After clashes over opioid funds, City Council and mayor find common ground
May 7—The Albuquerque City Council sent about $4.6 million in opioid settlement money to three Gateway Center services, the latest vote in a series of decisions about how to spend the historic settlement.
The council's resolution approved at a meeting Monday night states that the funds will help cover operational costs at the First Responder Receiving Area, Medical Sobering Center and Micro-Community Recovery Housing.
Overdoses in New Mexico declined 8% in 2023 from their peak in 2021 with 1,029 deaths, according to recent data from the New Mexico Department of Health.
The vote came about a month after the City Council set guardrails for spending money from the historic settlement between local governments and big pharmaceutical companies. That settlement gave Albuquerque $80 million over several years. The funds must be spent in ways that remediate the effects of the opioid epidemic, per the settlement agreement.
In that agreement, pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors accused of spreading misleading information about opioids' addictive nature while overprescribing the drug were forced to pay millions to states and local governments.
That ruling followed years of litigation.
The city of Albuquerque formed a joint committee with Bernalillo County to help determine what to do with the money. Together, officials decided the money would primarily go to nonprofits and providers doing on-the-ground work with people experiencing addiction.
The council gave some money to Albuquerque Public Schools to expand its Crossroads treatment program and set aside money for the mayor's office but set strict guidelines about how they can use it.
The council said the mayor's portion could not be used for police vehicles, police salaries, safe-use sites or naloxone vending machines. Additionally, they said 40% must be spent on disconnected youth, while 60% must be used on treatment efforts.
Mayor Tim Keller's office objected to the plan. The office raised concerns that the nonprofits and providers would use the money for infrastructure and capital development, arguing it would be better spent on further investment in the Gateway Center.
The objection led to heated disputes between the mayor and the council, but those tensions did not resurface on Monday night.
When introducing the legislation, Councilor Tammy Fieblekorn said this proposal from the mayor's office perfectly aligned with the council's guidelines.
"This is just closing that loop on the opioid settlement funds for this year," Fiebelkorn said.
Fiebelkorn co-sponsored the legislation with Councilors Nichole Rogers, Renée Grout and Dan Champine. The measure passed unanimously.
After the late-night vote, Keller released a statement touting the city's "work to build a continuum of care for folks experiencing addiction and homelessness," highlighting the services the council funded.
"With this funding, City Council is doing its part to open a critical component of the Gateway system — the Sobering Center — and to provide recovery housing to help people turn their lives around," Keller said.
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