County Ripped Off under former Sheriff Darren White

Something doesn’t pass the smell test here in Bernalillo County. When it comes right down to it; it stinks! Under the watchful eye of then Sheriff Darren White it appears that the County was ripped off by TruTouch. In a recent Journal article, the NMDOT paid $13,000.00 for each TruTouch machine it purchased. Then Sheriff White paid an astronomical $126,000.00 per machine that stayed on the shelf and were never used. This means that BCSO paid ten times more than what the machines were worth. If you include the development of the machines the County paid twenty-eight times more than DOT.

TruTouch had partnered with the Bernalillo Sheriff’s Department with the cooperation of then Sheriff White in the development of the devices. The total cost of the development and the County purchase of three machines was $1,100,000.00. If you look at the total cost from start to finish, the County via State and Federal funding paid $366,666.00 for each machine by proxy. What a deal, the New Mexico Department of Transportation only paid $13,000.00 for a similar model. It should be noted that the Sheriff’s Department bought model 1800BC and DOT purchased the 1100 model. The President and CEO of TruTouch, Mr. Richard Gill, “did not respond to questions about the difference between those machines.” One of our Eyes suggested that the difference is that DOT’s machines are black and white (model #1100) and BCSO’s machines are blue and white (model 1800BC). This case is so obvious that we had to throw some Eye humor in.

Here is another oddity, the machines purchased by NMDOT all worked fine. DOT reported that one machine was not working properly but the other five purchased are working fine and are in full service. Meanwhile, Current Sheriff Houston has three, $366,666.00 paperweights that are useless thanks to the failure of then Sheriff Darren White who failed to follow through and ensure the tax payer was getting their money’s worth. Sheriff Houston has formally requested that the New Mexico Attorney General Office investigate. TruTouch denies any wrong doing and claims that the problem lied with the Sheriff’s Department.

The Eye On Albuquerque would like to thank the Albuquerque Journal and staff reporter Jeff Proctor for actually reported on a true news story. Be careful Jeff, stories about the truth like this will make the Berry Administration, “Berry upset.”

Source:
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/152314156047newsmetro03-15-11.htm#ixzz1Gg5y9Rzk
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Bernalillo County Tries to Make Knee Jerk Reaction Appear Legitimate

Bernalillo County announces, “Former jail warden in Pa. brings 30 years of corrections experience to Bernalillo County.”

The new Director/Chief of MDC (Metropolitan Detention Center)is Ramon Rustin, of Pennsylvania. Mr. Rustin appears to be more than qualified for the position. This story is not directed towards Mr. Rustin but towards the decisions made by Bernalillo County Officials.

When the citizens hear of these types of appointment, it makes them wonder. The primary question is; why didn’t they hire someone from New Mexico? We have a large pool of New Mexicans who are qualified. We have native New Mexicans and others who have made New Mexico their home, who are unemployed and could use a job. Notwithstanding, there are many other New Mexicans who are looking for a job change or an upward promotion.

The County Manager, Thaddeus Lucero, the Deputy Manager, Tom Swisstack, and the County Commission should be ashamed of their actions. As you know Thaddeus Lucero has been the County Manager for many years and has left a trail of misdeeds in his ruins. Given Lucero’s record; he is probably not the best person to include in or have any say in the decision making process. The County is supposed to be deciding Lucero’s fate in the next few days. It is assumed, that if they dump Lucero; they will do another “Nationwide search,” since there is “nobody” in New Mexico that is qualified to perform certain County duties. Maybe the County Officials are going to follow Mayor Berry and his administration in making “A Berry Bad Mistake.”

Here is what traditionally occurs. An outside person is brought in, they stay long enough to get a second retirement from our retirement system, and they leave our State with that pension. This does nothing but hurt our State long term. The County administrators need to quit being short-sighted and look at the bigger picture. Any job should be given to a local person before going out-of-state. Swisstack stated that there were over twenty-two applicants.

"We are extremely fortunate and delighted to have Ramon join our team," Deputy County Manager Tom Swisstack said in an announcement of Rustin's appointment on the Bernalillo County website. "His long history in corrections and demonstrated leadership make him an excellent choice to take on the challenges of being the MDC Chief of Corrections."

Read more: ABQNews: UPDATED: New MDC Director on the Job http://www.abqjournal.com/abqnews/abqnewseeker-mainmenu-39/26478-new-mdc-director-on-the-job.html#ixzz1BYLXr4ad
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Our public officials need to be more accountable to the tax payers and take care of our citizen’s before they go on a shopping spree across the Country. What’s ironic is; our public officials talk about how bad the economy is and how high unemployment is, only to turn around and recruit someone 2,000 miles away to take a job from a New Mexican. If our officials are going to "talk the talk; then they need to walk the walk!"

