Councilors to vote on Paseo project

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The city council is scheduled to vote again Monday on whether to approve $50 million in city funding for the Paseo Del Norte improvement project or send the decision to the voters.

Last week three councilors voted against approving the bond saying they felt voters should decide.

The mayor has been pushing hard for them to change their minds.

Monday morning he sent out a letter to the city council outlining what he calls misconceptions about the project.

In it, the mayor points out how much a special election would cost, says it would increase the overall cost of the project and would put $10 million in federal funds for the project in jeopardy.

Mayor Berry has to convince one more city councilor to approve the $50 million bond, if not the issue would be put on the ballot for voters to decide later this year.

Councilors O’Malley, Garduno and Benton, who voted against the bond say they're not against the project, but they don't want to spend a large amount of money without asking taxpayers.

The mayor thinks not passing the bonds is a waste of time.

“At some point we think the arguments are compelling let's get this thing moving forward I’m hopeful for tonight I’m hopeful that with this info that we've been able to give councilors this morning that that will help them understand the project better,” Berry said.

About 250 residents called and emailed the city council office over the weekend to express their opinion.

Around 188 of them support moving forward with the bond and 62 want it put to a vote..

Councilor O’Malley says she doesn't plan to change her vote.