The joyous reaction of Dems to the selection of Paul Ryan as Romney's running mate--one NM Dem consultant called it a "glorious day"--may be overstated but it certainly is not the political elixir Heather Wilson needs to overtake Martin Heinrich in the race for the state's open US Senate seat.

Heather has made Heinrich's alleged "extremism" her lead message, but now the hard-right GOP agenda--the one that Heather has been running from all year--moves front and center. Not good when you are running up to five points behind in a Democratic dominated state.

Ryan's controversial stands on modifying Social Security and Medicare are well-known and are stands that Wilson has been hazy about. The Wisconsin Republican also calls for scaling back the entire federal government. The impact that would have on federally dependent New Mexico was the part of Heinrich's reaction to Romney's selection that grabbed our attention.

...The cuts imposed by the Ryan budget would not stop with Medicare. New Mexico’s national laboratories would be forced to accept decreased funding that would impede their essential missions and harm local economies. Funding for the Sandia and Los Alamos National Laboratories would be reduced by 10 percent and 17 percent, respectively. The effects would be detrimental to thousands of middle class families that rely on the laboratories as economic drivers.       

Support of the national defense and energy establishment here has been a mainstay for Heather, but Heinrich will work to make the Ryan budget the Wilson budget, giving him an opportunity to eat away at her base. Wilson's backing of the state's mammoth defense and nuclear energy establishments has been unquestioned--until now. She will now be playing defense on the one major issue she has been on the offense.

Wilson's image as a moderate Republican was the reason the GOP intellegentsia settled on her--and not Lt. Gov. John Sanchez--as the GOP Senate choice this year, but the radical Republicans keep pushing--and they are helping to push Heather Wilson over the cliff.

RUNNING FROM RYAN

Heather had this to say about Ryan's selection as VP:

I admire his willingness to put forth bold ideas on the biggest issues facing our nation, even if I don’t always agree with him. I look forward to seeing Gov. Romney’s plan to address these very important issues....

Talk about being between a rock and a hard place. If Wilson separates herself too much from Ryan, she takes a hit with her own party. If she snuggles up to him, the election will be lost as she is branded a radical Republican budget cutter. It's like trying to dance on the head of a needle.

ABQ GOP congressional candidate Janice Arnold-Jones was also engaging in operation separation when it came to Ryan. She said:

I believe that this will be a good thing for the state of New Mexico. A little frightening on the lab side, but I intend to go and advocate for the state of New Mexico."

Say what, Janice? Ryan will be a "good thing" for New Mexico, but his selection as VP for Romney is "frightening" when it comes to funding the national labs?

Well, it seems Heather and Janice are sharing space between that rock and a hard place.

SLIPPING 

The situation remains urgent for Heather, who must keep the race on the national radar in order to keep momentum from slipping too far toward Heinrich and to keep her money machine moving. It's getting more difficult. In DC, analyst Stu Rothenberg says this state's Senate race could be slip, sliding away:

Right now, control of the Senate appears to rest on the outcomes in five states--four of them held by Democrats--Montana, North Dakota, Virginia and Wisconsin--and one of them by a Republican-- Massachusetts. Assuming that Republicans take the Nebraska and Missouri Senate seats and Democrats finally win back a Senate seat in Maine, the GOP will need to win four of the five seats that will decide control of the Senate for two more years. Other seats certainly could be in the mix - Florida and Nevada look the most likely--but the five states now seem to be the most likely to determine control. And strategists on both sides of the aisle have a harder time imagining Ohio, New Mexico, Hawaii, Indiana or Arizona flipping parties...

A LITTLE BREAK

Heather gets a little break from the news that conservative independent US Senate candidate Jon Barrie, who we recently wrote up here, will apparently not be on the November ballot after all:

A “data error” in the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office disqualified two minor party candidates from the ballot this week...Republican Secretary of State Dianna Duran disqualified...Independent American Party US Senate Candidate Jon Barrie earlier this month...

Barrie's attorney emails in that he is appealing the denial to the State Supreme Court.

