Brooks accepts responsibility for RGHS screw up

A week after school started, classes have still not started at the beleaguered Rio Grande High School. The delay is driven by a monumental screw up of student class schedules, link.

Though the Journal chose to not report it, APS Supt Winston Brooks has accepted "full responsibility" for the snafu.

This is not just some heroic gesture on his part; he is actually is responsible. He could not be more responsible if he had screwed up the schedules personally.

There is no talk of consequences for his screw up.

The Principal will take some heat, but Brooks won't.
No one will hold him accountable for his new system for
appointing principals; the one that completely disenfranchises
stakeholders and leaves the appointments at his sole discretion.

Silentwhistle on Audit Committee Agenda tonight

According to their posted agenda, link, APS' Audit Committee will "discuss" SilentWhistle; their whistleblower program.

According to APS School Board Policy B.07.d, link;
(in significant part, emphasis added)

"The Audit Committee reviews and recommends approval of ... any whistleblower complaints."

To date, they have not reviewed and approved even one complaint. More than 200 complaints are being denied due process.

The denial is the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Office of the State Auditor.

Because their SilentWhistle is nothing more than a forwarding mailbox that sends complaints made against administrators back to the same administration for adjudication, the check and balance provided by executive (school board) review is critical to addressing the obvious appearance of a conflict of interest.

The only defense for the ongoing denial of due process by the Audit Committee comes from its Chair David Robbins who wrote,
we are not breaking any federal laws.




photo Mark Bralley

The onus is not mine.

Upon reflection, I have decided that I will not send an email to the leadership of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government pointing out to them that they should not cheapen their Dixon Award by giving it to APS Supt Winston Brooks.

It has been suggested to me that I can follow up on my concerns by means of an email to the folks who want to give him the award. It has been suggested to me that the onus is upon me to keep the process moving.

I have pointed to rotten apples in their barrel,
it is not my responsibility to pick them out.

I'll pass.

Just as with government, is it not my responsibility to police them. It is not reasonably incumbent upon the weak to hold the powerful accountable for their abuse of power; it is theirs. The only first legitimate use of power is to assure that the power cannot be abused. It is up to them to police their own.

It is not power that corrupts, it is the ability to abuse power with accountability that corrupts; absolutely.

The leadership of the NM FOG has until October 10, to figure out how to rid their apple barrel of its rot.

That's the day they will give their Dixon Award to Brooks, despite the fact that he is ready to spend tax dollars litigating the cover up of corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS, the denial of due process to whistleblowers, his abdication as senior administrative role model of the APS Student Standards of Conduct and his illegal use of the APS Praetorian Guard to suppress the exercise of constitutionally protected human rights.

That is the day that everyone else who has been given a Dixon Award, will put it in the round file where it will belong.

Brooks should do them a favor and, turn down the "honor".




photo Mark Bralley

So I met with Sarah Welch

Sara Welch is the Executive Director of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, link.
I met with her to see if I was missing something when I write; the leadership of the FOG is infected with some people who clearly are not for "open government" at all. And to point out to her that, the FOG was about to give a Dixon Award to someone who clearly does not deserve it.

I offered to chat off the record; she expressed no need.

When I suggested that her reputation might be sullied by association with a number of the FOG's leadership, she suggested that she would be satisfied to be held accountable to her own record; (not necessary to anyone else's). Works for me.

She also argued that their "daytime jobs" were distinct from their service to the FOG.

Yeah OK but, how can you be a lawyer by day screwing people out of public records, and then be an able advocate of open government a few hours later for the FOG?

She told me that she has never bowed to, nor even felt, pressure from the board. I accept her at her word.

I pointed out to her that Kent Walz sits on the Executive Committee of the FOG, and appears to be covering up his own story about the scandal in the APS Police Department, link; no alternative explanation has been offered by anybody, ever, except that; it's not "newsworthy".

I pointed out that Pat Rogers sits on the Executive Committee and also works for the Modrall Law Firm which has made so much money litigating exception to the law for APS administrators and board members, that they won't tell you how much it is.

I pointed out that APS School Board President Marty Esquivel sits on the Board of Directors of the FOG and has no problem, apparently, arresting dissidents during Public Forums. Nor, apparently, does he have a problem with his Superintendent covering up the APS PD scandal.

I pointed out that they were about to give their prestigious Dixon Award to APS Supt Winston Brooks despite the fact that he was hiding an entire impartial report on public corruption and incompetence in the APS Police Department by calling it an "opinion" and not subject to disclosure under the law.

I asked if it would be possible to rescind the award they intend to give to Brooks.

Brooks, dba Rigo Chavez, APS' Custodian of Public Records, is a poster child for what the FOG is supposed to loathe. He is using loopholes, technicalities and legal weaselry to delay the surrender to the public record, of evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators, which is still being "investigated" by the APS Police Department, three and one half years after the scandal was revealed, and after statutes of limitation have expired on criminal misconduct.

She suggested that I email the "committee" that gave him the award; Marty Esquivel (who I am told recused himself from the vote to reward Brooks for his "transparency"), Kent Walz (see above), Kathy Bearden and Greg Williams (neither of whom, I know).

I think I will, and perhaps copy the entire Board of Directors, lest they go down with the ship, unaware that it is sinking.

I am told, APS Board Member Paula Maes, whose position is;

she will never agree to any audit that individually names corrupt and/or incompetent APS administrators or board members,

no longer sits on the FPGs Board of Directors;
I have no idea why.

She is still the head of the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. Consequently, I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for the broadcast media to dig very deeply into the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Maes is a named defendant in a lawsuit recently filed in Federal Court.

It is unlikely that the litigation will shed much light on the alleged misconduct. Long before the truth comes out in court, the leadership of the APS will have arrived at a Settlement Agreement, that, though worth boot loads of cash, is still "cheaper than proving their innocence in Court".

