Olivas advances to general election, cites housing, healthcare, jobs priorities

Eric Olivas advanced to the general election in Bernalillo County Commission District 5, a sprawling seat that runs from Southeast Albuquerque into the East Mountains and carries the kind of growth pressure that also shapes life for commuters and service providers on Sandoval County’s edge.

That makes the race about more than party labels. Olivas had a solid lead over Democratic challenger Byron Powdrell, while Republican Thomas Riley appeared on track to win the GOP nomination over Wayne Yevoli. In the latest campaign disclosures, Olivas raised just over $55,700, far more than Powdrell’s roughly $6,400 and Riley’s $575. His biggest checks included $6,200 from the Albuquerque Area Firefighters 244 PAC and $2,500 from JANE PAC, with additional support from the Plumbers and Steamfitters Local Union and the New Mexico Wild Fund PAC.

Olivas has leaned on his record in office and on his background as a licensed journeyman plumber, mechanical contractor and business owner. He said his first term included rebuilding Los Vecinos Community Center in Tijeras, changing a behavioral health ordinance to fill the Tiny Home Village and increasing pay and staffing at the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office. For residents watching growth push farther east, his next round of promises is the real test: more sheriff’s metro team coverage, updated behavioral health services, help for declining well water tables, road upgrades and better broadband access in the East Mountains.

Those priorities matter because Bernalillo County controls services that spill well beyond any one neighborhood. The county’s Behavioral Health Initiative started in 2015 and is funded by a voter-approved one-eighth of a percent gross receipts tax. The county also runs the Metropolitan Detention Center, Youth Services Center, Animal Care Services, 9-1-1 Communications, the Emergency Operations Center, the 2nd Judicial District Court, Metro Court and the district attorney’s office. That is why commission races carry direct consequences for public safety, housing stability and crisis response.

Olivas also said he wants Metropolitan Detention Center conditions brought into compliance with the long-running McClendon jail-overcrowding case and wants “local people running our local jail.” If he wins again, the practical changes would likely show up in more county spending on East Mountain infrastructure, stronger behavioral health response and a bigger push on detention reform.

Bernalillo County has already tied District 5 to several recent moves, including the expected purchase of a new Northeast Bernalillo County Animal Care Services Adoption and Education Center by the end of June, four new fire engines placed into service at East Mountain stations 40, 41, 43 and 46, and a countywide ban on open burning in unincorporated areas outside Albuquerque city limits.