APS Board set to destroy public records, "... because they can cause problems later."

APS Board Member Delores Griego just came back from a
people on school boards meeting, with the most offensive idea
that I have ever heard.

She thinks it would be a great idea to erase recordings of school
board meetings as soon as the minutes are approved.


In practical terms, this means that the videotape of the meeting where school board heavy hitter, Paula Maes announced that she "... will never agree ..." to any audit that names the names of the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS, will be destroyed, and the only record of the meeting will be the minutes, which make no mention of Maes' unintentional candor.

Foundation for Open Government
Board of Directors member,
Marty Esquivel,

Open Government lawyer,
Marty Esquivel,

School Board President,
Marty Esquivel,



raised no objection to the plan to destroy public records in order that they not be used to cause problems later.

Expect the motion to have the support of Robert Lucero, who would love to have the audio tape of him tabling the truth telling motion, erased.









Expect the motion to have the support of David Robbins, who would love to have his denial of due process for more than 100 whistle blower complaints, hidden from public knowledge.






Expect the motion to have the support of David Peercy, who would love to have the record of his opposition to an open and honest discussion of administrative and executive role modeling of the APS Student Standards of conduct, hidden from public knowledge.






APS Superintendent Winston Brooks would love to see the record of every school board meeting where he was asked to step up to his responsibilities as the senior most administrative role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct and could not summon the character and the courage to do so, would love to see the videotapes of his lack of character and courage, destroyed.


Expect APS/Modrall to support the motion to destroy every public record of a half a dozen illegal arrests, in retaliation for my efforts to exercise my rights to free speech and to petition my government at open board meetings.

And finally, expect the motion to have the support of the Journal, whose readers will never know about the lack of character and courage of public servants, who are going to voters in February, to ask them to trust them with another $650M.


School Board Member Lorenzo Garcia's vote is up in the air.

So far, he hasn't done anything overtly unethical, except that he hasn't done anything overtly and conspicuously ethical either.

For example, he is yet to stand up as a role model of honest accountability to the APS Student Standards of Conduct;
the Pillars of Character Counts!

Update; I have been in correspondence with Mr. Garcia. As a result, I would like to reiterate that I am not suggesting that he has done anything unethical. I hold him in high regard. My point is that the most ethical man in the world is not a role model of ethical behavior, if no one sees him behaving ethically.



photos Mark Bralley

Heinrich's non-answer worse than no answer.

I was very upset to hear that Rep Martin Heinrich had been asked a legitimate question and chose to not tell the truth in response, link.

In an effort to make sure that my complaint was valid, I took advantage of an opportunity on Heinrich's website to email questions to his office. I asked for an explanation of his refusal to respond to the legitimate question about the input that he was receiving on the health care reform issue; candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

I made it very clear in my email, that I was not looking for an explanation of his position on health care reform legislation; that instead, I wanted an justification of his decision to keep the truth about the public input that he was receiving, secret.

He (whomever answers his emails) decided to go ahead and send me a position paper on health care reform. He signed off with;

"As always, I value your input and hope you will continue to keep me informed of the issues important to you."

Apparently he doesn't value my input enough to acknowledge yet another legitimate question, by responding candidly, forthrightly and honestly.




photo Mark Bralley

Great news! Rep Janice Arnold-Jones is in!

Blogger Monahan got it wrong,
Rep Janice Arnold-Jones
will not let a bum knee
keep her out of the race.

Rep Janice Arnold-Jones is no
longer "exploring" the idea of being the
next Governor of New Mexico.




In an email to supporters, she announced that she is, indeed, running for Governor.

Click to enlarge; (it is too late to participate in the poll)

By way of a disclaimer, I am part of Arnold-Jones' Saturday morning discussion group, and a total and enthusiastic supporter of her run for Governor.

That said, there will be no candidate from any party with
greater intellect and integrity, or more character and courage
than Janice Arnold-Jones.






photo Mark Bralley

No money for more cops.

The Journal reported this morning that the Albuquerque Police Department is not going to be stimulated with federal funds.

This a wrench in the gears of Mayor Marty Chavez' promise to voters, that he will grow the police department by another 100 officers, if he is elected.

