Tige Watson is AFD’s Chief of Personnel and our Eyes tell us he is next in line to succeed Chief Breen to take over AFD and its $60 Million budget. As the department’s personnel chief he should be intimately aware of personnel policies, rules, regulations and applicable labor laws. But his knowledge of such rules and regulations does not stem from skills and experience, it comes from breeching those very rules.
On December 14th, 1999, then a lieutenant, Chief Watson started paid leave under the Family Medical Leave Act in support of his pregnant wife. FMLA grants twelve workweeks in a given year for eligible employees to provide care for the employee’s spouse, child, or parent who has a serious health condition. Yet, while Chief Watson was supposed to be here in Albuquerque caring for his wife, he was actually pursuing employment with the Henderson County Fire Department in the state of Nevada. His employment status was that as a cadet in the Henderson Fire Academy. On January 6th, 2000, after this matter was brought to the attention of then Deputy Chief Ron Beckman, an internal investigation was launched inquiring into the extent that Chief Watson defrauded AFD. Under the terms of FMLA he was on paid leave to care for a family member’s medical condition. The allegations against Chief Watson were that he was not complying with the requirements of FMLA and Chief Watson was not allowed to have employment outside of his current assignment with AFD without permission. Upon completion of an internal investigation, Chief Watson was disciplined with 60 hours unpaid leave for his fraudulent representations. Our Eyes tell us there has been no other instance of an AFD employee receiving such a suspension, and that other shave been terminated for less. Our Eyes tell us that for unknown reasons, this incident has been buried despite the local media being alerted to it. We wonder if this is but another example of the Mayor Berry doing whatever is necessary to “appear” as if his administration is inclusive of all despite challenges to their merit, skills, ability, or knowledge.
We’ve seen, and continue to see the effects of poor leadership upon APD. AFD’s chief has already received a vote of no confidence. As the Chief of Personnel, Chief Watson has disciplined 14 AFD members for off-duty conduct, of which 6 resulted in the employees being fired. Yet, there have no other instances where AFD personnel have been disciplined at the level Chief Watson was back in 2000. Our Eyes assert that this is very troublesome within the ranks of AFD as, and similar to APD, there is significant disparity between the application of rules to supervisors versus rank and file employees. The fact that the city has buried this issue and its details is evidence of their awareness that this is wrong. Much as a guilty party runs away from apprehension, blames others, or hides evidence, the city’s efforts to conceal Chief Watson’s illegal acts speak as much about Rob Perry and Mayor Berry’s ability to do what is right.
With Chief Watson, we see Mayor Berry vote no confidence in Albuquerque’s bravest of the brave.
You say wheres the proof? Read below;
32 comments:
The City Attorney's office is bleeding personnel because younger attorneys see the futility of defending this nonsense. Check the resignations. Check the recent hires. How long did they last? Levy and Griffin the pets of Perry are sending good talent to the exits. The taxpayers suffer b/c of inferior representation. Sad.
Let them have it fire union, we ll know what labour union has blls. Look at our mess of a PD, don't let thm get away with this's bullshit.
As a retired city employee with other 27 years of service, one could only hope that discipline would be fair and consistent. (sarcasm) The city has its Personnel Rules and Regulations and each department has its own operating procedures. Was the same discipline policy in effect 13 years ago? Being that Tige Watson was disciplined in 1999, maybe that was fair back then. Perhaps now, in 2012, 13 years later, discipline would be different. Does that mean he cannot be a fair DP for AFD, of course it doesn't. I know an APD officer who 12 years ago, beat up his wife and held her hostage. He is still employed. Today, APD can fire an officer if involved in Domestic Violence. I believe its bad business to not change policy and grow with the times. The policies have levels of discipline and I think when that is not followed then we can scream disparity. But one has to look at what was in place then and now. Let's not start pulling discipline records for the past 20 years and start throwing it in peoples face.
How sad, this administration has no integrity!!!
11:35, fair enough but I think the bigger issue is the city covering up this discipline and saying there's nothing on record. There is this on his record, Fmla wasn't new when this happened, and why was this guy out at Henderson FD anyway??? Was he gonna leave AFd? Is that the kind of guy we want leading the dept?
A big pat on the back for the APD officer who arrested Lauren Sigala for her outstanding warrants. It is good to know that the officers will still enforce the law, even while their command staff (Fiest) refuses too. Does anyone know who the officer is? I would like to send him bonus!
Tige Watson, the Chief of AFD; WTF!
