Give Berry the BOOT now not in 4 years to make city even better
When Richard Berry took the reins of Albuquerque almost four
years ago, the city was not in a good place. It faced:
It was time for Marty Chavez to leave
but the City under the Chavez administration was clean, prospering and crime
was down every single year he was in office! Things did not go to hell until Berry took
over.
A $90 million budget shortfall.
The truth is; this budgets
“shortfall” has been over Berry’s entire term which averages to approximately $20
million dollars a year and is mostly Berry’s fault.
Unemployment that topped 8 percent.
As reported on KOB Channel 4 (read it HERE), the
real unemployment rate is around 14.1% when you take into consideration those
who have “given up” looking and those who are working part-time low paying
jobs.
A capital budget that had been raided for 8
mills — tens of millions of dollars a year — to cover operations, salaries and
raises.
The Journal wants to talk about
raids; Berry has raided the entire City budget to the tune of MILLIONS OF
DOLLARS that he and his Republican Councilmen have diverted for the Berry
Boutique Projects. Remember, this is
after the voters told Berry NO!
A lack of transparency regarding city
spending, staffing, contracts and pay.
Let’s talk about transparency. Berry
announced that RAY SCHULTZ was retiring and was placed on a consulting contract
for another month. The truth: RAY SCHULTZ is STILL a City employee on vacation.
Berry lied during the debate and stated, “Ray Schultz was no longer a city
employee.” This is a LIE!
Bureaucratic red tape, inequitable impact
fees based on location and an over-the-top energy code that bogged down
construction projects.
All of those problems still exist and
Berry’s “claim to fame” is he was a “construction guy.” At that Berry has
killed Albuquerque’s economy; no one is looking to build here…
A major traffic interchange well over its
design capacity affecting 56 million commutes each year.
Not to worry, Berry is endorsed by
the ABQ Journal; anyone wonder why, when he is a dismal failure? Here is the
answer: Berry’s big push for the Paseo project with “special access” for the
ABQ Journal Center will cause the Journal’s property to DOUBLE OR TRIPLE IN
VALUE! This is commonly referred to as “motive and opportunity.”
An at-risk homeless population running up
huge public safety costs.
Berry forgot; this “homeless
population” are PEOPLE! Real People,
with real problems and issues. Berry’s view of the “homeless population” is
they are “running up huge public safety costs.” Money spent on our homeless
people is money WELL spent. These people
need our help. How heartless and mindless of Berry.
And a commitment to education that amounted
to little more than before- and after-school care.
Berry has done nothing to improve our
educational process. Although, Berry commonly calls upon APS’s Superintendent,
Winston Brook, to back his play. Brook makes over $264,000 a year for our students
to have one of the worst dropout rates…Thanks Berry for nothing.
Berry came to the job with experience as a
state legislator in the minority party who had little choice but to build
consensus to get things done. It’s a skill that has served the city well as he
has tackled each of these challenges in turn.
Served the City well? The Journal
means it has served Berry and his SOB’s (Supporters of Berry) well. Berry has
several pawns on the City council like: Meyers, Winters, Trudy Jones, Janice
Arnold-Jones and Dan Lewis who back his immoral acts and his fleecing of the City
of Albuquerque.
The city addressed more than $160 million in
shortfalls during his term, turning in balanced budgets each year. It avoided
layoffs in its city workforce, and a recovering local economy added 7,200 jobs
from June 2012 to June 2013.
Wow, if Berry added 7,200 jobs what
were those 7,000 plus people doing standing in line at Target to apply for 200
minimum wage jobs? What about the 5,000
plus people who applied at the Downs Racecino for 400 minimum wage jobs? With
all the “jobs” Berry claims he created our true unemployment rate shouldn’t be
at 14.1%. Or is this all another Berry good Lie?
It returned an annual $3 million to the
capital budget from operations, with more promised. It won awards for its ABQ View portal that
put the city’s business — contracts, salaries, benefits, construction projects,
internal audits, political contributions, travel expenses and more — online for
its real bosses, the taxpayers.
This hogwash all sounds good but the
truth is the 3 million dollars is the money that Berry and the Republican Council
have diverted for the Berry Boutique project which the voters voted down.
It equalized impact fees, instituted a
business center to bring information together for new and expanding companies,
implemented E-Plan Review and FastTrax to streamline plan review and approval,
and set up a “green path” to expedite cutting-edge building projects.
Once again, this all sound really
good but the facts do NOT support this rubbish. Has Berry offered the companies
who used this baloney and created the “7,000 jobs” Berry claims were created?
It built metaphoric bridges with the state
and federal governments, leading the way with $50 million for the $93 million
rebuild of the literal bridges of the Paseo del Norte/Interstate 25
interchange.
