Due process overdue

The First Amendment to the Constitution protects the human right to petition one's government.

Protects it from what?

From petty politicians who would attempt to deprive the petition of due process; whether its preventing free speech at a public forum a la Marty Esquivel, or unilaterally rejecting an actual petition a la Paula Maes.

The entire school board has the authority to reject the petition of the Citizens Advisory Council on Communications; a single member acting alone does not. Maes has usurped the authority of the entire board in order to issue her individual rejection of the petition.

Depriving complaints and petitions their due process, is the manner in which the leadership of the APS exerts their undue influence over the public interests in the public schools. Whether it's denying hundreds of whistle blowers their due process, or denying a hundred petitioners theirs, the school board is ignoring the rights and interests of stakeholders. They are ignoring the law, blatantly, egregiously.

They are abusing the power and trust given to them by this community.

Frankly, it would be fairly easy to rectify the situation. The biggest problem is the establishment's media and their unflagging determination to hide the truth from the people. For as long as the people that run their media are covering board members and superintendent's asses, their usurpation of our power will continue.

Why should they stop if there isn't any consequence for not stopping?

First and foremost, blame Kent Walz and the Journal for their ongoing cover up of the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

My response to Maes' letter

I am writing my response to APS School Board President Paula Maes unauthorized rejection of the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication's petition for standing before the school board.

I write for no one but myself. The petition speaks for itself, as will I suppose, anyone who signed the petition and has now received a copy of Maes' letter.

Her original letter is posted on Scribd.com, link. It is classic APS; a crappy copy in a hard to cut and paste format that can't be conveniently linked to. It should be posted on their award winning website.



Her letter is italicized.

August 17, 2011

The letter was actually post marked on the 23rd, arriving on the 24th. Typical APS communication; dated early, mailed later. First class postage was paid.

Dear Community Member:

Thank you for your interest in a Citizens Advisory Council on Communication and for taking the time to sign the petition in support of it.

Currently, there are several parent and community groups working in collaboration with the district to develop better ways to engage the community in educating our students and to establish more methods for meaningful communication. One of many examples is a group of engaged parents that has been working on a parent engagement policy. Also, the district has been involved in a partnership with the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County to develop a community schools model that brings community services into a school and helps families develop a communication process that works best for their community.

I have asked, via email, APS Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta to communicate with interest holders by publishing everything they might want to know about the several parent and community groups working in collaboration with the district to develop better ways to engage the community in educating our students and to establish more methods for meaningful communication to which Maes pointed, on the district's award winning website.

Why should CACoC members have to surrender their interests to anyone's consideration except the politicians and public servants who have the authority to accept or deny their petition?

While working on a parent engagement policy is all well and good; it is not the expressed interest of the CACoC, which has expressed no interest at all in anything except working to establish open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community members they serve.

Similarly, develop(ing) a community schools model that brings community services into a school and helps families develop a communication process that works best for their community; is a worthy endeavor perhaps, but not one the CACoC has expressed any interest in.

It isn't up to the leadership of the APS to tell the CACoC what they are and are not to be interested in.

Much work is going on in the district around community engagement. The model that you propose will be taken into consideration when the board and administration look at air the ideas brought forward regarding community engagement.

The CACoC does not propose any model for them to consider. How can the consider a model which has not been proposed? The CACoC has petitioned for support in their effort to develop a model, not to defend one.

Why should the CACoC have to wait for good faith and prompt attention to their petition until the leadership first "... look at air the ideas brought forward regarding community engagement."? Whatever in the hell that means.

Petition delayed is petition denied.

One of the first opportunities that you might be interested in participating is the upcoming community meetings where the Board of Education and Superintendent Brooks will gather community input about the direction for the district, including academic achievement, stewardship, communication and engagement, and any other topics that attendees would like considered. The board and superintendent gathered community input when they developed the "Celebrate the 8" goals in 2008, and they would like continued input as they reexamine the goals for the district plan for the future.

How many times do we have to pay these people to gather community input? It's an annual parade. Enough already. How can they spend a million dollars a year on communication and still not know what the community input is?

The CACoC doesn't need any more public input to legitimize their petition; the legitimacy of the petition is self-evident.

Again, academic achievement, stewardship, communication and engagement, and any other topics that attendees would like considered are not the expressed interests of the CACoC. There is no good and ethical reason to compel the CACoC to entertain any agenda other than their own.

Maes supposes that CACoC members might want to participate in upcoming meetings. That, would be an understatement.

A question is begged; What are Maes' rules for the public forums at the meetings? will there even be any?

The dates of these seven meetings are:
September 1
September 7
September 20
September 29
October 3 (tentative)
October 18
October date pending

The dates of these seven opportunities for CACoC supporters to rally in support of open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the citizens they serve;
September 1
September 7
September 20
September 29
October 3 (tentative)
October 18
October date pending

A meeting will be held in each of the seven board districts. The complete listing of meeting locations and times should be ready In the next few days, although most likely the majority of meetings will be held from 6:00 p.m.- 8:00 p.m.

Again, thank you for your desire to improve communication with the district. We look forward to your continued ideas and participation at all cur community meetings.

"We look forward to your continued ideas and participation at all cur community meetings." Is she kidding? The school board deliberately and expressly forbids the asking of even the most legitimate of questions at all of their community meetings.

Maes has also signed off on Marty Esquivel's illegal restraining order; the one that provides for my arrest if I attempt to "participate" in any board meeting, any where.

Maes does not have individual authority, even as the School Board President, to respond to the petition, much less to blow it off.

If you have any additional questions, you may contact the Board of Education Services Office at 880-3737, or you may use the board's e-mail address boarded@aps.edu.

If you have any objection to Paula Maes unauthorized rejection of the CACoC petition, you may contact the Board of Education Services Office at 880-3737, or you may use the board's e-mail address boarded(at)aps.edu.

Sincerely,
Paula Maes
President
APS Board of Education




photo Mark Bralley

Maes rejects petition!

School Board President Paula Maes has finally responded to the petition submitted by the Citizens Advisory Council on Communications. Apparently, she has had mailed, a grayish copy of her rejection letter, link, to everyone who signed the petition.

