Grapevine: Payne-ful Election?

Every election breed rumors and they come in all shapes and sizes. Every now and again those rumors take on a more substantive character. The most recent rumor took shape Monday when our Eyes tell us that it's rumored that there could be yet one more candidate to throw his hat into the proverbial ring - Transit Director, Greg Payne.

The former District 31 State Representative and former District 8 City Councilor is known for his political ambition and his ability to campaign. However, this move towards the big chair on the 11th floor doesn't make any sense.

Directory Payne currently occupies one of those city dream jobs that pay exceedingly well - somewhere in the $100k range. Running against the boss isn't exactly calculated to enhance one's career and Payne is known for his political calculation. So, it's unlikely that the rumor has any merit. However, just because it's unlikely doesn't mean it isn't true.

If you consider all of the possibilities, a Payne run looks more plausible. After last weekend, Marty faces 6 challengers in the upcoming election - Donna Rowe, Richard Romero, Rob Dickson, Rudolph Serrano, James Thomas, and R. J. Berry.

Of course, not all of them will qualify for public financing. It's not easy to collect the 3200 plus signatures and associated $5 donations required as Councilors Cadigan and O'Malley found out the hard way. If we had to guess we'd say that the only candidates that end up qualifying for the "clean" money will be the Almighty Alcalde, Richard Romero, and R. J. Berry. Our guess is that there will be one, maybe two other candidates that decide to try and raise enough to continue the fight.

When you consider the makeup of the current field of candidates, it's quite possible that one or two of them will be Democrats or at least left of center. Marty has always depended on Republicans to win elections. He simply can't afford to face two opponents from his side of the isle. That's where Greg Payne comes in.

Payne is known as a vigorous and merciless campaigner. His entry into the race as a known Republican would siphon votes away from the lone Republican worthy of the name - R. J. Berry. At the very least, the Almighty Alcalde would force a runoff election - an election that favors the incumbent, just as the current Closed and Unethical Elections Code does.

If you take the possibilities even further, Marty could use his network of city employees to help his "rival" Greg Payne to receive public financing. If Payne makes his way on to the ballot with $328,000 he could do a great deal of damage to... Marty's rivals.

Ok... we might be a little too suspicious. But a loyal Payne on the ballot would make himself an incredible nuisance to anyone who became a threat to Marty. Consider for a moment a field of candidates with two Republicans - one loyal to the incumbent Democrat - and two to three Democrats. All of them have the same amount of money to spend, but two of them are coordinating their efforts behind the scenes.

The end result is that Marty would have twice the money and half the exposure. Marty can run a "positive" campaign, while his confederate takes aim at which ever candidate is causing him the most trouble. Yet one more way that Eli Lee and Eric Griego "Open and Ethical Elections" code can be used create a closed and unethical election.

Make no mistake, should Greg Payne enter the mayoral race it will not be for his political ambition rather, it will be for his personal gain. Payne owes his high paying job to Marty. It's simply in his best interest to remain Transit Director and continue to receive his $100k salary. Considering Albuquerque's new "ethical" elections scheme, it's going to be an interesting and perhaps Payne-ful election.

----- Correction -----
We originally indicated that Director Payne represented House District 32. That was one of our typos showing. He actually represented House District 31 until his deal at transit came through. Thanks to a poster for catching our mistake. It has been corrected above.

----- Update -----
We originally received this a couple of weeks ago. Due to some distractions from our vocation, we've been somewhat remiss in keeping up with our email. On March 18th we received the following email:

Eye,

Like many rumors, the speculation that I might enter the Mayor's race is a fiction. I am not running for Mayor in 2009 in any way, shape or form.

I have two young children, a great job -- and absolutely zero interest in political office right now.

I personally know and like both Richard Romero (who was my principal at Sandia High School) and State Rep. R.J. Berry. However, it should come as no surprise that I am supporting Mayor Chavez in his bid for re-election. That support does not include my jumping into this year's mayoral election in a manner as the "grapevine" is suggesting.

