Zsombor Peter lets APS' Brad Winter slide on the truth

APS Chief Operations Officer Brad Winter has a secret;
the true extent of the squandering of the public trust and
treasure at 6400 Uptown Blvd; the endlessly renovated
APS Uptown Administrative Complex.

Before the center was purchased, taxpayers were promised
that an economy would result; that despite its high initial
cost, taxpayers would save money in the end.

Among other assurances, taxpayers were told that
APS administrators would occupy only half the building,
and the other half would be rented out to cover expenses.

A quick tour of the building reveals that APS administrators
and their entourage have instead,
filled every nook and cranny.

There has not been a single day, apparently, that renovation
has not been underway. As far as taxpayers are concerned,
APS Uptown Center is a money pit.

Every dollar that flows into that money pit,
is a dollar that cannot be spent improving the lives of
students and staff at more remote locations; like classrooms.

While Brad Winter was signing checks to build a fancy
new board room; an utterly unjustifiable extravagance,
students at Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School
were being rained on, in portable classrooms being used to
twice their life expectancy.

While Tom Ryan's techno toy chest was being filled with
state of the art electronic gadgetry, Brad Winter was
involved in suspending fire safety inspections in schools
to save money to pay for it.

Brad Winter is justifiably ashamed of the amount of money,
read tax dollars, that have been squandered there.

He is so ashamed, that when asked for a candid, forthright
and honest accounting of spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd;
he can only stonewall in response to the question.

At least, he can stonewall my question.

My belief is that he could not so easily stonewall the
Albuquerque Journal. If he did, and they reported same
to stakeholder taxpayers, the public outrage would end
the arrogance that allows the leadership of the APS to
simply ignore the legitimate questions of stakeholders.

But the fact is, Zsombor Peter, Journal education reporter,
will not ask the question;

Brad Winter,
Will you surrender a candid, forthright and honest
accounting of all of the spending at the
Uptown Administrative Complex?

Zsombor Peter will not ask the question, and report upon
the response, for one or more of only a few reasons;

• the story is not newsworthy; and/or,
• the story is newsworthy, but he cannot see it; and/or,
• he is being prevented from asking the question by Kent Walz, or someone of his ilk, who is superordinate to the young reporter; and/or,
• he is afraid to stand toe to toe with the leadership of the APS and ask them tough questions; and/or,
• he is corrupt; he is not telling the story as part of a deliberate effort to continue to deceive stakeholders.

If the story were in fact, un-newsworthy, it would mean that the facts are not of sufficient interest or importance to the public to warrant reporting in the media. The story is not one
that reader stakeholders must know, or need to know, or should know, will want to know, or would be interested to know. And it is less newsworthy than any other story that Zsombor Peter has written about the APS.

Perhaps we can agree that the story is newsworthy.

Zsombor Peter himself, denies superordinate pressure.

Which leaves us with; incompetence, cowardice, and/or
corruption.

Offered an opportunity to clear up the issue;
if only by an anonymous comment;

Zsombor Peter (and the Journal) have nothing to say.

link
cc Zsombor Peter upon posting.

APS Modrall surrenders records, sort of.

The New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act link
warrants my right to inspect and or copy public records.

I have asked for those records which will paint an accurate
picture of the litigations done by Paula Maes' Modrall, and
how much taxpayers paid for that litigation.

I expect that the record will show that;
APS Modrall has litigated against the public interest on many,
many occasions;

for no other reason than to except the leadership of the APS
from accountability, even to the law.

The records that I have asked for currently exist in the form
of files stored in a computer somewhere.

The records could be copied onto a CD or two, and then
given to me in exchange for an equal number of blank disks.

Instead;

the leadership of the APS will have Modrall turn every page
of every one of those files into a hard copy; printed on paper.

They will likely charge APS; taxpayers, fifty cents per page;
roughly ten times as much as Kinko's would charge
for the same copy.

I have been promised "thousands of pages" of public records.

Assume that means only 2K.

Modrall will make a thousand dollars serving the public
only in the capacity of an extraordinarily expensive copy
house. And at least some of that money makes it into the
bank account of Paula Maes and her husband; the president
of the Modrall.