In any event;

Maes has put her fist down; there
will be no Citizens Advisory Council
on Communication.

"Thanks, but no thanks".

Just like there will never be "any
audit that individually identifies"
corrupt or incompetent administrators or board members.

How's that for two-way communication;

A hundred good and decent people sign a petition,
and she writes them a letter to tell them no.

Co-incidentally, a recent and at least one upcoming public forum have been cancelled without explanation, apology or excuse.

Paula Maes hasn't the individual authority to respond to the petition, much less reject it. School Board policy cannot be clearer;

BB1 - Board Member Authority

Board of Education members shall have authority only when acting as a Board of Education in a regular, special, committee or emergency meeting. The Board of Education shall not be bound in any way by any statement or action on the part of any individual Board of Education member. No Board of Education member shall speak for or represent the entire Board of Education unless so authorized by the majority of the Board of Education. (emphasis added)

Maes doesn't have individual authority to deny the petition. She is not speaking for the board; not unless the board met in secret to authorize her. That of course, would be a violation of the Open Meetings Act.

This abuse of authority by individuals who have no such authority is becoming routine.

School Board President Marty Esquivel had no individual authority to deny me the free exercise of constitutionally protected human rights. But he did it anyway. He had no authority to order their Chief of Police to sign the illegal restraining order. But he did it anyway.

Esquivel has no authority to order my arrest to prevent me from exercising my right to attend and participate in school board meetings. But he does it anyway.

He and they, have just promoted the Commander of their Praetorian Guard. They did it in secret, and nobody else was considered for the hire. Nowhere on APS' award winning website has there been even an admission of what they have done, much less celebration of their choice and the process they followed in promoting him.

Steve Tellez carries a ton of baggage.

He has been voted no confidence
by very police officers he commands.

Worse, he owns the fact that the
four year long investigation
of felony criminal misconduct by
APS senior administrators, is still
"not completed"; thereby granting
them all, Get out of jail free cards.

I'm trying to get KOAT News Director to admit that she isn't investigating and reporting upon this story because;

1. it isn't newsworthy, and then attach her name and reputation to the explanation as to why not, or
2. it is newsworthy, but will not be covered because they are too incompetent, too afraid, or too corrupt to tell the community the truth.

If she steps up, you'll be the next to know.




photos Mark Bralley

Armenta "gives up" free ride

It is clear that Executive Director of Communications Monica
Armenta and Chief Information Officer
Tom Ryan no longer have take home cars, link.

Still unclear, why not?

Education reporter Hailey Heinz wrote;

Communications Director Monica Armenta and Chief Information Officer Tom Ryan have given up their (take home car)s. (emphasis added)

There is a difference between "giving up" their rides and having their rides "taken away". In one they are role models; in the other, victims.

By means of their choice of words, the Journal would have us believe that senior leadership stepped up, more or less on their own, and surrendered the keys to their unjustifiable perk; that they are role models rather than victims; that they are setting the example for the troops.

Is that the truth, or just another APS/Journal communications effort; spin for the purpose of manipulating reader interest holders?

If there were actual lines of communication between the district and the community, it would be easy to find the answer to the question by simply asking it; are they heroes of an austerity push or victims?

If there were actual lines of communication, it could be asked, why are there still, unjustifiable perks that haven't been taken away or surrendered already?

Why did the school board have to specifically request an audit to expose bloat which should have been eliminated long ago? Isn't that an administrative responsibility?

Leaders demanding sacrifice need to role model sacrifice.

If APS Supt Winston Brooks wants every school administrator to cut every ounce of fat and then some muscle, he has to show them that he has done what he expects them to do.

Clearly he has not. Clearly there is still administrative fat to be trimmed. There are more "perks" to be found, they just haven't been found yet.

If there were not, Brooks would be calling for an independent audit that would not only restore public confidence in one of their most important government institutions, but would personally exonerate him and vindicate and validate his leadership.

He couldn't do more to justify the $750K golden parachute he just got from Marty Esquivel and the crew. He couldn't buy better press.

It would seem that an independent audit of the entire leadership of the APS; an audit charged with ferreting out and exposing administrative corruption and incompetence, would find something else besides Brooks' vindication.


Kudos to School Board Member Kathy Korte, for exposing the unjustifiable remuneration of the senior leadership.

Korte said;

"... the cuts (though small) will be good for morale among teachers and parents."

Korte repeatedly voiced support of just such an audit of standards and accountability when she was running for the board.

Last night she said;

"... it’s even more imperative that we continue to scrutinize, scrutinize, scrutinize.”

But not apparently the scrutiny an independent audit would provide. Unfortunately, she seems to have forgotten her expressed commitment to an independent audit of the kind that would uncover every unjustifiable perk everywhere in the leadership of the APS.

That audit has not, and will not ever take place, because the leadership of the APS has so much incompetence and corruption to hide.

If they hadn't anything to hide, they wouldn't be stonewalling the petition for standing for the Citizens Advisory Council on Communications.

The CACoC is a threat to the corrupt and the incompetent in the leadership of the APS because their goal is transparency enough to make public corruption and incompetence impossibly difficult to hide.

The leadership of the APS is in a communications prevent defense with regard to the petition. Their million dollar a year communications effort can't find the words to acknowledge a valid petition.

It's hard to believe they could pull it off, except with the aid and abet of their cronies in the establishment.

There are the appearances of impropriety and conflicts of interests in the unwillingness of local members of the

NM Broadcasters Assoc, to

investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence that their boss and friend, Paula Maes is up to her eyeballs in the effort to cover up the ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS, including the cover up of the cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators and the leadership of their publicly funded private police force.

Why else would they not report that Maes admitted one night in a Policy Committee meeting that she

"... would never agree to any audit that individually
identified ..."

corrupt and incompetent administrators or board members?





photos Mark Bralley
Korte; APS website

The Board is stalling

The APS School Board is in receipt of a petition to create standing for open and honest two-way communication between the leadership of the APS and the people they serve; communication that has been promised for years and is yet to be delivered.

