Monday, June 3, 2024

MOUNTAIN VIEW RESIDENTS FILE FEDERAL CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLAINT AGAINST CITY OF ALBUQUERQUE FOR INTERFERING WITH HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT & EQUITY IMPACTS (HEEI) HEARING 

Mountain View Coalition Alleges City Blatantly & Deliberately Discriminated Against a Community of Color

ALBUQUERQUE, NM—During tonight’s Albuquerque City Council meeting, several Mountain View residents charged City Council with racial discrimination, announcing that on Friday, May 31, 2024, the Mountain View Coalition—made up of Mountain View Neighborhood Association, Mountain View Community Action and Friends of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge—represented by the New Mexico Environmental Law Center, filed a federal Civil Rights Complaint against the City of Albuquerque and Albuquerque City Council with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, alleging discrimination on the basis of race, color, and national origin, in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

The Civil Rights Complaint is in response to the City Council’s passage of legislation abolishing the Air Board and placing a moratorium on the Board’s ability to take action during the Health, Environment and Equity Impacts (HEEI) rulemaking hearing held at the Convention Center from December 4 to 11, 2023, at which the MVC sought to address the historic, systemic, and ongoing discriminatory permitting practices the City of Albuquerque has engaged in for decades. …

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