquerque forward.”
White did not directly say whether he would support the creation of a Downtown BID as mayor, but said his plans to tackle crime and homelessness would offer “meaningful relief” to Downtown business and property owners.
He added he was “troubled by” Keller’s comments about the BID, saying he believed Keller is using the proposal as “a way to wash his hands of downtown’s crime and safety issues by shifting responsibility to property owners.”
“My biggest concern is the disconnect among downtown building owners,” White said. “If this process is going to succeed, we need a more intentional effort to bring all stakeholders together. Without that, the BID risks failing again and deepening divisions rather than solving problems.”
Not only does the BID have to go through City Council for approval, but it also hinges its success on both the city and county agreeing to financially contribute due to the number of government buildings located Downtown.
Governmental agencies are exempt from tax assessments; however, they can still participate by entering into a “fee for services agreement” to pay for the BID’s services, according to the Downtown BID website.
“This BID is being formed with the expectation that the City and County will contribute their fair share,” the website says.
Both Keller and White said they would support the city contributing if property owners create the BID.
If Keller wins, Douglas Peterson, one of Downtown’s largest real estate holders, believes it’ll be a boost for BID advocates to re-up their efforts. While he doesn’t know exactly where White stands on the issue, Peterson said conversations with the mayoral candidate have led him to believe White is “a rational person” who wouldn’t be in favor of “something that’s illegal and that’s failed in the past.”
Downtown Albuquerque once had a BID from 2000 to 2014, but a judge ruled that the district was improperly renewed using signatures from unauthorized individuals, dissolving that BID.
Keleher and supporters have said the new BID is much different than the previous one, making improvements to what they’ve said was a faulty structure.
Difficulties getting a hold of some property owners and “misunderstandings about how a BID works” have presented challenges during the signature-collection process, Keleher said. His team recently addressed the latter by launching a website about the Downtown Albuquerque BID.
The website, which went live in November, includes general information about the BID, blog entries from BID advocates and answers to frequently asked questions, including who runs the BID, who pays into it and what property owners will receive for their investment.
“It’s ongoing community education,” Keleher said. “I think if the fence sitters that I’ve talked to — once they understand the benefits and sign, then we’ll have enough to go forward.”
Keleher expects his team to collect the majority signatures needed by February, as the effort will slow down over the holidays.
‘Footing the bill’
Staunch BID opponents remain unconvinced and are as committed to stopping the formation of the Downtown BID as the advocates are to getting it past the finish line.
Peterson has spent the last several months gathering signatures from those opposed to the BID. Peterson said he had collected roughly 60 signatures as of Tuesday.
One of those opponents is Eric Kilmer, who has owned property Downtown since the 1980s.
“It’s just another mechanism for them to extract money from property owners Downtown that (doesn’t) need to be extracted,” Kilmer said.
In Kilmer’s view, property owners already pay enough in taxes for city services and in personal expenses for security services and repairs to crime-related damages. Kilmer believes extra investment in Downtown should come from the city and state through grants and designated funding, not the property owners.
“The people that own property in Downtown are the ones that really invest in Albuquerque,” Kilmer said. “We’re the ones that are footing the bill basically and they’re asking us to foot more of the bill when they should be wanting to help us.”
Both Kilmer and Peterson said they would take legal action before paying a dime into the Downtown BID.
In addition to doubting its efficacy, Peterson challenges the legality of the BID, claiming the current proposal isn’t in alignment with state statute. A proposed BID must have at least three-quarters of its area zoned and used for business or mixed commercial or retail use, the statute says.
Peterson said the proposed Downtown BID doesn’t meet that requirement, with government buildings taking up a significant portion of the district.
The Downtown BID website says that the statute does not define what “used for business” means and contends that a “reasonable understanding of the statute is that having operating government buildings in which people work and provide services does not prevent formation of a business district.”
Peterson said the outcome of the mayoral runoff will “be real determinative about whether or not (a legal fight is) necessary.”
