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