*Editor’s Note: This story was updated with a comment from the Economic Development Department.
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Albuquerque and Bernalillo County rely on an appointed board (the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Air Quality Control Board or Air Board) to set regulations on air quality. The board received criticism in recent debates over clean car rules and a proposed rule to boost regulation on polluting businesses. Now, the controversy over whether a non-elected board should be making decisions continues with Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller weighing in.
Albuquerque describes the Air Board as a “quasi-legislative” and “quasi-adjudicatory,” meaning the board has powers to both set rules and make judicial decisions on things like permits. The board is supposed to be made up of seven members, four of which are appointed by the mayor and three of which are appointed by the Bernalillo County Commission.
Earlier this month, the Albuquerque City Council voted to change the requirements for sitting on the board. They proposed requiring one member to be an engineer, one to be a physician, one who is involved in higher education focused on air pollution, and one who is experienced in permit compliance or pollution abatement, for example.
City Council backed the idea, but the Albuquerque mayor has pushed back. The mayor has vetoed the bill to change the Air Board as well as a resolution to put the existing Air Board on pause until next year.
“By vetoing these bills, the Mayor has put the City of Albuquerque and State of New Mexico at risk of losing thousands of jobs,” City Councilor Dan Lewis (District 5) said in a press release. Lewis describes the mayor’s move as siding “with environmental extremists.”
Max Gruner, the city’s Economic Development Department director, pushed back on the idea that the veto would cost jobs. “It’s reckless to conflate the disbanding of a council approved, city-county board with economic development,” Gruner said in a press release.
Mayor Keller justified the veto by noting that changing the board would delay the board’s other ongoing business. Keller also criticizes the City Council for not working more closely with the county to pass legislation that affects both the city and Bernalillo County as a whole.
“Had we been consulted, we would have been clear from the start this proposal will not address concerns, whether valid or otherwise, about the Board’s membership, function or rulings. This proposal also disregards our obligations under state and federal law, as well as our duty to our partner, Bernalillo County,” Keller wrote in a message to City Council.
“These proposed changes should have been vetted through discussions with the administration and the Board itself, and there should have been a rigorous process that allowed the County to give input on the various proposals. Moreover, these changes to the Joint Air Quality Ordinance will not fix any criticisms of the Air Quality Control Board. Instead, the proposed changes would likely lead to prolonged and costly legal complications and ultimately lead to the City and County losing local control of our air quality to the State,” Keller added.
Keller also admonished City Council for essentially punishing the current Air Board members. “The legislation unnecessarily denigrates the current members of the Air Quality Control Board,” Keller wrote. “As Council knows, the City is only partly responsible for the appointments to the Board. However, those that we have appointed are qualified both by law and spirit. Additionally, they were all confirmed by this Council. So, while they may not act in a manner that some Councilors, or I for that matter, might wish; they are duly selected and qualified under the law,” Keller wrote.
Next, City Council will have an opportunity to override Keller’s veto. To do that, they’ll need six votes (two-thirds of the entire council) in favor of an override at the December 4 City Council meeting.