Business as Usual

John Dantis' desk isn't even cleaned out yet and the county is back to its old tricks again. Our Eyes tell us that County Manager Thaddeus Lucero has decided to create a new six figure Deputy County Manager position for HR Manager Renetta Torres.

From: Thaddeus Lucero
Sent: Wednesday, July 28, 2010 2:09 PM
To: Alan B. Armijo; Art De La Cruz; Maggie Hart Stebbins; Michael Brasher; Michael Wiener
Cc: [Commissioners' Assistants]
Subject:

As you know, under the current County Management structure there are four departments, IT, Human Resources, Economic Development and PIO, reporting directly to me.  Over the past several months I have been giving thoughtful consideration to the overall structure.   In order to improve and enhance operations I will re-establish a previously existing division-Administrative Services-which will have IT, HR, Economic Development and Public Information under its umbrella.  I will appoint Renetta Torres, current HR Director to be Administrative Services Deputy County Manager.   As I have previously indicated, this will not involve the creation of a new position. 

Note that County Manager Lucero is notifying the commissioner that there "will" be a new Deputy County Manager. And despite Lucero's claims to the contrary, our Eyes tell us that the county has not had a Deputy County Manager of Administrative Services in at least a decade.

We'd argue that "re-establish[ing]" a position that hasn't existed for over a decade is no different than creating a new position. Just like "revenue enhancements" are no different from tax increases. Lucero is creating a new position and he's doing it on his own authority barely taking the time to notify his bosses on the commission before doing so.

[Sidebar]
Every family member hired by the county was done so with the approval and full knowledge of the County's Human Resources Department where Ms. Torres was the director. Instead of looking into the department's failings, Lucero is giving Ms. Torres a promotion.
[End Sidebar]

John Dantis should be hauling home the final boxes from his office Friday, but the county itself is back to business as usual.

Dantis Day

If you have any business with the county, you'd best either get it done before next Tuesday or plan on waiting until Wednesday. It seems the county is adding a day to go with the street that's already named for the retiring Deputy County Manager of Public Safety, John Dantis.

This Tuesday, July 27th will be John Dantis Day featuring not one but two parties to celebrate his retirement. All we need now is a proclamation from the governor or perhaps a declaration from the commission.

The first of the soirees starts promptly at 11:30 am and runs to 1:00 pm. Attendees are asked to bring 5 bucks and come in costume.  It's a potluck, but don't worry desert starts at 3:00 pm.

The second of the two soirees is a cake and punch celebration.  Ironically - and perhaps tellingly - this one will be held in the very chambers where the Bernalillo County Commission meets.

Look... John Dantis has undoubtedly has a number of friends that wish him well. However, these two little parties - some of which are clearly on taxpayer time - only serve to underscore the disparity between the powerful and the expendable.

When one's final act is a clear violation of policy and ethics, it's hard for the public to sit by and watch as his retirement is celebrated. Tuesday, July 27th will be Dantis Day - at least at the county. For the rest of us it will be a reminder of everything that's wrong with county leadership.

Untouchable

After weeks of anticipation the county finally made public the results of the promised Dantis investigation... sort of. Instead of releasing the full report, the county provided an "executive summary" to reporters at a late Friday morning news conference.

The $20,000 "executive summary" covered all of the points of everything that everyone already knew. In truth, the "investigation" didn't uncover anything new. But taxpayers should feel confident that the county spent an inordinate amount of taxpayer money to find out something everyone already knew.

County Manager Thaddeus Lucero gave a prepared statement to members of the press and after stating that he was "protect[ing] the due process and other rights of the accused and the witnesses" went on to name a number of county employees who would be disciplined and in one case terminated.

Excuse us, but it's a bit strange that the only person that County Manager Thaddeus Lucero was unwilling to talk about (other than witnesses) was the one man that was referenced no less than 17 times in the 7 page "executive summary" - Deputy County Manager, John Dantis.

Of course, the DCM wasn't referenced to by name but rather as the DCM. In fact, the name John Dantis who happens to be the DCM, doesn't appear a single time in the "executive summary."

According to a witness who participated in the hiring process for Dantis, the DCM encouraged him and the Clinically Managed Detox Supportive Aftercare Community MATS Facility management Program Manager (the “Program Manager”) to hire Dantis despite their concerns with his qualifications and the short length of time that Dantis had been in recovery.

- Executive Summary of MATS Investigation

Even according to the "executive summary," the hiring of Jamie Danits was a violation of the county nepotism policy. Therefore, none of the events following the hire have a whole lot of relevance because the hire should have never have taken place.

Should county employees who helped further the younger Dantis career by covering for his failings be disciplined and even terminated? Absolutely. But the problem is the main actor in this county kabuki dance is being allowed to retire without a hint of discipline and without a definite date.

