Funding for New Mexico in Focus is provided by: Viewers Like You >> Nash: This week on New Mexico in Focus, the new leaders of the Albuquerque City Council and Bernalillo County Commission sit together to talk priorities and collaboration.

>> Peña: You have some streets that literally two houses are city, one houses county.

>> Barboa: We have to create a system that works together.

>> Nash: Also, the chair of New Mexico's Epstein Truth Commission explains what the group is hoping to accomplish and how it will go about its work.

New Mexico in Focus starts now Thanks for joining us, I'm Nash Jones.

New Mexico has shown up repeatedly in the Epstein Files.

Not only our former governor, Bill Richardson, and other New Mexicans in them, but so are reported crimes at Jeffrey Epstein's former New Mexico estate, Zorro Ranch.

Democratic U.S.

Representative Melanie Stansbury said, after viewing unredacted files on the property that, quote “there is some dark, dark stuff there.” Adding that it's important that the state's representatives are looking into it.

She was referring to the Epstein Truth Commission a New Mexico House subcommittee approved last month, and charged with investigating what happened there and who was a part of it.

Well, tonight we hear from its Chair, Democratic Representative Andrea Romero.

Later, we'll revisit a bombshell story.

Our own Cailley Chella brought to you last month, in collaboration with Source New Mexico reporter, Patrick Lohman.

The duo broke the story that Jay Mitchell, the director of the Hermits Peak Calf Canyon FEMA claims office, received a huge payout for smoke damage at his outlying Angel Fire home.

And he received that six figure payout well before those with catastrophic losses, at the heart of the burn scar, saw a penny.

We have updates for you since that story first aired.

but we start tonight with a conversation with the new leaders of the Albuquerque area's two powerful legislative bodies, the Albuquerque City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission.

I asked the newly elected Council President, Klarissa Peña, and Commission Chair, Adriann Balboa, to sit together to discuss the key issues affecting the state's largest metro and what collaboration between the council and the commission looks like.

Counselor, Commissioner, thank you so much for coming to the table together and for joining us here on New Mexico in Focus, Your jurisdictions -- the Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque, they overlap, obviously -- there are some unincorporated areas of the county, of course, but what does that mean for the work on each of your desks and how much those overlap?

Councilor, can we start with you?

>> Peña Sure.

Well, thank you for having us.

I appreciate being here with Commissioner Barboa.

I've known her for such a long time and admired her work, so -- Thank you.

So -- in particular obviously, the county covers everything.

So they they're -- the bigger entity, right, in terms of land mass.

But, for the district -- my district in particular, District 3, the district that I serve, it's really an interesting, partnership that we have to collaborate with the county because it's so checkerboard.

It's not like that throughout the city and county, but in District 3, it kind of really -- facilitates the need to have that strong collaboration with the commissioner.

>> Nash: And by checkerboard, you mean there's unincorporated areas nearby where -- that's not part of the city.

And so you're collaborating with the commissioner?

>> Peña: Correct.

Other than I mean -- I wished it was more checkerboard.

It was actually, you know, you have some streets that, literally two houses are city, one house is county, the other house is city.

I mean, it really makes it challenging.

So right now we're trying to work with the county to figure out, those areas that we could better collaborate and maybe just incorporate those into the city or vice versa.

>> Nash: And, Commissioner Balboa, how do you see your relationship with city leaders?

>> Barboa: I mean, it's integral, right, that we are two local governments representing the largest population in the whole entire state.

So, you know, since I've got on and especially since I feel like really -- when Commissioner Olivas and Commissioner Barbara Baca got on, we've -- that's been sort of our theme.

We must work together.

And I got on at first, lot of people were like, “oh, the city doesn't do this or the county doesn't do that.” And everybody was pointing at each other.

And I was like, “my family across both these areas don't know who -- this is money.

And they don't know whether it's a city of the county.

And we must work together.” So it is so important.

We have to create a system that works together.

>> Nash: As the new leaders of these legislative bodies, to what degree are you communicating?

I mean, you mentioned, you know each other, you go back.

But is this your first time sitting at a table together in this way?

>> Barboa: I mean, for an interview, but not across our lifetimes.

Before being elected, we have sat at many tables together from infrastructure to businesses to behavioral health to gang intervention.

I mean, we've ran the gamut.

>> Peña: Y.D.I.

>> Barboa: Yeah, Youth Development, the largest at the time, it was -- it needs to be the largest, but also one of the only opportunities to be in that kind of service.

So I think both of our hearts being in service that we -- you know, started there.

>> Nash: So, you have this long history together.

Do you anticipate, communicating as the Chair and the President of these two legislative bodies that have these overlapping communities?

>> Peña: Well, we've actually been Chair and President for like a month and a half.

[Barboa laughs] So just one hot minute.

So yeah.

>> Nash: Yeah, totally -- >> Peña: Absolutely -- >> Nash: But, like, you anticipated -- >> Peña: Absolutely.

Yes.

>> Nash: That relationship will probably -- >> Peña: There will be a moment in time where that's very necessary.

But I -- >> Nash: I didn't get mean to get ahead of you.

>> Peña: I always feel like I can, you know, give her a call if there's something that arises.

>> Nash: There used to be a conversation about consolidating the county commission and the city council that seemed to have lost momentum in recent years.

Do you all have any thoughts on that?

Like why does it make sense either to have these separate bodies or, is it efficient?

I suppose, >> Peña: Do you want to respond?

>> Barboa: I mean, I could share my thoughts, but I think it's a very hot button.

>> Peña: Yes, yes, yes, because I think, you know, at some point the conversation needs to come back to the surface.

So I think it's important to really have the discussion because there's, you know, right now with the city of Albuquerque, we generate GRT.