Thanks and best regards,

Greg Payne
Director, ABQ RIDE

Surprising... not at all. After all, the mayor's job may come with all of the trappings and the big chair on the 11th floor, but it would mean a pay cut for the director. Not to mention severing ties with his boss - that is of course, if he were actually running against the Alcalde.

Eye on the Grapevine: Perlman on the Way Out?

There's a rumor going around city hall that Albuquerque Chief Administrative Officer Bruce Perlman is on his way out. Our Eyes have yet to confirm the report, but at the very least it's interesting timing.

If you'll remember, Mr. Perlman was hip deep in Marty's ABQPAC. In fact, the city's current CAO was the head of the infamous mayoral slush fund (read it here). Marty originally appointed Mr. Perlman back in 2005 - safely and conveniently after the last mayoral election (read it here).

At the time, the Almighty Alcalde was just past what was thought to be his third and last election to the office of mayor. There were calls for him to run for congress (read our take here) and his own announced ambition to run for governor... again. After jumping from the gubernatorial derby and stumbling out of the gate in an aborted senate run, the mayor took the city charter's term limits to court and had them struck down. At the time he claimed that he was just keeping his options open... rrrrriiiight.

It will be interesting to see if there's any substance to the rumor of Perlman's departure. If the CAO does hit the highway, is it a move by the Almighty One to jettison some ABQPAC baggage that is sure to come up in next year's mayoral contest?

We'd think so. After all, it took some serious testicular fortitude for Marty to put the man in charge of his disgraced slush fund in charge of the city. Can you say payback? But then again, stranger things have happened around here.

So... Who to replace a departed Perlman with? Perhaps the Captain (AKA Transportation Director Greg Payne) would like a change of pace. Or since former Chief of Staff Barry Bitzer won't be serving in the state senate after being trounced by Senator Komadina in the primaries, Bitzer's sure to be looking for a new gig. Who knows? Maybe the Almighty One owes someone else a $100,000 a year job. Don't you just love city intrigue?

----- Correction -----
We want to apologize to Mr. Perlman for misspelling his name in our original post. We originally spelled it Pearlman and we were rightly chastised for the mistake. It has been corrected above.

If You Can't Block'em - Track'em

Last month we told you about the city's attempt to block EyeOnAlbuquerque.com and MarioBurgos.com (read it here). Now our Eyes tell us that the city is taking another approach. Apparently, too much of the city's behind the scenes dirty laundry is showing up on our lovable little website in the form of anonymous posts. So, the city has decided to install tracking software that will allow them to determine who's posting what using city owned computers and gateways.

First of all, we don't see anything illegal about the city installing and using tracking software on computers owned by the city in order to track what employees are doing using city equipment and presumably on city time. In our opinion, it's really no different than placing tracking devices on city vehicles; it may be creepy and Orwellian, but not illegal.

However, (you knew this was coming) since the city is essentially recording the content being generated by their computers and subsequently being posted on EyeOnAlbuquerque.com, they are creating an electronic record of that employee's activities; that record would be no different than any other electronic correspondence.

Emails the most popular type of computer generated correspondence, are considered part of the public record and can be the target of a Freedom of Information Request. Therefore, if the city is recording data that indicates what Internet sites an employee is visiting and the comments being posted by that employee on a specific Internet site, those records should be public and subject to a FOIR.

We'd love to get our Eyes on where the boys on the 5th and 11th floors are spending their time and our money. But, we'd wager that those computers would be conveniently left off the list of computers to be tracked; similar to the recent email system "crash" that wiped out a number of emails shortly after Marty's Minions Barry Bitzer and Greg Payne got caught with their hand in the electronic cookie jar (Heath Haussamen - read it here). These yahoos ought to learn that getting rid of computer records is really not an easy thing to do and creating even more just to try and ferret out dissenters is probably an unwise course of action.

Election Reaction

Last night Mayor Chavez reportedly spent some time making personal calls to all of the council victors in order to congratulate them on their victories; be they new (Rey Garduño, Trudy Jones) or returning (Brad Winter, Debbie O'Malley, Don Harris). This morning our Eyes tell us that His Highness called a meeting of his top staff people; a meeting to express his displeasure with last night's turn of events.