John Dantis has been in discussion with me for the last six months prior to any accusations and the investigation, regarding his retirement. At this time, I do not have an official letter of retirement from Mr. Dantis. I will not take any further questions on this matter.

- Prepared Statement of County Manager Thaddeus Lucero

No questions, no date, no disciplinary action. This action (or lack thereof) sends a crystal clear message to county employees... if you're high enough on the food chain you're untouchable. More, it actually reinforces the idea that county managers and deputy managers are untouchable therefore, you better play ball.

One need look no further than today's news conference to determine how and why an unqualified son of a "DCM" was able to not only get but keep his job despite numerous incidents of questionable behavior. Accountability starts at the top and no one should be untouchable.

County Chaos

There's more trouble on John Dantis Road and this time the allegations are criminal. Saturday the county's Community Custody Program Czar Vince Peele was himself taken into custody on charges of taking bribes to place MDC inmates into the CCP program.

Peele, 48, faces two counts each of demanding or receiving a bribe by a public official and acceptance of a bribe from a witness. He is also charged with 28 counts of identity theft and one count of conspiracy, Bernalillo County Sheriff's Lt. Duncan Sanchez said.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Since the end of April we've been treated to a series of stories that - shall we say - makes one less than confident in Bernalillo County management. We've had sons with substance abuse problems working at MATS, overpayment of county vendors, employee retaliation, alleged bribery, the controversial hire/no-hire of former Commissioner Al Valdez, and apparently Ron Torres' entire family got jobs at MDC. (Ok, so maybe it's not Torres' entire family but the Journal identified 6 family members and our Eyes tell us that there may be a few more.) That's a whole lot of smoke and almost all of is coming from the county's Public Safety Department which is run by none other than John Dantis.

County officials are busy trying to put out the multiple fires threatening their governmental house. Dantis the elder is still working while Dantis the younger resigned rather than face termination (read it here - Subscription). An inquiry into the Dantis affair has begun and according to our Eyes, the findings are expected early this week. Meanwhile, the county confirmed it overpaid Canteen Correctional Services almost $400,000. But an audit performed by terminated county accountant Carlos Villanueva indicated as much as a $2.9 MILLION overpayment (read it here - Subscription).

Bernalillo County has largely remained hidden by the shadow of the City of Albuquerque making it fertile ground for those who would abuse their authority. It's no surprise that the Journal's investigations have uncovered so many alarming and potentially criminal activities.

Cronyism, nepotism, corruption...They're all here. So far, neither the commission nor County Manager Thaddeus Lucero have done anything to substantively address the problem.

Organizations always take on the attributes of their leaders. It's up to the 5 members of the Board of County Commissioners to determine who those leaders are and the character of the organization (or lack thereof). There's little doubt that the county is in chaos and it'll take more than an investigation and a couple of tweaks to an ethics ordinance to fix it.

The Golden Rule

It's the public sector equivalent of the Golden Rule. No, not the one about treating others as you would be treated - the one about having the gold and making the rules or the parachutes as the case may be.

High ranking public officials are allowed to bank their vacation and make substantial withdrawals upon retirement - that is if you are high enough on the proverbial ladder.

The top two leave payouts in recent months went to deputy chiefs in the Albuquerque Police Department who retired in December. Michael Castro received a $141,000 payment, and Kevin McCabe collected almost $126,000. 

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Leonard Garcia, who headed the Solid Waste Management Department, received $116,000, and former Fire Chief Robert Ortega $114,000.
       
Six other employees received payments topping $78,000, including retired Cultural Services Director Ray Darnell and Chávez press secretary Deborah James.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Your average, everyday city employee lives under a cap that limits the amount of accrued vacation and sick leave. While the specifics vary, our Eyes tell us that most government employees have to use it or lose it after they've accrued about 10 weeks of leave. 

Caps are simply good business and so is providing adequate time off. The former limits the amount financial liability when an employee leaves and the latter makes for a more productive employee.

Mayor Berry has rightly ended the practice and City Councilor Brad Winter intends to make sure that future mayors don't reinstate the practice.

But banking vacation time isn't just for the City of Albuquerque. Last year, KRQE's Larry Barker exposed the Shah of the Rio Grande - Subhas Shah - for running the sever-retire-rehire scam (watch it here). Part of Shah's payout was almost $250,000 in, you guessed it... vacation.

[Sidebar]
Despite the furor over The Shah of the Rio Grande and his scamming of the system, Mr. Shah is still employed by the Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District as its Chief Engineer and CEO. Sometimes even sunlight fails to cleanse government corruption.
[End Sidebar]

Meanwhile over at Bernalillo County, county managers and a few directors are busy filling their vacation banks with an unlimited amount of unused vacation to be cashed in at retirement. And we'd be willing to bet that there are numerous other high ranking government employees that are cashing in at taxpayer expense in the dark corners of the state's governments.