That's our means of revenue, right.

And our main means of revenue, as to where the county does property taxes.

So actually their budget, even though, they cover the entire, city of Albuquerque -- much of the money that goes into the county is, addresses a lot of the issues in the unincorporated area.

The behavioral health money is dedicated primarily for the county.

And when you're talking about this and our budget is kind of, falling behind and the county's budget maybe -- will surpass us in just a few years.

We really have to start having those conversations about how we how we serve the community.

>> Barboa: And I guess I would say, you know, like, I think it's a habit and especially folks who are in the unincorporated parts of the county, which the county includes the city, it's the whole the county, right.

And I just like to remind folks of that because they think it's separate.

It's not we there is jurisdiction.

I think we pay good respect to each other between we both have a law enforcement.

We both have fire departments.

We both have, you know, these public safety officers, and like services like the you know, the difference is like the county has like the treasurer does property taxes, property values and taxes.

We have the clerk who does our elections and marriage licenses.

Right.

We also have and the county has been lead in the behavioral health programs for generations, right from the beginning of time, almost of the beginning of the county time.

Right.

And so it just means that we've, which serve everybody and we also are responsible for the public hospital and the public jail, which serves everybody.

So, yeah, I think there's definitely pieces.

And that's why it's important that we work together and are in step with each other.

>> Nash: And for the time being, they are, separate legislative, bodies, separate, local governments.

And so I'd like to move us into talking about your priorities as the leaders of these bodies.

And some of the top issues for, the residents that are in Bernalillo County and the city of Albuquerque, one that's very much top of mind for folks is, of course, housing.

Chair Barboa, what sort of solutions can Bernalillo County residents expect to come out of the commission over the next several months?

And where do you stand on housing solutions?

>> Barboa: Yeah, thank you for this question.

Obviously, it's the most it's one of the most important topics going on in our state, our country.

Really.

Right.

Of what the county we've actually last year started a collaboration with the city, including members of state and housing departments, and we were able last year to get $80 million of housing money out collaboratively between the city and county, out to house folks to start construction, but also for transitional housing for immediate, shelter house, you know, transitional housing.

So, yeah, I think the, the housing part we're taking a lead on we're working collaboratively, working with the state.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that -- many people, all of our state, city and county all have, what's called the Affordable Housing Act, which in its first line says that we can gift, donate, contribute land, property in the name of affordable housing.

So when, but yet nobody except for actually YDI there's been one project that.

Yes how YDI, housing I don't know has successfully done in which the government donated property and then they built housing.

That's a positive public private partnership making the best use of our dollars.

Right.

But it hasn't happened otherwise.

Well, this last year, the county we started, I keep saying we broke through that ceiling and we're able to donate two properties now to local groups, developing in the international district with more on the way.

Last, I'll just say real quick, is that, you know, part of that, what we've started, Dr.

Chenoa Bah, Stillwell, Jensen, out of and, Don Begay, both, created a subcommittee on our housing, on our homeless Coordinating Council, and they really spent the last year studying what is, housing needs.

And solutions for native communities.

And they've been, they brought to us this idea.

And we're actually in active working right now to get tribes have housing money.

But oftentimes it's hard to build on reservations for other bureaucracy reasons so they can use their housing dollars.

We can give them land here, land back in Bernalillo County.

They can then build housing and then it's local.

It's local people building housing, profiting off the housing, creating the housing we need when most of our dollars go to big corporations that come and build here right now, we have a path towards creating housing that keeps our money local.

>> Nash: Well, you talk about bureaucracy.

You talk about breaking through that bureaucracy.

Obviously, that brings up the idea of regulation, of zoning.

Zoning has been a huge issue on the city council already so far this year.

The majority of, zoning amendments recently failed.

You voted against several of them, along with, with more conservative leaning councilors, President Peña, they included allowing multifamily units in single family neighborhoods.

What were you hearing from your constituents?

From folks in your district?

And, why did you vote against it?

Why wasn't that a good solution?

>> Peña: So I don't know that it wasn't a good solution.

I just think that we have to have more discussions about what, you know, upzoning looks like.

Right?

Because when you talk about, upzoning and just kind of just doing this blanket across the city of Albuquerque, that blanket doesn't cover the entire city of Albuquerque.

When you have covenants, when you have HOA, when you have deed restrictions, it doesn't apply to those neighborhoods.

And those happened to be more affluent neighborhoods.

Right?

So and if you look at up zoning and some of the research that's been done is it mostly impacts communities of color?

And when we don't have, policies or the tax, the tax, needs that we need to address so that the taxes don't go up.

And then if we don't have, you know, things like, land trust, it really can have a negative affect especially in communities of color.

So, you know, those conversations when we're having this, we just can't, you know, just do something.

And oftentimes when people look at communities of color from a 30,000ft view, which I feel that happens more often than not, and they come in to try to address what they feel are our needs without having conversations with us of how it's going to impact us.

I think I think we need to put a pause on that.

>> Nash: Do you anticipate, after the pause, whether that involves research engaging communities of color that would be impacted disproportionately, that the zoning conversation may come back up on city council?

>> Peña: Yeah.

I think obviously it's going to come up.

We have a need to grow.

We have a need to look at how we look into the future, about our growth, about density.

Whether we go up, whether we, look at opportunities, as a commissioner with stated for vacant properties and what those look like, I mean, it's really a conversation about how we grow as a city.

And, you know, I'm looking at just just, upzoning everything is not I mean, when you have a person who lives in a community and this is the conversation that's been had, is that, oh, well, now your property value is going to go up.

That person may be a 70 year old lady who has only Social Security, doesn't have the means to go out and change her property to be a duplex or whatever the case may be.