We'd guess that two people in particular were in Marty's dog house, Transportation Director Greg Payne, and Chief of Staff Barry Bitzer; whose involvement in last night's debacle has been well documented and ultimately failed miserably. If last night weren't bad enough, today we hear that Senator Pete Domenici has decided to call it quits and not run for re-election in 2008.

Could it get any worse for a controlling, power hungry, dictatorial politician? Right when his dream job opens up, his political power seems to be on a serious decline. Get ready boys and girls, these city meetings aren't going to be much fun for a long time to come.

More than Skeletons

The Albuquerque Journal ran a story (Subscription) today that we told you about last night (read it here), district 4's Honey Bee (or more accurately Honey BS) decided it would be a good idea to claim that she had both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master's Degree from Almeda University. Ms. de'Pascal's claims sure made her educational experience more of a match for her opponent Councilor Brad Winter, who holds both a Master's Degree and a Ph.D. from the University of New Mexico.

As you already know, Almeda University is a diploma mill, so the Honey Bee's B.S. is just that and might as well have been made a Kinko's. In today's Journal she responded saying, "you show me someone who doesn't have skeletons in their closet. That person is a saint... (ABQ Journal - Subscription)"

Well, no one is accusing her of being a saint and we've found precious few candidates or elected officials who are. The problem is Ms. de'Pascal's skeletons just keep falling out of her closet and have a direct bearing on whether or not she can be trusted by those she seeks to represent.

Another skeleton just happened drop out right in front of our Eyes. According to our Eyes, Ms. de'Pascal's questionnaire was filled out by none other than Captain Payne himself, with the help of Karen Fisher. We've heard for years how city officials have often crossed the line when it comes to elections; sometimes innocently other times not. Our understanding is that these questions were answered downtown on a city computer. Can we prove it... no, but if The Captain and any crew on the city payroll are campaigning on city time using city equipment, we've got a real problem.

According to the Journal, degrees from Almeda University cost anywhere from $500 to $1,500. We wonder, when did she get these bogus degrees and who paid for them? Is this yet another example of candidates using "clean" money?

Ms. de'Pascal's educational qualifications were never an issue until she decided to try and pass off bogus degrees from an unaccredited university as genuine. This is not an example of a "skeleton" in a closet but rather the conscious effort to deceive, right here, right now.

Tryst in Paradise

We've been wondering about the somewhat ironic relationship between Transportation Director Greg Payne and Martin Chavez. You see... way back in the day Payne ran for his first elected office against incumbent councilor, current county commissioner, and fellow Republican Tim Cummins. The irony is that Payne ran on accusations that Cummins was too close to then 1st term Mayor Martin Chavez.

Last week we were sent some video that might explain the unnatural and unlikely relationship between the Almighty Mayor and his Transportation Director.

Now that's funny!

----- UPDATE -----
We've gotten a couple of emails stating that there's no video embedded in this post. So in an effort to make sure humor is spread throughout the fine city of Albuquerque here's a direct link.
http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/332521

----- Correction -----
We were rightly chastised for misspelling tryst. So... the original pithy headline added its own source of humor at our expense.

Petulant Paulette

District 4 council candidate Paulette de'Pascal is out with a mail piece that screams "Bad Brad!" Apparently, she's got her dander up about the revelations coming from the blogs (including this one) and other media outlets. We haven't seen the piece but the Pascal Pleasure Cruise on our dime, made sure that the Tribune got a copy which resulted in a front page story.

You see Ms. de'Pascal (Martycrat) is going through a messy divorce, which frankly isn't news in and of itself. However, when your soon to be (or at least sometime in the future to be) ex-husband is accusing you of embezzling $60,000 you can bet it's going to become an issue in your council race. Right now there has been no finding regarding the accusations against her which makes the divorce in question not only relevant, but an important consideration when choosing a councilor.