NMFA SCANDAL

Reader reaction comes to the auditing scandal at the New Mexico Finance Authority that has rocked the Martinez administration:

Amazing to see Rick May put on leave at the New Mexico Finance Authority (NMFA).  He was an experienced DC hand and really one of the few seemingly stable, knowledgeable people on the Martinez team. Also, he was a favorite of (GOP US Senate candidate) Heather and (former GOP US Senator) Pete Domenici.

The story at NMFA, I think, is that the Legislature keeps expanding their mission way beyond their capabilities. They're handling millions without the checks and balances that are required of, for instance, a federal agency.

That we are getting constant national headlines about our failures can't be helping our economic development, tourism, convention business, etc..

Also, it's fun to imagine what people (especially Governor Martinez) would be saying about this scandal if Bill Richardson was still around. They don't seem to be too upset about it these days...

Reader Bob Anderson gets in these jabs over the NMFA scandal:

During many elections--both local and statewide--we are told that the GOP will run "Government like a Business." Now this old clinker really rattles around with the NMFA fiasco. Because that's exactly what Gov. Martinez and crew have done--they are running government like a business! Just like those banks that are too big to fail. Creative accounting comes to New Mexico thanks to the GOP.

But reader Mark Valenzuela, Vice-President of George K. Baum & Company, an investment banking firm, says the state needs to get NMFA out of the banking business and look to the private sector:

Your Senior Alligator suggested that the construction industry will be further stymied by the NMFA's inability to finance larger bond deals. There is a competitive private sector market In New Mexico that will absorb those bond deals easily, and despite the statements that the interest costs will prevent the deal from getting done, those deals will likely price right where NMFA would have priced them. And frankly, if the interest cost is the obstacle, then there is something fundamentally wrong with that construction project.

NMFA is a government bank, supported with taxpayer dollars. The low interest rates offered to NM communities that your reference are artificially set low by NMFA, and are lower than what it costs them to borrow money from the capital markets. To make this all work, this Government Bank (NMFA) collects $25 million of taxpayer dollars to cover the difference....

The policy conversation I would appreciate you having with your Alligators is "why is NMFA participating in a competitive private market"? Everyone in New Mexico talks about expanding our private sector, but then they say nothing when a Government Bank ($8 million operations budget) lures infrastructure financing away from private sector bankers with the promise of low interest rates, without explaining how they are able to offer below market rates. 

That's some meaty food for an Alligator discussion, Mark....

ON THE TRAIL

Heinrich

We're back on the campaign trail for another of those frenetic three month runs until Election Night, covering the 2012 race to fill the US Senate seat being vacated by Jeff Bingaman.

We took this pic Friday night at a backyard party for Dem Senate contender Martin Heinrich hosted by former Attorney General Partricia Madrid and husband Mike Messina. In the background is special guest and New York Democratic US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. She went to the Senate from the US House via gubernatorial appointment in 2009. She is running for the seat this year and is heavily favored to win.

The political crowds these days seem to feature as many candidates as "civilians." Among those attending Madrid's Friday night soiree were ABQ District Court Judge candidates Ben Chavez and Brianna Zamora. Both are current ABQ Metro Court judges. Former Mayor Jim Baca was also on hand, snapping pics for his blog as was blogger and architect Mary Ellen Broderick, a Democrat running against Rep. Nate Gentry for the state House in the NE Heights of ABQ.

As for Heinrich's mood at this point, he's touting the polls that show him ahead, but nervously looking in the rearview mirror. One big mistake and he knows this campaign could reverse course. For him, the eightysomething days until the election must seem like 80 years.

LITTLE JOE

In his stump speech Heinrich mentions that he hopes to follow in a long line of legendary New Mexico Democratic US Senators, including Bingaman, Clinton P. Anderson and Dennis Chavez. He does not mention Joe Montoya, the Democratic Senator who was defeated in his bid for re-election in 1976 by astronaut Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.

