Houston Lost; Helicopter to Aide in Search

Bernalillo County Sheriff, Dan Houston, has apparently “lost” his way. Houston had told Albuquerque Journal in May of 2011 that the Sheriff’s Department Helicopter was going up for sale. The reason for this proposed sale was the enormous cost of running the 3.2 million dollar aircraft. Houston claimed that he wanted to use the proceeds from the sale to purchase 40 new squad cars and possibly purchase a fixed-winged aircraft.

As you recall the aircraft was purchased by former nefarious Sheriff, Darren White, to fulfill his legacy of narcissism. The purchase of the aircraft was not needed and was strictly to satisfy White’s need for the “look at me” routine he is notorious for doing.

Then in June of 2011, Houston posts a job opening for; wait for it, a helicopter pilot. This makes absolutely no sense if they are selling one of the aircrafts. There is a slim to no possibility that all the pilots BCSO have quit suddenly. BCSO has two helicopters in their fleet.

Then in August of 2011, Houston reports to KRQE the aircraft that was for sale is now back up in the air. The Sheriff through his spokesperson gave a bunch of gibberish justification for not selling the helicopter and placing it back in service. BCSO has a Huey helicopter that works fine and costs much less to use.

Next and most recently, Houston asked the County Commission for a whopping 1.3 million dollars to operate this costly helicopter. The current budget for the BCSO Aircraft Unit is around $460,000.00. This brings the cost of the unit into the neighborhood of 1.8 million. BCSO has yet to deal with several different litigations that will cost million. For example, BCSO’s shooting on the Interstate with the stolen bus offender who was stopped and was unarmed and surrounded by over twenty coppers...If BCSO is able to squeeze out of that one, perhaps the money should be spent on proper training.

This is ridicules; the Bernalillo County Commission approved $800,000.00 in additional spending for the BCSO Air Unit. 800k for a helicopter that was supposed to be sold a year ago. The County Commission should be held accountable if they allow frivolous spending. First of all, BCSO has a good useable helicopter; second, there is not a legitimate justification for an increase of $800,000.00 other than pure vanity on behalf of Sheriff Houston.

APD has an air unit as does the New Mexico State Police. Perhaps Houston needs to learn to play better with others and ask for help if the need ever occurs. Commissioner De La Cruz suggested buying a fixed-wing aircraft, this idea only builds on Houston’s first suggestion. There are other resources and options available to Houston but he will never stoop that low to ask for help but then again vain people are that way.

At the end of the County Commission meeting, Sheriff Houston took a cheap shot at the public, "...I am not effectively able to protect them (citizens of Bernalillo County) the way that I should be able too." Commissioner De La Cruz, stated, "if you tell citizenry that you can't keep em' safe and other sheriffs have been clearly able to do so; you know, it's a question that I'm disappointed in..." The Eye completely agrees with Mr. De La Cruz, if Houston cannot keep the citizens safe, he needs to get out of the way and the citizens need to place a competent sheriff in office who can protect us! This is the vanity we spoke about earlier in this article.

Houston was voted in by the public and trying to scare the public, frivolous spending and liability is going to lead him being voted out.

Sheriff Houston; you need to reconsider your options and you clearly owe the public an apology.

Darren White, County and City to pay Big

Here we go again, Darren White at the center of huge money being lost again. Now between the City and the County, there is close to $4,000,000.00 in losses. The newest debacle has Darren White and the County of Bernalillo for 3,000,000.00 and the City of Albuquerque Police Department under the watchful of Chief Ray Schultz for an additional $882,900.00, as reported in the Albuquerque Journal.

Where does this end? Thanks to Schultz, the City paid $862,000.00 total to Sam Costales and his attorney, Darren White $1,100,000.00 potential liability with TruTouch, Bernalillo County $30,000.00 for Sam Costales during White’s watch, and now between the City and County under the watch of Chief Schultz and then Sheriff Darren White an additional $4,000,000.00. Don’t forget the Tera Chavez suit which the City just settled for $230,000.00. These are just a few cases that have been more publicized. When is the public, the Mayor, the City Council and the Bernalillo County Commission going to say, “Enough is enough?”