Keleher said he hopes White will support the BID if elected, but added he remains confident regardless of the outcome.
“We hope the city will continue to support the effort, but this is an effort of property owners, so whether the administration supports it or not, we still need a good Downtown,” Keleher said.
New Mexico, Jason Eck agree to new five-year deal - Sean Reider, Albuquerque Journal
New Mexico has signed head coach Jason Eck to a new five-year deal, the school announced Sunday.
UNM’s first-year coach will average an annual compensation of $1.75 million over the life of the contract, an increase of $600,000 from his previous deal. Eck, 47, is also subject to increased incentives tied to regular season wins, postseason appearances and wins over ranked or Power Four opponents.
His assistant and support staff salary pool is also set to increase, per UNM athletic director Fernando Lovo, and additional resources will be dedicated to roster retention.
Listed as a candidate for multiple Power Four jobs this cycle, Eck hinted that a new or restructured deal was imminent after the Lobos’ 23-17 double-overtime win over San Diego State on Friday. That win pushed the Lobos to 9-3 overall and 6-2 in the Mountain West, tied with three other teams for first place in the league.
All parties signed the new deal before the SDSU game: Eck and UNM athletic director Fernando Lovo signed last Tuesday, and UNM President Garnett S. Stokes did so last Wednesday.
“Keeping coach Eck at UNM was incredibly important to us,” Lovo said in a release Sunday. “What he has accomplished in such a short time is truly extraordinary. He brought belief back in our program, united our community, and raised the standard for what New Mexico football can be.”
Per the Journal’s review of the contract, Eck will make $1.55 million in the first year of his new deal. That figure will increase by $100,000 each year in a contract that expires in 2030; Eck’s base salary ($400,000) remains unchanged through the life of the deal, but his media participation and program promotion clauses ($575,000 each) increase by $50,000 each year.
Eck is also subject to new incentives based on regular-season wins. He would receive an additional $50,000 for seven regular-season wins; $100,000 for eight; $150,000 for nine; and $200,000 for 10. He would be set to make a $100,000 bonus for an appearance in the Mountain West Championship game and $150,000 for winning it along with $10,000 for any win over a ranked or Power Four team.
If UNM were to make the College Football Playoff, Eck would be entitled to $100,000 per game played that postseason. He would receive $350,000 if the Lobos were to win the national championship, a $250,000 increase from the figure stipulated in his original deal.
Academic incentives related to UNM’s Academic Progress Report (APR) have been replaced and are now structured around team GPA. Eck is no longer subject to receive bonuses related to attendance.
His buyout remains un- changed from the original deal, with Eck paying UNM $4 million if he were to leave in his first contract year; $2 million in the second; $750,000 in the third; $500,000 in the fourth; and $300,000 in the fifth and final year of the deal.
UNM hired Eck, formerly the head coach at Idaho, in December 2024. In his first year, he notched a 35-10 win at UCLA and nearly led the Lobos to their first-ever Mountain West Championship appearance.
UNM is bowl-eligible for the first time since 2016 and on Sunday received votes in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the first time in nearly 28 years.
Attendance has also seen a dramatic spike in Eck’s one season on the job. After averaging 16,001 last season, UNM home attendance increased 57.8% to an average of 25,252 through six home games in 2025. It’s the highest year-over-year attendance increase among FBS programs this season.
New Mexico agribusinesses receive federal funding for mid-supply chain operations - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
Eighteen New Mexico agribusinesses will receive a portion of a $3.5 million federal grant to strengthen”middle of the supply chain” operations in the state, according to a news release from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture.
The 18 recipients of the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure grant are located throughout the state and include farms, farmers markets and other organizations that “increase capacity for processing, aggregation and distribution of local foods.”
The projects themselves range from construction, equipment purchases and facility expansion and must be completed by Dec. 16, 2026.
