The City of Albuquerque as a community was established in 1706 with the founding of Old Town by the Spanish. In 1885, while New Mexico was still a territory of the United States, Albuquerque was chartered as a Town, and in 1891 Albuquerque was organized under Territorial laws as a city.
The Charter adopted pursuant to State Law, under which the City of Albuquerque government now operates, was adopted in 1917. It changed the system of government from a Mayor-Council (ward) system to a Commission-Manager system. The Charter was amended four times (July 22, 1919, October 7, 1919, February 15, 1966, and June 29, 1971) prior to the city's government being changed to the Mayor-Council form in 1974.
The July 22, 1919 amendment increased the number of City Commissioners from three to five and provided for the election of the added members within 60 days [Note 1]. They were in fact chosen October 7, 1919, and their successors have been selected every four years thereafter [Note 2]. Also at the October 7, 1919 election, two additional amendments were adopted, one concerning the method of filling vacancies on the City Commission created by a recall election and the other eliminating the provision concerning compensation of $5 per week for each member of the City Commission.
At the Special Election, February 15, 1966, eight amendments, adding some new sections and repealing some other sections, were adopted as indicated in the parenthetical statements following the appropriate sections. These amendments were submitted to the electors of the City of Albuquerque upon recommendations made by a City Charter Study Committee appointed by the City Commission on July 6, 1965. Nine proposals had been made but one recommendation was rejected by the electors. The rejected proposal would have increased the number of City Commissioners from five to seven and changed the general election date to the first Tuesday of March in even-numbered years [Note 3].
On November 3, 1970, the State adopted a new constitutional provision popularly called the Home Rule Amendment to the New Mexico State Constitution, compiled as Article X, Section 6. Subsequently, on December 7, 1970, the City Commission appointed a Charter Study Committee which made its final report on May 10, 1971. Its recommendations, consisting of five propositions, were submitted to the electors on June 29, 1971; of these propositions, three were adopted. The preamble and Article I providing for Home Rule were amended, a new provision (Article VIII) was adopted concerning human rights, and a new provision (Article IX) was added concerning the preservation of environment [Note 4].
Of the two proposed amendments which were not adopted, Proposition #2 would have changed the form of city government to a Mayor-Council type, would have established councilmanic districts, provided for the official salaries and would have made other changes. Proposition #5 would have permitted the City Council to establish subordinate governmental districts and provide an elective citizen council in each district with authority to act upon appropriate local matters.
It should be noted that the Charter Committee of 1971 proposed the title "City Council" for the existing City Commission. Since Propositions #2 and #5 failed while Propositions #1, #3, and #4 succeeded, the reader should recognize that "City Commission" and "City Council" refer to the same body.
On January 24, 1974, the City Commission submitted to the electors five proposed amendments which were voted upon at the Special Election, February 26, 1974. Three amendments were adopted by the electorate as indicated in the parenthetical statements following the appropriate sections. The amendments replaced the five-member, at-large City Commission which had governed the city since 1917 with a full-time Mayor as the city's chief executive and a nine-member, part-time districted City Council as the legislative arm of city government. The amendments also provided for an Election Code and a Code of Ethics [Note 5].
Of the two proposed amendments which were not adopted, Proposition #4 would have added four at-large commissioners to the nine-member City Commission and Proposition #5 would have provided for partisan elections.
On August 4, 1975, the City Council submitted to the electors four proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election October 7, 1975. All four amendments were approved by the electorate. The amendments removed all of the transitional language in the Charter relating to the shift from the Commission-City Manager form of government to the Mayor-City Council form of government, exempted certain contractual obligations relating to bonding from the initiative and referendum procedures, clarified the time limits relating to veto power and required candidates for Mayor and Councillor to obtain petitions in order to be placed on the ballot [Note 6].
On July 27, 1977, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 4, 1977. The proposed amendment, which was not approved by the electorate, would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors [Note 7].
On July 16, 1979, the City Council submitted to the electors three proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 2, 1979. All three proposed amendments were disapproved by the electorate. Proposition #1 would have required the Mayor to attend City Council meetings, Proposition #2 would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors, and Proposition #3 would have increased the membership of the Council [Note 8].
On July 20, 1981, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 6, 1981. Proposition #1, which was not approved by the electorate, would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors. Proposition #2, which was adopted by the electorate, amended the provision relating to Council district boundary revisions [Note 9].
On July 18, 1983, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 4, 1983. The proposed amendment, which was approved by the electorate, increased the number of signatures on petitions of persons desiring to be candidates for Mayor or Councillor to be placed on the ballot [Note 10].