Both Schultz and White have vicarious liability following them around; why? Who is going to be the next big million dollar winner; Brad Arensfield? The cop who had an alcohol issue that Schultz made public, possibly violating several different rules and HIPAA?

Ironically, the card to the right may be the picture of the "Dragon Slayer hugging the Dragon."
The Honorable Governor Martinez’s new public corruption unit will have plenty of work to do. Clear your wall Governor; it will be covered with trophies in no time.

That is over $6,100,000.00. No wonder the City in a financial catastrophe. The Eye does realize that the County of Bernalillo will be picking up their tab. The problem is the City of Albuquerque now has Schultz and White continuing to cost the public liability. At what point is the Mayor or the City Council going to say enough? How many more millions is it going to cost us tax payers before our elected official do something; anything?

Look at the amount of money being lost and then evaluate the causes. Is there incompetence involved here? You be the judge.

The public is fed up. Our elected official need to act now or come election time; the public is going to act.

Mayor Berry, between White and Schultz, you have been given a pile of nails. Are you saving them for your own political coffin?

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
Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal

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!"

Need to Know

The long awaited report on the Jamie Dantis (newly minted fugitive from justice and son of Deputy County Manager John Dantis) affair is finally in and... 

Initially, County Manager Thaddeus Lucero indicated that the investigation into how Jamie Dantis continued to receive high marks for his work performance (and remain employed for that matter) despite a growing list of incidents including multiple arrests, passing out at work, and crashing a county vehicle. A short time later, Lucero announced the county would retain the services of an outside law firm to conduct the inquiry (read it here - subscription).

Today, the Dantis report was presented to the Bernalillo County Board of Commissioners and immediately sequestered from the public.

There are a couple issues here. First of all, what could possibly be in the report that requires that its contents be concealed? The taxpayers of Bernalillo County reportedly paid around $20,000 in order to have a presumably impartial third party explain where the system broke down and who if anyone was at fault for protecting Jamie Dantis from potential disciplinary action. Second, our Eyes tell us that the report itself was initially delivered to the county last week. Why was the report withheld from the commissioners whose job it is to represent the public?

The Journal stories have painted a pictures of a powerful father in charge of the most important (and expensive) division of county hiring and then protecting a troubled son with the aid of county employees that work for him. In other words, a questionable hire followed by a cover-up.

Now the county is further delaying the release of an important report on the incident making whatever information that is finally released more than a little suspect. In fact, how can commissioners trust the report presented to them today when the original copy was delivered to the county last week?

It's hard to trust a report that has been concealed. Is it a case of CYA or simple arrogance on the part of county officials?

[Sidebar]
Our Eyes tell us that County Manager Thaddeus Lucero announced to his staff a couple of weeks ago that he was applying for the Executive Director's job over at MRCOG. In a curious twist of fate, the Eyes now have it that two commissioners are trying to lure the former MRCOG ED, Lawrence Rael to the county to take the County Manager's job.

Rael left his post at MRCOG to run for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor but was defeated by Brian Colon. He has also been mentioned prominently as a candidate for chief of staff should Diane Denish become governor. Would it be a good idea to hire a manager that may only serve for less than six months? If Rael put his name in the hat, what would that say about his confidence in Denish?

In any case, the county commission is a game of 3s. If two of the commissioners are looking to hire Rael then Lucero is on thin ice indeed.
[End Sidebar]

Look... The public has a right to know the contents of the original report and the commission has a duty to exercise oversight should any county employee or manager be found to have knowingly participated in the sordid affair. As of tonight, the public is on a need to know basis and the county has determined that the public doesn't need to know.

Sheriff Shuffle: Callaway Hatch Act

The race to replace outgoing Sheriff Darren White is heating up and with over 30 applicants, candidates are pulling out all of the stops. The truth is that whichever candidate lands the selection will be miles ahead of the other contestants in the upcoming 2010 election.

One of the aspiring Sheriffs is Conrad Candelaria and he's getting support from one of the top APD cops - Deputy Chief, Michael Callaway. Candelaria is a Commander with the Albuquerque Police Department in charge of the Southwest Area Command.