The records will be sent, likely, by a courier service;
again at ridiculous and unjustifiable expense to taxpayers.

Rigo Chavez will then be paid about three times what
a teacher makes; to make an appointment with me,
in order that he can watch over me, as I read,

and to make sure I don't surrender my integrity,
my credibility and my honor, in order to steal one of those
pages rather than pay for a copy.

It makes no difference that I suffer a great deal of anxiety
in the presence of APS administrators and board members
in situations where there are not tens of witnesses;

and have made it clear that this is not my preference for
the circumstances under which I will be allowed to exercise
my rights as guaranteed under the NMIPRA.

Then Rigo Chavez will charge me fifty cents a page to copy
public records, and probably shoot an extra copy of each
in order Modrall will know exactly which documents
I will try use in my effort to expose their corruption.

If this is not an effort to obfuscate the surrender of public records;

if this in not a effort to harass and intimidate me,
in retaliation for asking for the opportunity
to inspect and or copy public records;

if this is not diametrically opposite to the intention and the
purpose of the Inspection of Public Records Act

... what in the hell is? ??

APS School Board Head Honcho, Paula Maes has one enormous ass to cover.

Paula Maes is a member of Albuquerque's privileged class.

So is Journal editor Kent Walz.

Among the privileges of the privileged class is that they cut each other a great deal of slack when it comes to holding each other accountable to any meaningful standard of conduct.

They cover each other's asses.

Paula Maes needs her ass to be covered by the Journal.

So Kent Walz will not write about any of her shenanigans;

• the multi-million dollar relationship between the APS and her husband's law firm: Modrall; and
  
• their litigation against the public interest, in order to except the leadership of the APS from accountability even to the law; and
  
• her abdication as the senior role model of the student standard of conduct; and
• her manipulation of the public forum and the rights of citizens to petition their government; and
• her illegal use of the APS Police Force, her Praetorian Guard, a publicly funded, private police; accredited by no one, certificated by no one, and which reports directly to, and only to, to the leadership of the APS, to deny the expression of constitutional rights by those who would hold her accountable; and
• her obstruction of an impartial audit of the leadership of the APS, that would name names, and hold any individual administrators accountable for their conduct and competence as public servants; and
• her continued refusal to engage in a candid, forthright and honest discussion of ethics and accountability in the leadership of the APS.
  

to name but just a few.

When you have an enormous ass to cover;
it's good to know someone who buys their ink by the barrel.

And who will spare that ink, in like amounts,
in the interests of covering your ass.

It must suck to be education reporter Zsombor Peter;
the poor guy left holding the bag. link

cc Walz upon posting

In no case shall the standard of conduct for adults be lower than the standard of conduct for students

If an administrative code of conduct contained that phrase;
it could reasonably be construed to mean that
they understood the importance of role modeling in
the character development of students.

It could also be construed to mean that
they would be expected to lead by their own example;
holding themselves accountable to a standard of conduct,
at least as high as the student standard of conduct.

Which is why the leadership of the APS, found it necessary
to remove that phrase from their own standard of conduct;

in "secret" from stakeholders.

Come on Monica Armenta, Zsombor Peter needs you.

Zsombor Peter is stuck for a reason not to report upon
ethics and accountability in the leadership of the APS. link

He desperately needs your help.

Can't you, or anyone in your million dollar a year
APS Communications Division, give him a good and ethical
reason that;

no one in the entire leadership of the APS
will engage in a candid, forthright, and
honest discussion of ethics and accountability
in the leadership of the APS.

You have to give him something; he really needs a bone to
throw to his readers.

He and the Journal, are starting to look really bad.

You do have something don't you?


... something?

... anything?


cc Armenta upon posting;
and read at 7:48 this morning.

"It is dangerous to be right, when the government is wrong."

voltaire (1694-1778)

Albuquerque Journal Education Reporter, Zsombor Peter; Refuses to Write the Truth.

The truth is;

the leadership of the APS has lowered their own
standards of conduct and competence,
in "secret" from stakeholders.

They were once accountable to a nationally
recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical
conduct; the Pillars of Character Counts;
the student standard of conduct.

The leadership of the APS now holds themselves
unaccountable except to the law;
the lowest commonly acceptable standard of conduct.