 "Little Joe," as he was known, served from 1964 until that '76 loss. He does not make the "best" list of NM US Senators, but we remember him well. The '76 US Senate campaign was the first US Senate race we covered and it made quite the impression. It was the first time we flew in an airplane, a single engine job, buffeted by high winds as we made our way to Roswell.

At the end of each campaign day spent with Joe there were ample glasses of Jack Daniels to accompany the tales of New Mexico politics he told to legendary Associated Press reporter Bill Feather. 

Montoya was a political prodigy who was elected to the state House in 1936 at the age of 21 and climbed rapidly to the top of the political ladder. But he loved his wine, women and song as much as his politics. It was a meteoric rise and a steep descent. We announced his death from liver disease on June 8, 1978. He was only 62.

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We dig writing the blog from A to Z, but there's so much informative and insider stuff coming to us from our emailers lately that we have no choice but to give it up to them. So here we go....

Exactly what does the audit scandal at the New Mexico Finance Authority mean to the state's economy and the daily lives of Mr. & Mrs. New Mexico? We haven't really seen it summed up anywhere--until now. A Senior Alligator with a background in these matters comes with the explanation in a nutshell:

The state's construction industry will further dry up. Already the NMFA has cancelled a $40 million bond issue for statewide infrastructure improvements, and will probably not issue, or seriously delay, the $100 million dollar issue scheduled for later this fall. 

The NMFA has cancelled the Framing the Future conference previously scheduled for September. That means that the NMFA has nothing to offer the counties, cities, and Indian tribes and is essentially throwing in the towel on future infrastructure. Couple that with Moody's and Standard and Poor's placement of NMFA on possible (read probable) downgrade and one can assume that a drop from current AAA rating on bonds will drop significantly, meaning that interest rates will gobble up a much larger share of public financing, leaving less for job-creating projects. 

Couple this scenario with the Governor's killing of the $250 Million capital outlay bill in her first legislative session and her bungling of the capital bills in the 2011 session and the result is at least a half a billion dollar hit on the economy.

Okay, that's the economic impact. Now how about some good old-fashioned finger pointing? We jabbed at State Auditor Hector Balderas--as did the newspaper--for not being ahead of the curve on NMFA's fraudulent audit, but it is the Governor, says our Senior Gator, who must shoulder most of the blame:

The buck stops at the Governor's office. No matter how much finger pointing is going on, the NMFA is controlled by Martinez appointees. The Board includes four members of her cabinet, some of whom attended very few meetings. Furthermore, she changed almost all the other members so that 8 out of 11 NMFA board members are her appointees. The Board failed badly in its fiduciary responsibilities. The President of the NMFA, Richard May, is her designate as well.

The Governor's first NMFA Chair unfortunately resigned, and now we have Nann Winter, wife of ABQ City Councilor Brad Winter, as her replacement. Is she up to the task? Where were the cabinet secretaries, the chief of staff, the political advisers, and indeed, the Governor when they should have been competently minding this very vital state resource? 

The NMFA has had a proud 20 year history, under Democratic and Republican Governors. It is sad to see the agency crippled. The construction industry and New Mexico's already anemic economy will suffer the consequences.

And that's how you cut to the chase. Balderas takes a minor hit for not being out in front, but the ultimate responsibility rests on the Fourth Floor of the Roundhouse. And that's why we have Senior Alligators--they specialize in the unvarnished truth--no matter what political party is helped or hurt by it. Did we say it's also the stuff you won't get anywhere else?

A timeline on the NMFA scandal is here. AP coverage is here. TV news comes with the interview of one of those arrested.

EMAILGATE

Then there's that other scandal hanging in the air--emailgate. To say that Michael Corwin of the union-funded Independent Source PAC has been leading the charge on this is an understatement of the first order. He's been like Javert in Les Misérables--relentlessly tracking his prey. And the Republicans have taken notice, repeatedly branding Corwin, a veteran private investigator, as a paid political hack and doing their best to undermine the stories that he and the PAC have continually produced and that have been picked up by the the media.