It's no surprise that Candelaria is getting support from The 5th Floor Brass at APD. What is a surprise is that Deputy Chief Callaway decided voice his support by sending a letter of recommendation to each of the commissioners on the Bernalillo County Commission.

November 10, 2009


Bernalillo County Commission
1 Civic Plaza
Albuquerque, NM 87102

Honorable Commissioners:

It is with great pleasure that I am offering this letter of recommendation for Commander Conrad Candelaria for appointment as the Sheriff of Bernalillo County. Conrad Candelaria is an experienced, executive-level law enforcement professional who possess the requisite knowledge, skill and capabilities to effectively lead the Bernalillo county Sheriff's Department.

I have known Conrad for the past twenty years as our careers have been parallel throughout the ranks of the Albuquerque Police Department. Under Conrad's leadership, the Albuquerque Police Department and the Westside community have built positive relationships and worked collaboratively to improve the quality of life within the community. Conrad has also been responsible for influencing, implementing and developing several strategic initiatives to effectively address problems and concerns. I am certain Conrad possesses a unique vision for the Bernalillo county Sheriff's Office to further the County's goals and objectives.

In summary, Conrad is a conscientious, dedicated, knowledgeable individual who has earned the respect of his community and criminal justice colleagues alike. Thank you for your consideration and service to the citizens of Bernalillo County.




Sincerely,


Michael D. Callaway
Deputy Chief of Police
Albuquerque Police Department

We know what you're thinking... And??? The personalized letter was provided to each county commissioner on official APD letterhead - a potential violation of the Hatch Act (view the letter here).

Prohibited Activities

Covered state and local employees may not-

* be candidates for public office in a partisan election
* use official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination
* directly or indirectly coerce contributions from subordinates in support of a political party or candidate

-U.S. Office of Special Counsel

Bernalillo County Sheriff is a partisan elected position. The Bernalillo County Commission will be appointing or nominating the next Bernalillo County Sheriff. By sending a letter of recommendation to Bernalillo County Commissioners, Deputy Chief Callaway is using "official authority or influence to interfere with or affect the results of an election or nomination."

Penalties for Violating the Hatch Act

If the Merit Systems Protection Board finds that the violation warrants dismissal from employment, the employing agency must either remove the employee or forfeit a portion of the federal assistance equal to two years salary of the employee. If the Board finds the violation does not warrant the employee's removal, no penalty is imposed.

-U.S. Office of Special Counsel

We suspect that Commander Candelaria solicited Callaway's endorsement, but you never know. It's possible that DC Callaway was acting on his own initiative. Either way, there's something just plain wrong with campaigning for a law enforcement position using a letter of endorsement that clearly violates the law.

----- Update -----
We got so carried away with what appears to be a blatant violation of the Hatch Act that we completely forgot about other potential violations. One of our Eyes quickly reminded us of our omission, so... After a little digging we found that the Deputy Chief has indeed crossed at least one more line.

In addition to the Hatch Act, it appears DC Callaway has violated Administrative Instruction No. 7-19 - which contains a list of compaing no-nos.

B. Activities Prohibited No City Employee Shall:

1) Become a Candidate for any elective City office;

2) Actively campaign for or against a Candidate for any elective office while on duty or represent a Candidate while on duty. Volunteers assisting in City functions under the supervision or direction of City employees shall not campaign for a Candidate while performing such duties for the City; [emphasis added]

3) Receive, disburse or account for assessments, contributions or other funds for any Candidate;

4) Receive or offer to receive any money, gratuity or benefit from any candidate;

5) Wear on one's person political badges or buttons while on duty or while in a City uniform at any time;

6) Take either a position for or against any Candidate for elective office while representing either that such position is an official City position on such Candidate or that such position is taken in one's official capacity as a City employee;

7) Circulate nominating petitions within or on City property while on duty, at the place of one's employment or at any time or any place while in City Uniform;

8) Serve as an election judge or clerk in a City election;

