DOES AN INCOMPETENT “LEADER” ALWAYS TAKE THE PATH OF AVOIDANCE?

Now all three mayoral candidates have further separated themselves from each other.  Two of the candidates have vision and fortitude while Mr. Berry hides.  Paul Heh and Pete Dinelli offered positive change in the correct direction while Berry; well, let’s just say he stayed in the restroom till everyone left the building…

Here is some of the data given in a story (READ IT HERE) by Channel 4 News (Bravo to 4; it was an accurate and great report.)  APD is authorized 1,100 police officers.  APD currently has 958 officers.  This includes over 100 retirees who are re-hires.

A city the size of Albuquerque should have in the neighborhood of 1,400 police officers to adequately protect the city. As the 100 plus retirees who are re-hires start to age and attrition continues this valuable resource will slowly disappear.  The new PERA laws are very strict and prohibit police departments hiring back retirees.  Realistically this places APD and Albuquerque in a huge quandary.  This does not include the 50 to 100 officers who will become eligible for retirement this year.  At this point APD can shrink down to as low as 758 sworn officers.  This is more of a worst case scenario but nevertheless, it is a factual reality that should be discussed.

According to the story on Channel 4, Republican Don Harris who sits on the City Council is deep in Berry’s pocket looking for excuses to bail Berry out of the mess that Berry has created.  Harris wants the tax payers to shell out $20,000 to conduct a study.  This study would analyze such things as salaries, retirement, benefits and quality of life and compare them to other police departments in other cities.   The results would not be released till 2014.  Does this sound wonderful to you?

Don’t fall for Don ‘Ho’ Harris’s song and dance.  Yes, tiny bubbles in the wine will make you feel happy but when you sober up you will see it is all “smoke and mirrors.”  Albuquerque one day is going to wake up from Berry’s intoxicant of lies and we will all have to deal with the hang-over aliments he will leave us with.

The APOA sharply responded to Berry’s administration and Harris.  The APOA stated in part,   “…. However, this crisis at APD should be familiar to anyone in the current administration. The City and this Association had agreed on giving APD the most comprehensive and competitive pay package in the SW United States. This was done AFTER a study was conducted by UNM saying that based on crime rates, assaults, and other key factors; The APD needed to boost the salaries and benefits of the officers who worked in ABQ. The Berry administration has decimated the ranks of the APD and put Public Safety on the back burner all while the crime rates and the levels of violence increase here in ABQ. …”  Mister Harris; there was already a study.  As an attorney and a city councilor you should have researched it and you should have known about it before suggesting the waste of public money.  Harris should be embarrassed by this lousy ploy to take the pressure off of Berry for ruining the City and APD.

 Kudos to the APOA for taking a stance for the department and the rank and file.

According to the story, “One reason Harris believes the police department has fallen short of its goal is morale.”  Harris also stated,  “Some of the problems we've had recently, some of the police officers feel that there's not the respect or admiration for police officers that there used to be and I don't know if that's just the City of Albuquerque."

Harris’s statements are true.  Mayoral candidate Paul Heh told Channel 4 during his interview that morale was low and to fix the vast majority of problems in APD, “You replace the top chain of command and I mean the whole top chain of command…” He also stated that APD needs a chief that is respected by the officers and a chief who respects the officers.

In addition Heh stated, as part of his plan to correct the problems in APD, “You drop the college requirement.  I’m also against giving sign-on bonuses to police officers.  Either you want to be a police officer or you don’t.”  Heh was adamantly opposed to spending another $20,000 on a study when we all know what the problems and issues are in APD.

Candidate Dinelli stated, “I would think that we need to reinstate the incentive program to pay officers with 20 more years of experience the $5,000 or $7,000 that they used to have in place.” Dinelli also stated, “I also believe they need to take a look at the admission requirements…I think that the requirement on the college education should be reconsidered.”  It appears Dinelli has a grip on how he would solve APD’s woes.

Now the conversation turns to our current mayor.  Channel 4 asked Berry for his input on his fellow Republican Harris’s proposal.  This is a serious issue confronting our city and knowing what our leader thinks is important to all the citizens in Albuquerque.  Berry’s response, “He was busy!” Our police department is in melt down and a local station asks for his input and guidance, Berry’s response, “He was busy!”  What could Berry be doing that he would be SO BUSY that he could not take five minutes to talk to Channel 4? Watering his grasslands in Four Hills? No, that’s not it, Berry has a grounds keeper. Is Berry attending another $500 per person fundraiser?  No, that’s not it Berry never showed up to that fundraiser either. We know the answer; he is an incompetent “leader” who always takes the path of avoidance.  Look at Berry’s pattern; he always avoids the public or public issues when he knows he is wrong.

Berry instructed Shultz to provide a response for him.  Let’s see, he spent 5 to10 minutes refusing to meet with Channel 4 because he was “busy.” From there Berry drops a dime on Jay McCleskey, Gov. Martinez’s pet snake.  This takes another 30 minutes. And then Berry spends another 30 minutes on the phone discussing with Schultz what he wants him to say.  That brings the total time lost on Berry avoiding Channel 4 to a grand total of one hour and ten minutes for an interview that would have taken five minutes. Berry should know, when you play with snakes it is only a matter of time before you get bit.

