As you know we have serious problems with taxpayer financing. However, a majority of Eye On Albuquerque readers support taxpayer financing by a margin of 9%, with 53% supporting taxpayer financing, 44% do not support taxpayer financing, 1% don't know, 1% don't care. (Read the results of our unscientific poll here.)
We've had some good discussion regarding taxpayer financed elections. The original intent was to take money out of elections in an effort to make them "clean." We wish to thank Matt Brix from Common Cause for his thoughtful posts on the subject, even though we couldn't disagree more.
We've just begun our first foray into public financing and have already found some scary opportunities for abuse. In light of the Court House scandal, the $15,000 party financed by taxpayers through the Las Vegas School District, and the recent Housing Authority scandals, it's hard to believe we'll have to wait too long before this system of funding political ambition is exposed for what it really is.
Taxpayer financing is based upon the premise that people who run for office are good and noble; and some regardless of financing actually are. The trouble is we've already got enough elected officials feathering their nests without giving them the ability to pay off supporters who no longer can be linked to them through their financial support. The Albuquerque Open and Ethical Elections ordinance hasn't removed money from politics, it's simply hidden it.
There's nothing dirtier than forcing taxpayers to fund the political ambitions of candidates, while at the same time hiding the influences behind their campaign. We've already spotted the hand of the Almighty Marty pulling the strings of the de'Pascal campaign... who's really behind the other taxpayer financed campaigns? You can be sure that we'll be watching their expenditures very closely because there's really no other way to spot the man (or woman) behind the curtain.
This week the Eye Poll takes a look at embattled Councilor Don Harris. According to our Eyes the recall campaign has turned in over the 922 signatures required to force a recall in this year's municipal election. So unless a judge decides that the city clerk's (and our) interpretation of the city charter are in error, the people of district 9 will have the opportunity to be the first remove a city elected official. You have the opportunity to weigh in with your opinion in this week's Eye Poll.
19 comments:
Great work recall folks! Lets get Harris out and someone in that actually listens to his or her constituents.
I dont know if I have been convinced either way on the financing issue. I did like seeing the lists of who the big money contributors were though.
I agree with getting rid of Harris but then the Almighty Mayor will appoint someone and that person will be answering to Marty not his/her constituents.
LMAO...I've got 20 bucks that says he'll appoint de'Pascal!! Wouldn't that be the icing on the cake!!
Funny because a friend and I were just discussing that last possibility (de'Pascal) this past weekend. Of course, she would need to move into that district, but I'm sure if "The Captain" orders it, she would comply!
The last official poll I saw -- I think they called it an election -- "Clean Elections" was favored by 69% of the voters. The idea is not to get "money" out of politics (which is neither necessary or possible); it's to get "private money" out of politics (or to be more precise reduce it's influence as much as possible). The last thing I'd want to do is go back to the pay-to-play system the city had before.
"last thing I'd want is to GO back to the pay-to-play system the city HAD before".
Get real. Where did it go? Where have you been? What would give anyone the idea that this doesn't exist anymore.It still exists, and always will,as long as this administration or its politcos are still in place or around in the future. All of those who are part of this administration will always force this mentality upon the ethical businesses trying to do work for the city.
Many business owners look for business outside of Albuquerque because they don't want to play that game. The chinese will learn this concept real soon.
Why does the public put up with what goes on at Cty Hall? It dosn't, or shouldn't have be that way. Outside government agencies need to audit this city and serve indictments on its leaders.
They ran Mayor Kevin Jackson out of town on a rail, over $5,000.
Daily occurance here.
if you doubt there is a pay to play system in every aspect of this city I invite you to go back and look at the storys on Mark Sheppard from earlier in the year. Here is a guy w/NO degree, 20 years as a patrolman only at APD, who parlayed his friendships w/the mayor into a 100K$ a year retirement job.
Degree or not, makes no difference to me. I work for shepard and he is doing a great job. i have worked for the city for 10 years and he is the best supervisor I ever had.
I would agree, I have worked at city hall for several years and have seen a huge improvement in the security guards. Mr. Sheppard has given them a new look & equipment with training. The guards seem to be more alert and proud to be a guard for the city. Sure there are some that dont like him but the ones I see and talk to think he is great.
Apparently the truth hurts...Hummm, I thought this blog was about campaign financing. Whats with all the sheppard stuff? who is he?
Mark Shepherd. Here's a guy with no degree, nothing but a HS education, became a cop, (was on the rubber gun squad for awhile when he got divorced, which means they took his gun away because they were afraid of what he might do), then he sucks his way into being Marty's bodyguard. Where he learned alot about being a dick I might add. Retires from the city, (APD was glad to have him gone since he was one of those cops that would circle the block until the call was over and someone else had handled it, that's when I got to know him personally.) But I digress. Marty then puts him into the directors job of security, after a token interview in which they passed up a guy with a master's degree, and the Lt that had already been running the unit, and who also had a degree. When the city was sued over it, it was found that not only did he lie on his application, he had Nick Bakas as a reference, and an interviewer. His application stated that he had supervised a large security division for a business in CO. What he had done was remove money from vending machines, and his only supervisory experience was teaching other people how to do so. So knowing that he lied, the city wrote out two big fat checks to the other supervisors to the tune of somewhere around 50k, and still they kept him. The officers took a no confidence vote, which was overwhelmingly against him, and still they kept him. At this point, he is "acting assistant director", (they are waiting to see how much stink there will be if he is promoted again) and there is talk of another Marty body guard being put in his place as he moves up.