9) Use any City-owned properly, equipment, supplies, vehicles or space either to campaign for or against a Candidate. [emphasis added]

10) Display or distribute any political stickers, posters or materials on or from City-owned vehicles or City property;

11) Display or distribute any political stickers, posters or material for or against any Candidate while on duty or at the City employee's work place, other than bumper stickers displayed on the employee's private vehicle, including vehicles parked in City owned parking lots; or

12) Use the employee's position or status to influence the support of other City employees or City officials for or against any Candidate or issue. [emphasis added]

C. Hatch Act Any City employee whose principal employment is in connection with an activity which is financed in whole or part by loans or grants made by the United States or a Federal agency is subject to the provisions of the Hatch Act in addition to the prohibited activities set forth in this memorandum. Each City Employee is responsible for determining if Hatch Act prohibitions apply to his or her employment with the City.

You might want to look at items 2, 9, and 12. Looks like Deputy Chief Callaway has some more splainin' to do.

The Sheriff Shuffle

The pending resignation of Sheriff Darren White in order to take the Public Safety post with the city has created a bit of a diemma for the Bernalillo County Commission - which is charged with appointing someone to fill out the term. According to our Eyes, state law requires an appointment before White's departure in order to prevent a sheriff's gap.

What's complicating things is that next year is an election year and no fewer than 9 Democrats have thrown their badges into the appointment and election rings. The Bernalillo County Commission is controlled by Democrats, so there shouldn't be a problem... right?

Wrong. Commissioners - particularly Commissioners Armijo, De La Cruz, and Hart-Stebbins - are reluctant to choose any Democrat who's actually planning a run for Sheriff. At the very least, appointing one of the 9 would give that candidate a decisive edge in the Democratic primary. And since there isn't a single Republican that has asked for the appointment (perhaps an opportunity there), the Democrats on the commission are looking elsewhere for potential candidates.

According to our Eyes, commissioners are looking at the old old sheriff to replace the soon-to-be new old sheriff. Former Sheriff Joe Bowdich is currently serving as the "civilian chief" over at APD - it's a job without a job description, responsibilities, or duties but it pays well. Commissioners have hit on the idea that Bowdich would be the perfect interim-Sheriff and frankly we don't disagree. It might even save the city over $100,000 by vacating a position that has outlived its usefulness.

[Sidebar]
Nothing against Bowdich but, he was in fact brought in to provide cover for the evidence room scandal. The former sheriff was certainly a respected former law enforcement officer but his purpose as a "civilian chief" was to lend needed credibility and restore confidence in APD. Bowdich's position was created for political reasons - to provide cover for the Chavez administration - not functional reasons.

Like most government positions created for political purposes, their usefulness is short lived except as a position to reward supporters.
[End Sidebar]

More importantly for the Democrats on the commission, it allows them not to be seen as choosing the next sheriff. Of course there's nothing to guarantee that any of the 9 Democrats who have asked for the appointment will win the job next year or even that the next elected sheriff will be a Democrat, but at least the Armijo, De La Cruz, and Hart-Stebbins, won't be accused of favoritism or blamed for a November loss.

No matter how it pans out, it looks like the sheriff shuffle will result in a sheriff who really doesn't want the job - at least not long-term. After all, county commissioners are politicians and they're not going to willingly hurt their political future.

Partying Like it's 1999

Budget shortfalls are everywhere. Unless you've been out of the country or in a coma for the past year, you know that every level of government is scrambling to find a way conserve resources as tax revenue dwindles. Sometimes our elected officials talk about reducing spending - meanwhile others are talking about increasing taxes.

Bills that would cut spending all over the state government map and eliminate some political hires were among proposals continuing to stream in as lawmakers remained divided over how to solve the state's worst budget crunch since the 1980s.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Some Democratic members, so far overruled by senior leaders, are pushing consideration of tax increases or repeal of tax cuts as ways to raise revenue and avoid cuts to education and health care programs. Educator unions strongly back the tax hike moves, wanting to avert any reductions in school spending.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

The fact is we find ourselves in a crisis. It's a crisis created by uncontrolled spending during a time of relative plenty. Like the Roaring 20's, there were abundant indications that the largess of economic prosperity would not last forever. But like their early 20th century counterparts, they partied like it was 1999 (Sorry, couldn't help the Prince reference) and spent as if there would always be plentiful sources of tax revenue - there wasn't and there isn't.

