In our third installment of our series looking at all of Albuquerque’s mayoral candidates, KUNM’s Daniel Montano sits down with Eddie Varela, a retired fire chief with some unconventional ideas who says his background prepared him for a career in city government.
KUNM: What was it that made you want to run for mayor?
EDDIE VARELA: Well, I was born and raised here, Daniel. I grew up in the Barelas area, and I graduated from high school in the South Valley, and I really loved my city. I did. It was great. My childhood was great. I mean, not without a few bumps, you know, but it was good. And so out of high school, I was attending the university — class here, class there — because I was already married, and I became a meat-cutter in the city here, and it was really a lucrative job. In those days, in the 70s, I was making $10.40, an hour. And, I mean, that was amazing. So it gave me a jumpstart on life. I was able to buy a home and a car, and I had a couple of kids. And I quickly tired of (meat-cutting) after about six years — generally because of the cold, and it was really cold. So a friend of mine joined the fire department, and he came and talked to me about it, and I said, ‘wow, it sounds really great.’ So I applied, and I was accepted, and I went to the Fire Academy, and lo and behold, one day, I was a firefighter at station one, which was my dream. I grew up in Barelas, and they had the poles there. You know — when you slide down the poles? I always just thought that was the coolest thing in the world — to slide the pole. And so I got to experience that. And the fire department gave me things that I may not have gotten otherwise. It gave me a sense of professionalism. It gave me a sense of public safety. It was great to help people. I never expected to do that. And, you know, putting out a fire is a wonderful thing, and it gave me an opportunity that I’ll never forget, and that was an opportunity for advancement. You know, most jobs, you work there, and you may get an opportunity, but in the fire department, within six months, I realized I want to be a driver. And I said, ‘How do you become a driver?’ Well, you study, and there was no political involvement. You study for the test, and if you pass a test, you became a driver. And all the way up the ranks, you want to be a command lieutenant. And the most extraordinary thing is they would give you the study material. ‘This is going to be on the test,’ they said. And I found that amazing, that not everybody would take advantage of that, but I did. I made lieutenant, and then I made captain, then I made assistant chief, and ultimately I made deputy chief. So it gave me a wonderful career. I’m very grateful for that. I really was. And so, I retired after 22 years. I was a paramedic for 15 years — certified. That’s the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done in my life — still is. It was absolutely rewarding. As a matter of fact, I worked at station three, right across from the studio here, for many years. And so, it gave me everything I needed. And I retired, and I missed it, so I put my resume out around the country, and lo and behold, I was offered quite a few chiefs jobs, and I wound up in Barstow, California, as a fire chief,…