CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE
CITY COUNCIL
INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM
TO: City Councilors
FROM: Stephanie M. Yara, Director of Council Services
SUBJECT:
title
Appointment of Member to the Open Space Advisory Board
body
The term of one member of the Open Space Advisory Board, Ms. Tasia Young, is expiring, and pursuant to Section 14-2-6-16 ROA 1994, over the past few weeks, Councilors have nominated the following two individuals as potential appointees:
Ms. Tasia Young, PhD (re-appointment, submitted by Councilor Gibson)
Ms. Kay Bounkeua (new appointment, submitted by Councilor Sena)
Since more than one individual has been nominated, the City Council rules dictate that the following procedures are used:
“A ballot shall be prepared containing the names of each candidate. The balloting shall be by preferential balloting wherein each Councilor indicates the order of his or her preferences with the numeral “1” for his or her first preference, the numeral “2” for his or her second preference, and so on for every possible choice. After the ballots are marked, the total numerals shall be added for each candidate and the candidate whose total is the lowest shall be declared the winner.
If more than one similar position is to be filled on any particular body, the necessary number of candidates with the lowest number of votes shall be declared winners.
In the event of a tie, there shall be a runoff among those candidates having the lowest totals. The runoff shall be conducted by preferential balloting in the manner described herein.”
Biographies of each candidate follow below. The chosen candidates term will expire September 1, 2023.
The current membership of the Board is:
|
Position |
Name |
Term Expiration |
|
At-Large |
Don Meaders |
September 1, 2021 |
|
At-Large |
Michael Scisco |
September 1, 2022 |
|
At-Large |
Barbara Taylor |
September 1, 2022 |
|
At-Large |
Scott Forrester |
September 1, 2022 |
|
At-Large |
Taylor Bui |
September 1, 2023 |
|
At-Large |
Twyla McComb |
September 1, 2023 |
|
At-Large |
Vacant (This appointment to fill) |
September 1, 2023 |
Ms. Tasia Young
Ms. Young is a current OSAB member and is available and interested in serving another term. She is an Albuquerque resident with nearly 40 years of experience in and around government. From 1974-1975 she was a Human Rights Specialist for the City of Albuquerque before moving on to become the first Executive Director of the Commission on the Status of Women from 1975-1985. During this time, she reported and carried out the policies of 15 commissioners and the Governor. In 1985 Ms. Young began teaching undergraduate and graduate courses for the New Mexico EDGE (Education Designed to Generate Excellence in the Public Sector) through NMSU Cooperative Extension Service, University of New Mexico, University of Phoenix, Webster University, and the College of Santa Fe. She taught public administration, government, political science, ethics, management, human resource development, and education. Additionally, from 1987 to 2018 she served as a contract lobbyist for the New Mexico Association of Counties, where her responsibilities included tracking legislation pertaining to county government in a wide variety of topics. Ms. Young is an experienced public servant as well as an avid walker and bicyclist and uses public spaces in and around Albuquerque on a regular basis. She will continue to be an excellent addition to the Open Space Advisory Board. Her appointment will expire on September 1, 2023.
The governing legislation that guides the appointment of members to OSAB indicates the following required qualifications: Members shall be residents of the city with a demonstrated commitment to the accomplishment of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan. Members shall be knowledgeable as to open space, ecology, the real estate market, urban and regional planning and/or related law.
Major concerns of the board include investment policy for the Open Space Trust Fund, Acquisition of selected Additional open space lands, maintenance of the existing system, plans for improvements such as trails, revegetation, or visitor access, and coordination with the Bernalillo County open space system.
Ms. Kay Bounkeua
Ms. Bounkeua received her Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan's School of Public Health. After graduating, Ms. Bounkeua settled back in her hometown of Albuquerque, New Mexico where her parents immigrated to in the early 1970s to escape the impact of communism and war on Laos. In her previous role, she served as the Executive Director for New Mexico Asian Family Center. Realizing the critical need for services and programs within local immigrant and refugee communities, she helped to spearhead prevention and systemic change initiatives for the Asian community. This included the provision of direct services for victims/survivors of domestic and sexual violence as well as the implementation of multigenerational family programming, health education and outreach, cross-racial coalition building, and policy advocacy work.
Ms. Bounkeua joined The Wilderness Society as the New Mexico State Deputy Director in April of 2020. In her role, she works with communities to build out campaigns and programs to protect wilderness within New Mexico. Bringing a public health approach to the work, Ms. Bounkeua hopes to advance racial equity within the conservation movement with the goal of improving overall community and population health. Ms. Bounkeua currently serves on the boards of Bold Futures NM, Bernalillo County Community Health Council, and as a steering committee member of ABQ's Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs and Building Movement Project. She is a current W. K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network Fellow and is a past alumna of Asian Pacific American Women's Leadership Institute. Her passions include organizational capacity building, increasing equity across systems, creating models of shared leadership, and uplifting emerging young leaders of color. In her personal time, she can be found running with her two dogs and exploring mountains and far away locations with her husband and one-year old daughter
Ms. Bounkeua resides in Council District 1 and will be filling the, City Council choice, at-large position that expired on September 1, 2021. If appointed, her term will expire on September 1st, 2023.
The governing legislation that guides the appointment of members to OSAB indicates the following required qualifications: Members shall be residents of the city with a demonstrated commitment to the accomplishment of the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Comprehensive Plan. Members shall be knowledgeable as to open space, ecology, the real estate market, urban and regional planning and/or related law.
Major concerns of the board include investment policy for the Open Space Trust Fund, Acquisition of selected Additional open space lands, maintenance of the existing system, plans for improvements such as trails, revegetation, or visitor access, and coordination with the Bernalillo County open space system.