Be.tween him and Muzik,all they do is sit in their offices and act like the know what they are doing. The minute Breen leaves or has the day off, both of them leave the building. Hell Muzik is damm near if not living in Los Angles, while he plans his exit. He leave his kiss ass Driver, Adrian Glass in charge, so he drives around and tell all the FF's, he wrote the plans for Desert Storm and can blow our heads off at a mile. Talk about VIOLENCE in the work place.
What does Nate Muzik have to do with this story?
Who cares where he and his family choose to live?
I first met Nate over 13 years ago. The man I know is a very good firefighter/paramedic. He was an awesome mentor for a rookie to learn from and an equally great father. I've always considered him a friend. I will always stand up and speak out for those I consider to be a friend.
Leave the personal stuff out of the jealous/envious/angry post, otherwise sign your name to it.
Be safe out there and Godspeed to you all!
I guess the new AFD educational requirements are just for us, not for administration. Doesn't Skip have a Masters degree? Yet, Breen picked Tige to be Deputy Chief of Personnel? Breen promoted Tige who he knew had committed FRAUD! What a joke. I guess when your goal is to ignore our contract, break the law, ignore court decisions and break up the union it makes sense to promote the biggest scumbag in the department to assist you.
Strong work!
I am the only one that sees the blatant lie contained in Tige's disiplinary documents?
The documents state that Tige didn't get paid for fraudulent use of FMLA because his first day on C shift would have been the 7th and the department, not Tige, canceled his FMLA and put him on leave without pay on the 6th. Obviously, the cover story is that the days it was conformed that Tige was employed by Henderson were his of days from AFD.
What they forgot in their little cover story is that you don't have another job to commit FINANCIAL FMLA FRAUD. You just have to not be doing what you said you needed FMLA for!
Tige's work days, that he was paid for, were the 1st and 2nd. His paid work hours were from 08:00 on the 1st until 08:00 on the 3rd. Unless Tige posessses a transporter or a time machine he did not care for his wife, as he said he did, up until 08:00 on the 3rd in Albuquerque, NM. and also walk in the front door of the Henderson, NV. Fire Academy one hour later!
He is a liar! The administration knows his story is BS and they covered for him than and they are still covering for him now!
Tige did not care for his wife the night before he started the Henderson Fire Academy. He had to travel to his new job which he knew he had when he applied for FMLA. Tige DID defraud AFD and the City of Albuquerque financially, at the absolute least, the night of the 2nd and the morning of the 3rd when he had to travel to Henderson, NV. Which means he was NOT caring for his wife!
AFD administration are all a pack of liars and so is Berry administration!
So much for AFD's new educational requirements for promotion. Doesn't Skip have a Masters degree? But, Breen promoted Tige to Deputy Chief of Personnel? What a joke! Breen promoted the biggest scumbag in the department to manage the exact same types of activities he is guilty of doing himself.
I guess when your goal is to break up the union by ignoring our contract when it suits you, by ignoring multiple court decisions and breaking the law it is a good move to pick a known criminal as your right hand man.
Strong work Breen! Learn that as a PJ?
You guys are too funny. Dirty laundry really make yoyu feel good. you have got to be kidding me.
Shame on you. Dont look at the speck in your eye when you have a plank sticking out of yours
AFD's Liars club is catching up with APD's liars club.
Adian Glass does all captain Muziks work. Adrian has to make that $100,000 a year paycheck someway. I wish i was a permanent upgraded Lieutenant with a take home car. Nate Muzik's Cronies.
Why are these public officials able to get away with these unethical practices?
If Tige and his family happened to travel while on FMLA there is absolutely no issue with that. And if Tige happened to explore another employment opportunity the only issue would be the hurt egos @ AFD. Can you really fault a person for making a career move that would provide more compensation and security? And, although Tige may have been recognized as “employed” in Henderson it would only become an issue when the compensation commenced. Date of hire is one thing while start date is another. And, who cares if Henderson even recognized Tige as employed, APD still includes former and already retired officers in their "official" tally, not to mention Reserves, and CSA’s among others (not even state certified personnel). So, Tige had succeeded in hiring on in Henderson, why the heck didn't he just leave ABQ then? Why go back to an employer who is about to break it off on you? Is it that AFD did what APD, city of ABQ for that matter, so often does? Was a promise made to Tige that was not made public like these documents were. If he stayed and tested his way up to a particular rank he would then be able to be “appointed” beyond that, just like so many unqualified Commanders & DC’s @ APD. Why else would such strongly worded documents result in discipline to be held in abeyance with no real loss of time or money? BTW, wasn’t Tige preparing for the promotional process ~1 yr after these documents would have been presented to him. It looks like he did his part in testing up, now it must be time to get appointed, right?
