We haven't seen the legislation that the mayor is proposing but according to today's article one of the positions targeted is the city clerk. The Almighty One seems to believe that the clerk needs more autonomy from the mayor and believe it or not we'd agree. (Brief pause for you to recover from shock...)
The only problem is that from what we've read, Albuquerque's city clerk would be as protected as a U.S. Supreme Court Justice. The clerk should not be a lifetime appointment subject to removal only for cause. To do so would only benefit one person - the person who currently holds the throne on the 11th floor and the person who would choose our next city clerk.
When you get right down to it, making the city clerk more autonomous does very little despite their role in handing out taxpayer cash to unelected candidates for city office. (Hell, that money is already being misused.) There is however one position that needs to be more independent - one that's vital to our safety and security and one that politics should have no influence over. That position is Chief of Police.
As we've said before, the Chief is an at will employee of the mayor. He gets his orders from and owes his allegiance to the man who sits astride the mayoral throne. If the chief was an elected position or protected in the way that The Almighty One proposes to protect the clerk, the chief's main concern would be enforcing the law not protecting his or the mayor's uh... postierior.
(Sidebar)May must be the month when Mayor Chavez holds his good government press conferences. Last May the topic was "Open Government" (ABQ Journal - Subscription). This May we're talking about "Ethics in Government" (ABQ Journal - Subscription). So, exactly how much more open is city government anyway? Do you really see any difference between this year and last?
We know that law enforcement is a novel concept for those of you occupying offices on the 5th floor, but believe us - that is what you are being paid to do.
(End Sidebar)
Since his last press conference on government, the Chavez administration has been caught inflating the success of the red light scam-era program (read it here), lying about the number of police officers over at APD (read it here), gassing us with his "overstated" greenhouse gas emissions (ABQ Journal - Subscription), and fibbing about the improvements over at Animal Control (read it here). All of which is unethical and in just the past year!
The Almighty Alcalde doesn't seem to have even a passing familiarity with the truth much less the more elusive concept of ethics. And remember, this is the same mayor that used a political action committee called ABQPAC as his own personal $60,000 slush fund (read it here and here).
It's quite frankly laughable that Mayor Chavez - of all people - should propose any kind of ethics reform or open government for that matter. His track record shows a repeated willingness to ignore the truth or hide it when it suits him and seek retribution when someone crosses him. Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. The Almighty Alcalde has proved time and again that he'll do whatever he pleases unless someone has an Eye on him.
----- Update -----
Our keyboard hadn't cooled from the above post before we found more evidence of Marty's ethically challenged behavior on the blog ClearlyNewMexico.com [hat tip: Heath Haussamen]. Clearly New Mexico is surely a blog that is shall we say... left of center but they've hired a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist in Eileen Welsome who does a bang-up job exposing the "special relationship" between The Almighty One and convicted DCSW architect Marc Schiff.
If you remember, Schiff plead guilty to conspiracy and mail fraud in connection with the Manny Aragon courthouse scandal. As it turns out, Schiff was also involved in the drawn out Balloon Fiesta Museum project that spanned from Marty's first term through his second.
Was Schiff skimming the Balloon Fiesta project before getting his hands caught in the Metro Court honey jar? Who knows... but the Mayor's special friend is now incarcerated for fraud while the mayor plays at ethics reform. Now THAT's funny!
(Read the Haussamen post here and the Clearly New Mexico post here.)
----- Correction -----
The first sentence pf this post originally read "after 11 years in office..." While it may seem like 13 years or longer the Almighty Alcalde has served two full terms and is actually in the last year and a half of his 3rd term. That makes this year his 11th year in office. Our error has been corrected above.
24 comments:
Oh Brother, now you're really going to have to get over it!
The dirt or lack thereof will totally be dependant on who (whom?) Marty puts in the job. If it is anyone who has ties to the Aragons or for that martter strong ties to Marty's campaigns then it is sort of like an episode of Sopranos.
This is another joke by Smarty!!!!!
Doesn't Smarty Marty realize that ethics are taught to children by their parents, family members and teachers? If they haven't learned it by them you can't teach them when they're supposed to be governing the people.
