UPDATE to Rules Change Post

Update; Channel 13, at 10pm reports that the plan is
as was first announced;
specific questions translated into theme questions.

Who knows what's going actually going on.

Leonard DeLayo showed up on KRQE to point out that
the board was going way too fast in allowing the public
only 1 day to have input on the candidates.

Paula Maes' counter argument was that
the public should be glad that they got the one day,
previous hirings were accomplished with no public input at all.

Oh the times they are a changin'

APS Changes the Rules for the Public Meetings

The night before the day of the four scheduled meetings,
Channel 4 announced that the rules have been changed.

Under the new rules, those who attend the community
meetings with the candidates for the APS superintendency,
will no longer be allowed to submit any questions at all.

The previous plan was that attendees would be able to
submit specific questions. Those questions would then
be translated into "theme" questions, by volunteers from
the League of Women Voters,

I suspect that when the League of Women Voters found out
that they were being manipulated into keeping stakeholders
from asking specific questions, they pulled out of the scheme.



According to Channel 4, the questions will now be
"pre-selected".

Until I find out otherwise, I will suppose that the questions
will be pre-selected by Paula Maes and/or some of the other
good ol' boys looking to keep the subject of role modeling
off of the table.

and will not include questions will allow stakeholders to sort
the candidates who have the character and the courage
to be role models, from the ones who don't.

Imagine, we are going to hire a new superintendent, and
the person that will be hired, will never have had to give
a candid, honest and forthright response to the question,

Will you be held honestly accountable as a role model of
the student standard of conduct? Yes or no?


We are going to end up with yet another good ol' boy
as our next superintendent.

One with neither the character, nor the courage,
to model and enforce, any meaningful standards at all;

much less a higher standard of conduct.


Shame on Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Mary Lynn Roper,
Michelle Donaldson, and Sue Stephens.

shame, shame, shame ...

Update; Channel 13, at 10pm reports that the plan is as was first announced; specific questions translated into theme questions.

Who knows what's going on.

Leonard DeLayo showed up in the KRQE piece to point out that the board was going way too fast in only allowing the public 1 day to have input on the candidates.

Paula Maes counter argument was that
the public should be glad that they got the one day,
previous hirings were completed with no public input at all.

Oh the times they are a changin'

A Fair Question; Does Character Counts Founding Father, Pete Domenici

believe that the Pillars of Character Counts are a reasonable
standard of conduct for a public school superintendent
(and not just for public school students)?

If not, why not?

If they are,
then why won't he* stand up
at one of these community meetings,

and say so?

Footnote;
Character Counts Founding Father Michael Josephson
will not stand up for the Pillars either.

Neither will
Character Counts Founding Father Mayor Marty Chavez.

which begs the question;
what exactly, are the "parental" obligations
of founding fathers?

"Wham bam thank you ma'am,
I'm outta here" ? ??



*(or someone speaking in his stead.)

Senator Domenici Knows

The Sergeant of Arms of the United States Senate
has read my open letter to Senator Pete Domenici.

I have emailed it directly to his office.
I have made every reasonable effort to contact him directly
short of jumping out of a bush, to hand it to him personally.

Although part of being powerful is plausible deniability,

I think that it fair to say that Senator Domenici
knows about the likelihood of a Character Counts fraud
being perpetrated by the leadership of the APS.

And, that he has been asked to investigate the fraud
which is apparently being carried out
under his name and reputation

by people reluctant to attach
their own names and reputations to the scheme.


Now, we have only to wait and see
if he does anything about it at all.

And if he will do something in time to prevent Paula Maes
from installing another good ol' boy whose primary
responsibility is to keep the record of Paula Maes-Modrall
secret from public knowledge.

The ball, as they say,
is in his court.

The Pillars of Character Counts Are a Fine Student Standard of Conduct

After more than a decade of close attention
I have not seen better.

It is an unequivocal higher standard of conduct.
It was written by talented and dedicated people.

There is nothing wrong with it.

The APS School Board adopted it unanimously in 1994.
APS has spend hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting
Character Counts. They even pay a full time administrator
to "administer" it.

I was among the first group of APS teachers to be trained
by Michael Josephson himself,
to train students and staffs in the fundamentals of CC.

Then I acquired the obligation to try to try to enforce
the standard on a corrupt and incompetent principal,
Wayne Knight, of Hoover Middle School.

My efforts to hold him accountable,
exposed the fact that the entire administrative chain of
command is not even remotely accountable to the standard
of conduct that they enforce upon students.



In the beginning, adults were actually accountable to
the Pillars of Character Counts. The employee code of
conduct said;
In no case shall the standard of conduct for an adult
be lower than the standard of conduct for a students.

Rather than be held accountable to that standard,
rather that be held honestly accountable for their conduct
and for their competence within their public service,

Paula Maes and the board stripped any mention of the
Pillars of Character Counts from the code of conduct that
applies to them.

They have stripped the word ethical from their own
standards of conduct.

And now they cannot be held accountable for anything.


The Pillars of Character Counts cannot exist side by side
with corruption and corrupt incompetence.

One or the other must go.

If Paula Maes has her way,
the Pillars of Character Counts are out;
and unchecked corruption and incompetence are in.

The battle lines are drawn.

On the one side, you have Paula Maes, the corrupt and
the incompetent in the leadership of the APS.

Squarely on their side, working to protect them from the
consequences of their betrayal of the public trust, we find,
oddly, the local media;

Tommy Lang, Kent Walz, Mary Lynn Roper,
Michelle Donaldson, and Sue Stephens,

who are sworn, apparently,
to keep the Pillars of Character Counts, off the table
during the hiring of APS' next top role model.

They are sworn apparently,
to keep any discussion of the ethics and accountability
scandal in the leadership of the APS, off the table entirely.

They are sworn apparently, to keep the subject of
an administrative accountability audit
off the table entirely.