On August 5, 1985, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 8, 1985. Both proposed amendments were disapproved by the electorate. Proposition #1 would have increased the salary of the Mayor and Proposition #2 would have changed the salaries of the Councillors to equal the salaries received by the Bernalillo County Commissioners [Note 11].
On August 3, 1987, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 6, 1987. The proposed amendment, which was not approved by the electorate, would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors [Note 12].
A City Charter Review Task Force was established in July 1988 and in its final report, which was submitted on January 17, 1989, the Task Force recommended thirty-five amendments to the Charter. Subsequently, on June 19, 1989, the City Council submitted to the electors eight proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 3, 1989. The eight proposed amendments included twenty-nine of the thirty-five amendments recommended by the Task Force.
In addition, on August 7, 1989, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was proposed by a petition filed pursuant to Article VI and which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 3, 1989.
Five of the nine proposed amendments were adopted by the electorate as indicated in the parenthetical statements following the appropriate articles. The amendments amended Articles II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, X, XI, and XII.
Of the four proposed amendments which were not adopted, Proposition #3 would have increased the salaries of the Councillors, Proposition #5 would have increased the salary of the Mayor, Proposition #6 would have added a new article concerning open meetings and public records and Proposition #9 would have added a new section to Article XI, which would have required prior voter approval of increases in gross receipts and property taxes [Note 13].
On October 10, 1989, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were proposed by two petitions filed pursuant to Article VI and which were voted upon at the Runoff Municipal Election, November 1, 1989. Proposition #1, which was not approved by the electorate, would have required the approval of the voters of any city building project for which the construction cost is estimated to exceed $3 million. Proposition #2, which was approved by the electorate, requires competitive bidding for electrical franchises [Note 14].
On January 23, 1991, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was proposed by a petition filed pursuant to Article VI and which was voted upon at the Special Municipal Election, March 26, 1991. The proposed amendment, which was approved by the electorate, added Section 7 to Article XI, requiring the approval of the voters of any city building or project costing more than $10 million, except for specifically excepted buildings or projects [Note 15].
On July 15, 1991 and August 5, 1991, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 8, 1991. In addition, on August 5, 1991, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was proposed by a petition filed pursuant to Article VI and which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 8, 1991. All three propositions were approved by the electorate; however, because of the wording in Proposition #2 that it would take effect only if Proposition #3 was not adopted, Proposition #2 did not take effect. Proposition #1 changed the one year residency requirement for candidates for City Council and Proposition #3 repealed the requirement of a public vote on major buildings or projects costing more than $10 million and enacted a requirement that a public vote be held on a proposed performing arts center costing more than $10 million [Note 16].
On October 5, 1992, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was proposed by a petition filed pursuant to Article VI [of the Charter] and which was voted upon at the Special Municipal Election, December 8, 1992. The proposed amendment, Proposition #4, which was not approved by the electorate, would have repealed existing Article XV [of the Charter] and added a new Article XV which would have prohibited the city from owning, operating or leasing property or equipment to be used for providing electrical service without prior approval of the voters [Note 17].
The Code of Ethics and the Election Code have been amended by the enactment of several ordinances since their initial adoption at the Special Election, February 26, 1974.
The Election Code has since been amended by the enactment of several ordinances since its initial adoption at the Special Election, February 26, 1974, including being extensively amended by Ordinance No. 17-1993.
On April 20, 1981 the City Council, pursuant to Article IV, Section 3, adopted Ordinance No. 35-1981 (amended by Ordinance No. 41-1981), which altered the boundaries of the nine Council districts on the basis of the 1980 Federal Census and amended Appendix A to identify the Council districts according to Bernalillo County precincts.
On June 17, 1991 the City Council, pursuant to Article IV, Section 3, adopted Ordinance No. 28-1991 (amended by Ordinance No. 31-1991), which altered the boundaries of the nine Council districts on the basis of the 1990 Federal Census and amended Appendix A to identify the Council districts according to Bernalillo County precincts.
On May 3, 1993, the City Council adopted Ordinance 21-1993 amending Appendix A by modifying some of the precinct numbers to conform to the precinct numbers adopted by the Bernalillo County Commission.
On June 21, 1993, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 5, 1993. Both proposed amendments were disapproved by the electorate. Proposition #5 would have permitted the City Council and attorneys from the City's Legal Department to meet in closed attorney-client meetings and Proposition #6 would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors [Note 18].
On November 15, 1993, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was proposed by a petition filed pursuant to Article VI [of the Charter] and which was voted upon at a Special Municipal Election, January 11, 1994. The proposed amendment, Proposition #7, which was approved by the electorate, added Section 13 to Article IV, limiting the terms of Councillors to two elected terms [Note 19].