The circumstances would seem to
require Chavez to recant. Either that,
or he needs to explain to voters,
where the funding will come from,
to make good on his promise.




photo Mark Bralley

The Journal on role modeling.

In the Journal this morning, link; a report that firefighters will
be held accountable to a higher standard of conduct than the law.

It is proposed that firefighters be fired from their jobs for being a "black eye" for the Albuquerque Fire Department; for not holding themselves accountable to a "higher standard of conduct" than the law, even off duty.

The movers and shakers at the Journal find this story newsworthy; front page top of the fold, newsworthy. They believe, apparently, that their readers should know about issues surrounding role modeling by fire fighters.

What is so special about firefighters, that fire fighter role modeling is newsworthy?

If an argument can be built that certain people have responsibilities as role models by virtue of expectations and visibility, to whom does that argument apply more aptly, than to educators?

By what logic can a firefighter be fired from his job for not being a good role model, while at the same time a public school superintendent can keep his job while refusing to step up as a role model at all?

By what logic is the Journal excused for failing to report on the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS?

Students are accountable to a nationally recognized,
accepted, and respected code of ethical conduct,
while not a single APS senior administrator or board
member, not one in the entire "leadership" of the APS,
is willing to step up to honest accountability as a role
model of those standards.

How is it newsworthy when the least powerful public servants
are failing as role models, but not newsworthy when the most
powerful public servants are failing as role models in the worst possible ways?


How is the ethics and accountability scandal in the most senior leadership of the APS not front page, top of the fold, newsworthy?





Marty Esquivel is the senior most executive role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct.

Winston Brooks is the senior most administrative role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct.

Neither can summon the character and the courage to tell the truth about administrative and executive role modeling of the student standards of conduct.

Their pictures are not in the paper this morning.
But six (relatively powerless) fire fighters' pictures are,
for failing to step up as role models.

Why are their pictures in the paper while Esquivel's and Brooks' are not; except that there really is a privileged class in Albuquerque, and they really do cover each others asses?

Seriously, I defy anyone to offer any other explanation.

I defy anyone to point to a good and ethical reason that the Journal is not investigating and reporting upon compelling evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS, even in light of an upcoming $650M Bond Issue election.




photos Mark Bralley

NMAG blames us for the culture of corruption.

Shame on me for not paying
close enough attention all the way
to the end of the report from
NM Attorney General Gary King, link.






His final paragraph;

The citizens of New Mexico expect a lot from those of us
in law enforcement and the judiciary, they should.
Perhaps just as important, people should know that they
can help us do our jobs by alerting us to corruption and
other crimes. This is where I think we all can make a
difference in that culture of corruption. When our society
no longer tolerates it, when people act as a community
against it, corruption may finally disappear from the
headlines in our daily news. emphasis added

He is at once, right and wrong.

He is right that we could end the culture of corruption.
If we acted as a community, we could end the culture of
corruption in Santa Fe. It would require perhaps several
thousand of us standing on the steps of the Roundhouse
demanding an immediate end to the culture of corruption.

He is wrong in suggesting that it is somehow our fault that
there is a culture of corruption. We elected him and others,
for the express purpose of protecting the public interests in
government.

He and others, had the responsibility to do that, even if
we are too stupid, too apathetic, too lazy, or too ignorant
to pay any attention to the fact that they were doing too little
to nothing, to prevent the squandering of our trust and our
treasure.

If those whom we have elected, wanted to end the culture of
corruption, they could. They could do it independent of us.
To suggest that it is OK that they have not protected the public
interests because we have not held their toes to the fire,
is at once true, and a piss poor excuse for failing to do
what they were elected to do.




photo Mark Bralley

Denish milking half-baked ethics reform package.

In the Journal, link, we read that Lt Gov Denish still believes;

"Tougher ethics laws and a more transparent government would be good ways to boost New Mexico's economy ..., improving government accountability would entice more businesses to move to the state."

When Denish rolled out her plan,
she said that although the plan had
been "a long time" in the making,
it was "a work in progress".

Yet, if you look for progress in her
plan, you will find no progress at all,
it is unchanged. link,

Her second of a kind ethics reform plan, (Greg Solano's was the first, link,)
remains the same as when she rolled it out three weeks ago.