As a result, the stakeholders in the APS are destined to
be saddled with yet another good ol' boy.

Someone who will be hired to hide the problems
and not to fix them.



The problems cannot be fixed except by a superintendent
who is willing to be held accountable to meaningful standards
of conduct and competence;

and who is willing to hold everyone in the leadership of the
APS accountable to those same higher standards.

The problems cannot be fixed without holding the corrupt
and the incompetent accountable for their corruption and
their incompetence.

Even if it means the most senior administrators in the APS
will forfeit their careers, their reputations, and maybe even
a few years of their freedom.

What are the chances of hiring a superintendent with the
character and the courage to really reform the leadership
of the APS?

They are precisely the same chances, as the chances
of getting you to stand up against the good ol' boys and
their plan.

What are the chances of getting you
to go to one of the meetings tomorrow and demand
honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct
and competence, for the leadership of the APS?

What are the chances that you will do anything at all
to put role modeling on the table tomorrow?

All that is necessary for evil to prevail in the world,

For Paula Maes and her ilk in the leadership of the APS
to prevail in their efforts to cover up the corruption
and the incompetence of their cronies,

is for good men to do nothing. burke

So I Went to The Board Meeting Tonight; Disguised as a Regular Joe

I wanted to listen to the public forum and
the "matters of information."

Public Forum-

I have to say, the public forum was a disgrace.

The people that spoke, came to petition their government.
They were not in the least bit, disrespectful or upset.

They came to look their board members in the eyes, and
tell them about the things that are important enough to them

that they summoned the courage to stand up in public
and have their say.
You can often hear their voices crack from their nervousness.

Gordon Rowe wasn't even there, for most of it.

Berna Facio is the only one that I can say
consistently looked each of the speakers in the eyes
and listened to them.

The rest finished up their homework and chatted while
they waited for class to begin.

It was beyond rude.

If only it were recorded,
you would be able to see for yourself.


Matters of Information- (Show and tell for the leadership)

The Superintendent 2b Linda Sink begins,
and the rest follow; one by one.

It is their opportunity to say whatever they want
to their constituents and stakeholders.


If any one of them had the character and the courage;

they would say;

• We need to address the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.
• We need to bring in an impartial auditor, and begin a full scale accountability audit of the administration of the APS.
• We need to place the results of an independent audit in the hands of the new superintendent; who ever they are.
• We need to do the right thing; for students, for staff, and for the community.
• And as for the corrupt and the incompetent,
  let the chips fall where they may."

... if only

one of them had the character and the courage.

Students and stakeholders watching the board meeting
did not see one role model of character and courage,
no one showed them what character, and courage,
and honor look like.

No one showed them how to be accountable to
the student standard of conduct.

They were treated instead, to seven role models
of the most abject rudeness you can imagine.
Uncalled for rudeness to decent people,
to people like you,

... stakeholders.

Dear Senator Domenici

I write with regret to inform you of a Character Counts fraud
that is apparently being perpetrated under your name.

The President of the Character Counts Leadership Council
Paula Maes has renounced her accountability to
the Pillars of Character Counts, but not her office.

The names of the members of the Council are so secret
that Paula Maes and her husband's law firm; Modrall
have resisted their surrender even in spite of the law; the NMIPRA.

I cannot imagine circumstances that require such secrecy except fraud.

What is being done
with your name and reputation attached,
to which they will not attach their own names and reputations?

I can't get any of this stuff past Lisa Breeden;
who is I believe, a member of the leadership council.

So if anyone knows the Senator personally,
I'm sure he would appreciate a "heads up".

Q; how many APS Administrators Does It Take To Screw In a Light Bulb?

And will they even get it right when they are done?

You be the judge.

The following response was prepared by at least two APS administrators, it was reviewed by a third, and was probably read by at least one lawyer from the Modrall.

Total cost to taxpayers?

If the public records were available;

I would bet that the leadership of the APS spent $500.

(the equivalent in teachers salaries of 5 teachers
working for 4 hrs each.)

They could have spend the unwitting taxpayer support of
"education" on something else, like uniforms and equipment
for middle school athletes.

Instead it was spent in a carefully orchestrated effort to
keep Paula Maes from have to answer questions on the record, among them;

• Why are you no longer accountable as a role model, despite the fact that you are the senior most role model in the APS?
• and despite the fact that you are the President of the alleged APS Character Counts Leadership Council?
• Why won't you explain, defend, or even acknowledge the fact that you have abdicated as the senior most role model of the student standard of conduct?
  

The question;

What are the rules that Paula Maes Praetorian Guard
dba, the Albuquerque Public Schools Police Department,
intends to enforce regarding citizens exercising their
human, and constitutional rights to protest
during board meetings?

The response you paid for;

Albuquerque Public Schools
Board of Education
Response to emails about rules for Friday Superintendent Community Meetings
March 4th , 2007

Mr. MacQuigg,

Thank you very much for your response and concern about the community meetings for the search of the next APS Superintendent.
The APS Board of Education has taken this process very seriously and we have tried to accommodate each part of the community in our planning.
As for your specific questions about the rules for the meeting, all material distributed on APS Property must be approved by the building administrator.
We do not allow any signs or other items that block the community’s view, (n?)or will we allow disruptive behavior.
In addition, the meeting facilitator will outline all meeting rules that will include asking attendees to not disturb and to be courteous at all times.
The community meetings are intended to give the community an introduction to the candidates and for the community to provide feedback on their thoughts on the candidates.
The final decision and actual interview of the candidates will be conducted by the APS Board of Education.
They have the sole responsibility of selecting the Superintendent.
We will have four community meetings that will be held in the
APS Building located at 6400 Uptown Blvd. NE
They will be held at 6:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m., on March 7.
We hope that you can attend one of these opportunities.
We are also working to make the 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. meetings available via the internet on the APS web page,...
We do value your and each community member’s input, and we hope that you will be able to attend or to listen online.
Thank you for your time and concern.

