Sunday, August 17, 2014

Journal reporter not standing in corner, why not?

The leadership of the APS recently adopted a policy requiring the media, and any person desiring to record the meeting, to stand in the corner while they do.  (the NW corner to be specific)

If you examine Journal photos taken during the meeting, link, you will see the photographer was not standing in the corner when the photos were taken.  Unless the shots were taken past past mirrors, the photographer was standing very close to where APS Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta sits when she attends meetings.  They may have chatted while the photographer took photos.  Armenta may have been pointing out which photos to take.  In truth,  I have no idea whether Armenta was even at this meeting.  In the deliberate absence of a record, conjecture is more justified.

Awhile ago, I wrote about the absurdity of the Marty Esquivel Modrall Law Public Participation in Public Meetings Policy and Procedural Directive.  Hereafter the MEML-PPPMPPD.  Provisions of the MEML-PPPMPPD are manifestly unconstitutional.

APS Chief Counsel
Modrall lawyer
Art Melendres.

In any event, at least several hundreds of dollars, dollars that could have bought an awful lot of crayons, were spent writing a policy and procedure that guarantees nothing, if not that they will make several hundreds of thousands of dollars many times over, litigating its defense.

Modrall partners make well over a million dollars a year litigating the interests of the school board members and senior APS administrators.  They make so much money, they won't tell you how much they are making.

The money they are making comes in unlimited amounts and without any real oversight, from operational funds; money that would otherwise be spent for its intended purpose; the purpose for which it was taken from taxpayers; educating nearly 90,000 of this community's sons and daughters.

The Journal has yet to investigate and report on the amount of money the leadership of the APS is spending in litigation against the public interests.

I proffered weeks ago, link, that one of the reasons the APS credentialed media weren't fuming about a policy restricting their Constitutionally protected human rights to be the press and any person desiring to record the meeting,was; they knew along, they would enjoy exception to the rules as long for as long as they they played by APS rules.
 
One rule apparently;
do not investigate and report upon the relationship between the leadership of the APS and Modrall Law.

Do not investigate and report upon the number of operational dollars that have streamed to Modrall Law, and continue to stream to this day.

The Marty Esquivel Modrall Law PPPMPPD is an abomination.  Anyone who bothers to read it and who knows anything at all about the law, will come to the same conclusion.

It is nothing but a bold move to funnel even more teachers salaries into Modrall coffers.

The Journal won't investigate and report upon it because they'd rather have full access to the room and post meeting interviews.

Photo journalist Mark Bralley would not have been able to record from that spot.  I would not have been allowed to record from that spot. 

It is disparate treatment; it's against the law.




photos Mark Bralley

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