They removed from their own standards of conduct
the phrase, and the coincidental obligations as role models;

in no case
shall the standards of conduct for adults
be lower than the standards for students.

The leadership of the APS holds students accountable
to a higher standard of conduct than the standard
to which they will be held accountable. They are
role models only of hypocrisy.

The leadership of the APS have simply abandoned
their many obligations as role models.

They steadfastly refuse to explain, defend, or
even acknowledge their decision.

They steadfastly refuse to answer the question;

Will you engage in a candid, forthright, and
honest discussion of administrative ethics and
accountability?

And Zsombor Peter steadfastly refuses to inform reader
stakeholders.

Why?

1. the story simply is not newsworthy;

of sufficient interest or importance to the public
to warrant reporting in the media. The story is not one
that reader stakeholders must know, or need to know,
or should know, will want to know, or would be
interested to know.
It is less newsworthy than any other story that has
made the cut.

The story does not require writing under the
Journalist's Code of Ethics:

• Its first loyalty is to citizens.
• Its essence is a discipline of verification.
• Its practitioners must maintain an independence from those they cover.
• Journalism must serve as an independent monitor of power.
• It must provide a forum for public criticism and compromise.
• It must strive to make the significant interesting and relevant.
• It must keep the news comprehensive and proportional.
• Its practitioners must be allowed to exercise their personal conscience.
• Journalism's first obligation is to the truth.

Two useful links one to wikipedia,
one to the Society of Professional Journalists.

2. The story is newsworthy, but Zsombor Peter cannot see it.

This would imply that Zsombor Peter wouldn't know
"newsworthy" if it bit him on the ass;
bit on the ass like a lion taking down a water buffalo.

3. Zsombor Peter is not allowed to write the truth.

I have oft alleged that he is the pawn of higher ups,
like Journal Editor Kent Walz.

4. Zsombor Peter is afraid to write the truth.

He is afraid of the leadership of the APS Modrall;
he is afraid to make waves.

5. Zsombor Peter is corrupt.

He has made a deliberate decision to keep stakeholders
in the dark for some sinister reason known only to him.

1. I, and I believe Journal readers as well,
will reject reason 1. as nonsense; categorically indefensible.

2. Neither I nor, I suspect, Zsombor Peter believes that he
doesn't recognize newsworthiness.

3. Zsombor Peter has rejected reason 3 as "ridiculous".

which leaves us with only reasons 4 & 5:

4. Zsombor Peter is afraid to write the truth, and/or
5. Zsombor Peter is corrupt.

If there is another explanation, I cannot imagine it,
and Zsombor Peter has not, can not, and will not articulate it.

... even anonymously as a comment upon this post.



cc Zsombor Peter, Kent Walz upon posting.

Justice Delayed is Justice Denied

William Gladstone or William Penn
depending on who you ask.

It hard to imagine a more open and shut case than
the confrontation between Officer Guzman of the APD
and KOB photographer Rick Foley.

All of the germane evidence is on videotape.

So why has it been two weeks with no conclusion?

$2.66M Spent on Ballots

Another Journal article (link sub req.) sheds more light on
the fiasco that saw almost three million ballots printed;

at a cost to taxpayers of; 93 cents apiece
for what is essentially a xerox copy on colored paper.

It was previously reported that the ballots cost taxpayers
only 89 cents.

We are informed that two counties; Dona Ana, and San Juan,
have the capacity to print their own, on site, as the demand
dictates.

According to the article by Journal reporter Jeff Jones,
Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver
had hoped to do a pilot project on printing ballots on
demand, saving taxpayers millions, but didn't based in part
on "bad advice from a voter equipment firm."

Let me guess,
the same voter equipment firm, that is selling xerox copies
on colored paper to taxpayers, for 93 cents each?

Come on Journal, dig deeper and then tell us
the rest of the story.

The real crime in the wasted ballots

According to the Journal article; link sub req

The County Clerk would like the Secretary of State
to take the blame for a million and a half unused ballots;

and the Secretary of State would like the County Clerk
to take the heat.

Neither one is prepared to explain to taxpayers,
why we are paying $.89 each,
for what amounts to a Xerox copy on colored paper.

