The Honorable Chief, Bob V. Stover

It is truly with a heavy heart and sincere sorrow we must all say our goodbye's to Chief Bob V. Stover, who recently passed.

Our senior Eyes tell us Chief Stover was the BEST Chief of Police the Albuquerque Police Department has had in the past 35 years. We are told Chief Stover was a no nonsense type leader. Stover was not a politician's political appointee and pawn like many others such as Joe Polisar who's wife was related to Marty Chavez; or Gil Gallegos who was only appointed because of his political ties to the FOP; or Ray Schultz who was brought in by Chavez to rescue APD but instead ruined the Department; and recently the newest political appointee, the inepter and incompetent Gordon Eden who was appointed by the same type of incompetence, RJ Berry.

For many of us who have lived in Albuquerque all of our lives we have seen chief's come and go. Only one chief has ever stood out as a real Chief of Police; a real leader; that person was Bob V. Stover. One can only imagine in the ruins of APD being able to say Chief and real Leader in the same sentence; because right now that is impossible.

Our sincere condolences to the Stover and Garcia families. We know what a tragic loss you have suffered.

For the coppers who knew Chief Stover and to all the law enforcement family; you also have our condolences for you will soon hear the Alert Tone. PD to ALL UNITS; 10-3!

Self Destruction: How We got to Where We Are. Part I

Self-Destruction

The Disintegration and Decay of The Albuquerque Police Department since 2000

--Cincinnatus--

Where, when, why and who is to blame for the meltdown that we now call the Albuquerque Police Department?

In this short article I hope to explore what I believe started the decay and why it continues today.  I would hope this critique creates a debate within the city of Albuquerque, its’ citizens and police force as to what has happened in the past and what the future holds for Albuquerque.  This article will be short and concise.  If the reader wishes to dig deeper into certain events I (or the Eye) will direct them to the specific reporting from local & national media and direct sources of information.

1998

Jerry Galvin is named Albuquerque Police Chief by Mayor Jim Baca.  During his tenure, Albuquerque has a staffing of 849 sworn police officers.  A college requirement of 60 college credit hours was implemented which caused APD to have a severe reduction in force because APD could not recruit enough qualified candidates. 

2001

Mayor Martin Chavez wins the mayoral election and promptly dismisses Jerry Galvin and names retired national FOP President (and retired Albuquerque Police officer) Gilbert Gallegos his new chief of police.  The college requirement is removed but APD continues to struggle to hire and retain enough officers. 

Rumblings over major corruption and scandal in the Albuquerque Police Department Evidence Room begin to surface.

2003

APD Deputy Chief Ray Schultz retires in December and in January 2004 takes a position with Scottsdale, Arizona police.  It appears he gets out just in time as the Evidence Room Scandal is being exposed by APD officers who are trying to do right.  Schultz is an APD Deputy Chief in direct oversight of the evidence room and crime lab when in August 2003 APD Detective Cindy Orr attempts to notify the APD command staff of the Evidence Room corruption only to be targeted by that same command staff. 

What did Schultz know and what did he do?  No one ever asks, but he was deputy chief.

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/326229metro03-19-05.htm

2004

APOA officers led by President Jeff Remington stage a sit in protest on Albuquerque Civic Plaza for several days.  After threats by Mayor Chavez the protest is ended but it leads to better wages and working conditions for APD officers.  APD begins to increase sworn officer staffing after this protest.

Also in 2004 the first signs of a major breakdown in the leadership and command staff of APD are exposed as the Evidence Room Scandal unfolds in the media.  During this time the media reports of APD Command Staff retiring from the city with large, six figure cash-outs.  The first real documented signs of upper level corruption because the Command Staff remains silent to Evidence Room Corruption, so they can retire with their large bonuses.  Scandal involving APD Command Staff and Mayor Marty Chavez is also exposed, but nothing happens.  With no one in command (past or present) at APD being held accountable for what is at best gross misconduct, and at worst major federal crimes, APD begins a headlong spiral into the abyss.

http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/158084metro03-29-04.htm

2005

The Evidence Room Scandal explodes on the APD Command Staff.  APD Captain Sisi Miranda motions the APOA for a vote of no confidence in DCOP Ed Sauer for his current running of the Evidence Room.  This action takes an issue that the Command Staff at APD had ignored since 2001 (and before) into the spotlight.  The exposure of corruption that this APOA vote exposes causes Mayor Chavez to fire Gil Gallegos.  For a brief period of time it is hoped that those in command at APD who knew but did nothing and those who took an active role in covering up the Evidence Room Scandal would be held accountable for their actions. Yet no other member of the APD Command Staff, past or present, is held accountable.  

