Real estate interests led by the National Association of REALTORS® raised a stunning $566,0000 in PAC money to take down Mayor Tim Keller in this year's mayoral elections. 

The massive haul is making possible multiple mailers supporting Republican Darren White in the December 9 runoff election with Keller.

The messaging focuses on the former BernCo sheriff's ability to "keep ABQ families safe" and do not dive into issues related to housing or homelessness, ranked as the second most important issue to voters in a late September ABQ Journal poll. 

The national realtors group has by far donated most of the cash, coming with $249,000 last week. Others giving include the New Mexico Association of REALTORS PAC--$17,000 and the NM Restaurant Association--$10,000.

The real estate PAC, titled the Albuquerque Coalition for Transformation and National Association of REALTORS Fund, is also mailing in support of runoff candidates ABQ GOP City Council candidate Joshua Neal in westside District 1 and Dem City Councilor Klarissa Peña, seeking a fourth term in District 3 in ABQ's valley. 

But most of the money the PAC ends up spending will be to boost White. 

Independent voters appear to be in the PAC's sights. Some of our independent readers report receiving multiple mailers. (Mailer here.)

Keller and White had their third and final TV debate last night again covering the familiar terrain of crime, homelessness and immigration enforcement  

THE HOUSING SCENE 

It's not as though the Keller administration has been an enemy of real estate developers. In fact, progressives have accused him and Councilor Pena of being too close to the development community.

The City Council in January with Keller's support approved more liberal zoning laws that, according to the city, paved the way for more housing in the city including:

More Housing Types Near Transit and Main Streets--Duplexes, townhomes, and apartments are now allowed in all residential zones within ¼ mile of Main Streets (i.e., segments of Central Ave, 4th Street, Broadway, and San Pedro) and ART station areas).

More Flexibility in Building Height--There are no height limits for apartments in the same ¼-mile radius, allowing for more housing near transit.

Easier Parking Requirements in Key Areas--Parking requirements have been reduced by 50% in Urban Centers, Activity Centers, Main Streets, and Major Transit Corridors. In Premium Transit areas, the reduction increases to 60%. 

(In 2023 the Council and Mayor) approved Casitas that are now allowed on existing residential properties, helping families create more flexible living space for relatives, renters, or caregivers.

Converting Commercial Buildings to Housing: Former office buildings, retail spaces, and other non-residential structures can now be more easily converted into apartments or other types of housing.

Meanwhile, while the city's population has slowed to a trickle in the last decade, property values have not suffered. The median sale price of a home is $365,000. 

While the real estate market is slowing here as elsewhere, over the last 25 years ABQ home values have had an annual average increase of 3.76 percent and in the last decade nearly double that rate, reports Venturi Realty.

HOMELESS HUNDREDS 

In contrast to those uplifting stats, there are the tent camps and hundreds of homeless that routinely congregate along Central Avenue in the SE Heights and the homeless seeking donations from drivers at street medians across the city. 

The seeming omnipresence of the homeless has been a focus of White's who has pledged that homeless camps will be gone on "day one" of his administration.

Continued high crime is a key issue for the development community. If people don't see ABQ as safe they will not move here and many will move out. The city has experienced both even as home sales and prices have avoided recession. 

Keller points to the multitude of expensive programs he has undertaken to lessen the problem, citing the Gateway Center for the homeless as the centerpiece. White was said by the newspaper as having no specific programs in mind to address housing. 

Keller points to the outbreak of fentanyl that fundamentally changed the homeless equation, making addiction more rapid, powerful and stubborn to resolve. He says arresting more drug dealers is one solution but has not specified plans.

White has talked little of fentanyl but has concentrated on crime in general and his promise to "clean up the city."

Messaging from city real estate interests has been dominated in the media by Republican investor Doug Petersen who owns a number of properties along Central and elsewhere and who for years has been one of Keller's most vociferous critics. 

However, Petersen and his social media allies have not offered nuanced programs to resolve the complicated homeless dilemma. They see it as a public safety issue and instead often post photos of the homeless taking drugs or committing acts of vandalism at or near his properties.

Other more moderate and well-known voices in the real estate community such as developer Dale Dekker, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association (formerly NAIOP) and the ABQ Chamber of Commerce have been quiet during this mayoral campaign, leaving the floor to the hard-right Petersen and now the out-of-state realtors PAC.

AI AND DIRTY TRICKS

Artificial intelligence has made its way into the ABQ mayoral race. A two minute video is circulating that uses Mayor Keller's voice to mock himself and his administration while showing scenes of crime and homeless camps. An excerpt:

People say the streets are dangerous but I traverse them daily. Well, I drive through with security windows up, doors locked but spiritually I am there. You see tents. I see rustic open air innovation lasbs.You see carjackings. I see spontaneous community led vehicle redistribution. It'd all about re-framing through an esoteric lens of progress. . . Downtown? Still physically present. That counts. Yes, businesses left but that is the invisible hand of revitalization clearing space for plywood, pop-ups and prophetic chalk art. . .

The AI voice is identical to that of Keller's and his critics will chuckle over the clever self-ridicule of the mayor but it does raise make one wonder about more subtle and advanced AI applications moving into campaigns. Will voters still be able to sort out what is real and what isn't? They won't be chuckling over it. That's for sure.

SWEATSHIRT CAPER

There's another final days dirty trick making the rounds--multiple homeless people wearing "I ♥ Tim Keller" yellow sweatshirts and pictured in unflattering circumstances. Keller called the sweatshirt caper "disgraceful. White said his campaign had nothing to do with the incident and that it grew out of "frustration" with the homeless. The Koch-brothers financed conservative Rio Grande Foundation posted the sweatshirt photos, saying:

Mayor Keller who has mayor has certainly done his “best” to worsen the homeless situation in Albuquerque. Our favorite photo is of the top-left individual standing next to a burning pile of debris on the sidewalk in front of Renaissance Painting.

We don't have "a favorite." It's off-putting to see people down on their luck ridiculed and taken advantage of for political purposes. Where is the humor in the plight of tens of thousands of Americans living on our streets? Being numbed to their individual suffering can be understood as the problem persists, but they are people first--just like you and me--and homeless second. 

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