Judge to rule on minimum wage issue

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - A district court judge is working quickly to try and sort out a tangled mess of state and city laws that will ultimately guide if and when Albuquerque voters get to vote on a proposed minimum wage hike.

Local group OLE gathered more than 25,000 signatures, more than double what they needed, for a petition to raise Albuquerque's minimum wage from $7.50 to $8.50 with the rate increasing every year after that.

But there are two issues that are holding everything up.

In the proposal those voters signed, the word employers and employees were mixed up, completely changing the meaning of one sentence dealing with a raise specifically for tipped workers.

City attorney David Tourek says that alone invalidates the proposal and makes it too confusing for voters.

"Under our charter that faulty confusing question is allowed to go on the ballot [and] it shouldn't," Tourek said in court Monday. "They should go back, regroup, get their signatures and resubmit it."

Sara Berger, arguing on behalf of OLE, says the underlying ordinance is fine and the typo should not result in the question being taken off the ballot.

But Judge Nan Nash has more than just in front of her.

Under the city charter, this specific type of proposal is required to go on a ballot within 90 days from when it was submitted. In this case that would be Nov. 11. Under state law, no special election can be called 42 days before a general election or 30 days after one.

If both laws apply, the only date that appears to work is the Nov. 6 general election ballot. The city council already put a proposed Paseo del Norte overhaul on that ballot, but council has failed to act on the proposed minimum wage hike. An attorney for the city clerk argued that an election could be held in early December after the 30 days instead.

Bernalillo County clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver says the most logical solution is to put the issue on the general election ballot.

"For me personally and my staff for the resources we have at our disposal, the best and easiest thing would be to place this question on the general election ballot," Toulouse Oliver said. "It's certainly in my view impossible in the immediate days following the general election."

Judge Nash is expected to issue her ruling early Tuesday. Toulouse Oliver has to certify the November ballot the same day, although she says a judge's order could get an issue on the ballot 10 days after that without major problems. Either side could appeal to the New Mexico Supreme Court.