And sometimes those things force that lady who, yes, her property value is more, but then says Maybe I'll just sell it right?

And then people come in and then you gentrify communities.

So all these things are very sensitive, and we really have to have a conversations about how that impacts.

And if we're going to do up zoning, we do up zoning for everyone.

>> Nash: Stick around for part two of my conversation with Commissioner Barboa and Councilor Peña in about 15 minutes.

But for now, we shift to the Epstein files in a new investigation into what happened at Jeffrey Epstein's Zorro Ranch in northern New Mexico.

And who knew about it.

Last month, the state House of Representatives unanimously approved a resolution to create a subcommittee now known as the Epstein Truth Commission.

With the commission's work already underway, senior producer Lou DiVizio sits down this week with its chair, Democratic Representative Andrea Romero, to better understand the work at hand and why she believes New Mexicans deserve to know the truth.

>> Lou: Representative Romero, thanks so much for being here on New Mexico in focus.

>> Romero: My pleasure.

It's an honor.

Thank you.

>> Lou: Yeah.

Now, you sponsored the bill, and you're the chair of the so-called truth commission that's investigating what happened at Zorro Ranch.

The former estate of Jeffrey Epstein.

About 40 miles east of Albuquerque.

Why did you think, why do you think it's necessary to investigate what happened there?

And why is the legislature the right place to do it?

>> Romero: So for years, we knew Jeffrey Epstein was in our community.

This was something that was new to me.

And understanding how close so many of our community members were to this story and how directly impacted, victims were that live in New Mexico or lived in New Mexico or potentially trafficked here?

As a legislator and as a person who's making laws trying to keep people safe.

You know, when we heard about this, it was horrifying to me that folks had not been held accountable in our state.

So as you start digging through, how did this happen?

What went on?

You know, the sort of Pandora's box opens up as to why this justice was never, brought in New Mexico.

So we're still going through that and navigating those, that understanding.

But as a legislature, it's our duty to do the things that, you know, law enforcement or other entities have not done.

We've had different commissions in the past to investigate certain things that have happened in government.

This is one of our powers, as a legislative body.

And from the people of New Mexico, our nation and beyond are asking for answers in this very massive story.

And we are hoping to solve for that, to be able to provide those answers.

>> Lou: Sure.

How will you go about finding those answers?

What does that work look like?

>> Romero: So it's multifold.

You know, it feels like we're learning something new every day in this case, you know, just a few weeks ago, we learned that there was a tip to the FBI about potential bodies being buried at the ranch.

I mean, this is all happening.

It feels like in real time with us just trying to piece together, the story of what happened at Zorro Ranch.

You know, Jeffrey Epstein was here for 26 years.

And in that time, there were numerous allegations of, again, sex abuse, trafficking.

And who knows what else.

We know that our Department of Justice also, settled for financial crimes with banks.

So this story spans a lot of different areas.

We're really focused on the victims, the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein, who are still here today, that are looking to tell their stories, to get on the record with the Truth Commission and with an open, case that the Department of Justice has just opened criminally to get them justice if we can.

So with that open case, we're collaborating on folks that are coming forward.

If there is somebody to be tried in court today, we're going to go after that first.

But then, of course, our record is essentially that broad story of all of those different elements, that we have yet to understand from an official government record.

>> Lou: Okay.

Now, I'm glad you brought up the attorney General's investigation.

There are two investigations going on, and I think there's a little bit of confusion of how those work together, how they're separated.

The legislature's inquiry is civil.

Is that correct?

>> Romero: That's right.

>> Lou: Okay.

>> Romero: That█s right.

>> Lou: And the attorney generals is criminal.

Your commission can't charge people with crimes.

But what kind of power do you have?

And in terms of investigative authority.

>> Romero: Right.

So our powers are quite broad as to being able to piece together a story.

You know, when we look at the New Mexico Department of Justice, they have to do everything beyond a reasonable doubt as a criminal case.

Anything that is saying there were allegations, the statutes of limitations have run and were piecing together stories that, you know, were reported to police, perhaps never investigated that comes into the purview of our truth commission.

So we're able to have that more narrative arc, call upon folks by subpoena if needed, and have the full force of law behind us, to make sure that folks who need to come in and talk to us about specific things, that we have the powers to bring them in.

>> Lou: Okay.

Can you explain that subpoena power a little bit more?

What happens if somebody throws the subpoena in the trash?

Like, how do you get them to show up?

>> Romero: You know, we'll have to file a subpoena in the court of register for where that person perhaps lives and where we can get ahold of them.

And then have the full force of law to bring them in.

If they deny that the they don't want to be subpoenaed, they don't want to comply with the subpoena.

Well, then we can send in law enforcement to enforce that subpoena.

And so that's what we understand with the checks and balances that this is a very serious commission.

We will we have many people that we are seeking to interview.

We hope they will come voluntarily.

But if they do not that we have that full force of law behind us.

>> Lou: Okay.

I want to get into the difference between your investigation and The attorney general's a little bit more.

>> Romero: Sure.

>> Lou: What does the collaboration, that you mentioned look like?

Are you able to share information?

Is the AG's office able to share information with you?

Vice versa.

>> Romero: Yeah.

So again, these were sort of parallel paths as we we had already had our legislation for the truth Commission, in the hopper during session when this investigation reopened after we were able to create the truth Commission, the investigation reopened.

So these parallel paths are, multifold.

One is that we don't want to compromise any criminal investigation that's happening today.

So that justice can be brought immediately.

That means in the purview of the New Mexico Department of Justice, we█re for anyone that's coming forward, they're sort of our first line of investigation.

to make sure that we don't compromise any of that.

They're there, that filter, and then there's a feedback loop to us on any information that they already have or obtained through their investigation that they can't criminally charge.