The response comes to me under a letterhead which
cannot be copied (?) for transplantation onto the public record.

Is is signed by no one.

It is attributable to no one.

Still no response to my "specific questions" about the rules;
apparently there are no specific rules.

Which is exactly the point I made
when I was illegally arrested at the last meeting.

Were your tax dollars well spent?
Was the question even answered?


You be the judge.
500 bucks well spent?


You have exactly one opportunity to protest
the squandering of your trust and treasure
by the leadership of the APS.

All you have to do is show up
at their fancy Uptown Administrative Complex
and see for yourself.

For the Record, A Response From APS' Top Cop

This is a record of the ongoing conversation between myself and the head of Paula Maes" Praetorian Guard, Bill Reed.

The Praetorians have arrested me five times.

Each of those times was during a board meeting.

In each instance I was behaving "legally",
more importantly, I was behaving "ethically."
In each instance, I was a good role model of ethical
behavior.

I was arrested in order that Paula Maes would not have to
explain, defend, or even acknowledge her abdication
from the obligations of the districts most senior role model
of the student standard of conduct;
the Pillars of Character Counts.

I am trying to get Bill Reed to admit to the rules that he will use to arrest me again, rather than allow me to exercise my human and constitutional rights to freedom of religion (character counts), freedom of speech, and my right to petition my government.

He is trying to stay off of the record with an answer.

Bill Reed wrote:

"You received an e mail from Joseph Escobedo
yesterday regarding this issue.
My suggestion is that you follow those rules and are
not disruptive.
You are welcome to attend the meetings.

Bill"

I replied;"simply not true.

in the first place, Joseph Escobedo is not a player,
and more importantly, he did not contact me.

My email records are intact and available as evidence.

You will either cite the applicable rules, regulations,
policies and laws,

or you will not.

And be judged accordingly.

macq"

Update 9:45am from Reed

I saw a copy of it yesterday.
I will check with him and see if that was a draft.
I'll get back to you.

Which begs the question;
How many APS administrators does it take
to screw in a light bulb?

Is the APS Character Counts Leadership Council a Fraud?

Despite several official requests for public records,

requests met with opposition from APS Modrall,

APS Modrall has produced no evidence to contradict
the supposition that the group was part of some fraud
to get grant money from the federal government.

They will not even produce the names of the community
leaders who serve on the "supposed" council.

United States Senator Pete Domenici is in the middle of it.

And still the leadership of the APS will not surrender a single
public record that provides any credibility to the situation.

If it looks like fraud, and it smells like fraud

maybe it just is

fraud.

Because the APS Student Standard of Conduct

is a "higher" standard of conduct than the "law"

the first APS Superintendent who is honestly accountable
to that higher standard of conduct

will be compelled by that code

to dismantle the good ol' boys club

by establishing meaningful standards of conduct and
competence for public servants within their public service

and a system under which complaints about that service
receive a principled resolution;

a system powerful enough to hold the corrupt and the incompetent

accountable for their corruption and their incompetence

even against their will.

Including the most senior administrative role model of all
the Superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools.

Which is why the good ol' boys in the APS need to keep
role modeling off the table during this exercise.


What other explanation is there, to explain a superintendent
selection process which specifically disallows anyone from
asking the absolutely legitimate question of a candidate;


Are you going to be a role model for students? Or not?

Paula Maes is a Coward, So is Linda Sink, So is Dickie Gallegos

Not one of them will answer questions about accountability
and role modeling on the record.

No one in the entire leadership of the APS will either.



Neither will they allow any of the outsider candidates
an opportunity to answer those questions on the record

where the right answer would win them
the overwhelming support of stakeholders

and a rightful superintendency.

APS' Top Cop Won't Answer

I have stated my intention to collect signatures on a petition
to place role modeling on the table for discussion at the
public super search meetings Friday.

I suspect that the APS Praetorian Guard will enforce some
rule or another, to prevent me from doing so.

I have asked that Bill Reed cite the applicable rules, policies,
and laws.

He is stonewalling.

My second request for the rules; emailed to Bill Reed.

As a public servant,

You have some obligation to answer my questions about
the rules you will cite in your effort to prevent
my efforts to place role modeling and character
on the table this Friday.

Do you not?

macq

Do you really suppose that Zsombor Peter or Jessica Garate

made the decision to let the leadership of the APS
have a "bye" on the issue of role modeling?


Or was the decision made in meeting between Paula Maes,
Mary Lynn Roper, Sue Stephens, Michelle Donaldson,
Tommy Lang, and Kent Walz?


Who took character (counts) off the table
in the search for APS' superintendent?


Who will not allow it to be put back on?

Role Model Schmole Model

Is the Superintendent of the APS a role model?
Are they accountable as a role model?

To whom, and how?

How can this community hire a superintendent who refuses
to discuss the subject of role modeling, on the record?



You will have to ask Thomas Lang, Kent Walz
Michelle Donaldson, Mary Lynn Roper, and
Sue Stephens,

each of whom has the power to ask the question, and
report the answer.

But will not, out of deference to Paula Maes and her
cronies in the leadership of the APS.

The League of Women Voters; no comment

I had expressed my concern that the volunteers from the
League of Women Voters had been "hoodwinked"
into enabling Paula Maes' plan to hire Linda Sink
or Dickie Gallegos, without allowing stakeholders a chance
to ask even one specific question of any of the candidates.

The League of Women Voters will be responsible for the
fact that a superintendent will be hired,
who will never have answered one of the most important
questions that they have been asked.

How seriously do you take role modeling?
Are you willing, as a role model, to hold yourself honestly
accountable to the student standard of conduct.




