CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE
CITY COUNCIL
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: City Councilors
FROM: Jon K. Zaman, Director of Council Services
SUBJECT: title
Staff Recommendation to Appoint Ms. Chelsea Van Deventer to the Police Oversight Board
body
DATE: January 12, 2018
Pursuant to the provisions of §9-4-1-5 of the Police Oversight Ordinance, City Council staff recommends the appointment of Ms. Chelsea Van Deventer to the Police Oversight Board.
APPOINTEE NAME TERM
Chelsea Van Deventer February 2, 2021
332 Fontana Pl. NE
Albuquerque, New Mexico 87108
Ms. Chelsea Van Deventer was formerly a trial attorney at the Public Defenders Office. Ms. Van Deventer has a Bachelors and Law degree from UNM. Ms. Van Deventer’s interest in serving on the Board comes from the meaningfull discussion on law enforcement and communities that is happening nationally and locally, and recognizes the POB is the perfect opportunity to problem solve and move forward. Ms. Van Deventer finds the Board’s work crucial and and is interested in helping the Board execute its oversight and policy analysis functions. If appointed, Ms. Chelsea Van Deventer would replace Dr. Susanne Brown, whose term has expired and declined reappointment. Ms. Van Deventer would serve her first full term, which would expire on February 2, 2021.
Current Board Membership:
Name Term
Dr. Susanne Brown 02/02/2018
Mr. Leonard Waites 02/02/2018
Mr. Johnny J. Armijo 02/02/2018
Ms. Chantal M. Galloway 02/02/2019
Ms. Valerie St. John 02/02/2019
Mr. Eric Cruz 02/02/2019
Ms. Joanne Fine 02/02/2020
Rev. Dr. David Ring III 02/02/2020
Dr. William J. Kass 02/02/2020
Per the Ordinance, the POB composition is to consist of nine at-large members who:
“broadly represent the diversity and demographics of the City by way of, including but not limited to, cultural, gender and geographic diversity; and who are representative of the stakeholders of the police oversight process, and who reside within the City of Albuquerque.” 9-4-1-5(A) ROA 1994.
Members serve three-year terms. Per the Police Oversight Ordinance, Board members must also meet the following requirements:
(1) He or she must not have been employed by law enforcement for one year prior to appointment; and
(2) He or she must successfully pass a background check; and
(3) He or she must have a personal history lacking any pattern of unsubstantiated complaints against APD; and
(4) He or she must have a demonstrated ability to engage in mature, impartial decision making; and
(5) He or she must have a commitment to transparency and impartial decision making; and
(6) He or she must be a resident of the City of Albuquerque
Per Ordinance requirements for the Board’s composition, listed above, Council Staff recommends Ms. Chelsea Van Deventer be appointed to the Police Oversight Board.
BACKGROUND
In the summer of 2016, City Council Staff decided to open the application process for POB membership in order to refresh the City pool of pontential POB members and to outreach to certain underrepresentated areas of the City. The Ordinance requires that the Board broadly represent the demographics of the City by cultural, gender, and geographic diversity.
The Council Office published the Police Oversight Board Application webpage on it’s website at 8:00am on June 1, 2016 and closed the the page and application process at 5:00pm on July 8, 2016. There were a total of 54 applications submitted. One applicant withdrew his application, two applicants lived outside of City limits, which disqualified them, and three applicants did not turn in their background waiver form, which disqualified them. This left 48 applications for the Selection Committee to review.
The Selection Committee consisted of:
Jon K. Zaman, Director, Council Services
Chris Melendrez, Senior Policy Analyst/Legal & Land Use, Council Services
Julian Moya, Special Projects Analyst, Council Services
After filling a previous vacacy, the Selection Committee recommended keeping the list of qualified applicants for consideration should any other vacancies occur. This would allow the Selection Committee to select from a pre-qualified and diverse candidate pool in order to fulfill the Ordinance requirements.
ATTACHMENTS
• Map of POB Members
X:\CITY COUNCIL\SHARE\CL-Staff\_Legislative Staff\Legislation\Other Communications (OC)\Staff Recommendation to Appoint Chelsea Van Deventer to POB.doc