Never in my life, have I voted against so many bond isses.

But they really give us no choice.

If they refuse to be held honestly accountable for
how they spend our power and resources,

we simply cannot give them any more.

Not one more dime of our resources.

Not one iota* of our power.

*a very small quantity; a jot, a whit, a bit, a particle,
an atom, a grain, a mite ...

Is Robert Lucero ADHD, or just plain rude?

Robert Lucero reminds me of a student who cannot sit still,
and who cannot stop talking to their neighbor.

Poor Marty Esquivel sits next to him at board meetings
and is being constantly distracted by Lucero's need to chat
about who knows what.

Lucero even gets out his seat when others are talking,
to go visit with other board members and senior administrators.



Robert Lucero would like to be the spearhead of an effort to
name a middle school after Tony Hillerman.

He wants it so badly that he is willing to ignore past practice
in the naming process for schools.

To heck with what the stakeholders want to name their own
neighborhood school, it will be Tony Hillerman MS
if Robert Lucero has anything to say about it.

And he will have something to say about it.




Kudos to Board member Delores Griego for standing up
for the rights of stakeholders in the issue.

And for "bitch slapping" Robert Lucero on the record
for being pompous.

It was hysterical.

I wish I could write something unflattering about Jon Barela

I went to the board meeting this morning wanting to see
Jon Barela do something I could criticize.

Instead I found him articulate, intelligent, studied, and on point;
and with no apparent need to be the center of attention.

If only he would stand on the record and discuss role modeling;
candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.


If he cannot discuss character and courage openly and honestly,
he cannot be a role model of character and courage.

And is therefore disqualified, as a qualified member of a board of education.

As are; Marty Esquivel, Delores Griego, Mary Lee Martin, Berna Facio, Robert Lucero, and Paula Maes.

And by the same logic, unqualified to be senior administrators; Winston Brooks, Linda Sink, and Brad Winter.

Not one of these can advocate character and courage.

Therefore, not one of them can be a role model of character and courage.

The 90K of our children in the APS are entitled to administrative role models of the student standard of conduct; good role models of the student standard of conduct.


It is an overriding consideration.

It is a deal breaker.


cc Jon Barela at Barela_jon(at)aps.edu

School Board Meeting tomorrow morning

The agenda link suggests that they will tell us what
taxpayers got in return for their investment of over $20K,

to send them all to Houston Texas, to study "accountability".


Still unclear;
whether that means that they will now be more accountable,
or less.


My money is riding on less accountable.

Actually, so is yours.

Any students "... modeling and promoting the Pillars of Character Counts! ..."

as required by the APS Student Standards of Conduct,
in the APS Student Behavior Handbook.

will be doing so without the support of the leadership of the APS


who, by their own deliberate decision,
have excepted themselves from accountability to
the APS Student Standards of Conduct,


and who are backpedaling on the issue of administrative role modeling of the APS Student Standards of Conduct,
as fast as their little legs can move.

Up to the point of ignoring a national celebration of the
APS Student Standards of Conduct. link and
despite the fact that there are two APS administrators
who's jobs are to lead that celebration in the APS.

How can the leadership of the APS role model courage,
and character, and honor,

if they cannot even speak the words out loud?



Come on, people.


Who is going to show 90,000 of our sons and daughters
what honor, and character, and courage, look like?


If not its senior most role models;

• APS Superintendent Winston Brooks,

and APS School Board Members;

• Marty Esquivel,
• Delores Griego,
• Mary Lee Martin,
• Berna Facio,
• Robert Lucero,
• Paula Maes,
  
• and Jon Barela.

More than the law requires, and less than the law allows

Students in the APS are taught that their character depends
on their willingness to do more than the law requires, and
less than the law allows.

A case in point; the surrender of public records.

Doing more than the law requires, a school district that immediately posts records requests, and responses, on the internet for everyone to see, and free of charge.

The leadership of the APS, by their record, cannot demonstrate
that they surrender documents at all.

The law "allows" redaction of public records for good and ethical reasons.

The leadership of the APS redacts entire bodies of evidence, because the law "allows" them to; albeit only by using "legal" technicalities, loopholes and weaselry.


The standard of conduct that Winston Brooks enforces upon students, requires him to surrender an ethically redacted truth about the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS. link

Instead, he will join an ongoing conspiracy to hide the truth.


He will teach students, by his personal example,
to hide as much truth as the law allows.


Is that really the lesson we want to impart on the next generation of public servants?

To whom in the leadership of the APS, does this apply?

It comes from the Journal piece by Colleen Heild. link

Investigators in recent weeks have been questioning whether Lovato took liberties in running his department and whether he improperly directed APS resources to benefit one of his supervisors.

Now if you asked the leadership of the APS,
which of the good ol' boys is "... one of his supervisors",
they will not hear the question.

Nor will they hear the question;

What ever became of that supervisor?

Was it Tom Savage?

No, it couldn't be.
We paid for a big ol' party to retire him with honors.

Was it Beth Everitt?

No, it couldn't be.
We paid for a big ol' party to retire her with honors.


So who was it? And what ever became of them?


Good, legitimate questions that the good ol' boys simply
will not hear.

Its just not the way they roll.



End the madness.




I have been reading the article more closely, and must confess that apparently, I misread the Journal article. They are talking about a subordinate whose job is called "supervisor."

I guess that would be the woman named in the article, who allegedly received a lot of money and trinkets from Lovato and the APS PD, that were unearned.

She was not fired for accepting any of these goodies.

She remains on the payroll, and I suspect, unwilling to offer testimony about any of the good ol' boys that keep her on the payroll.

Power does NOT corrupt; much less absolutely

It is a lack of honest accountability for the abuse of power
that corrupts.

Absolutely.

You really should take a few minutes to read this link.

It is a story that appeared in the Journal almost two years ago.

It has to do with credible allegations of felony criminal misconduct, which have yet to see the light of day.

Public servants are hiding substantial evidence of public corruption and criminal conspiracy.

They are using public resources, (unwitting tax payer support for "education"), to underwrite the litigation which excepts them from accountability to the law.

Public resources are being used to suppress the truth about public corruption including felony criminal misconduct.

link

Having read the article, is there smoke, or is there fire?

It is unresolved and still secret.

All of this, is being kept secret by public servants using public power and resources against the public interest and in the most egregious betrayal of the public trust imaginable.

The only thing you know for certain, is that one of the good ol' boys was paid a half a years salary to keep him out of court. He, APS Police Chief Gil Lovato said at the time;

If the whole truth gets out, (in an open court hearing)
there won't be a single APS senior administrator left standing.

And all the rest of it is still secret. Stakeholders have no idea who did what, and more importantly, if they were ever held accountable for what they did; betraying the public trust.


Now you have to ask yourself,
why isn't the Journal following up on this?

In two months, statutes of limitation expire.
Good ol' boys go scot free.

Can you say you say; GET OUT OF JAIL FREE card?

District Attorney Kari Brandenburg,
where are you?

You said you would protect us from public corruption.

Character Counts! Week passes in secret, in the APS

The Pillars of Character Counts! are the APS student standard of conduct. APS pays a full time administrator to head up Character Counts! in the APS.