The Settlement Agreement will include language that reads, no one in the leadership of the APS admits to having done anything wrong. There will be a clause the moves a lot of tax dollars out of the APS and into the plaintiff's bank accounts. And there will be a clause that reads, the plaintiffs cannot tell the truth to anybody, ever.

Her husband was the President of the Modrall Law Firm while it was making a killing litigating on the behalf of the APS administration and Board. I suspect she still has some juice there too, and they will take good care of her.

Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Teri Cole is the Vice President of the NM FOG. She used to be a supporter of Character Counts! until I asked her to help me hold the leadership of the APS accountable for their abdication as role models of the APS Student Standards of Conduct. Then,

... not so much of a supporter anymore.



photo Mark Bralley

A distinction emerges between Denish and Martinez

The subject is gerrymandering of political boundaries to give a politician or political party an undue advantage in elections.

The Gubernatorial Candidates have taken stands which draw a distinction between them which might be the most telling distinction yet, link.

DA Susana Martinez would leave redistricting up to an independent commission.

Lt Gov Diane Denish would leave it up to party in power, her party, who would receive "advice" from an independent commission.

Martinez is willing to put the people before her party.
Denish would continue to put her party before the people.

One could not ask for a clearer choice.
Nor, for a more obvious one.

Thaddeus Lucero doing a great job according to Thaddeus Lucero.

Bernalillo County Manager Thaddeus Lucero got twenty column inches in the Journal this morning, link, to rebuild the County's image in the wake of the MATS scandal.

I will give him eighteen of those inches; not because I trust him,
but because I don't feel like checking his "facts".

I take issue with the inches that read;

From the beginning of the MATS incident, I have been proactive in working toward a quick resolution. The county hired an investigator, completed a full review and corresponding report and handed down discipline (none of which was challenged), and all within a period of less than four months, which is unheard of in government time. My quick response demonstrated that I took the situation seriously and that an expeditious investigation was paramount.

"... as county manager I have demonstrated transparency and open government, developed ethics and accountability ..."

The "complete review" and "report" he holds up as an example of his transparency and open government, is redacted beyond usefulness, I presume, by his own hand.

Look at it; read it link.

How can he take an independent investigation, completely redact both the "findings" and the "Conclusion" and then point to it as an example of transparency?

It's like pointing to a public school drop out rate of 50%
and calling it a measure of "success".

What gall.

APS $18M in arrears; nothing in the Journal.

APS vendors are hurting because APS isn't paying its bills.
APS' new Chief Financial Officer Don Moya says,
It's all news to him, link.

Thirty years ago, when I needed supplies for my classroom,
I was given an SPO (Small Purchase Order) Book which
vendors were to accept instead of cash or a check.

About half the vendors I took it to, wouldn't accept it;
because APS took forever to pay their bills.

The Journal wouldn't investigate and report upon it then,
and they won't investigate and report upon it now.

... go figure.

Who owns the debate debacle?

There is the time honored; "the buck stops here".

In which case the responsibility for the feckless endeavor falls upon the shoulders of Lt Gov Diane Denish, DA Susana Martinez, and APS Supt Winston Brooks.

In reality, it was three people further down on the food chains, who colluded to distance the candidates from the voters and, the people from their government.

I have no idea whose fist pounds the table last, in campaign strategy meetings in the campaign headquarters, so I won't even speculate whose bright idea it was to prioritize minimizing exposure.

I have a pretty good idea of who owns APS' end of the debacle.

It is not APS' Custodian of Public Records Rigo Chavez. It is his job to smile insipidly while claiming that an independent investigation of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators, "... is a matter of opinion and not subject to disclosure under the NMIPRA."

It is not APS Communications Specialist John Miller; he is only the flak catcher and, APS' interpreter of the rights of the press under the Constitution's First Amendment.

He stepped up to tell members of the press that there was no room for them in the room, despite that fact that there were empty spots throughout the debate.

It is he who will be stuck trying to defend APS' position that the government has the right to determine the press pool, and not the press itself, the traditional and defensible deciders.

He will not have to take the heat for the illegal arrest of a dissident.

Likely, no one will.

As for the "debate" debacle itself, as per long tradition;
the senior administrator most responsible for the disaster,
will remain unnamed, unaccountable, and well remunerated.

As per tradition, all of this will go unreported in the Journal.

Empty seats at the debate

I have it on good authority that there were a number of empty seats in the Performing Arts Center at Eldorado High School during APS' Gubernatorial Debate.

There were empties in the public seats, and there were empties in the press section; perhaps as many as 10% of the cheap seats and a half dozen more in area where the "letterhead" press had allowed themselves to be confined.

Good citizens who came to watch the debate, were told that
they could not, because there was not room.

Members of the press, who came to report upon the debate,
were told they could not, because there was not room.

And I know for a fact, that a publicly funded private police force, APS' Praetorian Guard turned away members of the public and members of the press at the door.

The Gubernatorial Candidates will not answer for this.

The leadership of the APS will not answer for this.

And the media moved along, long since.

Who won? Denish or Martinez?

imho

It's a toss up; they both lost.

We all lost.

The end result of what is arguably the most important "debate" in the entire campaign, is that neither one of them has any great new ideas. Neither of them "gets" it.

Neither of them is willing to give teachers a seat at the table.

Neither or them is willing to tap a resource that includes literally hundreds of thousands of years of teaching experience. And that is just teachers. Less attention still, is paid to the other professionals and paraprofessional that work at the educational interface; the place where students meet the system, day in and day out, year after year after year.

It's not that their input is not invaluable, rather it is that
the good ol' boys just don't want to hear it, or read it, or
answer any questions about it.

Other than not "getting" it; neither shined as a public speaker.

Lt Gov Diane Denish droned sound bites.
She has bought some pretty good ones;

"... someone with no experience fighting for children ..."

is going to go a long way for her.

Long enough probably, that no one will think to ask Denish what is so special about her failed "experience fighting for children."

