Anyone who has ever worked around attorneys or architects has heard about "billing hours." Each attorney or architect keeps meticulous records of the hours worked for a particular client. Attorneys routinely charge for phone calls and even lunch. There's pressure in each of the firms to rack up those billing hours. After all, that's how they stay alive. No billed hours, no paycheck.
Apparently, the same type of pressure is building down in the bowels of City Hall. You see, they've got a license to print money... or at least siphon it out of the pockets of drivers, at an astonishing rate. Photos are snapped, bills are sent, and $5 million is dumped into the general fund. There's only one problem, the system isn't quite as automatic as Mayor Marty would like it to be.
You see anyone snapped in one of these Red Light Districts has a right to an administrative hearing. Our Eyes tell us that over 1,000 Red Light Camera "citations" have been dismissed by the city's hearing officers. That's over $100,000 that didn't make it into the city coffers. Sure, that's only 2% of the total take but when you're projecting a $22 million shortfall (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required), every penny counts.
You can almost see the pressure building in every department. One of the easiest ways to get "free" revenue is to make sure that as many traffic camera "citations" as possible are upheld by the city's hearing officers.
Our Eyes on the Inside tell us that the administration is putting pressure on the hearing officers in the City Attorney's Office to deny as many Red Light Camera appeals as possible and that the pressure to wrongly deny dismissals led directly to the resignation of Hearing Officer Albert Chavez. Our Eyes tell us that Mr. Chavez (the Hearing Officer, not the Mayor) has a reputation for fairness and is known for being compassionate and firm. According to our Eyes, he resigned after being threatened with termination if he didn't stop dismissing so many "citations."
This episode illustrates one of the biggest problems with traffic camera systems. Your hearing officer works for the complainant, in this case The City of Albuquerque and more specifically the Mayor. The interests of the Mayor can easily compromise the fairness of your hearing. It's an awful lot like going through a divorce and having your spouse act as the presiding judge... Kiss the house, the kids, your car, your paycheck, and your @#$ goodbye! At the very least this is a conflict of interest; at most it could be a violation of your Constitutional rights.
7 comments:
Thank you once again for exposing this corrupt, pig the MAYOR!!!! And he wants to be Governor.. Not if I have anything to say about it. This is great and continue to expose all of these crooks!!! Elections are coming up and I'm telling all of my friends about this web site and with this kind of exposure--he's in big trouble for a change!!!
How sad, what a horrific state of affairs we find ourseleves in. In today's Journal(Sat.Feb.24)You'll notice an article regarding the "Red light" Cameras, and the false statements by John Walsh regarding these King Herod driven devices. Calibrations! This is 'bunk'; They're not. But the City doesn't want you to know that. On the other hand the one's used in Patrol cars are in fact calibrated. Once before the shift and once at the end to guarantee accuracy.
Here's another little tid-bit for you all. State Senator Bill Payne in this legislative session,is challenging the validity of this 'Red Light' money laundering operation conducted by the downtown 'Mob'. This makes Marty and his minions a little nervous. A 'Dog and pony' show is therefore arrainged to show that the speeding fines are in line with state statute, saying that no one is issued a ticket for anything less than 10 miles over the legal speed limit. That's how they justify the $100.00+ fines. Well the truth of the matter is, that if you are 4 miles an hour over the speed limit in the 'camera' intersection, you will be sent a citation. The legislature was fooled. "They will never know" quoted by one of the administrative capos.
Lastly, with over $6 million in revenues collected and given the reputation of this administration, and thugs who run things, do you really think all of it is going to the General Fund, or will some of it get diverted, like the 'Evidence Room' cash, or the Museum art work that's in our public official's offices or homes. Why do our ELECTED Officials have to be so greedy and morally deficient.
What happened to Albuquerque? Upon returning to the city we loved so much, we were shocked to find it has become a socialist camp run by "Big Brother Democrats" in the City Council and all the way up to the Mayor.
First, we received a citation because our spriklers had some overspray that hit the curb, then we got a warning that out tree branches had to be trimmed to be at least 7' above the sidewalk, then we were told we could only water 3 days a week, then the city passed an absurd pet ordinance specifing what type of dish we have to use to feed our dog, now our 20 year old daughter who is a waitress is liable for drunk drivers, this cash cow of traffic cameras with unreasonable fines, additional property taxes to pay for a corrupt school system and to buy out coaches and alcoholic APS administrators, etc., etc. The oppressive local and state Democrat government is out of control and getting worse everyday.
Democrat or Republican, when one party has this much control for this long, it is bad for the citizens. Stop the madness! Our current officals want to control every aspect of our lives, it's getting worse and they are ruining what was one of the best cities in the US.
Are there any heros out there? Any Senators,Congressmen or Congresswomen?Any Judges,any FBI or Attorney General? Anyone in the Justice Department, to look into what's wrong with this city? When will any one of these people step up and be "Untouchable"? When will this Cicero of New Mexico be cleaned up?
My hearing was the day after Mr. Albert Chavez "retired". They had a new hearing officer with a new interpretation of the "effective date" as it pertained to the hearing date and the 90 day rule. My hearing date was 105 days after the effective date as defined in the ordinance. By his new novel (read "made-up") interpretation the timeframe changed to less than 90 days. I was fined.
I am in the process of writing an appeal and would appreciate any info regarding internal pressure applied to hearing officers (on the record or off). Also any info regarding their qualifications and training.
ABQRUCKUS@yahoo.com
"All that is required for evil to triumph is that good men do nothing..."
Wow! great quote above. That applies to every aspect of this city government
That is what I was trying to say on the blog about the "Tahoe". Keep your head in the sand with your butt in the air and see what happens.
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