Yet the week celebrating the nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethical conduct link, has passed without notice in the APS.

Because the leadership of the APS does not want to draw attention to the fact that they have renounced the Pillars of Character Counts! as their own standard of conduct. They have abdicated as role models. They removed from their own standard of conduct the words;

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

No wonder they need to hide.

How can you be a role model in hiding?
Is it not oxymoronic?


How can the leadership of the APS simply decide to be role models no longer?

How can they get away with it?

APS Board Member Jon Barela's disconnect on trustworthiness

In the Journal this morning, link

Newly appointed school board member Jon Barela said
the district's billion-dollar budget and high-dollar contracts
require accountability.

"Clearly we've become a very big business," Barela said.
"I think it's important for us to be as very transparent as
possible. I think we all have a public trust as board members."

Yet if you ask Jon Barela if he will sit and answer legitimate questions, candidly, forthrightly, and honestly, you get the same deer in the headlights look you get from everyone else in the leadership of the APS when they are asked the same question.

Assuming that they overcome their shame long enough to actually look you in the eye.


If you examine the leadership of the APS for any transparency at all, you will find none; they won't answer questions, and they won't surrender public records.

Ask them to tell you how much of the public trust and treasure they squandered at 6400 Uptown Blvd, and on a still unjustified new boardroom, at a time when they were saving money by eliminating fire safety inspections in schools to save money.

If you ask them to show you a record of honest accountability to any standard of conduct at all, they can surrender nothing. A record of honest accountability to any standard of conduct at all, simply does not exist.

Right now, the leadership of the APS is hiding evidence of felony criminal misconduct by senior administrators . link

Jon Barela is just like the people who disenfranchised an entire electorate to install him, their crony (Modrally and APS good ol' boy), on the school board weeks before a legitimate election for the seat.

They talk about trustworthiness, because it is a major component of the standards of conduct that they enforce upon students, and because it looks good in the newspaper. But there is not one of them with the character and the courage to actually discuss, in public and on the record, either trustworthiness, or their very real obligations as role models of the student standards of conduct.

The simple truth is that no one in the entire leadership of the APS can show anyone any proof at all that they are honestly accountable to any standard of conduct at all, even the law. The record of APS Modrall is one of litigating exception to the law for APS administrators and board members. There is no other reason for them to continue to hide that record. There is no other reason for them to refuse to comply with the law, the NMIPRA, and surrender that record to public inspection.

They have no choice but to hide the public record of past efforts to hold them accountable, even to the law.

Yet Jon Barela has the unmitigated gall to be quoted in the Journal, blowing about transparency, accountability, and trustworthiness.


Bottom line; there is not a single person in the entire leadership of the APS with the character and the courage to hold themselves honestly accountable as role models of the student standard of conduct. There is not one of them with the character and the courage to even talk about character and courage.


How can anyone of them be a role model of character and
courage, if there is not one of them who can even
speak the words without choking on them?

Shame on Jon Barela, and shame on them all.



cc Jon Barela at Barela_Jon(at)aps.edu

NM Republican Party Rules committee delays decision; or did they?

Blogger Joe Monahan noticed the NMRP Rules Committee
still hasn't weighed in on the matter of Jon Barela's violation
of the party rules. link

Monahan reports;

"...the rules committee may want to delay any decision
until after the voting."

I am concerned that what the "rules committee" wants,
is of no interest to the person or two who made the decision.
It is unlikely that the majority of the rules committee are
the ones who are obfuscating the meeting of the committee and
the settlement of the issue.

I rather suspect that the good ol' boys who want the meeting not to happen, are not asking the rank and file on the committee for their opinion.


It's just not the way they roll.

An illustrative example of a legitimate question, for Kari Brandenburg

In January of 2006, the Journal published a story about public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools. There were credible allegations, and substantial evidence of; felony criminal misconduct. link

In two months, statutes of limitation will expire, and senior APS administrators will escape accountability even to the law.

They will go scot-free.

Can Kari Brandenburg show us any proof at all,
that she did anything at all,

to prevent this from happening?

Can she show us any proof at all
that she has stood up for our interests in this scandal?

Rigo Chavez is hiding the truth, at the behest of the leadership of the APS

An independent investigation was done of the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS (police dept).

According to the Journal link,

"They (the leadership of the APS) have ordered police employees not to talk and say they (the leadership of the APS) don't know whether any aspect of the investigation results will ever be made public."

In an effort to make all aspects of the investigation, public;

I have sent yet another letter to APS Custodian of Public Records Custodian, Rigo Chavez;

Mr. Chavez,

I insist that you stop playing games and identify the private investigation firm that investigated the APS Police Department in late 2006 and or early 2007.

Additionally, I would like to know how many pages there are in their report.

macq

Rigo Chavez likely will not respond honestly as it is the intention of the leadership of the APS that;

no "aspect of the investigation results will ever be made public."

We wouldn't want any of APS' good ol' boys to be actually held accountable, even for FELONY CRIMINAL MISCONDUCT.

If the APS had any intention at all to comply with IPRA/FOIA requests

they could learn a lot from Community Unit School District 300 in Carpentersville, IL. and their online and honest process. link

cc Superintendent(at)aps.edu

Whoa

According to the Journal, link sub req, Kari Brandenburg
has invested $70,000 of her own money in a campaign
to win a job that pays only $109, 000 per year.

Also in the Journal this morning, its endorsement of her
opponent, Lisa Torraco. link

Brandenburg will defend her record as DA
on the Jim Villanucci show at 3pm today.

School board to "encourage" truth telling.

The APS BOE Policy and Instruction Committee
is meeting as I write.

They will discuss and then take action on a resolution that
would address the issue of hidden contributors for election
campaigns of those running for a seat on the board. link

They apparently are not willing to actually require full
disclosure, deciding instead to

"... encourage candidates for the office of school board
member to disclose the names and addresses of all
campaign contributors ..."

Just like Häagen-Dazs encourages us
to split a pint of their ice cream, four ways.

... like that is ever going to happen.

Winston Brook, big spender?

A Wichita blogger filed a records request for credit card receipts
from Winston Brooks tenure as Superintendent of the
Wichita Public Schools.

The records that were finally surrendered were "... nowhere
near complete ..." Apparently the blogger was denied an
opportunity to inspect and or copy the actual receipts.

Never the less, it looks like Winston Brooks was living high
on the hog; and it looks like we need to keep an eye on his
spending of our dime as well.

The real problem; the impossibility of getting public servants
to surrender public records of their public service,

as required by law.

Voice for Liberty in Wichita. link

Jon Barela lacks the character and the courage

to talk about either character or courage.

How does a man like this get a seat on a school board?

How can he except himself from accountability as a role model of the student standard of conduct?

... a standard of conduct which demands both character
and courage.


And how can Winston Brooks?

Or anyone else in the leadership of the entire APS?


The entire leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools
lacks the character and the courage,

to even talk about character and courage.

They can not talk about character or courage, ergo
they can not be role models of either character or courage.