On June 19, 1995, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 3, 1995. The proposed amendment, which was not approved by the electorate, would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors. [Note 20].
A City Charter Review Task Force was established in September 1998 and its final report, which was submitted on June 2, 1999, the Task Force recommended eleven amendments to the Charter. In addition, City Council recommended an additional amendment. Subsequently, on August 2, 1999, the City Council submitted to the electors twelve proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at a Special Election held in conjunction with a Regular Municipal Election on October 5, 1999.
Five of the twelve proposed amendments were adopted by the electorate as indicated in the parenthetical statements following the appropriate articles. The amendments amended Articles II, IV, V, VI, and XII.
Of the seven proposed amendments which were not adopted, Question #1 would have repealed Article XI regarding a public vote on a performing arts center, Question #4 would have amended Article VIII, regarding human rights, Question #5 would have increased the salaries of the Councillors, Question #6 would have increased the salary of the Mayor, Question #8 would have added language to Article IV, Section 10, regarding council duties, Question #10 would have repealed Article IV, Section 13, regarding term limits, and Question #11 would have repealed Article XV, regarding competitive bidding for electrical franchises. [NOTE 21]
On June 25, 2001 the City Council, pursuant to Article IV, Section 3, adopted Ordinance No. 26-2001, which altered the boundaries of the nine Council districts on the basis of the 2000 Federal Census and amended Appendix A to identify the Council districts according to Bernalillo County precincts.
On May 21, 2001 and August 6, 2001, the City Council submitted to the electors three proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 2, 2001. All three propositions were approved by the electorate. Proposition #8 requires the appointment of a redistricting committee representative of the city's geographic, racial, ethnic and gender diversity to redraw boundaries after every federal census. Proposition #9 requires all candidates for mayor or City Council to publicly disclose all campaign contributions and expenditures at any time prior to their formal declaration of candidacy. Proposition #10 requires quarterly financial reports of political contributions and expenditures by the incumbent mayor and councilors throughout their terms of office. [NOTE 22]
On August 16, 2004, the City Council submitted to the electors a proposed amendment to the Charter which was voted upon at the November 2, 2004 General Election. The proposed amendment, which was not approved by the electorate, would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors. [NOTE 23]
On June 20, 2005 and June 30, 2005, the City Council submitted to the electors two proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 4, 2005. Both were adopted by the electorate. The adopted propositions amend the Charter to add an Open and Ethical Elections Code and a photo voter identification requirement for Albuquerque municipal elections. Direct legislation by voter initiative that would have adopted a Fair Wage Ordinance was not approved by the electorate. [NOTE 24]
On October 17, 2005, February 5, 2007, March 5, 2007 and June 4, 2007, the City Council submitted to the electors five proposed amendments to the Charter which were voted upon at the Regular Municipal Election, October 2, 2007. Of the five propositions, four were adopted by the electorate. The adopted propositions amend the Charter to preclude municipal elections on religious holidays, prohibit candidates for the office of Mayor or City Council from accepting campaign contributions from any business entity or person or organization that has a contract with the city, allow the City Council to appoint members to City boards and commissions if allowed by ordinance, and changes procedures for recall elections. The proposition which was not approved by the electorate would have changed the annual salaries of the Councillors. [NOTE 25]
A City Charter Review Task Force was established in August 2008 and in its final report, which was submitted on May 4, 2009, the Task Force recommended fourteen amendments to the Charter. Subsequently, on June 22, 2009, the City Council submitted to the electors' ten propositions to the Charter which were voted upon at a Regular Municipal Election on October 6, 2009. The ten propositions included ten of the fourteen amendments recommended by the Task Force in addition to two City Council recommended amendments.
Pursuant to Section 2, Article V regarding the Mayor's salary, the Council has passed three resolutions approving increases. Resolution 132-1977, adopted July 18, 1977, increased the Mayor's salary from $34,000 to $39,000 per year, effective December 1, 1977. Resolution 246-1981, adopted November 23, 1981, increased it from $39,000 to $46,000 per year, effective July 1, 1982. Resolution 245-1981, also adopted November 23, 1981, provided that the Mayor's salary “shall be automatically increased July 1 of each fiscal year in the amount equal to the across the board percentage increase granted to city M-series employees.” On October 6, 2009, Proposition 2009-001, Charter Amendments, was adopted by electorate stating that the Mayor’s salary shall be determined by a Citizens’ Independent Salary Commission pursuant to Article 5 Section 2. The Mayor's salary as of July 1, 2009, is $109,324.80.