Any candidate with the character and courage to answer,
is a threat to Paula, Linda, Dickie and the rest of the
good ol' boys who run the APS.

Each of whom has been asked the question and
simply refused to answer.

The Rules Man, Just the Rules

to Bill Reed,
admittedly the head of the APS Police Department;
(a publicly funded, privately controlled Praetorian Guard.)

Sir,

You have chosen not to respond to my specific questions
about the rules, regulations, policies, and law which will be the
focus of our interaction Friday,
the excuses you intend to use in order to arrest me, if I "violate".

This leaves me in an awkward situation, as you might imagine.

How do I exercise my rights without giving Paula Maes and
her Praetorian Guard an excuse to confront me?
If you refuse to admit to rules?

I have an interest in gathering petition signatures
in the lobby of the board room.

What specific policies, rules, or laws do you intend to enforce
in order to keep me from doing that?

macq

What if they threw a war, and nobody showed up?

asked a protester's sign during the Viet Nam War.

which begs the question;

what if they threw a revolution in the leadership of the APS,

and nobody showed up?



The stage is set to change the path of the APS for ever.
In a very positive and useful direction.


And all you have to do is show up

(and perhaps sign a petition.)

Petition

I am toying with the idea of a petition
to be presented to the board.
It has to do with whether or not character in the leadership
of the APS counts in the eyes of stakeholders.

The petition question would be

The next superintendent of the Albuquerque Public
Schools should first provide a candid, forthright and
honest answer to at least one specific question;

"Will you hold yourself honestly accountable as
a role model of the student standard of conduct?"

with your signature you certify that
you believe that you are a stakeholder,
and that you AGREE with the premise.

1. ched macquigg
2. Joseph Lopez
3. your name here
4.(a unique manner in which to stand up for what you believe in)
5.
6.

but only if you email (not in a "comment")
your name to "cmacquigg" followed by "@"
followed by "comcast.net" in order to attach
your thumb print.

I have an obligation to prevent someone's name being
posted without their expressed consent. and

I can be trusted to protect your email address from anything
short of violating a court order.

It seems to me that as stakeholders,
and as the masters of the public servants who want
to hire Linda or Dickie instead,

we have the right
to reject out of hand,
any candidate who refuses to answer the question.




There is a poll attached to this post.
Please find it in the upper right corner and
take the time to vote.

If there are other bloggers,
who feel that the poll is fair
please run a poll of your own
and share the results with your stakeholder group.

If you are simply a stakeholder looking for a way to make a difference;
make a simple copy of the petition and get as many signatures as you can.
Either present it to the board yourself,
or give it to the board secretary when you go to meeting.

Talk it up. Let's get a ball rolling.

Paula Maes Is A Bad Role Model, And So Is Linda Sink

And there are two kinds of people in the world.

They are efficiently separated by the question;

Does that make any difference?

"yes'" need to attend the meetings Friday;
all of them if you can.

"no's" You need to understand that in refusing to be accountable as role models; not only are they being bad role models (of accountability), but they are also refusing to be held honestly accountable to a higher standard of conduct (than the law).

One does not have to be the equivalent of a political rocket scientist to see that the "law" is inadequate as a standard for public service.

The actual working standard of accountability in the APS
is that they are accountable to the law,
only after spending scandalous amounts of public money
in a effort to litigate exception to the law,
good ol' boys in the leadership of the APS.

Most people believe that there actually is a higher standard of conduct for public servants.

Paula Maes and the good ol' boys have excepted themselves from accountability to the student standard of conduct

the pillars of character Counts,

a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical
conduct.

A reasonable standard of conduct for the senior most administrative role model, public servant, and steward of a billion tax dollars a year.



In an effort to keep Paula Maes' treachery secret from
her constituents and stakeholders;

she and Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Mary Lynn Roper,
Michelle Donaldson, Sue Stephens,
and others under the influence of the NM Broadcasters Ass

have conspired to keep the entire subject of role modeling
off of the table
while she hires Linda, or Dickie, or Norris, or some other good ol boy

to continue to cover the ass of Maes-Modrall and all of
the other incompetent and corrupt good ol' boys in the APS.

No one of them will ever have to look in to the eyes of stakeholders and answer the question candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

Within your public service, and as
the senior most public servant, and as
the senior administrative role model for over 100,000
students and employees;Are you willing to hold yourself honestly accountable to the student standard of conduct; the Pillars of Character Counts! ?

The answer to that question should be of some interest
to voters, to tax payers , and to members of the community,

even if they don't think that it is important that

Paula Maes and Linda Sink have failed so abjectly
as role models of the student standard of conduct.

Nothing Yet From Heath Hausamenn

or any one of the heavy hitters in NM blogging.

How can a person claim to blog (with integrity)
about politics in New Mexico,

have nothing at all to say about the APS Superintendency
a matter of monumental political importance.

The next superintendent, Linda Sink,
will oversee the spending of a billion tax dollars a year,
one sixth of the yearly budget for the entire state.

In an organization racked with scandal, and corruption and
incompetence.

She is being installed by a process which is
making a mockery of stakeholder rights to participate
meaningfully in a process that affects their interests.

Perhaps Heath and the others, deep in their hearts

agree

that powerful public servants should not have to answer
legitimate but inconvenient questions
about their public service,

in public and on the record.

If The Character Counts Leadership Council Had Character and Courage

even in its smallest measure;

they would blow the whistle on Paula Maes-Modrall.


She would not still be their "president"

after such an egregious betrayal of the very principles of
Character Counts.

Character Counts Supporters Have 3 Days

The President of the Character Counts Leadership Council
who happens to be the President of the School Board, and
the unpublicized leader of the pack, of good ol' boys,

Paula Maes-Modrall

has renounced the Pillars of Character Counts as the
standard of conduct for anyone in the APS except students.

She has abdicated as the senior most role model of the
student standard of conduct.


