Joe Monahan gets one all wrong.

Joe Monahan waded in this morning on the Barela Complaint
before the Rules Committee of the NM Republican Party. link

Joe began to go wrong early in his piece; the title; Baiting Barela

I take umbrage to the use of the word baiting.

Since this complaint is mine, it is my character that is attached to it. And I will not have my character challenged on the issue of challenging the character of public servants. My effort is an open book; it is on the record in every conceivable fashion. And I will stand on that record.

I am not "baiting" Jon Barela.

I am demanding that he stand on the record and defend his refusal to be held honestly accountable to any higher standard of conduct than the law.

His conduct within the Republican Party cannot be reasonably separated from position on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education. The Republican Party of New Mexico is on the brink of sanctioning the most egregious betrayal of the public trust in memory.

Students in the APS are held accountable to a nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethics. Adults are not. The leadership is not. Jon Barela is not.

He joins with those who struck from their own code of conduct, the words;

in no case shall the standard of conduct for an adult be lower than the standard of conduct for students.

Even though he is one of the senior most role models of the student standard of conduct, Jon Barela refuses to be held accountable as a role model of the student standard of conduct.
He will not even speak of the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.
He, like the others, will not name a time, a day, and a place, where he will sit and answer legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools; candidly, forthrightly and honestly.
He, like they, will not set a time, a day, and a place where they will tell the truth.

He has been installed on the school board by a process diametrically opposed to election link, in order to participate in the cover up of the relationship between the APS and the Modrall law firm. Barela is a former Modrall lawyer.

He has been installed on the school board in order to cover up the fact that the APS is run by a bunch of good 'ol boys with inadequate standards, inadequate accountability, and inadequate record keeping. Barela is a currently serving APS good ol' boy.

He has been installed on the school board in order to stand against an immediate full scale forensic audit of the entire leadership of the APS; an audit the need for which is screamed by the Meyners Audit.

The Meyners Audit revealed a billion tax dollars a year being handled by the APS Financial Division without adequate policies, and without adequate accountability, and without keeping financial records accurate enough to send anyone to prison.

Jon Barela was appointed to the board to make sure that nobody answers any questions about the corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS.

Jon Barela was appointed the board to help prevent an honest and impartial audit.

Jon Barela intends to break this same party rule again. He intends to be Chairman of the Republican Party and run for re-election to the school board against other republicans.

The argument that school board elections are non-partisan is specious.

All of the arguments that require state officers to vacant positions in partisan races, apply to all races.

Is a powerless republican any less comfortable running against a state officer in a non-partisan election that a partisan election?

Is the appearance of a conflict of interest any less obvious?

The partisan non-partisan argument is a red herring;

anything to keep Jon Barela, and the leadership of the APS, from talking about honest accountability to any standard of conduct at all.

This is all about the good ol' boys running rough shod over the great unwashed. It is about the privileged class excepting themselves from accountability to the rules.


This is not about "baiting" Jon Barela.