Town of Bernalillo voters to decide mayoral race, tax hike March 3

Mayor Jack Torres faces challenger James Baca as Bernalillo voters head to the polls March 3 to decide whether to give Torres a fifth term and whether to approve a quarter-cent local gross receipts tax intended for economic development in the town of roughly 10,000.

Residents who missed early voting can still cast ballots on election day; early voting was available at Town Hall, 829 Camino del Pueblo, through Feb. 28, with hours of 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and one Saturday session on Feb. 28. Two at-large town council seats are also on the March 3 ballot, though incumbents Vincent Montoya and Gerred Prairie are running unopposed.

Torres, who first took office in 2010 and is described in filings as a five-term incumbent, has built his campaign around what he calls a fiscal turnaround and a series of capital investments. He points to clean financial audits each year since 2022 following earlier fiscal troubles that included a $5 million arsenic treatment facility that never worked. Torres says partnerships with state legislators produced $8 million in capital outlay for a new fire station, and that the town recently secured an $835,000 federal grant to help senior citizens with energy efficiency improvements and $1 million from U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján’s office for wastewater plant upgrades.

Construction has begun on a $1 million streetscape project along Camino del Pueblo that Torres says will add ADA-compliant sidewalks and decorative lighting. Available campaign materials and municipal summaries list those dollar amounts and projects as central elements of Torres’ record; precise award dates and appropriation documents were not included in the notices circulated to voters.

Challenger James Baca styles himself a friend and neighbor to Bernalillo residents and has run an active social media campaign. Baca did not attend a Feb. 15 candidate forum hosted by the Democratic Party of Sandoval County, and his campaign argues that Torres’ tenure has not delivered the leadership the town deserves. Public statements beyond that paraphrase and a social media presence were the extent of Baca’s publicly reported outreach in the material provided to voters.

The ballot’s quarter-cent gross receipts tax is described in election notices as intended for economic development; available summaries shared with voters did not include projected revenue estimates, duration or specific earmarks for the funds. Voters will decide whether to adopt the tax alongside the mayoral choice and the two at-large council seats.

The local news feed running alongside election coverage also reported multiple community developments: a Bernalillo County sheriff’s sergeant, Sgt. Michael Schlattman, a 13-year veteran, was killed when a tractor-trailer struck his patrol vehicle during a traffic stop on Interstate 40 and will be honored with public memorial services this weekend and Monday, with his funeral falling on what would have been his 53rd birthday; a lawsuit filed in New Mexico’s Thirteenth Judicial District Court alleges a 5th-grade teacher at Bernalillo Elementary subjected a 10-year-old to months of physical abuse and racist verbal attacks; and Wild Hearts Gallery in Placitas will open Colleen Z. Gregoire’s solo show Have a Seat on Feb. 29.

March 3 will determine whether Bernalillo voters endorse Torres’ record of securing capital outlay and federal grants or opt for the change James Baca seeks, while leaving two council seats uncontested.