They are a bunch of people who went looking for
standards to be role models of,

and stopped looking when they got to

Role Models of Hypocrisy.

Silence gives consent.

Qui tacet consentire vidétur

An illustrative example of a legitimate question.

Darren White

What is the ethically redacted truth about the felony criminal misuse of your NCIC criminal data base, by the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools?

Congressional candidate White will now illustrate
not telling the truth.

(no comment)

Congressional candidate Martin Heinrich will now
illustrate what it looks like when a democrat is
not telling the truth.

(no comment)

One of the two of them is a few months away from
getting their hands on trillions of dollars;

too few rules, too little accountability, badly kept records,
and not one of them willing to be accountable for the truth.


How could it possibly go wrong?

NMRP enters fourth week of "due process"

Jon Barela broke NMRP party rules two months ago
when he ran for public office against other republicans
without first vacating his office in the NMRP.

A complaint was filed with the NMRP Rules Committee.

We are now entering week four of what, if there were justice,
should have been an up or down vote by the rules committee
on a clear violation of the rules.

The good ol' boys that run the NMRP have decided that the rules committee will not meet until they say so, and they won't say so. They won't allow the rules committee to do what it is supposed to do.

The good ol' boys are dragging their heels.

Because for as long as they don't actually loose, they win.


Too bad for anyone who believes in rules,
and the need for their uniform enforcement.

Too bad for anyone who isn't a good ol' boy.


Jon Barela, APS Board of Education member, is a senior role model for 89,000 of this community's sons and daughters.

And we wonder where they get their contempt and disregard for rules.

Darren White admits to lying

The Journal reports this morning on the first congressional
district race between Darren White and Martin Heinrich.
link sub req

Darren White is directly quoted;

".. if you want to see a bunch of lies,
just allow politicians to talk about themselves."

rather matter of factly;
no embarrassment, no remorse, no regret.


No matter who your candidate is,
if they have run a deliberately deceptive political advertisement,
then they have lied. A half truth is a whole lie. ancient proverb


How can you hand them trillions of dollars, all of your power, and no real accountability (they don't even have to tell the truth)

and not expect to be stolen blind?



Is there any standard of conduct at all for those with whom we entrust control over all of our power and all of our resources?

Is there even one standard to which we can hold them accountable?


And if there is that one,
mustn't that standard be;

1. they have to tell us the truth
2. ...
3. ...
4. ...
5. ...
   

You can't get any closer to the bottom line than;

Will they answer legitimate questions, candidly, forthrightly, honestly, and rather immediately?


Any answer except yes
means no.

Stonewalling
means no.


No means;

No, I will not tell you the truth.
I will not tell you what I am doing with your power,
your trust, and your treasure.

End the madness.

Beth Everitt and Brad Winter promised the truth.

I spent an hour on the Jim Villanucci show one day, telling voters that if the leadership of the APS would not submit to an honest audit, then, the then current mill levy and bond issues should be voted down.

Beth Everitt and Brad Winter showed up on the Villanucci show the very next day. They promised to tell the truth. They promised transparency.

Everitt was voted off the island, so;

now it is just Brad Winter who is responsible for the failure to meet their commitment to tell the truth. The leadership of the APS cannot point to meaningful transparency. They cannot even point to a user friendly website.

How's this for transparency? Ask Brad Winter for a candid, forthright and honest accounting of all the spending at 6400 Uptown Blvd.

Then you will see what standards, accountability and transparency amount to in the leadership of the APS.


... were there any reasonable doubt remaining.

I think, we have been lied to.

In January of 2007, it was revealed that there had been a public corruption scandal in the leadership of the APS Police Department. There is considerable evidence to suggest a criminal conspiracy woven into the corruption.

I have been in search of the truth about the use of public power and resources in the commission of felony criminal misconduct.

Former APS Police Chief Gil Lovato said,

If the truth ever gets out, there won't be a single
APS senior administrator left standing.

You can believe him on this one.

Gil Lovato, I think, must have a body map that is
the mother of all body maps. link

They have already pushed Beth Everitt, Tom Savage, and Gil Lovato off the train, and now they are closing ranks; they are getting ready to make their final stand.

One for all and, all for one.


On one side, I standing demanding that they tell us the truth.

On the other, they sit staring into their laptops pretending not to hear that they are being asked to set the time, and the day, and the place, where they will admit that they have chopped down the cherry tree. And then sold the wood. At a loss. And kept no records accurate and complete enough to send anyone to prison.

I demand that they finally, simply, tell the truth.

They stonewall.

I demand that they explain and defend their exception to honest accountability to any meaningful standard of conduct at all.

They stonewall.

Stonewalling is the only defense of their otherwise indefensible position.

The bottom line; they refuse to tell the truth.
They refuse to set a time, a day, and a place,
where they will stop stonewalling and start answering legitimate
questions; candidly, forthrightly and honestly.

The truth tellers at APS won't.



So anyway;

I think, we have been lied to.

I asked for the truth. This is part of my email to Rigo Chavez;

"... This constitutes a request for public records surrounding the investigations of the Albuquerque Public Schools Police Department in and around January 2007. It includes a request for all public records of any investigations or audits that were made necessary in following through on a complete investigation of APS institutionally and individually..."

Did I, or did I not, ask for the truth about all investigations?

To which Rigo Chavez responded;

"... With regard to your question about the use of a private investigator in the inquiry into the actions of former APS Police Chief Gil Lovato, you had asked who was in charge of the investigations. While a private investigator may have been used, the private investigator was not in charge of the investigation ..." (emphasis added)

And still, not one bit of truth about the investigation is surrendered to stakeholders,
as is supposedly guaranteed by law; the NMIPRA.

I think this is weaselry.

I think Rigo Chavez deliberately obstructed my effort to learn the truth about the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS;

in violation of the law.


I think, we have been lied to.


endnote;

This is what Jon Barela needed to become part of so badly, that the school board disenfranchised an entire electorate (link) in order to appoint him to the board. This is what Jon Barela needed to become part of so badly that he betrayed the trust of the Republican Party of New Mexico, by excepting himself from accountability to its rules about the conditions of the appointment.

OMG! What weaselry! !!

I have been trying for some time to find and expose the truth about the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS (police department), which came to light in late 2006/early 2007.

I asked Rigo Chavez, APS Director of Communications, and Custodian of Public Records, for information on the various investigations into aspects of the scandal. In particular I am after the results of a private investigation, since it is the only investigation that was not conducted by the people who were being investigated.

Part of my request of the Custodian of Public Records read;

This constitutes a request for public records surrounding the investigations of the Albuquerque Public Schools Police Department in and around January 2007. It includes a request for all public records of any investigations or audits that were made necessary in following through on a complete investigation of APS institutionally and individually.

With Gil Lovato's notice that he is dropping his suit against the APS, it should no longer be necessary for the APS to keep that report secret from public knowledge.

In particular, I am requesting the opportunity inspect the report from the private investigator of the scandal.

In particular, I am requesting any public records of public records that were surrendered to Bernalillo District Attorney Kari Brandenburg, or any other agency of law enforcement as a result of the investigations.