You can spend all the money you want on pre-K education,
but you can't demonstrate that it has done one bit of good.

The immediate testing supports her campaign rhetoric.
But if you look at the same kids in the 3rd grade (and I
have read as early as the 1st grade) they are virtually
indistinguishable from their classmates.
Their advantage disappears.

We get their little engines running full steam and then stick
them in cemetery seating* to put the fires right back out.

She's spending a lot of money with nothing to show for it.

She will never have to address that issue because she has enough money to bury us in slick campaign sound bites instead.

DA Susana Martinez treated every question as if it were
her last opportunity to win the game by means of some oratorical flourish.

She should have just answered the questions.

Oratorical skills can get you elected I suppose, but they shouldn't.

Our need in the Roundhouse is not for great orators.
We need character and we need courage.


*cemetery seating; take 30 kids who have absolutely
nothing in common save the year of their birth,
Seat them in five rows of six kids, and then move them
at exactly the same speed, in exactly the same direction
for 12 years.

Herd kittens for 12 years.

Keep them on the same page, in the same book,
on the same day, for 12 years, and then wring your hands
and wonder why half of them drop out before the end of the drive.

The fastest learners are held back so as not to make the
slower learners feel badly about themselves.

The slowest learners are made to move so fast,
they cannot possibly keep up.


The results are as devastating as they are utterly predictable.

And yet, that is still their plan.

Never mind that it does not work, and it never will again.

Denish sees the light, the people don't.

During the Gubernatorial "Debate" at Eldorado High School,
Lt Gov Diane Denish said, link, 57:20;

"... we now have a Sunshine Portal for the state's checkbook ..."

She claims credit for it.

Well, the problem is that there really is no portal, not yet.
Not one ray of sunshine has shown through the portal and
onto the spending of our trust and treasure. It is yet to open.

There will be one someday, long after the corrupt and incompetent in state government have had time to cover their tracks. But there ain't one now.

And it is blatantly dishonest to represent that there is.

APS Praetorian Guard arrests dissident.

This is not video of my 8th illegal arrest by APS' Praetorian Guard but of the 7th, link.

You can fast forward to 42:00, and at that point you can witness for yourself, what happens when one tries to exercise their rights to free speech and to petition one's government, at a APS Board Meeting Public Forum.

The Journal was there, and did not investigate or report upon it.

Nor, will they investigate and report upon the latest arrest.

It's just not the way they roll.

Who Lost the Education Debate?

The debate has not yet ended on who won the Gubernatorial "Debate" at Eldorado High School Thursday.

There is no debate on who was the loser; it was the people.

The debate was arguably the most important debate that the candidates will ever have. And it was held in virtual secret from the vast majority of voters.

According to the wishes of the Candidates and their cronies in the leadership of the APS, the people were deliberately denied the opportunity to watch the debate in person; it was held in one of the smallest venues available, and tickets were reserved for a select few at their choosing.

According to the wishes of a corrupt few in the leadership of the APS, the press was denied equal treatment under the law; the coverage of the debate was skewed, deliberately.

According to the wishes of the local media moguls; the people were denied, for the most, the opportunity to watch the debate on TV.

Instead of being able to watch the debate in person or on TV, voters will have only the spin of the media and of the candidates to serve as the basis for their decision making.

The losers include everyone who had a legitimate question for the candidates. questions which did not get asked. Instead, the leadership of the APS, took it upon themselves to decide which questions would and would not be asked.

In accordance with his interest in denying teachers a seat at the table where decisions are made, APS Supt Winston Brooks, who had sole discretion in determining which questions would be asked, chose to not ask either candidate if they had any intention of really empowering teachers by offering them a seat at the table where the decisions will be made that affect their future and the future of public education in New Mexico.

It is arguably the most important question of them all.

There are literally hundreds of thousands of years of teaching experience in New Mexico schools, and no one wants to ask them what they think needs to change. For no other reason than to hide the truth about what teachers would say,

... if anybody asked them, ever.

"Arrested" again

There will be some quibbling I suppose over whether I was, in fact, "arrested" yesterday at Eldorado High School before the Gubernatorial Debate.

This would be the eighth time that I have been arrested by APS' Praetorian Guard, wikilink, dba APS Police Department, link.

I have never been charged with any crime. No charges of any kind have ever been filed as the result of any of these illegal arrests. I have never done anything that I would not be proud to do again in front of any of the many thousands of students to whom I taught the Pillars of Character Counts!, link.

Typically, I am only arrested for long enough to deprive me of my rights to free speech and to petition my government at a Public Forum during APS school board meetings.

I had every right to be at Eldorado High School for the debate; I am a member of the press, and I was a ticket holder.

I had done nothing to justify my arrest; I had violated no rule, and certainly violated no law.

The arresting Officer, one B Rohlfs, informed me that he was following orders that came from APS Supt Winston Brooks personally; not directly but through an intermediary who he repeatedly refused to name.

The leadership of the APS has their own little publicly funded private police force. It is accredited by no one; it is certificated by no one; it reports only to, and directly to, those who interests it protects.

It is currently embroiled in a cover up of itself. In early 2007, the Journal reported on corruption in the APS Police Department, link. Despite evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators, including in the Police Department itself; it investigated itself. Despite the blatant appearance of a conflict of interest, it is the only agency of law enforcement that has investigated the corruption.

It has been 3-1/2 years and they are still "investigating". Statutes of limitation have, conveniently, expired in the interim.

Brooks as APS' CAO, is responsible for hiding from public knowledge, the report of an independent investigation of the corruption that was conducted by a private investigator. In response to a request for public records asking for an ethically redacted version of the report, APS/Brooks response is to claim the entire report is a "matter of opinion" and not subject to disclosure under the Inspection of Public Records Act.

I would ask for help from the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, which typically takes exception to this kind of sleazy dodge; but I suspect they will be too busy planning the banquet during which they will give Brooks the Dixon Award for transparency in government.