(Sidebar)
Martycrat- An ambitious politician that swears allegiance not to their party or their constituents but rather the Almighty Marty, King of the 11th floor, maker of media, and prince of the pedantic. Can be identified by a tendency to switch parties right before elections and will act like Republicans whenever addressing certain development groups. Right now there are three running for office and one likely to be appointed.
(End Sidebar)

After all, we have seen far too many public officials on the take here in New Mexico. Do we really need to elect someone who may be responsible for putting company funds in their own pocket? Honey Bee Paulette is solely responsible for choosing to run in this election, at a time when her actions are still in dispute. For her to try to grab the mantle of victim through a childish mail piece only reminds voters of how foolish she looked after the release of the Sandra Richardson email.

Speaking of Captain Payne, this "Bad Brad" mail piece has his finger prints all over it. It's precisely the type of piece he would come up with to try to put the Honey Bee back in the race. Unfortunately, this one only serves to make his candidate look somewhat childish, while bringing up the issue of her divorce the underlying claims. Folks the divorce ain't the issue, otherwise we'd be talking about her other ones. The issue is her integrity and ability to lead.

Illegals: A Source of Crime

A few weeks back we posted some statistics we found all over the web regarding the link between crime and illegal aliens. Last week 770 KKOB aired an hour long special on immigration hosted by Laura McCallum. The show started with a litany of statistics supplied by former INS Senior agent Mike Cutler, that should scare the bejeezus out of everyone.

- 86% of Warrants for Murder in Albuquerque are for Illegal Aliens
-75% of People on the FBI's Most Wanted List are Illegal Aliens
-48% of ALL Inmates in New Mexico Prisons are Mexican Nationals here Illegally
-66% of Drivers in New Mexico Do Not have a Drivers License, Insurance, or Registration - 98% of Those are Illegal Aliens

One thing is abundantly clear; people that come across our border illegally are responsible for an inordinate amount of crime and violent crime at that. If there was an apartment or home in your neighborhood that accounted for half of the crime in the area, you can bet Marty would be out there with his Safe City Strike Force seizing property. For some reason the mayor and his administration expect someone else to take responsibility for this obvious source of crime in our midst.

"APD secures Albuquerque, it does not secure the boarder," says Director Payne on Marty's radio show. (We'll let you guess what that sucking noise is.) If APD is not in the business of removing a known criminal element illegal alien or otherwise, then APD isn't securing anyone or anything.

We doubt that even in their heyday the organized crime families of New York and Chicago were responsible for 86% of all murder warrants. Illegal aliens are coming here, they are a major source of violent crime, and therefore they are our problem; which makes them APD's problem. The cavalier and dismissive attitude of the Almighty Mayor is at best a failure to fully grasp the problem, and at worst a willful dereliction of his duty as mayor.

APD's SOP has got to be crystal clear. Illegals must be reported to ICE if arrested, in custody, or charged with a crime. Further, officers should be encouraged to report those who give them probable cause to believe that they are here illegally unless they are victims of or witnesses to a crime that is serious enough to warrant some sort of leniency.

This isn't about some member of the huddled masses coming to America to find a better life for himself and his family. Illegal aliens are putting pressure on our health care and social services, in addition to our legal and penal systems. It's time for them to go home and stay there and it's time for APD and Mayor Chavez to take responsibility for fighting crime that illegal aliens represent.

Upping the Ante

Looks like Councilor Brad Winter is upping the ante on the Chavez Cabal. According to a press release from Councilor Winter, his resolution clarification of City Council Resolution R-00-151 will be accompanied by a binding ordinance "requiring APD to endeavor to determine the immigration status of any individual arrested for a crime, and report that information to federal authorities if that person is found to be in the country illegally."

The move comes after an email misinformation campaign and the Almighty Alcalde's Saturday 770 KKOB AM radio show where he and Transit Director Greg Payne spent the closing moments of the show blaming APD's SOP change on a council resolution from "2001." (We're working on getting a copy of the show and when we do we'll post the section here.)