It was pointed out immediately, that her plan lacks any additional support for the offices of the State Auditor, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of State.

It is pointless to write standards without providing enforcement;
not to mention disingenuous.

The Auditor's Office in particular, needs more funding. State Auditor Hector Balderas has said straight out that his office lacks the resources that it needs to keep the stimulus funds on their way to New Mexico, from being plundered, link.

Yet it would appear that Denish has no intention of updating her plan, or in pushing it for the very next meeting of the legislature (a Special Session) where the fate of a quarter of a billion tax dollars will be determined.

Perhaps those who argue that
her plan was a bluff, and that
Gov Bill Richardson would
keep her from being "called",
are right after all.




photos Mark Bralley

Public pooping, the city's take.

The Journal, link, reports that homeless people are pooping all over the downtown area.

An obvious solution would seem to be, portable toilets.

Some worry that portable johns are an attractive spot for drug activity and prostitution.

Which begs at least one question;
where are the drug addicts and prostitutes meeting now,
that a porta-potty reaching sauna heat during the day,
is a better place to get together than where they meet currently?


Public Safety whiz, Pete Dinelli, reportedly said;

" ... the best solutions are
more police activity and the
watchfulness of business owners. ..."

"The only effective tool is
complete vigilance and a
presence by police."

Never mind rising property crime rates, let's have a poo patrol!

Talk about a "shit detail", how would you like to be one of the cops assigned to that squad?

Perhaps they could be recruited to an elite Mounted Poopatrol.


On second thought, maybe not.




photos Mark Bralley

Mayor Martin Chavez says we need another 100 cops.

He will not explain however, how we got 100 cops behind,
in the first place.

Nor will he explain why he cut funding to APS after school
programs.

Nor will he surrender to the public record, the whole truth
about the red light cameras and the money they generate.

Nor will he admit that there is a culture of corruption, cronyism,
and nepotism in city government, that he has not ended
in twelve years of trying.

Assuming of course that,
he has even been "trying".




photo Mark Bralley

"Representative" Heinrich chooses not to respond.

Either that, or Martin Heinrich doesn't know that his constituents would like to know why he won't answer legitimate questions about his public service.



Apparently,the N M Republican Party also chooses, not to respond.



Heinrich's republican opponent, Jon Barela, has not stepped up to demand an explanation from Heinrich's office; why was a legitimate question about the numbers of phone calls for and against the health care reform package, not answered candidly, forthrightly and honestly?

Now it is fair to wonder, why won't Barela step up?

Why will the Republican Party of New Mexico not point to Heinrich's lack of character and courage?

Except that in the same situation; Jon Barela will be doing the same thing?

Look at the last guy the NMRP ran for congress. He actually violated the law in his effort to keep stakeholders in the dark, link, and the Republicans ran him anyway.




photos Mark Bralley

Attorney General Gary King spills the bean.

Last Friday, the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, released a "Report from the AG", link.

In it, Attorney General King acknowledges the tension between stakeholders right to know the truth about the spending of their power and their resources, and the legitimate need to keep at least some of that truth under wraps.

"One of the challenges of the AG's job is to properly manage requests for information from the general public, legislators and the media about ongoing investigations. ... For ethical and legal reasons, my office will have little to say about our investigations until and unless such information becomes public record, as in the filing of an indictment. This policy is utilized for everyone's protection and the preservation of the legal process."

There is a line that separates the information that stakeholders have right to know, from the information that needs to be kept secret for legitimate reasons.

King would like New Mexicans to think that he is pushing the line toward full disclosure, out of respect for our right to know.

It could be argued that, he is not pushing the line, nearly hard enough.

You ask;

Why did it take years, literally, go get indictments in the housing authority scandal?

They say;

So sorry, we can't answer that question "... for everyone's protection and the preservation of the legal process".

Not surprisingly, if you ask Winston Brooks why evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving the leadership of the APS, has still not been surrendered to the DA, two and half years, and the expiration of statutes of limitation, after the scandal was reported in the Journal, link, he will give you the same answer;

So sorry,
we can't answer that question
"... for everyone's protection
and the preservation of the legal
process".

