Which, the more newsworthy?

• The APS school board passed and then didn't pass a measure that would allow three administrators to get paid while they serve in the legislature.  Teachers who serve already get paid as part of a negotiated agreement between teachers and the district.   The amount of money in question is less than ten thousandths of one percent of the budget.

or that,

• Neither the votes taken at Tuesday's Policy Committee Meeting nor Wednesday's Regular Board Meeting actually count because neither meeting was noticed in accordance with the law.  The agendas for both meetings were posted on Saturday.  72 hours before the Policy Committee Meeting would have been the previous Wednesday or Thursday, and the regular meeting a day later.  They missed the deadlines by days.

The provisions of the New Mexico Open Meetings Act have been violated by open government expert School Board Member Marty Esquivel and the rest of the board.

So what.

What are the consequences, news-wise, for manifest incompetence and violating the law?

KRQE is still running Esquivel's Larry Barker ad about the ankle bracelet wearing teacher, even though Barker's report is history.

KKOB has been running Esquivel's voice for two days now.  He's a hero for pointing out that there are problems with the anti-donation clause.

Those problems are not new.  They were discussed pretty thoroughly three years ago when the whole brouhaha over APS employees going to the legislature instead of to work, first came up.

Old photo, he's still asleep
bud the beard is gone.

If Esquivel had been paying attention or in attendance at a few more meetings lately, he would have noticed that people were talking about passing a measure to pay all APS employees who serve in the legislature.

Had he grasped what they were talking about, he could have pointed out the problem with the anti-donation clause before they went through all the bother of writing, and discussing and passing, and then, discussing and not passing the measure. 

So what is newsworthy, and why isn't the newsworthy being investigated and reported upon?

There really is a privileged class here in River City.  It's made up of the heavy hitters in politics, law, public education, government, etc.  When one of them is in trouble, they circle the wagons.

The privileged class has circled the wagons around Esquivel and APS.  No so much because they want to protect the leadership of the APS from their earned consequences, but because the support a system that allows them to cover each others asses; should they need to have their ass covered one day.

APS lawyer friends want Esquivel re-elected because they like the millions of dollars a year that APS dumps into their economy every year negotiating settlements that include admissions of no guilt.  And that would end with Esquivel's departure.

In particular, the establishment's media has circled the wagons.  They will do everything they can to keep Marty Esquivel in power and the crisis hidden.  They have a self-interest in the cover up; when it is exposed, so too will be the part they played in it. 

There isn't a part of the crisis of which the media is unaware.
To the extent they are ignorant, they are willfully ignorant.

The leadership of the APS is in trouble;

There is an ethics, standards and accountability
crisis in the leadership of the APS*.  The ongoing
efforts to cover it up make it scandalous.

*Proof that the allegation is unwarranted, is as simple as the existence of any evidence to the contrary; meaningful ethics and standards, and certain accountability.

That they will not submit their ethics, standards and accountability to examination and review, should serve as proof that they do indeed have something to hide.

That ethics, standards and accountability in the APS is not the subject of investigation and report by the establishment's media even in the face of a school board election and the hiring of a superintendent should serve as proof that they too have something to hide.




photo Mark Bralley