According to the mayor and director Payne who was councilor Payne at the time, the resolution was all the Republican's fault. It is true that Republican Councilor Hess Yntema sponsored the bill. It is also true that then President of the Council Winter voted for the bill (along with 8 other councilors including Payne). What isn't true is that the council tied the hands of APD and the mayor with the resolution. After all, council resolutions are non-binding and as a result are routinely ignored by the Chavez administration.

One other thing to remember here is that despite all of the intentional descriptions of Resolution R-00-151 being from 2001; it was passed by the council and sent to the mayor December 18, 2000. Mayor Baca signed it January 12, 2001. It technically belongs to 2001 but it is certainly a product of a Pre-9/11 world.

On to the email campaign... On the Friday just prior to this particular 770 KKOB Mayor Marty spin-o-rama, an email was blasted out from a number of gmail accounts. The email appeared to target Republicans and attacked councilor Winter and Sheriff Darren White calling them hypocrites and accusing them of "stooping to new political lows."

We thought at first that the email was the product of Winter's current political rival Paulette de'Pascal; but the inclusion of Sheriff White didn't fit and the email was obviously too professional for the Honey Bee. After Saturday's KKOB performance we suspect that The Captain (Greg Payne) had something to do with the targeted email.

Payne's involvement makes sense. He's almost certainly captaining the Honey Bee pleasure cruise, Winter is his bosses arch enemy, and White has been mentioned numerous times as a potential mayoral candidate in the next election. Granted all of this is speculation, but it sure does seem to fit.

(Sidebar)
It's interesting to watch politicians work when they've been pushed into a corner. If they can't find a way to spin the information they will engage in misinformation campaigns. Too bad they don't spend as much time governing as they do worrying about their political careers.
(End Sidebar)

As we said at the top, Winter is now upping the ante by making referral to immigration mandatory. That's a good step; we might also suggest that the original resolution (R-00-151) be altered to exclude illegal immigrants from inclusion in city services and programs. We don't mind being an "immigrant friendly" city. However we do mind being an "illegal immigrant friendly city."

In this Post-9/11 world, it simply makes no sense to welcome those who have already shown their contempt for our laws by giving them special treatment and access to our tax dollars through social programs. The attempt by Chavez to shift the blame for an out-dated council policy is disingenuous at best and contemptible at worst. It's his administration that is responsible for current APD SOP, mis-information emails and radio shows notwithstanding.

Funny Business

We've been watching with some amusement the de'Pascal taxpayer funded pleasure cruise in (sometimes called a campaign) trying to change the subject. Ever since the Honey Bee was stung by The First Mate Sandra Richardson's email, Ms. de'Pascal has been desperately trying to get out of the spotlight. Frankly, we don't blame her. The Richardson email raised some interesting questions about Ms. de'Pascal's ability to lead and her choice of campaign staff.

Her response... call into question Councilor Winter's aspirations at APS. Ms. de'Pascal claims that Winter's expressed interest (ABQ Journal - Subscription) in the top job over at APS proves that he doesn't want the job as councilor. We're curious about the Honey Bee's logic here.

De'Pascal has been running on an education platform since day one. It's one of the things that amused us from the beginning since the Albuquerque City Council has no authority over Albuquerque Public Schools (even though they both have Albuquerque in their names). There are co-operative agreements and programs that the city helps to fund, but APS is a state funded institution that answers to the state legislature not the city council. Perhaps The Captain should explain that she's not running for school board or for the legislature.

Today, Joe Monahan picked up the flag for the Captain and his Honey Bee.

Now comes a de'Pascal supporter returning fire, questioning Winter's recently stated public interest in becoming the new superintendent of the Albuquerque Public Schools. "Does Winter plan on resigning his council seat if he gets the APS job, and which job does he really want--Super or Councilor?" emails a de'Pascal backer.