Gallegos is offered up as a sacrificial lamb, which is correct he is the chief, yet not one member of his current or past command staff (remember who retired in December 2003) is held accountable.  Chavez brings in former BCSO Sheriff Jim Bowdich to run APD in the interim while they figure out who to put in place as APD’s new chief.

April 2005 Ray Schultz is wooed back from Scottsdale and hired as Chief of Police by Mayor Chavez.  This compounds the problems in the command staff at APD as it shows the elected mayor did not know that he should have held all members of the command staff since 2000 accountable for the Evidence Room Scandal.  It sends a message that the command staff can be inept leaders and still receive six figure salaries and cash-outs.  At the time of Schultz’s return, the Deputy Chiefs of Police included: Paul Chavez, Ed Sauer, and Fowler Johnson. The first non-APD officer also becomes the president of the APOA: Lawrence Torres when APD officer Jeff Remington resigns. Torres is later given a high paying job by mayor Chavez where he is now representing the city against the very union he “led.”

Later in 2005 the New Mexico Attorney General and Bernalillo County District Attorney do nothing regarding corruption at APD’s Evidence Room even with the facts that money, guns, and drugs have been stolen.  This starts a very cozy relationship between the new chief of APD and those law enforcement agencies that the public depend upon to be checks and balances.  APD command staff begins to act without any concern that the NMAG or Bernalillo District Attorney will investigate their practices.  It is clear there is no longer a local or state check and balance of the command staff at APD. 

I want to pause one moment and let this sink in for the reader.  The elected highest law enforcement officers in the state and in the county refused to act regarding the corruption at the highest level of the Albuquerque Police Department.  This lack of action sets in motion the current Department of Justice Investigation that we have today.  Had the NM AG or the Bernalillo County DA opened an investigation things today would be dramatically different at APD.  These two agencies failed in their duty to be a check and balance.  For APD to reach the low point it is in today this perfect storm of corruption at the highest level of APD and inaction by the two law enforcement agencies that could have stopped it, was necessary.  Where APD is today did not happen just upon the election of RJ Berry, it started before then. RJ Berry just helped confirm the department’s destruction by continuing a path of NOT holding his chief administrators accountable, if not simply providing them cover.

August 2005, five Albuquerque residents are murdered including two APD officers by a mentally ill suspect.  This sad day gets revisited in the upcoming years as numerous mentally ill individuals are killed by APD officers.  In most of these shooting cases the blame is placed at the feet of the frontline APD officer who did the shooting but this is incorrect.  The blame for these shootings falls squarely on the politicians of Albuquerque and New Mexico who then and now continue to provide little or no assistance for the mentally ill.  Police officers come into most of these situations at the traumatic end of the crisis where violence is occurring.  The lawmakers in Albuquerque and New Mexico could intervene early by enacting policies for helping the mentally ill like other states have.  The lawmakers do nothing, leaving it up to a young police officer to act in defense of their life or someone else’s at a moment that took years for everyone to arrive at.  The lawmakers bear huge responsibility but it is the low level APD officer who is blamed.  Don’t get me wrong there does appear to be some shootings that should be questioned, but the majority of shootings would never have occurred had our state and city done more to intervene early with the mentally ill.  This also points to questionable activity between the Bernalillo County DA and APD as not one police shooting is deemed inappropriate.

2006 to 2009

Under Mayor Chavez and Chief Ray Schultz APD staffing goes over 1,100 sworn officers.  There is scandal as the Albuquerque Journal exposes that some retired rehires were not vetted in the rush to hire them back.  One was found to have a criminal history (and was terminated) and another was hired before a drug test, which he failed (again terminated).  Also hired were many lateral officers with questionable backgrounds, yet the Command Staff at APD approved their hiring even when lower level APD officers brought it to their attention.  Several of these lateral officers have been a black eye on APD (Levi Chavez for example), yet the command staff does not order a review to the practice of hiring laterals.  It appears that Schultz / Chavez want numbers; Albuquerque will pay for this in the years to come. 