This week the R's slammed Attorney General Gary King as a union-financed political attack dog for Corwin and company and said emailgate is politically motivated nonsense. King did not respond, but Corwin did:

The Public Education Department (PED) had all the email addresses it needed to reach its licensees and therefore had no reason to try to create a list using its staff and computers to comb outside resources. PED has every right to use the emails of its licensees that it collected through the licensing process in order to communicate with the licensees. Even if it is to send licensees a newsletter. But PED knew that (Gov. Martinez political adviser) Jay McCleskey did not have that same right. So they created this list using government employees on government computers spent combing non-PED websites for days during government business hours just to get McCleskey a list he could access.

PED Secretary Skandera and others involved are in serious trouble. Republican efforts to bully King will not change that.

Well, we'll see how much trouble anyone is in as this goes forward.

Will there be any more emails from ISPAC hitting the streets of communications among senior Martinez staffers using private email accounts as they did in the PED case? The short answer is yes.

PERA PAIN

A reader writes of our discussion this week of PERA and the proposed reforms to the retirement plan for state workers:

Your comparing the unpaid portion of a mortgage with the unfunded liability of a pension is devoid of any understanding of the underlying economics. In a mortgage, a borrower has use of his purchase, but acquires complete ownership over time as the mortgage is paid from money earned or acquired by the borrower. In a pension benefit, the beneficiary, their employer, and earnings on the corpus combine to pay a benefit some time in the future. Therefore, unless the liability due the beneficiary is reduced by some means, the beneficiary will necessarily receive less than his expectation or possibly even nothing. You fail to understand that the unfunded liability is owed to the present beneficiaries who hope to collect some time in the future.

We disagree. We don't see the "unfunded liability" as having to apply much to present state workers because the fund has a robust balance of $11 billion. Also, PERA itself says the burden of its reforms would be placed mostly on future retirees.

One more on this from reader Robert Pacacioz:

Joe, thanks for standing up for us and speaking the truth about the "working class." I am now "retired" but still fighting for "our rights." Thanks again for saying, standing up, and doing the right things for us New Mexicans.

CONVENTION CORNER

Lockett & Berry

Our continuing coverage of the economic slump has included the goings on--or lack of them--at the ABQ Convention and Visitors Bureau. One of the Alligators recently analyzed that ACVB has been offering excuses for 15 years for not getting its act together in attracting conventions to the downtown convention center. ACVB President and CEO Dale Lockett comes with the counterpoint:

Joe, we thought it would be useful for your readers to have some of the real facts regarding Albuquerque's convention business and the results of ACVB's efforts.

Fiscal Year 2012 Convention Center bookings saw a 171% increase over the previous year, bringing in over $35 million in future direct spending to the city. This is a level of bookings that we have not enjoyed since 2002--not a bad statement to be able to make as we still deal with the uncertain economic climate. Overall, convention bookings throughout the city saw a 29% increase in hotel room night usage. And that is on top of 2011 numbers posting an increase of 6% in attendance and 3% increase in hotel room nights.

Our destination marketing efforts are stronger than ever with aggressive campaigns producing strong results...Incidentally, ACVB’s contract does go out to bid, and we were the only responder in 2010.  That is because our 501c6 model was specifically constructed to do this work, and almost 70% of cities across the country use this model.

Your alligator’s accusation that we have been blaming situations for the last 15 years is puzzling.  It would be hard to refute that the tragic events of 9/11 not only had a profound impact on the travel and tourism industry in New Mexico but throughout the entire world.  It would also be hard to ignore the significant Native American resort development in the Central Rio Grande corridor and its effect on hotel and convention business in Albuquerque. These resorts are gorgeous assets for the tribes and the state...

Anyone that has been to the Convention Center knows that it is in dire need of updates in order to be competitive. Mayor Berry recognizes that need and has made a commitment of $20 million in renovations as a result of refinancing the bonds on the Center. This will be the first significant improvement since 1991.