That comes back to us.

And so we're we're certainly working together.

We're working collaboratively.

Anything that they do, we will get word of, and understand what again, that we're collaborating on that information and they've had, information from the past that, you know, they're able to go directly to the FBI, to the federal Department of Justice and request information as a law enforcement agency.

Should that information be provided to them that will also be provided to the Truth Commission?

>> Lou: Okay.

Now of course, the federal DOJ released millions of documents in the Epstein files.

How will those influence your work?

Are you combing through them?

Do you have staff working on that?

How is how is that playing into it?

>> Romero: It's going to be a both and in the sense of staff, going through the files of interest, you know, personally, I've gone and done my own data digging on Santa Fe, on New Mexico, on the search results that are available.

There's thousands, tens of thousands.

So it is a lot of legwork and they it makes no sense, right?

When you just look at a bunch of data, you know, un synchronized, it makes no sense.

So working with the Department of Justice and- and actually our congressional representatives, because of the Epstein Transparency Act, congressional representatives are the only people today that have unredacted document access.

So we've even been collaborating with congressional representatives to get certain information that we find to be pertinent to even, whether it be criminal or certainly, for our truth commission to be able to do, we're doing our own digging.

We're getting ready to hire a staff to help with those documents.

But again, even in the most, the biggest data release that we had had most recently, we'd seen these documents about allegations, again, of of bodies being buried at the ranch that had never been news to us.

I think that's what triggered the criminal investigation to be reopened.

And certainly going, wow, this the timing is uncanny that we were able to get this truth commission up and running.

While this information is now just being released for the first time.

And we still have 3 million documents, to our knowledge, that have not been released, including the investigation that was done here in New Mexico that had never been revealed to both the DOJ, locally, and anyone in New Mexico about what they had found.

We still don't know that.

And so we know those documents exist.

But we just have not yet seen them.

>> Lou: Okay.

Now mentioning the federal documents, we know former governor Bill Richardson name has appeared several times in those files.

Will he or others connected to him be specific targets of your investigation?

>> Romero: Absolutely.

If you, you know, were alleged to have committed a crime in New Mexico, you are very likely on our list of people of interest.

We need to know what happened.

And certainly for the victims, you know, we are looking to them to provide that information.

Our the criticality of our truth commission is so massive and making sure that everybody knows that no one is above the law, whether you were rich or powerful or in office or not.

That those names will come out, and we will have persons of interest, on that list that, you know, of every echelon of power.

>> Lou: Okay.

Are there any other names that you're looking into tied to New Mexico?

>> Romero: We will.

We don't have anything to release publicly today, but we will.

>> Lou: What's the criteria for releasing information to the public?

Is it every and any interaction that someone may have had with Epstein?

So this is where our, bipartisan group of commissioners is really critical.

We have two Democrats, two Republicans serving on the commission.

Nothing will be released publicly until we are in agreement that that should come forward.

And of course, we're being really careful, especially about victims who do not want to be named, you know, the protection of information, for folks coming forward that their, you know, identities are protected if needed.

So we that's where we all have to be in agreement before those reports, come back and we will do it as a commission as well.

>> Lou: Okay, So you do find something that you're absolutely sure that you can report on.

What are the consequences for those people?

Is it just purely a naming and shaming exercise?

Are there more consequences that people could face?

>> Romero: Well, that's the second charge of what the Truth Commission is really looking at.

One is to get the information on the record.

But the other part is that if there was a crime that, would have been charged if it was in real time, the, you know, reported at that time, and law enforcement knew about it.

We're looking to our laws as a state to say what needs to change in order to be bringing justice to the victims and what could we be looking at?

Criminally?

That should be changed in order to be able to provide that opportunity.

So there is a chance that step two of that, once we do see the record, clearly that our laws may change in favor of those folks to bring them justice.

>> Lou: Okay, Now, since the commission has began its work, have you heard from victims or victims families?

What are those conversations like?

>> Romero: Yeah, we've already received since the commission's idea was even in the news.

We've had various accounts, from victims coming forward, and so much information from the community, folks that were in and around, Jeffrey Epstein and the operation there that have wanted to to come forward again in collaboration with the New Mexico Department of Justice.

There are first line of questioning to make sure that if there's a crime today, that they can take care of that and then they'll come back to us, to be on the record with the Truth Commission, to be able to provide information surrounding what cannot be prosecuted.

Okay, Just a couple more for you Back to public disclosure, just for a second.

I know there are two reports mandated, from the commission.

When will those come out, and what can folks expect to see in them?

So we expect an interim, reporting to happen by July 31st.

There's so much information I can imagine we'll likely report before then.

Since there are so many different narratives to this, case, I hopefully envision something more visual like, January 6th through nine over 11, like commission that we've seen where there are a lot of people in real life, in real time today, that are on the record.

I think it's important for folks to understand that these are people that are still existing and have been suffering through the lack of injustice, I think, from the many years, some decades.

So to have a visual reporting of a lot of this, along with, you know, the necessary documentation for anything to potentially be used in a court, should we find it?

And so I think you'll see a tandem of both and, and an ability for us to really demonstrate what we found.

>> Lou: Okay.

The commission is only on the books until the end of the year as of now, anyway.

Is that enough time?

>> Romero: I hope so, there's a lot on our plate, no question.

But we're going to be honest with the public about what we are finding and how much more time we may need.

I hope to meet that deadline.

I think there's plenty of information that has been both compiled and looked at, and reviewed already that we can report on, but, you know, that's going to come with with the time that we have, and we want to be really sure that we're all in agreement when we come forward.

>> Lou: Sure.

What happens if on December 31st you decide you need more time?