Rigo Chavez still will not reveal the identity of the private investigation firm that was hired, and paid with public funds, to investigate the activities of public servants within their public service.

His latest response to my request for the investigator's identity reads;

With regard to your question about the use of a private investigator in the inquiry into the actions of former APS Police Chief Gil Lovato, you had asked who was in charge of the investigations. While a private investigator may have been used, the private investigator was not in charge of the investigation. (emphasis added)

Still he will not reveal the identity of the private investigation firm hired to investigate the scandal, because I cannot find the exact words that he cannot weasel out of.

APS Superintendent Beth Everitt promised stakeholders that the results of this particular investigation and others, would be surrendered to the District Attorney for possible criminal prosecutions. Chavez admits that to date, almost two years later, and just weeks from the expiration of statutes of limitations for criminal misconduct, APS has not sent to the DA's Office, any of the results of any of the investigations into the scandal.

What crap, what unvarnished, unmitigated crap.

The leadership of the APS is apparently prepared to go to any length to hide the truth about the corruption and criminal misconduct in its leadership. The are prepared to hide the investigators, and they are prepared to hide the results of their investigations.

You have no (defensible) right to know the truth about your interests in the public schools.

The public servants who run the APS refuse to tell you the truth about the corruption and about what they did to the corrupt.

There is only one reason to hide the truth.

The stature of the leadership of the APS will be reduced.
They are prepared to be dishonest with stakeholders in order to escape the consequences of stakeholders knowing the truth.

There is no where in the entire APS where a complaint can be filed over this outrageous conduct.

There is only one place to file a complaint, and that is to follow APS Modrall into the briar patch of a court system where their use of loopholes, technicalities, and legal weaselry will enable them to hide the truth from stakeholders forever.

If Chavez and the good ol' boys can keep this secret for just a few more months, statutes of limitation will expire, and APS good ol' boys will escape the consequences of criminal misconduct.

You, the taxpayer, are paying Rigo Chavez almost $100K a year, he cc's his responses to Winston Brooks, APS Superintendent, whom you pay over $250K a year, and to Brad Winter, APS' Chief Operating Officer, whom you pay over $100K a year, and to Andrea Trybus, APS' Director of Human Resources, whom you pay around $100K a year, and to Bill Reed, the Director of APS' Police Dept, (salary unknown to me), and to Art Melendrez, Modrall lawyer, who along with the Modrall law firm, earns God knows what for their participation in the concerted effort to hide the truth from stakeholders.

You are paying salaries and fees totaling almost $750K a year, to be deceived.
You are paying these people almost $750K a year to cover each others' asses.


If any of this were above the board, Winston Brooks, or some one, would sit in front of stakeholders and respond to legitimate questions about the scandal; candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.

The truth is that he won't even sit with stakeholders to lie to them.

Winston Brooks will not answer any questions at all.

None of them will.

And they are weeks away from escaping forever, the legitimate consequences of their conduct in the public corruption and criminal conspiracy scandal in the leadership of the APS (police department).

cc. superintendent (at) aps.edu

A half truth is a whole lie

If you believe that old proverb; then negative political ads,
which are half truths at best,
are lies.

No matter who your candidate is, if they are telling half truths, they are lying.

Why are we electing to positions of trust and power,
people who are manifest liars?


These folks are supposed to hold themselves accountable to a higher standard of conduct.


There is no legitimate higher standard of conduct
which does not at a minimum, require truth telling.

Not only is truth not-telling accepted, it is encouraged.
We elect them to public office if they do it well.


If there is ever to be a higher standard of conduct for government and public service, it will not come at the insistence of the good ol' boys. It will not be done with even their cooperation.

It will have to be jammed down their throats.


It is going to take more than just a few of us to do it.



Are you tired of being lied to?

Are your tired of being lied to, that you are ready to fight
to establish accountability to standards of conduct
that at their very least, requires them to tell the truth.

Are you ready to fight to establish standards of conduct
that require them to answer our legitimate questions;
candidly, forthrightly and honestly?

The battle over Character Counts!

Background;

The phrase "Character Counts!" can mean a number of things. First source; the national headquarters for the Character Counts! movement. link

My perspective;

If your interest is to address the most of problems that face educators everyday, and in a proactive way, Character Counts! is far and away the best plan that I have ever seen.

I am a Character Counts! trainer. I was among the first group of teachers who were trained to be trainers of school staffs all over the district. I did dozens of well received trainings in schools and in the community.

I was trained personally, by the founder of the Character Counts! movement; Michael Josephson.

United States Senator Pete Domenici is a founding father too.


I will never forget a moment during the three day training. Micheal Josephson had just stated that Character Counts! would emerge as a grass roots movement.

Students would inspire their teachers to embrace character.
Teachers would inspire their principals,
principals would inspire superintendents, and
superintendents would inspire the members of the board
hold themselves accountable to a higher standard of conduct.

Apples, were to going to fall up.



Every generation expects the next generation,
to be the first generation to hold itself honestly accountable
to meaningful standards of conduct.

Succeeding generations almost always fall short of the expectation.

They almost never fall short of the example that is set for them.

No one will hold themselves accountable to a higher standard of conduct than their boss, or teacher, or parent. Moral authority is earned by setting a personal example. There is no equivalent gesture.

If the members of the board of education do not model honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence, they forfeit the moral authority to demand that the superintendent meet those standards, who forfeits moral authority over principals, who forfeit moral authority over teachers, who forfeit moral authority over students.

We have forfeited moral authority over students.
We cannot demand that they hold themselves accountable
to a higher standard of conduct than their role models.

When the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools struck;

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

from the standards for their own conduct,

they forfeited their authority to demand that students hold themselves accountable to any standard of conduct at all.

The leadership of the APS refuses to role model the most fundamental higher standard of conduct of them all;

Telling the truth.

Sometime, someday, somewhere, they must sit and answer legitimate questions; candidly, forthrightly, and honestly.

Sometime, someday, somewhere, they must simply tell the truth.

Sometime, someday, somewhere, the good ol' boys will have to defend their self-exception to the rules. Their defense will be rejected, and the reign of the good ol' boys will end once and for all.


We are not going to inspire the good ol' boys into holding themselves honestly accountable to meaningful standards of conduct and competence.

We will have to drag them to it, kicking and screaming.



All that is necessary for evil to prevail in the world
is for good men to do nothing. Edmund Burke

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

NMRPRCC Lou Melvin offers response

Although Ms. Melvin still refuses me the common courtesy of responding directly to my legitimate requests for information regarding my complaint and the emerging ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the NMRP,

she is apparently prepared to allow the record to reflect that,
my complaint has been put on hold until the lawyers weigh in.


Allow me to predict the result;

Community resources of the Republican Party of New Mexico will be paid to lawyers to craft a "legal" excuse for ethical misconduct.

Legal loopholes, technicalities and weaselry will except one of the good ol' boys from honest accountability to the rules;

in diametric opposition to the interests of everyone in the NMRP, except the good ol' boys.

The good ol' boy system, in a nutshell.