The board promised to respond to the petition by the end of business yesterday. The deadline has passed without apology, excuse or even simple acknowledgement; my follow up emails remain unanswered.

That says something about the real intention of the leadership of the APS, to begin open and honest two-way communication with interest holders.

It says something about their character and about their courage.

Korte Klueless

The Board has decided that they will not allow any more charter school competition for students and $14,525, link, that come with them. The Journal report is entitled; "APS Says No New Charters". They provided no link I could find.

School Board Member Kathy Korte was quoted in opposition to any new charter school that isn't "unique"; offering something APS does not already offer.

What if a Charter School offers leadership that is willing to carry on an open and honest two-way communication with the community?


How could they possibly be more unique than that?

What if the leadership of a charter school doesn't Winston Brooks, Marty Esquivel, and Paula Maes telling them how to run their school, and then telling them, they "don't take questions".

Aside from all that, how can any charter school not benefit from distance from people

• who are hiding evidence of felony criminal misconduct by senior administrators and board members (the Caswell Report),
• who deny free exercise of Constitutionally protected human rights (Marty Esquivel's illegal restraining order),
• who maintain a publicly funded private police force as a Praetorian Guard (the APS Police Department; certified, certificated, and accredited by no one except the leadership of the APS),
• who are denying hundreds of whistle blowers due process of their complaints (against senior administrators and board members),
• who to a member, cannot summon the character and the courage to hold themselves honestly accountable as role models of the standards of conduct they establish and enforce upon students, and
• who are ignoring a petition to establish the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication, and real open and honest two way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community.

Every charter school that is out from under the influence of the incompetence and corruption in the leadership of the APS has a far greater chance to successfully educate this community's sons and daughters for that reason alone.

The Journal is yet to investigate and report upon the fate of the petition to establish standing of the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication, though there is proof that they know about it.

Just as they are yet to investigate and report upon

• the illegal suppression of the Caswell Report, or upon
• Marty Esquivel's illegal restraining order, or upon
• the illegal use of APS Police Officers to enforce the order, or upon
• the APS leadership's universal abdication from their obligations as role models of the student standards of conduct, the Pillars of Character Counts!, or upon
• Paula Maes' edit disallowing "... any audit that individually identified ..." corrupt and incompetent administrators or board members, or upon
• any other credible allegations and evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS
  

It almost like Kent Walz' Journal and the rest of the establishment's media is deliberately aiding and abetting the cover up.

Well it's not "almost" like that, it actually "is" like that.

Darn, there I go, sounding like a "conspiracy nut" again.





photo APS website

Journal editorial outrage selective

The editors are all worked up, link, that the three people most responsible for delivering a bunch of guns to criminals in Mexico, have been promoted.

They are not all worked up about the interim APS Police Chief who was secretly promoted to Chief despite a previous vote of no confidence by his subordinates, and despite (or because of) his role covering up the cover up of the felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators, link, and despite (or because of) his willingness to use the APS Police Department to enforce Marty Esquivel's illegal restraining order, link.

It would appear that Chief Steve Tellez (and the people who secretly promoted him for his incompetence and corruption) have more suck with the Journal editors (Kent Walz) than the three BATF&E guys.




photo Mark Bralley

Reading the Board's response

It has been 7 workdays since a petition, link, was hand delivered to the APS School Board.

The Board was asked to acknowledge the standing of the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication, and to underscore that acknowledgement by;

1. assigning a senior administrator with first hand experience as an adviser to our group, to help the council avoid the pitfalls that have ensnared previous advisory councils,
   
2. presenting a workshop for Council members and other interest holders, that will enable the council's success,
3. the publication on the District website, of all records pertaining to previous councils,
   
4. the use of one of our APS community rooms for meetings, and
5. independent professional facilitators to run and record meetings.

I have been assured that the petitioners will have a response by tomorrow.

"... the letter can go out today. If not, it will be Monday."

If the question is;

Are you willing to tell the truth about the public interests and about your public service?

any answer except yes, means no.

Waiting seven days or more to answer, means no.

The very survival of a number of the leadership of the APS
depends on their gaining control over the Advisory Council's
agenda.

"When the truth gets out, there won't be a single
senior administrator left standing"
disgraced former APS Police Chief Gil Lovato, 2007

If they do actually respond tomorrow, you can judge for yourself whether the leadership of the APS is really interested in open and honest two-way communication with interest holders, or if the promises of open and honest two-way communication they added to;

1. their code of conduct,
2. their school board policy
3. their administrative procedural directives and
4. their district goals,

were put there for some other reason.

I can prove the Journal has known about the petition for at least 6 days (11 if their reporter was at the 8/10/11 board meeting) and as you can see for yourself, has not reported a word.

Dodging the DOJ and every other independent audit

Mayor Richard Berry is dragging his feet on an independent investigation of the APD by the Department of Justice.

Why?

According to the Journal, link, Berry claims his resistance and concerns are only "procedural" and not based on his need to obstruct the investigation for other more nefarious reasons.

The bottom line; when all the t's have been crossed and all the i's have been dotted, the investigation will make Berry and APD Police Chief Ray Schultz look very good; honest and competent, or it will make them look bad; incompetent, possibly corrupt.

Obviously, he thinks the results will make him and Schultz look bad, or he wouldn't be obstructing it at all. If the investigation was going to make him look good, he would be falling all over himself in an effort to get the investigation done and published. In terms of re-election, he couldn't buy better press if he tried.

Marty Esquivel and Winston Brooks aren't blocking an executive and administrative standards and accountability audit of the leadership of the APS because the results will make them look good. They're obstructing it because it will make them look bad.

They spend a million dollars a year on Monica Armenta and her communications department, to look good. If a $35K audit was going to make them look good; competent and morally courageous, they would have commissioned it long ago.

They are not, for example, hiding the Caswell Report on an investigation of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrator because the investigation cleared them of wrong doing. They're hiding it because it reveals precisely the opposite.




photo Mark Bralley

I have burned my bridges, I am told

I am in discussion with someone from the establishment's media. We are discussing whether or not they will investigate and report upon my allegations of public corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS and their Police Department, their Praetorian Guard, their publicly funded private police force.

