Richard James Berry[1] (born November 5, 1962) is an American entrepreneur and politician who served as the 29th mayor of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Berry moved to Albuquerque in 1982 to attend the University of New Mexico on academic and athletic scholarships (track & field, decathlon).

He defeated two Democrats: incumbent Mayor Martin Chávez (35%) and State Senator Richard Romero (21%).

[7] Berry ran for re-election to a second term in 2013[8][9] and won with 69% of the vote, defeating Democrat Pete Dinelli and Republican Paul Heh.

[10] Berry served as the Chairman of the US Conference of Mayors Metro Economies Committee,[11] as well as an elected member of the Advisory Board.

As Mayor, Berry reduced government spending by over $140 million, while keeping services to the community intact and without layoffs.

[17] One of Berry's core focus areas is augmenting[clarification needed] the existing educational system with smart public sector investments.

This public-private partnership allows high school students to enroll in a semester-long, dual-credit career exploration class held at industry sites for work-and-learn programs.

Homework Diner is a grassroots, community-led program that provides after-school tutoring and meal assistance to families.

[21] Another initiative Berry put into action is TalentABQ, which helps people gain the certifications they need to show prospective employers that they have the skills to do the job and improve productivity in their businesses.

[23] In August 2013, Berry announced a pay equity taskforce to address gender-based wage and salary inequality.

Berry's administration completed the $93 million Paseo del Norte and I-25 interchange improvement project.

This critical project is shortening commute times for over 56 million drivers a year and is estimated to bring nearly $3 billion in economic opportunity to Albuquerque in the coming decades.

It allows citizens to easily access city spending data, employee salaries, vendor contracts, capital projects, audits, internal investigations, budget trending, travel expenses, and political contributions.

[27] To encourage city employees to cut spending and waste, Berry created the Efficiency, Stewardship and Accountability Award.

Homicide totals, robberies, burglaries, auto theft, and property crime are all down since Berry took office, according to 2012 statistics from the Albuquerque Police Department.

[39][40] Berry and then-Police Chief Raymond Schultz launched a new initiative in 2012 aimed to get more recruits into the police academy.

APD continues to suffer from a significant shortage of new officers and difficulty attracting qualified recruits, as of 2015.

[45] Berry's platform for police reform and the department's lack of transparency have been met with national scrutiny and criticism.