Richard Berry

Mayor of Albuquerque

Mayor Richard J. Berry is serving his second term after being reelected by an historic 68% of the vote. Prior to serving as Mayor of Albuquerque, he served two terms in the New Mexico State Legislature and spent his career in the private sector, where he and his wife Maria operated an award winning, regional construction firm. <br /> During his time in office, Mayor Berry has focused his priorities on four core principles: public safety, fiscal responsibility, economic vitality and government accountability. <br /> <br /> Albuquerque has seen its lowest crime rates in 20 years under Mayor Berry’s leadership. Budgets have been balanced and the city has reduced the size of Government while maintaining a high level of services to taxpayers. The Mayor’s initiatives have saved taxpayers over $20 million dollars to date with total projected saving to hit $35 million by the end of his second term. Since Mayor Berry’s first year in office, Albuquerque’s unemployment rate has dropped by over 50% with nearly 8,000 jobs added between June 2014 and 2015.<br /> <br /> Mayor Berry and his team crafted a homelessness initiative that has evolved into a national model called Albuquerque Heading Home, which has now housed over 400 chronically homeless individuals. The program is being emulated in other cities across America and is on track to end chronic and veteran’s homelessness in the City. <br /> Mayor Berry has worked diligently to augment the educational experiences of our local youth with measurable and meaningful results. One example of which is the nationally-recognized program Running Start for Careers apprenticeship and education program. The graduation rate for participants in this program exceeds 98%. The Mayor has also worked to help implement numerous “Homework Diners” in local elementary schools, providing after-school tutoring and nutritional assistance to students and their families.<br /> <br /> Under Mayor Berry’s Administration, the city has completed five times more energy efficiency projects than prior to his first term. The work to protect and revitalize the Rio Grande Bosque has connected residents with the river like never before. Additionally, the new public-private partnership driven recycling facility built in Mayor Berry’s first term has increased the City’s recycling rate dramatically. <br /> <br /> Mayor Berry’s leadership was instrumental in completing the $93 million dollar Paseo del Norte and I-25 interchange improvement project. This critical project is shortening commute times for over 56 million drivers per year and is estimated to bring nearly $3 billion dollars in economic opportunity to Albuquerque in the coming decades. <br /> Mayor Berry serves as an elected member of the Advisory Board for the U.S. Conference of Mayors and is the current chair of the Conference’s Metro Economies Committee and Community Leaders of America. He and his wife just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and they have one son who is a college freshman.