If only Jon Barela had the character and courage

to provide candid, forthright, and honest answers to legitimate questions,

the current controversy would end.

Obviously the controversy must end with either his acquittal
or his indictment.

If candid, forthright and honest answers led to his acquittal,
character and courage would not play.
The responses would be offered out of self interest.

Clearly, Jon Barela's self interests are not served by
standing up and responding to legitimate questions;
candidly, forthrightly and honestly.


Doesn't that mean that the public interest
is not being served either?



We are at a point in this process, imho, where
Jon Barela not only has to be candid, forthright and honest,
but he now has to explain why he has refused to be candid,
forthright, and honest, heretofore.





end note; I use a specific phrase repeatedly;

candid, forthright, and honest,

because those are the words Jon Barela will use when he
explains to 89,000 of our son and daughters,
the standard he expects them to set as their own.
He will tell them that their character counts.
He will tell them that their character depends on their
willingness to hold themselves honestly accountable to
meaningful standards of conduct and competence.

Jon Barela's code of conduct as a school board member
does not include even the mention of accountability to
ethical standards of conduct.

The leadership of the APS deliberately denied whistle blower protection to students and employees who expose the ethical misconduct of administrators or board members.

The leadership of the APS has systematically removed the word ethical, from every standard to which they might be held accountable.

To avoid being held accountable as role models, and
to avoid being held accountable to a meaningful standards
of conduct and competence,

they changed the wording in their own code of conduct.

They removed the phrase and the expectation that;

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

*which, as of today, is still;

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

"They are upset with the PR"

I bounced the issue of the disappearing complaint against
NMRPVC Jon Barela off a "political insider", who offered
that the complaint has been hidden by the leadership of the
Republican Party of New Mexico,

"Because they are upset with the PR."

I presume that they will continue to be upset with the PR
through the November election.

They could even remain upset with the PR through the
February election, when Jon Barela will run again for
his seat on the school board, but in a bonafide election process.

Will Jon Barela be

• cemented into his seat on the school board, and
  
• cemented into the chairmanship of the NMRP, and
• cemented into the fast track for political stardom in New Mexico before the upset over the PR is finally resolved?

Seems like, and could be; which begs at least one question;

Since when, are

• manipulating the system to one's own advantage, and
• denying due process to a legitimate complaint, and
• hiding the truth from stakeholders, and
• role modeling contempt for the rules and dishonesty

family values?

The answer of course is; ever since, and for as long as,
good ol' boys run the New Mexico Republican Party.

Even if Jon Barela had not broken the rules

Why would the Republican Party of New Mexico want
this kind of man* in their senior leadership?




* The kind of man who

• would allow himself to be appointed to a school board in order to help cover up a scandal; neither he nor any other member of the leadership of the APS is willing to be held honestly accountable as a role model for 89,000 of our sons and daughters, and
  
• would oppose any attempt to begin an impartial full scale forensic audit of the leadership of the APS; in the face of the Meyners Audit which revealed that likely millions of tax dollars have been lost or stolen by the good ol' boys in the leadership of the APS, and
  
• will not tell the truth. Neither he, nor anyone in the leadership of the APS will name a time, a day, and a place where they will sit and answer legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools, candidly, forthrightly, honestly, and on the record.

Why would anyone want this kind of man to lead the family values party?


Is this some kind of joke?


photo by Mark Bralley

The play; good ol' boy arrogance

The player; poor John McCain's brother.

link

Self-accountability; oxymoron

If the character and courage necessary to hold one's self honestly accountable to meaningful standards of conduct were common place,

there would be no need to tell our children a several hundred year old story, about George Washington and a cherry tree.

It is not in human nature to step up to honest accountability.

Accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence cannot depend upon self accountability.

It is not in human nature to step up to honest accountability.

Self accountability is not accountability at all.

Yet it is the very foundation of good ol' boy tyrany.

Good ol' boys are all about self exception to accountability.

They get away with it by threatening dissenters with a gavel;
a deadly weapon in more ways than one.

And by denying due process to legitimate complaints.


The floor of any meaningful standard of conduct and competence for anyone who we are required to trust, should be that

they have to tell us the truth about what they are doing with our trust and our treasure.

Why should we trust someone who will not answer legitimate
questions candidly and forthrightly and honestly
and rather immediately?

If we can't trust them, why do we continue to allow them to spend our resources and wield our power?



The time for torches and pitchforks is upon us.

Torches and pitchforks is the only method by which tyrants have ever been deposed.

Torches and pitchforks is the only method by which tyrants
can be deposed.


Courage, character, honor, .... family values.

University of New Mexico accused of misappropriating donations

The Journal this morning reports that the UNM misappropriated $654K link and then they gave it back.

The Journal reports that;

"Though UNM officials (returned) the money to the Anderson School, they acknowledged no wrongdoing."

(good ol' boys never do)

That's the part I like the most, the part where the leadership of the UNM models stepping up and holding themselves accountable.

Consider a story;

George Washington accepts consequences of chopping down cherry tree, but acknowledges no wrong doing.

Somehow the story, when you tell it like that,
looses a little of its punch - don't you think?

Did the APS Board of Education commit a felony?

The deliberate crime was reported by Journal editors and not by a crime reporter. link

According to NM Open Meetings law, it is a misdemeanor
to violate the Act.

The Law
Any person violating any of the provisions of
NMSA 1978, Section 10-15-1 or 10-15-2 is guilty
of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall be
punished by a fine of not more than five hundred
dollars ($500) for each offense.

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education openly violated the Open Meeting Act. There seems to be ample evidence that they knew they were going to violate the law, but did it anyway. One could argue that they discussed the matter and decided to break the law.

Isn't it a felony to conspire to commit a misdemeanor?

Disclaimer; I am not a lawyer.
However, I did spend the night at a Holiday Inn.

NMRP Rules Committee investigation starting to look like a cover up.

The Rules Committee of the Republican Party of New Mexico
is supposed to be meeting on the matter of NMRPFVC Jon Barela's rather blatant violation of the state party rules.

I have made a complaint. A commitment was made to me.
I was promised due process for that complaint.

The complaint is now 17 days old
and suddenly the complaint has disappeared.

My emails to NMRPRCC Lou Melvin have gone unanswered for two days.

If this is not a conspiracy to cover up

• Jon Barela's violation of state party rules, and
  
• the scam that he has joined in the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools, and
  
• the good ol' boy control over the NMRP and the APS,

then what element is missing?

Does it not look like a duck, does it not walk like a duck,
does it not quack like a duck?

What element is missing from the picture?

Is this smoke, or is this fire?

The very worst thing that the good ol' boys can do,
is anything that they have to do in secret.

There is only one reason to hide the truth; neither good
nor ethical.


Is there anyone within the Republican Party of New Mexico who will stand up to Alan Whe, Jon Barela and the rest of the good ol' boys who run the club, and ignore the club rules;

BE IT RESOLVED, That the Republican Party is the party of the open door.

Ours is the party of liberty, the party of equality of opportunity for all and favoritism for none.

It is the intent and purpose of these rules to encourage and allow the broadest possible participation of all voters in Republican Party activities at all levels and to assure that the Republican Party is open and accessible to all Americans.