The granting of the award presumably enjoys the support of a number of members of the NMFOG Board of Directors including School Board President and Open Government lawyer Marty Esquivel, School Board member Paula Maes, who once said she would never agree to any audit that individually named corrupt and/or incompetent APS administrators, Modrall lawyer Pat Rogers, and Journal editor Kent Walz.

Coincidentally, the Journal steadfastly refuses to investigate and report upon the cover up of the corruption in the APS Police Department in particular, and upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS in general.

APS Bond rating falls.

In a story that could not have been buried deeper, page C2, link, we find that APS's bond rating has been lowered. I would suppose that means APS bonds are less attractive to investors and, taxpayers will pay more interest on the loans.

The leadership of the APS would have voters believe that the lower rating is the result of "... the district's revolving door of chief financial officers and its precipitous decline in cash reserves ..."

Right, that and the fact the a recent audit of the APS Financial Division revealed;

• inadequate financially sound policies and regulations, and
• inadequate accountability to such standards as there were, and
• inadequate record keeping.

Apparently, either the bond rater; Moody's Investors Service doesn't care about conditions which likely precipitated the loss of millions of tax dollars, or nobody bothered to tell them about the Meyners Audit.

The leadership of the APS continues their steadfast refusal to allow an independent review of executive and administrative standards and accountability; and the Journal continues their steadfast refusal to investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

State cop; incompetent or corrupt?

A NM State Police Officer says Sandoval County Sheriff John Paul Trujillo was speeding, tailgating, and ran a red light, link.

Trujillo denies it.

It would appear that someone is either incompetent or lying.

If you take Trujillo's word for it, then the State Cop that began the chase is either incompetent, can't tell 80 mph from 55, or he is corrupt; just making the whole thing up.

If you take the cop's word, Trujillo is corrupt; abusing his power and the trust placed in him by Sandoval County voters.

This isn't Trujillo's first rodeo. According to KOB TV; link,

In 2006 a Bernalillo police officer says he found Trujillo parked in his sheriff’s vehicle with a strange woman hiding in the backseat. The officer clams the SUV was rocking, and when he approached Trujillo was pulling his pants back on. Sheriff Trujillo denied it all ..."

It looks like the whole thing will be swept under the carpet. Rather than vindicating one of its own Officers, the State Police are dropping the matter.

State Police Lt Eric Garcia says Trujillo will not be cited based on his statement that he was responding to a motor vehicle crash; a crash that happened 12 hours earlier.

And, the appearance of impropriety shakes the faith of people in their government. There is no where to file a complaint; no where to cause an investigation that will end the career of a corrupt or incompetent State Police Officer, or a corrupt County Sheriff.

The winner; a law enforcement officer who will not be held accountable for his corruption and/or incompetence.

The losers, the people and good cops everywhere.

Across the Board Cuts Cowardly

Across the board budget cuts as solution to the budget deficit shows a profound lack of imagination, if nothing else.

An across the board cut assumes across the board wiggle room;
all agencies have the same amount of "fat" to cut.

In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, it is reasonable
to assume, that is not the case at all. It would fly in the face of
everything we know about human nature.

The priorities that govern spending are a vertical stack.
At the top, the most important thing that government must
accomplish, and at the bottom; the least important thing that government does.

At the bottom; something truly embarrassing.
Something they must hide.

What do you suppose the most outrageous and unjustifiable
use of tax dollars looks like?

Why do you suppose they will not survey state workers
and ask them to point to it?

They are afraid to shine the light of day on their spending.
They are afraid to point to the least important thing they
are doing; the most unjustifiable spending of our resources,
because they don't want to be held accountable for their
poor stewardship of our trust and treasure.

Why are the people not be being asked
what they want to fund or not, with their tax dollars?

What we don't know won't hurt them.

The Spirit of the Redaction

Two months after receiving it, Bernalillo County Manager Thaddeus Lucero has released the (now heavily redacted) summary, link, of the impartial investigation of the Dantis scandal.

A few questions arise.

The first; why can we never get a crisp and clean copy of a
public record; why are they always slanted to one side and,
why do they always smack of a copy of a copy of a copy?
I digress.

The really important question is; is the redaction candid, forthright and honest?

Did those who redacted it finish and say;

I have told as much truth as the law will allow.

Or, did they finish it and say;

I have told as little truth as the law absolutely requires, and then only after protracted litigation.

Likely, we will never know. Though the question is important, and we have a right to know the answer. If government is to be truly "by" the people, we have a need to know.

I have sent the following email to County Commissioner Maggie Hart-Stebbins;

Commission(er) Hart-Stebbins,

I, like many I would suppose, am not happy with the redaction that has been done on the investigative report on the MATS scandal.

I think there is a need for an independent review of the redaction to ensure that it complies with the spirit of the law.

As far as I know, the only option I would have to cause that independent review, would be to file suit under the NM Inspection of Public Records.

It seems outrageous that I would have to file a lawsuit against my government in order to find out the truth about the spending of my power and my resources.

I am in hope that there is something you, and/or the commission, can do to cause an independent evaluation of the redaction.

Is there?

grateful for your time and attention

So far, no response.


Interestingly, the first line in the summary reads;

"It is essential to the efficient and effective operation of government that is has the public's trust."

It is as indefensible as it is absurd; allowing the subject
of an investigation to redact its results, without any real
oversight. We are to "trust" him; whether we want to or not,
whether we actually do, or not.

And when the trust is betrayed; what then?
Where is our recourse?

"Yeah, but ..."

Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Jennings, link, promised Mark Bralley, link, and me, a thirty-minute meeting. And then and gave us forty; plenty of time to make our case.

Our interest; getting him to step up as the champion of open government in the Legislature.



I made my usual argument;
the power belongs to the people,
the resources belong to the people,
the truth about how they are being spent, belongs to the people; all of it.

