Gibson won't seek third term on council

Jessica Dyer, Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
·2 min read

Apr. 21—Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson has decided not to seek reelection in 2021, becoming the second member of the current council planning to step aside at the end of the year.

Gibson has spent two terms representing District 7, which includes the near Northeast Heights, and said she thinks leadership change is healthy.

"I think we've done a lot of really good work, but it's time to let somebody else do it for a while," she said.

Gibson's is one of five City Council seats on the Nov. 2 ballot.

Two of the council races will proceed without an incumbent; District 9 Councilor Don Harris also has said he is not pursuing another term in the district, which includes parts of the foothills, the Northeast Heights and far Southeast Albuquerque.

Gibson is one of six Democrats on the nine-member council. Harris is a Republican.

Gibson, 69, is a retired Sandia National Laboratories machinist who won her first term in a runoff in 2013 and then cruised to reelection in 2017.

Among her most recent victories was the 2020 passage of an overhauled pawnbroker ordinance, a bill she sponsored in an attempt to help law enforcement fight property crime. The council also last year passed Gibson's legislation regulating short-term and vacation rentals by setting occupancy limits and requiring owners to register properties with the city and provide 24/7 contact information. She also has championed programs to address nuisance properties and gender pay inequity.

Gibson said that she has often invested her time in complicated matters that do not make headlines but that she thinks enhance the community. Now, for instance, she's working on a project to acquire some privately owned roadway near Cutler and Carlisle NE so the city can make lighting and other investments to better serve the area's business district.

Other pending projects include a Los Altos Park revamp, which is expected to begin this year, and development of a new city-run bicycle education center.

"I am going to miss this, because I love this," Gibson said.

Tammy Fiebelkorn, a small-business owner, is the only candidate registered for the District 7 race, according to city records.