Friday, May 29, 2015Remembering The Black Rose, Getting Mad At Gary King And Not Even A Call; Dr. No's Romance With GOP Ends Via News Release
Violent crime shot up 14 percent in Albuquerque in 2014 – the second consecutive year the Duke City has had an increase – and reached its highest mark since 2007, according to the Albuquerque Police Department’s annual report. Okay, we're not Baltimore, but were not Mayberry RFD either. A troubled police department is not only of our times. Remember the "Black Rose" incident from the 80's? A Senior Alligator recounts the interesting history: There was a huge story in the late 1980's. APD union lobbyists left on the desk of then-State Rep. Cisco McSorley a black rose and a cartoon with a figure of a person with a knife in the back and the notation "thank you for all your support." The cops were being paid by the city for doing union business while lobbying in Santa Fe and were mad at Cisco for voting against legislation they wanted passed. The union claimed it was a joke. The ABQ Journal and ABQ Tribune went ballistic. After an investigation the cops were suspended without pay and the City Council enacted ordinances prohibiting union lobbying on city time and also enacted the Independent Council ordinance establishing civilian police oversight of APD for the first time in Albuquerque's history. The difference between then and now is how swiftly the problem was dealt with. McSorley is now an ABQ state senator. MAD AT GARY Reader Michael Baca is upset with former NM attorney general and '14 Dem Guv nominee Gary King: Are you aware that Gary King) has taken a job on the board of directors of one of the payday lenders? He has. Think Finance, Rise Credit, Money Mutual--they are all one company that Gary King joined a short time ago. Think Finance is the back office servicer for every other payday lender's 600% loans. What a great champion for the poor he is. All that talk about the struggling working families during his campaign. Now I understand why he never laid a glove on the payday lenders when he was the attorney general. Cha-ching! King said in a company news release: During my time as Attorney General, I worked in several areas related to consumer issues and I have always had a keen interest in financial services," King said. "As such, I am pleased to be serving on the Board of Directors so that I can lend my knowledge and experience to Think Finance. A move to cap the interest rates charged by payday loan stores failed at the last session of the Legislature. NO MORE WALTZES
Former fiscally conservative State Senator John Arthur Smith showed how over two decades in Santa Fe can make someone out of touch with their constituents. In the middle of this past legislative session, Senator Smith advocated for higher gas taxes as a gimmick to pay for infrastructure projects. Higher gas taxes only mean one thing: higher prices at the pump. Smith's fall from GOP grace comes as the R's prep for the '16 election and try to turn the Senate majority Republican. Condolences, John, but you'll always have Mary Kay. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author
Thursday, May 28, 2015Gaming Some Guv Angles, A Memorable TV Ad, Over Analyzing Rio Rancho And Our Bottom Lines And if you are ABQ Dem Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham angling for that far away '18 race for governor, aren't you thinking about that ethics hit you took and how it plays into further ambitions? Not reporting gifts of expensive carpets because you did not think they were particularly valuable, were "unattractive" and "not a carpet I would have purchased" is the kind of catnip producers of those prime time political ads dine on. Speaking of ads: The never-ending political cycle is already producing memorable TV ads. At least that's the view of the WaPo's Chris Cilizza who ranks one from Republican Senator Mark Kirk as among the best: Want to see a terrific political ad? Spend 60 seconds watching this commercial--the first of Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk's (R) 2016 reelection bid. The ad tells the story of a stroke Kirk suffered in early 2012, barely two years after he was first elected to the Senate. NOMINATIONS OPEN The floor is no open for nominations for the "Worst Ideas So Far Of 2015." Our runaway favorite nominee is the idea of electing the ABQ police chief. Yours? WORTH A SHOT? What do you think? Is a constitutional amendment that would let us take $100 million a year for 10 years from the state's $17 billion Permanent Fund for very early childhood (ages zero to five) worth a shot to address this problem and many more? . . . University of New Mexico researchers. . . presented a survey administered to more than 1,300 Native Americans from seven New Mexico communities. The survey asked people about their exposure to adverse childhood experiences like problems with alcohol and physical violence at home, separated or divorced parents, a close family member serving time in jail, physical abuse, neglect, and sexual abuse. The numbers were off the scale. Twenty-nine percent of those surveyed had been exposed to four or more of those experiences as children. But even that number might be low. Since the surveys were conducted face-to-face, researchers say they assumed that some were reluctant or embarrassed to keep answering “yes” to the questions. OVER ANALYZING?
