Albuquerque’s Mayor Faces Heat After Controversial Veto
Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry delivers his veto message via YouTube. Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry / YouTube
Petition calls for recall after Richard Berry blocks ballot proposals, including one on marijuana decriminalization.
The mayor of New Mexico’s largest city is facing calls to step down after he vetoed a package of ballot proposals late last week, including one that would have allowed local voters to decide whether small amounts of marijuana should be decriminalized and another on whether taxes should be increased to fund social services.
“I have carefully considered and have exercised my veto authority on R-14-91, which passed at the City Council meeting of August 18, 2014 by a vote of 5 For and 4 Against,” Albuquerque Mayor Richard Berry said in his veto message.
According to the City Charter, the mayor can’t veto portions of a resolution that makes it to his desk for consideration, so Berry said he was left with little choice but to veto the whole package.
“I cannot in good conscience sign a bill that would impose a tax increase on the people of Albuquerque without any specific plan as to how the taxpayer resources would be spent or a bill that flies in the face of state and federal law as it pertains to illegal drugs,” he said in his veto message.
Now, a Change.org petition has been launched that calls on Albuquerque residents to recall the mayor to force him from office: “We are the people that make this city great and no longer will we stand for the dictatorship of Mayor Berry and his cronies. Sign now and let's take back Albuquerque and let the voice of the people be heard.”
Berry, a Republican, has not responded to the petition, according to local media reports.
The Albuquerque Journal reports:
City Council President Ken Sanchez, a Democrat, accused Berry of depriving Albuquerque residents of the right to vote on important initiatives.
“You’ve got to trust the voters that they are going to make the right decision,” Sanchez said. Berry “is not raising the taxes. This would be the will of the voters of Albuquerque if they choose to invest in these initiatives.”
The council’s next move is not entirely clear and if councilors want take action on some of the ballot proposals that have broad agreement on, they need to act fast. Any local measures targeted for the November ballot have to meet a Sept. 9 state elections deadline, according to the Journal.
Read the mayor’s full veto message:
I have carefully considered and have exercised my veto authority on R-14-91, which passed at the City Council meeting of August 18, 2014 by a vote of 5 For and 4 Against. Per the City Charter I do not have the ability to veto only portions of the resolution; therefore I have vetoed it in its entirety.
It is disappointing that I have been put into a position to have to veto an entire bill that includes a number of provisions that I support simply because certain members of the City Council voted to include last minute provisions that lack detail and/or circumvent state and federal law.
While I am supportive of the bill as originally drafted, and fully support sending many of the measures to voters for their consideration, I cannot in good conscience sign a bill that would impose a tax increase on the people of Albuquerque without any specific plan as to how the taxpayer resources would be spent or a bill that flies in the face of state and federal law as it pertains to illegal drugs.
For these reasons I am vetoing this bill.
WATCH: KRQE-TV’s report on the Change.org petition