By Patrick Lohmann
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Scott Cameron’s 8- and 10-year-old sons were huddled in lockdown at their elementary school last week for two hours as police bomb squad officers disabled two live pipe bombs that were likely targeting the probation and parole office across the street.
The federal investigation into who left the bombs near the office on Monte Vista Avenue is ongoing, but Cameron and 265 other people have signed a petition to turn up the pressure on the state Corrections Department, which has been trying for almost two years to move its office out of the Monte Vista Elementary School neighborhood.
“Kids can’t learn when they don’t feel safe,” said Cameron, an attorney. “And right now kids and teachers don’t feel safe. That office has got to go.”
The bomb threat is the sec- ond time this year Monte Vista students have gone on lockdown in response to a dangerous event relating to the probation and parole office, where convicted criminals can regularly be seen lining up in the morning hours to comply with the conditions of their release.
In late April, parole violator Samantha Amos, 23, slipped out of her handcuffs after her parole officer tried to send her back to jail. Amos then fled to Monte Vista Elementary School in the university area and hid in a boy’s bathroom before being quickly arrested.
The petition, which has been circulating since Friday, asks that Corrections Department Secretary Gregg Marcantel, Albuquerque Public Schools, City Councilor Rey Garduño and state legislators Rep. Gail Chasey and Sen. Cisco McSorley push to move the office.
Corrections Department spokeswoman Alex Tomlin said the department has been unable to find an appropriate place to move the Monte Vista office, but she said that’s not for lack of trying. The office on the 3000 block of Monte Vista has an “Available” sign to attract would-be renters, she said.
“If we could wave a magic wand and get out of there tomorrow, we would certainly try and do that,” she said. “But we’ve been trying for two years.”
The department identified a building Downtown, known as the Plaza Maya building, as a possible place to house all of the Monte Vista operations in addition to other offices. However, owners of two youth-serving centers nearby have opposed putting the office there out of many of the same concerns shared by Monte Vista Elementary School parents.
If that deal goes through, the department would move 217 employees into the building from the Monte Vista office, its special programs office at 111 Gold NE and the Book Alliance office at 3415 Pan American NE, which is a department educational program.
Tomlin said the department has been “creative” in seeking other possible locations and that it considers both location and the building itself when finding the right fit. An acceptable building would be accessible through public transportation, address security concerns and have designated spaces for offenders and for officers.
Cameron said he harbors no ill will toward offenders who are “just trying to get their lives together” and that he understands the department has been trying to find a new spot. However, he said the two events have taken a toll on his boys, and he doesn’t see what’s taking so long.
“Surely there’s a place in this city,” he said.