By which he means;

... for good ol' boys' protection, and the preservation of every legal loophole, technicality and weaselry that will except them from honest accountability, even to the law.

photo Mark Bralley

If history repeats itself,

it is because human nature never changes.

I have heard that history doesn't really repeat itself,
it is more that, it rhymes.

Will Jon Barela call out Martin Heinrich?

Martin Heinrich was asked a legitimate question about the public input that his office was receiving on the health care reform bill, and chose to not tell the truth.







This is a perfect opportunity for Jon Barela to point to Heinrich's lack of candor, forthrightness, and honesty with his constituents.

Why wouldn't he, except that he has no intention to acknowledge legitimate questions with a candid, forthright, and honest responses, either?



When the question is;

Do you promise to tell the truth?

Any answer other than yes, means no.
No answer at all, means no.


It wouldn't be the first time we heard no answer at all, link.




photos Mark Bralley

I have filed two complaints with my government, against my government

I have two complaints filed against the leadership of the APS.

1. They have misrepresented the existence of a whistle blower program that meets federal guidelines, and
2. They have suppressed evidence of felony criminal misconduct in order to allow statutes of limitation to expire on the criminal misconduct of APS senior administrators.

The complaints were filed with the Office of the State Auditor, and with the New Mexico Attorney General's Office, respectively.

Perhaps someday it will be decided that either or both of these complaints are unjustifiable. I doubt it, because they are clear on their face. If they are found unjustified, it will be because of a legal loophole, technicality, or some other legal weaselry.

The complaints are quite old. There has been more than enough time for someone to step onto the record and say, MacQuigg is simply a "disgruntled former employee" who is filing nuisance complaints; there is no justification for either complaint.

That will never happen because that public servant would be stepping onto the public record to tell a bald faced lie.

Nor will any good ol' boy be held honestly accountable for their misconduct, including felony criminal misconduct. It's just not the way they roll.

So the complaints just sit there, and sit there, and sit there,
because that is, just the way they roll.

This is fundamentally wrong.

If the government is truly "for the people", then it is government's obligation to protect the people from abusive government. A citizen complaining against the government, should not have to fight against the government in order to see due process for a legitimate complaint.

Public money should be paying for lawyers for the people,
and not for the legal weaselry that allows public servants to
betray the public trust without consequence.

The first legitimate use of power is,
to ensure that the power can not be abused
by anyone, ever;


not by a president,
not by a governor,
not by a mayor,
not by a school board president, and

not by the Superintendent of the APS,
Winston Brooks.




photo Mark Bralley

Justice denied is, justice denied.

If you are harmed by the City of Albuquerque, for example;
a city employee driving drunk crashes into your car,

you cannot simply go to the city and ask to be made whole.

Mayor Marty Chavez has decided that no complaint against the city will see a principled resolution. Instead, he has ordered the litigation of every case.

By litigate it is meant, your lawyer will be met in court by an unlimited number of lawyers with an unlimited budget whose charge is to see that you receive as little as the law and their legal weaselry will allow.

The leadership of the APS has the same policy.

They litigate so much that their insurer; United Educators,
recently raised their premiums (your tax dollars) to cover their extraordinarily high litigation expenses.

Public servants are using public money, to litigate against the public interests, in order to except themselves from accountability even to the law; the lowest standard of acceptable conduct among civilized human beings.




photo Mark Bralley

Marty's minions.

The longer a mayor spends in office, the more political appointments he will have made; the more government workers there will be, whose primary interest is not the public interest, but rather, protecting the person who gave them their job. And it is not just these people who will serve the mayor rather than the community. All of the people who work underneath them, will feel the same pressure to serve the mayor.

On July 12th of this year, Mayor Marty Chavez used public money to rent a public facility for a public function. Photo journalist and blogger, Mark Bralley and I were thrown out of that function for no good and ethical reason, link. We were thrown out at the behest of Marty Chavez who has some unspecified bone to pick with Bralley who has an extensive history of being pushed around by the thugs surrounding the mayor, link, link, link.

In an effort to find the whole truth about what happened that day, I made a request to see a public record; the contract between Chavez and the city, for the use of the public facility.

It has been more than two weeks, and I still haven't seen the contract.

