ABQ won't bill Trump for most recent visit.
Nov. 4—On the eve of the presidential election, Mayor Tim Keller's administration told city councilors he would not bill former president Donald Trump for his Thursday presidential campaign rally.
For a few minutes Monday during a City Council meeting, Council President Dan Lewis grilled city Chief Financial Officer Kevin Sourisseau on why Trump is still being billed for his 2019 visit and asked if his most recent visit would come with a bill.
"I've not been asked by APD, as far as I know, to send a bill for that, probably because that was not extensive and overnight, like the Trump visit in 2019 that you're concerned about," Sourisseau said Monday.
Following his 2019 rally Trump, then president campaigning for reelection, was billed over $200,000. With interest, that number has jumped to over $400,000 to date. He hasn't paid any of it.
That initial bill includes expenditures for police services and employee pay after Trump's stay at an Albuquerque hotel prompted the temporary closure of City Hall.
Lewis has criticized the Keller admiration for not billing other campaigns that have visited the city. The city has argued that it only bills campaigns that require extra resources but has not provided examples of other campaigns it has billed.
"The Trump campaign was billed in 2019 for the extraordinary resources required to shut down City Hall, barricade off Downtown and staff Downtown closures overnight," city spokesperson Staci Drangmeister told the Journal Monday. "We do not bill for general public safety support or coordination, so the campaign will not be billed for the October 2024 visit."
Trump came to Albuquerque on Thursday. The Journal saw Lewis at Trump's rally Thursday.
"I'm trying to see if we're being inconsistent with every other way that we're charging anything else. So, trying to look for some consistency here in how we're doing this. So you're waiting on the mayor to tell you whether you should bill for them or not? " Lewis asked.
"I think if you're looking for consistency at this point, you're comparing apples and Toyotas actually," Sourisseau said.
On Oct 28, the Journal reported that Trump initially wanted to hold his rally at the Albuquerque Convention Center but was denied the venue because of scheduled maintenance.
Lewis suspects the mayor was involved in the denial of Trump, and the CEO of the company contracted to do the job has said the maintenance could have waited a few days allowing Trump's rally to take place.
Keller has said the outstanding bill was a factor and commended the Convention Center for denying the event. On X and Instagram Monday the mayor posted an Albuquerque Journal cartoon that depicts him punting Trump out of the convention center with him holding the outstanding bill with the caption "Get your kicks on Route 66."
Monday wasn't the first time Lewis and Sourisseau butted heads over Trump's bill. The first 20 minutes of the Finance & Government Operations Committee on Oct 28 mostly resulted in Lewis and Sourisseau arguing over why Trump was being billed.
