Mayor Berry to Rename City: Welcome to the "City of Albucrooky"

So you think the Albuquerque Police Department has problems? Well, you’re right, but let’s talk about a City department that fly’s under the RADAR; City Security. You may recall the head of City Security was hired by former Democrat Mayor Martin Chavez and is still there under the current Republican Mayor Richard Berry. Yes, Mark Shepard is still the head of City Security. You may also recall Shepard was a retired A.P.D. Police Sergeant which qualified him for the job. Only problem is, Mr. Shepard never was a Police Sergeant and the truth doesn't matter when it comes to politics or Berry.

To be promoted within City Security all you have to do is be in “tight” with upper management, A.K.A. Mark Shepard. There is no testing process or procedure and our Eyes tell us a City Security Sergeant was hired whose only qualifications were working in a fast food restaurant; IS THIS TRUE? Really? Problems are ongoing with City Security because of the lack of supervision, training, and integrity especially by its supervisors. There has been a sincere lack of training for the past seven years, vacation has been denied or cancelled at the last minute after it has been approved, and officers are even denied time to attend City sponsored educational events after approval had been granted. Equipment is lacking and what is there does not work. Officers are forced to work alone without back up because the Department is so short handed. The caveat to this debacle is, Berry hires outside security rather than hire and train qualified personnel.

There are two problems with this; first, an outside employee with no experience or knowledge how to perform the job. No offense to those folks but they are simply clueless. Second, the security company used is rumored to be a relative of Mayor Berry's wife.

There are eight sergeants and four lieutenants for approximately eighty officers. Many Sergeants don't even drive to a security post to check on their officer(s), they call by over the telephone. We have to wonder what the supervisors do all day if they are not out actively supervising. New hires to the Department are brought in at a higher rate of pay than officers who have been there over eight years. We at the Eye wonder is the City of Albuquerque is completely broken? As long Berry and his crew of incompetent jesters lead the City in to one disaster after another, we will continue to see poor City services and vicarious liability increase.

One our Eyes wrote in and stated, “The City of Albuquerque under the Berry Administration should be changed to the ‘City of Albucrooky!’” The primary reason for this statement is due to Berry, Schultz and company. Oh, and we cannot forget the latest Berry “Albucrookian,” former APD Officer Mark Shepard.

Biopark Vandalized - Again

We just found out that tanks at the BioPark have been vandalized... again. Back in April a field trip to the BioPark by students from John Adams Middle School left an indelible mark (or two) on the park's tanks (Subscription Required). The vandals were arrested and the city sued to recover $4,000 from each parent/guardian of the minors involved (Subscription Required).

According to our Eyes, the tanks have been struck again. Both the $1 MILLION shark tank and the $30,000 jellyfish tank were vandalized with graphitti and this time the vandals got away clean.
It seems that the security cameras that were installed to protect the tanks have been broken for some time. A fact that was called to the attention of DMD Security Manager Mark Shepherd some time ago.

We would think that Mr. Shepherd the Almighty's former bodyguard and retired APD officer, would have taken steps to remedy the situation after April's incident. After all, since the cameras were not operating, it was sheer luck that the John Adams Middle School vandals were caught.

Marty's Minions: One Out, One Up

Michael Padilla Update

KOAT TV is reporting this morning that Michael Padilla, former head of 911 and $4000 golden boy has resigned effective today. A 10 am news conference is scheduled for the city to address the resignation that came following allegations of sexual harassment.

We told you about Padilla, the accusations against him, and his suspiciously timed $4,000 contribution to Mayor Marty (read it here). Our Eyes on the Inside also told us that one of the accusers, 911 director Pauline Sanchez had been transferred out of the unit (read it here). It should be interesting to hear what city officials have to say about the case. We suspect that there's more to the allegations than $4,000 can pay for.

Meanwhile Over at the Department of Municipal Development... Mark Shepherd Update

Our Eyes on the Inside tell us that former Marty Body Guard and DMD Security Manager Mark Shepherd has been quietly promoted. We told you about Mr. Shepherd and the EEO investigation into allegations regarding his hiring. Among other things, the investigation found that Mr. Shepherd had been untruthful on his application and that there were irregularities in the hiring process (one of Shepherd's references Nick Bakus, served on the hiring committee - read it here).

Despite the findings of the investigation, despite the settlement paid by the city, Mr. Shepherd continued to serve as Security Manager and in fact continued to tell the same stories that had been found by the EEO investigation to be untruthful (read it here). Now the city has actually promoted Mr. Shepherd to Deputy Director of the Department of Municipal Development.

We had been hearing from our Eyes that Shepherd had been acting in an interim capacity and now our Eyes are telling us that the city has been trying to keep this promotion quiet in order to keep it off the web. Seems to have worked... for a while.

The Trouble with Telling Tales

In a recent post we told you about the finding of a City of Albuquerque Employee Equity Office investigation into the hiring of DMD Security Manager Mark Shepherd. In short, the investigation found that Mr. Shepherd had misrepresented his work experience, the city had failed to verify that experience, and there were significant interview irregularities involving candidate scoring documentation and a conflict of interest on the part of Nick Bakas who was on the interview team and was also listed as one of Mr. Shepherd's references. You can read the complete post here.

We have gotten our hands on a transcript from a hearing in August of 2006 where Mr. Shepherd was deposed. When asked about his job history Mr. Shepherd replied:

"I headed up the security division for a large corporate office and a company, private company based out of Boulder, Colorado."

Here's the problem... the 2004 EEOC investigation found the Mr. Shepherd had not been involved in "security-related work." Whoops! This is the trouble with telling tales particularly when the tale is the basis for your employment... you have to keep repeating it. In politics this often works. If the tale is told loud enough and often enough people start to believe it. In this case, it doesn't really work because there's a finding that says in essence that you lied on your employment application and a judge that can potentially bring you up on charges.

The Eye doesn't know all of the details of the hearing where Mr. Shepherd was deposed. We have no idea whether the claims being made are factual or not. However, this incident points out the reason you can be denied employment by the city if you do a little fibbing on your application. Managers who end up in these types of cases can and will have their credibility challenged. If you continue to propagate the same story, when it has already been shown to be a "misrepresentation," you are putting the city and yourself in jeopardy, regardless of the merits of the case against you. If you are under oath, you can also be charged with a little thing called perjury.