Nor are they saying who is pocketing $.83 profit on each
of the one and a half million extra ballots.

Which is the real crime.

imho

All schools to get fire inspections

according to an article in the journal link sub req.

Missing from the article, is any explanation, defense, or even
acknowledgment by APS' recently promoted Brad Winter,

that he and others sat around a table (metaphorically speaking)
and decided to end fire safety inspections in public schools,
which saved the APS a bunch of money;

while at the same time spending a million dollars to build
a completely unnecessary new board room.

Misplaced priorities; no accountability.

Business as usual in the leadership of the APS.

APS "Gangbangers"; one - APS Board of Education; zero

The game; the authority of adults over children in schools.

The ball; sagging.

Sagging is wearing pants low enough to deliberately
expose underwear.

As a teacher, I attended at least two meetings
between the staff at Hoover MS and members of
law enforcement "gang" units.

The police officers were unswerving in their conviction
that students should not be allowed to sag at school;
as it is so closely associated with gang membership
and generally unacceptable conduct.

It is, in some respects, the equivalent of the unrest
in schools in the 1960s, when students were just
starting to wear their hair long, and adults were
trying to stop them.

The will of students prevailed in both cases.

I felt at the time, that sagging was not a hill that
I was willing to die on, but it wasn't my call.

In a quarter of a century of teaching, my teaching was
never interrupted by sagging, per se.

It was interrupted more times than you can imagine
by students who didn't think that they had to obey rules.

The issue is not sagging.

The issue is, permitting prohibited behavior.

That said, it was board policy, and it was expressly stated
in the Student Behavior Handbook, that students
were not allowed to sag. The policy was clear,
the wording was unequivocal, the word "sagging" was used.

It then became the obligation of adults to enforce the rule.

To do anything else, reinforced the notion that
students don't have to obey adults at school.

The permission of prohibited behavior undermines, fatally,
the authority of adults over children.
One cannot let a child disobey rules in any situation,
if they expect to enforce the rules in any other situation.

Writing policies that are not enforced, is the end result of
writing policies that are not founded in principle.

If a child asks; "Why can't we sag?" and all the adult has is;
"Because I said so.", enforcement becomes exponentially
more problematic.

If on the other hand,
there is a shared and expressed philosophy on sagging,
the dynamic is changed considerably.

"Why can't we sag"
"Because it is the shared consensus of adults that sagging
promotes an atmosphere that is threatening to most other
students and is educationally inefficient."

"And while you may not agree with us, that is the policy
and we will enforce it."

APS has no discipline philosophy. Not on their website,
not in the Student Behavior Handbook, not in Board Policy.

And that is why we end up with policies written by
a handful of board members or senior administrators
who have a bug up their ass about long hair,
or about sagging.

A policy that is not enforced, has the end result of
teaching students that they have a choice in which rules
they will obey and which they will resist.

Sagging is no longer mentioned in the Student Behavior Handbook.

It was removed "secretly".

By which I mean, no real effort was made to involve or inform
stakeholders. I write that, based on the assumption that as
a more than averagely involved stakeholder, the change
comes as a surprise to me.

All of which stands in diametric opposition to
the leadership's supposed commitment to communicate
with stakeholders, and involve them meaningfully
in decisions that affect their interests.

Another empty promise made my the leadership of the APS.

Another story that "education reporter" Zsombor Peter
will not write by his own deliberate decision;

• The fact that students have prevailed, on the issue of
  sagging; that they are in fact, in charge at school, and

• the fact that APS has no discipline philosophy,
  written or other wise, to serve as a foundation for
  its many discipline policies, and

• the fact that the leadership of the APS routinely
  violates its own codes of conduct,

• and its repeatedly expressed commitments to
  communicate honestly with stakeholders,

• because he believes that the story is un-newsworthy, and

• because he believes that he has no personal or professional obligation to inform stakeholders, or

• because he is afraid to write a story that is critical of very powerful and influential people that run the APS, or

• because he is deliberately covering up the incompetence and corruption in the leadership of the APS.

or for some other reason that I cannot imagine,
and he is yet to express.



cc Zsombor Peter upon posting

Peas in a pod; incompetence, corruption, and the lack of accountability

It is a given; where there issues of accountability
there are issues of corruption and incompetence.

