Arthur Alpert Pic2Autumn in Albuquerque is tasty and soft. I inhale, almost chew the aroma of the roasting chile and slather the stuff itself on everything. The cool, meanwhile, not only refreshes but also inspires my tomato plants to offer new fruit.

Only robocalls roil the senses.

They remind me, however, that I will soon trek to my neighborhood elementary school to vote for mayor. It’s a tricky decision this year.

That surprising Albuquerque Journal poll had Republican R.J. Berry running ahead of Democrats Mayor Martin Chavez and Richard Romero, in that order. Will Chavez and Romero split the Democratic and Hispanic votes allowing Berry to slip in?

With that in mind, I press play on my answering machine.

The first pre-recorded message, from the mayor but not in his voice, trashes Romero. Then New Mexico’s former first lady, Clara Apodaca, endorses Chavez. So does Howard Dean. (Yes, that Howard Dean!) Secretary of State Mary Herrera is next with kind words for Marty and, finally, the mayor himself urges me to vote early.

As I write, Romero hasn’t called, indicating a deficit of cash, organization or aggression. Neither has Mr. Berry, but I understand—he’s targeting Republicans in this most partisan of non-partisan elections.

Berry has no resemblance to some longtime Republicans of my acquaintance, each of whom is conservative, responsible and heartsick, the last from watching today’s GOP dance to the tune of nattering nabobs of nihilism.

No, Berry is a contemporary Republican.

First, he promises, inanely, to run the city in a business-like manner, as if government and business aren’t fundamentally dissimilar.

Berry means, of course, that he’d run a tight ship, cut waste and balance budgets. A perfect contradiction, that is, of the GOP’s national record—eight years of waste, theft and deficits. I guess he hasn’t noticed.

He’s aimed his “sanctuary city” theme at his party’s fringe.

And in an irony as delicious as fresh-roasted chile, it turns out Berry’s business success rests on his Hispanic wife’s double minority status, which helped her company win millions in federal contracts.

It appears a Berry administration would be government for private interests, so it’s easy to reject him; choosing between Mayor Chavez and Richard Romero is tough.

To the mayor’s credit, he pushed water conservation early. Also, he’s promoted our city’s invaluable cultural resources—the BioPark, Tingley, museums and libraries. He’s sold Albuquerque internationally. And he works hard.

His prickliness is counter-productive, though. He tends to confuse his views with The Truth. And his cronyism is rampant. I’m left with some Marty fatigue.

My primary concern, however, is how the city will grow. Slowly, I would hope, with great emphasis on the regional environment broadly defined —we need to foster spiritual and community health, as well as clean air and water.

The Mayor talks a good green game, but he’s allied with the old real estate interests, not the urbanists.

Richard Romero advocates a more sophisticated approach to growth, less conducive to sprawl.

And he boasts personal assets. People who had kids in school when he was an APS principal tell me he cared about them. And in the Roundhouse, he challenged and beat Manny Aragon.

On the debit side, Romero is hardly Mr. Excitement. And he’s trimmed progressive positions for political advantage in this campaign.

I lean to Romero but worry that a vote for him might help Berry get 40 percent of voters Oct. 6, avoiding a run-off. Albuquerque deserves better. Yet I hate voting for the lesser evil.

Former Mayor Jim Baca recently blogged that turnout will determine the winner. Maybe he’s right.

If so, I’d better harvest those late-season tomatoes and get to the polls.