I'm not saying that Alan Whe, Jon Barela, and the rest of the good ol' boys are evil,
but when Edmund Brook wrote;

"All that is necessary for evil to prevail in the world,
is for good men to do nothing."

this is the situation, and
these are the people, he was writing about.


They prevail because we do nothing to stop them.
And they will continue to prevail as long we do nothing
to stop them.


If we want the next generation to grow up to embrace honor
and courage, and character,
someone has to show them what they look like.

It starts with leadership.

Good leaders accept honest accountability
to meaningful standards of conduct and competence.

Great leaders demand it.

And so should we.

And so must we.

APS Modrall lawyer tags along to Houston

I have been told that Modrall lawyer Art Melendrez has gone
to Houston with the leadership of the APS.

Which begs at least a few questions;

• How much is it costing taxpayers for the leadership of the APS to take Paula Maes friend on a junket to Houston?
• Why did he go?
• Are taxpayers paying him $300 an hour while he is there?
  
• And most importantly, is the accountability training centered on how to be held accountable, or
  how to avoid being held accountable?
  

Darren White, Martin Heinrich, fundamentally dishonest.

Martin Heinrich attaches his name, reputation and credibility to an ad which represents that Darren White fell to an 89% vote of no confidence among the state police officers he commanded.

The truth is that 89% of those who voted, 61%, voted no confidence. The truth is that 54% of White's subordinates voted no confidence in his leadership. Heinrich's representation is dishonest. Note worthy; Martin Heinrich cannot look voters in the eye while he makes this claim.

Darren White offers no explanation except to blow off the vote by suggesting that the now disgraced Manny Aragon had something to do with it, and therefore voters should pay no attention. Unless Darren White has some evidence that the results were somehow manipulated or falsified by Aragon, Aragon's involvement does not play.

White had an opportunity to erase the stigma of his rejection by simply conducting another vote of confidence by his current batch of subordinates, and chose not to.

It is interesting that we sit and watch and listen to fundamentally dishonest campaign ads, and then are somehow surprised when dishonesty rears its ugly head after they get elected.

They all end their ads with; my name is, _________
and I am responsible for this ad.

Obviously they are not.

Due process, due schmocess

All men are not created equal, and if they were, they would
not remain equal for long.

Some accumulate more power and influence than others.

Rules are written to level the playing field between the powerful and the powerless.

Due process guarantees that when a complaint is filed, the person against whom the complaint is filed has a process available under which they can defend themselves against the complaint.

Due process also guarantees that the complainant has a process available under which they can pursue their complaint.

One of the first things that the powerful and the unscrupulous do, is to eliminate due process for anyone who files a complaint against them.

Witness the Republican Party of New Mexico, and the good ol' boys that run it. Examine their rules and you will find no due process for complainants. You will find mention of a Rules Committee, but no mention of due process. The good ol' boys run the system and write their rules on the fly.

No where in the Republican Party Rules will you find any defense of my right to due process in my complaint against one of the good ol' boys, Jon Barela.

No where in their rules will you find my right to find out what happened in a Rules Committee meeting over my complaint that happened two days ago. Even in response to my email, asking for the results of the hearing of my complaint, Rules Committee Chair, Lou Melvin still has not shown even the common courtesy of even letting me know the results of the meeting.

Due to the circumstances, I rather suspect that the good ol' boy has slipped the noose on what appears to be a straight up and down violation of the rules. It would have had to have happened under circumstances which are apparently indefensible. Were they defensible, I would have been informed about them, and I would have been allowed, if appropriate, to lodge a complaint as a result.

It would appear that I have no right to due process in the Republican Party of New Mexico, and it is no wonder that they appear to well on their way to being handed their asses in the upcoming elections. Family values my aching ass.



I have been a registered republican my whole life, and still,
I can't help but think that they may just be getting exactly
what they deserve.

It is disappointed, I am

It is after 3pm and I have heard nothing about the results of the Rules Committee of the Republican Party of New Mexico .

Even in response to an email to NMRPRCC Lou Melvin.

They were to have decided whether or not
the party rules apply to Jon Barela.

It has been said that,

No news is good news.

With the good ol' boys, it normally means that they have won
and would rather not talk about how they did it.

APS COO Brad Winter, accountability, and the taxpayers dime.

Brad Winter the myth;

Albuquerque Public Schools Chief Operating Officer, Brad Winter will be in Houston this week studying accountability, at a cost to tax payers of about $2K.

He will return better able to offer to stakeholders; honest accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence for senior public servants in the APS.

Brad Winter the man;

APS' #2 good ol' boy, #9 if you count board members, Brad Winter will be in Houston this week studying accountability, at a cost to tax payers of about $2K.

If upon his return, you ask him a legitimate question;

How many tax dollars did you spend on the APS boardroom,

• at a time when real and present fire safety issues were not being funded, and
• at a time when new portable classrooms at Susie Rayos Marmon Elementary School were not being funded?

He will stonewall the question.

Brad Winter will not respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly, to a very legitimate question.

None of them will.


Administrative accountability in the APS; the truth.

APS' Rigo Chavez ducking important question.

Rigo Chavez was asked to tell the truth about the investigations of the public corruption and criminal conspiracy in the leadership of the APS Police Department.

Mr. Chavez wrote that there were three investigations, all internal, and none of which have been turned over to the DA for possible criminal prosecution.

I sent an email to Rigo Chavez on October 3, 2008 and asked him rather specifically about investigations done
1. by a private investigator, and
2. into the criminal abuse of an NCIC criminal data base
(neither of which is admitted to in Chavez' summary of "all" investigations done surrounding the criminal misconduct in the APS Police Department.

To date, Rigo Chavez has not answered my questions.

If there was not a private investigation done, as was reported in the Journal, why won't Chavez just say that a private investigation was never done, even though that investigation was promised to stakeholders by then APS Supt. Beth Everitt?

Either that or, why won't Chavez admit that the investigation was done, but that he has no inclination to share any of the results, the truth, with stakeholders? and for what reason, by what justification?

When will taxpayers get tired of paying exorbitant salaries to PIOs whose job it is to deliberately mislead the public about the fate of public resources and the (ab)use public power?

Updates on School Board Training in Houston

After an essay on the secrecy surrounding a school board expedition to Houston link, the APS Communications Department swung into high gear. Not only did Rigo Chavez rush to get something up on the district website link, but they apparently got in touch with Journal reporter Andrea Schoellkopf, who then wrote a piece for this morning's Journal. link

The Journal reports that APS sent ten people to Houston; Rigo Chavez told me yesterday afternoon that eleven people went. The Journal reports that the expedition will cost taxpayers about $17K, but Rigo Chavez told me that that number doesn't include (most) meals.

The final cost will be somewhere around $20K.

Is it a worthwhile investment to send these people to Houston to study accountability when three days after they get back, they will sit at the dais at a board meeting and refuse once again to tell stakeholders the truth about public interests in the APS?