Comparing Albuquerque with Baltimore and Chicago is outrageous. It's ridiculous given the 29 shootings there--9 of them fatal--over the Memorial Day weekend. It's one thing to point out facts--it's another to make totally false comparisons. We didn't intend such a comparison, only that "shocking" crimes like the fatal officer shooting in Rio Rancho and teenage boys being gunned down in multiple numbers in the streets of Baltimore and Chicago seem to be escalating. Reader Alan Wagman came with this: Joe, Your blog refers to an escalation of shocking crimes, apparently based upon events of one weekend. While any murder is a murder too many, one should not draw conclusions from one weekend. Murder rates in the U.S. are down to historically low levels. Firearms-related deaths of law enforcement officers from January 1, 2015 through May 26, 2015 are down 11% from the same period last year. For long-term trends on firearms-related deaths of law enforcement officers, see this. On another topic reader John Ingram writes: After more than a decade of corporate income tax cuts, corporate tax credits, various tax giveaways (TIDDS), ABQ is still going nowhere. Claw-back the aforementioned tax revenues and invest the millions of public taxpayer dollars in new infrastructure. This will create jobs, stimulate demand, and increase consumer spending on a scale which will eventually make ABQ "attractive" to commerce. All else has proven fruitless. THE BOTTOM LINES Reader, attorney and armchair historian Foster Hannett writes: Senator Clinton P. Anderson's sole surviving child, Nancy Anderson Roberts, has passed away at her home in Albuquerque. Also, a former administrative assistant to Senator Anderson, Richard "Dick" Heim, passed away in Albuquerque recently. He headed up the NM Department of Health or Human Services in the administrations of Governors Bruce King and Jerry Apodoca. They both lived interesting lives and were well-known in political circles across the state. . . . This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author
Wednesday, May 27, 2015Tragedy In Rio Rancho, Plus: Housing Booms Across State Line And Early Candidate Announcements Start Rolling In The ABQ area is far from alone in seeing shocking crimes escalate. Witness the outbreak of murders in Chicago and Baltimore over the holiday weekend. Compared to other democratic societies ours has a much greater tolerance for violence. That's no secret and it again prompts what seems like an ancient series of questions as to why. A blog reader opined here Tuesday that "community" has always been difficult to achieve in these unnatural political conglomerates that have been labeled "New Mexico" and "Albuquerque." But a strong sense of community--not isolation from or denial of our woes--is what we need across the metro as we face these more turbulent and violent times. HOUSE CALL  Between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2015 the study says Colorado led the nation in gains in housing prices, with a 11.2% increase as that state's economy continued to ramp up. In contrast, job short NM languished near the bottom in price gains, picking up a mere 1.5 percent for a ranking of 46th in the USA. Nevada prices leaped 10.1%, Texas jumped 6.5% and Arizona home prices saw a 6% rise during the period. The worry now for state policy makers is the next national recession. That's right. the national economy has been in recovery mode from the 2008 panic and crash but New Mexico never participated. At best we stopped going down and are now flat-lined, but what happens when the next national downturn occurs--as it always does? The state used to be cushioned by federal dollars, but no so much anymore. For Las Cruces the next downturn is here. NMSU economist Chris Erickson reports the state's second largest city is officially in recession. And while the latest census stats show Rio Rancho--the state's third largest city--growing at a 2.4% rate, that is a steep decline from the boom days. For ABQ the latest census numbers show the city continues in the no-growth zone, with a 0.1% increase in population for the year ended July 2014. GETTING IN
