NM National Guard chief says operation on Central Avenue 'didn't change much' - Colleen Heild & Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
A mission impossible?
When the New Mexico National Guard hit the streets around the once-famed Route 66/Central Avenue corridor in October, the task was to create a "measurable difference" in the area's chronic crime problem.
The team, dispatched by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, got an eyeful, but the results were mixed, according to New Mexico National Guard Maj. Gen. Miguel Aguilar, who gave a post-mortem of the operation to the state Senate Finance Committee earlier this week.
"It's just overloaded with crime," Aguilar said of the Central Avenue corridor. "Absent structural changes, current outcomes are predictable and self-sustaining."
The National Guard was deployed after Lujan Grisham issued an executive order in the spring of last year. About 80 guardsmen were contemplated for the assignment but at times that number climbed to 130, he said. They were trained by the Albuquerque Police Department to perform duties that would free up sworn officers to make arrests. Instead of uniforms, the guardsmen wore polo shirts and khaki pants.
"Everybody who got on this assignment wanted to be there," Aguilar said. Currently, a group of the National Guard is assisting law enforcement in the Española area. And the guard also has members deployed in Africa on federally assigned duties.
"What we were tasked to try to do was to create a measurable difference over a prolonged period of time along the Central corridor," Aguilar told the committee. "The frustrating part for probably all of us, including my boss, was it didn't look different, right? What we came to realize is that no matter how much criminal enforcement we're doing, and we could have done more in those initial weeks, we really weren't having the effect that we wanted to have."
Albuquerque's 18-mile stretch of Route 66 on Central Avenue is in the spotlight, especially this year because of the roadway's centennial anniversary.
Aided by the guardsmen, nearly 1,000 individuals were arrested by the APD and New Mexico State Police during the deployment, in the period from after the Balloon Fiesta to after Thanksgiving. The contingent ended its mission in December.
In the 2.75 square mile area of the corridor designated for intense law enforcement, roughly Louisiana to Wyoming, those committing low-level crimes were disproportionately responsible for the city's total crime problem, he said.
According to Aguilar, about 74% were arrested on warrants, such as failing to appear for court. Some 40% were arrested for "public order" crimes; 29% for drug offenses; 19% for violent crimes, and the rest for property crimes, he said.
Over the 60-day period of concentrated focus on Central Avenue, 80% of those arrested were released on pretrial conditions and 50% were released from custody within 48 hours, Aguilar said. Of those cases that reached "resolution," 3o% ended in a conviction and 70% were resolved when they were dismissed by prosecutors "within one or two days of arrest."
The rapid release from jail, according to the National Guard's assessment, "undercuts deterrent and incapacitation," Aguilar said. Those addicted to drugs, such as fentanyl that goes for 50 cents a pill, are likely still under the effects of the narcotic and haven't had a chance to withdraw before being released back on the streets, he said.
The low price of fentanyl, Aguilar said, is a sign that "we're not having an effect on the supply and that's problematic."
"The Central corridor functions as an open-air drug market," he told the committee. "As our guardsmen and the city of Albuquerque has found as well, when you try to do outreach with those that are unhoused who are also addicted, they will not take advantage of sheltering because it takes them out of the area from which the narcotics are available to them and they tell us, 'I'm not going to leave here because this is where I get my drugs.'"
Aguilar said he wasn't blaming any particular agency for what is occurring on the Central Avenue corridor area, but he said the criminal justice system, "just can't keep up with it."
"None of this is intended from my perspective to blame anybody in the system," Aguilar said. "What we found in the operation was no matter what we did from a criminal enforcement perspective, the environment didn't change much. We kept seeing the same people and the same level of activity on the streets."
A 'disaster relief area'
Local leaders have also expressed some discontent with the mission.
City Councilor Nichole Rogers, who represents the bulk of the mission's focus area, said that she wanted the National Guard to lead humanitarian efforts using their built-in training for national disaster response.
"In my opinion, there's parts of my district that feel like a Third World disaster relief area," Rogers said.
Though grateful for the assist, Rogers said that lasting change along East Central won't happen with a focus on policing.
If she was at the helm, Rogers said she would have directed the Guard to survey those living on the street, escort children to school through the walking school bus program and set up warming tents.
She added, "And that, I think, would have gotten us closer to what the governor wanted, which is get people out of the streets (and) get the streets cleaned up."