She will not be held accountable for her betrayal of the
public trust except by the public;

who have exactly one opportunity
to stand against her betrayal of their trust.


Torches and Pitchforks
Friday
Everyone

No questions, no follow up questions, will be allowed.

The candidates for the most important job in the city;
more important even than the mayor,
will not have to answer a single specific question
on the record.

Why?

There is only one reason to hide the truth.

3 Days Left, and Zsombor Peter is Writing About Middle School Athletics

instead of writing about the fact that Paula Maes and her
cronies are about to hire a new superintendent

who will be required to make no public statement, nor
will she (Linda Sink) be required to answer even one
specific question on any issue, on the record.

Not even regarding the most important issue of all,

which is the abdication as role models by the entire
leadership of the APS.


In fairness, it is likely not his choice.
He like Jessica Garate, Mitch Blacher, Larry Barker
and others, probably got into Journalism to tell the truth.


The blame falls squarely on the shoulders of Thomas Lang,
Kent Walz, Michelle Donaldson, Mary Lynn Roper, and
Sue Stephens.

who would rather hide the truth from stakeholders, than let
Paula Maes and her cronies feel the pain of the
consequences of their betrayal of the public trust.

Poor Zsombor. Poor Jessica.

Poor APS stakeholders.

Paula Maes Clears The Air

APS School Board President Paula Maes cleared up
a couple of points in a letter to the community,
posted on the APS website link

• She will not try to keep stakeholders from attending any or all of the meetings.
• Teachers union President Ellen Bernstein's questions will not be asked in public.
  
• And neither Ellen Bernstein, nor any other audience members will be allowed to ask specific
  questions of any of the candidates, on any issue.
  

Which does not allow stakeholders input in the decision
based on the answers of the candidates to critical specific
questions.

Nothing yet from the League of Women Voters regarding how
they allowed themselves to be put in the position of helping
Paula Maes disenfranchise stakeholders.

Rigo Chavez; Hiding a Meeting?

One of the four meetings scheduled to run the candidates
in front of stakeholders without stopping for follow up questions;

is not included in the announcement of public meetings
on the APS website. link

I'll bet Rigo left out the most important meeting of them all,
the meeting for student leaders,
"inadvertently".

Are students now not being invited to
participate in a decision that affects their interests?


Surely he wouldn't want to hide their questions and
the answers of the candidates.

It is news, right?


By way of a yardstick for this kind of "communication";

A three quarter truth is a whole lie.
ancient proverb derived

Gary Norris, Supt. of Sarasota County Schools, Outsider Candidate

It seems that it is very unlikely that Gary Norris
will be answering yes to the question;

Are you prepared to be the most senior administrative
role model of the Pillars of Character Counts?;
APS' student standard of conduct.


He will be glad to keep Carole Smith on as the
Director of APS Character Counts.

He will be equally pleased to see Paula Maes retained as the
President of the APS Character Counts Leadership Council,
for obvious reasons.

link

School Board President Paula Maes Modrall

has made it crystal clear;
she will not allow any audit that will hold individual
administrators, like Tom Savage, honestly accountable
for their conduct and competence as public servants.

She and the good ol' boys in the APS have every intention
of hiring a new superintendent that feels exactly
the same way.

Stakeholders need to send Paula and the boys a message;

• No Accountability Audit
  
• No new superintendent
  

Repeat as often and as loudly as is necessary.


Are Paula Maes,
and the other members of the school board

Robert Lucero
Delores Griego
Berna Facio
Marty Esquivel
Gordon Rowe, and
Mary Lee Martin

so far beyond our influence that we can do nothing
to protect the trust and the treasure that we are
compelled to place in the hands of APS administrators?


APS School Board members, you serve our interests.
You do not legitimately serve the interests of
the good ol' boys in the APS.


We will not accept as our next superintendent,
another good old boy
who's highest priority is not education,

but rather,

avoiding a cleansing audit of the leadership of the APS.


No audit, no new superintendent.

Will will wait for a candidate with the character and
the courage to enforce meaningful standards of
conduct and competence on the public servants
in the public schools.

It must suck to be Zsombor Peter, Jessica Garate, Jeremy Jojola, or Mitch Blacher

Imagine being a reporter having to sit on
the most important story in the history of the APS;

a scandal of such depth and breadth that,
if they were allowed to investigate and report upon it, it

"... would leave no senior administrator in the APS left standing."

(If you can believe Gil Lovato, the former Commander
of the APS Praetorian Guard, and his lawyer, Sam Bregman.)


I do,
because I've lived a lot of it.

You should,
because the leadership of the APS and the media
are stonewalling.

It is only four days

until stakeholders first, last, and only opportunity
to have any input at all in the final selection of the next
APS Superintendent.

With only four days to go, the possibility of a corruption
and incompetence cleansing accountability audit of the
the administration of the APS

is still not on the table for stakeholder discourse.

The possibility of an audit is being kept secret from
stakeholders, to provide protection only for those whose
careers will (rightfully) end when the audit commences.

Thomas Lang and Kent Walz of the Journal are responsible
for voter ignorance on the most important issue in the APS,
at what could be a turning point in the history of the APS.

As are Michelle Donaldson, news director at KRQE
spewing "earning your trust" out of one side of her mouth,
while the silence from the other side, points to her blatant
betrayal of stakeholder trust in KRQE.

And, Sue Stephens of KOB who wants us to believe that
"4 investigates" on behalf of its viewer stakeholders
when clearly, she has no such intention at all.

And Mary Lynn Roper, Paula Maes' buddy on the board
of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association,
who promises that "Target 7 Investigates" on the behalf of
viewer stakeholders, but not if it is at the expense of
Paula Maes, Modrall and the APS good ol' boys club.


There is no good and ethical excuse for the local media's
deliberate decision to leave stakeholders in the dark
about the possibility of a cleansing audit of the leadership
of the APS.