Pete Dwyer takes a brief tenure as APOA president but he too resigns because of allegations of corruption. APD fails again to order an investigation and Ron Olivas takes over as APOA president. Dwyer is later fired for comments on his Facebook page and his name comes up in the Levi Chavez case because of suspicious circumstances surrounding Levi’s stolen truck. Nothing is followed up of course.

During this time period several suicides of women who are associated with APD officers, supervisors and command staff occur.  Yet even when affairs are exposed nothing happens to those involved.  In one example the offending sergeant is promoted to lieutenant after the female APD officer he was having an affair with committed suicide.  The command staff turns a blind eye, why?  One speculation is because the command staff is having their own affairs and to discipline someone for this would open a can of worms. 

Also in 2009 the West Mesa murders mass burial ground are discovered.  No one has ever been named as the murderer.  This killing field is presented as a “surprise” to community by Schultz and crime lab chief Paul Feist when in reality scores of officers had been reporting and documenting the disappearance of prostitutes since as early as 2006. I should know, I wrote one of the memos expressing concern that there was a killer preying on street girls.

Several lawsuits against APD for false arrest are filed and even more stunning, APD officers are suing their own department.  The Gonzales case (2006) costs taxpayers $1,300,000 for the 2 year false incarceration of a mentally ill adult for a murder / rape he did not commit.  Court documents state that months after Gonzales arrest and confession DNA evidence cleared him.  Yet APD did not disclose this to the court or defense and Gonzales, a mentally ill man, remained in solitary confinement at MDC for almost 2 years.  Two years, a million dollars for false arrest and Schultz does not order an internal investigation.  The Bernalillo DA does not order any investigation. 

In 2009 the Clifton Bloomfield murders cause many lawsuits against APD.  Some filed by Bloomfield’s victims who stated shoddy police work caused their loved ones to be murdered.  Two other lawsuits filed by two men who were falsely accused of some of the murders.  They were held at MDC for over 15 months even after DNA evidence excluded them.  Again this evidence was withheld and once the defense and judge found out they released these two men immediately.  Again Ray Schultz does nothing.  Again the Bernalillo County DA does nothing.  So far these lawsuits have cost us over a million dollars

In October of 2009 in Federal Court in Santa Fe the city of Albuquerque, after trial, reaches an agreement with retired APD officer Samson Costales regarding allegations of civil rights violations directly against APD Chief Ray Schultz.  This is the beginning of officers and citizens seeking recourse for actions by APD Command Staff through court filings.  Since officers and citizens can no longer depend upon the NM AG and the Bernalillo County DA to monitor APD actions they start suing……… and winning.  Costales was awarded almost $1,000,000 for civil rights violations filed against Schultz. 

Richard Berry is elected Mayor of Albuquerque during this time in the Fall of 2009.  A chance for the elected mayor of Albuquerque to do his job and hold city employees at all levels accountable.  Yet Berry decides to keep Schultz as chief of police and he names Darren White as Public Safety Director.  This is another example of an elected official who is there as a check and balance who fails to do his duty for the citizens.  In any other public or private sector job Schultz would have been fired for costing the taxpayer $1,000,000 but not in Albuquerque.  The elected officials keep failing to do their jobs.

Former APOA president Ron Olivas “leaks” information to APD officer Brad Ahrensfield.  And while there has been rampant corruption and misconduct by high ranking APD officials since the evidence room scandal with little or no scrutiny, Ahrensfield endures the full pressure of the FBI and US Attorney’s office because of allegations made by a convicted felon. APD detective Ryan Buckner and Schultz’s directing spearheads and investigation which ultimately leads to Ahrensfield’s conviction and incarceration. APOA President Joey Sigala is accused of stealing APOA funds. Schultz tries to keep the investigation internal but is forced to refer the matter to the NMSP when APD detectives try to intimidate retired APD sergeant Paul Heh.  NMSP finds that while money was inappropriately spent it did not rise to the level of a criminal offense. Sigala becomes the first APOA executive board member who is investigated for criminal conduct. He later resigns and then is arrested for DV charges and is subsequently fired. Sigala is not sentenced to any prison time or ordered to pay any restitution....