Remember this is your tax dollars
paying to double or triple the property values for the Albuquerque Journal
Center. This will not create long-term sustainable jobs. This is nothing more than Government welfare.
It housed more than 200 of the city’s most
vulnerable, chronically homeless, recording an impressive 89 percent retention
rate after a year and saving taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars on
calls for police and emergency medical services.
Didn’t Hitler also send what he
thought was a menace to the public to be “housed” in certain places? We all know how that worked out. Let us know
when they open one of these housing projects in FOURHILLS where Berry lives.
It joined with Sandia High School to offer an
International Baccalaureate program, the University of New Mexico on a
planning/architecture facility Downtown, private industry to give high school
students Running Start for Careers training, Southwest Learning Center on an
aeronautics/math/science academy, and Innovate + Educate on a system to get
potential employees skilled up to enter the workforce.
This was set up to benefit all of the
SOB’s (Supporters of Berry) friends and family.
Honestly, how many regular people really have been given these type of
opportunities? Very few if any!
Has it been a term without controversy and
mistakes? No. Critics especially would say he didn’t move quickly and
decisively enough to address problems at APD, which seems sapped by low morale
and is the target of a Justice Department probe into use of force. The number
of officers is down, but so are crime rates. And Berry supported innovative
reforms such as lapel cameras for officers.
Berry allowed APD to be wrecked by
Ray Schultz whom is still the Chief of Police according to the City’s Record
Custodian. APD was one of the best police departments in the Nation and now APD
is facing a TAKE OVER by the Department of Justice. This is all a result of a
lack of leadership.
Here is another huge lie Berry keeps telling.
Crime is up by over 3,600; of those additional 3,600, 2,000 of those additional
crimes this past year were all PROPERTY CRIMES.
Did APD make an additional 3,600 arrests? The answer is no but we did have an
additional 3,600 victims. According to Berry the crime rate is down. But, crime
itself is actually up. All the records
prove this including the Journal which showed that crime has steadily increased
the past three years Berry has been in office.
Berry has run the city more like a business
than a political machine. His first CAO was a prominent Democrat.
Here is a funny! Berry does not talk about the newly created
position that he created for Trujillo as the Deputy COA. We are out of money but Berry gives another
SOB (Supporter of Berry) a $90,000 a year job to do nothing. Way to go Mr.
Trujillo.
Overall, his pragmatic fiscal stewardship,
his drive to propose game-changing projects and his commitment to be
accountable to voters have put the city in a much better place than it was when
he took office. He says he loves Albuquerque, has “a passion for the job” and
wants a second term to “really improve (the city’s) value.”
Berry is not “pragmatic,” he is
problematic. Berry’s boutique projects are not game-changing, they are an
attempt to ruin the City’s beautiful Bosque.
Berry has no accountability to the voters; otherwise he would stop
lying. Berry does not love Albuquerque;
Berry loves all of his SOB’s (Supporters of Berry) who he has done favors for
like Mr. Trujillo’s $90,000 a year job to do nothing and others. Berry does not
love Albuquerque half as much as he loves himself. Berry only wants to stay another four years
to make more money for him and all of his SOB’s (Supporters of Berry).
The Journal
recommends voters re-elect Mayor Richard Berry so he can do just that.
The Journal will
make a huge profit off of the Paseo deal plus the average $500,000 that the
City of Albuquerque pays the Journal.
Berry is a bad
choice and has been a dismal failure! It is time for new blood with new and
fresh ideas.
3 comments:
I really wish these issues would have been first and foremost in the Heh campaign. We all get that he will fix the PD, everyone accepts that. But 90% of this city is not a PO, are married to one or have a direct family member as one. So while important, it isn't the top priority of many voters. My wrangle some of you, but that is the truth.
Also, with most accounts that the dept is in shambles, a lot of people haven't felt the pain yet of it. Of course the answer is you will, and I get that. But the shock and awe of the issues, hasn't directly effected me, so I question if it is drummed up just a tad.
Heh's answers in the debate on education and trade schools was the best few minutes of any of the 3 camaign's so far (IMO)!!! That is something that relates to EVERY ABQ FAMILY. Pure Gold. Then, immediately it is back to fixing the PD....................it starts to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher after awhile.
Come on Heh, you get the PD thing in your pocket, appeal to the rest of the city PLEASE!!!!!
6;17am,
My sentiments exactly! Something to shock and awe the half asleep voters, would be for Heh to join forces with Dinelli and show them that he is serious and willing do what it takes to unseat Berry! He has to be in the game to make changes and then down the road when he has more name recognition and experience in politics, then he can run for Mayor. Like or hate it the name of the game is POLITICS...
To the first post at 6:17.. Just call Heh and ask him your questions. He would be more then happy to talk to you.
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