Most governmental agencies have been forced to recognize the fact that it's imperative that they get a handle on their spending. Apparently, the Bernalillo County Commission didn't get the memo. A little over a week ago at their October 13th meeting, the Bernalillo County Commission was presented with a plan to freeze hiring.

In an effort to proactively deal with declining revenues while avoiding more drastic measures such as layoffs, mandatory furloughs or reduced work hours for its employees, Bernalillo County is proposing a strategic freeze on hiring non public safety related personnel.

Along with a freeze in hiring of new employees, Bernalillo County will focus on reducing nonessential expenditures and careful monitoring of expenditures. Finance Division staff will carefully monitor economic trends and notify the County Manager when revenues appear to be stabilizing and the hiring freeze may be re-evaluated.

-BernCo.gov

The resolution was defeated 3-2 with Commissioners Armijo, De La Cruz, and Hart-Stebbins voting to party like it's 1999 - while Commissioners Wiener and Brasher voted to institute the hiring freeze.

Not to make this a partisan issue but just guess which party the 3 nay votes belonged to. If you said Democrat, you'd be spot on.

It's not like Republicans haven't been guilty of spending like a collective group of drunken sailors - they have. But in case you haven't been paying attention, Democrats on the national level have spent more in the first six months of this year than all of the preceding U.S. governments combined. In fact, Democrats on the national level have made their Republican predecessors
look like Congressional Scrooges when it comes to spending.

New Mexico has been under single party rule for over 70 years. They've dominated almost every elected body, every state department at almost every level for almost all of those 70 plus years. The Bernalillo County Commission is no exception.

When presented with a resolution to freeze spending at a time where tax revenues are on the decline, what do the Democrats on the commission do? They vote to continue to hire non-public safety personnel as if there were no tax revenue problems.

Yeah... It's delusional and totally ignored by the local press. Every level of government should be working to find ways to reduce its spending. The County Commission - at least 3 of the 5 members - clearly haven't figured it out and clearly don't get it. They're partying like it's 1999 and can print money in the basement. Unfortunately, we're the ones who will have to clean up their mess and pay the tab.

Sweet Deal

Tonight the Bernalillo County Commission will take up - as it does every two years - County Manager Thaddeus Lucero's employment contract. After a review of the contract, we have to admit that it's a swweeeet deal.

The county manager basically runs the day to day county administration with direction from the County Commission. For his service to the county, Mr. Lucero will receive $150,000 for the period of September 20, 2009 through September 19, 2010 at which time the manager's compensation jumps to $162,500. And it gets better...

Should the county commission approve a pay raise for "full-time regular unclassified employees," the county manager would receive the same percentage pay increase. No, we're not done yet...

Lucero in his role as county manager will have both employer and employee P.E.R.A contributions paid for by the county. In addition, his travel expenses, registration fees, private office, vehicle, expense account, administrative assistant, and professional societies memberships all picked up by the county. And there's more...

Under the terms of the county manager's contract, Lucero receives 6 hours of sick leave per pay period convertible to annual leave upon termination, 40 leave days per year, and 3 personal holidays a year all of which can be carried forward "from year to year without limitation." Don't worry, despite the apparent lack of leave (that's sarcasm) Lucero also gets paid for all county recognized holidays.

Did we mention healthcare? Well... it's in there too.

Like we said... It's a sweet deal that guarantees an 8% pay increase in the second year and pretty much picks up every other possible expense including retirement all at a time of high unemployment and increasing governmental revenue shortfalls.

In light of the current economic status, we wonder how the county commission can justify a guaranteed pay increase. Here's another little problem... county receipts are down and spending is up. Shouldn't the county manager be subject to a pay reduction if revenue shortfalls force the county to reduce compensation for its other employees through pay reductions or furloughs? We'd think so, but then again we're not getting $312,500 in guaranteed money with just about everything else in our lives paid for.