Union Thug comment....right that's why Sigala got dry humped here. That's why that dipshit Bonet got hammered here. How bout this you worthless admin type, if you did your job then there'd be no reason for this blog to exist.
I just read a beautiful article by Channel 13 news titled Cop claims cadets got special treatment.
EVERYTHING THAT LIAR SCHULTZ AND HIS LIARS INCORPORATED INC. DOES IS BLOWING UP IN THEIR FACES.
He told the taxpayers that they would have better cops. What he really meant was defective cowardly cops who will do his will unquestionably in a liability driven environment. Cops that will take a bullet because they are afraid to defend themselves. He just showed the world that he prefers people he knows OWE him, over those qualified. You see, when someone owes you something they will do what you want. They are owned by you. Schultz wants cop patzies on a leash. Fat little yes figures who will take orders and not question the rampant top level corruption. Spoon fed babies with no decision making minds of their own. Easily manipulatable jellyfish, silly putty. play doh. The citizens of Albuquerque do not deserve cowards who will not defend them. They do not deserve liars, cheats and defects. They deserve courageous, decision makers who will do what has to be done for society. They do not deserve to have minions of the command staff looking the other way while corruption flourishes. This is what you get when you let healthy aggression scare you. This is what you get when you let a chief fear monger and upstage slander of his officers in order to deflect blame from himself and his defective DCOPS. This is pathetic, but I am glad officers are finally coming forward with the truth about the corruption. The nazis from the top down will probably try every gadget in the book to find out who that officer is. I am sure when they can't they will just pick someone whom they think or who it appears to be and target them and carpet bomb their lives. I hope that officer wrecks them when they try it too. This is one strong camel back here. The last straw fell weeks ago you would think. I guess they all want to hold on until they all go right from APD to a jail cell.
By the way, why is schultz hiding? Not hide or hair of the guy since joey boy took a hit. That is his typical behavior though. Hide when the shit hits the fan and let the lower idiots get buried in his mess. Way to go punky.
I gotta agree with 9:35 a bit...there really isn't this level of corruption and back biting in a normal, non bargained for, environment. I know first hand, having been in both places. We are fed this perception that the Union is needed for protection...really it only breeds corruption and creates an adversarial environment, where one might not have existed otherwise. Granted, there is some level of corruption in the public sector...always...it's much worse when there are two corrupt forces with 34s stuck in the middle,that is obviously what we have created here.
It will soon be time for a change. This Mayor and his poorly chosen staff need to leave. We need a strong Mayor, Police Chief, Fire Chief, Legal Department and staff who can work with the Unions and do what is best for OUR city. Berry thinks it is HIS city and he can do what ever he wants to whoever he wants. Stop complaining and get on board with an organization that will expose the truths and lack of leadership. So long Berry and for the rest of the management you have 19 months to polish your resumes.
Fire Chief Breen is a liar too. He is planning on holding off on staffing Ladder 7 on July 1st as he promised and is wanting to leave the ladder at Station 17 for good. Way to go! Sell the public and Council on a new multi million dollar station and then change your mind.
I want to work for AFD, and build hotrods on City time. Use a new City truck to pick up all my new parts, then take my two hour lunch.
If you think this is not a daily routine, think again!!!!
Then why dont you apply?
Hotrod builder you forgot some of the daily routine. At 6 am you went to the elderly person who was having respitory distress, then at 7:45 am you went to take care of the people who were in a car crash, after destressing while working on the hotrod you went to the store to get breakfast groceries but had to leave the cart to go pickup the drunk who was laying alongside the sidewalk of a busy street, now back to the store....oops....someone put your cart away, ok get groceries again, while cooking shut off stove and go pick up drunk #2 for the day, back to station and get to eat breakfast which you were exactly right is now a two hour lunch because we couldn't eat it for breakfast, you also forgot nap time....why because while the rest of the city was sleeping we went to 2 false fire alarms and someone who was assaulted at 2am, so 45 minute nap and it is time to get the truck washed and fueled, try to get through dinner as firefighters are use to eating cold meals because we do not have a breakfast/lunch/dinner break as we eat when there is time. So hotrod builder if your going to post here get your facts straight and tell the entire story. AFD will run over 85,000 calls this year between 22 stations. If you can't figure the math out it is 10 1/2 calls everyday of the year for every station. My facts tell the truth while your story is just a bunch of BS. Firefighters are the most caring group of people I have ever met. They will do what ever it takes to help whoever is in need at anytime on or off the job.