Lodgers tax hasn’t fallen off a cliff. In fact, it is only down by 1.4% year over year. And the $700K deficit is due to the city replenishing its reserve funds this year--and thankfully our organization was financially strong enough to endure the reduction...

The convention and tourism industry is complex and competitive. And it is a critical economic engine for Albuquerque and New Mexico--so important that having serious dialogue about its future should be a top priority for city and state leaders...

And for those who missed it, here is the comment that set off the discussion:

It's total farce. ACVB is always in the middle of regrouping, revamping, reinvigorating, reforming and/or repackaging their marketing effort. 15 years ago they were blaming the tribal casinos for the decline in Lodger's Tax revenues. 10 years ago it was 9-11.  Five years ago it was because the Convention Center is outdated/hasn't had enough money spent on it...Until ACVB is put out for competitive bid--and an open and honest competition--nothing will change. The only thing we can count on from them are mediocre efforts, anemic results, squandered millions, a bottomless sense of entitlement--and the same dog-eared excuses we've been hearing for almost two decades. 

NEW LOOP NEEDED

Joe

Yet another Senior Gator on the blog today? We're honored. This one is on the recent redistricting which turned into an $8 million financial folly:

Joe, After two failed efforts, its time to take the Legislature and the Guv out of the loop and implement a citizen commission to do the job of resdistricting. The process failed in 2001 and again in 2011. Taxpayers paid the bill for the lawmakers' intransigence and their failure to produce final version agreeable to all parties. Governors Johnson and Martinez share equal blame with Democratic legislative leaders on these failures.

Yep--$8 million bucks to the lawyers for a job that could be done for a fraction of that by a commission. But it only happens every ten years so how soon we forget the folly....

We know that Martinez Chief of Staff Keith Gardner and Jay McCleskey will choke on their breakfast burritos if they read this--but the above Senior Gator placing blame for a problem on both political parties is yet another example of how New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan is an equal opportunity employer. We look at the issues from every angle--not a pre-formed political perspective. We're tough, fair, independent and accurate. And when we make a mistake we admit it. That's why we're New Mexico's #1 political web site--year after year. And that's also why.....

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Let's end this hot August week by checking in on the latest congressional action...

Jon Barela, the 2010 ABQ GOP congressional candidate and current state economic development director, comes with this endorsement for 2012 ABQ GOP congressional hopeful Janice Arnold-Jones:

The challenges for job creation in New Mexico stem from the out-of-control spending in Washington coupled with uncertain taxes and burdensome taxes imposed on job creators. We need leaders in Washington who understand these challenges, and have the experience and integrity to overcome them.

So the jobless recovery in New Mexico is all Washington's fault, even as every western state that surrounds us experience job gains? Geez, glad to have that cleared up, Jon.

IS HE EXTREME?

NM GOP US Senate candidate Heather Wilson is also blaming our state's economic woes on Washington, and more specifically placing that blame on the shoulders of her Dem foe and Senate front-runner Martin Heinrich. In her latest attack ad Heather tries again to bring Heinrich down from his perch--this time for his vote against the keystone pipeline, saying "extremists like Heinrich stand in the way while New Mexico leads the nation in job losses...Heinrich puts his left-wing politics first before creating jobs. That's too extreme for New Mexico.."

You gotta give Heather's producers credit. They are doing all they can with the thin gruel they are working with. Wilson's opposition research on Heinrich has yet to come with something that would really make average voters think Heinrich is "extreme." As we've said before, no doubt the focus groups show this line of attack can deliver rewards--if you have strong evidence. Wilson does not--at least not yet.

All the negative ads should, however, keep Heinrich in place--just below the magic 50% level. His own campaign is refusing to engage Wilson in the TV wars. He is not responding to the negative ads paid for her by her campaign, What he is doing is getting cutesy in his latest TV effort. The ABQ congressman says he has five reasons why he "has not gone Washington," including the fact that he comes home nearly every weekend and that he sleeps on a camping mat on his office, foregoing a Washington apartment.