I was told that I can't expect them to just forget about all the mean things I've said about the media and their failure heretofore to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of public corruption in the leadership of the APS. They can't be expected to ignore all that and just follow a solid lead on public corruption and incompetence. Or words to that effect.

I reminded them, there is more good to be done by focusing on their personal and professional obligations to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of a cover up of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators, than there is in worrying about who phoned in the tip.

Who's cowardice is it; Berry's or Huffman-Ramirez'

Mayor Richard Berry was offered an opportunity to step up and lend his support to the effort to improve communications between the leadership of the APS and the people they serve, link. He was offered an opportunity to stand up in defense of the interests of his constituents.

So far, not a word in response; no yes, no no, no I'll get back to you later.



The problem, Berry has a gate keeper; Chris Huffman-Ramirez. You have to go through him to get to Berry. I can't prove that Berry has seen the petition because Huffman-Ramirez refuses to acknowledge that he has seen it.

Huffman-Ramirez is not above screwing with people who are trying to get the Mayor's attention, if he doesn't like them.

I get that there needs to be a layer between the people and their politicians and public servants; otherwise they wouldn't be able to do their jobs.

But the "layer" speaks in their stead; and what the layer does or doesn't say is reasonably attributed to the politician or public servant who authorizes the layer to speak for them.

If Huffman-Ramirez wasn't about pretending I don't exist, he would probably write that I have no right to demand that Berry take a stand on this or any other issue.

For once, he and I agree.

It is not I who demands that he take a stand, it is his conscience and the demands of character and moral courage. All I did was to point to the opportunity to stand on the right side of history; transparently accountable government.

You can be walking down the street and have your attention called to let's say, a bully beating up a little kid. You can argue with the person who pointed out the situation to you about whether or not they have any "right" to expect you to intervene, or you can pick a side by involving yourself, or by walking away.

Unless Huffman-Ramirez is hiding the petition from Berry entirely, unless Berry has no idea the petition exists; it is reasonable to hold Berry accountable for picking a side by not picking the right side.

It is fair to conclude then; Mayor Richard Berry stands against the formation of a Citizens Advisory Council on Communication; he stands against transparently accountable government. He stands against the resolution that there is a time, a day, and a place where public servants can be expected to present themselves and respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly to legitimate questions about the public interests and about their public service.

If is his position is misconstrued; if he is at some disadvantage from his blind support of Huffman-Ramirez, link, then that is his problem.

He should have picked a pio with at least a little character and
courage, to speak or not, in his stead.




photos Mark Bralley

APS drops character education; no one cares

APS students started school yesterday. This year, as every year since 1994, students are led to believe that they are required to "model and promote the Pillars of Character Counts!"

The "Pillars of Character Counts!" is a set of standards of conduct. There are many sets of standards of acceptable conduct; professions write their own, industries write their own, boards of education write their own.

There is talk of "higher standards of conduct", and it begs the question; higher than what? The lowest standard of conduct is the law. On one side, conduct so unacceptable as to warrant fines and imprisonment; on the other side, every other behavior no matter how base, immoral or indefensible.

The law is clearly not a high enough standard of conduct for politicians and public servants. Everyone knows that, and that is why politicians and public servants talk so much about being accountable to "higher" standards of conduct and competence. The leadership of the APS talks about their accountability to the "highest" standards.

Surveys indicate an overwhelming percentage of parents and community members want public schools to teach children about character and honest accountability to higher standards of conduct.

The School Board, by unanimous resolution, link, promised the community that they would make character education a priority in the curriculum. They promised;

"... the core curriculum should continue to give explicit attention to character development as an ongoing art of school instruction..."

They made a solemn promise and commitment to the community, to use the Pillars of Character Counts! as their standards; both for students and for themselves as role models.

They later reneged on that commitment and removed from their own standards of conduct, the language that actually held them accountable as role models of the student standards by removing the role modeling clause from their own standards of conduct. It used to read;

In no case shall the standards of conduct for adults be lower
than the standards of conduct for students (the Pillars of Character Counts!).

They removed it and now there are two sets of standards in the APS; the lowest set of standards for adults including senior administrators and board members, and one of the highest sets of standards to hold up in front of students.

You can argue if you want, about the suitability of the Pillars of Character Counts!, link, as a set of standards in general, and as a set of standards for students (and their role models) in particular. That argument has already taken place and their unanimous decision was to adopt them as the standards of conduct for the APS.

The bottom line is, the Pillars of Character Counts! are the set of standards that the board bought into being through school board policy, and they remain the standards until some board action reverses them.

It not OK to simply ignore them. The morally courageous thing to do is to change them above the table; not to whittle away at them in secret; not to kill them surreptitiously by denying the resources to enforce them.

If you ask APS Communications Director Rigo Chavez about APS' investment in character education for the 90,000 of this community's sons and daughters in the APS, he will admit that they have not invested even one thin dime, in any district wide effort to teach students that their character counts!

That is likely the only thing he will admit about the district's abandonment of character education for students.

He will not, for instance, admit that no one in the entire leadership of the APS is actually accountable as a role model of the standards they establish and enforce upon students.




photo Mark Bralley

Block will take home $360 a day until he's impeached

According to the Capital Report, link, it will cost taxpayers a million dollars to impeach embattled PRC Commissioner Jerome Block Jr; regardless of the weight of evidence against him.

Block can, and will, keep his $45 dollar an hour job until they do.

Submitted as illustrative of a broken and feckless system for holding politicians and public servants accountable for their conduct and competence.

For the dot connecting disabled; if the system were not broken
and feckless, there would be far fewer corrupt and incompetent
politicians and public servants.

Coincidentally, if there were fewer corrupt and incompetent
politicians and public servants, the system would not be
broken and feckless.

The dance will continue until the people themselves, cut in.