The public sector version of the Golden Rule... He who controls the taxpayer's gold makes the golden parachutes. Golden parachutes, they're not just for Wall Street anymore.

Lapse

Ever since Manny's courthouse scam conviction and Richardson's near miss encounter with an indictment, it's become popular for Democrats to repeatedly introduce ethics legislation at just about every level. Currently, there are no less than 5 "ethics" bills working their way through the New Mexico legislature all of them introduced by Democrats.

It's not that ethics ordinances are a bad idea. After over 70 years of single party rule in New Mexico that instilled patron politics and eschewed ethics, it's become very apparent that elected officials need a refresher course in what's ethical.

ethics [ˈɛθɪks]
n
1. (Philosophy) (functioning as singular) the philosophical study of the moral value of human conduct and of the rules and principles that ought to govern it; moral philosophy See also meta-ethics
2. (functioning as plural) a social, religious, or civil code of behaviour considered correct, esp that of a particular group, profession, or individual
3. (functioning as plural) the moral fitness of a decision, course of action, etc. he doubted the ethics of their verdict

- thefreedictionary.com

The problem with ethics legislation is that it's just as slippery as its definition. The temptation is for legislators to try to codify a set of dos and don'ts in an ordinance defining what is ethical. The dilema is how to create restrictions on government employees and elected officials without violating their Constitutional rights and without providing cover for unethical behavior.

January 12th, the Bernalillo County Commission passed its attempt to do just that. Commissioner Maggie Hart-Stebbins sponsored the County's revised ethics ordinance. What's in the ordinance isn't all that troubling - particularly since the commission pulled Stebbins' original language that would have restricted county employee's first amendment rights. But what's not in the ordinance is telling.

The Bernalillo County Code of Ethics as adopted deems all of the following "ethical":

1. It is "ethical" for elected officials can take a job with county or be a contractor for the county immediately following their term. In practice, the job or contract could be created by the outgoing official only to be filled by them.

2 It is "ethical" for candidates or elected officials to appear on publicly funded commercials on any radio or TV station within 90 days of an election.

3. It is "ethical" for commissioners to remove ethics board members to have "their" member on the ethics board.

4. It is "ethical" for candidates and elected officials to receive "educational materials" or "honoraria" as long as the value of each occurrence is under $100.

5. It is "ethical" for candidates and elected officials to receive contributions from entities that have applied for or received TIDD or any source of public financing.

6. It is "ethical" for commissioners to act as a reference for those seeking employment with the county.

As you can see in addition to prohibiting "unethical" activities, ethics legislation often creates a situation where unethical behavior is considered ethical. A County Commissioner can create a job for themselves and take that job or contract immediately after leaving office.

At the state level, it's "ethical" for Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish to spend her over $2.5 MILLION campaign kitty for this election but on November 3rd, the same activity is prohibited.

The truth is ethics legislation won't stop unethical behavior. Many times the introduction itself is used by politicians as a way to look ethical sometimes in an attempt to rehab their own ethically challenged past. Hardly ethical.

Commissioner Stebbins herself has been engaging in some ethically questionable behavior. She continued to hold her position with MRCOG while serving on the Commission. She's been all over radio and TV in attempt to raise her name ID for her 2010 election. And She was even made Vice Chair of the commission to help her credibility with her voters.

The MRCOG job was a clear conflict of interest as Commissioners serve on the board and would essentially be her boss. It was also a potential Hatch Act violation if she were running for a partisan position.

The last two are less clear and deemed "ethical" by the ordinance. But if county funds and positions are being used to further her election, then there's little doubt that her actions are unethical despite being allowed by the "Ethics" Ordinance.

For these reasons, we're not a real fan of ethics legislation. It can protect unethical behavior while making the public wrongly believe they have an ethical government. No matter what laws are passed, elected officials can and all too many will act unethically. It's up to voters to hold their representatives accountable. To trust only to ethics legislation to enforce ethical behavior is more than an ethical lapse, it's an abdication of voter responsibility.

Eye Told You: County Bondage

It only took four months, but there it was on the front page of the Albuquerque Journal - "What to Do with the Debt?" It's a story we told you about back in February (read it here). In August of 2008, the county commission at the urging of County Manager Thaddeus Lucero authorized the purchase of 500 Marquette for a mere $42 MILLION.

Before the echo had died on the 4 to 1 vote (Commissioner Brasher dissenting), the county had issued $42 MILLION in bonds to cover the purchase. The problem is they never bought the building.

After reading today's Albuquerque Journal story (Subscription) you probably were left thinking that the county was almost making money on the $42 MILLION debt. Readers were treated to a fair example of governmental sleight of hand. One part of the article claims that we're paying an annual interest rate of 3.8%, but thanks to our investment wizards we're recapturing 3.7% annually.

