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Tax proposal would boost services for mentally ill

Albuquerque Journal (NM) - 4/19/2014

April 19--Some of the ideas are bold, others mundane, but the City Council has no shortage of them.

They include imposing a new tax to pay for mental health and substance abuse programs, making the police chief an elected position and overhauling civilian oversight of the Police Department.

Each of those proposals will surface Monday as city councilors begin debating how to respond to the U.S. Department of Justice report that found APD has a pattern of violating people's civil rights through the use of force. The DOJ found that police officers' use of force was not justified in a majority of the 20 fatal shootings between 2009 and 2013 it reviewed.

"There's a lot of stuff that's in the works," City Council President Ken Sanchez said of councilors' proposals. "We need to collaborate with one another so we don't have conflicting legislation."

No final action is expected during Monday's meeting, but the proposals centered on APD include:

A one-eighth cent gross-receipts tax increase that would raise $16 million a year to pay for programs that help people struggling with mental illness or substance abuse. About half the money would go toward basic services, the rest toward paying off debt to build a homeless shelter, health center or similar project.

The proposal is sponsored by three council Democrats: Klarissa Pena, who represents the Southwest Mesa; Isaac Benton, who represents the city's center and North Valley; and Sanchez, whose district covers the middle West Side.

The tax would add 12.5 cents to a $100 purchase.

Some of the city's most controversial police shootings have involved mentally ill people.

"If we don't address the underlying issues," Pena said, "we're really not doing anything. I don't think we should be asking police officers to be mental health providers."

A City Charter amendment that would make the police chief an elected position. The chief is now hired and fired by the mayor. The proposal is sponsored by Rey Garduno, a Democrat from the university area. If approved by councilors, it would go before voters this fall.

A City Charter amendment that would leave the police chief under the mayor's control but make the hiring of one subject to City Council approval. The measure is jointly sponsored by Sanchez and Brad Winter, a Republican from the Northeast Heights.

An ordinance that would establish a new Civilian Police Oversight Agency with a dedicated source of funding and some expanded power. It's jointly sponsored by Winter and Garduno.

More ideas could be on the way, too.

Sanchez has talked about turning APD management over to a three-person commission that would include a former police chief, a former judge and a civil-rights lawyer. Garduno has discussed legislation aimed at bolstering requirements that officers turn on their lapel cameras to record interactions with the public.

Neither idea has been formally proposed at this point.

Sanchez said the council will also watch for proposed solutions that emerge from negotiations between Mayor Richard Berry's administration and the U.S. Department of Justice, which has directed the city to make a variety of changes aimed at curbing civil rights violations through the use of force.

Sanchez asked the public for patience as the debate plays out.

"Together, we will move forward as a city," he said.

City Council meeting

The council meets at 5 p.m. Monday in the Vince Griego Chambers of the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Government Center, One Civic Plaza. People who sign up to speak to the council are usually given 2 minutes each.

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(c)2014 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)

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