A lack of accountability corrupts;
a complete lack of accountability corrupts absolutely.
socrates derived

Accountability is fatal to corruption and incompetence.

Where there is absolute accountability
there is no corruption and there is no incompetence.


A full scale forensic audit is accountability manifest.

A full scale forensic audit will eliminate
incompetence and corruption in the leadership of the APS
for ever.

It will also eliminate the corrupt and the incompetent;
which is why Paula Maes and the other good ol' boys
that run the APS are having none of it.

There is no reason to forestall an audit
except to protect the corrupt and the incompetent.

There is no corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS

In order for believe that, you would have to first believe;

The lack of accountability in the leadership of the APS,
that Mayor Marty Chavez said, warranted
a mayoral takeover of all or part of the school board;

had spawned no incompetence, and no corruption.

and

The lack of accountability in the leadership of the APS,
that Governor Bill Richardson said has earned the APS
"... a statewide reputation for their lack of accountability ..."

had spawned no incompetence, and no corruption.

and

The APS administrative evaluation system, which the audit
by the Council of the Great City Schools, reported was

"... subjective and unrelated to promotion or
step placement ..."

had spawned no incompetence, and no corruption,
that it had not promoted a single incompetent or
corrupt administrator into a position of leadership.

and,

The Meyners Audit of the APS Finance Division report of
the abject lack of:

• written financially sound policies and procedures,
• the lack of accountability to such policies as there were, and
• the failure to keep adequate records on a billion dollars a year,

had spawned no incompetence, and no corruption, and
had not enabled the waste or theft, of even a single dollar.

and

The APS

"... culture of fear of retribution and retaliation ..."

reported by the Council of the Great City Schools Audit,

was born of no need to hide any incompetence or
corruption; and that it was created and maintained
for no real reason.

Isn't kind of a lot to believe? in order to believe that
there is no incompetence and there is no corruption
in the leadership of the APS.

Of course there is incompetence and corruption in the
leadership of the APS.

Because there is no accountability in the leadership of the APS.

Paula Maes and the leadership of the APS,
refuse to begin an impartial forensic audit of their
administration of the public trust and treasure in the APS

for one reason and one reason only, to cover their asses.

If there were any other reason at all, they would present it
as part of a candid, forthright, and honest discussion of
ethics and accountability in the administration of the APS.

A discussion which they will not allow,
any more than they will allow a full scale audit.

"Let's get it on", McCain tells Obama

In John Broder's column in the Journal this morning, (no link)
he writes that McCain's challenge to Obama,
to engage in at least ten town hall meetings,
rather than the usual carefully choreographed "debates"
is a dramatic change; and bodes well for voters.

I can't help but agree.

And I wish that there were some way the NM voters could
demand the same respect from "local" candidates like
NM1 Congressional Candidate Darren White,

who is yet to stand up and answer a single question
which has not been choreographed and manipulated
to the point that voters are offered nothing; nothing at all,
as a means of judging White's character, courage and intellect.

And if Martin Heinrich doesn't jump on this opportunity
like white on rice;

he is no more deserving of our respect, and our vote,
than the coward, Darren White.

In the interest of full disclosure;

I go to BlogNetNews.Com nearly every day to skim through
the offering of what is purported to be a compilation of all
of the most influential political blogs in New Mexico.

When I am there, I cast a "rating" vote for my own blog.

I cast only one vote, and normally, I think that I am doing
an excellent job, and vote accordingly.

I have always encouraged honest feedback, and encourage
reader to visit BlogNetNews.Com, always as close as a click
on their logo to your right.

I have yet to delete even a single comment on any of,
two thousand, one hundred and ninety two essays
written in support of honest accountability
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence
for all public servants within their public service;

with a particular emphasis on the public servants who are
"the leadership of the APS"

What does "candid, forthright and honest discussion" imply?

Face to face discussion, in public and on the record.

With no advantage given to, or taken by, anyone,
that will restrict or limit the scope of the discussion
in any way.

The scope of the discussion is ethically limited only by
the legitimacy of the question.

