Busting Berry: He Spins ABQ Crime Numbers But FBI Report Shows Crime Has Increased Each Year Under His Watch, Plus: McCleskey Story Goes National On Fox, And Some Thursday Bottom Lines

Mayor Berry is playing the numbers game again--some might say shamelessly--by saying in his state of the city address that, "We just finished the five lowest crime rate years in modern city history...five years of the lowest crime rates in history."

Maybe Berry is so used to having anything he says go unchallenged by the media, the Democrats, the city council and his sycophants in the business community that he feels he can say anything. But the truth still matters. And in the chart posted here from the FBI's Uniform Crime Report it's clear to see that truth when it comes to the city's crime crisis. Total crime has escalated each year since Berry took office December 1, 2009.

Berry is a master at evading responsibility and his legally troubled political adviser Jay McCleskey is the acknowledged master of the half truth--keep saying it over and over again no matter the facts. It's only the perception that matters--not the truth.

So Mayor Berry, take a good, long look at this chart. As author Aldous Huxley said:
“Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored."

McCLESKEY GOES NATIONAL

Now more of the political coverage you will get only here but you're used to that .

The problems of Governor Martinez's top political adviser Jay McCleskey--the man known as the state's "Shadow Governor"--went national when Martinez was asked about his legal woes by Fox News' Bret Baier.

We did not see the interview and as of late Wednesday it was not yet posted on the Fox site. However, our Alligators who tuned in said Baier asked her about the federal grand jury criminal investigation of McCleskey that apparently involves campaign finance and other issues. She replied that she is a former prosecutor and was sure that McCleskey was not in trouble.

The hint of a possible scandal surrounding her was a blow to the two term governor's national image. She was also asked about speculation that she could win a place on the 2016 presidential ticket. She told the newsman: "I have not considered becoming vice-president."

We will work on getting a complete transcript as we continue to cover the big political story.

The McCleskey story has apparently not disrupted plans for Martinez to take over the chairmanship of the Republican Governors Association today in Las Vegas. That's where Fox interviewed her. Our Alligators report McCleskey is at the RGA meeting as is Danny Diaz, the campaign manager for Jeb Bush and a former top campaign aide to Martinez.

We half-joked on twitter that the RGA picking Martinez for the chairmanship is like picking up a ticking time bomb. You don't know when it's going to go off or if it's a dud.

ASK THE GUV

This seems like a pretty big story. Why isn't the Governor being asked about it directly?:

The state is proposing to pay as much as $10.3 million for a campus of aged office buildings in Albuquerque that – according to public documents on file with the federal Securities and Exchange Commission – sold seven months ago for $1.5 million. The administration of Gov. Martinez also has proposed spending another $18 million to $20 million to renovate the vacant buildings for the Children, Youth and Families Department and other state agencies that work with the same clientele.

Any political connections with this deal? Anyone asking?

STRONG PRESS

Our colleagues at the ABQ Free Press have put out an exceptionally strong edition this week, as you can see by the cover. It's now available at newsstands around the ABQ metro.

THE BOTTOM LINES 

Do three ABQ area state Senate Democrats--Ivey-Soto, Ortiz y Pino and Padilla--who at a recent news conference criticized Mayor Berry's performance in fighting crime--deserve some credit in getting him to move off the dime and craft a compromise over overdue police raises? Probably.

Isn't it ironic that KOB-TV is running a promotional campaign that asks viewers to "Stand Strong for NM" as the state explodes in criminality and one of its lead anchors--Nicole Brady--announces she is leaving the station and moving to Colorado, even though she has no job there? Well, as one of the Gators put it: "Nicole will be standing strong for New Mexico within the much safer, much friendlier, much more economically vibrant borders of Colorado." Hasta la vista, Nicole.

Is the green chile at Horseman's Haven on Cerrillos Road in Santa Fe the hottest in the state? After a recent visit we're voting "yes.". . . And how about a seafood restaurant that has only ho-hum seafood but steaks and prime rib that are first rate? That would be Pelicans on Montgomery in ABQ where they are serving up sumptuous USDA choice beef. . .

This is  it. . .

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2015