Some of it, though it belongs to the people, is not shared with the people for good and ethical reasons. The rest should be immediately and easily available; public records, open meetings, and robust webcasting to a searchable archive.

I argued that the line between the truth that should and should not be made public needs to be clear, unequivocal; limited only by specific exceptions written in law.

Finally, any disputes over the location of the line need to be settled impartially and rather immediately by some administrative process rather than length, expensive and cumbersome lawsuits.

The Senator said he couldn't disagree with any of the points we made.

He argued that the Legislature shouldn't have to be candid, forthright, and honest with the people if the same requirement is not placed upon the Executive Branch, the Judicial Branch, and the Press.

Our feeling was, and is, someone has to set the example. Rather than waiting for the Governor to step up, the Legislature needs to step up and set the example.

In the end, we could not get him to step up as the champion of truly open and transparent government.

We thanked him
for his time, and
let him know
we would be back.





photos Mark Bralley
MaryEllen Broderick DfNM caught Bralley catching her.

Scariest part of Martinez' Bold New Agenda

The most glaring flaw in DA Susana Martinez' plan to reform education is her apparent intention to let incompetent administrators slide on their incompetence.

She writes;

Efficiency Studies For Districts – Every year businesses undertake rigorous audits and studies to understand how their resources are being used and where those resources can be applied in a more efficient manner. Our school districts should undertake similar studies. These efficiency studies are not punitive in nature, but rather will help our school administrators better understand where and how to better allocate resources and get even more money to the classroom. (emphasis added)

By all means, let's do impartial efficiency and effectiveness studies on every branch of government, not just education; honest and impartial audits that report directly to the people, and not to those corruption and/or incompetence is the substance of the report.

But why in the world should good ol' boys not be "punished" for their incompetence? When "every year businesses undertake rigorous audits ..." do they not hold employees accountable for their inefficiency? Do they not "punish" them?

Why would anyone strive to be better, if their is no consequence for being worthless?

The lack of accountability in government is central to everything that is wrong with government.

Is Martinez simply promising us more of the same?

APS Board meeting this morning, about what, who knows?

There is a Special Board of Education meeting this morning at 7:30. The agenda is still not posted.

Yet another violation of the Open Meetings Act.

Maybe they will post minutes sometime and let us know how they spent our and our resources. Maybe not.

Oh well.

Update; by 8:03, not only is the agenda not up, but the entire meeting has disappeared from the calendar.

Again ..., oh well.

Flip-flop, or what?

Flip-flop is a pejorative term, wikilink.

It is akin to but, different than, waffling, urbilink.

So, does a political candidate get to change their mind?

When they do, it is almost always at some substantial cost,
the opponent beating them up over their waffling and/or
flip-flopping on an issue.

Does that make sense?

Consider; two otherwise identical candidates for any Office.

One says,

"I've made up my mind; don't confuse me with facts."

The other says;

"I have an open mind. I will listen to and consider differing opinions on any issue; and then adjust my position on that issue, according to my conscience."

For which candidate, would you cast your vote?

The hard part is discerning the difference between a thoughtful change of opinion, and change of convenience, a cynical effort to gain more votes.

A seat at the table for teachers

There is a place in education that I call the "educational interface". It is the place where the system and the client interact. The most obvious example; a classroom.

There is considerable expertise and experience at work at the interface; primarily among teachers, but augmented by a significant number of professionals and paraprofessionals that spend all day, everyday trying to overcome the obstacles between our children and a decent education.

In Albuquerque alone, there are more than 70,000 years of teaching experience playing in classrooms every day.

Education has a future in New Mexico.
I would like to think, that future is being planned.

But by whom?

Traditionally, the planning is done by people who have no direct connection to any classroom. The highest positions are reserved for political pay offs, cronyism, or any one of a number of "isms" unrelated to an independent of, the skill set used to "teach".

They sit around a table and decide how and where billions of dollars and other resources will be spent. So far, unsuccessfully, according to any reasonable standard.

Teachers do not sit around that table, nor do educational assistants, nor do any of the other professionals and paraprofessionals that work with students every day.

How can that be justified?

Does Denish understand Charter School Funding?

Today, it is reported that Lt Gov Diane Denish has accused DA Susana Martinez of intending to take dollars from public schools and spend them in "expensive private schools".

Martinez says she has no intention of taking money out of public education.

In truth, I suspect that Denish wants voters to believe that Charter Schools are not "public schools". I suspect she thinks voters are ignorant enough about Charter Schools to believe that they really are just expensive private schools.

Every dollar that follows a child from a broken school to a working school, stays within "public education". A Candidate that supports Charter Schools is not advocating for taking money out of public education.

Does Denish not get that, or is she simply trying to play on voter ignorance?

Just for the record; there are some significant problems associated with students moving out of large schools into smaller ones. Variety and opportunity to participate in elective classes is diminished, to point to but one example.

If anyone can point to significant expenses, that are not related to "public schools" making life difficult for their challengers; like making them find buildings of their own rather than using empty rooms that taxpayers have already created, please point to them.

Martinez dodges questions at newszr

I attended the news conference where in
DA Susana Martinez outlined her
Bold Agenda for Education
in New Mexico, link.

Martinez answered eight questions.
(my guess, I will bow to controverting fact)





Then, her Campaign Manager Ryan
Cangiolosi suddenly cut the newszr short.

I asked him why he cut it short; why
she hadn't answered more questions.

He responded that,
she had other things to do.

I call bullshit.


The question I didn't get to ask was;

Will you guarantee teachers a seat at any table
where their interests are being decided upon?

The question was asked of her later by Mark Bralley.
He reported that her answer was; "hmmm";
before being hustled out of the room by Cangiolosi.

I call double bullshit.

I would also like her to explain why part of her plan is to spend more money on textbooks; a teaching tool of little value to anyone but textbook publishers and their lobbyists and, perhaps the single most expensive and useless tool available to teachers and learners in the age of the internet, Kindle, wikilink, and too many other electronic formats to count.