Jerome Block Jr last on a long, long list

PRC Commissioner Jerome Block Jr is just the latest politico and good ol' boy to get caught screwing up on the public dime. Tired of the attention (already), he would like to turn attention away from his corruption and incompetence so he can be allowed to focus on his future.

“I want to move on and put this behind me,” Block said.

Well yeah I guess you do Sparky, but
you've jumped the gun just a little.

Aren't you supposed to wait until all the shoes hit the floor before urging forgetness for all your previous sins?

Otherwise you're going to have to keep coming back and saying

oops! OK let's start over again.
oops! OK let's start over again.
oops! OK let's start over again.
oops! OK let's start over again.
...

Berry offered a chance to step up

The petition signature drive continues.

There were apparently, not signatures enough on the petition to create standing for the Citizen's Advisory Council on Communication, link, to warrant a response from the APS School Board and Supt Winston Brooks.

As I have time, I will invite other community leaders to add their signatures to the cause.

Many will sign, some won't; some will pretend they were never asked rather than admit they won't take a stand on the right side of history.

So far, two community leaders have stepped up; Rep Janice Arnold-Jones and her opponent in the 1st Congressional District race, Dan Lewis. I tried to find contact information for Democrat candidates Marty Chavez and Eric Griego. Neither of their campaign websites allows a contact with the candidate. The newest candidate County Commissioner Michelle Lujan-Grisham does share contact information and her support has been solicited.


Also sharing contact information;
Mayor Richard Berry.

Which means his mettle gets tested now.

The following email was
sent to Berry via his PIO
Chris Huffman-Ramirez;
along with a link to this post.

A petition is circulating. It calls for the leadership of the APS to recognize the standing of a Citizens Advisory Council on Communication. The petition and a preliminary set of signatures was presented to the school board Wednesday, Aug 10th.

Mayor Berry is invited to consider the Petition and adding his signature to it.
... Else, some explanation of his refusal, to report to interest holders.

He will either step up, step away, or step aside
and hope no one is keeping score.

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

photo Mark Bralley

Lewis signs on in support of Citizens Advisory Council on Communication petition

In my email to Congressional Candidate Dan Lewis, asking for his support of the petition, link, for standing of the new Citizens Advisory Council on Communication, I apologized for not asking sooner. He came on board late because his invitation came late. The oversight was mine. Nevertheless, he is on board.

His response;

"... I support the petition and its goals completely.
Please let me know how I can assist ..."

It has been nearly a week now, since the petition was handed to the board, and the school board and administration are yet to respond. Though the petition included an email address through which they could communicate to the Council's exploratory committee, the leadership of the APS has yet to acknowledge even the simple receipt of the petition, much less express their intentions with regard to accommodating the requests made therein.

I have often pointed out that the only defense of an indefensible position is to hide it.

Any resistance to earnest support of the Advisory Council is indefensible, and APS' only defense of that position is to hide it. The leadership of the APS will not reject the petition outright; they will simply continue to pretend it was never presented; underscoring the need in the first place, for an Advisory Council on "communication".

They will succeed only if we allow them.




photo Mark Bralley

Please do hold the establishment media accountable

for their coverage of the progress of the petition for standing of the Citizens Advisory Council on Communications, through the leadership of the APS.

Fledgling Citizens Advisory Council takes flight

On Wednesday evening last, Rep Janice Arnold-Jones exercised the right to petition one's government quite literally; she carried an actual petition, link. to the podium a public forum.

Arnold-Jones is all about leading by example; her own signature sits atop the petition.

"We the undersigned", are a group of APS interest holders. We are large enough in number and earnest enough in our interest, to warrant standing in the process and a good faith response to our petition.

Our interest is to establish two way communication between the leadership of the APS and the community they serve.

The need for and the value of two way communication between the community and the leadership of the public schools, are as unequivocal as they are self-evident.

The leadership's expressed commitment to two way communication is itself unequivocal.

• The district created 8 goals for themselves. The third of which is to open communication with the community.
• The school board's own code of ethics calls for the establishment of open, two-way communication process with students, staff, families and all segments of the community.
• School Board Policy K.01, reads (in significant part); The Board of Education recognizes that constructive study, discussion, and active participation by citizens are necessary to promote the best program of education in the community. To encourage this participation, the Board enacts the following policies;

  Citizens Advisory Councils will exist to provide for greater community involvement in the educational planning process.

The administration's commitment to open and honest two-way communication is again; clear and unequivocal;

• Citizens Advisory Councils will exist to provide for greater community involvement in the educational planning process.

The new Citizens Advisory Council on Communications members feel a similar commitment and are prepared to take the next step; establishing a venue for open and honest, two-way communication on the issues of interest holders.

There have been Citizens Advisory Councils in the Albuquerque Public Schools before. It is our intention to avoid the pitfalls they encountered by entering the process carefully and deliberately.

The first thing we have asked for, is for the leadership of the APS to make a good faith effort to help us succeed on behalf of the community.

It is not our interest to push any issue or agenda except; the establishment of open, honest, effective and efficient two-way communication between interest holders and those who control their interests.

If the Citizens Advisory Council on Communication is successful; those wanting to talk about a particular issue; JROTC as an example, will find a forum to discuss their points of view in two-way communication with APS' decision makers.

Our expectation of their wholehearted support seems well justified.

There will be naysayers. Most of them, if you ask, will have a personal history of service on an advisory council. Most of their experiences have been unsatisfying, hence their negativity.

To them I say, these are different times and different people
and they are on a different mission. We will exist and persist because we are joined for one reason and one reason only; to provide better forums than ours, for the civil discussion of important issues of the day, with our politicians and public servants.

There will be open and honest two-way communications between the leadership of the APS and the community. The leadership of the APS will point to the day, the time and the place, where they will respond to interest holders legitimate questions.

Government will be transparent accountability to the people;
Lady Sunlight isn't backing down.




photo Mark Bralley

The "search" for a new county manager

I went looking for information on the membership of the committee that recommended five finalists in the competition for the county manager job.

The minutes of the May 31 meeting, link, reveal that "All members of the committee were present". They do not reveal the identities of the committee members.