To begin with, the contract should be in a searchable online data base, and would be if the transparency that Chavez has promised were a reality. It is not. And I am getting the run around from Chavez' minions.

I have been told that I can "make an appointment" with a custodian of public records, drive clear across town, and then buy copies for $.10 per page. The Inspection of Public Records Act allows public entities to charge for the actual cost of copying (sans labor); 10 cents a page is at least reasonable. APS, in their effort to discourage public records requests, charges 50 cents per page, some entities charge as much as a dollar per page; the maximum "allowed" by the law.

I have asked that the records be faxed to me. Faxing saves the city/taxpayers money, it saves me money, and the planet will not be further warmed by two trips across town in my truck.

Some agencies fax without hesitation. Some do the whole thing online. But not the mayor's minions. They will make it as difficult as it can "legally" be made, to challenge the mayor, or his abuse of the trust that has been placed in him.

And this is why, if for no other reason at all, voters should stop and think before giving this particular mayor, another four years (minimum) to continue to build his political machine.




photo Mark Bralley

Sooner or later, Representative Heinrich will tell the truths.

Both of them.

He will tell us the truth about the phone calls that he has received from his constituents, on the subject of his vote on health care reform legislation.

And then he will tell us the truth, about why he would not tell us the truth heretofore;

which is the more important of the two truths, by far.

He will tell us why he did not acknowledge a legitimate question
from a constituent stakeholder, by responding candidly,
forthrightly, and honestly.

As is his ineluctable obligation as a public servant.




photo Mark Bralley

Rep. Martin Heinrich's career ending blunder.

I was listening to the Jim Villanucci show and the discussion about public health care. Callers were encouraging listeners to call their Representatives to voice their opinions on the issue.

The unstated but obvious belief is that, if an overwhelming number of constituents want their representative to vote in a particular way, the representative is obliged to follow their constituents expressed will. That belief is mistaken.

The United States of America is a republic, not a democracy.

If we were a true democracy, citizens would themselves, vote directly on every issue. Even in the internet age, the problems associated with that process would be enormous. Also, the founding fathers appreciated the need to be able to overrule mob sentiment. Recognizing those issues, the founding fathers created a republic, rather than a true democracy.

Never the less, people believe that their representatives, though elected to vote their own minds, will show some respect for the will of their constituents.

I was surprised when one caller told listeners that he had called Martin Heinrich's office, had expressed his position, had asked about the relative number of calls on both sides, and then had been told, in effect, that the count was none of his business.

I was stunned that Heinrich's office refused to relay the results of the input that they were receiving. I was frankly, incredulous. Yet, in the Journal this morning, link, I read that this was in fact, the long term position of Heinrich's office; they were/are indeed intent upon keeping this information secret from stakeholders.

I assume that whomever was fielding the calls in Heinrich's office was keeping score. If they weren't, double shame on the Representative.

The piece of paper on which the tally marks were written is a public record. If one filed a request under the Freedom of Information Act, the document would have to be surrendered. I mention this aspect only to underscore the obvious; that Heinrich's constituents not only have a right to know the information, but that that right is so incontrovertible, that it is recognized under the law.

Who knows, how Heinrich is justifying this secrecy in his own mind. The obvious surmise is that he intends to vote one way or the other, without regard for feelings and opinions of those that he represents in congress. And further, that he intends to keep secret his disregard for the sentiments of his constituency.

Any public servant who is unwilling to tell the truth about the spending of our power and our resources is unfit for office.

It is often proffered that people get the government that they deserve. Anyone who votes for this man, and for his blatant disregard for the will of his constituents, deserves a government that is absolutely unresponsive to their will, and likely corrupt and incompetent as well.

Update; I have been informed that members of congress are not actually subject to FOIA requests. Members of the New Mexico legislature have excepted themselves from open government laws as well.





photo Mark Bralley

There is a disconnect on the availability of water.

If you live in the city of Albuquerque there are a number of
rebates that you can take advantage of; rebates for replacing
water hungry toilets, landscaping, and there is even a rebate
if you buy one of these ridiculously expensive rain barrels.
There are often schedules residents must follow when they
water their yards.