Will you hold yourself honestly accountable
to the student standard of conduct, if only for
the 6-1/2 hours a day that you hold students
accountable to that standard,

by an impartial system, powerful enough
to hold you accountable even against your will?

is of course a legitimate question;
a question that APS Superintendent Winston Brooks
will not answer candidly, forthrightly, and honestly,

because he is a moral coward, or because he is corrupt,
or because Winston Brooks is a coward and, he is corrupt.

Or, because of some other legitimate reason which
I cannot imagine, and no one else can suggest.

Not even the $1,000,000 a year
APS "Communications" Department.

Spin that one, Ms. Armenta.

Asking a few harmless questions, just doesn't get it.

One of my readers was encouraged that APS Board Member
Marty Esquivel asked some questions trying to make some
sense of smokescreen of double talk that surrounds truancy
and drop out rates (and every other issue of substance and
interest to stakeholders).

I am not encouraged.

Asking tangential questions about deceit and dishonesty
is not the same thing as laying deceit and dishonesty
on the table for candid, forthright, and honest discussion.

It isn't even close.

There really is no equivalent gesture; either "they",
Marty Esquivel will engage in candid, forthright, and honest
discussion of administrative ethics and accountability,

or "they", Marty Esquivel will say and, or, do something,
anything, else instead.

Will the leadership of the APS, will Marty Esquivel engage in
candid, forthright, and honest discussion of legitimate issues?
In public and on the record.

Any answer except yes, means no.


If there were even another way to "spin" it,
Monica Armenta would have spun it.

All they've got is deceit and deception.

All they have, all Marty Esquivel has, is stonewalling;
the only defense, of an indefensible position.

And in this context; manifest cowardice and, or, corruption.

cc Esquivel upon posting

Wasted Ballots and Negative Ads

In the Journal this morning; there is a editorial regarding
the million and a half wasted ballots, link sub req.

The editor makes some good points about the number of ballots that were wasted in the last election.

I still would like to know; who made 86 cents profit,
on the 89 cent ballots;
essentially xerox copies on colored paper?

And are they related in some way, to the public servant
who purchased them in our name?

And, why are we paying to shred them?

Is there going to be another June 3, 2008 primary?
in which the ballots might some how be abused?

Also, there is a letter to the editor from Linn Tytler, link
who decries not only the number of, but the very
existence of (deceitful) negative campaign ads on TV.

In the annual surveys done to rank professions according to
trustworthiness, politicians rank at the bottom.

Part of that has to be that,
even the winner in a mud slinging contest, leaves the
contest, still covered with mud.

Voters, need to take the lead on the issue.
Organize, the venues are already there,
League of Women Voters, Common Cause, others.

Demand that candidates stand up on a weekly(?) basis,
face to face with each other and with voters, for debates,
and/or town hall meetings.

Swear not to vote for any candidate lacking the character
and the courage to show up
like NM1 Candidate Darren White, as but one example.

You have to blame the voters on that one.

There you have it, my two cents, for free

Truancy and Tracking

There are countries in the world that recognize that not all
students will be, or even can be, rocket scientists.

They treat them with respect by allowing them to take a
path through school that sees them graduate with the skill
set to make a decent, and honorable living as a plumber.

Or as a machinist, a sheet metal worker, an electrician,
a cosmetologist, a nurse, a dental tech, an EMS,
a fire fighter, a police officer, a lobotomist ...

We don't do that. For the same reason that we "socially
promote" students who haven't made the grade.

As soon as you try one of these tacks,
some minority or another will show up in disproportion.
And rather than recognize that there are real and
remediable reasons for the disproportion,
we stop doing anything that might illuminate it.

Tracking is a bad thing, only if it is imposed on students
against their will.

APS tracks students, against their will, and
against their interests.

(Virtually) all APS students find themselves being prepared
for college. They are beaten over the head with college prep,
and beaten, and beaten, and beaten.

Out of frustration they become truants, and eventually,
inevitably, drop outs.

Then APS devotes their entire energy into determining
which mathematical formulas will yield the correct number
of truants and drop outs.

What they do next, is unknown.

They've never gotten that far.

Out of arrogance, and out of snobbery.

imho