Welcome to the South Valley Incorporation information page. Thanks for taking the time to visit.

QUESTIONS? Read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ), and download the fact sheet below. If we haven't answered your question here, please contact us (info at the bottom of this page) and we will respond to you shortly.

FIND OUT WHERE TO VOTE ON TUESDAY
Visit https://www.bernco.gov/wherevote and type in your name and birthday to find the consolidated precinct where you vote on Tuesday, January 5th.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, January 12 at 6pm.

Download the fact sheet.

Update (12-7-09): Feasibility Budget is available here.
Update (12-4-09): January 5th Election: consolidated polling locations just released. Click here for the map of locations, and regular precinct numbers. 
Update (12-2-09): New FAQ just added to website.

News

November 24, 2009

Election Changes

Bernalillo County's Board of County Commissioners moved to hold the incorporation election as a walk-in election with absentee and early voting options. This is a change from the originally planned mail-in ballot election. Although a mail-in ballot election would likely have 20% greater voter turnout, and it would cost approximately $100,000 less, the Board approved the resolution 3-2. Updated Election information can be found here at the County's website.

 

October 27, 2009

Bernalillo County Approves Election

Bernalillo County's Board of County Commissioners moved to bring the issue of the incorporation of the South Valley into a new town - Valle de Atrisco - to a vote for the residents of the proposed new town. The County Clerk's office and County Manager reported that all of the requirements have been met. Commissioners Brasher, Wiener, and De La Cruz spoke for the dissemination of information for the citizens in this area so that informed decisions will be made at this election. The election will be held in January 2010. The resolution AR 65-2009 passed unanimously, 5-0.

 

September 21, 2009

Support from the Albuquerque City Council

City Council President Isaac Benton and City Councilors of Albuquerque heard the case for the incorporation of Valle de Atrisco at the Council meeting on Monday, September 21, 2009.

Resolution R-09-327 was sponsored by Council President Isaac Benton and Councilor Ken Sanchez. Its official title is "Supporting The Incorporation of Valle De Atrisco Into A Municipality Upon An Election Approving The Incorporation". Members of the South Valley Incorporation Group spoke in favor of the resolution and answered questions posed by the Councilors. The resolution passed unanimously, 7-0 (Details on the legislation here). This important step shows that upon incorporation, we will have a friendly neighbor in the City of Albuquerque.

 

June 30, 2009

Name the Town Result: Valle de Atrisco

The South Valley Incorporation Group ended its "Name That Town" campaign this past week. We reviewed hundreds of suggestions by South Valley residents for the proposed new Town at a Special Meeting on Tuesday, June 23, 2009

40% of the suggestions came from the South Valley Library suggestion box, 25% from the Hot Line, 20% from the email, and 15% from the three community center boxes: Westside, Los Padillas, and Mountain View Community Centers. 35% of the suggestions included different variations of Valle (Valle del Río, Valle de Atrisco, Valle Verde, etc). The second most popular were variations of Río (Río Grande, Río Bravo, etc).

After review and much discussion of the suggested names, the South Valley Incorporation Group decided upon a very unique name. The top vote getters included a variation of names with Atrisco and the South Valley. The Incorporation Group decided on VALLE de ATRISCO.

The name VALLE de ATRISCO is historically significant. The oldest existing structure (dating to the 1600's) in Bernalillo County is entitled La Capilla de San José de Los Ranchos de Atrisco. It is located at 2100 La Vega Dr. SW and serves as a present day sanctuary for the Penitente Brotherhood.

The area known as Atrisco was settled as an estancia in the 1640's and included all of the existing South Valley. After the Pueblo Revolt of 1680, much of this same area was established in 1692 as a community land grant known as La Merced de Atrisco. La Merced de Atrisco is the oldest colonial settlement in current Bernalillo County and pre-dates La Villa de Alburquerque by fourteen years.

Choosing a name that was popular in the "Name That Town " campaign, and that is unique to and that has its base of origin in the area seeking to be incorporated, was important criteria in the selection. Valle de Atrisco is a name that connotes cultural integrity, valiant traditions, and hope for a new beginning with old family values as its anchor.

With the new name we can proceed in completing our Census documents (as required by state law), begin drafting the granting authority resolution by the Albuquerque City Council, and begin our first draft of our petition (requiring 200 valid signatures) calling for the election–YES / NO to incorporate.

Why Incorporate?

A growing list of advantages to becoming our own Town:

• Benefits to South Valley citizens:
  • Local issues decided by local people
  • Maximizing return from our tax dollars
  • Prevent further annexation by the City of Albuquerque
  • Prevent further suburban sprawl development
  • Choose our own types of development
  • Choose our own timing for development
  • More control over educational decisions
  • Better safety and police protection with dedicated force
    
  • Flexibility to provide incentive packages for local business expansion
  • Community Development Block Grants available to municipalities
• Benefits to Businesses:
• Reducing regulatory barriers for local small businesses
• Benefits to Culture:
  • Government support for preserving the historically agricultural focus of the valley
  • Better preservation of cultural diversity
  • Governing practices to better reflect cultural traits... e.g. village centers with councils having a representative sitting on the town/city council
• Historic Benefits:
  • Better preservation of historical sites
  • Increased art enterprise(s) reflecting on heritage/history
  • Formally naming our historic villages with corresponding village centers
  
  
• Agricultural Benefits
• Better preservation of farmland for agricultural activities
• Support to develop innovative farming techniques
• Opportunities to develop agritourism
• Benefits to surrounding areas:
• South Valley can become an important 'bread basket' for the greater metro area
• Agriculture and open space contributes significantly to recharging shared aquifer

Valle de Atrisco

Click here for more info on the Map Area, including a link to the Interactive Google map.

Who Are We?

We have made it our work to study the possibilities, discuss the challenges and opportunities, seek legal and economic expertise, and begin the process of Incorporating the South Valley. 
We call ourselves the South Valley Incorporation Group.

We are a highly diverse group of passionate and active South Valley residents.  We believe that if we do not become our own municipality, we risk losing even more of our land as well as our culture to make way for sprawling city development.  No one in the group seeks personal political gain from becoming our own town. We all simply dream of a self-governed South Valley, preserving the agricultural, historic, and cultural character.

Contact Us

Comments? Questions? Criticism? 
E-mail: info@southvalleyinc.info 
Call: Miguel Garcia at (505) 877-8131 or Jerome Padilla (505) 385-1788
Subscribe: SouthValley-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Discuss in person: visit our monthly meeting.