County Treasurer Patrick Padilla estimated the money is earning interest income of around 3.7 percent. The interest the county pays on the debt is 3.8 percent.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Lucero said the overall impact on taxpayers has been minimal, given that the estimated investment income is close to the debt payment due this year.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Separated by a page, over a dozen paragraphs, and a couple of assurances readers (and taxpayers) finally got to the bottom line.

It's difficult to say exactly how much the $42 million will earn because it's invested in a variety of ways, along with other county money, officials said.

"It's really mixed in with all the other investments," Deputy County Manager Dan Mayfield said.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

In other words, either the county doesn't know how much they're losing or they just aren't willing to say. We'd bet the latter.

There's only one thing worse than buying an unneeded $42 MILLION building - not buying a $42 MILLION building and having to pay for the bond council, interest rates, and fees.

It doesn't matter how you look at it, Bernalillo County is losing money... our money because they acted without thinking and left us holding the bonds.

Still on the Hook

What's worse than going $42 MILLION into the hole for a new building? Going $42 MILLION in the hole and ending up without the building. That's exactly what has happened to Bernalillo County.

Our Eyes tell us that the purchase of a new cathedral for the county commission is officially dead. We have yet to ascertain the exact reasoning behind the move, but the general consensus is that buying a new $42 MILLION building to house county offices isn't the best idea right now. You know, it just doesn't look good.

Well duh... It didn't look good back in August either, yet the commission charged ahead with the purchase. By September, the building had been approved and the county had already sold $42 MILLION worth of bonds to pay for it.

[Sidebar]
To be fair, it wasn't the entire County Commission that voted to blow $42 MILLION on an unneeded building. The vote was 4 in favor (Alan Armijo, Dina Arculetta, Theresa Cordova, Tim Cummins) and 1 against (Michael Brasher).
[End Sidebar]

You'd think that we'd be happy that the county's extravagant purchase had tanked. The problem is the county has already sold the bonds. That means all of us are still on the hook for $42 MILLION in principle plus interest to be paid to the purchasers of the bonds.

Our Eyes tell us that the bond money can only be used for a building. Which means that regardless of how things look or how ridiculous it is to be buying a building when gross receipts are way down, the county will in all likelihood buy a building eventually.

In a matter of just a few days the Bernalillo County Commission not only approved the sale of almost $41 MILLION in bonds to pay for a new home for themselves but sold the bonds. We've never seen government work quite as quickly as the commission did in this particular case. It's been our experience that when government works with this kind of alacrity it's either under attack from terrorists or doing something that the voters wouldn't approve of.

-eyeonalbuquerque.com

As you can tell, we've always been suspicious of this deal. It's not as if this was the Louisiana Purchase - a monumental deal that couldn't be passed up. Indeed, the Albuquerque Journal reported that the property at 500 Marquette was most likely waaaay overpriced (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

At the end of the day, we're left with more debt that was meant for a building we didn't and don't need, and now we're paying for it even though we don't have it. Not exactly government at its finest.

$10 MILLION in the Hole

Everyone is starting to come up a little short. From banks to state governments the current economic situation is starting to take its toll. Wall Street got $700 BILLION, California is asking for $7 BILLION to cover a $15 BILLION shortfall, and no one knows how much Massachusetts wants from Uncle Sam's threadbare taxpayers.

Now right here in Eyeland, Bernalillo County is facing a $10 MILLION revenue shortfall. In a memo (read it here) to county officials, County Manager Thaddeus Lucero blames the shortfall on four things - a $3 to $5 MILLION drop in property tax collections as a result of foreclosures and inability to pay, a $3 to $5 MILLION drop in Gross Receipts, a $1.3 MILLION decline in Zoning, Building and Public works fees (a drop of 60%), and a $260,000 decline in motor vehicle fees and gas tax collections.

To offset the projected revenue shortfalls the County Manager recommends the following 6 actions:

1. Immediately begin intense quarterly budget reviews.
2. Cease the purchase of new vehicles until revenues are stabilized.
3. Cease all out-of-state travel that is not approved by the County Manager.
4. Implement a selective hiring freeze on all non-public safety positions.
5. Monitor all grants and contracts to ensure payment prior to contract expiration.
6. Immediately freeze the implementation of new programs.

We don't know about you, but that doesn't look like $10 MILLION to us and a couple of those - like items 1 and 5 - should be standard operating procedure. Unless county officials are spending extravagant amounts on out-of-state travel or buying Hummers for the Sheriff's Office, they're gonna' need to find some more cash.

If you'll remember we told you about the spending spree that the county has been on for the last four years - more than doubling county spending from $220 MILLION to $521 MILLION (read it here). And just last August the county not only voted to purchase a $42 MILLION palace for their royal... uh, selves, but sold the bonds in a lightning move to avoid those pesky voters.

