A promise of continuity
Albuquerque Tribune,
September 25,1997 (excerpt)
PO Drawer T, Albuquerque, NM 87103
505-823-3653
By Ed Asher
Tribune Reporter
... She became District 7's city councilor in December 1993,
a seat she is giving up to run for mayor.
Her belief in her ability to win that post is exceeded only
by her deeply religious faith and a conviction that moral values are a cornerstone to
successful communities.
"She believes in the Lord," says Donna
Prieto-Altamirano, who was Perea's secretary for two years in the Capital Improvement
Program. "I was her secretary, but we became very close friends. I would go to her
home and we would have Bible studies."
Carmen Castillo, who worked for Perea from 1984 to 1993, also
recalls Perea's religious convictions.
"Her faith was . . . like No. 1. She never preached to
us or anything. It was like I just knew she believed in the Bible very strongly. But she
never came across preaching to us her beliefs," Castillo says.
Perea has critics, however, who fear those beliefs would
persuade her to bring religion into the Mayor's Office.
For example, some fear that Perea would rescind an executive
order by Mayor Martin Chavez that bars the city from discriminating against job applicants
based on their sexual orientation.
"She's a fundamentalist Christian, and her views are
formed by a restricted and exclusive reading of the Bible," says Bob Summersgill,
political director of the Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance.
The Albuquerque-based group, now 15 years old, has about 100
active members who "seek to achieve equality under the law for gays, lesbians,
bisexuals and transgender" people, Summersgill said.
"She's giving mixed messages on (the executive
order)," Summersgill says. "But her supporters are pushing her to repeal the
executive order, and she's not publicly saying she will repeal it or she won't. We suspect
she will, should she get into office."
Perea's response: "There are many issues that are
extremely important in city government. The most immediate one that I am focused on is the
budget, which falls immediately on the heels of being elected mayor."
Pressed further on where she stands on the executive order,
Perea says:
"That's not one of my top priorities. It's not like I'm
focusing on that. I've got to be focused on other issues, like the budget."
The Lesbian and Gay Political Alliance also faults Perea for
voting against a hate-crimes bill that the City Council approved in December. The
ordinance adds 90 days to jail sentences for crimes that were committed based on race,
religion, national origin, ancestry, gender, disability or sexual orientation.
"I believe Vickie Perea's only objection to the
hate-crimes ordinance is that it treats gay and lesbian people with the same respect and
protections that it affords to everyone else," Summersgill says.
Perea says she voted against the bill because it
"created a special class of people."
"The whole issue is the special class of rights,"
she says. "There are laws that already protect people, and we should uphold those
laws. I don't believe in anybody being mistreated or abused in any way, shape or form, and
there are laws that protect all of us when it comes to that."
Before the hate-crimes bill was voted on, Perea introduced an
amendment that read: "This ordinance is not intended to create a protected status or
substantive rights for any class or group of people for any purpose, including civil
rights claims."
The amendment failed.
Perea and Councilor Tim Cummins were the only councilors to
vote "no" on the hate-crimes bill.
As for her religion in general, Perea declines to discuss the
subject, saying, "I don't see what it has to do with being mayor."
She has a similar response to comments about her status as
the only woman in the race and, if elected, the city's first woman mayor.
And although she is bilingual, she doesn't stress the point,
noting that it is simply another facet she would bring to the office.
...
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