The minutes of the June 7 meeting, link, reveal "Del Archuleta was absent" but no other clues to the identity of those who eliminated all but five candidates from further consideration.

The make up of the committee is important because the committee can be made up of only two kinds of people; those who have a dog in the fight so to speak, and those who do not. It is important to know that candidates were selected according to what they know, not who they know.

Take for example these two women. Clearly the women in this photograph have more than a casual relationship. In front, is (now) Commissioner Michelle Lujan Grisham. At the time, she was announcing her candidacy for congress. The other lady is Deanna Archuleta, one of the five finalists for County Manager. There is an appearance of a conflict of interest in Lujan voting whether to vote to hire someone who is apparently a friend of hers, into an important and powerful public service job; in particular, if their relationship has not been fully disclosed prior to her vote.

I would like some assurance that this and other potential conflicts of interest have been exposed. I would like to know that if I knew where to look, I would find a statement from Lujan, and anyone else on the Bernalillo County Commission with a dog in the fight, declaring candidly, forthrightly and honestly, any relationship they might have with any candidate upon which they will make any decision at all. I would like to find that the appearance of a conflict of interest has been ameliorated by a full disclosure of the facts.

So far, I have not.

It is not enough that an appearance of a conflict of interest is only that "appearance". The appearance itself, damages public trust in the institution of government.

I have heard that Commissioner Maggie Hart-Stebbins also knows Archuleta more than casually.

I haven't investigated the connection, in no small part because the onus is not on me.

The burden of candid, forthright and honest disclosure of any potential conflicts of interest falls squarely on the shoulders of the politicians and public servants. It is not the responsibility of the people to have to ferret them out.




photos Mark Bralley

APS lawyer lying

APS' lawyer is telling people that my side is ducking the meeting that is supposed to resolve Marty Esquivel's illegal restraining order; the order Esquivel claims doesn't exist, link.


The police officers seen here denying me access to the public forum at Esquivel's behest, seem to think it exists.

Think for a minute about this meeting, and who might or might not want to delay it.

My position is that this is going to be a public meeting, it is going to be recorded and posted on the internet (for what little it's worth) the establishment press will be invited, and the leadership of the APS and their lawyers are going to be on the receiving end of an ass-handing of epic proportion.

Their conclusion and position can only be the same.

So whose interests are protected by doing everything they can to delay the meeting?




photo Mark Bralley

County Commission considering two retreads for top post

The County Commission is hiring a new County Manager; they have picked seven finalists, link.

Two of them come with baggage; Ed Adams and Bruce Perlman, and the sweet deal Perlman gave Adams when they worked for CABQ together. Journal editors even stepped up (at the time) to protest the deal, link. It remains to be seen if they will step up again rather than let Adams and Perlman skate through the hiring process unscathed.

A while back, when Adams ran
the Department of Municipal
Development, there was a huge
scandal where a the nephew of
a crony of Mayor Marty Chavez
bilked the city out of hundreds
of thousands of dollars,
link.

It was Adams' job to keep it from
happening. It was a systemic failure that allowed the corruption. He owned the system, he failed to protect taxpayer interests.


His consequence; a sweet deal from Perlman.

More of the good ol' boys taking care of each other. And now both their names have floated to the top in a process that seems to be ignoring character and competence in qualifying candidates.

So what if Adams built a ballpark and a bridge; lots of people can build bridges and ballparks. He failed to protect public resources from being abused.

City and County residents deserve a fresh start; someone whose top priority is combating public corruption and incompetence, and not enabling and rewarding them.




photos Mark Bralley

Media ignores APS' progress on 8 goals

The leadership of the APS created 8 Goals for the district, link.

Recently, according to the APS website;

The Board of Education requested a presentation detailing the progress of the “Celebrate the 8” goals in conjunction with determining the direction and next steps for the goal-setting process that will be done in collaboration with the superintendent in Fall 2011.

The School Board asked Supt Winston Brooks to defend the district's progress in reaching the goals. Brooks complied Wednesday night; the agenda item read;

Administration’s presentation of the progress of the “Celebrate the 8” goals and APS Board of Education and superintendent discussion of the goals.

Not a word in the Journal, and as far as I know, not a peep on any of the local TV news.

You have to wonder, why?

Why in a school district with a million dollars a year to spend on "communications", did something this important come and go without notice?

Did APS' Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta forget to tell them about the presentation, or is there something in the data she wants to keep hidden?

Did she not tell the media, did they not care?

What's up?




photo Mark Bralley

Esquivel wants to chat with me

"Hi Ched! How's it going" or words to that effect

Board Member Marty Esquivel was on his way into the school board meeting. He was walking past me and the police officer he ordered keep me following him into the building and standing at the podium of a public forum and pointing to his public incompetence and corruption.

He expected that I might want to ignore all that and exchange pleasantries.

He seem offended when I told him I really had no interest in chatting with him.


oh well.




photo Mark Bralley

Illegal arrest; 14

An armed member of APS publicly funded private police force; their Praetorian Guard, is seen telling me that if I attempt to enter the building to stand at the public forum to deliver a petition I was carrying for a citizens interest group; I will be arrested for criminal trespass.


The same the day before; arrest #13.

Please don't misunderstand my use of the term Praetorian Guard, wikilink. I use it to describe the use of the police force and the loyalties of its leadership. Individually, I have no problems at all with the officers who are following (unlawful) orders. I get the impression that most of them would really rather be somewhere else doing something else. It is the leadership that is corrupt, not the rank and file.

Most don't understand that they are enforcing an illegal restraining order bearing the signatures of only two board members and their corrupt chief. They recently voted no confidence in the recently, secretly promoted Chief and Deputy Chief.


There are exceptions. This
APS police officer was clearly
getting a kick out of getting
in my face; harassing me and
abusing the power entrusted to him.

At this moment, he is telling me APS Supt Winston Brooks is the one that ordered him to arrest and eject me from the gubernatorial debate at Eldorado High School.

Despite the fact that he had seen my legitimate ticket to enter, and knew that I had done nothing at all that would even remotely warrant my arrest and ejection.