Somethin' just aint right over at Bernalillo County. They've managed to dig themselves a gaping $10 MILLION hole and are trying to refill it using a hand shovel.

Suckers

In a matter of just a few days the Bernalillo County Commission not only approved the sale of almost $41 MILLION in bonds to pay for a new home for themselves but sold the bonds. We've never seen government work quite as quickly as the commission did in this particular case. It's been our experience that when government works with this kind of alacrity it's either under attack from terrorists or doing something that the voters wouldn't approve of.

Tuesday, the Journal decided to do a little story on the purchase that questioned whether or not the property was worth the $40.8 MILLION (plus another $1 MILLION for the art) the county was so quick to pay. Apparently the property has increased $21.1 MILLION in just eight years. That's almost twice the building's year 2000 value (ABQ Journal - Subscription).

We're not really questioning the value even though it appears that the county is paying almost $12 MILLION too much. The owner of the building has the right to sell their property at whatever price the market will bear and as P.T. Barnum once said, there's a sucker born every minute - in this case four of them.

The county claims that it can raise $30 MILLION by selling their half of the current City County Government Center to the city. But unlike the owner of the property at 500 Marquette, the county has only one buyer that would be interested in purchasing their share of the property. If the city is smart (you can stop laughing now) they'll simply wait until the county is desperate to sell and get the other half of the government center at a rock bottom price.

The value of the property is just one problem and believe it or not it's not the most distressing one. The biggest problem is that the county is acting as if they found the building on the checkout isle at Wal Mart. They neither studied the purchase nor demonstrated a need for the property. Makes one wonder who has studied it and who really benefits from what can only be called a $42 MILLION impulse buy.

Whoever brokered this sale has all of the talents of P.T. Barnum himself. They've managed play the county and the county commission for suckers. Unfortunately, we're the ones paying the price of admission.

History Repeating Itself?

Monday night four county commissioners decided to spend $42 MILLION plus dollars in order to purchase the Petroleum Building at 500 Marquette SW. The four commissioners who decided to spend our money also thought it was a good deal.

County Manager Thaddeus Lucero said the move would allow the government to consolidate its offices — now spread across a handful of Downtown locations — into one spot. Several real estate professionals said the new location would be more convenient.

"We can do it at no additional cost to the taxpayer," Lucero said. "This is a smart idea."

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

"Consolidation, no additional cost to the taxpayers" - sounds like APS trying to sell the purchase of the buildings formerly known as City Centre to the public. The consolidation has never happened and APS still holds all of the properties it previously owned and all but one are still in use.

We first told you about the purchase a week before the commission rushed the issue to a vote. The county has not even made a compelling case that it needs a new facility or studied the fiscal impact of the purchase.

The tenants "have some very serious concerns," Campbell said. "There hasn't been the kind of public discussion you usually require for spending tens of millions of dollars on public improvements."

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

By the way, these are the same tenants that the county is counting on to pay for the project over the first three years. Our guess is these tenants will be vacating the premises as soon as their leases allow leaving the county... well, us holding the bag. And let's face it; the county would be a terrible landlord - especially since it intends to occupy the property as soon as the current tenants are out.

(Sidebar)
Another little problem we have with the move is that it creates space over at the City/County Government Center. Just what we need, more space for the city. There must be a law somewhere that in every instance government will expand to fill the facilities it owns just like the sun always must rise in the east. If nothing else we need the county to stay put simply to keep the size of the city at bay.
(End Sidebar)

The only commissioner who seems to be able to resist the temptation to spend our money is Commissioner Brasher. In this vote - like many others - he was the lone voice asking for the county to justify its need for the property.

We can think of a lot of areas where the county could spend over $42 MILLION - like a jail expansion, or on aging county fire equipment. Instead, four county commissioners (Armijo, Archuletta, Cummins, and Cordova) are ready to spend our money on a new home for themselves while the westside jail overflows and fire equipment breaks down.

It seems that history is repeating itself... only this time the county will spend $42 MILLION without our consent and without making a convincing argument that they need the facility.

----- Correction -----
We originally posted that the new county building would be on the November ballot... Is our Eye red! We were wrrrrong... It's a done deal and voters will not have an opportunity to weigh in on the purchase. FYI - The Eye Poll is running 2 to 1 against the purchase.

Eye Poll: Derailed

The Almighty Alcalde and a number of city councilors have been determined to have their own train right down Central. Two years ago they tried to sneak an extension of the Transportation Infrastructure Tax designed to pay for the trolley past the voters on the Monday before 2006 election - which included a hotly contested CD1 race between Heather Wilson and Patricia Madrid (read about it here). Eventually, the trolley jumped the tracks and a task farce was formed to "study" the idea.

