A person is generally the sum of their habits, passions, and values. Different circumstances may enhance or suppress certain traits, but those distinct characteristics that make a person unique are always there. For example, a general attribute of police officers is their willingness to engage conflict. Persons who fear conflict generally do not thrive in the environment officers work in on a daily basis. The attributes that make a person a successful officer do not simply disappear when they take off their uniform. They remain assertive and direct, and willing to confront challenges. Most people remain aligned with their attributes regardless of the circumstances because it is the healthy and natural thing to do. Recent studies indicate there are serious health consequences when one is being unfaithful to their attributes and out of alignment with them. Such consequences include high blood pressure, weight gain, and diminished immune system.
Why is the Eye concerned about this? For some time we’ve been watching and trying to figure out what is going on with the City of Albuquerque’s Chief Administrative Officer, Rob Perry. APOA Attorney Fred Mowrer recently described Mr. Perry as “…the one actually running the city.” Mr. Perry is lawyer and graduate of Whittier College School of Law (a school perpetually on the American Bar Association’s probationary list for accreditation), and after a brief time with a prosecutor’s office in Florida, Mr. Perry came to New Mexico and bounced around between significant politically appointed jobs and private law practice. In New Mexico, Mr. Perry worked as an assistant to democratic Senator Tom Udall when Sen. Udall was the state attorney general. Shortly thereafter, Mr. Perry’s political contributions came through and in the late 1990’s he became the state’s Secretary of Corrections under then governor Gary Johnson. Mr. Perry appears to have done a respectable job streamlining the state’s prisons and was aggressive in combating corruption and abuses especially in the privately run prisons. Frustrated with actions by the private for-profit companies like Wackenhut, Mr. Perry remarked, “I'm at the point where I don't want to hear explanations or excuses. I want to hear about corrective actions.” (Lubbock-Avalanche Journal 8/25/99)
When AG Udall won his bid for the US Senate seat, Mr. Perry was quick to campaign for the state’s Attorney General as the Republican candidate. Mr. Perry lost that bid to Patricia Madrid. Mr. Perry then went back to private practice focusing on employment and criminal defense cases. This is where Mr. Perry catches the Eye’s concern. As a private attorney BEFORE he was hired by Mayor Berry, Mr. Perry defended criminals, employers in EEOC suits, and police officers. Mr. Perry was most notably known for his defense of Capt. Marie Miranda when APD tried to blame the evidence room scandal on her and other officers in 2005. In dealing with the over 200 cases the scandal compromised Mr. Perry stated,
"The prevailing thought in the chief's office was what people don't know won't hurt them…when you lose evidence in 235 drug cases, you don't tell anybody that is really a problem. They are trying to make excuses to sell to the mayor.” (ABQ Journal 3/18/05)
"I think it is unfortunate this has to be done in a cloud of secrecy. That is what got them in trouble in the first place," Perry said. "The public, as well as Capt. Miranda, has the right to know who did what and what action was taken against the wrongdoers." (ABQ Journal 8/16/05)
As a private individual Mr. Perry continued playing politics behind the scene with his devoted support of Darren White in Mr. White’s failed bid for congress. Mr. Perry was a large financial supporter of Mr. White and contributed $2300 him on 12/17/07 and another $2300 on 7/17/08.
What concerns us at the Eye is that while Mr. Perry has waged a seemingly honorable battle against government inefficiency and abuse he appears to have put this commitment on the shelf as Mayor Berry’s city attorney and CAO. He has consented to abusive employment practices where if he were in private practice he would be representing the officers in their actions against the city. He remains a supporter of APD’s Chief Schultz whom he opposed in heated litigation over a scandal that should’ve subjected APD to the terms of a federal consent decree and continues with the very same “cloud of secrecy” practices Mr. Perry criticized the department of in 2005. When a city hearing officer asserted that the city failed to justify the termination of an officer in a controversial case, Mr. Perry did not order an inquiry into APD’s ineptitude but moved to have respected hearing officer T. Zane Reeves recused from future cases and questioned Mr. Reeves’ credibility. Instead of dealing with APD the same way he dealt with the state’s prison system, Mr. Perry appears to let Chief Schultz continue with his abysmal record of management. Is this the same Rob Perry that streamlined the state’s prisons and increased their efficiency? While APD’s budget continues to grow despite decreasing manpower, we wonder where the efficiency hawk Mr. Perry identifies himself as remains. Where's the advocate for doing what's right when there have been actions by "wrongdoers"?
From recent outbursts with the media, city council, and most notably in defense of Darren White during the WhiteGate scandal last summer, to his general unfit appearance, we wonder if Mr. Perry’s lack of alignment is starting to catch up to him. After all it must be very unsettling to see Chief Schultz, a former defendant, continue to call the shots….