Rogers said that the misstep could be an opportunity for the Guard and other state agencies to reconsider their approach, regroup and return in a more united front.
Meanwhile, APD Director of Communications Gilbert Gallegos told the Journal that police are constantly performing enforcement operations along the Central corridor.
"We have one right now focusing on public transportation platforms such as bus stops, ART platforms and transit transfer stations," he said. "Last week, we made 186 arrests for new charges and offenders being taken in on warrants. Three guns were seized. The Narcotics Unit conducted an operation that resulted in the arrest of three individuals for trafficking."
On Thursday, he added, APD conducted an operation between Louisiana and Pennsylvania in which nine people were arrested for patronizing prostitutes.
Last year's $9 million National Guard operation wasn't in vain, Aguilar said.
"It's not the effects we wanted, but now we have the data set," he said, "if we can come here and tell that story, then it's not in vain."
State Sen. Mimi Stewart, D-Albuquerque, who is Senate president pro tempore, said parts of the Central Avenue corridor are within her legislative District 17.
"Central is bad, but the street south of Central is worse, that's where they throw up their tents," Stewart said at Wednesday's meeting. "After the National Guard came, you don't see the level of trash and people and their stuff. I think it has made a difference. But now that you're gone, things could get worse."
Committee Chair Sen. Joseph Cervantes, D-Las Cruces, who invited Aguilar to speak, thanked him for the "objective perspective."
"I've driven the Central corridor," Cervantes said. "It motivates me to try to do something about it. At times it feels like the part of New Mexico that time forgot; where law and order have no place. My kids refer to it as Gotham."
Sponsors pull NM constitutional ‘green amendment’ legislation - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
A proposed “green amendment” to New Mexico’s constitution will not proceed in the current legislative session. Its sponsors said Thursday they would pull the bill following a three-hour hearing in which several Democrats said they would not support the measure.
This marks the sixth year New Mexico lawmakers have brought forward legislation to enshrine a right to “clean and healthy air, water, soil and environment” in the New Mexico Constitution. Had the legislation passed, the proposed amendment would have ultimately required approval by voters. The legislation is part of a national movement started by Pennsylvania attorney Maya van Rossum in 2017. So far, only three states have adopted such an amendment: Pennsylvania, Montana and New York.
Opposition and support for the bill were robust in the House Energy, Environment and Natural Resources Committee hearing, which included an hour of public comment.
New Mexico Cattle Growers’ Association President Tom Paterson said the amendment would invite judges to overturn permitting or other decisions made by small governments.
“Cattle growers oppose HJR3 because we believe it will invite a wave of lawsuits that will hurt communities, taxpayers and job growth in New Mexico,” said Paterson, who is also a cattle rancher and retired attorney.
Advocates, on the other hand, said the bill provides a legal framework for the state to address impacts from climate change. Chase Jacques-Maynes, director of the New Mexico Legislators’ Environmental Caucus, urged lawmakers to approve the amendment, saying “environmental harm is not abstract” for young people.
“The Green Amendment does not dictate specific policies, it sets a moral and constitutional floor that says when tradeoffs are made, the health and dignity of New Mexicans must matter, especially those who have been asked to sacrifice the most,” Jacques-Maynes said. “Supporting this amendment is not radical, it is responsible and forward-looking.”
Democratic Reps. Nathan Small (D-Las Cruces) and Meredith Dixon (D-Albuquerque) joined Republicans on the committee in questioning the language of the amendment and said they worried it would curb economic development or expose the state to court fights.
“Ultimately, while I am deeply sympathetic, my conclusion is that investment, timelines and opportunities are much more questionable,” Small said. “We can point to examples when timelines are extended, clean energy investment or investment in environmental remediation goes elsewhere.”
After the meeting, the legislation’s two sponsors, Reps. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque), Joanne Ferrary (D-Las Cruces), told Source NM they would bring forward another proposal in 2027.
“This offers us more time to have more discussions, flesh out the concerns that have been raised and see whether we can come together,” Roybal Caballero said.
NM governor’s office backs medical malpractice reform bill to cap punitive damages - Joshua Bowling, Source New Mexico
As New Mexico lawmakers in both major political parties propose reforms to the state’s medical malpractice laws, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office has thrown its weight behind a measure that would set a cap on punitive damages, pay for plaintiffs’ medical costs as they’re incurred and increase the standard of proof needed to award punitive damages.