They are every bit as corrupt as Paula Maes Modrall.


They are, one and all,
absolutely damned by their record.

Good decision Winston !! This move will raise the IQs in both states !!!

So says a Wichita public school system stakeholder,
about their superintendent, who would like to be ours.

and,

"Must be time for him to negotiate his salary.
Well, this time I hope the school board does not
give into the blackmail designed to (give) him
a higher salary."

and of candidate Norris;

With his own "Next Generation Learning Plan"
not even implemented yet, Mr. Norris all of a sudden
finds another urgent need to leave this School District
twisting in the wind while he mulls offers from other
districts,
whom would be wise to learn what he did to our kids
our teachers our Schools,
before hiring this dishonest, and untrustworthy
individual.

Having direct personal and professional experience with
our schools and our students on a daily basis,
I'm inclined to agree with the previous criticisms of
Dr. Norris's influence on our district and on the
damaged quality of education that has come about as
a result of his influence.

The local media will not do any internet searches for APS
stakeholders, to investigate APS superintendent candidates.

You will have to do them yourself.

The Trouble With Passing the Trash Is, Sometimes You Get Passed the Trash

We passed Beth Everitt to Aiken County

and now it looks like Dallas Tx is passing us, theirs.


Good catch Paula Maes.

Can the good ol' boy's pick em, or what?

See what Scot Key dug up on the outsider candidates
they found to run against the insider good ol' boys;
Dickie Gallegos and Linda Sink.

At least one of them, maybe more,
make even Dickie and Linda look good.

... hmm ? ??

link

Open Letter to "Outsider" Candidates for APS Superintendent

As you may not, but should know.

The APS is run by a good ol' boys club,
and has been for generations.

The good ol' boys in the APS are currently led by
Paula Maes and her husband's law firm, the Modrall.

Modrall has made millions of tax dollars
off unwitting taxpayers, litigating exception to the law
for the good ol' boys in the APS.

And, in the absence of any honest accountability to any
meaningful standards of conduct or competence,
the good ol' boys have made a real mess of things,
it's been one scandal after another.

The public records of which,
APS and Modrall continues to keep secret from stakeholders,
taxpayers and voters.

At huge tax payer expense.

It is part of an ongoing conspiracy to cover up
felony criminal misconduct, and it involves;

the current leadership of the APS, and

the District Attorney, Kare Brandenburg
who continues to hide evidence from stakeholders
of felony criminal misconduct.

and

Local sheriff and congressional candidate Darren White,
who's resources were used in the criminal activity,
and who has his own cover up going on.

You can not count on the local media,
who have kept the ethics and accountability scandal
in the leadership of the APS,
secret from stakeholders through at least three elections.

If one scours their coverage of the last three APS
elections; one school board, one mill levy, and one
bond issue; totaling a half a billion dollars,

one will find no mention of accountability issues or
the crushing need for an impartial full scale
accountability audit.

Against the public interest, they will not
carry the issue to their readers and viewers;
for no other apparent reason than to cover the asses
of Paula Maes, Modrall, and the rest of the members
of the APS good ol' boys club.

Even though;

The Governor of New Mexico, Bill Richardson
admits that the leadership of the APS has an
"... earned statewide reputation for its lack of accountability..."

and

The Mayor of Albuquerque, Marty Chavez,
argued that the lack of accountability in the leadership
of the APS, including on the school board,
warranted a mayor take over of the school board.

and

The President of the Greater Albuquerque
Chamber of Commerce, Terri Cole, agreed with him.



The media has not, and will not investigate and
report upon the self evident lack of administrative
accountability in the APS.



The most egregious lack of accountability that they have
hidden from stakeholders is the the abdication by
the leadership of the APS of all of their obligations
as role models of the student standard of conduct.

The entire senior leadership of the APS
has deliberately and methodically excepted itself
from honest accountability to any meaningful standard
of conduct and competence at all, as public servants.


They have been tested, and they failed.

Should an outsider have the perquisite character and courage,
they may try to pull the sword from the stone.

The test question;

As the senior most administrative role model
of the student standard of conduct;
will you hold yourself honestly accountable to
the student standard of conduct;
the Pillars of Character Counts!

The good ol' boys that run the APS
were asked the question, and they are still stonewalling
to this day.

They have failed their test,
and now they want to make sure that the outsiders
will not have the opportunity to pass the test
that they failed, so miserably.

Were an outsider given the opportunity,
and if they had the necessary character and courage

to establish meaningful standards
of conduct and competence for public servants
in the leadership of the APS

and honest accountability to those standards.

That candidate would have the immediate and full support of
stakeholders, who are anxious to end the corruption
and incompetence that good ol' boys tolerate
from each other.

Paula Maes, Modrall and the good ol' boys would
play hell trying to hire Linda, or Dickie,
or one of the other of you who is a good ol' boy
looking for a good ol' superintendency to slip into.

The Pillars of Character Counts!
prohibit corruption and unmitigated incompetence.

They prohibit hiding corruption and incompetence.

There are no meaningful standards of
conduct or competence for the leadership of the APS.

The Council of the Great City Schools wrote,

"... administrative evaluations are subjective and
unrelated to promotion or step placement..." and
"... the culture of the leadership of the APS is one
of fear of retribution and retaliation ..." and
"... the leadership of the APS routinely hides the
truth in a deliberate effort to mislead stakeholders ..."

Believe that Paula Maes and Modrall will do everything
in their power to avoid the circumstance where you will be
asked, on the record, to explain and defend your intentions
with respect to the first
APS' Administrative Accountability Audit.

Believe that I will do everything in my power
to create the circumstance where you will have ample
opportunity at your moment of truth about the audit,
to manifest your courage and your character in public
and on the record.



Any answer except yes
... is no.