When she can find the time.




photos Mark Bralley

Redistricting; the spoils of war?

Every ten years, two things happen; there is a federal census and, legislative districts are redrawn to reflect changing populations.

Traditionally, the party in power uses the opportunity to tilt the playing field in their direction for at least the next ten years and possibly, for generations, link.

It's called gerrymandering, wikilink.
It is as indefensible as it is wrong.

Despite the fact that it is a morally and ethically indefensible,
it is a certainty, it is the way things are done,
it is the way the good ol' boys roll.

The practice is in the best interests of political parties and
politicians, not in the best interests of the people
whose government it is.

The obvious solution would be to have an independent third party draw the lines according to the best interests of the people and the process.

Which begs a question;
what can we, the people, do, to ensure that the lines are drawn impartially and in our best interests, other than to trust again, those who have consistently betrayed our trust in past?

The question is not rhetorical.

We have only a few months to figure it out.

To date, neither candidate for Governor, neither DA Susana Martinez, nor Lt Gov Diane Denish, has pledged to put the people above their party. Neither has promised the people fair and honest redistricting as part of the pledge to the people. Neither has promised a process beyond reproach.

Perhaps somehow, the people can make it a campaign issue,
even if they won't.

Why can't the County fire Dwight Dias?

Dwight Dias is a program manager at the MATS facility; the site of the Dantis nepotism scandal. He faces termination for failing to report allegations of misconduct by an employee, Jamie Dantis, who happens to be the son of Deputy County Manager John Dantis.

County Manager Thaddeus Lucero has said Dias was an "utter failure" as a manager, and further that he had lied to him about Jaime Dantis' employment problems.

He has been through the firing process, yet has not been fired. Why?

County Spokesperson, Liz Hamm says the County is "working through issues" and "trying to get paper work done". In the meantime, Dias is drawing full salary while on "paid vacation"; otherwise known as "administrative leave".

Usually, when a bureaucracy cannot fire an employee, it is because the employee knows where some bodies are buried. The unstated threat is; "go ahead, start a firing procedure where I get a chance to talk, and I will spill my guts." So rather that suffer the consequences of their corruption or incompetence, the good ol' boys just keep the subordinate on paid leave until the situation resolves itself in some other way.

The supposition that there is an effort afoot to hide some inconvenient truth, is underscored by the fact that Lucero is still hiding an independent investigation of the circumstances of the scandal.

So until someone comes up with a better explanation of the County's inability to fire an employee who has earned a firing,
it is because they need to keep him quiet.

They get away with it because they have provided us with
nothing we can do about it.

APS School Board; trust us!

Tonight the School Board will vote to remove the due process guarantee for whistleblower complaints from School Board Policy. They will replace it with a promise to put the due process guarantee back into Policy, sometime in the future. There is no good and ethical reason to remove due process language except to replace it immediately with better language.

They don't keep their word.

It was February 2007 when they dissolved the APS Citizens Advisory Council.

They abolished it against the vehemently expressed opposition of the citizens who had been participating in the Council.

They "promised" to replace it "sometime in the future"
with something even better.

They have not.

How long do we have to wait before reasonably concluding
the word is not worth a warm bucket of spit, wikilink?

This is precisely the same group of people who promised stakeholders a candid, forthright and honest public discussion about the "Role Modeling Clause" and why they will not put it back in their own code of conduct; the clause that used to read;

In no case shall the standards of conduct for an adult,
be lower than the standards of conduct for students.

The truth is, the only standards of conduct that they are even remotely accountable to, are considerably lower standards than the APS Student Standards of Conduct; the Pillars of Character Counts!

Sure, you could trust these people to maybe, someday, put back the language that guarantees due process for whistle blowers, but why in hell would you? Seriously. They are not honestly accountable to any standard of conduct that requires them to tell you the truth, ever.

And, they don't.

Why would you trust them?

Throwing down the gauntlet

An outrage is on the agenda for the APS Policy Committee Meeting tonight; in the midst of an investigation by the Office of the State Auditor over the school board's failure to provide due process to whistleblower complaints, the Policy Committee is preparing to strike from board policy, their obligation to do so.

They will remove language which reads; the

Audit Committee will review and approve
any whistleblower complaints.

To date, more than 200 whistleblower complaints have been denied due process.

I have written the following to the Journal as a "news tip".

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education is going to vote to change school board policy at a policy committee meeting tonight.

They are currently being investigated by the Office of the State Auditor over the failure of their Audit Committee to provide due process for whistleblower complaints. School board policy currently reads; the Audit Committee will review and approve any whistle blower complaints. To date, they have not reviewed or approved the handling of even a single complaint; hundreds of complaints have been denied due process.

Tonight, in the midst of the SAO investigation of their failure to review and approve whistleblower complaints, they will vote to strike the language that requires them to do so.

It is an abdication of a fundamental responsibility to provide the people's check and balance over a rogue administrative branch of government.

I am in hope that you will investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

The remaining question; will the Journal investigate and report upon the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS, or will our "newspaper of record" continue to ignore it?

Who does Phil Sisneros work for?

In theory, he works for the people of New Mexico.
He is a public servant.

... in theory.

In fact, his loyaly lies with the good ol' boys.

Witness, this morning's Journal report, link; about someone suing the Attorney General's Office over something.

NMAG Public Information Officer Phil Sisneros had this to say;

"Although we consider this a personnel matter,
(meaning he shouldn't be saying anything at all, but will anyway)
we expect it will be resolved in our favor in the court.
(emphasis added)

You can either chalk this up to a slip of the tongue,
or you can accept that he is one of them, not one of us.

His first loyalty is to the NMAGO' Office, and not to the
people of New Mexico and telling the truth.

In theory, we are paying PIOs to tell the truth about the spending of our power and our resources; the whole truth, and nothing but the ethically redacted truth.