>> Romero: We'll talk to the legislature about that.

You know, it's an election year as well for many of us.

That's why our deadline is the 31st.

We have to go back in and take an oath, get back into session in order for us to continue the work.

So we're on those timelines as well.

And again, you know, anything can happen in this, this next election.

I'm also up for reelection.

So if that changes, you know, we can't continue.

Or at least it wouldn't be me.

The commission can continue.

So, you know, all of that to say, Will, we're going to try to meet this year's deadline, as best we can and run with it as we must.

>> Lou: Okay.

Representative Romero, thank you so much.

>> Romero: Thank you.

Such a pleasure.

>> Nash: Thank you to Representative Andrea Romero for sharing more about her and the Truth Commission's work.

We'll be keeping an eye on their findings.

But now let's get back to my conversation with president of the Albuquerque City Council, Chris Opinion, and chair of the Bernalillo County Commission, Adrian Balboa.

When we left off, we were talking about solutions to the metro areas housing crisis within that context, with soaring prices and simply not enough places to live, we pick up the conversation on the topic of the area's growing homeless population and where the council and commission are looking for solutions.

Commissioner Barboa, you told me in an email that homelessness is among one of your priorities.

How so?

What does that look like?

>> Barboa: You know, like I, I say often from the dais that I ran because of our behavioral health.

And before I was an elected, I worked as an organizer.

And that really we passed the we helped pass the behavioral health tax with my predecessor, Commissioner Hart Stebbins.

My predecessor, took the lead with Commissioner O'Malley, and we were able to pass the behavioral health tax.

And it was I was a community organizer at the time, knocking doors, saying, why?

And I know that voters voted for that in the 78th percentile, which means it was nonpartisan.

And I know that because of my own experience that, you know, if you grew up in New Mexico, you love somebody with your real heart that's been addicted to a substance that is not because we are somehow, subject to that because of our nature.

It's because we are in this place right?

We've been in this place that, our people have traveled north and south from across what now existing borders forever.

And, you know, through history, we're in this place now that we're right in the path of how drug supplies get to our country.

So, you know, we have multiple generations of this in our history, and including my own family, my father and three of my uncles passed from substances.

And so I know that it's that all these things are integrated, they're intersectional, right, that housing, homelessness, our incarceration system, our behavioral health system, that all of those things play a piece.

And that's why we're really trying to build an ecosystem of care that addresses the needs.

where it█s at.

>> Nash: Talking about that intersection with incarceration.

The county oversees the metropolitan detention center, the county jail.

How does your approach to drug treatment, substance use, relate to the MDC and what the county is doing there?

>> Barboa: I mean, like I said, all of it is interconnected.

There is no separating it.

Right?

And so like 80%, I think it's one of the facts that, we're trying to fact check, but about 80% of the folks inside our jail have a substance use issue.

And so right now we're asking COs and law enforcement you know, officers to handle our behavioral health problems.

We have a addiction treatment program in the jail that I'm trying to strengthen and build, because that's a huge we need it in there and we need it as they come out.

Right.

Because that can't be the place people need to have a safe, accessible place that they feel trusted.

>> Nash: That handoff as people are leaving MDC to get them connected.

>> Barboa: And we have a resource reentry center that we're expanding.

When I came in, it was, they actually shut it down Covid, but then they opened it and the hours were from like 9 to 5, even though we knew the first drop off from MDC didn't happen till two.

So we've changed that now, the resource reentry center where everybody coming out of the jail has to go through is now open 24 seven.

And that means that folks who want to we can't force folks to get help.

But there's a charger there.

They can get a snack and some coffee.

They can let their phone charge because often that's the need.

But also there's case managers there that say, hey, if you want this service, that service you need housing, you need clothes, eat food.

You want treatment.

We have it available.

>> Nash: You talk about a strengthening treatment inside the jail.

The majority of folks who have died while in custody at MDC have had substance use disorder, have been detoxing.

How can the county support, that effort to to help folks navigate those withdrawals while incarcerated?

>> Barboa: Yeah, this is why I ran.

Because I couldn't understand how we could possibly be letting people die in our care.

And, you know, since I've become, since I have, become a commissioner, I pushed the first thing I did was to see we were getting a new health care contract, which we paid bazillions of dollars, millions of dollars for it.

Right.

One of our largest contracts is to provide health care in the jail.

But so forever, it was these national companies.

I learned that there's only about five national companies that, really do a disservice to all our justice systems, like all our corrections systems across the nation.

So we were able to thankfully work with U-N-M.

And our previous county manager worked out a contract, and now U-N-M is serving.

I mean, we still are seeing deaths.

We're still trying to fix up that system.

But I think having a local provider that we can hold accountable, that we know is going to see them on the ER side anyways, if they get if they're not served in the jail, then we're going to see him in the E.R.

are we're going to see him at the psych ward, you know.

So yes, the fact that we now I think we're moving in that direction to improve those systems, we're all on it.

>> NAsh: All right.

Thanks for that.

Speaking about homelessness in the city of Albuquerque, safe outdoor spaces has been on the docket.

The city council already.

There's, opponents who would say that the regulations of those are too strict.

The conversation about, loosening those regulations failed on the city council.

Councilor Pena, where do you see safe outdoor spaces plugging into supporting homeless Albuquerqueins and, and whether they should be regulated at the level they are today.

>> Pena: The safe outdoor spaces.

I think it's been brought up a few times.

One of the times that did it did come up.

It came from, some of our Democratic colleagues, that we needed to have more dignified spaces for people.

And I still stand by that.

You know, we spend millions and millions of dollars on, affordable housing.

And, we're doing great work both the city and the county.

And just as the commissioner mentioned, we spent $80 million.