-JoeMonahan.com

(Sidebar)
Any doubt that Transit Director Payne is involved in de'Pascal's run against Councilor Winter just buzzed away, as Captain Payne is often used by Monahan for political analysis and is known to be one of Monahan's "Alligators." The question raised by Councilor Winter - a question dutifully ignored by local newsrooms - was whether or not Payne was Captaining the de'Pascal Pleasure Cruise on city time.
(End Sidebar)

Ms. de'Pascal's assertion and that of her "backer" is really quite funny. Why would Councilor Winter resign? Mr. Winter already holds the position of Facilities Manager for APS, a position that pays well north of $100,000. (Which incidentally, is more than the mayor makes.) He has already shown the ability to represent district 4 AND hold a high profile position at APS. Even if he were already APS's Superintendent, there would be no conflict of interest. In fact, it might be an advantage to his district and the city for the Superintendent of APS to sit on the city council. Who knows, we might even be able to increase cooperation between the two?

The only one who would be sure to HATE having the APS Superintendent on the city council is none other than one Mayor Martin Chavez. Besides having to deal with the council he would have to compete with the executive officer of another powerful government entity that just so happens to be the one that the Almighty Marty has his heart set on taking over. Now THAT would be REALLY funny business!

Payne-ful (of it) Response

Not too terribly long ago we saw how the Marty boys and girls respond when they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar. In light of the way the rest of the Chavez administration reacts when confronted with the truth, it's no surprise how The Captain responded to being confronted with his role in the $35,000 de'Pascal pleasure cruise.

Blogger Mario Burgos got a response from Captain Payne on his involvement in the de'Pascal campaign. Like "Linda" (CFO Gail Reese's "alter-ego") Payne reiterated his Journal denial (Subscription) of involvement (sort of), but managed to poke yet another hole in de'Pascal's campaign boat and his own credibility.

You see, The Captain claimed that he asked Sandra Richardson to "please forward this to Mike Collins. He'll be consulting Paulette on the campaign." Payne's response actually does two things... First it confirms the authenticity of the email posted on this site. Second, it's abundantly clear from Ms. Richardson's email, that The Captain is none other than Payne himself.

Perhaps Mike Collins is The Captain's Little Buddy? What we do know for sure is...

a. Greg is the only Captain of this ship. He creates the strategy. He decides.
b. I am his First Mate. I report to the Captain. YOU report to ME. Period.
c. You are the candidate. You report to me....NOT "if you get time" between all the "flowers." You MAKE time. I'm not your mother...I'm your coach. This is the PLAN. You want to win? You follow Greg's Plan. Period.

- Sandra Richardson Email

The Captain's Little Buddy (Mike Collins) is not mentioned anywhere in Richardson's email tirade. Payne desperately wants to create the impression that he has nothing to do with this taxpayer funded fiasco. His involvement not only raises ethical questions (Easily gotten around since Sandra Richardson's husband Cliff sits on the ethics board) but exposes the role that Marty is playing in the upcoming election.

Cam-Payne de'Pascal

Any doubt that the Almighty Mayor himself is behind the de'Pascal candidacy has all but vanished. It looks like team Marty is trying to knock off a political rival and hide his involvement by sending in Transportation Director Greg Payne to "captain" Paulette de'Pascal's District 4 pleasure cruise for councilor.

In addition, the Eyes have it that Director Payne is doing his dirty work on our dime. (Of course that's not really any different than Ms. de'Pascal running her campaign on our $35,000... but we digress.) The following email was forwarded to us and it appears to be laying down the law to "honey bee" candidate Paulette de'Pascal.

From: "Sandra P. Richardson"
Date: July 14, 2007 7:39:55 AM MDT
To: greg@gregpayne.com
Cc: "Sandra P. Richardson" Subject: Paulette, THE PLAN and the structure

While you ask for structure, you resist it like a honey bee, flitting from person to person, seeking their advice and opinion...wearing yourself and us out. Not a winning strategy in any political campaign...especially this one. Hard to be the candidate and not the consultant, isn't it?

Yesterday, I was talking with Greg. We worked out what HE needs YOU to do and I fully support because I trust Greg and know that if you follow this Plan, you WILL win. If you continue to avoid, you can cost yourself the election.