How can they claim to be accountable, and at the same time refuse to discuss a time, a date, and a place where they will stand and answer legitimate questions about the public interests? How can they claim to be accountable while they steadfastly refuse to tell the truth?

Schoellkopf's article raises the same questions about the implied Open Meetings Act violations that I first raised on September 2, 2008 link.

According to Schoellkopf;

Superintendent Winston Brooks said the Houston training "... certainly wasn't intended to circumvent public input and public observation. ..."

Never the less, it did circumvent public input and observation. The article reads;

"The board had been promoting the training for months, ..."

which brings us to what the meaning of the word "is" is, and what the word "promote" means. I would suggest that APS' effort to inform stakeholders about the meeting does not even approach any reasonable definition of the word promote;

To attempt to sell or popularize by advertising or publicity:

The simple truth is that the meeting was not "promoted". The truth is that they were aware of OMA issues, decided not to address them directly, and went ahead with the meeting anyway.

Schoellkopf reports, accurately,

The Houston conference is listed on the APS Web site calendar, but there is no accompanying agenda. The Open Meetings Act requires that meeting notices include an agenda, unless the session is an emergency. (emphasis added)

The Journal reports;

"Board member Marty Esquivel, an attorney who specializes in open government, said he raised the question of open meetings before the trip and was assured that the event would be posted publicly."

Now we can argue with the lawyers of APS Modrall about the meaning of the phase "posted publicly", a phrase they will argue does not include posting even the agenda, on the APS website.

Bottom line, the good ol' boys knew there were problems, could have addressed the problems easily, but because they they really don't want people knowing all about the trip to Houston, decided to simply blow off their obligations under the law.

Once again, tax payers and stakeholders are being jacked around by the arrogance of the leadership of the APS and their tax payer paid lawyers.

The Rules Of The Republican Party

This forwarded to our attention by blogger and photo journalist
Mark Bralley link

The Rules Of The Republican Party As adopted by
the 2004 Republican National Convention August 30, 2004

BE IT RESOLVED, That the Republican Party is the party of the open door.

Ours is the party of liberty, the party of equality of opportunity for all and favoritism for none.

It is the intent and purpose of these rules to encourage and allow the broadest possible participation of all voters in Republican Party activities at all levels and to assure that the Republican Party is open and accessible to all Americans.

A party without honest accountability to the rules is not accessible to any one except those powerful enough to except themselves from accountability to the rules.

Everyone else is just along for the ride.

Joe Monahan gets one all wrong.

Joe Monahan waded in this morning on the Barela Complaint
before the Rules Committee of the NM Republican Party. link

Joe began to go wrong early in his piece; the title; Baiting Barela

I take umbrage to the use of the word baiting.

Since this complaint is mine, it is my character that is attached to it. And I will not have my character challenged on the issue of challenging the character of public servants. My effort is an open book; it is on the record in every conceivable fashion. And I will stand on that record.

I am not "baiting" Jon Barela.

I am demanding that he stand on the record and defend his refusal to be held honestly accountable to any higher standard of conduct than the law.

His conduct within the Republican Party cannot be reasonably separated from position on the Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education. The Republican Party of New Mexico is on the brink of sanctioning the most egregious betrayal of the public trust in memory.

Students in the APS are held accountable to a nationally recognized, accepted, and respected code of ethics. Adults are not. The leadership is not. Jon Barela is not.

He joins with those who struck from their own code of conduct, the words;

in no case shall the standard of conduct for an adult be lower than the standard of conduct for students.

Even though he is one of the senior most role models of the student standard of conduct, Jon Barela refuses to be held accountable as a role model of the student standard of conduct.
He will not even speak of the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.
He, like the others, will not name a time, a day, and a place, where he will sit and answer legitimate questions about the public interests in the public schools; candidly, forthrightly and honestly.
He, like they, will not set a time, a day, and a place where they will tell the truth.

He has been installed on the school board by a process diametrically opposed to election link, in order to participate in the cover up of the relationship between the APS and the Modrall law firm. Barela is a former Modrall lawyer.

He has been installed on the school board in order to cover up the fact that the APS is run by a bunch of good 'ol boys with inadequate standards, inadequate accountability, and inadequate record keeping. Barela is a currently serving APS good ol' boy.

He has been installed on the school board in order to stand against an immediate full scale forensic audit of the entire leadership of the APS; an audit the need for which is screamed by the Meyners Audit.

The Meyners Audit revealed a billion tax dollars a year being handled by the APS Financial Division without adequate policies, and without adequate accountability, and without keeping financial records accurate enough to send anyone to prison.

Jon Barela was appointed to the board to make sure that nobody answers any questions about the corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS.

Jon Barela was appointed the board to help prevent an honest and impartial audit.

Jon Barela intends to break this same party rule again. He intends to be Chairman of the Republican Party and run for re-election to the school board against other republicans.

The argument that school board elections are non-partisan is specious.

All of the arguments that require state officers to vacant positions in partisan races, apply to all races.

Is a powerless republican any less comfortable running against a state officer in a non-partisan election that a partisan election?

Is the appearance of a conflict of interest any less obvious?

The partisan non-partisan argument is a red herring;

anything to keep Jon Barela, and the leadership of the APS, from talking about honest accountability to any standard of conduct at all.

This is all about the good ol' boys running rough shod over the great unwashed. It is about the privileged class excepting themselves from accountability to the rules.


This is not about "baiting" Jon Barela.

Letter to Lou Melvin, NMRP Rules Committee Chair.

The following letter was just sent to Ms. Melvin

Ms. Melvin,

Joe Monahan reports this morning on his blog,
that there is to be a rules committee meeting today,
on my complaint.

I am disappointed that you have not kept me in the loop.

Since Barela is out of town, I assume that he must have responded to the complaint in writing. If so, I would ask that you forward his response to me to afford me the opportunity to respond to it, should I so choose.

respectfully

Charles MacQuigg

Barela story gains some traction.

D6 is no longer a lone voice in the wilderness; Joe Monahan
has made mention of the issue. link

Maybe some attention will be paid after all.

I have taken issue with Monahan's title; "Baiting Barela"
and have asked him for some clarification.

Monahan reports that Barela intends to slip the noose by
arguing that school boards are not partisan and therefore
exempt from a rule that applies to "public offices".

It is interesting that Monahan knows about a rules committee
meeting "set for today" and I have still not heard a word
from Lou Melvin, the rules committee chair, about any meeting
at all, and I am the complainant.

Why is APS School Board training a secret?

The Albuquerque Public Schools Board of Education has canceled all of its meetings this week. That fact is not announced, but can be gleaned from an examination of the board's calendar.

The board (and who knows what other APS personnel) is in Houston Texas attending (at least) the Council of the Great City Schools Annual Fall Conference. link

It is unclear whether the conference includes all of the training or whether some training is an adjunct to the conference.

It will cost taxpayers a great deal of money to send the board to Houston for a week. At least part of the training is called; “How to Lead in the Accountability Age.”

If accountability were actually an issue, a whole lot more accountability could have been bought with this same money, had the money been spent instead on a impartial administrative accountability audit.