... in theory.

In fact, we are paying them to spin the truth to their boss's advantage.

We are paying them millions of dollars to
keep us from learning the truth.

That's wrong, ... right?

Neither Denish nor Martinez will surrender their juice

Not to put too fine a point on it, but;

the way government works in New Mexico is that powerful people create and maintain their political power by surrounding themselves with supporters; most commonly public servants beholden for their government jobs.

Both DA Susana Martinez and Lt Gov Diane Denish have indicated that they will reduce the number of public employees, in particular the number of "political appointees", but they will not point to the system they will use to do it.

Neither is willing to surrender to a process for eliminating ineffective and inefficient public employees that is beyond their undue influence.

Denish claims she will fight for New Mexico families.
Will she be defending them against the corrupt and the
incompetent? How?

Martinez claims she will fight against corruption.
Will she run the corrupt and the incompetent out of politics and public service? How?

They both claim they will end the state employment of undeserving politicians and public servants, yet neither is willing to burn the bridge behind them by promoting an impartial system, over which they cannot exert undue influence, that will accomplish that end. Instead, we are supposed to trust them to not protect the jobs of unworthy political appointees and hires.

"Trust" as an agent of good government, runs a far distant second to transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence for politicians and public servants within their public service.

Neither wants to run the bus of corruption and incompetence off a cliff. They would rather just take the wheel and have us trust them to keep things under control.

Neither is willing to adopt a plan that ends the culture of corruption in Santa Fe, that doesn't grandfather in, past corruption and incompetence.

Why else would they not point to an impartial system that will hold politicians and public servants honestly accountable for their the conduct, competence, and value, except to leave the door open to protect the jobs of at least a few people,

just in case?

Locksleygate litigation will raise "open government" questions

The litigation surrounding UNM Head Football Coach Michael Locksley's "alleged" misconduct will raise questions, albeit tangentially, about the most fundamental issue of open government.

Plaintiff, former Assistant Football Coach JB Gerald's lawyers will argue that their client was denied fair treatment by the UNM, both individually and institutionally. They will have to argue that there is not,

inescapable accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence,

for UNM administrators.

Whether Gerald or any other UNM employee, is in fact,
protected by adequate standards and accountability,
is the real question.

It would appear that there are not those standards, and
there is not, that accountability. And, it would appear,
the UMM leadership and their lawyers would rather,
the question not be investigated.

UNM President David Schmidly has made it pretty clear that he has no interest in any impartial investigation of administrative standards of conduct and competence, or of his actual and honest accountability to them. He doesn't want anybody looking at the UNM's administrative standards and evaluating their adequacy. Nor, does he want anybody to look at whether a legitimate complaint filed by the least powerful employee or stakeholder, will receive due process.

At the risk of stating the obvious, there are substantial problems with both, and especially with, honest accountability for the most powerful public servants.

Gov Bill Richardson appointee, UNM Regent's President Raymond Sanchez is no more inclined to see the truth told than is Schmidly, link.



Do the people have a right to know the truth about the spending of power and resources that belong fundamentally to them?

Do we have the right to see the results of an independent standards and accountability audit of the leadership of the UNM?

Richardson, Sanchez and Schmidly would have you believe,
they have no obligation to tell you the truth about standards and accountability at the UNM.

Just like Bernalillo County Manger Thaddeus Lucero would have you believe that you have no right to see the ethically redacted results of any investigation of standards and accountability in the MATS Scandal.

Just like APS School Board President and Open Government Lawyer Marty Esquivel would have us believe we have no right to see the results of an independent investigation of public corruption and incompetence in the leadership of their Praetorian Guard; the APS Police Department, link, Administration and School Board.

The opponents of transparently accountable government are winning the fight over the surrender of the truth, not because their position is compelling, or even defensible, but rather, because they never have to defend it.

There is no way to get them to defend their position in a fight, because they will never engage in a fight. They will pay the Geralds, Lovatos, and Dantis's of the world enough (public) money to convince them to surrender their right to their day in Court and forgo their opportunity to expose the system for what it really is, and the good ol' boys for what they really are.

... and no one will be the wiser,
especially the people footing the bills.

There is no government by the people which is at once,
secret from the people.

Those secrets will not be shared willingly.

We will have to fight for the truth; we will have to fight for
independent standards and accountability audits of politicians and public servants, and of their public service.

They will not commission them otherwise.




photos Mark Bralley

Public employment Task Force

There is a need to re-examine the terms of public employment.

Are pension plans too generous?
Are they out of step with current fiscal realities?
Can we afford the plans we have in place?

I have become a bigger fan of Task Forces. I used to believe they were a waste of time and effort with little reward. Now, I appreciate their ability to force issues into the open where final decisions reflect the input of a greater variety of stakeholders.

Let's do it then. Let's take a long hard look at the number of public employees, what they do for the state and for its citizens, and whether taxpayers are getting the most bang for their hard earned bucks.

Locksleygate; an epilogue

Former Assistant Coach J. B. Gerald has filed a federal lawsuit against UNM Head Football Coach Michael Locksley and UNM over a "punching and choking" incident in September 2009, link.

Despite UNM's assertion that it will defend itself and its employees vigorously against Gerald's claims, there is a more likely scenario; they will settle before the actual truth comes out in court.

There never has been an impartial investigation of what happened. The community called for one, the Graduate and Profession Student Association called for one, and common sense points to the need for one. Yet UNM Regents President Raymond Sanchez and UNM President David Schmidly have no intention of conducting one, ever.

The reason seems obvious, they are hiding something.

If an investigation would reveal that the leadership of the UNM has told us the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the (ethically redacted) truth, they would be happy to have that fact confirmed. It would do wonders for their diminished reputation.

It would appear though, that would not be the outcome of an impartial investigation, So they will not commission one; nor will they allow the truth to be revealed in court.