El Calvario United Methodist Church located in downtown Las Cruces will receive more than $383,000 from the grant to expand space they are currently leasing for the El Calvario Commercial Kitchen Incubator. Rev. George Miller, executive director of the Gastro Emprende Food Hub at El Calvario, told Source New Mexico that the food hub will be available for people who own a business in the food industry or want to start one, but need an area to prepare food.
Miller said the church has a commercial kitchen they used to serve food to people when they were supporting a short-term shelter. The church later opened the kitchen to people with credentials or are trying to work toward them to use, but the space is limited.
“It kind of came out of our own experience, history of serving food to people,” Miller said. “And some of the clients we deal with are underserved populations, basically, or people without so much access or voice or [who are] discriminated [against]… That was just the people that were at our doorstep here in Las Cruces.”
The program has provided people in the area a place to foster their own businesses, enhance their skills and experiment with food products while also ensuring more New Mexico produced food is used, prepared and distributed.
Miller described it as an “economic development model,” and said current clients use the space to process chile, freeze dry food and develop new products. Plans are nearly complete on the new space, Miller said, and added that he expects the renovation could be completed within six months.
Other grant awardees include Corrales Classic Farms, Santa Fe Farmers Market and La Mesa Organic Farms in Dixon. According to the agriculture department’s release, La Mesa Organic Farms intends to upgrade a mobile kitchen and various processing equipment to increase heritage apple cider and blue corn product production, “expanding into more regional farmers markets while preserving traditional New Mexico foodways.”
“By investing in the middle of the supply chain, we’re helping New Mexico producers bring more local food to market and strengthening our state’s food system,” New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Jeff Witte said in a statement.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said in a statement that investing in such programs and projects will “ensure” food produced and processed in New Mexico remains in the state.
“Supporting our farmers, ranchers and food entrepreneurs is an investment in our economy, and in healthier communities and stronger connections between New Mexicans and the food grown here at home,” Lujan Grisham said.
Nexus Health to shut down, leaving questions about patient care, planned development – Santa Fe New Mexican
In Santa Fe, a large local health clinic is closing. The Santa Fe New Mexican reports that Nexus Health, which opened a large, three-story clinic on the city’s south side a little more than a year ago, abruptly announced to patients Wednesday (Nov. 24) that the business is closing.
Dr. Scott Herbert, the company’s president, confirmed the closure in a text message to The New Mexican. Herbert did not provide details or issue any kind of statement. Herbert told the New Mexican he would have more to say on the subject next week. In the meantime, it’s unclear why or exactly when the clinic is closing. Herbert says the decision was made late Tuesday Nov. 23.
The New Mexican reports the decision to shutter Nexus Health caught Santa Fe residents off guard and left patients scrambling Wednesday to reschedule procedures with other providers. A couple of patients who spoke with The New Mexican but declined to give their names said they were notified Nexus would close in January but already has stopped performing procedures. They said they were told to make arrangements with Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
The 95,000-square-foot clinic Nexus opened at 4200 Beckner Road in September 2024 is the company centerpiece, a multispecialty facility designed to position the company to double or triple its patient base.
But Herbert and other Nexus officials increasingly found themselves butting heads with Christus St. Vincent, the largest health care provider in the region. According to a June 13 story in The New Mexican, Nexus emerged from a practice that once was a longtime partner of Christus St. Vincent. After that split, the two companies began feuding over contracts, provider poaching and patient care.
Their dispute heated up in 2024 when Christus St. Vincent revoked the hospital privileges of two orthopedic doctors and three pain specialists. Another Nexus-aligned physician, an infectious disease specialist, was denied privileges in June, according to the story.
Herbert said the move would make it impossible for his company to recruit doctors to Santa Fe in the future and accused Christus St. Vincent officials of trying to stamp out competition.
A Christus St. Vincent spokesperson responded to that charge by saying the hospital has an exclusive arrangement for comprehensive infectious disease coverage, indicating the hospital can’t bring in an outside infectious disease doctor.