Two years ago there was a huge public outcry that ended the trolley's immediate future. Last week we asked Eye readers what their opinion was today. 83% of those participating in our unscientific poll said no way when asked if the city should spend $240 plus MILLION on a new trolley, 16% said absolutely, 3% didn't know, and 1 lone voter didn't care (read the results here).

This week we're working on two polls - our first presidential poll and a poll on whether the county should be spending upwards of $44 MILLION to purchase a place of their own. Don't forget to vote!

A Place of Their Own

Bernalillo County and the City of Albuquerque have been occupying the same facility for... well as long as we can remember. The arrangement has worked pretty well for the two government entities and could even be called efficient - if anything government related could ever be called efficient.

Our Eyes tell us that the county commission has been looking for a suitable property for some time and now they've got their sights set on the Albuquerque Petroleum Building at 500 Marquette. As luck would have it the building is for sale for the rock bottom price of $44 MILLION.

Someone should check the water down there at the government center because the urge to spend tax dollars on brand new toys seems to be spreading. In addition, the city's penchant for obtaining predetermined results from "studies" and task farces is also catching. You see they've asked Tommy Hughes to study the purchase and advise the commission on the feasibility of the purchase.

Mr. Hughes of Hughes & Strumor, Ltd. is the bond counsel for the county - which means that he and his firm would directly benefit from the sale of the bonds that would be required to purchase the property. Now, we don't want to impugn the integrity of Mr. Hughes or his firm, but one can't help but notice a severe conflict of interest. It's kind of like the city hiring Leland Consulting Group - a company that specializes in putting trolleys in cities - to consult on whether or not to install a 19th Century Streetcar (read our take here).

All of this is going on at a time when the economy is struggling, and the county is looking for new tax revenue. It's not like the commission has been frugal over the past few years in fact they've been on somewhat of a spending spree with expenses going from $220 MILLION to $521 MILLION in just three years. For the past two years expenses have outstripped revenue by almost 12% (read it here).

Look, we could understand the county moving if they needed to. Our Eyes tell us that the county isn't cramped or in need of space they simply want a place of their own and they're willing to spend $44 MILLION of our money to get it.

----- Update -----
The Albuquerque Journal ran a story Tuesday on the proposed property purchase (Subscription). The story sites a purchase price of $42 MILLION. That number does not include an estimated $2 MILLION required to make the building county ready. We're sure that there would be some remodeling involved along with physically moving phone and IT systems just for starters. In fact, we'd be surprised if it only cost $2 MILLION particularly if they plan to move other county facilities to the building.

Not a Crime After All

By now everyone knows that most counties and the state itself face jail overcrowding problems. With the state's population growth of about 117 people a day, which according to UNM's Bureau of Business and Economic Research places New Mexico's population over 2,000,000 (ABQ Journal - Subscription), it's no surprise that our jails are full almost before they open. Bernalillo County's Metropolitan Detention Center is the perfect example.

In 2004, the average inmate population at the west side jail was around 2,000 on any given day (ABQ Journal - Subscription). According to jail officials the jail is now running at 122% of capacity or around 2,440 inmates. To us that means that the police are doing their jobs. By putting criminals in jail they protect the rest of us... end of story.

Unfortunately judges have traditionally taken a dim view of jails that are overcrowded. That's understandable to a certain point, but jails and prisons shouldn't be country clubs either. In our opinion, they should be a place that guests should want to do just about anything to stay out of. But we digress...

The result is that county officials are caught between population growth, the state who won't take charge of prisoners unless they serve over 364 days, judges who often gerrymander sentences to keep offenders out of the state "big house," and rising health care costs that the county is responsible to provide its inmates.

In typical bureaucratic fashion, the solution being proposed is not to build more jails to keep the rest of us safe, but to change what is actually a crime in to a "civil" offense (ABQ Tribune). We agree with former Chief Metro Court Judge William Lang when he says, "It never made sense to me that someone who didn't get their dog neutered ended up in jail." (With the possible exception of The Mayer's (a.k.a. Sally Mayer) HEART ordinance, which should have landed her in jail.)

Unfortunately when a law is decriminalized like say uh... running red lights, due process rights go out the window along with an impartial judge. The accused stands in front of an administrative lackey who presumes you are guilty. (Reminds us of the old joke... "We'll give you a first class trial, followed by a right proper hangin.'") Cities and Counties LOVE the idea because along with (allegedly) solving their overcrowding issues they get to keep all of the money.

The Mayer proposed just this type of decriminalization last year. Thankfully the idea was euthanized this past May. However, today's Tribune story threatens to revive the idea under the banner of relieving overcrowding. Bernalillo County's Public Safety Director John Dantis is in favor of the idea.

Dantis is pushing the traffic tickets measure as a way for at least 3,600 people a year to avoid jail for minor traffic offenses, including improper lane changes, failing to yield, some speeding violations and not paying tickets or not showing up in court for such offenses.