As it stands, the million dollar a year APS Communications Department, has communicated exactly nothing about the whole project. Even if there is nothing going on in Houston worth bragging about, even if there in nothing that can be cited as justification for the outlay of so many tax dollars, Monica Armenta and the APS Communications is ignoring stakeholders' right to know what is going on with their servants and their resources.

We don't know who went, how much it cost, or what the supposed benefits for stakeholders include.

No one in the leadership of the APS will be held accountable for the choice to spend what could be tens of thousands of dollars on accountability training.

How ironic.



APS Director of Communications Rigo Chavez will be asked who, from the APS, went to Houston, and how much the expedition is costing taxpayers. In the unlikely event that he ponies up the whole truth, I will share it with stakeholders.

As long as the Rules Committee of the NMRP is getting together anyway

Letter of Complaint to the
Rules Committee of the Republican Party of New Mexico
October 20, 2008

I understand that in order for action to be taken on a complaint, it is necessary to furnish;

1. The rule involved as identified by the Uniform State Rules
2. The objection stated
3. The action desired

1. I would like to challenge “the rule of the gavel”. Regretfully, I cannot cite the rule because it is apparently unwritten, which is part of the problem.

2. I object to it because it is inconsistent with honest accountability to any recognized code of ethics. Further, that honest accountability to ethical standards of conduct is a family value.

3. The required action; the Rules Committee of the Republican Party of New Mexico must repudiate unequivocally, the notion that there is any such thing as “the rule of the gavel” among men and women who are honestly accountable to any real higher standard of conduct.

The required action is for the Rules Committee of the Republican Party of New Mexico to abolish the disconnect between advocating family values and practicing family values.

Respectfully submitted

Charles MacQuigg


Update; I am able to cite a specific rule that prohibits the exercise of "the rule of the gavel"; rule 1-2-1-B;

1-2. GENERAL - PARTY MEMBERSHIP, PARTY GOVERNMENT, CONVENTION PARTICIPATION

1-2-1. PARTY MEMBERSHIP/PARTICIPATION

A. Party Membership

B. Participation: It is the intent and purpose of these rules to encourage and allow the broadest possible participation of all Republican voters in Republican Party activities at all levels and to assure that the Republican Party is open and accessible.

Update; 3:15 pm.
It has been suggested to me that filing this complaint at this time would not be helpful. Therefore, I have contacted Lou Melvin and asked that action on the complaint be suspended until further notice.

Jon Barela's sin.

Jon Barela has his shingle hanging in two worlds;
the leadership of the Republican Party of New Mexico, and
the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools.

I would submit that, Barela has broken the rules in
both worlds.

He broke an NMRP rule that prohibited him from contesting
against other republicans for a public office, without
first vacating his state office in the Republican Party.

He broke the School Board's Code of Ethics, by refusing to
model honest accountability for his own conduct.

In the world of leadership of a school district, Barela is one of
eight of the most senior role models of the student standard
of conduct. As a role model of a nationally recognized, accepted
and respected code of ethics, he had a responsibility to step up
to accountability for his conduct.

Three weeks later, he still has not stepped up.

Three weeks later, Jon Barela has not demonstrated before
students what it looks like to be asked a legitimate question,
and then to answer that question candidly, forthrightly, and
honestly.

Three weeks after chopping down the cherry tree,
he is still ducking accountability.

It one thing to tell students a story about George Washington
and the cherry tree. It is a whole 'nother thing to show children
by personal example, what it looks like to step up and embrace
accountability.

The leadership of the APS steadfastly refuses to discuss
role modeling of the student standard of conduct.

They removed from their own standard of conduct the phrase,
and expectation that;

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

Jon Barela has failed as a role model of the student standard of conduct, regardless of whether or not he can be held accountable for that failure or not.



photo by; Mark Bralley

Schmidly's Son Turns Down Job - problem unresolved

The Journal reports this morning that Brian Schmidly
has backed away from the firestorm that began with his
appointment to a cushy new job at the UNM. link

Many suppose that with Brian Schmidly's decision, the problem
disappears. It does not. If the hiring did not violate a standing
hiring policy, it should have.

If there is not a policy prohibiting the "appearance of a conflict
of interest", there should be.

Damage was done to the credibility of the leadership of the UNM.

The Journal reports;

"It is important to both of us that I assert once and for all that I applied for this job in good faith, and took part in an open hiring process that I was assured and believe to this day was proper and scrupulously fair." Brian Schmidly

UNM also issued a statement from President Schmidly in which he reiterated that he had nothing to do with his son getting the job.

I have no first hand information one way or the other, but it has been suggested on the backside of a blog, or forum, I forget which, that Physical Plant Director Mary Vosevich's own continued employment at the UNM was at risk, and that she hired the University President's son to cement her own position.

There is still the possibility that that was the motivation for the hiring and does not directly repudiate the claim that President Schmidly "had nothing to do with his son getting the job." Preferential treatment has not been ruled out, even if it was not done with the direct knowledge or approval of the UNM President.

The system is still broken.

Is legal weaselry a family value?

The integrity of the New Mexico Republican Party is on the line.

One of the Grand ol' Party's, good ol' boys has broken one of
their good ol' rules link; and the brouhaha cannot be hidden.
The allegation will be resolved on the record.

The Rules Committee of the NMRP will do the resolving.

The allegation is that a standard of conduct remains unmet.

The defense will ride on "what the meaning of the word 'is' is;
and upon other technicalities, loopholes, and legal weaselry.

They will argue that by circumventing the election process, link
they also circumvented the rule that required Jon Barela
to vacate his state office in the NMRP before contesting
the public office against other republicans.

The Rules Committee of the New Mexico Republican Party
will decide whether or not the rules apply to the good ol' boys.

They will decide if the rules can be simply swept away by some
indefensible nonsense called the "rule of the gavel".

Pause for a moment please, to consider what the "rules
committee" means to the integrity of the organization.

The Rules Committee of the New Mexico Republican Party
will decide if honest accountability for one's conduct is a family value (worth defending).

I would argue that it is. I would point out that, that is why the very first illustrative story we tell our children is about George Washington and the cherry tree. The success of the human race is carried upon the shoulders of those willing to be held accountable to a higher standard of conduct than the law; the absolutely lowest standard of acceptable conduct.

The integrity of the NMRP and their commitment to family values, rides on the decision of the rules committee.

Worthy of notice;

the involvement of the NMRP Rules Committee is likely to be
the only illumination of the tip of a very large iceberg; the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the Albuquerque Public Schools.

The leadership of the APS has two priorities;

1. hiding the APS Modrall relationship from public scrutiny, and
2. hiding the good ol' boy organizational structure of the APS from public scrutiny.

in no particular order.

The incestuous appointment of Jon Barela, veteran of Modrall and currently serving APS good ol' boy, to the board of education is an outrage against the public interest. The good ol' boys have returned to the roots of their success; appointing their cronies to the board. link

Hiding the iceberg, the Albuquerque Journal which steadfastly refuses to report on any aspect of the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS. It is aided and abetted in the cover up, by the movers and shakers at KOB, KOAT, KRQE, and KKOB.

I swear.