Yet mayoral hopeful Marty Chavez wants citizens to take the
lawns that they have torn out of their yards, and reinstall them
on their roofs. He wants to plant 150,000 trees. And he wants
to grow the city until houses and people start falling into the
canyon carved by the Rio Puerco River.

If Albuquerque has plenty of water forever, then why are tax
dollars being spent on conservation? If we are short of water,
why are we building a megalopolis that will take three hours
to drive across?

Mayoral hopeful Richard Romero questions the availability
of unlimited water forever. Chavez questions Romero's
grasp of reality.

If water is unlimited, why are we rationing it?
If water is limited, why are we encouraging unlimited growth?

I question whether or not the citizens of Albuquerque will want
to live in one of the country's largest cities, and be rationed a
few gallons of water per day.

Romero's approach seems prudent; Chavez' approach seems
reckless.

John H. Bode should not be standing alone.

A local businessman, John H. Bode has had enough.
Tired of the pressure put upon him to make Marty Chavez'
life more convenient, in exchange for being allowed to do
business with the City of Albuquerque, he has filed suit
against Chavez, NMI link.

Now is the time for every businessman and woman,
who has had to pay to play, to step up and give testimony and
evidence against the culture of corruption in City Hall.

Else, do nothing, and continue to be a victim of the corruption.

Over time, I will forget the words of my enemies,
but never the silence of my friends. Martin Luther King

The hardest part of standing up alone, is the wondering, why?

It's time for everyone who has fallen victim, to step up and
offer their support to the lawsuit brought by John Bode.

Whoya gonna believe, Marty Chavez, or the lying video tapes?

Read Trip Jennings' report on NMI, link.

Busted!

photo Mark Bralley

River City only without the river.

Mayoral hopeful, Marty Chavez wants to fill the area between Indian reservations on the north and south, and between the Sandia mountains and the Rio Puerco river on the east and west, with constituents.

I don't want to live in a city that large. Where is my opportunity
to vote against unlimited growth, planned or otherwise?

Mayoral hopeful, Richard Romero is at least pointing out that the guarantee of unlimited water, a la Marty Chavez, is a ridiculous promise to be making, in the desert southwest, link.

Richard Romero ... 1
Marty Chavez ....... 0

Is continuous forensic auditing of public resources, a stupid idea?

State Auditor Hector Balderas argues that, if taxpayers give him enough resources to forensically audit state government spending, he will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars every year; over and above the cost of the auditing.



In every organization, there are standards and accountability. If the standards are high enough, and the accountability is inescapable enough, there is no corruption, and there is no incompetence.

Accountability is fatal to corruption and incompetence.
If 100% accountability can be had, it will be 100% fatal.

Every audit of the leadership of the APS has pointed to significant findings with respect to standards and accountability. One audit in particular pointed to the fact that administrators routinely falsify data to preserve the reputations of their schools. The same audit revealed that the leadership of the APS routinely ignores audit results and cannot point to policy changes that addressed the audit findings.

If APS is forensically audited, according to Balderas' estimation of a 3-5% annual loss to corruption and incompetence, taxpayers will save as much as $65M.

APS Superintendent Winston Brooks has no intention of conducting such an audit, and no intention of explaining, defending, denying or even acknowledging that he will not.







School Board heavy hitter, Paula Maes said, she would never agree to any audit that named the names of the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS.








School Board President Marty Esquivel refuses to conduct an open and honest public discussion of standards and accountability in the leadership of the APS. link








School Board Policy Committee Chair, David Peercy refuses to allow an open and honest discussion of executive and administrative role modeling of the student standards of conduct.








School Board Audit Committee Chair, David Robbins is denying due process to more than a hundred SilentWhistle whistle blower complainants, for no reason except to prevent an open and honest discussion of Winston Brooks' obligation to step up as the senior most administrative role model of the Pillars of Character Counts!




Assistant Superintendent Linda Sink has not stepped up to her responsibility as a senior role model of the student standards of conduct.









Assistant Superintendent Brad Winters, has not stepped up to his responsibility as a senior role model of the student standards of conduct.









APS Chief of Police, Gil Lovato said,
if the truth ever gets out,
there won't be a single APS senior administrator left standing.

Of course, that was two years ago.