It's a project that happened to be in district three, which is going to go a long way to address some of our housing needs.

But I really think when we're using these affordable housing dollars, we really need to get creative with them and help the most vulnerable in our community to create housing for people to have, one of the, amendments that I have had done in the past for affordable housing was to really create where we have a fund to fix houses in the community.

Right.

So we need to do some of that.

We need to have places where, those affordable housing dollars needs to impact our most vulnerable.

>>Nash: Okay.

And, councilor, way back in 2017, you sponsored the city's, immigrant friendly proposal for expanding it, and it had already existed.

And you, helped expand it.

Reaffirmed it.

The state this year, passed a bill, blocking counties and other local government cities from contracting with the, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

I was told at the roundhouse in part of what changed because that proposal has come up.

Before, and it had died in the Senate.

And part of what changed and allowed it to to cross the finish line this year was witnessing what is happening nationally with Ice deployments, maybe specifically in Minnesota.

When you are thinking about what's needed here in Albuquerque, what is your reaction to what's happening nationally right now?

And is that new context for the city needing to do something different, something more?

>> Pena: Well, you know, Commissioner Baca was actually intending to put something forward last year some time decided not to because it just didn't seem, I'm not speaking for him, but it didn't seem like it was.

It was timely, obviously.

What's happened, across the country, just more recently, has all of us who have been advocates for, our immigrant community really felt like it was necessary.

So myself and Councilor Baca, he's a sponsor, and I think a couple of other councilors are interested in sponsoring.

So we're going to kind of mirror what the what the county, the county's done.

And then also we're adding in there, for staging.

So it's going to mirror the counties, but then we're going to add the staging component to it, because we just want to make sure we have it in our immigrant friendly already.

But we just really want to tie up some loose ends in terms of our parks and public spaces outdoor, because we have it really kind of now sounds like it aligns with all those things, but I think it's mostly for, buildings.

But now this would help so that, you know, they can't use our public parks, our city parks to stage for, you know, ice.

>> Nash: And Commissioner, the council are saying that they would mirror what the county did.

Can you break down what the county has done and your role in that?

>> Barboa: Yeah.

Thank you so much.

Yeah.

Commissioner, Barbara Baca, because we have Councilor Baca, all the Baca█s commissioner Barbara Baca and I co-sponsored legislation that does that, that passed around creating immigrant safe spaces.

The county just reaffirmed some of that.

And we're moving, in even deeper into, say, like, yes, in these public spaces.

We want to name them because we know, we know we have pictures of we have, judges in court telling us there are people going into the court looking for people and literally telling agents standing outside that that's who they can get.

So they're wanting to help.

We want to make sure that people accessing public services can access with access without fear.

Otherwise we're pushing them into doing black underground things if they can't safely access services.

Right.

>> Pena: And we're going to ask businesses to actually post where the public spaces are and where the private spaces are, so that when people go to work, they know that they're safe.

>> Nash: Yeah, they're aware of what space they're occupying at any given moment.

This is both of your last terms in your current role.

Commissioner, you are termed out and you're in your second term.

And, councilor, I believe you've said that you're not running for reelection.

If you are still in that place, then this would be your last term on the city council as well.

As you are in your last term and now have been elected to lead these different legislative bodies, I wonder if you could speak to what legacies you all would like to leave?

As a county commissioner.

As a city councilor?

>> Barboa: Yeah.

Like I said, I think, you know, I'm really not here for legacies, to be honest.

But I am here, like I said, when I ran for office, it's because all the ways that -- the need for behavioral health has impacted my own family and my own communities.

One of the things I'm most proud of is that we did, I got in and we changed the, we created the behavioral health ordinance that creates the Behavioral Health Authority division, which, and it has its own deputy county manager and, you know, before we were under a big umbrella of public safety, which includes fire and our jail and our, you know, and obviously, the behavioral health need throughout our county, throughout our state, but throughout our county is greater and needs that kind of focus.

And that█s meant that now we're I believe we're working in two partnership with city, county, state, University of New Mexico as a research and provider institution to really create a system of care.

So yes, for me, if I left and knew there was a functioning system of care that met our families where they are at and with what they need, that is using that evidence base, but also our cultural.

We are very smart here in New Mexico.

We know what our families need and that doesn't always come through clinical social worker.

Right.

We need entry points that work for our families, that are culturally relevant and that reach our spirituality.

That reach our, our various cultural identities in the state.

And so, yeah, if I left with that system, in place, I would feel like I did the job that I came here to do.

>> Nash: Counselor Peña?

>> Peña: Again, district three, you know, underserved community, marginalized historically, all the things, you know, people coming in from a 30,000ft view and feeling like they, you know, without living there and knowing and knowing our struggles, feeling like they know what our community needs, you know, without having sitting at the table.

I'm very much of the, having conversations with the elders.

I feel like if you don't learn from your elders, you're going to be forced to repeat the same mistakes that you did in the past, right?

And so, our community, you know, we needed a community center.

We had only, one community center.

The community built the Alamosa neighborhood, community center.

And then we, we built the Westgate Community Center, serving an entire.

If you look at the population of, district three and the population of northwest Albuquerque -- with the county, it exceeds the northwest area.

But yet we lack many of the things that they have there.

So building the, Westgate Community Center, building the Southwest Public Safety Center building, four new parks, another one on the way.

Just trying to really meet the basic needs in the community.

I'm very proud of that.

And we have, you know, other things that we're looking at like a multi gen center in the future.

So I'm hoping to be able to finish that by the time, by the time I'm out of there and you know, so I'm very proud of that work and new street lightings when we didn't have lighting in our streets, you know, to have new lighting, more on the way.

I think those are really game changers in our community.

And you can see it by, just driving the community.