He doesn't get it does he. And he thinks he'll be reelected. Wise up dummy, you're done.
Good for you Marty! Great idea..
Wow I think for once I agree with the Chief about his courtroom attire for officers, only one problem, look at your P.I.O first, her hair hangs down to her gunbelt and maybe she should stop chewing gum while on television, looks like Mr. Ed for gods sake!!
When administrative types and at-will employees are held to the same standard as the rest of us lower echelon city employees then I'll believe in Smarty's so-called "ethics reform". Until then, it's a joke- he's just pandering to his base.
We blue collar, clerical and lower M-level employees (and we do make up the majority of city workers)were were given directives that we had to:
1. Report any and all vehicle accidents to our department heads even if it occurrs in our private vehicle;
2. If we live outside Bernalillo County, we are directed to register our private vehicles in Bernalillo County;
3. If we are arrested or involved in ANY incident where an officer is involved, we are directed to notify our department head who in turn notifies city admin.
I know, right? So since Smarty is an elected official and is the ultimate "at-will" employee, serving at the will of the voters in Bernalillo County, shouldn't he disclose all of his incidents to the public since they're the ones that voted for him? (Hey, dumbass I want copies of all those police reports for fender-benders and DUIs on my desk in the morning!!) Yeah, RIGHT...
Stupid Marty....
What about all the felons we have working for the City. Ethics, would that have any bearing on everyone who has an affair. Probably not, we pick and choose what ethics we want to endorse.
Having seen what some of the inside of the Transit department recently I initially thought this (ethics reform) might be some improvement. Unfortunately, it looks like this is just a political ass-covering for who knows what's about to go down. The reference to "Sopranos" isn't over the top with regard to the Transit Department I can tell you.
I've never seen such a corrupt city government in my life. As a life long Democrat, it's the first place I've lived where I wouldn't register or vote for "Democratic" Mayor Chavez under any circumstance. The best chance for change will come from citizens and city work forces who want things to really get better.
Ethics is so subjective!
The guy in Clayton that layed down with 7 virgins believes that's ethical. That's their community (social) belief. Is it your's or mine??
A hundred years ago it was OK to beat your wife. Is that ethical? I think Marty thinks so.
Is a "white lie", to protect someones feelings, ethical? Or is a lie a lie?
Is going 1 mile over the speed limit ethical? Or is it breaking the law? And how about radar detectors?
If you get in a wreak with a BAC of .01 from mouthwash and someone is injured, is that unethical? On the other hand if you get smashed with a BAC of .23, drive, get home safely and don't hurt anyone, is that ethical?
According to a news report, city hall is going to get rid of it's bad apples and all of the coruption. Think it should start from the top down??? Me too.
I heard that on the agenda for the directors meeting tommorow that they'll be talking about "ethnics".
Hopefully they can throw some gender in there also.
Oh please, leave Nadine alone already!! Enuf!! While I may agree she use a little "polishing up" she's just doing her job, whether or not you like the way she looks while she's doing it.....
Oh please, is that all APD has as far as a pretty face for TV goes(PIO). Your new PIO only has a face for radio! Also, where did this person go to school, her vernacular is hideous.
Surely, you boys and girls in blue could produce someone better than that for your PIO! She must have something on one of your top managers??????? How else would such a person get that job. Not a very smart one there.
Just my two cents
Regarding the "bang-up" job by Pulitzer Prize winning Eileen Welsome....First of all, Mr. Schiff is not incarcerated. If she was so good she should have been able to find him. He's in Oregon working for Soderstrom Architects (who would hire this guy??) Mr. Schiff has NOT been sentenced; he plead guilty to mail fraud with no right to appeal. He was not promised a reduced sentence in exchange for ratting out his cohorts, either.
Yeah, he and Marty were buddy buddies....birds of a feather you know!!!
I'd say Ms. Welsome still has some work to do to get it right...
This Mayor is done. Just wait until he sees how many people won't vote or him this time around! Everyone saw what happened when he tried to run for the senate. The same will happen on the next Mayor's race! Marty knows this.......
