Valentino widening the gene pool in APS leadership

The Journal reports, link, that APS Supt Luis Valentino will bring two senior administrators with him when he takes over in June.  They will earn between them, a third of a million dollars a year.  Unclear at this point whether the hirings represent additional demands on a strapped operational funds budget.

APS image

Actually, bringing a trusted team of his own will insulate Valentino from the dark side of APS leadership. He will have at least two people watching his back and agenda should he find himself in a position where he will have to make waves in order to address problems.

Whatever else is true about the leadership of the APS, one doesn't end up there by making waves. Unfortunate if reasonable solutions to important problems can't help but identity the people who failed to fix or mitigate them.

Take for example, student discipline.

The APS administrator most responsible for mitigating the problem holds that job, not because they have addressed the problem or even acknowledged it, but because they've been successful in keeping stake and interest holders from knowing how bad things really are. Seriously, when was the last time you heard anything from APS about student discipline? Trust me, if things were getting better, APS Exec Director of Communications Monica Armenta would be pasting it all over their "award winning website".

APS Police Chief Steve
Gallegos "can't find" a
copy his investigation
of felony criminal abuse
of a secure federal data base.

Take for example, the chief of their publicly funded private police force.

He is in that position, not because he is any great shakes as a cop (far from it!) or because he is a competent administrator (he was the subject of a no confidence vote by APS his subordinates).

He holds that position because he conveniently lost the only copy of a formal criminal investigation he did, link, that named the names of senior APS administrators who were involved in felony criminal misconduct, link.  No criminal charges were filed because APS conducted the only (self)investigations and never turned the evidence over to the DA for prosecution.  Gallegos has been part and parcel to the cover up ever since and pulls down nearly $108K a year as a result.

Supt Valentino will find I'm afraid, that two loyal team mates isn't nearly enough in a building full of people more interested"covering up" than "cleaning up".




photo ched macquigg