As a parallel to the sub-topic of this story as to “unqualified” individuals who are rewarded while more qualified individuals are deprived of fair and equitable treatment, KRQE ran a very enlightening story yesterday. The story was based on concerns that an officer brought forth regarding the recruitment practices at APD and how certain unqualified cadets and applicants with close ties to specific command staff at APD were allowed to remain in the recruitment process, and for some they were actually allowed into the academy. KRQE went so far as to protect the identity of this officer as they likely knew that based on the credible, yet damaging information that was provided to them, adverse retaliatory action taken against this officer would have been imminent. Kudos to KRQE for doing so. But interestingly enough, the story was pulled within minutes of being posted. I wonder what the problem could have been with this story? Maybe there was no problem with the story at all. Could it be that APD could coerce and censor the media as it does its’ employees?
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
I noticed the way they pulled that story yesterday...really fast too. I think the editor should have to answer to that.
There is one alternate reason it got pulled I guess...maybe the editor realized it was a union plant story used to piss of the admin...which it obviously was.
Hey KRQE and Alex Tomlin, where is your story about APD recruiting? I heard about it and everyone said it was dead on, but it has disappeared from your website, why?
Wasn't it not too long ago that dcop banks had someone close to him hired on as a lateral officer when there was no lateral academy and no recruitment for lateral applicants @ the time? And he is going to be schultz's successor? It never end its seems. There are deeply planted issues @ APD that will not go away until which time a complete cleansing of the command level is done. And no, that doesnt means they would be succeeded by current Lieutenants & Sergeants, many of them are already completely tainted as well. APD needs a chief with ZERO ties to current APD/ABQ. And, the ranks and appointement process for commander & dcop need to be revisited. These positions need to be tested for and filled based of knowledge/skill/experience. Otherwise, as political appointees they will do no more than perpetuate this broken cycle that the current APD/ABQ admin has embraced. Sadly, so many Lt's & Sgt's out there who know better and are in a position to stand up for what is right have been castrated.
Watson was receiving FMLA leave pay while being paid as a cadet in Henderson. He wanted to be close to his buddy Sean White, who did the same thing. Plus, Henderson’s pay/benefits/cost of living was much better than here. Beckman called Henderson FD when Watson’s indiscretions came to his attention. Henderson immediately fired Watson and he came crawling back to ABQ. So not only did he commit federal fraud he was double dipping. Watson’s mommy-in-law was politically connected with the city administration, at the time, and everything was swept under the rug. Beckman suddenly retired within a couple of weeks after this tomfoolery. Watson sits up in the west side AFD castle, with his Bible in hand, acting like his poop don’t stink. He’s a bully, gives special considerations to his buds, and covertly punishes ff’s for on the job injuries… He has no personal skills or training, and no business being the HR chief. Past indiscretions should be considered when hiring a Fire Chief, also education, dealing with a 60 million dollar budget and personal skills... If he’s up for Chief the AFD will be in bigger trouble then it already is. And Breen could give a rat’s butt about the condition of AFD or how he leaves it, he just wants his top 3 and has been very vocal about that.
DC Banks is about as professional as a piece of bubblegum stuck on the bottom of my boot. He's a liar. He lied under oath on tape. That makes him a criminal. Integrity. He doesn't have it. schultz doesn't have it. schultz has been caught in so many lies that they now have that second string smurf feist up at bat. I guess when they wear his sissy ass out another piece of brainless morally lacking cannon fodder will step up to sacrifice themselves pathetically for the cause. It really sucks for the people of Albuquerque to KNOW their police department is rotten at the top and their city administration is just as bad. Any other small country would have had civil war over this crap already. Pure evil and treachery is running the city. The city attorney Levy is a liar too. The dirt is coming out. though. Can't say it's not.
Don't listen to 10:53.. Dumb a@$ that slipped through the cracks. I'm an Officer and believe AFD and APD ground troops need to stick together. That's how we will beat these corupt Admins..
BUT IT'S THE ONLY ENTITY WITH A SMURF AS A DCOP! A WORM OF A LYING, COWARDLY, PUNK SISSY FRAIL, LITTLE SLITHERING SKIRT WEARING CROSSDRESSING PANTYWASTE SMURF.
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