I am kicking off my re-election campaign fundraising on Wednesday, May 27, at 5:30 PM, at a fundraiser at Richard Romero and Margie Lockwood's Home (907 Silver SW in Albuquerque). They have graciously offered to host this fundraiser. Romero is himself a former Dem state senator who rose to the rank of Senate President Pro Tem. Padilla has been a fast-starter, winning the title of majority whip from his Dem colleagues in his first term. So far he has no announced Dem rivals. His district is primarily in the heavy Dem ABQ South Valley area so no R's need apply. All 42 state senate seats are on the ballot next year as well as all 70 state House seats. Dem Israel Chavez says he is running for the ABQ NE Heights City Council seat held by Republican Brad Winter. Chavez, a young twenty something, has worked in various political campaigns and says he currently works for Equality New Mexico, a local civil rights non-profit. This is an uphill battle for UNM grad Chavez in the GOP leaning district. Winter is the longest-serving city councilor, having been first elected in 1999. There were indications that he would not seek another term as he is retiring from a long career with APS, but both he and fellow R Councilor Trudy Jones announced recently they are a go for re-election. Also seeing re-election in the October city election is incumbent Dem Councilor Isaac Benton. SE Dem councilor Rey Garduno will not seek re-election. Democrat Pat Davis has announced a bid for that heavy Dem district seat. The council is currently divided between 5 Dems and 4 R's. And one more on this Wednesday. From a news release: Adrián Pedroza is proud to announce his candidacy for Bernalillo County Commission, District 2. The seat is up for election in 2016 as incumbent County Commissioner Art De La Cruz is term limited. Pedroza serves as Executive Director for the Partnership for Community Action, a community-based, non-profit organization that works to build economic sustainability and improve educational opportunities for families throughout Bernalillo County. Pedroza has been actively involved in measures to bring permanent and substantial investments to early childhood education... Pedroza, 37, has picked up a number of early endorsements including that of Dem BernCo Commissioner Debbie O'Malley. This is the South Valley commission seat. We expect more candidates to join the fray for the coveted spot on the five member commission. However, no R's need apply. This one is as Dem as it gets. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author
Tuesday, May 26, 2015All APD All The Time: Ongoing Crisis Generates Unprecedented News Flow; Mayor Says Don't Listen To "Naysayers" But Frustration Grows
The ceaseless, demoralizing and often maddening news flow--now several years old--is unprecedented. At this point we are in wheel of fortune territory--where it stops nobody knows. Just look at the most recent cascade of nightmarish offerings: ---Bernalillo County District Attorney Kari Brandenburg--in a sometimes surreal hour long news conference--announces she is asking federal authorities to investigate APD's investigation of her on bribery charges. Attorney General Balderas says those charges appear politically motivated and in retaliation for her decision to charge two APD officers with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of homeless camper James Boyd. (Full news conference video here.) ---A settlement of yet another lawsuit against APD and the city for a fatal police shooting ends with a mammoth $6 million judgment. That's money out the door that is sorely needed for improvement to the city's social services as well as maintenance and repair of an aging infrastructure. Strange that we hear nothing from fiscal conservatives over the tens of millions being lost. ---In a bizarre development, an APD cop critically wounded by his own boss as he sat in a car with two suspected drug dealers threatens to sue the city unless a settlement can be reached. ---APD, under the legal gun, finally releases a video of possible APD and State Police abuse (welcome to the party Chief Pete Kassetas) of an already dead suspect after denying it existed: Albuquerque Police body camera video shows an APD SWAT officer firing three beanbag rounds at an unresponsive suspect’s face, followed by a State Police sergeant flicking the suspect’s eyeball before stomping on his groin. Lusian was dead. The lapel video, which APD denied existed after KRQE News 13 first requested it, shows the end of a March 2014 SWAT call out at a tow yard in the Heights. Police said 56-year-old Dale Lusian had been seen rummaging through cars in the fenced-in lot before hiding in a metal container. When a police service dog went in, Lusian shot the dog three times. Medical investigators ruled Lusian’s death a suicide from a gunshot wound to the chest. That APD in 2015 was sitting on 2014 lapel video shows the cover-up culture at APD remains as virulent as the AIDS virus at its peak. The establishment press and most players in the business community--for whatever reason--continue to run interference for Mayor Berry who is now rebutting his critics not by not addressing their charges but trying to marginalize them. Says he: One thing that makes me mad as mayor is when people in our community would like us to be seen in less than a positive light. . . we should stop listening to naysayers. Well, Mayor, maybe if we all put cotton balls in our ears and blinders over our eyes all those morbid news stories