The county commission tends to fly under the radar. If this were the city, you can bet there'd be hell to pay.

----- Update -----
It didn't take but a few moments for our County Eyes to chime in with one very important factoid. County employees have not had a raise in two years, yet this new county manager contract includes a programed 8% raise in addition to a raise this year.

We understand that the county is suffering from a drop in revenues that require adjustments to spending. But shouldn't the county manager suffer from the same economic realities? We're just sayin'...

Poor Resolution

Nationalized Health Care... the apple of Obama's eye and the last element required to give the government control over just about every aspect of our lives - from the food we eat to the medications we take. There are a lot of good arguments against this bad idea not the least of which being that it will bankrupt the country while simultaneously endangering lives.

Last Tuesday, the Bernalillo County Commission passed a resolution urging the "immediate passage of comprehensive federal health Care reform legislation." The issue came to our attention because of several posts made by readers claiming that Commissioner Brasher had voted in favor of nationalized health care.

Brasher a fiscal hawk, has consistently voted to hold the line on spending often ending up on the lonely end of 4-1 votes. The whole thing sounded a little strange to us so we had our Eyes do a little digging.

Sure enough, the posters claiming that Brasher had voted for the health care resolution were wrong. But, we can't really blame it on them. The county's Public Information Officer Liz Hamm issued a press release stating that the vote on AR 44-2009 was unanimous when in actuality it was 2-1 with Commissioners Hart-Stebbins and De La Cruz voting for the misguided policy and Commissioner Brasher voting against (read the corrected press release here).

Oddly enough, Commissioner Armijo was nowhere to be found despite chairing the meeting. We wouldn't be surprised if too much tea or perhaps currently running for city council had something to do with missing what could be considered a controversial vote.

Health care may be a problem that we have to tackle, but it won't be made better by forcing everyone onto a Medicare style government run program. If you think private insurance companies are hard to deal with, just wait until you are forced to deal with some D.C. bureaucrat whose bosses have the power to make law.

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.

Swearing In

Ok... this thing's been all over the board. First Monday, then Wednesday, now today! For now, it appears that the new District 3 County Commissioner will be sworn in at 3:00 pm. Apparently, the new commissioner will be... (drum roll please) Maggie Hart Stebbins.

We don't know the soon-to-be commissioner and there doesn't seem to be much in the way of information on her aside from the fact she's a 1985 Harvard graduate. Who knows the way the Guv has been jumping around on this one it could be someone else. But it seems that most of the D blogs are reporting that Dan McKay is reporting (yeah, we know) that Ms. Stebbins is the winner. If not, we won't be the only ones swearing... this time.

Big Bill's Choice

It looks like The Guv is ready to make his choice. Our Eyes down at the county have it that Governor Richardson's staff is pushing to make sure that all of the remaining Bernalillo County Commissioners are present at today's 2:30pm MRCOG meeting. Rumor has it that Richardson is ready to announce his choice to replace the departing Deanna Archuletta.

The meeting of the Middle Rio Grande Council of Governments was scheduled so that Big Bill could tell various governmental entities in the Middle Rio Grande Valley how much of Obama's spending, uh... "stimulus," uh... recovery cash that they would have to play with. Apparently he's got something more in mind, because his is pushing hard to make sure that Commissioners Armijo, De La Cruz, Wiener, and Brasher attend the meeting personally.

Last week no fewer than nine commission aspirants interviewed for the position vacated by Archuleta. You can bet that there wasn't a single one with an R next to their name as the district (District 3) would be considered a safe Democrat seat.

----- Update -----
We got word this afternoon that we have some readers up in Santa Fe that weren't too pleased that the cat got let out of the bag before the big announcement today. As a result, the Guv and his staff decided to move the official announcement of Commissioner Archuleta's replacement to Wednesday.

The grapevine has it (not surprisingly) that the winner of the Commissioner 500 will be a Hispanic woman. If you were on the Guv's interview list and you don't fit that demographic, you're probably not the name that's going to be read come Wednesday. But who knows? That may change too... now.