Read the Ethical Standards of the City of Castle Rock, Co. Those ae standards to live by. Those standards, nobody here could live by. This latest phony crap is just a distraction and is just more bullshit that will never happen here. This city is, and always will be corrupt as long as we have this third world 'Patron' cultural bullshit thing here. Viva, Cesar Chavez and all that shit.
Chief Schultz' days are numbered. We, 95% of the troops and command can't wait until he's gone. For being such a smart guy, he really has screwed up APD. He is the worse chief we have ever had. Worse than Gil Gallegos, which I thought I would never say. I never thought this chief would cover up crimes, but he did! I never thought he would hire back all those dirty deputy chiefs, but he did, although these chief's should have been charged with crimes.
This chief is just bad for APD. It will take us years to repair our reputation, credibility and the damage he has done to our morale! Even his own command staff can't stand him!
Speaking of hiring back lazy cops. I saw ret Capt Debuck at the Academy in a classroom. I guess he's another one of the chief's friends that was hired back. He was worthless, cheap and lazy when he was here and now he's back again. He would never back his troops. Don't these ex-chiefs and capts have any shame, couldn't they find a better job with all that experience and education? How embarrassing to come back as a CSA or rehire after leaving with a capt's rank or above. I know the DC's would not be hired by anyone because of their troubled back grounds. Yet the chief won't hire back some guys that left in good standing that were not lazy and did not have extensive IA back grounds. These guys have tons of experience and knowledge, which the chief is afraid of!
I see a lawsuit coming.
It is shameful to denigrate someone as decent and intelligent as Rob Debuck. How fricken dare you? Rob is about as smart and as good a cop as any this dept ever fielded. Some of you childish bastards need to go 10-8 and do some work. You ever think he just missed the camraderie and feeling of "family" that APD was? I say was because it obviously no longer is thanks to folks like that above commentor!
Yeah Schultz, that's all you do is hire your F*%ked up friends. If you would hire good people, your dept might not be so jacked up right now! What is your excuse for not hiring those guys that had great records. I hope you have a valid excuse you can articulate, but I doubt it! If you ask me, it's just a personality issue. That's not a valid reason not to hire someone. Once again, the citizens of Abq will have to pay for your lack of knowledge in ref to employment laws. What happened to APD being an equal employment employer. Not if you don't like them, right chief! That's against the law! The above poster is correct. They have a valid suit. It will be interesting to see you try to lie your way out of this one. Too many witnesses to call against you.
You karate/warrior types are of the stone age! Retire already, as most of you have already left. Stay gone, we don't need you and you old fashion policing methods!
Debuck isn't as bad as that dumb Fowler Johnson. Now, there was one ignorant and stupid deputy chief! Our chief hired him back as he could not get employment elsewhere. However, they all use the excuse they miss this place and the people. Well, the people never liked these guys, so what's to miss? Heck everybody that can't make it in the outside world is missing APD where you did not have to work very hard, maybe a few hours and still were paid for 8-hours. That's why these guys are back. They were all marginal performers when they were here. The spent most of their day working out at the academy.
To the poster who stated ""You karate/warrior types are of the stone age! Retire already,......""
May 15, 2008 7:51:00 AM MDT
I've got to say, based on all the CURRENT negativity posted by the folks still working at APD , when you say thewarriors have left I need to ask; HOW'S THAT WORKING FOR YA? Things better now than say, 4 years ago? Really?
Is it ethical to shoot your dogs in a violent rage at your house with a department issued weapon and then have your bosses cover it up?
Rob Maximus Debuck could walk in the fifth floor tomorrow and seize the reins and 99 percent would follow him. The other one percent are the haters like you who only want what is bad for this department. Welcome back CAPTAIN! I think we should get the apoa to cut a deal for a new rehire FSB DCOP. Ill gladly stay on this graveyard 5-8 crap for that. Heres to hoping one of you cowards approaches CAPTAIN DeBuck and tells him about his wife and his "karate bs", make sure you try and stay anonymous when he mops the floor with you and your lawyer friends........you do not deserve your badges anymore, give them back and leave.
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