Part II to come later this week.

Hiding Behind Layers of Lawyers

As expected, when the challenged Mayor RJ Berry is caught with his hand in the cookie jar, his response is not to be honest and ethical, but to hid behind layers of lawyers.
 

You see, RJ Berry has directly received over $17,000 in contributions from persons & company's who do regular business with the city. People like Neal Greenbaum who owns "Park It Place" parking lot management services and contracts with the city or Gail Armonstrong of "Pro-Fab, Inc." or Dale Armstrong of "TLC Plumbing & Utility."
 

So when confronted with this issue, where's Berry? You know Berry is always looking for a photo op; Does he go on camera? No. He lets a press aid issue a statement. And what do Berry's backers do? They file lawsuits. And that is what the above persons did. Under the pretenses of the Citizen's United case, Berry's lawyer pals at the Barnett Law Firm have brought an action against the city for violating these people rights. But apparently, they forgot to appreciate what the Citizen's United case really means.
 

Citizen's United simply allows corporations and unions to donate freely in support of a candidate, but NOT TO a candidate. Let's try this again for the sake of Berry and The Barnett Law Firm; BUT NOT TO A CANDIDATE. That usually means they can send their money to PACs or promote their own YouTube efforts.

While the silly lawsuit asserts that the case invalidates one of the "harshest restrictions still standing" they are simply wrong. In the Citizen's United opinion, the US Supreme Court was clear to say the case DID NOT erase laws concerning corporate contributions to candidates, and it DID NOT address whether the government could regulate contributions to groups that make independent expenditures. If the Citizen's United case did in-fact do what the folks at Barnett's law firm says it did, the the 1907 Tillman Act's ban on corporate campaign donations would be dead--but it's not.

In short, this is a lawsuit that will get tossed in court because it's based on false precedent analysis.

But we shouldn't be surprised by all of this because Berry's predecessor took actions he didn't like to court as well. Remember the Almighty Alcalde? Well he didn't like the restriction on term limits so he challenged that in court as well:

http://alibi.com/news/28735/For-I-Am-the-Mayor-of-Albuquerque.html
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/274750metro01-04-08.htm
 

But unlike Berry, Marty Chavez would step forward and answer questions directly from the media and wasn't afraid to engage reporters. Unlike the current office holder who appears to be showing simply that, he is merely an office holder....

But ironically, back when Berry was running for Mayor, rules meant everything to him. As he criticized Mayor Chavez, "Chavez’s unwillingness to abide by the will of the citizens of Albuquerque is one more demonstration of “politics as usual” at City Hall, said Berry." Albuquerque Journal, July 16, 2009.

Well Mr. Berry, the voters have said they do not want people doing business with you to have any influence in the election, and your response when called on it is to hide once again behind lawyers and press agents...

Federal Judge Slams City; Chief Shultz Skates Again

The City of Albuquerque is left holding the bag again, thanks to the irresponsible actions of the City’s Nuisance Abatement Team. The team has several APD officers assigned to it as well as a few inspectors. The team was being overseen by Pete Dinelli who is an attorney and former City Councilor. According to the Journal report (see here), “A federal judge's ruling that the city has engaged in overzealous enforcement of its nuisance abatement ordinance — resulting in the eviction of some residents without a hearing beforehand.”

The City’s Nuisance Abatement Ordinance was one of the items that former Mayor Marty Chavez prided himself with.

According to the Journal, “U.S. District Judge James O. Browning found the city had failed to show sufficient evidence about whether the code violations in the challenged cases demonstrated an immediate danger to the lives and safety of the occupants — enough to turn people out of their homes without a warrant.”

According to the former City Attorney and now COA of Albuquerque, Rob Perry stated, "Really, what the problem is, oversight and supervision of this unit at the senior management levels was atrocious. ‘That's what permitted this to occur.’" Clearly Pete Dinelli was the Public Safety Director at the time and Ray Schultz was the Chief of Police. Dinelli is gone but Schultz is still here and costing the tax payers big bucks.