... just following orders.




photo Mark Bralley
frame grab ched macquigg

NM FOG credibility wound self-inflicted

The New Mexico Foundation for Open Government, link, has had more than enough time to cleanse its Board of Directors, link, of a few bad apples;

• Vice President Terri Cole, President and CEO, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce
• Secretary Kent Walz Editor, Albuquerque Journal
• Treasurer Patrick J. Rogers, Shareholder, Modrall Sperling Roehl Harris & Sisk
• Martin Esquivel, APS School Board
• Iain Munro, News Director, KRQE News 13/KASA Fox 2

Each of these people has in there own way, aided and abetted the cover up of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS.

Patrick J Rogers is included, not because of anything he has done personally, but as the face of Modrall Law. They make a killing every year with their legal weaselry and unlimited budget, litigating exception to the (open government) law for senior administrators and board members.

While law firms can represent whomever they want in whatever manner they want; if they are about hiding government from the people, they probably should not have a seat on the executive board of a foundation for open government.

Birds of a feather flock together.
everybody's mother

Terri Cole betrayed her commitment
to Character Counts! when she
refused to stand up in protest when
the entire leadership of the APS
renounced their accountability as
role models, to that nationally
recognized, accepted and respected
code of ethical conduct.





Kent Walz is up to his eyeballs in the cover up of the cover up of felony criminal misconduct by APS senior administrators and their publicly funded private police force.

He and Marty Esquivel bamboozled the rest of the board into giving APS Supt Winston Brooks a Dixon Award for hiding public records of the public corruption in the APS Police Department.


There was a time when Marty Esquivel was the senior-most role model of the student standards of conduct, in the entire APS.

Yet he will not look you in the eye and tell you why he will not hold himself actually and honestly accountable as a role model by holding himself accountable to the same standards of conduct he established and enforces upon APS students.

He will not look you in the eye and tell you why he abandoned his support of the need for an independent district wide standards and accountability audit.

He will not look you in the eye and tell you why he and the board reneged on their promise to address the conflict of interests when administrators adjudicate whistleblower complaints against other administrators, by having the board individually review and approve the handling of any complaints.

He will not look you in the eye and tell you why evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators is being kept from the district attorney despite, or perhaps because of, expiring statutes of limitation.

Iain Munro, news director, could assign a competent reporter to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of an ethics and accountability scandal in the leadership of the APS. But he has not, and there is no indication that he ever will.

He could assign a competent reporter to investigate and report upon the secret hiring of a Chief of Police willing to cover up the cover up of felony criminal misconduct in the APS Police Department. But he won't.


NM FOG may have a new look on its website;
but the look on the board hasn't changed.




photos Mark Bralley

How is it that Marty Esquivel is above the law?

School Board Policy BB1, link, the law in this case, is clear.

Board of Education members shall have authority only when acting as a Board of Education in a regular, special, committee or emergency meeting. The Board of Education shall not be bound in any way by any statement or action on the part of any individual Board of Education member. No Board of Education member shall speak for or represent the entire Board of Education unless so authorized by the majority of the Board of Education.

Marty Esquivel does not have the authority to issue a restraining order (he would rather call it a "ban letter") He does not have the authority to command the APS Police (a publicly funded private police force, a Praetorian Guard accountable to no one but to Brooks and the School Board) to do anything at all; much less interfere my rights to speak freely and to petition my government at a public forum.

Esquivel has no authority to act individually. His only defense would be to prove he didn't act individually; which means the rest of the board will have to admit they met in blatant violation of the Open Meetings Act and decided as a body, to authorize his violation of my First Amendment rights.

So far they have not; except for School Board Member Paula Maes, who later added her name at the bottom of the illegal order.

How can they act outside the law?

1. Lawyers
2. guns, and
3. money

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

1. unscrupulous, unethical lawyers; the kind that give other lawyers a bad name,
2. an armed Praetorian Guard accountable and loyal only to, the board and the superintendent, and,
3. an unlimited stream of "education" dollars to divert in order to litigate their personal exceptions to the law.
   

Even those would not be enough to enable them to ignore the law so blatantly and so egregiously.

They couldn't get away with it if they did not also have, Kent Walz and the rest of the establishment media leadership, on their side.

He wants to be Attorney General some day, link.

I don't think so.




mugshot Mark Bralley

Just to be perfectly fair

I have emailed the following tip to KRQE, KOAT, KOB, KKOB and the Journal

Steve Tellez has been promoted from acting to permanent Chief of APS Police. The promotion was made in secret.

It was made in secret because his promotion is indefensible. If nothing else, the promotion follows a vote of no confidence by the APS Police Officers union.

He was promoted in order to continue to hide the results of an internal investigation into felony criminal misconduct by APS senior administrators. Incontrovertible evidence of felony criminal misconduct exists and has never be turned over to the DA

The media will not cover this story because of corruption at the highest levels in the media.

They can't claim, they don't know.

Is it fair to blame Bill Reed?

The new APS Police Chief Steve Tellez wants to hang the bungled investigation of corruption in the APS Police Department on his old boss Chief Bill Reed.

Reed was hired to replace Gil Lovato as Chief of the APS Police, when the scandal in the Police Department forced Lovato's departure, link.

A big part of Reed's new job was to complete the investigation into the felony criminal misconduct by APS senior administrators, link.

The APS Police Department should never have been put in charge of investigating its own corruption. The APS, BCSO, and State Police have jurisdiction and it makes no sense at all, to allow the leadership of APS' Praetorian Guard to investigate it's own corruption and criminal misconduct.

It goes way beyond the "appearance" of a conflict of interest; it is absolutely a conflict of interest.

Reed sat on the investigation for years and then finally left the post amid allegations of personal misconduct.

The case is still under "investigation" because public records requests can be denied - more APS Modrall "legal" weaselry.

Now Steve Tellez is in charge of the investigation. Except that he claims the investigation went away when Reed left.

Tellez was made acting Chief upon Reed's departure. He was made Chief a month ago by APS Supt Winston Brooks in secret. Tellez finally admitted it yesterday.