Winston Brooks, Steve Flores, Thomas Miller, and Gary Norris

are the only candidates that can represent themselves
as "other than" APS good ol boys.

Linda Sink cannot. Dickie Gallegos cannot.

It is fair to assume a few things about good ol' boys clubs;

• they have filled organizational vacuums everywhere.
  

• and a good ol' boy from anywhere,
  is a good ol' boy everywhere.

Being a bit of a cynic, I think that the fact that these people have risen to the top of other organizations (which are probably good ol' boys clubs too) makes the likelihood that they are good ol' boys, so great that they are compelled to demonstrate that they are not.

One of the specific questions that we cannot ask them is

Are you a good ol' boy? Will you cover Paula's ass?

Or will you begin an immediate impartial forensic
administrative accountability audit
of the good ol' boys club that runs the APS?


There is really only one way to prove
that you are not a good ol' boy.

And that is a record of holding good ol' boys accountable;
honestly accountable,
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence.


Any candidate who is not willing to begin the audit that
Paula and the boys fear so much,

is in fact, just another good ol' boy.


The last thing we need in the APS, is another good ol' boy.

The Day After Friday, March 7, 2008

is a day too late

to do anything to stop Paula Maes, Modrall,
et al. from hiring another good ol' boy to cover their asses
by funneling millions of tax dollars into litigating
exception to the law for the good ol' boys in the APS.


Torches and Pitchforks
APS Board Room
Friday, March 7
6:30 am
11:30 am
4 pm
6 pm

It is now or never.

The corruption and the incompetence in the leadership of the APS
will either be publicly addressed on that day
or it will never be addressed, ever.

It is us against Paula Maes and Modrall

and Mary Lynn Roper
and Thomas Lang
and Michelle Donaldson
and Sue Stephens
and Kent Walz.

Teachers Union President Ellen Bernstein

has joined the ranks of those who are displeased
with Paula Maes' running of the installation of her next
good ol' boy superintendent; Linda Sink.

Bernstein, according to an article in the Journal, said;
Paula Maes Modrall, et al, "... broke a guarantee it had
made to ask applicants about some of the union's key
concerns."

At the top of her list, how will the next supt. deal with NCLB?

The second most important specific question that every
applicant should be asked in public, and on the record.



The first most important questions;
Will you hold yourself honestly accountable
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence as
the senior most public servant and role model in the APS?

And, will you begin auditing corruption and incompetence
out of the leadership of the APS immediately?


Stakeholders have a right to ask legitimate specific questions.

Specific questions will serve to identify the good ol' boys.
They will not be ferreted out except through specific questioning.

On the subject of asking specific questions of the candidates
for the single most important job in our community,

Paula Maes says, through an underling,
"... we are unable to (allow specific questions to be asked)
because the meetings would lose meaning and integrity ..."

Too late.
The meetings have already lost their meaning and integrity.




Paula Maes and Modrall both have enormous asses to cover,
metaphorically speaking.

And they are covering their asses by not allowing
the asking of specific inconvenient questions.

She and Modrall are able to do so,
only with the continued aid and abet of the media;

Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Michelle Donaldson,
Mary Lynn Roper, and Sue Stephens.

What about the rights of a candidate who intends
to hold them self honestly accountable to the student
standard of conduct?,

and who intends to hold every other administrator in
the leadership of the APS honestly accountable
to that same standard as well?

Is it fair to stakeholders that
Paula Maes, Modrall, and their cronies in the media
deprive the honest candidates an honest chance
to gather the support of the community behind their
character, their courage, and their candidacy?

If Darren White were a man of character and courage

he would have disavowed the threats
made against Joe Cararro and others of his opponents.

And he would have pledged that in the campaign

he will hold himself honestly and unequivocally accountable
to some/any recognized and accepted
higher standard of conduct.

(imho, why not the Pillars of Character Counts,
but it is of course his choice.)

His choice, apparently
is too pretend whole thing isn't happening.

His silence speaks directly to his character and to his courage.



Just what we need, another politician without character,
without courage, and without the ability to slay,
or even see, the elephants.

Actual Torches, Actual Pitchforks

are of course beyond the pale.

The current Commander of the APS Praetorian Guard link
(no offense to the rank and file, among them fine and decent men and women)
Bill Reed said he would accept "Nerf tubes" link

the sillier looking the better, I would suppose.

If you do bring a Nerf tube, please write upon it
"this is a torch" or "this is a pitchfork",
in order that Commander Reed and the guard
will know on which side to seat you.

The whole thing is more than a little hard to believe.

When I asked Commander Reed to cite the specific reason
that I had been arrested, what law I had broken,
he turned it into a "public records request"
for no legitimate reason. It is not, it was not
a public records request.

A request for a public record,
is not "a public records request" as defined under
the NMIPRA, for whatever the law is worth against
APS and Modrall.


Turning the request into a public records request
serves only to lateral the ball over to the Modrall
and subjects the request to their legal weaselry.


He won't tell me what law I had allegedly broken.

Neither will he cite any rule, regulation, or law that
I might be breaking if I choose to exercise my several
specific human and constitutional rights
to wear a paper elephant mask;

an exercise of my rights that enjoyed the previous
manifest tacit approval of the mask, and of its wearing, by;

• Monica Armenta,
  APS Executive Director of Communications, and
  
• Rigo Chavez
  APS Director of Communications, and PIO
  (Public Information Obfuscater)
  

The real reason that I was illegally arrested was
to prevent me from calling attention to the ethics and
accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Which is apparently criminal misconduct in
the Susie Rayos Marmon Boardroom link
and in most other third world countries.


Please note;
as the result of a public records request, I have found out
that there is absolutely no public record of my arrest.

with the single exception of security camera footage
of my being unceremoniously pushed face down
into an otherwise fairly comfortable couch.

There is no video or audio recording of anything
that happened before the meeting was called to order.

