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March Meeting Summary and ACTION ITEMS!

Friends, 

We had another great meeting with an impressive turnout! Thanks to everyone who attended! We have great energy when we come together, it refills my cup. 

Meeting Summary

Our speaker this month was County Assessor Damien Lara. He spoke to us about how he is using his power to assess the value of land to help encourage healthy development in our city. He also taught us about how property taxes are assessed and then taxed, and the state laws that govern that work. It was insightful and educational. We are lucky to have an Assessor who shares our Strong Towns values. 

At our meeting we also introduced our first official advocacy campaign (eek!). More below. 

We also broke out into groups by city council district so we can get to know our neighbors and start to organize at the city council district level. 

Next meeting is April 17th at Center for Peace and Justice at 6:00pm. Together for Brothers will be presenting about their work to improve safety for pedestrians, bikers and transit riders on Central Ave! 

Homework from our meeting: Follow our Google Calendar

Click here to see the Strong Towns ABQ calendar. We have listed many different events and meetings in the city that are related to Strong Towns. If you have an event you'd like us to add, email us so we can add it. strongtownsab@gmail.com. 

Homework from our meeting: Contact your city councilor asking them to support the IDO change to allow for duplexes in certain areas. 

A letter you could send to your city councilor could read:

Dear Councilor <Councilor Name Here>,

I am writing to express my support for Councilor Fiebelkorn’s proposed duplex amendment.  Albuquerque is faced with inflated housing prices, little housing supply, and a rising rate of citizens experiencing homelessness. Permissively allowing duplex housing will allow for greater diversity of housing types and help increase the overall supply of housing.

Thank you for helping support incremental housing in Albuquerque.

-<Your Name Here>

Other hints to help tailor this letter to your city councilor:

• Consider your councilor's views on people experiencing homelessness. You may need to adjust your messaging accordingly.

• Include ideas about reduced infrastructure burden. Duplexes reduce the amount of linear feet of public infrastructure per housing unit.

• Explain why you or someone you know may want a more modestly sized house with less upkeep.

• Explain the benefits of additional housing along designated transit corridors and centers.

Here is the councilor contact information: 

District	Name	Email	Phone	Analyst Name	Analyst Email
1	Louie Sanchez	lesanchez@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3111	Brandon MacEachen	bmaceachen@cabq.gov
2	Joaquin Baca	joaquinbaca@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3332	Nathan Molina	namolina@cabq.gov
3	Klarissa Pena	kpena@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3127	Cherise Quezada	cquezada@cabq.gov
4	Brook Bassan	bbassan@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3101	DawnMarie Emillio	dawnmarie@cabq.gov
5	Dan Lewis	danlewis@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3118	Giselle Alvarez	galvarez@cabq.gov
6	Nichole Rogers	nrogers@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3152	Paloma Garcia	palomagarcia@cabq.gov
7	Tammy Fiebelkorn	tfiebelkorn@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3120	Amanda Aragon	amanda@cabq.gov
8	Dan Champine	dchampine@cabq.gov	(505) 768-4622	Enrique Knell	ecknell@cabq.gov
9	Renee Grout	rgrout@cabq.gov	(505) 768-3123	Rachel Miller	rrmiller@cabq.gov

Additionally, we have started a task force to plan our strategy for our duplex campaign. If you'd like to join, email strongtownsabq@gmail.com. 

Help us clean up the park

Volunteer with us to clean up Luecking South. 

Sunday, March 31, 9a-11a. 

Sign-up here. Alex will follow up with more details before the event. 

Attend the Strong Towns National Gathering

Strong Towns National Gathering May 14-15.  Register here. 

If you would like to attend, please RSVP here. We have a free place to stay in Cincinnati, so we would love to follow up with you and coordinate. 

Join a city board or commission

There are currently openings on many of the city boards and commissions. This is a great way to advocate for Strong Towns values and get more involved in your community. 

Find out more information and learn how to apply here. Each board or commission has a different way to apply, so the recommendation is to reach out to the contact person for that group to see what is required. 

Currently there are openings on the Environmental Planning Commission, Impact Fee Board, Arts Commission, Housing Authority, and the Joint Air Quality Board.