>> Barboa: We know that south of Central has been not invested in not and, I█m southeast Albuquerque she█s southwest Albuquerque.

And so I'm really excited about the opportunity that both of us south of Central, Can lead and we can make decisions that really impact our community for generations to come.

>> Nash: Thanks for adding that.

Thanks again to County Commission Chair Adriann Barboa and City Council President Clarissa Peña for agreeing to sit together to discuss their priorities for the Albuquerque area's future in their final terms.

Earlier this year.

Source New Mexico reporter Patrick Lohman and InFocus reporter Cailley Chella teamed up to look into a story in northern New Mexico that has sparked outrage.

Their reporting found that Jay Mitchell, the director of the Hermit's Peak Calf Canyon FEMA Claims office, had received more than $250,000 in federal relief for smoke damage he claimed at his Angel fire home after the 2022 wildfire.

Well, that came as a shock to the community, where many are still waiting for financial relief from FEMA for devastating losses.

Since that segment aired last month, Jay Mitchell has been placed on administrative leave.

In his place, FEMA appointed longtime department official Nancy Casper as interim director.

Additionally, the billions of dollars that the FEMA office is meant to use to compensate the people of northern New Mexico has been placed on hold.

On February 13th, the Department of Homeland Security was placed on a partial shutdown as Congress failed to approve a bill that would continue its funding.

Well, new reporting from Lohman shows that Casper instructed her staff not to approve payments until funds have returned to that department, even though the nearly $5.5 billion for fire victims was set aside years ago.

It's a complicated story that we will continue to watch as it develops.

But for a look back at this story's first falling domino and the community's reaction to it.

Here's Cailley.

[trees rusting in the wind] >> Cailley: In 2022, U.S.

Forest Service ingnited the largest wildfire in New Mexico history.

Two prescribed burns scheduled on a windy, dry day, one at Hermit's Peak and one at Calf Canyon, burned out of control, decimating 350,000 acres.

For those living in the path of the flames, it wasn't just a disaster.

It was the end of a way of life.

>> Ortiz: So it burned my grandmother█s house that my grandfather had built.

It was an Adobe home.

It burned.

Everyone here lives off the land.

You sell live trees, you sell dead trees.

You sell Vegas, you sell rock.

You sell dirt We make use of our resources, of our natural resources that we have.

And that's how people make a living.

>> Cailley: They survived the fires, the floods and the smoke.

And neighbors in the burn scar, like people here living in Sapello tell me the most difficult part is surviving the paperwork.

>> Salazar: We turned to a lawyer to advocate, well, not advocate, but to counsel for us.

Because the paperwork is incredible.

I mean, I█ve been to school with Lora I'm an educated man.

And the paperwork is overwhelming.

And the ridiculous requests they make of you to do.

You got to work.

You can't.

You don't have time.

>> Cailley: The federal government promised to make the victims of the fire whole, allocating almost $5.5 billion for compensation through a dedicated FEMA claims office.

But many say they have yet to see it.

>> Lorenza: We have received zero.

I haven't gotten any smoke damage.

I haven't gotten a fencing.

>> Cailley: Almost four years later, while dozens wait in trailers and debt.

One man at the top of that office and his wife have already been paid to the tune of half a million dollars >> Mitchell: My private residence!

Get out of here!

>> Lohmann: Okay.

>> Cailley: That's the voice of Jay Mitchell, the director of FEMA's Hermits Peak Calf Canyon Fire Claims Office.

Internal documents obtained by Source New Mexico and NMPBS revealed that last July Mitchell received a payout of roughly $266,000 for smoke and ash cleaning at his home in Angel Fire and his wife Lisa received more than 258 grand last August for business related losses, she claimed.

We attempted to reach Mitchell by phone and at his office, but he didn't answer and his security guards tried to lie to us to get us to go away.

>> Lohmann: What door should I go to, to find 1712?

>> Cailley: Actually, it says 1712 right above your head >> Security: This one is 1711.

>> Cailley: Not according to those numbers, Right there.

>> Security: All right.

Hold on one second.

>> Cailley: Thank you very much.

We then went to Mitchell's home in Angel Fire, a ski resort town about an hour's drive from the hardest hit communities.

The house and casita, valued at nearly $800,000, sits on a hillside overlooking his neighborhood.

He and his wife we█re less than happy to see us.

I caught most of the interaction on video, but I kept the microphone rolling.

[footsteps crunching in snow] >> Lisa: What do you want?

>> Cailley: Hi!

Is Jay home?

>> Mitchell: Get the **** out of here!

>> Lohmann: Okay.

>> Lisa: She's probably a reporter.

>> Mitchell: Yeah!

>> Lohmann: I█m with.

>> Mitchell: It█s my private residence.

Get out of here!

>> Lohmann: Okay.

[footsteps crunching snow] >> Lisa: By the way, this is harassment You better leave me alone.

>> Lohmann: Yeah.

We█re leaving.

>> Lisa: Good.

>> Cailley: This is Patrick Lohmann a journalist at Source New Mexico who's been reporting on this fire and its aftermath since the match was lit.

We teamed up for this story and went to Angel Fire together to get to the bottom of it.

>> Martinez: So, down to the cul-de-sac over here is a guy named John and his wife, >> Cailley: we spoke to a few of Mitchell's neighbors, including this man, Michael Martinez.

Martinez lives a half a mile northeast of Mitchell.

He says he remembers the smell of smoke in 2022, but not the damage.

>> Martinez: There was no smoke damage to my house at all.

Personally, I didn't see anything.

No, we never had a day where smoke was that bad coming in.

You know, we have pictures of it just blooming up over to the south of us and even from Taos.