Here's the structure we're committed to:
1. Greg is THE Captain of the team. He's the ONLY person to whom you seek political advice. He's THE strategist...period. (He's "gold" for this campaign.)
a. Do NOT undermine his efforts by being a "honey bee." Frustrating for him, frustrating for me, frustrating for you.
b. Everyone else is just signature helpers...NOT strategists. If you indulge in the "honey bee," you sacrifice winning...period.
c. "Loose lips sink ships." In this case, being a "honey bee" compromises your campaign. You cannot discuss the elements with anyone else. Period. This is not a tea party, this is WAR. Period.

2. I agree with Greg. I have made a commitment to him and to you. My role is to work with Greg, find out what his game plan is for that period of time and then work with you to make sure you follow. Period.
a. If you have a concern, you tell me so that I can tell Greg. Period. No honey bee.
b. You have to follow this structure to protect Greg and me and yourself. Period.
c. Greg is held ethically to very strict guidelines...he cannot indulge your need to hear from him every day...that's why we've worked out this plan.
d. I'm your coach ,as I committed mid May!! Period. As such, you MAKE time for me, first.

3. THE PLAN-structure:
a. Greg is the only Captain of this ship. He creates the strategy. He decides.
b. I am his First Mate. I report to the Captain. YOU report to ME. Period.
c. You are the candidate. You report to me....NOT "if you get time" between all the "flowers." You MAKE time. I'm not your mother...I'm your coach. This is the PLAN. You want to win? You follow Greg's Plan. Period.
d. Caleb is the manager of compliance and your schedule. He does NOT take a trip or day off to play without checking The Book first, assuring that nothing is due. He let's me know if and when he leaves...and assures ME that nothing is due. Period. He earns the money funded by the pubic. period.
e. EVERYONE else is a helper ONLY for door-to-door.

4. . Everyone else, EVERYONE else is NOT for you to discuss any strategy...you cannot indulge or you will sink your candidacy and us along with it!
a. They help with going door to door. Period.
b. They are NOT the ones you turn to for "What should I do."
1) Tony, et al, help you by walking door to door...period. He is NOT your strategist...he works for Greg in this campaign. He is not the "go-to” guy.
2) Eddie is NOT. You do NOT discuss stuff with him. He keeps you company on the door-to-door, Talk about other stuff. "Loose lips..."
3) Not your old buddies, relatives, especially girlfriends.
4) Not other candidates. This is not 8th grade.
5). NO one, nada, nil.

5. THE PLAN-Per Greg, this is what you focus on...and only this:
a. Keep walking getting signatures...lots and lots of signatures. that’s ALL.
b. You do not need to do anything else unless it falls under "compliance."
6. Caleb, as the publically paid person, has the responsibility to organize the paperwork from the City Clerk's Office and be responsible for your compliance with the rules.
a. As promised, I will coordinate with him...not you.
b. He will inform you when and what you need to do and you will comply with whatever the paperwork says.

c. He can always check with Kelli on your behalf...you. do NOT.
d. as the paid manager, he does not take off unless he let's me know that all is okay, nothing is due. He tells me.

5. Caleb will maintain your calendar...you do NOT schedule without clearing with him...remember, "I have to check with my manager."
a. Real easy to do.
b. You cannot "try,"
c. You have to make that commitment to the campaign.
d. You make that commitment to those of us who are working (Greg, Caleb, me) for your success.
You wanted structure...I've been trying for several months to bring you structure with a little success but there's still too much frustration for all.
You owe your campaign the commitment to follow what Greg and I have the experience to know. YOU WOULD DEMAND THIS OF YOUR OWN CLIENTS!
The only way this campaign will fail is if you do not follow The Plan.. You absolutely must. Or, you're wasting your time and ours.
You have a tendency to bring this to everyone you know, get their input and cherry-pick what you think will work for you. BUT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN THE CANDIDATE. You are not objective and the people you ask are not experts nor do they know the District 4 political scene nor will they have to "pick up the pieces" if this campaign "goes South."
No more 8th grade stuff. This is serious...for Greg, for me and for you. We all have a great deal at stake. You absolutely need to put your candidacy in Greg's hands. You have to trust him...
He's won every campaign. He's savvy and experienced and believes strongly in you...as do I. BUT, Paulette, you can be your own worse enemy. When you're unsure, you indulge in the "honey bee" syndrome, trying to get a secure feeling inside.
Campaigning takes personal discipline. Do what you do best: get signatures.. Can you imagine if you had 5,000 signatures what the impact would be on your campaign???
So, focus on just one thing: getting signatures...get to know as many constituents as you possibly can. You do this so well. Capitalize on your strength. Only you can do this part well.
Make time, first, for me to coach you on the background for issues that you will need at debate and forum time.
I expect your compliance to Greg's plan. Greg expects your compliance to his Plan.
Starting now...

