new at 6-- we've learned albuquerque's mayor and two city councilors are trying to bring back some city jobs that were frozen after the recession hit. they say the economy is showing signs of improvement ...and the city is ready to hire again. jeff maher is live at city hall with the details. jeff. right now the city council is meeting -- going over the mayor's 467-million dollar budget proposal. and it's clear that some city minute thumbnail 06:04 pm leaders feel the economy is on the rebound, and think it's time to start hiring again. as part of his budget proposal, mayor richard berry and city councilor brad winter want to unfreeze 36 vacant city positions -- including at the city libraries, the animal welfare department, and parks. city councilor ken sanchez wants to restore 52 vacant city positions in those same departments. "we're looking at some of those areas to increase the number of employees to take care of the basic services for the residents here in the city of albuquerque" we went to the main library downtown -- and talked to people about the impact of the unfilled positions. jamie pond, who visits the library weekly, says the city needs to get the library some help. "it's a lot harder to get help, the hours get really confusing because sometimes they were open on mondays and then they were closed on mondays and the hours kept changing because of staffing issues" sanchez says the economy has shown signs of improvement. projections for gross receipts tax revenue are up. minute thumbnail 06:05 pm and without the positions, he says the parks, animal welfare, and the libraries have all suffered in their own ways. "many of the calls i receive in my office are because they're very disappointed that the city is not maintaining our parks, the parks don't get the maintenance they truly deserve" the mayor's plan also calls for three million dollars of general operating money to be moved to capital projects -- to help jump start some city projects that have been long delayed. live at city hall. jeff maher. kob. eyewitness news 4.
