Results Matter

Eric has a proven record of delivering for Bernalillo County with bold action and common sense leadership:

1. Record City-County Housing Investments - implemented the BernCo Builds Community housing initiative that leverages collaboration between the city and county to coordinate regional housing initiatives. This has delivered historic state investment. Bernco was allocated over $60 million with 80% of funding invested in actual housing units within 6 months. 100’s of families are now housed with a combined goal of 1000 people housed between the city and county within 1 year. 

2. Behavioral Health Accountability and Transparency: prior to Eric’s arrival on the commission the county spent 10 years failing to effectively spend our tax dollars and deploy needed resources. Today the county has halved the cash balance, hired proven leadership for the authority, and implemented an expert backed and community driven strategic plan. The tiny home village went from empty to full. Staffing at the county detox facility is up. Resources are flowing to proven providers to build capacity and grow available services. 

3. Coordinated City and County Opioid Funds: record settlements over 150 million from opioid manufacturers are being deployed in a coordinated effort. Eric and City Councilor Fiebelkorn led the effort to join the city and county to reduce duplication and increase services. 20 million has flowed to local providers to build more beds, 4 million to grow and sustain mental health professionals and nearly $10 million to put mental health resources in middle schools for the first time. 

4. Record Investments in Public Safety: Eric fought for funding to make the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s office the best paid in the state. Over 4 million per year is now flowing to high tech force multipliers like drones and cameras. Big raises were implemented for fire rescue personnel, corrections officers and emergency dispatchers as well. 

5. Doubled Mental Health First Responders: Eric doubled the funding for mental health crisis response teams in the Sheriff’s Office and the Fire Rescue Department. This service pairs a first responder with a mental health professional to ensure the right response to complex and dangerous mental health calls. 

6. More Firefighters on Calls: Eric amended the county budget to increase staffing for fire trucks in the East Mountains. This ensures more firefighters responding to fires and medical calls increasing safety of residents and firefighters. 

7. Cut Property Taxes: Eric sponsored and passed the low income property tax rebate. This rebate supports working families and seniors with low incomes to keep their homes and afford increasingly expensive cost of living. 

8. Protecting Clean Air: when the Albuquerque City Council illegally moved to gut the joint City-County air board, Eric led the charge to intervene. The county sued the city and won. Keeping our regional progress on clean air over decades past. 

9. Water is Life: Eric served 2 consecutive terms as water authority board chair and 2 years as chair of the Middle Rio Grande Water Resources Board. Eric also led the charge to enact a new water conservation plan at the county and appropriated excess funds for water planning and water protection at the county. 

10. Holding Data Centers Accountable: Eric led the effort to hold megatech companies accountable to our community when they ask for public incentives. New applications for county dollars for data centers will carry rigorous requirements for local hiring, water protection and renewable energy. 

11. Big Investments in East Mountain Roads: Eric fought to earmark $500k per year directly for east mountain roads. That focus ignited improvements going from barely 10 miles of road rehab in prior years to 56 miles of road work this past year. 

12. Rebuilding Old Community Centers: Eric saw the long neglect of the heavily used Los Vecinos Community Center in Tijeras and stepped up to rebuild the center. In just a few years Eric amassed over $5 million in state, federal, and county dollars to begin a full renovation. So far the park has been fully rebuilt with a new skate park, multiuse court and walking trail. Parking improvements are underway and the main building will be renovated next. 

13. Help for Carnuel Water and Sewer: some of our original residents in the historic land grant of Carnuel lack basic access to clean water and sewer service. Eric has worked to bring in millions of dollars from all levels of government for the project and worked to streamline the project with efficiency like combined water and sewer phases. 

14. Partnerships with Local Schools: Eric has emphasized deep collaboration with APS. He led an effort to raise funds to replace the Sandia High School Track and field, dedicated millions to expand counselors in middle schools, and raised nearly $500k in county funds for after school programs to keep young people in school and out of trouble. 

15. Demanding Community Benefits in Economic Development: supported enacting a first in the state accountability scoring system for Economic Development Incentives. Rather than dole out corporate welfare with few questions asked, the county now requires companies to disclose details on environmental impacts, local hiring, small business investment, water and energy use, and other community investments in addition to job creation. 

16. Public Lands in Public Hands: Eric has championed efforts to resist the selloff of public lands in the region and has worked to open new open space to the public, like the Sedillo Ridge Open Space. Acquired in 2002, this “Open-Space” has been closed to the public for nearly 25 years; not anymore. Under Eric’s leadership the county adopted a master plan for the site and the open space will be open later this year. 

17. Expanded Access to Early Childcare: Eric sponsored changes to the county zoning code to make it easier to open small home daycares in the county. This will reduce costs and expand access to childcare for working families. 

18. Land Use and Water: the county adopted a Joint City-County Regional plan emphasizing smart growth that for the first time couples land use decisions with water availability. 

19. New Northeast Animal Care Adoption and Education Center: Eric led the effort to acquire and fully fund the buildout of the new Animal Care facility in the heart of the NE Heights in district 5. This project will rehabilitate an abandoned building in an established neighborhood and help relieve overcrowding at the main Animal Care facility. 

20. East Mountain Sports Complex: Eric has raised and invested millions of dollars to ensure East Mountain kids and families have access to world class facilities including new softball and baseball fields, a new soccer field, a new dog park, and expanded parking and landscaping. 

21. Investing in Neighborhood Parks: Eric committed county GO Bonds and discretionary dollars to improve local parks in the city and county including Sunflower Meadow Park, Grant Park, Los Vecinos Park and Chelwood Park. 

22. Ethics in Government: Eric sponsored major amendments to the county code of conduct requiring greater disclosures by candidates and elected officials. The amendments also increased penalties for non-compliance or misconduct to ensure good ethical leaders in government. 

23. Fire Mitigation as a Priority: Eric has worked with area legislators to pilot innovative strategies to spur Fire resilience in the East Mountains including free green waste vouchers for residents and thinning of trees along county roads. 

24. Fighting Climate Change: Eric amended the procurement code to require more purchases of Electric Vehicles for the county fleet while reducing fuel and maintenance costs. Eric also supported county investments in solar power for county buildings, water efficiency projects and building improvements that lower operating costs to taxpayers while reducing climate warming emissions. 

25. Supporting Libraries: Eric has supported the joint City-County library system with increases to the base operating budget for the system and increased allocations for repairs and materials acquisitions.

26. Affordable Community Centers: Eric supported the enactment of a new fee structure for county summer camps and programs for kids ensuring that families can afford to access community centers regardless of their ability to pay.  

27. Supporting Immigrants: Eric supported enactment of the first local ordinance in the state requiring protection of sensitive spaces to all persons regardless of immigration status. This includes spaces like doctors offices, schools, places of worship, and legal offices. Common sense and the constitution require a judicial warrant to enter these spaces to affect an arrest.

28. Protecting Sensitive Spaces: Eric amended the county budget to provide additional funding to proactively protect sensitive spaces like schools, places of worship, and clinics. This funding has resulted in 100’s of additional patrols and increased safety in our community.