The producers actually show the mat, which looks clean enough, but is he going to tote that thing over to the US Senate if he beats Heather? Hey, Martin, as the kids say, "Get a room already..."

MAY DAY 

Rick May

As a Senior Alligator pointed out here Thursday, the blame for the New Mexico Finance Authority scandal rests with the Governor who appoints most of its members. Hours later the Martinez administration had one of its rare political casualties as news hit the wires that the authority is now in the process of firing director Rick May:

Board chairwoman Nann Winter said the decision to suspend May represented a vote of no-confidence in his management of the authority. Winter said the board decided "we needed to change the direction of that organization immediately as well as address the arrest." She said "clearly, there is a responsibility on Mr. May's part in what has transpired to date." The board's decision is likely the first step toward firing May and Duff or pressuring them to resign.

It's a hard fall for May who was a Martinez golden boy when she won election in November 2010 and her transition team announce he would be the secretary of the powerful Department of Finance and administration. Back then, they said:

“May has led a respected and accomplished career that includes working for Sandia National Laboratories as a manager, serving as chief appropriations and tax analyst for the Republican caucus in the New Mexico House of Representatives, and operating as a policy director for Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP, as well as a principal at Davidson & Company, Inc.”

May didn't last long at DFA or NMFA and now La Politica says he is DOA. Hasta la vista, Rick, and don't bother calling Susana. She thanks you for your service.

THE AROMA

The NMFA scandal is #2 that has reached the doorstep of the Guv. The first being emailgate. Santa Fe is starting to get that aroma again---isn't it?

PERA PAIN

Another angle today on our debate over reforming PERA--the retirement plan for state employees. Retired APD Seargent Dan Klein writes:

What about the 1,200 double dippers in PERA?  The public has spoken loudly and clearly that they wanted double dipping ended.  The legislature repealed double dipping but allowed those already in to continue.  This is 1,200 jobs for vets, promotions for current workers and just plan jobs for those unemployed.  Why haven't we heard from the legislature and governor on sunsetting these folks?  Taking 1,200 New Mexicans off the unemployment line would be a good start.

Also, I retired at age 40 after twenty years of service at APD.  I greatly appreciate the retirement, but the math doesn't make sense.  If I live to 80, I will have been retired, and drawing a full pension from PERA for 40 years, yet I only worked (and paid into the fund) for 20 years.  No retirement plan can afford this.  I do believe future hires (don't change things for people already hired) should have to work to a minimum age before retirement.  I don't think public safety employees working to age 50 and all others working to age 55 or 60, before retirement is too great to ask and good for the fund and taxpayer. It would cut the cost of PERA for the future and retain smarter workers, instead of losing them at the height of their career.

The double-dippers of the past seem to have divine protection. That is an area ripe for reform. Also, a minimum age requirement for public safety retirees probably isn't too far away or an increase in time served before they can take retirement. State employees--excluding public safety--now have to work 30 years--instead of 25 to get retirement checks.

THE BOTTOM LINES

A reader writes

In Thursday's blog under EMAILGATE you write "He's been like Jean Valjean in Les Misérables--relentlessly tracking his prey." I like the simile, but I think you mean Inspector Javert rather than Jean Valjean.

Well, we've seen the movie, but apparently need to go to the musical....

That's it for this week. Thanks for stopping by.

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan

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Berry & Schultz

Once again the Albuquerque Police Department has jumped the tracks, with another sensational police abuse case that undermines the morale and perception of the department and could cost the city serious money as it inevitably makes its way through the courts.

This is the latest in a long line--a very long line--of abuse cases, police shootings (there have been 25 officer-involved shootings--17 fatal--since 2010) and other astonishing indiscretions at the troubled APD.

The latest case:

The video shows the man lying on the ground on his stomach with his hands behind his back. “I surrender,” the suspect says on the video. Officer Ronald Surran then steps on the man’s head while Rice hits the man’s upper body three times. The two officers slap each other high-fives after the suspect is handcuffed, according to the video.

