Albuquerque City Council undergoes most turnover in 20 years

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — One longtime Albuquerque city councilor is calling it the “big reset.”

Another says it’s a reason for optimism.

Four new Albuquerque city councilors take their oaths Saturday, marking the single largest council transition in the last 20 years.

In fact, the recent election turned over more seats than the past three local elections combined. Not since 2001 has the council seen so many new members join at once, meaning not even the council’s longest-serving current member — Isaac Benton, who has been in office for 16 years — has been part of anything like it.

“It will be more different than any other transition than I can remember, and everyone has to get used to each other,” Benton told the Albuquerque Journal. “It’s a big reset.”

Both current city councilors and those newly elected say they are hopeful about the fresh start despite what could be some deep ideological chasms within the nine-member legislative body.

Though city elections are officially nonpartisan, the new council will have five Democrats and four Republicans. For the last few years, Democrats have had a 6-3 majority.

The new council takes seat after a record-breaking year for Albuquerque homicides and with the city facing profound challenges related to homelessness.

Tammy Fiebelkorn, a Democrat who recently won election to represent the city’s middle Heights, said she believes the councilors all understand the issues and are capable of finding common-ground solutions.

“I’m really heartened by the conversations I’ve had with (other councilors) on the complete opposite end of the spectrum from me politically,” she said. “We’re finding overlap and areas of interest we can agree on.”

Fiebelkorn succeeds Diane Gibson, a two-term...