we just cited will go away--or at least not seem to place the city government in the middle of an unending crisis--which is what it faces but refuses to acknowledge. OTHER VOICES  The apathy, defensiveness, resistance to change and downright parochialism that have been hallmarks of much of the community's reaction to the APD drama and attendant events does not speak well of the body politic.Only recently has there been some meaningful movement--DA Brandenburg's conversion via intimidation, AG Balderas' hardball report on APD's probe of her, Auditor Keller's hit on the suspect APD Taser deal and the City Council's questioning of the Department of Justice Federal Monitor for APD. But with the mayor and APD continuing to resist transparency and change (as seen in that very recent KRQE incident and Berry's quote above) it will take much more from the aforementioned politicians as well as any new voices that choose to join the fray. An editorial in the ABQ Free Press sums it up this way: There seem to be no consequences for failure or malfeasance in this administration. One debacle follows another and nothing changes. Could it be that the cancer Downtown has so metastasized that if any one person were scapegoated, everyone goes down? We have a crisis at City Hall and no one in charge seems to care. We have a police department that is rapidly becoming the pariah of the Southwest. Beat cops struggle to maintain public trust while the people at the top cover their asses. So what’s the answer? Fire everyone at APD at the rank of lieutenant and above? That’s a lot of people to replace. Bring in a new chief who methodically cleans house among APD’s top commanders with a “My way or the highway” approach? Or do we fire someone over at City Hall calling the shots from an “us vs. them” proposition. Oh, wait, it’s not “we,” Mr. Mayor, it’s you. Do us a favor and clean up the steaming, stinking pile of problems that have accumulated on your watch. Show us there are consequences for screwing up. Otherwise, we can only conclude you don’t care or you’re not really the one in charge. And from our reader email we get this incisive lament: Joe, I guess we have finally reached the point where consumerism trumps democracy, narrow self-interest wins over any commonweal and frustration and/or cynicism about politics and government renders the people impotent. Without a doubt "community" has always been difficult to achieve in these unnatural political conglomerates that have been labeled "New Mexico" and "Albuquerque." As a thirteenth generation New Mexican and a fourth generation Albuquerquean, I am disappointed and saddened with the current state of affairs. At least some people are taking some action; some are communicating about our dire situation; and others are contributing in whatever manner they are able. Thank you for the great public service you are contributing with your blog. This is an example that there is still hope. BERRY VS. DINELLI
DA Brandenburg and I have had our differences over the years. However, what APD has done to her is an affront to out criminal justice system. People should be appalled by the findings of the Attorney General that APD accused her of felony crimes for political gain. The Albuquerque public and voters have a right to demand that APD’s investigations not be politically motivated. What happened in this case is a throwback to the 1980’s when APD used to keep and maintain investigation and intelligence reports on elected officials. The AG investigation of the DA reflects the kind damage that can occur to people’s lives and reputations when initial police reports are released to the media to promote a political agenda. APD was attempting to tarnish and destroy the DA’s reputation and destroy her career because of her prosecution of the two cops in the Boyd murder case. How many other elected officials or private citizens has APD targeted because of being outspoken critics of APD? As Dinelli mentions it's not as if the police have not gone off the reservation before when it comes to civil liberties and intimidating public officials. We've been around long enough to remember the 1980's when the department publicly announced the destruction of files that should have never been kept or opened. That is a flagrant and intolerable abuse of power. The fear of it now may be responsible in part for the public quietude over this latest police crisis. It's why federal authorities need to take seriously the DA's request for an investigation and peel the onion even further. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (jmonahan@ix.netcom.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here. (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2014. Not for reproduction without permission of the author
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