Ken Sanchez Passes Away

Not a good sign when someone in your graduating class passes away: Ken Sanchez, longtime councilman for Albuquerque's West Side. At the 40th high school reunion in 2014, we even did a conga line together and slapped each others backs. Politically, we were probably at opposite poles, but at least he got the West Mesa Aquatic Center built.

RIP Ken Sanchez:

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Ken Sanchez, one of the longest serving Albuquerque city councilors and an advocate for the West Side, died Wednesday.

He was 63.

In a room full of over 40 loved ones, Mayor Tim Keller, city councilors and Sanchez’s family announced his death Wednesday night.

They didn’t give details on the cause of death.

“Today, we lost one of our most beloved public servants,” Keller said. “It’s with a heavy heart that I have to inform the city of Albuquerque of the passing of Councilor Ken Sanchez.”

Sanchez suffered a “medical emergency” in late November and had not returned to City Hall. In a statement issued at the time, City Council staff said Sanchez was expected to make a full recovery but noted that “his family asks that you keep him in your thoughts and prayers.”

...Sanchez, a Democrat, was first elected to the City Council in 2005. The decades-long West Side resident had won another four-year term in 2017. He served three terms as council president.

During his tenure on the council, he helped steer a number of infrastructure projects, including the Patrick J. Baca Library, Fire Station No. 7 and the West Mesa Aquatic Center.

Sanchez operated the Gilbert Sanchez Tax Accounting Firm and was the president of Ken Sanchez & Associates Realty.

...During his 2017 reelection campaign, he told the Journal that serving on the City Council and Bernalillo County Commission were his major professional accomplishments, saying that he was able to bring “people together to deal with the challenges and injustice that we have faced on Albuquerque’s West Side.”

For school, he attended Holy Rosary, West Mesa High School, the College of Santa Fe and the University of New Mexico.