House Bill 99, sponsored by Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), seeks to address the state’s physician shortage by limiting the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded by juries. Lujan Grisham identified medical malpractice reform as a priority on the first day of the 30-day legislative session. Lawmakers in recent years raised the limit on how much hospitals can owe for non-medical losses like pain and suffering from $600,000 to $6 million. No cap currently exists on how much a hospital can be ordered to pay in punitive damages.
The state Legislative Finance Committee earlier this month published a report that found all but one of New Mexico’s 33 counties constitute “health professional shortage areas.” In a statewide survey of physicians, LFC analysts found two out of three were considering leaving the state and the majority of them cited medical malpractice as the reason.
The bill’s supporters say it is one of many steps — including interstate medical compacts and programs that would help health care professionals buy a house — needed to fix the state’s physician shortage.
“This isn’t the only fix, but this is a big piece of it,” New Mexico Department of Health Secretary Gina DeBlassie told reporters Thursday morning. “Doctors are retiring early. Doctors are looking to perhaps move [out of] this state. They don’t feel like they’re practicing in a supportive environment.”
HB99 has enjoyed wide bipartisan support. As of Thursday afternoon, more than two dozen co-sponsors — Republican and Democrat — had signed on as co-sponsors. In a statement to Source NM, New Mexico Hospital Association President and CEO Troy Clark said he believes it could signal “a meaningful difference to begin to address the access-to-care crisis.”
Some Republican lawmakers think any amount of punitive damages is too much, though. Senate Republicans on Wednesday introduced Senate Bill 175, which would stop the practice of awarding punitive damages all together.
“New Mexico today is a prime destination for out-of-state lawyers to prey on in-state doctors. We have allowed our state to become a playground for trial lawyers, and New Mexicans are losing their doctors because of it,” co-sponsor Sen. Pat Woods (R-Broadview) wrote in a statement. “When a doctor faces a single uncapped punitive judgment that can bankrupt their family and their practice, they don’t stay in New Mexico — they move to friendlier states.”
Second Senate committee OKs $50M for uranium mine cleanup - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
The New Mexico Senate Conservation Committee on Thursday unanimously endorsed a bill that would continue funding the state’s efforts to remediate abandoned uranium mines and other contaminated sites.
Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces) told lawmakers Senate Bill 66 provides necessary funding to maintain momentum and finally remediate more than 1,000 abandoned uranium mine sites in the state, particularly along the Grants Mineral Belt and on the Navajo Nation.
The Legislature last year approved $20 million for the effort, and late last year the New Mexico Environment Department announced it had begun, with the help of contractors, remediating four of them.
One of the four mines, Steinborn told lawmakers Thursday, exposed those nearby to one year’s worth of radiation every 13 days.
“So it’s a very good thing that we’re doing this,” he said.
Steinborn said he is working with state appropriators on the state’s funding for ongoing cleanups. But said he and other senators are also trying to find a way to get the federal government to pay for most of it.
The $50 million Steinborn is seeking for the upcoming fiscal year would fund NMED cleanups at both uranium sites and other contaminated sites, including from decades-old defunct dry cleaners and oil and gas operations.
Patricia Cordona, policy analyst for the Southwest Alliance for a Safe Future, spoke up during the public comment period to say that she applauded the bill’s intent but has questions about how effectively the sites will be remediated and where crews will transport radioactive waste.
“We want to make sure that we are supporting the right type of technology, or we are being given realistic expectations for the communities, of what the cleanup and the remediation consists of,” she said.
Republicans and Democrats supported the measure after some discussions of which types of sites — uranium or otherwise — would be prioritized. Steinborn said the goal is to split state funds roughly 50-50 between uranium and other contaminated sites.
Just before the unanimous vote, Sen. Angel Charley (D-Acoma) noted that new uranium mine projects in New Mexico are “charging forward” even as the state tries to fund legacy cleanup. She mentioned that companies are seeking approval for new mines near Mount Taylor, a mountain sacred to Navajo people and other local tribes and pueblos.
“It is imperative that we learn from our history, so that we have a responsible future going forward,” she said.
SB66 heads next to the Senate Finance Committee.