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One-year licenses currently run $6, and the city issued about 69,500 last fiscal year (many at no cost to older or low-income residents).

The City Council would have to approve such a change, but Animal Welfare Director Danny Nevarez said it makes sense.

Most citizens do not bother as it is, and enforcement is limited. The city’s 22 animal welfare officers usually only notice such violations while responding to another matter or complaint.

“There’s just not a lot of return on pet licensing. … Rather than having (officers) write a $6 citation and be tied up in court for several hours, we’d rather have them out offering services and being more active with the pet population and the community as a whole,” Nevarez said.

He said the city is currently working on a plan to train its officers to microchip and provide vaccinations, which are more meaningful interventions.

“Honestly, you track pets more through the microchip,” he said. “As we’ve looked at (licensing), we’re kind of going, ‘Where’s the benefit?'”

QUESTIONS, ANYONE? Mayor Keller publicly announced his 2020 budget proposal at a news conference last Wednesday on Civic Plaza, speaking against a carefully coordinated backdrop that included a couple of police vehicles, a firetruck and a small army of city officials and officers.

The midmorning spectacle caught the attention of one passerby, who decided to drop in and participate.

The unnamed man in the trench coat joined the assembled group of reporters midway through the event and was the first to speak when the mayor began his Q-and-A. In fact, he asked a series of questions: about jobs, police brutality and whether the proposal would raise taxes.

“That is a great one,” Keller said. “This budget has zero tax increases in it.”

QUOTE OF THE WEEK: Amid discussion about reconfiguring streets at last week’s City Council meeting, Councilor Diane Gibson touted the improvement seen after the city re-striped part of San Pedro a few years ago, turning what had been four lanes into two, plus a middle turning lane.

“We have far fewer traffic accidents, and we have made that stretch of San Pedro more comfortable – the right way to say that is ‘more comfortable to cross,’ ” she said. “It’s actually safer for the school kids in two different schools. We’re not supposed to say ‘safer’ but it is. It is. Sue me. Sue me. I don’t care. That was a good project.”

Jessica Dyer: jdyer@abqjournal.com