Korte proves my point

When the petitioners for the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication came to APS School Board Member Kathy Korte for due process for their petition, they were given instead her lengthy diatribe on what an awful person I am.

It should not go unnoticed that she was able to do that without any opportunity for me to defend myself, because she is able to hide behind APS' publicly funded private police force and their unlawful enforcement of an unlawful restraining order.

The unlawful restraining order, he calls it a "banning letter", "revoking my privilege to attend school board meetings" was written by School Board enforcer Marty Esquivel.

If Esquivel and his thugs weren't keeping me out of meetings, I might have responded to Korte's criticism of me by reminding her; its about the message, not about the messenger.

I regard as vindication, attacks on me that come instead of the answering of questions.

Actually, I am not the only one who isn't allowed to ask board members questions.

They don't allow anyone to.

It was apparently only moments after Korte finished attacking me, when she told petitioners that APS answers every question they are asked.

How can she say questions are answered, when questions aren't even allowed?

There are questions I have asked, over and over and over.
So many times in fact, that they banned me from asking them ever again.

The questions are legitimate. I have done less wrong by asking them over and over, than they have done in refusing to answering them, over and over again.

1. Why will they not produce the ethically redacted public records of investigations of corruption in the APS Police force? (Not "how" the law allows them to hide the record, by why do they need to?)
   


2. Why are they denying due process to hundreds of whistle blower complaints? Why did they make a solemn commitment to address the appearances of conflicts of interest and impropriety created by allowing the administration self adjudicate complaint against other (even super-ordinate) administrators, by providing individual executive review and approval of every single complaint, and then renege on the commitment without having reviewed or approved even one?


3. Why will the leadership of the APS produce a candid, forthright and honest accounting of spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd?
   


4. Why are students expected to model and promote the Pillars of Character Counts!; a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct, specifically; hold themselves honestly accountable to higher standards of conduct than the law, and Lorte is not?
   
   Why, as one of the senior-most role models of the student standards of conduct, does she not have to show students what it looks like to hold oneself honestly accountable to higher standards of conduct than the law? (It seems reasonable to expect her to answer this question in words any student can understand.)

If Korte responds to this post, it won't be in a venue where she will stand for follow up questions.

Perhaps she will respond in the Journal. The Journal likes to give her space, space where exception cannot be taken with what she writes. Just like no one gets to take exception with Winston Brooks' monthly PR column.

The Journal is aware of

1. the cover up of the corruption in the APS Police force,
2. the denial of due process to whistleblowers and petitioners,
3. the cover up of overruns on the board room, and
4. the abdication of APS senior-most role models of APS student standards of conduct,

and steadfastly refuse to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

The affiliate stations in School Board President Paula Maes' New Mexico Broadcasters, KRQE, KOAT, and KOB know as well. They refuse as well, to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

When the question is;

Will you respond to legitimate questions about
the public interests and your public service?

any answer except yes means no.

Neither she, nor the board, nor the administration will sit down and answer questions whose answers are embarrassing, shaming, or expose criminal misconduct.

School Board President Paula Maes has never denied, defended, retracted, nor even acknowledged having said,

she would never agree to any audit that individually identifies corrupt or incompetent administrators.

Those are not her exact words; I will stand by my interpretation of her expressed intent. Her remark is in the public record.

She will deny having said it, or meaning it, but the simple truth is there has never been an independent audit or investigation since, witness the Caswell Report, whose results are not being hidden, and even in violation of the Inspection of Public Records Act.

I will meet Korte in any venue. She can surround herself with anyone she wants; board members, administrators, lawyers, I don't care.

I will promise to ask legitimate questions about the public interests and her public service, and she will promise to respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly, according the standards of conduct she and the board establish and enforce upon students.

Attacking the questioner is a desperation move by someone
defending an indefensible position. We will not talk about me
or my blog. We will not talk about the messenger instead of
talking about the message.

Questions stand on their own; it doesn't make any difference
who asks them, or why.

Mohandas Gandhi observed after his struggle in speaking truth
to power;

First they ignore you,
then they laugh at you,
then they fight you
then you win.

Korte would rather ignore me, or laugh at and revile me,
but she won't "fight" me; she won't point to a time, a day,
and a place where she will actually stand up an take questions.

She can diss me all she wants, she is proving my point.




photos Mark Bralley