We know that you've been waiting for us to GO OFF on today's revelations about the Redflex contract. Frankly, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. The Almighty Alcalde has been defending this scam from the very beginning like his life depended on it. The only exception being when the scam-eras became a political liability during his recent aborted U.S. Senate run; that's when he formed his task farce.
All things considered, finding out today that the council approved a significantly different contract than the one that was eventually signed wasn't exactly a surprise (ABQ Journal - Subscription). Councilors Winter, Jones, Cadigan, and O'Malley called it a "bait and switch," we call it unethical and potentially illegal. The mayor entered into a contract (which he has the authority to do) that our Eyes tell us never went out to bid and then made significant changes to a contract without informing the council of his actions.
Right now, the mayor is not required to go to bid for any contract that is under about $50,000 (You'd be surprised how many of those are being handed out). This Redflex contract has the potential to bring in MILLIONS of dollars and in essence, was a sole source contract.
Just this past Tuesday night, Councilor Harris threw a TIDD party that drew in a couple of hundred citizens. In addition to the lengthy TIDD presentation, a couple of Redflex representatives made a presentation "explaining" how the red light scam-eras worked. In addition they put on a little scare show that showed what can happen when a driver runs a red light. According to our Eyes the presentation contained enough gore to make the producers of the movie 300 proud, but failed to fully explain how red light scam-eras prevented these gory accidents.
What was more interesting than the Redflex propaganda presentation were a couple of questions asked by Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Brasher. Apparently, what the commissioner wanted to know was whether or not Redflex had retained the service of a lobbyist and whether or not they had made any contributions to any political office holders. Their answer... "we don't know."
In light of today's bait and switch contract revelations, the commissioner's questions take on particular importance and we have the answer to at least one of those two questions. The Eyes have it that yes - the folks over at Redflex have retained a local lobbyist to protect their interests. Knowing that, it's hard to believe that Redflex didn't throw a few bucks at Marty in at least one of the campaigns he's been involved with over the last few months.
Now listen, it's not illegal to support a politician who supports your point of view. It's also not illegal to obtain the services of a lobbyist. That's the way the system is supposed to work. Our problem is with the very dubious claim of the Redflex folks that they didn't know anything about contributions or lobbyists. It makes things look dirty; which Marty's scam-era contract shenanigans seem to confirm.
7 comments:
The task force wants the red light camera's until at least 2009.
Guess what! That's when the little troll, Mayor Marty leaves office.
Marty wants the money from the camera's to fund his pet projects and balance his budget until then!
That about a task force that was bought and paid for! That's typical Marty style.
When will Mayor Marty Chavez take the task force's suggestions and lower the fines. Marty is holding out, trying to make as much money as possible before he is forced to do so!
According to the Albuquerque City Clerk's website, four persons registered as Redflex lobbyists last November. Three of them, Judith Anderson, Michael Puelle (formally of Engaging Communications), and Andrew Setter all listed the address of the Setter Group. The fourth, Joe Thompson, listed his home address. Apparently Joe isn't doing all that well these days as the City Treasurer has no record for the $35 business license for his home business.
We need to take out the trash now.
Term Limits- Keep? YES
RedFlex- Keep? No
Marty- Keep? No
"we don't know"
lying with plausible deniability.
simply disgusting.
Marty Chavez should see the inside of a local jail.
This Mayor lies to everyone....
The APD Evidence issues were way worse than the city administration let on. The was much more money and drugs lost than the 75k the city reported. It was closer to one million.
Several high ranking APD Chiefs should have all gone to jail, but politics saved them!
However, Mayor Marty and company covered it up from the public!
Has anyone checked to see if Redflex or their lobbyists contributed to Don Harris's recent recall election?
Harris raised $50,000 to keep his seat on the Council. That didn't come out of thin air.
It would also help explain why Harris had Redflex in attendance at his public meeting without inviting anyone else to represent the other side of the debate.
Harris might be trying to win Marty back by supporting Marty's camera system????
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