Muhammad Hussain, the City of Española’s Planning and Land Use Director didn’t deserve to die. Certainly not like this. Presumably at the hand of an apparent robber who stole his wallet but not before firing several gunshots. All this just blocks away from UNM on Cornell and Coal SE. Muhammad was out for one of his usual nightly walks on Monday, Aug. 1, perhaps thinking about his upcoming move to Española. He was hired during my administration and was going to continue doing great work for the people of Northern New Mexico. Fate, however, decided to hand his family and everyone he knew a different outcome. Violent crime in our state has reached unprecedented levels and is out of control. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Muhammad, if you ever met him, exuded positive energy, and truly embodied what it meant to be alive. His smile was infectious, and his laugh brought a sparkle to your eye. To him, all good things were possible.
Somewhere along the line, we failed him. I say we, because unequivocally we are solely responsible for the upbringing of our children and the safety of our neighborhoods. The decisions we make have consequences and the direction we take will dictate how we preserve life. Because his was worth saving. We may have failed him in a variety of ways. We will continue to fail him if we are not able to apprehend the perpetrator or bring him or her to justice. Or because we failed this person at childhood or during his or her adolescent years. All that is known is that we didn’t do enough. With laws that promote the likelihood of repeat offenses and weaken the desire of police officers to do their jobs of defending us, we cannot seem to get a hold on crime. By giving greater rights to offenders and fewer protections to those who uphold the laws, we are destined to a become a society that continues to beg for answers.
And yet perhaps the solutions lay in what Muhammad tried to do for the City of Española — create greater opportunities for more of our citizens and visitors. He fought hard to create the housing developments that we require and the parks and open spaces that bring us together. Muhammad had an eye for urban development that included the needs and interests of everyone. Maybe city planning has the gift of moving beyond our individual borders of isolation into the beauty of community and togetherness. Through his lens of city planning, Muhammad tried to find the answers to human fragility, loneliness and eventually crime.
The City of Española has seen too much sadness and experienced too much pain. This incident is clear evidence that crime and violence and desolation exist in every corner of the state. It is not isolated or unique. But when violence has the capacity to effect people hundreds and thousands of miles away, it remains clear that something must be done. To Muhammad’s family in Pakistan, Albuquerque, and here in Española, I am sorry that he is gone. His eyes, his laugh, his spirit will be missed.
Javier Sánchez is the former Mayor of the City of Española