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.