Santolina developer helped fund ads
Spots accused mayoral candidate of protecting sex offenders over kids
The asset manager behind the massive Santolina development has acknowledged that it helped fund the political action committee behind the discredited attack ads accusing state Auditor Tim Keller of choosing to protect sex offenders over children.
Keller, a Democrat, is one of eight candidates on the mayoral ballot.
The bill that Keller was blasted for voting in favor of in 2011 was supported by the state Attorney General’s Office at the time, and the provisions contained in that bill were subsequently included in a 2013 sex offender registration law approved by a near unanimous vote in the Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.
In an opinion piece submitted to the Journal and appearing on Page A8 of today’s Journal, Jeff Garrett, president of Garrett Development Corp., acknowledged that Western Albuquerque Land Holdings had contributed to the committee that launched the attack ads against Keller.
Western owns Santolina, and Garrett said it has invested more than $250 million in the Albuquerque economy and has a vested interest in competent, ethical elected officials focused on creating jobs and opportunities.
“The motivation for these attacks is clear,” the Keller campaign said in an emailed statement. “Arizona developer Garrett has millions of dollars on the line and will lose big if they don’t have friends in City Hall; that’s why he is using offensive images and accusations regarding children and criminals to scare our community into making him money.”
A campaign finance report filed Friday by the political action committee that launched the campaign against Keller shows that Western Albuquerque Land Holdings contributed $30,000 and a Hobbs company affiliated with Mark Veteto, a big donor to Republican candidates and causes, contributed another $30,000 to oppose Keller.
“When we learned that Tim Keller had voted yes for Senate Bill 184 (SB184) which would eliminate the city’s ability to restrict the locations in which sex offenders and child molesters could live — we were shocked,” Garrett wrote. “Tim Keller’s inexcusable support for pro-sex offender legislation and failure to stand up for protecting families, for any reason, directly conflicts with what is best for Albuquerque.”
A political action committee called Make Albuquerque Safe launched a website, television ads, radio spots and billboards blasting Keller for his 2011 vote in favor of the bill. The television ad featured images of silhouetted attackers and terrified children.
The bill referred to would have prohibited local governments from adopting rules or laws restricting where sex offenders could live. But it would have allowed distance restrictions for a registered sex offender’s residence as a condition of probation or parole. The bill was voted down.
The Sex Offender Management Board — responsible for making recommendations to the state Sentencing Commission for managing and treating sex offenders — supported the bill. After the ads began running, advocates for sexual assault victims defended Keller, calling the attack ads “unconscionable.”
Among the arguments made by proponents of the bill was that allowing cities to come up with their own restrictions on where sex offenders could live would make children less safe because sex offenders would likely register at different addresses so they wouldn’t have to move.
While only 2 percent of Western’s holdings are in the city, the mayor has a seat on the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Authority board. Western must have a fully executed development agreement with the water authority before it can move forward with the planned 21-squaremile development southwest of Interstate 40 and 118th Street.
In 2016, Garrett and several others contributed to a committee supporting then Bernalillo County Commission candidate Steven Michael Quezada, who ultimately prevailed. Since joining the commission, Quezada has cast several votes in favor of the Santolina development.