Off to Obama

It's been rumored for sometime that District 3 County Commissioner Deanna Archuleta would be heading to Washington, D.C. to take a job in the Obama administration. Our Eyes skulking around the halls of county government have it that Commissioner Archuleta should pack her bags and check her tax returns because she's off to Obama... or at least to take a position somewhere in the administration.

As you may or may not know, when there's an opening on the County Commission the Governor appoints the departing commissioner's replacement. Our Eyes tell us that at this point the leading candidates to fill out Commissioner Archleta's remaining term are APS School Board Member Marty Esquivel and former commissioner Tom Rutherford.

It'll be interesting to see if Big Bill goes for APS accountability advocate Esquivel or the old guard Rutherford an associate of convicted felon Manny Aragon. In either case, there's change coming to the county commission.

----- Update -----
When political seats are about to be vacated the games inevitably begin. Our Eyes tell us that former Commissioner Lenton Malry is burning up the phone lines in an effort to influence Big Bill to give him his old job back. One thing is sure... if Malry calls Democrats pick up the phone. A quick Google of Dr. Malry turned up the interesting fact that he and his son contributed over $10,000 to Democrats last year according to campaignmoney.com.

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.

Priorities

Bernalillo County Fire Chief John Garcia made an appearance Tuesday night in front of the Bernalillo County Commission. His objective was to get commissioners to approve a 1/4 cent tax increase in hopes that a large portion of that tax revenue would be used to replace the aging equipment and infrastructure in his department.

According to our Eyes, the Bernalillo County Fire Department needs about $5 MILLION for station renovation and equipment replacement. All or part of a 1/4 cent tax increase would be used to fund the endeavor.

We don't blame the chief for asking for the tax increase as the Eyes have it that he genuinely needs at least part of the money that he's requested. Our problem is that it has become necessary for the chief to ask for a tax increase to pay for needed equipment and infrastructure in the first place.

County commissioners approved a $4 million bond deal to finance the purchase and some renovations of Hiland in 2003. They took ownership of the theater from Musical Theatre Southwest, then rented it back to the nonprofit.

County officials intended for rent from the group to cover debt payments on the theater purchase. Eventually, however, Musical Theatre Southwest was unable to afford keeping the Hiland open, and the county began looking at other options.

-ABQ Journal (Subscription)

As you can see, back in 2003 the county was able to come up with some $4 MILLION to purchase the decaying Hiland Theater. Two years later the commission slipped another $1 MILLION past tax payers in a bond issue that was used to fix up the Hiland but sold as a general fixer upper for county buildings.

The county is closing in on a $42 million deal to acquire the 500 Marquette office building, once home to the swanky Petroleum Club. The 15-story building lies across the street from the County Commission's current home, the City Hall complex it shares with Albuquerque city government and the water utility authority.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

The county seems to be able to come up with $4 MILLION or even $42 MILLION on short notice as long as it's for a cathedral for themselves or a theater for the profitably challenged. But when it comes to public safety - you know, police, fire, detention - there's not enough money to go around, so we need a tax increase.

What that tells us is that the county is busy spending money on things it shouldn't to the detriment of the things that it should. Government is tasked with certain functions that are core responsibilities, public safety is chief among them. In the county's case, they are also responsible for the operation of the West Side Jail.

When voters are forced to decide whether or not to vote for a tax to fund basic services, they are actually funding other non-essential spending - usually benefiting a very few. Whether it's a theater for the profitably challenged, a crystal cathedral for the commission, a downtown arena, or a shiny new trolley, spending outside of the core functions and responsibilities of government inevitably result in higher taxes.

We are -and have been - in a crisis of upside down priorities. Our governments are spending money meant for core functions on programs that are not a part of government's intent. Meanwhile, governments raise taxes to pay for core functions that should have been a top priority to begin with.

In reality, public safety taxes are an admission that government is failing at its job and ignoring its responsibilities - much like a gambler betting their food or rent money. The difference being one ends up being homeless and hungry, the other simply raises taxes.

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.