You can’t hide forever varmint! We got our Eye on you…

 

Brasher Withdraws

The wait is over for District 9 Councilor Don Harris. The former councilor and current county commissioner Michael Brasher, has officially withdrawn from the district 9 race. In an email sent to your humble Eye, the commissioner states his intention to stay in his current position (read it here). Brasher's letter doesn't give a reason for his withdrawal only an indication that he would like to serve in the future.

July 16, 2009

Ladies and Gentlemen:

I have decided to remain in my position as Bernalillo County Commissioner for District 5, ending in December 2010. Accordingly, I will not be a candidate for the office of City Councilor for District 9 this fall. I look forward to running for another public office in the future after completing my service on the Bernalillo County Commission.

As always, I would like to take this opportunity to give my sincerest thanks to so many of you for your support of me.

Very truly yours,
Michael Brasher

- Commissioner Michael Brasher

Brasher's exit leaves incumbent Republican Don Harris facing Democrat David Barbour in the "non-partisan" race. We're sure that Councilor Harris welcomes today's development as it removes a formidable barrier to his re-election.

While the move may seem somewhat shocking, there have been indications that the commissioner might decide not to run for his old seat on the council for some time. First of all, Brasher never formally announced his intention to run. It's true that he had collected enough signatures to qualify him for a ballot position but, at some point a candidate has to step up and tell the public that they're really in the race.

More importantly, our Eyes tell us that a member of the commissioner's family is having some health problems and that he feels this just isn't the right time to be out campaigning.

It looks like the District 9 race has become a whole lot less interesting. A competitive race has become Don Harris' to lose - which could happen, but is highly unlikely. Unless Councilor Harris does something to shoot himself in the, uh... campaign, he'll be taking his second oath of office this December.

Qualified

We received word today from our Eyes downtown, that commissioner and city council hopeful, Michael Brasher has collected enough signatures to make it on to the October city ballot. The news is more than likely less than welcome for the current District 9 incumbent, Don Harris.

Councilor Harris' first term has been nothing if not embattled. After taking the seat in a runoff against former Councilor Tina Cummins, Harris was treated to a recall election just two years ago. Even though he won the recall handily, he won it in a year where The Almighty Alcalde's candidates were soundly defeated. The Keep Harris campaign successfully sold the idea that a vote for nobody was a vote for Marty as the mayor would appoint his replacement.

[Sidebar]
We've noted repeated comments in our comments section about the governor's authority to choose the replacement for a county commissioner who resigns. It's true, the governor would appoint the replacement for Commissioner Brasher should the commissioner become councilor.

However, Bernalillo County Commission District 5 is a pretty solid Republican district. It wouldn't be wise for Big Bill to appoint someone who couldn't hold the seat be they a Democrat or Republican particularly when the Guv's influence and political capital are diminishing on an almost daily basis due to the scandals surrounding his administration.
[End Sidebar]

The difference between a recall election and a regular election is that the only question on the ballot is whether or not to throw the bum out. Regular elections feature other candidates whose campaigns work to provide a quantifiable alternative where a recall pits the incumbent against and unknown.

What was remarkable about the Harris recall two years ago, was that his opposition managed to get him on the ballot in the first place (a feat Harris made sure to make more difficult). Two years ago was certainly an anti-Marty year and people tend to fear the unknown more than just about anything else.

It's hard to beat an incumbent with a good candidate. It's darn near impossible to beat an incumbent without a candidate at all.

You can bet that you'll be seeing more posts about the governor choosing commission members. And you can bet that Councilor Harris will try to make it the central issue of his campaign. The question is whether or not the voters in District 9 - who are also part of County District 5 - will be more afraid of the commissioner they don't know or the councilor they do? It looks like they'll have the opportunity to speak for themselves this October.

Brasher In the Running?

One of the more intriguing questions of the 2009 municipal election cycle thus far has been whether or not County Commissioner Michael Brasher would make a run at his old city seat. Up until 2001 the 2nd term county commissioner held the district 9 city council seat - a seat he may still have held if not for a paperwork snafu back in 2001.

Now our Eyes tell us that Commissioner Brasher is one step closer to becoming Councilor Brasher once again. According to our Eyes lurking the halls of power downtown, Commissioner Brasher has signed up for candidate school. It's really not a school but a meeting with the city clerk to go over the regulations and calendar associated with the upcoming council elections.

Obviously, until Commissioner Brasher officially declares there's still a possibility that he would sit out the city election. But even the prospect of a Brasher run has got incumbent Don Harris jumpier than a long tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs. Our Eyes tell us that the twice-elected-for-one-term councilor has been working Republicans behind the scenes making the case that should Brasher and fellow Commissioner Alan Armijo prevail in their council races, Governor Richardson would appoint their replacements - which would effectively give the Governor 3 appointments to the commission with Deanna Archuleta's jump to Obama.

Councilor Harris maintains that he would beat Commissioner Brasher on that issue alone. But despite the fact that District 9 leans R, Harris has been embattled almost since day one and it was primarily Rs that were trying to show the councilor the door in the recall election. The real question is how well will the Guv's involvement play with the general public in a "non-partisan" election.

Right now, it looks as if Commissioner Brasher's interest is more than just passing but only time will tell. Until he makes an official announcement, Councilor Harris will likely remain that jumpy cat with nightmares of rocking chairs.