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Residents press for clear reporting, dashboards and community oversight for county economic incentives
Summary
At a Bernalillo County community dialogue, attendees called for transparency measures — dashboards, regular communications and community oversight — to build trust in how the county deploys incentives and investments for economic development.
Residents at a Bernalillo County community dialogue said greater transparency and accountability should guide the county’s economic development decisions, including how incentives are awarded and how public funds are spent.
Facilitators asked tables what transparency in economic development looks like. One table reporter said, “Transparency is accountability,” and urged clearer communication from government, schools and business partners so residents can see who benefits from investments.
Several tables proposed accessible public reporting on performance measures and spending. “Creating a cadence of communications with the municipal government, residents, and our economic development partners, and…a key performance indicator dashboard” would help, a table reporter said, summarizing his group’s recommendation for an online dashboard that shows where money is going and why investments are made.
Table discussions stressed that transparency should be more than raw data: information must be presented in understandable form, with context about economic conditions and the rationale for county decisions. One participant suggested civic education about state and local economics so residents can interpret the figures rather than being “thrown a bunch of numbers.”
Participants also raised concerns about political longevity and secrecy at decision-making levels; one group suggested term limits to increase turnover and reduce entrenched knowledge gaps in government. Multiple tables recommended involving community members in bid selection or oversight committees to increase accountability.
County staff said the county will collect table worksheets, analyze themes across dialogues and present findings to the steering committee and county commission. Staff urged continued participation through additional dialogues and an online survey on burnco.gov.
The dialogue did not include any formal changes to county policy or new reporting requirements; tables generated recommendations for staff and the steering committee to consider as they draft or amend financing policies and transparency practices.
