That's a good idea when your public information officer pulled down an over-the-top $191,000 in annual pay, thanks to a boatload of questionable overtime. But then pampered public safety officials have learned there's not much consequence to their in-your-face overtime abuse. 

Remember APD's Simon Drobik, the "robocop" who for years was among the highest paid city employees and who made $193,000 in 2018 by reporting he was in two places at one time? An internal APD investigation said he was engaged in rampant fraud but the city and AG Balderas ultimately looked the other way. Drobik resigned and nothing came of it. 

Now it appears that under Chief Gallegos APD's bad habits have spread to the fire department, a job he was appointed to only in 2021 but now appears to be getting the mayoral boot in an effort to put out the overtime blaze that erupted on his watch. 

That blaze not only includes the $193K for the PIO, who is also a paramedic, but the $235,000 pulled down by AFD's Clinton Anderson, making him the highest paid employee in the city, thanks to massive overtime. In fact, AFD had over 50 of the highest paid employees of the top 250 on the city payroll while APD had 143 of them.

Police and fire personnel not only account for the overwhelming majority of the city’s highest paid employees, thanks primarily to overtime, but many are more than doubling their base pay. 

In 2021 State Auditor Colón completed the seventh APD overtime investigation in seven years and was greeted with a yawn. Before him Auditor Tim Keller got the same treatment and now as mayor presides over a mid-management overtime cancer in APD that has spread to AFD. 

Now it lands in the lap of new Auditor Joseph Maestas, if he can muster the muscle to shove back against an old boys network that leans on a public too willing to label them "heroes." And the city auditor (who's that?) should get complimentary smelling salts if needed to be awakened. 

AFD Chief Jaramillo

Sky high overtime for public safety employees has come to be seen as an entitlement. It gets a wink and a nod from this administration and city council and the ones before it. Never mind that police and fire are pulling down darn good salaries thanks to a tax increase and regular "no questions asked" budget increases. 

And AFD has been a traditionally easy beat for ABQ firefighters, if not the paramedics, with generous retirement and pay packages. 

It appears that under Chief Gallegos the overtime fire was jumping the containment line and engulfing AFD. Now it is hoped his exit will extinguish the blaze. 

It would be appropriate to say nice things about the retiring chief and his 23 years of mostly distinguished public service but the city has already done that in a lengthy love note as they held the exit door open for him. We get the "undistinguished" stuff.  

Now comes the new chief, Deputy Chief Emily Jaramillo, who we dutifully note will be the first woman to lead the department when confirmed by the city council. Bully for her. But it's not a gender gap that we have at the ABQ Fire Department, it's a credibility gap. 

Check it out, Chief Emily. Just don't charge us overtime.