But, never anything that's that really hit.

or at least our neighborhood >> Lohmann: Yeah, yeah.

>> Cailley: Within the 534 square mile burn scar where hundreds of homes were lost, victims were promised a fast lawyer free claims process.

But many say that hasn't panned out.

They were able to file back in 2022, but they needed itemized evidence, financial records, loan information, etc.

and the Smoke and Ash program is separate.

It launched two years later in the spring of 2024, and covers a much larger 22 hundred square mile zone with way easier requirements.

There, the burden of proof is low with some residents Only needing to sign a declaration to get a payout.

While the Mitchell's smoke and business claims were processed and paid quickly.

Some of those who were hit the hardest are still waiting.

>> Cruz: So these trees died from the fire, and you'll see.

You can see like some survived and some didn't.

And then right up through here, everything was gone.

It is really disheartening and disturbing that he received this.

This is dated July 21st.

I think Jay Mitchell has not been honest with people.

He is not -- putting the people in the burn scar first like he said he would.

>> Cailley: Yolanda Cruz is a community advocate who helps neighbors navigate the grueling FEMA process.

She showed us her backyard.

What actual fire damage looks like.

Hillsides of blackened toothpicks so saturated with soot that it coats her hands just by touching a tree.

>> Cruz: How do you justify saying, okay, Yolanda, you get $200,000 and your neighbor across the street or two streets down gets nothing.

And if Jay Mitchell cannot make the policies work for people, how are they working for him?

Like that just makes no sense to me.

>> Cailley: A map analyzed by NMPBS and Source New Mexico shows Mitchell's home is less than 1000 feet from the boundary line That allows claimants to receive smoke money with almost no proof.

Small business owners in the burn scar say they've also been stonewalled.

Sarah Mathews owns Borracho's, a local favorite and has been a vocal advocate for business owners in Las Vegas.

>>Mathews: Businesses like mine, who have quantifiable losses in the millions, haven't been paid a penny.

We can't even get paid our smoke damage money.

We can't even get our SBA loans repaid.

We can't even get our flood insurance premiums repaid with or without a lawyer.

I think it's disgusting that people like Jay Mitchell, who have sat at tables with me, and women who lost their homes, have not been compensated for total losses, but they received smoke damage money.

>> Cailley: Mathews says her town is dying as the workforce disappears and businesses closed their doors forever.

It's kind of like the systematic -- decimation of our community.

It feels like they're trying to kill us slowly and choke us out, is what it really feels like.

Anyone with integrity would have made sure that people who lost property, who lost homes, who had total losses, were compensated before it just became a money grab for the people who are well-connected.

>> Cailley: For those who lost everything.

The money isn't a windfall.

It's survival.

>> Vigil: We lost our home.

Total loss.

Our pets, our vehicles.

We lived at a motel for nine months, which was very hard.

Anita and Andrew Vigil say they've begun to rebuild with the small amount FEMA paid them for the loss of their home.

But it's not enough to cover everything.

>>Vigil: Peanuts!

They gave us peanuts!

Let's put it that way -- >>Andrew: That money they gave us.

We used it for progress towards the property -- >> Vigil: To rebuild.

>> Andrew: Because I clean my property myself.

>> Cailley: They now live in a FEMA trailer that they feel they were forced to buy.

>> Vigil: Because the offer that they gave us.

We had to take it because we wanted to come back home.

He wanted to come back home.

We didn't have a choice but to purchase the FEMA trailer, which they shouldn't even sold to us.

They should█ve just gave it to us because they burnt our house down.

Silva: Can I add on to that?

The FEMA trailer that was, sold to them and along with other neighbors that did purchase those FEMA trailers.

They're all electrical.

For this rural area, The electricity goes off all the time.

So these trailers were not equipped for this area.

They weren't suitable for this area.

>> Cailley: Laura Silva is an advocate for her neighbors.

She didn't lose her home, but she knows the cost of the fire intimately.

>> Silva: We had my little niece that, nine years old, and, she came to visit.

We all knew she had asthma.

She was exposed to some of that smoke.

Well, when she went back home to Albuquerque.

My little niece Amiyah had a reaction, with her asthma, and she passed.

This little girl was everybody's sunshine, you know, >> Cailley: and she told me her husband's cancer has returned, which she attributes to the unrelenting stress.

>> Silva: We didn█t ask for the fire They threw it on us.

>>Ortiz: We didn█t light the match.

>> Silva: And we're the forgotten clan.

We are.

FEMA knows that they're going to have to pay long term for those non-economic damages, for the mental anguish that they put on us, and the continued mental anguish that they've done to us.

They don't want to pay.

Okay, so then if you don't want to pay for non-economic damages, pay for the things you can pay.

And they don't do it.

They don't move it.

They're all in suspension.

All our claims.

>> Cailley: In late 2022, members of New Mexico's congressional delegation fought to secure the $5.45 billion dollars in federal funding through the passage of the Hermits Peak Fire Assistance Act.

Since Patrick█s story about the Mitchell's FEMA payments went live, at least three of our state's federal lawmakers, including Teresa Leger Fernández, have called on Jay Mitchell to resign, citing lack of transparency and a failure to meet the standards of the office.

As of today, 74 people who lost their homes are still waiting for their final compensation offers.

For them, the fire isn't just a memory, it's a daily struggle against the very agency meant to help them.

For New Mexico in Focus, I'm Cailley Chella reporting.

>> Nash: Thanks to everyone who contributed to the show this week, and thank you for watching.

And if you're looking for even more local news and insights, check out the New Mexico InFocus newsletter, delivered to your inbox each Friday, or take us on the go with the New Mexico InFocus podcast for New Mexico PBS.

I'm Nash Jones until next week.

Stay focused.

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