Bernalillo County launches series of community dialogues; steering committee to compile recommendations

Bernalillo County staff and Commissioner Barbara Baca announced a countywide series of community dialogues on economic development and said a steering committee will synthesize input and bring recommendations to the county commission.

Commissioner Barbara Baca, who represents District 1, opened the meeting and described the outreach as a community-driven process that will address issues including public safety, housing, behavioral health and the local economy. “This steering committee will be listening to other…conversations,” Baca said, and will bring recommendations back to the county commission in fall and early winter.

Marcos Gonzales, executive development officer for Bernalillo County, told attendees the county organized the dialogues at the commission’s request to gather community priorities and to inform potential amendments to financing policies. Gonzales asked participants to complete a stakeholder survey and said staff will publish materials and the final report on burnco.gov.

Facilitators explained that written table worksheets collected at the meeting will be analyzed for themes; Antonio Nomai and other staff collected completed forms for aggregation. Staff said the analysis will combine these results with other dialogues across the county and be presented to the steering committee and then to the county commission.

County staff thanked volunteers, facilitators and the public for participating and encouraged residents to attend other dialogues, use the QR-code survey and follow the county on social media for updates. No formal votes or policy changes occurred at the dialogue; the event served to collect community input for staff and the steering committee to consider in drafting policy recommendations.