No To a New County Palace - McCain

Last week we ran an unprecedented two Eye Polls at once. One poll was a Presidential Poll, the other dealt with the now approved purchase of the County's new Castle at 500 Marquette. Not surprisingly Eye readers disapproved of the county's purchase by over two to one. In our unscientific poll 67% said "No Way" to the County Commission's Castle, 29% said buy it while 4% didn't know (see the results here).

It's interesting that readers so overwhelmingly rejected the idea of a new county government building when 4 commissioners (Alan Armijo, Theresa (my kid really didn't get an "F" did he?) Cordova, Tim Cummins, and Dina Archuleta) all decided to blow over $42 MILLION of our tax dollars on short notice and without a second thought. We're beginning to believe that the County Commission doesn't get the scrutiny that it deserves. It certainly seems that they believe they can act without fear of future consequences.

Meanwhile over at our presidential Eye Poll McCain beat the Anointed One by 18 points. It's true that this was an unscientific poll and that our readers probably tend toward the conservative/libertarian side, but we were kind of surprised that Obama lost by a solid double digit margin. Of course Obama has had a pretty bad couple of weeks with the Russians reminding voters how unstable the world can be and John Edwards sucking up all of the media oxygen with his, uhh... indiscretions.

We plan on running the same poll after the Democratic Convention and again after the Republican Convention. It will be interesting to see if there are bounces or shifts as a result of the media focus on both candidates generated during their respective conventions. So far, the fawning media coverage of the Anointed One seems to have done him more damage than good, to wit Obama's European Vacation.

We honestly don't believe that intense media coverage is particularly good for either candidate particularly the slanted human interest type coverage that is more appropriate for say... the Olympics. This week we take a look at the race in CD1 - Don't forget to vote!

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.

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.

It's Hard to Stop a Train!

The Rail Runner was sold to New Mexicans on the promises of federal support and an original price tag of $300 MILLION (Subscription) for the whole enchilada. Not surprisingly, cost over-runs have put us in the $400 MILLIO plus range and we're not finished with the Santa Fe extension yet. Not to mention that there's been absolutely no federal money made available for the project.

Wednesday, the Mid-Region Council of Governments (MRCOG) voted 14-2 to put a $26 MILLION a year tax increase on the table to pay for the operation of the system (Journal - Subscription).

(Sidebar)
We've often been critical of MRCOG representatives and City Councilors Sally Mayer and Don Harris. Wednesday, they got it right by voting against the tax increase. We give credit where credit is due and both councilors acted in the best interests of not only their constituents but in the best interests of all of us living under the influence of MRCOG.
(End Sidebar)

The Bernalillo County Commission isn't wasting any time getting the wheels rolling on the Rail Runner tax increase. They're taking the first step towards putting the $26 MILLION yearly tax increase on the ballot tomorrow - just two days after the MRCOG vote. At the unusual hour of 11:00 am, the commissioners will vote on whether or not to publish the required legal notice indicating that they will debate (rubber stamp) the proposed MRCOG Rail Runner tax increase and whether or not it will be placed on the November ballot.

The legal notice is required by law. What's unusual is the time chosen to vote on notice placement. It's damn odd that the commission is meeting at 11:00 am in the first place. The only time the commissioners meet during the day is to perform time-sensitive functions like the Board of Canvass. The rest of the time they convene after work at 4:30 or 5:00pm.

Look... The commission tends to fly under the radar most of the time anyway, but we'd be willing to bet that even Geraldine Amato will have a hard time making the meeting. Seems to us that the commissioners really don't want to have any shall we say... interruptions (or debate) over the issue. Tomorrow's meeting is the first opportunity for opponents of the tax to prevent its inclusion on the November ballot - keeping it low profile allows commissioners some cover and protects them from criticism.

Meanwhile over at the city, Marty's busy trying to get his trolley back on track again. It's trains coming from every direction and no matter how many times they get derailed or how many times we're reassured that tax increases are "off the table forever" (KOB.com) the trains just keep coming. (Don't even get us started about the undersized, unwanted, over priced downtown arena.) It just goes to show you that it's hard to stop a train!