And the guards? Leaving in droves, hating their jobs, his supervisors are the only ones loving him as they are allowed to run roughshod over the troops, morale is to the point that NO ONE wants to be there but there aren't enough jobs in the city to transfer to, lawsuits are flourishing, and the poster above who thinks he is the best supervisor that they've ever had, obviously has A: never worked anywhere else, or B: must be high enough up the chain of command, ie: a supervisor themselves, that they are allowed to screw over the troops at whim. His supervisors are a lovely bunch too, almost every single one has had either family problems or money problems or both. His right hand man, or girl, actually she's both, was the officer at the ALB museum when the only theft that has ever occurred there took place. As for the guards at city hall? These are not new hires, they are the same old people they've always been, and they have always been professional, long before and in spite of Mark Shepherd. Happy? Hell no, they tell me they all pray for the day he leaves.
Huuummm, you must be one of the problem children I hear sheppard has had to deal with....With an attitudes like yours, it sounds like he missed one....I have several friends that know or know of this guy & they think he is great, one of them used to work for him before he retired. Oh well, you just sound unhappy, nobody could be that bad. Maybe you should go work somewhere else.
You are obviously one of his stupidvisors, or maybe sheppie himself? If you actually knew anything about him, you would know he NEVER had anyone working for him until Marty put him in security. He never had rank, and was never even acting. The only reason he has the job he has now is because 1, he will kiss Marty's ass at anytime, and is hoping to go to Santa Fe with him, or 2, because while he was Marty's boy, he saw, heard, took part, in some shit with Marty, and now has some dirt on him.
What the unit doesn't know, well, I guess they will now, is that he is deep on Marty's shit list for all the lawsuits that have been and are being filed against the city because of him. They will all make the city and Marty look bad when it comes out again how he got his job, and that the city paid out instead of getting rid of him. Not to mention that the city will get sued again if he's promoted again.
I'm not a problem child for Sheppie or anyone else, but if I worked for him I certainly would be, the guy is a freaking moron, I'd be on his ass all day and watch him crack up again. I hear he still carries a gun all the time, protection from his subordinates? I'd bet he's not legal with it, no concealed carry licence and not commissioned anymore. Somebody ought to drop a dime on that too. The guy is a piece of shit, always has been, always will be. I'd be careful who you praise, you know the saying, lie down with dogs, get up with fleas....feelin itchy?
Hey stop scratching, you are knocking off all of your fleas onto us.....
Huuummm, you must be one of the problem children I hear sheppard has had to deal with....
You obviously can't read, the above poster said, "I'm not a problem child for Sheppie or anyone else, but if I worked for him I certainly would be, the guy is a freaking moron, I'd be on his ass all day and watch him crack up again. I hear he still carries a gun all the time, protection from his subordinates?"
Guess you must be one of his supervisors huh? Can't read, can't write, too stupid to live. All the qualities of a security supervisor. Shepherd doesn't have problem employees, most of them are just kids trying to make a living for their families, just like the rest of us. We'll just call you itchy, where's your buddy scratchy?
Ever seen Reno 911? In miami? These are them, only the guys from reno? Smarter, much smarter.......
Marty - "this is protective karate fat"
shepherd - dangle "I applied 9 times to aspen pd" "they have a zero tolerance policy to that over there"
cooney - garcia " I was just explaining how I used to fly these back in the marine corp" "it ain't what it looks like"
sammons - williams "she bout to kill me, don't kill me don't kill me!" "don't hate on me ladies, don't hate"
carriaga - combination wiegel/kimball "my doctors thought it would be a good idea to get out of the house", "would you just give me a pity fuck?" and "I don't appreciate you insinuating all the time that I am some lesbian" "I know you came back for me" " I don't know how many times or how many ways I have to say I am not a lesbian"
goff - johnson "this is the man who has been making sweet dirty love to me all night long, I have to find who this is" and "you're gonna have to go buy me some cranberry juice, it's gonna be one of those days"
cuaron - travis jr "you need me to hold your drink for you? She's good", "wow, look at you, you are in high school" "fourteen?! Next month?!" "come back when you are 16"
gonzales - jones "we should leave and let nature take it's course"
You'd think the producers/writers worked here, lol.
A movie? Waaaayyyy cooool, don't forget to cast Dona for a part. She could be the old, fat bag, of loose skin stuffed into a bad red dye job wig, following years of poor, cut rate, south of the border plastic surgery & a case of Swingline Staples in her gut..nah. OOh,, I know, let's cast her as an APD sperm bank...No never mind, she already won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for that role. Hell, so many PDers rode her, they decided to issue her very own mounted patrol unit number. Yuck! Just the thought....Well, we can't cast her as a judge, she lost her credibility when she got caught lying about her Sgt. and was suspended. I got it!! Why don't we cast her as herself, some o'l bitter hag with no life & no friends, married to some jerk who is in the same boat... Yeah, she's perfect for that role.
Hey, at least get my name right, that would be Donna with two n's.
LOL, and I've been called worse things by better people...and just so you know, I haven't posted on this blog for quite awhile, the ones I did are initialed, I don't have to, ya'll are tearing yourselves up without me.
Just out of curiosity, what would that number have been? The mounted patrol one? Can I have 2? Cuz then I'd have to try harder. LOL!
What the poster doesn't seem to know about me is that my life is an open book, I don't keep secrets, and the people that know me know that too. Sounds like a little jealousy going on, are you someone I wouldn't date? I'm sure he knows who he is.... No credibility? I can't think of anyone that would question my credibility that I would give a damn about anyway.
The people who matter to me, know better.
And the reno 911 post, gotta rent it........and then forward this comment string to everyone who hasn't read it.
I've got nothing to hide, but I know people who do.....dtd
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