So they will settle, and;

• UNM lawyers will make beaucoup bucks, and
• Gerald's lawyers will do even better, and
• Gerald himself will walk away with a lot of cash.
• Taxpayers will foot the bill for the whole thing.
• The Settlement Agreement will contain a phrase reading,

  UNM, despite handing over a huge amount of cash to Gerald and his lawyers, admits no wrongdoing.

• And, the rest of the Settlement Agreement will be kept secret from stakeholders.

Just like the facts are being kept secret from stakeholders by Bernalillo County Manager Thaddeus Lucero while he continues to hide the impartial investigation of the nepotism and scandal in the MATS facility, and

Just like APS School Board President Marty Esquivel and APS Supt Winston Brooks continue to hide the results of the impartial investigation into the scandal in the leadership of the APS Police Department.

We, taxpayers, apparently have the right to foot the bill for the incompetence and corruption, but not the right to know the truth about it.

That's just the way good ol' boys roll.

And if you don't like it, they don't care.

So what are you going to do about it?

Brooks $69K cover up paid for by students.

and everyone else who works at the educational interface.

They will have 68,900 fewer dollars to work with,
One fewer teacher, two fewer educational assistants
in the place where students meet the system,
in order that Dupay Bateman can be kept quiet, link.

The Journal reports that Bateman's contract had been
"automatically renewed".

Is "automatic" the right word?

Are we to believe that APS Supt Winston Brooks paid absolutely no attention on the day when all the contracts are "automatically" renewed? to Bateman's $125K a year job?

Why did he extend a contract to a person he thought needed to be fired?

You will recall he also promoted the District's Director of Internal Audits to that position immediately before having to fire him for spending his days in skin flicks and casinos.

Brooks would have you believe the best use of your money, was to avoid litigation, by buying Dupay Bateman's silence about what is going on in APS Finance Division.

I haven't seen the Settlement Agreement, but I'll eat a bug if it doesn't read; Bateman will not reveal the truth to stakeholders.

When they "fired" APS Police Chief Gil Lovato, they gave him a boot load of cash too. Also "to avoid the possibility of litigation".

Had that litigation occurred, Lovato claimed he would reveal truths that

"... would not leave a single senior administrator left standing."

The Journal refuses still, to follow up on its own story, link, ignoring the fact that three years later, the truth is still secret from stakeholders.



Neither Brooks, nor School Board President Marty Esquivel, has explained why they will not commission an independent review of administrative standards and accountability.








Even though the last such review revealed;

• inadequate standards, and
• inadequate accountability, and
• inadequate record keeping

Likely, millions of dollars have gone missing.

Does Bateman know anything about them?

I think it is fair to ask; if Dupay Bateman got his day in court, rather than our tax dollars in his pocket,

.... would there be a single APS senior administrator
left standing?

photos Mark Bralley

Chasin' the dream

Photojournalist, blogger, mentor and, good friend Mark Bralley and I have put a lot of miles on our weary bones chasing after the right to petition one's government with a certain amount of facility; they don't make it easy.

Sometime the carrot seems close; right in front of our noses.
Other times, we're the only ones there.




photo Mark Bralley

In defense of Charter Schools

In the Journal, link, an op-ed in defense of Charter Schools.

I would venture that, most people do not have an accurate
picture of Charter Schools. We are grossly under-informed
and misinformed with regard to the spending of a great deal
of power, our trust, and our treasure, in public education.

People like APS Supt Winston Brooks would rather
you focus on a handful of Charter School Screw-ups, than on
the ones who are whipping him like a red-headed step child.

The problem is more fundamental than whether tax dollars should be spent on Charter Schools.

The problem is that we are in no position to make a decision
because we know so few of the facts.

We don't know the truth because those who we count on to tell us the truth, are letting us down.

I was once approached by a Charter School Principal in hope that I could offer him some hope for fair coverage for Charter Schools, in the Journal. I offered him none.

APS Supt Winston Brooks gets a column in the Journal every month to say whatever he wants without fear of contradiction.

Charter School Superintendents do not.

APS to waste more tax dollars

There exists, incontrovertible truth about the involvement of senior APS administrators in felony criminal misconduct, link. That evidence exists in the form of a public record; the final report on an independent investigation of testimony and evidence.

APS Custodian of Public Records Rigo Chavez, has expressed the intention of the leadership of the APS, to deny stakeholders their right to inspect and/or copy that report.

A great deal of money is going to be used to litigate against the surrender of the truth to public knowledge.





APS Supt Winston Brooks will spend tax dollars to hide the truth about the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.









APS/Modrall Lawyer Art Melendrez will be paid (tax dollars from unwitting citizens who believe the money they give over for education is actually being spent on their children) to litigate against the public interest.


He will do so, without consequence, by arguing legal nonsense. He will argue that the investigative report we paid for, is;

a "letter or memorandum which (is) a matter of opinion in a personnel file" and is exempt from disclosure under the act.

Nonsense of course, but Melendrez and Modrall are going to make a boot load of money arguing otherwise.

I once asked for "any public record" which would reveal the number of tax dollars that flow to APS' lawyers (at Modrall) under the unlimited budget arrangement they have with tax payers in APS. The number is so embarrassing, they didn't surrender it.

Modrall can swing both ways on the issue of hiding the truth from tax payers; they also have a lawyer, link, and a few friends on the Board of Directors of the New Mexico Foundation for Open Government.

One of their friends on the NM FOG Board of Directors, APS School Board President and Open Government Lawyer Marty Esquivel should be outraged.

It doesn't appear that he is.





Even under the best of circumstances, suing is a crap shoot;
the Justice System offers no guarantee of justice.

APS budget for litigation is unlimited,
as in their influence on the justice system.

They will litigate with every resource available to them
for ever rather than have to account for their incompetence
and corruption.

Your choice is whether to continue to allow them to.

The power is ours, the resources are ours,
the truth about their spending is ours.




photos Mark Bralley