As you can see, the $35,000 de'Pascal pleasure cruise has already sprung a serious leak and the "First Mate" is clearly irked with passenger de'Pascal for her lack of discipline. More telling is that "Captain" Payne is clearly setting the course; a course that meets with the approval of the 11th floor.

The "Captain" denied his involvement in the de'Pascal candidacy just today (ABQ Journal - Subscription) saying that he had been approached but he didn't have the "time or energy to get involved." Ms. de'Pascal claims that Payne "is not affiliated with my campaign in any way." Rrrrriiight.

Mayoral involvement in a campaign is nothing new, particularly when knocking-off a rival and replacing them with a handpicked successor; one that will help you advance your own agenda (pandas, trolleys, arenas, red light scam-eras, the take-over of APS, etc.).

Transit Director Payne is known for running effective and particularly brutal campaigns, traditionally for Republicans. Our Eyes tell us that he's managed to alienate a large number of the party faithful over the years, so registering with the Party of Marty comes as no surprise.

However, the involvement of a top Chavez administration official that makes over $100,000 a year of taxpayer money looks pretty bad. Payne has every right to work on any campaign he chooses on his own time, but his denials of involvement in the de'Pascal effort ring hollow in light of the above "honey bee" email. Further, Mr. Payne either needs to be up front about his (and the mayor's) involvement and do it above board, or he needs to disassociate himself from the campaign and prove that he's done so.

Governor Marty? Mayor Payne?

Didn't we just do this? As we found out from the Journal yesterday, the gubernatorial contest is already underway in the state of New Mexico. Mayor Martin Chavez filed his paperwork to form a campaign committee on friday and will have a $2,000 a head fundraiser to kickoff his bid. Now I don't know about you but I'm a little tired after last year's election hoo haa and have just gotten used to the fact that we've got at least a school board election AND a city election on the slate for this year.

Mayor Marty is apparently terrified that he'll get behind in the money race and decided to fire the starting gun. You can read all about it here (subscription required). Now what does that mean for the city? You see, Marty's current stint as Mayor of Albuquerque is up in 2009. Our political Eyes tell us that he'll have to make a decision on the governors race at the same time he decides whether or not he'll run for Mayor. If he does run for guv, then the Mayor's race is for an open seat. The open seat for the top spot in the largest city in the state is bound to attract a lot of attention from area politicos.

Some of the names that have surfaced are Ken Sanchez, Sally Mayer, Michael Cadigan, and now reported on Joe Monahan's blog Transit Director Greg Payne. Now Joe has a reputation as being Big Bills favorite blogger and is also known to be close to Director Payne. Payne is known to be one of Monahan's "alligators" not to mention being featured by name regularly. The real question here is whether Payne can lure his Republican support back or whether his behind the scenes deals and history of betrayal will catch up with him.

To further our suspicion that Payne is very serious about making a run for City Hall, he was spotted today having lunch with some of Marty's biggest supporters in blue, retired Captain Rob DeBuck, former Deputy Chief Paul Chavez, and Deputy Chief Mike Castro. DC Castro is best known for his meteoric rise through the APD ranks and his generous contributions to Mayor Marty's campaign fund.

In short, the opportunistic Payne will be certain to have the inside scoop on whether the mayor will run for guv. We'll have our Eyes on Payne to see if his campaign trolley leaves the station.