- ABQ Tribune

Like guilt, sentencing on minor offenses should be determined by a judge. Legislatures should determine sentencing guidelines that fit the nature of the crime and take in to consideration the danger posed by the offender to the general public. In other words, jail time should continue to be an option for judges, which means that the offenses must continue to be criminal in nature. Further, it is imperative that the accused be tried before an impartial third party... a judge that is not employed by the same party as the prosecution.

If the Legislature wishes to act to reduce sentences for those proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in order to reduce jail overcrowding, let them risk the ire of their collective constituents. It simply makes no sense to find out that all of those criminal acts that people have been prosecuted for in the past aren't crimes after all, just so we can reduce inmate population and make a little additional money on the side.

Eye Told You So

The Mayor lost and won. Monday night the city council overrode Marty's veto (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required). The taxpayers of Albuquerque will have to wait until July 1, 2008 to get their tax cut and Marty will be busy posturing as a man of the people for the next year.

Curiously, Mayor Chavez has now decided to impose some sort of accountability from Bernalillo County with regard to how the $9 MILLION appropriation is spent. We're the first to want accountability in government and from government, but exactly how is the mayor going to get more accountability from the county with less money and no operational control? It was after all, the mayor who decided terminate the joint operations agreement with the county (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required).

Meanwhile, the council won and lost. By overriding Mayor Marty's veto the council sent money to the county and imposed their will upon the 11th floor. That money is our money and it's bound to come back to haunt the councilors (O'Malley and Winter) in their upcoming re-election bids. In truth, it will hurt Councilor Winter the most since he presents himself as a fiscal conservative. However, it's unlikely that Pauline de' Pascal will be able to build a campaign on a single partial misstep, particularly against a two term incumbent.

Spinning for Dollars

This upcoming Monday night the city council is set to get its budget back complete with a line item veto from the 11th floor (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required). Mayor Marty is peeved because the council decided to fork over $9 MILLION to the county in order to help support the Metropolitan Detention Center. If the vote goes the way it did on the 21st, the mayor's veto will be overridden.

Unfortunately everyone is trying to play politics with this one. Mayor Marty is all over the media claiming that he's "glad the council voted for my tax cut [emphasis added]. Unfortunately, they missed the point. I want to give a tax cut to Albuquerque families immediately. I don't want the City Council to suck out another $9 million from taxpayers" (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required).

Meanwhile the majority of the council is busy trying to have it both ways (voting for a deferred tax cut while giving $9,000,000 to the county) or trying to save face by being able to claim that they at least voted for a tax cut.

At this point it's all rhetoric. Council President O'Malley came out early and linked the tax cut directly to keeping the 1/8 cent gross receipts tax through July 1, 2008 and fell right into Marty's trap.

You may have heard by now that The Almighty One has shall we say, higher ambitions. Yep, the mayor wants to run again for governor. This tax cut move has been rightly characterized by some of our Eyes as a ploy to make him look like a fiscal conservative. We were suspicious of the move from the very beginning. Since Marty took over, the city has out spent inflation by some $125 MILLION (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required).

(Sidebar)
Remember this is the same Marty who wants to dump $240 MILLION into a 19th century streetcar benefiting a few hundred people along Central. Coincidently, that's about the same amount (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required) that it would take to fix the Paseo Del Norte/I-25 interchange that services tens of thousands of vehicles daily. But we digress...
(End Sidebar)

Right now, the mayor is winning the spin war. He's characterized the council as a bunch of fiscal oafs that want to send $9,000,000 to the county - no strings attached, while the valiant Marty battles to give you back your hard earned cash. Meanwhile his arch rival in the last mayoral election, Brad Winter is being attacked on the radio by a group calling itself the Committee for Responsible Budgets for not cutting taxes (which he did... just not January 1, when the mayor originally proposed).

The result is that the mayor will almost certainly look like the good guy no matter what happens Monday night. The only way that we see for the council to turn the table is for them to readdress the tax cut, moving the effective date to January 1, 2008 and then make the $9,000,000 contribution contingent upon excess city revenue that will hopefully be generated by the tax cut.

We really don't believe that the county should be hitting the city up for cash when their budget is light. After all, city residents are still paying for the jail through an increase in county taxes that was equivalent to a decrease in city taxes. In fact, the county should be taking in more revenue than the city for jail operation due to the increase in tax base.

This budget is not all bad. In fact, Councilor Cadigan shot us an email to point out that there's a 3% pay increase included in this budget for police officers. We just believe that our priorities need to be Police, Fire, Infrastructure, Administrative, Amenities. The Chavez administration has spent an inordinate amount of time and our money building amenities that continue to place an ever increasing burden on the city budget and our wallets.