Yet ABQ Mayor Richard Berry--despite the contrary position of law enforcement experts--some of whom you will read here today--continues to maintain these incidents are somehow isolated:

The mayor said the May incident does not, however, “point to a systemic problem within the department.”

But even Berry must see the clouds darkening by now (over the weekend a couple of disparate groups made TV news asking that he be recalled). In this quote he actually mentions bringing in the Feds to investigate the latest police abuse case:

“I believe the incident needs to be investigated by law enforcement, the DA and potentially the US Attorney’s Office,” Berry said. “There is zero tolerance for this type of behavior within the department. When individual incidents such as this happen it reflects poorly on all other officers who are following procedures and keeping our community safe.”

Critics have been pounding the table for the Department of Justice to get its boots on and get down here and help clean up the mess. Maybe Berry secretly would like them to come because he and Rob Perry, his chief administrative officer, seem constitutionally incapable of making the tough personnel decisions that are needed to restore the integrity of the department and protect the reputations of the great majority of the department staff that work hard to keep the city safe.

After more than seven years of repeated and pained explanations, stonewalling and dodging, ABQ Police Chief Ray Schultz resembles the guy in the circus who follows the elephant around and cleans up the mess. And surely it is a rogue elephant in charge of the police department in the state's largest city, not Chief Schultz.

The destructive culture that has caused the nervous breakdown at APD now runs riot and is a stain on the city's national standing and its ability to foster economic development.

The see-no-evil leaders of the business community, the asleep-at-the-switch City Council and the look-the-other-way Mayor are all responsible. And so are the mainstream media that refuses to call for a complete house cleaning at the department.

Where, oh where, has the leadership gone in our beloved River City--and in Washington DC where the Department of Justice resides?

MORE ON THIS

We pass the baton to retired APD captain David Gilmore:

Sometime, somehow, APD has fallen to the wayside since Schultz took the helm. Schultz and his command staff have instilled a culture of vindictive discipline. This in turn has yielded a department of officers that do nothing proactive for fear of a citizen’s complaint and the chief’s resultant vindictive discipline. He and his command staff have failed to instill both individual and departmental discipline. How hard can it be to train an officer to treat the good citizens the way they would  want to be treated and the  many bad subcultures of society in a manner consistent with the “use of  force continuum”?

YET ANOTHER

No systemic problem, Mayor? Yet another APD problem breaks:

An Albuquerque Police Department sergeant found video from a stun-gun incident so disturbing she asked APD brass for an internal investigation, according to a memo obtained by KRQE News 13. Sgt. Cassandra Kukowski wrote the memo on June 1 addressed to her supervisors and APD's Internal Affairs Unit. In it she asked them to investigate a possible use of excessive force by Officer Connor Rice at the scene of a domestic-violence call two days earlier....

Maybe the Mayor and CAO need some help. Here it is: You fire the police chief, you appoint an interim chief and you launch a national search for a new chief with the requirement that he clean house and bring in new leadership. No charge for that, Mayor. We're all in this together,

MEDIA BASHING

And then there's the chief's media bashing. The news:

As part of its investigation, APD detectives sought an interview with KRQE reporter Kim Holland, who had filed the first IPRA request for the video. Attorney Marty Esquivel wrote in a letter to the City Attorney’s Office that APD’s requests to interview Holland were “retaliatory in nature and grossly inappropriate.”

And the reader reaction:

Chief Schultz's attack on the news media for demanding a public record, is cause for concern. Chief Schultz's attitude and actions regarding public records requests, that possibly show him and his department doing wrong, is shameful. His opinion that the media is just striving for a "gotcha" moment just shows that he is all about appearances. When he and his department look bad, instead of thanking the media for bringing it to their attention, he turns and blames them. It took weeks to release these lapel cameras, and this was done only after the media sued in court. Yet it took less than 24 hours for the Chief to release video of the latest police shooting. Spin Spin Spin.

And regardless what the motive for a public records request is, the chief should follow the law and just release the records. The chief is the top dog and when he shows disdain for our laws, make no mistake that this message is sounded loud and clear to the rank and file officers. 

