Your mayor and my friend, Marty Chavez, is one of the good guys. It's because of his leadership and vision that even in these tough economic times, Albuquerque is on the right track and headed in the right direction. It's why I'm strongly endorsing Mayor Marty Chavez for re-election and urging you to support him on October 6th.

Consider: municipal and state governments across the country are being forced to fire and furlough workers. They're making savage cuts to city services that, in time of crisis, people need more than ever. It's not happening in Albuquerque.

Because of Marty Chavez' strong and effective leadership, Albuquerque hasn't had to furlough and lay off workers or make drastic cuts to city services. Make no mistake, Albuquerque isn't immune from the international economic crisis, but, because your mayor is a capable leader, your city government was spared the worst.

In these times of economic uncertainty, crime becomes more of a problem. It's natural. But, Mayor Chavez has a plan to combat it. Like I did in the mid-1990s, he has a plan to put more cops on the streets. He has passed some of the toughest anti-sexual predator laws in the nation. And, he's cleaning up the city and providing opportunities for young people.

It's time for us to come together. Let me be clear: Albuquerque can not afford a far right wing Mayor. The Republican Party is more determined than ever to stymie the progressive agenda in Albuquerque and across the nation. They're waiting not only to be able to impose a right wing agenda on your city, but, to declare a victory that will resonate across New Mexico and America. We can't let that happen. It's time to come together behind a leader with a vision for the city's future and a record of results. It's time to support Mayor Marty Chavez.

Thank you so much for your time.

Don't forget to remind your friends and family to vote as well!

Marty Chavez is endorsed by the Albuquerque Journal who says that we need to keep his "experience and vision" working for us in City Hall.

He's also the only candidate backed by public safety organizations, the Albuquerque Police Officers' Association, the Albuquerque Area Fire Fighters and the Albuquerque Fraternal Order of Police. He's backed by these organizations because he's a tough on crime Mayor who is committed to putting 100 more cops on our streets.

Thanks to Mayor Chavez' leadership, our city is on top of all the right lists. We're #1 for business and careers according to Forbes Magazine and we're "one of the top cities in America" according to Kiplinger. We're on the right track and headed in the right direction thanks to Mayor Chavez' leadership.

Together, we can keep a leader with a vision for our city's future and a strong record of producing results working for us in City Hall.

Read the full endorsement:

It's 2009. The country is in the midst of an economic downturn. The state is facing a shortfall in the hundreds of millions of dollars and shedding jobs like a sheepdog in a New Mexico summer. The city is freezing openings and scrambling to hold services harmless. It would be safe, easy, even comforting in this climate to recommend Albuquerque stand pat with its mayoral leadership.

But that's not why voters should keep Mayor Martin Chávez in office Oct. 6.

Yes, Chávez has spent 12 years on the eleventh floor of City Hall as the man in charge of Albuquerque. A good part of his job has been taking care of what he deems the "nitty-gritty" — proposing budgets and ensuring basic needs, from public safety to public sanitation, are met. He's the only mayor in the city's history to serve consecutive terms.

And that means he's the only mayor who has had to live with his successes and his mistakes, who has had to not just own the former but rectify the latter. That has made him a leader who understands the importance of having a vision beyond Albuquerque next week or next month or next year, beyond filled potholes and sandblasted graffiti.

Chávez is the one who capitalized on the savvy San Juan-Chama water deal, setting the wheels in motion to convert the city to river water when it turned out our underground Lake Michigan was more of a pond. He instituted 311, a city call center where residents can report real problems to real people who can do something about them. He established the Safe City Strike Force, cleaning up litter and weeds and cleaning out problem properties. He's the one who finally got the state to meet the city in the middle of the Big Eyesore and landscape the state's most visible interchange.

On Chávez's watch, the Police Department has grown, planned development has become a reality, a green building code has been adopted, the film industry has moved in and sex offenders and traffic scofflaws have been encouraged to move on.

When his vision hasn't quite melded with his constituents' reality, Chávez has been leader enough to regroup and retool. He not only accepted an ethics reprimand in 2001 over ABQPAC — a campaign fundraising arm that helped pay his expenses with cash from city contractors and others who had a stake in city issues; he became a vocal advocate for open government and ethics reform. He not only accepted the voters' will that a transit tax renewal required their approval; he followed through and placed it on the Oct. 6 ballot. He not only heard the criticism when he directed federal stimulus funds to purchase new buses built in Minnesota; he heeded it and instead went with bus shelters built locally and fare boxes made in Taos.

Chávez's critics — including city councilors and his two current opponents — say he's a hard person to get along with. The same has been said about Chávez's predecessors. Smart voters know there is friction by design among the branches of government, that vigorous discourse is healthy, that if they wanted someone to come over and braid their hair and discuss the best singer on "American Idol" they would have a sleep over, not an election.

It's unfortunate that in the waning days of the campaign Chávez has chosen to answer negative campaigning in kind. That simply adds fuel to his critics' fire while detracting from his accomplishments — many visible on the daily commute through town.

"I still wake up with ideas," Chávez says. "It's not just experience — I'm passionate about the job."

In good times, that's important. In tough times, even more so. The Journal recommends Albuquerque voters keep Mayor Martin Chávez in office and the city of Albuquerque moving forward.

The power is in your hands to keep Marty Chavez' experience and vision working for us.