Things have gotten better now;
the good ol' boys have seen the light.
They have institutionalized the standards and accountability
necessary to protect the public interests.

They just won't allow an independent auditor to investigate and
report upon them, because ...?

They will argue that we can trust them with another $650M,
and that there is no need for any impartial audit.


Right, and a pint of HaagenDazs serves four.




photos Mark Bralley

It strikes me as discordant that;

even in the most inconsequential of circumstances in our
interaction with our government, we must begin by promising
that we will tell the truth. And if not at the beginning, then
at the end, we are expected to certify that we have told the truth.

Yet when an elected public servant takes over the control over our power and our resources, we cannot compel them to promise to tell us the truth about how they are spending them, even in the most consequential of circumstances.


It strikes me also, that elected public servants like it that way, and further, that they are unlikely to change anything of their own accord.

"The only thing necessary for evil to prevail in the world, is for voters to see nothing, hear nothing and then to do nothing.
edmund burke derived

Chavez, Berry, and Romero, in that order.

There is some consensus that when the dust settled on the
Economic Development Board Mayoral Forum,
Chavez had won, RJ Berry came in a respectable second,
and Richard Romero finished in third place.

Chavez will always win in any forum where he can point to his accomplishments and avoid questions about his character.




RJ Berry is a solid opponent and scratches the itch for a fresh face in City Hall.





Richard Romero, solid but not flashy, will continue to come in third, until the event where he finally plays his trump card; his promise to tell stakeholders the truth.

Romero said that; if he is elected, stakeholders will be told the truth about the public interests and his public service.link

Chavez cannot make that promise because it flies in the face of his record.

As far as I can tell, Berry could make that promise, but hasn't
for reasons that I don't understand.

Romero needs to be less bashful about his greatest strength, if he expects to move from third place to first, in the race to City Hall.

The entire Bralley/MacQuigg audiotape of the forum is posted on Peter St. Cyr's blog, link.




photos Mark Bralley

Mayor Marty Chavez ducks another forum - "for ethical reasons".

The Journal reports this morning on a mayoral forum hosted by
City Councilor Sally Mayer. link



Mayor Marty Chavez seems to be the only one who sees ethical
problems with the manner in which the event was publicized; emails and postcards on the public dime.

The crowd of 75 apparently agreed with Mayer, responding with applause when she argued;

"I do not consider this to be an unethical activity."

Mayer's opponent, Michael Cook, who has every reason to make a stink, if there was a stink to be made, told the Journal that he had no intention of filing a complaint.

There are those who would suggest that Chavez was more concerned with ducking a venue where he would have to stand for questions, than he was concerned over any supposed ethics violation.




photos Mark Bralley

Marty Chavez no longer so proud of his ASCME endorsement.

When Marty Chavez was blowing his horn at the ABQ Economic Development Board breakfast forum, Wednesday morning, he tooted about the endorsement by firefighters and police officers, but not about the "endorsement" by city workers.

That would seem prudent, since there are some serious questions about whether the ASCME endorsement, at one time a real feather in Chavez' cap, reflects the support of anyone beside the committee that put it together.

There are questions about the APOA endorsement as well.
No one seems to be rebutting the allegations by RJ Berry and Richard Romero, that they were not afforded an opportunity to present their case to union members; the endorsement was made without interviewing either of Chavez' opponents.

No word yet on the firefighters endorsement and whether their
endorsement as well, reflects only the feelings of a very few of
the union's members and not the rank and file.

Romero suggested that the APOA endorsement, sans any defensible process, smacks of machine politics.



Gee, ya think?









photo Mark Bralley


The Bralley/MacQuigg audio recording of the entire forum is up on Peter St. Cyr's site. link

President Barack Obama is unafraid to answer questions.

He is at least willing to stand up in front of people and answer
their questions; apparently even tough questions.



He regularly points to times, days, and places where he will stand still and acknowledge legitimate questions by answering them candidly, forthrightly, and honestly (for the most, anyway).


Governor Bill Richardson will not.












Nor will Mayor Marty Chavez.












The President of the APS Board of Education, Marty Esquivel will not.










APS Superintendent Winston Brooks will not.










Surely character and courage must count for something.



photos Mark Bralley

.