Independent review of SIC reveals betrayal.

We trusted them will billions and billions of tax dollars and
our trust was betrayed.

The independent review of our State Investment Council,
according to the Journal, link, revealed;

"... decisions on how New Mexico's $13 billion worth of endowment funds are invested have been made internally and largely without scrutiny from the board appointed to oversee the state's portfolio."

We trusted them to scrutinize the investment of our money
and instead they allowed a bunch of good ol' boys and their
cronies to rip us off.

There is no reason to trust that politicians and public servants
are immune to temptation. Would you pick a random person
off the street and trust them to invest billions of dollars while
resisting the temptation to steal a few of them? Of course not.

Yet we are compelled to accept "trust" as our only guarantee
we will not be victimized by politicians' human nature.

We are given no other choice.

Therefore, we have no choice but to create another choice;
independent review of the spending of our power, our trust,
and our treasure.

I cannot think of an independent review of government that
did not reveal significant problems.

A case in point; when the Meyners + Co audited the APS,
they found that the money we have entrusted to the leadership
of the APS was being spent

1. without adequate standards, and
2. without adequate accountability, and
3. without adequate record keeping.

They found, never in the history of the APS, has the investment
of our tax dollars in the APS, been protected by adequate standards and accountability.

Though the leadership of the APS steadfastly refuses to
answer any questions, those three significant failures likely
led to the waste and/or theft of millions of tax dollars.

Every independent review ever done on the leadership of the
APS has found significant problems.The leadership of the APS
steadfastly refuses to allow an independent review of
administrative standards and accountability district wide.

School board head honcho,
Paula Maes stated on the
record, she would never
agree to any audit that
individually identifies corrupt
or incompetent administrators
or board members.






When asked to surrender public records that show that the
leadership of the APS has changed any policies in response to
the findings of auditors, they cannot, or will not, surrender
even one.

They never will. They can't.

A recent audit by the Council of the Great City Schools
revealed that the leadership of the APS routinely ignores the
findings of auditors.

For as long as we keep giving them money to spend, they will
continue to ignore the need for independent review of their
administration of those funds.

According to Governor Bill Richardson, "the leadership of the
APS has a statewide earned reputation for their lack of
financial accountability."

That reputation puts at risk, the passage of upcoming mill levies
and bond issues.

There is nothing that APS Superintendent Winston Brooks could do, that be of more help to him in passing new taxes, than to be able to show tax payers an independent review of the administration of the APS; a review that revealed standards and accountability adequate to protect tax dollars from waste through corruption and incompetence.

Brooks has every reason to commission the review, and no reason not to, except that an independent review will not reveal standards and accountability enough to protect the public interests. An independent review would reveal quite the opposite; or he would run one.

When it comes to protecting public interests and resources,
"trusting" politicians and public servants runs a far distant
second to; honest accountability to meaningful standards of
conduct and competence.

Why would you trust someone,
who when you ask them to
prove the existence of adequate
standards and accountability,
will not even look you in the eye
and respond to the question?






photosMark Bralley