It was back in July 2011 when we blogged of the outrageous news conference conducted by Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry as he tried to intimidate the press into backing off from covering the troubles of Public Safety Officer Darren White. It didn't work. White was forced out.

The chief's assault on the media is yet another sign that he has lost command and control of his department and is beholden to the aforementioned culture and its renegade personnel that now run the show. The stakes are high. A thorough federal investigation of this department would reveal matters that would make a sewer system smell like a rose. (Mary Han, anyone?)

SOMETHING NEW NEEDED

And here's retired APD Seargent Dan Klein, a regular contributor on these matters and who has a good as reason as anyone to be getting blue in the face waiting for the clean-up of APD to begin:

I figured out why New Mexico is in the mess it now finds itself in. No accountability for the big dogs. We have all seen Rob Perry or Governor Martinez on TV showing video tape of some low level government worker getting caught doing something wrong or illegal. They pound their drums to let all of us good taxpayers know they are looking out for us. But are they? What about when it comes to their political good old boys in high  positions?

Case 1--Chief Ray Schultz. He has overseen a police department that above all other problems has lost the taxpayers of Albuquerque over $30,000,000 (from the Albuquerque Journal), yet Mayor Berry does not replace him.

Case 2--Mark Sanchez, executive director of the Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority. He has overseen the reduction of the Water Authority Bond rating from AAA to AA (again Albuquerque Journal).  This will probably cost the ratepayers millions in higher interest payments for future bonds. Yet Mayor Berry and the other members of the Water Authority Board do not replace him.

Case 3--The New Mexico Finance Authority. The fake audit has resulted in Wall Street putting NMFA on notice that we may be paying higher interest rates to float our bonds. When members of the NMFA were asked about it some responded that they didn't even review the fake audit. If they had they would have seen they were quoted for comments never spoken, at meetings that never took place. Yet Governor Martinez has not announced that the nine members she appoints are being replaced for this total failure to do their jobs.

What is the  common denominator? All three comprise long time New Mexico government    workers. Most have been here well over 20 to 30 years working at different levels of government. Politicos and political favors are costing taxpayers millions. We need new ideas and new people.

SENIOR ALLIGATOR ANALYSIS

And finally, Berry's political situation laid bare as only a Senior Alligator can do. Sit tight in your saddle, here comes the stuff that you can't and won't get anywhere else:

Berry and GOP political adviser Jay McCleskey both know the mayor's poll numbers are soft and could be knocked down 20 points overnight with any serious attack on Berry's record. In addition to being vulnerable on jobs and the economy, Berry also has PR problems with all the officer involved shootings. If he has to get rid of Chief Schultz it would represent the second major scandal involving Berry's picks to run APD. The first was McCleskey's good friend Darren White who received a no-confidence vote from the APD rank and file as Chief Public Safety Officer then was forced out from that position in disgrace after his wife was involved in a one-vehicle traffic accident that White improperly involved himself in. 

Schultz--the only prominent holdover from the Chavez Administration--was kept on in 2009 at the urging of White and has had what can at best be described as a sub-standard tenure. The fact that the Dept of Justice may step in and take over the department (and Berry has had to fight that action) tells you everything you need to know about what's really going on at APD. Regardless, the buck stops with Berry. He's the mayor, these are his picks and he's the one who will have to defend them at election time. Right now it's clear his defense strategy is to circle the wagons. We'll see if it works.

FROM EL PASO CITY

In El Paso there's also citizens unrest, but of a different sort a different sort

A group of protesters who are upset at the way the City Council approved building a $50 million Downtown baseball stadium plan to "Occupy City Hall" beginning on Monday. They also vowed to start a new petition to get the council to put its decision on hold. The protesters, calling themselves the Quality of Life Voters for Democracy, will be at City Hall from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday to collect signatures to put a proposal on a May ballot asking that all quality-of-life actions, such as the stadium, be decided in an election. 

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(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2012
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