Interesting enough, “Perry defended the work of police and code enforcement officers, and said the high-profile evictions that generated headlines and TV coverage weren't necessarily sound policy. ‘Here's the reality: (They) weren't lawyers, but you know what? The former public safety director was, and the former mayor was. And they have to take a certain responsibility for the policies they implemented,’" he said.

Perry spoke condescending about Dinelli and Chavez, but not a word about one of the “Good Ol’ Boys” like Schultz, who is considered part of the City’s “senior management.” Why is Perry willing to shove Dinelli and Chavez under the bus and let Chief Schultz skate by on this one too? You will have to decide that question on your own.

Now Darren White is the Public Safety Director. It looks like the City of Albuquerque “jumped from the pan into the fire.” Way to go Berry.

The Suit was filed by Joe and Shannon Kennedy on behalf of Kevin Lowery and others, a class that they estimate includes roughly 200 individuals or families. The Eye is sure that the Kennedy's will be expecting a huge settlement which has become common when dealing with anything Schultz has his hand in.

The Eye On Albuquerque reported on the abatement team back in July of 2009. The Eye stated in the story, “If we are going to have a nuisance abatement unit, it better have strict procedures and be monitored closely for potential abuse (see here).” But apparently the City did not adhere to our warning then either.

Chief Schultz Thinks Seriously, Maybe he Shouldn’t…

In today’s Albuquerque Journal, Chief Ray Schultz publicly took a female’s dignity. A female employee tested positive for alcohol during a random drug test when she arrived for duty last month. According to the article, on Feb. 15, Schultz said, this female officer resigned under “threat of termination.” There seems to be several possible problems associated with this scenario.

Here are a few questions to ask;

Is this case still considered a personnel matter?

Is the Chief supposed to be publicly speak about personnel matters?

The Journal could be considered a “social media,” is this a violation of Chief Schultz’ most recent policy?

Does this employee have a lawsuit for wrongful termination now that Schultz publicly stated that she resigned under duress of termination?

Now that this former female employee has been publicly humiliated, does she have legal recourse?

What gives Chief Schultz the right to ruin this female’s chances of getting another job?

According to Schultz, “we pushed it very quickly through the administrative process.” Is this done for all employees or just for this female employee?

Sidebar

This information was brought to the Eye's attention and clearly needs to be added. Did Chief Schultz violate HIPAA? (HIPAA is an acronym for The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. It was first enforced in 1996. This act was created to provide protection for personal health information.)

Source: http://www.guidetohealthcareschools.com/library/hipaa-law#ixzz1F8fjJFIQ

End Sidebar (Added 2/26/2011 @11:41 PM)

This case appears unfortunate to all concerned. APD prides itself in having a 13-step process to weed out undesirable employees. What happened that this employee was able to get through the process? As you noticed in this story we did not mention this female’s name. It would be hypocritical to point out what Chief Schultz has done and then do the same. Does this smells like another Sam Costales case coming down the road? The Journal article is shameful at a minimum and this female deserves dignity. Every single human being deserves dignity.

The Eye is sure Chief Schultz received permission from the City Attorney, CPSO White and Mayor Berry to disclose this information, right?

Mayor Berry is this true? Did you give Chief Schultz your permission to run with this story on this female officer? Mayor Berry, you knew Schultz was baggage left behind from Marty. It was your decision to keep him, right?

Mayor Berry???



That's What we thought...And the public is thinking the same thing.





Source:
http://www.abqjournal.com/news/metro/252343376196newsmetro02-25-11.htm
Subscribe Now Albuquerque Journal

Another One Bites the Dust

Another one of Marty's parting shots has itself been shot down. In a flurry of MOUs that bought everything from a police retirement to a permanent job as an overpaid city employee, Marty's deals were meant to cause nothing but trouble for the man who was to replace him. One of the most egregious of these was Marty's MOU that changed the city's DWI policy but only for firefighters.

Firefighters arrested on suspicion of first-offense DWI will no longer be immune from losing their jobs.