(there is apparently a security camera in the lobby but
not in the boardroom, where Tom Ryan's Toy Chest
holds tens of thousands of dollars worth of
state of the art video and audio surveillance equipment,
all of which I suppose, is highly theft sensitive.

Nor is their video and audio surveillance of the Public Forum.

And most importantly,
there is no electronic surveillance in place to thwart
elephant mask wearing character counts advocates, and
other terrorists.


No record of Bill Reed's call on an APS cellphone,
within his public service, to a public police dispatcher,
which resulted in the dispatch (without record)
of yet another public servant.

No record of "belt" recorder tapes.

No incident report filed by either police officer.

No record of statements from witnesses,
not even their names.

As it turns out, there never was an
elephant mask wearing protester at the meeting.


This is what you get
when you let Paula Maes and Modrall
field their own little publicly funded, private police force
to enforce their will.

A Praetorian Guard;

• that is neither certified nor certificated by anyone,
• that is not accredited by anyone,
• that is not over seen by anyone, except
  Paula Maes and the good ol' boys in the APS and Modrall.
  

And, of course,
not a crime reporter in sight.

A Full Scale Forensic APS Accountability Audit

is a threat to no one

except the corrupt and the incompetent in
the leadership of the APS.

An audit will, though its fundamental design,
expose corruption and incompetence.

It will expose the corrupt and the incompetent.

They will be held honestly accountable for their conduct
and their competence as public servants;

by a system they cannot manipulate,

and even against their will.

Maes and Modrall will not be able to save them,
because they will be among them.

The corrupt and the incompetent will lose their jobs.
They will be prosecuted civilly and criminally.


Who gives a shit?


What about APS' decent and capable administrators?

What about the administrators who do have
the character and the courage to be role models
of a higher standard of conduct?


Do we owe them nothing?


Ayn Rand wrote that
when we treat the good and the evil the same;
we do so to the advantage of evil.



And when Edmund Burke wrote that
the only advantage that evil needs to prevail in the world
is for good men to do nothing.

Torches and Pitchforks is what he was writing about.

You pick a side when you don't pick a side.

Do nothing.
Find an excuse not to attend; and


Paula Maes, Mary Lynn Roper, Thomas Lang,
Michelle Donaldson, and Sue Stephens


will find the all of advantage they need
to prevail.

Anyone who waits for the perfect circumstances
to make their stand against tyranny
has found only an excuse to do nothing, ever.

There are no perfect circumstances;
only this time and these circumstances.

This is the time and these are the circumstances.


We will either rise up against the evil in the leadership of the APS

or we will not.


There is not going to be a better set of circumstances.
This is it.


... take it, or leave it.

Its time to walk the talk.

Student "Leaders" Will Meet the Finalists

No one of them will be allowed to ask
why the senior most role models in the district,
are not themselves, honestly accountable
to the Pillars of Character Counts;

yet students are held accountable
to that higher standard of conduct.

And, to ask if there might be a single candidate among
the "outsiders" with the character and the courage
to told themselves honestly accountable
to the student standard of conduct;

as a role model,

for even the measly few hours a day, that they will be
the "senior most administrative role model"
of the student standard of conduct,

before 89,000 of this community's sons and daughters.

The Die is Cast; Blogoshpere Vs. Mary Lynn Roper

Thomas Lang, Kent Walz, Michelle Donaldson, and
Sue Stephens.

Paula Maes cronies who run the media will do everything
they can to keep an APS Administrative Accountability Audit
off the table when APS Superintendent candidate finalists
"meet" the public.

The agenda is being manipulated by Maes and the media
in order to disenfranchise stakeholders.

Maes and the good ol' boy candidates, the "insiders"
are on the record, refusing to discuss the issue of an audit.

They do not want to give an outsider with character and
courage, the opportunity to open Pandora's Box,
and get the ball rolling on an audit.
Standing in opposition, hopefully, will be bloggers
who can create the public awareness that Maes, Roper, et al
seek to prevent.

Bloggers, who will encourage their readers
to attend all of the meetings;

and at at each one to demand
an immediate full scale forensic
Administrative Accountability Audit
of the leadership of the APS.

APS; Taxpayers and Voters are not Stakeholders

Tax payers and voters will not be allowed to participate
in "meeting" the finalists for APS Superintendent.

There are four meetings scheduled;

• 6:30-8 am for student leaders
• 11:30-1:00 pm for local business and government leaders
• 4-5:30 pm APS employees
• 6-7:30 pm APS parents and student family members

The meetings will be held on a work day in order to ensure the greatest obstacle for attendance. The only meeting outside the workday, is the last meeting, when it will be too late to organize against their intention to keep the accountability audit off the table.

What about other stakeholders,
like just plain old community members; voters and taxpayers?

Will they be allowed to attend any meeting?

Will "uninvited" status, be used as an excuse to arrest and
eject from the meeting, anyone who challenges them?

I have asked APS Praetorian Guard Commander Bill Reed
to declare his intentions;

I would like to know if you intend to enforce
the arbitrary groupings assigned to the opportunities
to meet the superintendent finalists;
"student body officers", "local business and
government leaders", "aps employees",
"parents and student family members"?

Do you have any intention of denying me or
anyone else full legal access to all meetings?

It is an important question because these are the dates and
times of Torches and Pitchforks demonstrations
in support of auditing corruption and incompetence out of
the leadership of the APS.

Phill Casaus Will be Honored by the Leadership of the APS

for his unrelenting support in keeping the subject of the
APS Ethics and Accountability Scandal
secret from stakeholders for these many years, and through
several board member, school mill levy, and
school bond elections. link


you go, Phill.

My attention has been drawn to an old post about Kari Brandenburg

Nothing has changed. District Attorney Kari Brandenburg
is still obfuscating the investigation into public corruption and
criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS police dept.

link