There isn't a word anywhere on the APS website about Tellez promotion. There has been a word in the establishment media.

Someone else first pointed out that, you say something when you say nothing. The leadership of the APS is ashamed of their appointment, or they would not be hiding it.

His promotion flies in the face of a recent vote of no confidence by the APS police officers union, in their "leader".

Tellez denies that he was promoted without interviewing even one other candidate, because he is a willing participant in the cover up of the public corruption and incompetence in the APS PD.


Even Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta won't talk about it, and that's her job. She refuses to confirm or deny his promotion, though he himself has admitted it.

Armenta is seen here giving an illegal order to APS police officers, to arrest and eject me from the gubernatorial debate at Eldorado High School. In the background, with his eyes closed (not an uncommon occurrence in the "I see nothing" leadership of the APS Police Department), stands Steve Gallegos. He has been promoted to Deputy Chief in the same secret process. He also, was voted no confidence by the APS police officers he commands.

There is a mountain of corruption here; enough to compete with stories about the PRC Commissioner Gone Wild Jerome Block. Yet not a word in the "press".

The establishment media heavy hitters; the Journal, KRQE, KOAT, KOB, and KKOB, have an obligation to investigate and report upon credible allegations and evidence of public corruption and incompetence in the leadership of the APS. Yet they will not. Why not?

The Journal's piece of the cover can be attributed to managing editor Kent Walz. His close personal relationships with people like Marty Esquivel, Paula Maes and Winston Brooks have compelled him to turn a blind eye to their incompetence and corruption.

Maes heads the New Mexico Broadcasters Association. Her ties to the people who run the broadcast media has lead them to ignore her boast that as School Board President, she would "... never agree to any audit that individually identifies ..." corrupt administrators or board members.

Can you imagine a statement like that from any other public official, being utterly ignored by the media?

There is monumental corruption here, right in front of our eyes and the good ol' boys and girls in the media are in it up to their eyeballs.

Somebody should do something.




Walz frame grab and photos Mark Bralley
Armenta photo ched macquigg

If a half truth is a whole lie ...

The agenda for the Wednesday Board meeting has finally been posted, link.

They will vote to deny board members the opportunity to respond to a question from the public forum; even if they want to and would otherwise, respond to a legitimate question from the forum.

The decision is based on shaky interpretation of the Open Meetings Act. They claim the law "prohibits" them from answering, when in fact, the law "allows" them a convenient excuse to not answer.

The entire action is described in the board agenda as;

Approval of Revising the Language that the Secretary Reads as an Introduction to the Public Forum Section on Board Agendas.

Yeah, that covers it.

It is a half truth at best. It is manifestly dishonest; it is dishonest on its face.

"The 'ban letter' is still in effect"

And with those words, I was arrested by APS Police Department for the thirteenth time. I had the honor to be arrested by APS' new Chief of Police Steve Tellez in person. I was arrested today for disregarding an illegal restraining order penned by Marty Esquivel, signed by the enforcer Steve Tellez and then signed again by the new School Board President Paula Maes.



The restraining order is illegal because it was cooked up by one board member, Esquivel, who has no authority to do anything as an individual board member. He also lacks the authority to order the APS Police Department to do anything at all, much less sign off on an illegal restraining order; excuse me, "ban letter".

When Esquivel bailed from the illegal order, (he needed to hide from it during the school board elections) Paula Maes signed on, again as an individual without board direction, without authority and in violation of the law.

According to APS School Board Policy - BB1 - Board Member Authority

"Board of Education members shall have authority only when acting as a Board of Education in a regular, special, committee or emergency meeting. ..."

Esquivel and Maes have no authority to write a restraining order and no authority to order their corrupt police chief Steve Tellez to enforce it.

Speaking of Tellez, he is in fact, link, the new Chief of Police; and has been for a month.

Shhh! it's a secret.

His promotion has not been reported in the establishment press because APS Supt Winston Brooks doesn't want to explain why he promoted him in secret and without interviewing even one other candidate.

I asked him if he was promoted under circumstances that create the appearances of impropriety (the cover up of corruption in the APS leadership of the APS and their Police Dept) and conflict of interest (conducting the investigation on themselves and then "losing" the results before they could be turned over to District Attorney Kari Brandenburg) because he was willing to hide the Caswell Report (on an investigation of felony criminal misconduct in the APS Police Department and Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office under Darren White. He acted like he had never heard of the "Caswell Report".

I had to remind him that it had to do with an investigation of felony criminal misconduct involving senior APS administrators including former, former APS Police Chief Gil Lovato.

Lovato had the money quote of the whole scandal, link," if I ever get to tell the truth in open court, there won't be a single APS senior administrator left standing." or words to that effect

The leadership of the APS managed to keep him out of court by giving him a whole bunch of money he didn't deserve.

That clicked for Tellez. He told me the investigation ended with the tenure of Bill Reed, their former Police Chief. The investigation has disappeared. Perhaps communications maven Monica Armenta will explain where the results of the criminal investigation have disappeared to, and what the disappearance has to do with Reed.

When I asking him if he was taking (unlawful) orders from Esquivel, he dodged the question; pointing out that I always ask him that.

When I asked Tellez how much he is getting paid to be Esquivel's enforcer, he said I should check with HR.

APS' lawyer Art Melendrez showed up to witness the tail end of the arrest. He wanted to shake my hand; I declined, explaining that I really didn't want to shake his hand seeing how I was in the midst of the latest illegal arrest by his clients and their publicly funded private police force; their Praetorian Guard.

He then rushed off, on his way to the policy committee meeting to explain to the whole board and administration, how they can manipulate public comments at public forums in order to avoid being criticized, or embarrassed by inconvenient questions about the public interests or about their public service .

We paid him, I'm guessing, $350 for his advice.

I have to "guess" because when I asked for any public record of the number of "education" tax dollars flowing through APS to Modrall every year; they did not surrender them. Not one.

The villain of the piece is still the Journal and its Managing Editor Kent Walz, a crony of Esquivel and Brooks', according to their and his relentless refusal to investigate and report upon
any of this.





Walz frame grab and photos Mark Bralley