Effective immediately, city officials will stop honoring an agreement with the local firefighter's union that kept those firefighters on the job. Instead of termination, they faced demotion and lost $1 of hourly pay but were eligible to have it reinstated after a year. They also had to complete a counseling program.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Of course almost everyone else was subject to termination. But Marty - in one of his more stupid and petty attempts to cause Berry trouble - made a quick agreement with IAFF President, Diego Arencon that allowed firefighters to go largely unpunished.

It's obvious that the MOU was patently unfair to other city employees and just plain wrong, but the MOU itself could obligate the city to abide by the Formerly Almighty Alcalde's agreement. The question is - will the IAFF return to court in order to protect a few drunken firefighters from termination?

We'd be willing to bet that Mayor Berry and Public Safety Director Darren White would be more than happy to defend the decision in court and in the media.

"It's clear that this pilot project was a miserable failure because it has not stopped the number of DWIs," Public Safety Director Darren White said Tuesday.

"We want to protect the public's trust," said Fire Chief James Breen. "That's why we're taking this stand."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

 Frankly, the move is the right thing to do. Creating disparate groups subject to different punishment for the same offense will cause nothing but problems and is probably not legal anyway. Kudos to the administration for taking a stand and striking down another MOU.

Now... if they were only willing to take on the other infamous MOU that allows former CAO, Ed Adams to keep working over at DMD at his CAO salary. Hey, we're just sayin'.

Crossing the Line

Councilor Ken Sanchez is well known for being a major supporter of The Almighty Alcalde. Today that support may have gone too far. Councilor Ken Sanchez has sent an email out to Bernalillo County and city employees attacking Richard Romero.

From: Ken Sanchez [mailto:info@martychavez.com]
Sent: Monday, September 28, 2009 3:37 PM

Subject: Romero Gave $21,300 to Republicans


Dear Supporter,
Over the last five years, Santa Fe Lobbyist Richard Romero has given or funneled $21,300 to Republican politicians. Why did a self described "progressive" Democrat become a Santa Fe lobbyist and use his position to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to right wing Republicans that they use to bash Democrats and advance their right wing agenda? That's not principled and it's certainly not courageous.
It gets worse. Richard Romero didn't just use his own money or his lobbying clients' money to help fund campaigns of right wing Republicans - Romero used money from his 2004 Congressional campaign account to help Republican candidates!
That's right, Richard Romero took money donated by Democrats to help defeat Heather Wilson and used it to help fund Republican candidates. He took the money donated by Democrats to help defeat Heather Wilson and gave it to Republican legislators Jane Powdrell Culbert, Tom Anderson, Bill Rehm and even Richard "R.J" Berry. That's just wrong.
SEE THE FULL LIST OF RICHARD ROMERO'S REPUBLICAN CONTRIBUTIONS!
Over the last five years, Richard Romero donated $21,300 to 28 different Republican members of the legislature. This isn't something from deep in Richard's past - he was giving money to Republicans as recently as June 20th of this year!
Richard Romero is a political chameleon. In 2009, he's calling himself a "progressive," but, in 2004, when he was running against progressive Democrat Miles Nelson in the Congressional primary, Romero positioned himself to the right, using the word "centrist" to describe himself.
We don't need an unprincipled politician in City Hall. Vote 'No' on Richard Romero.
Thanks so much for your time.
Sincerely,
City Councilor Ken Sanchez

Marty has clearly figured out that he needs the support of every Democrat to win in October. This latest email is yet another sign that the Chavez campaign is nothing short of desperate He's even willing to sacrifice one of his closest allies - Councilor Ken Sanchez.

Look, it's not illegal for a councilor to support a mayor. The problem is that the target of the email message is exclusively county and city employees - lists that come from the councilor and former commissioner's time in city and county government.

At the very least, Councilor Sanchez has crossed the line with the voters and the source of his transgression is none other than The Almighty Alcalde.

Shocker!!!! APOA Endorses The Almighty Alcalde!!!

Yeah... we know. You're still catching your breath after this startling turn of events. The public consummation of APOA President Joey Sagala's back room deal with the devil took place today a little before noon. 770's Peter St. Cyr has some pretty good coverage over on his blog (read/hear it here) complete with interviews from both R.J. Berry and Richard Romero.

We've told you how Sagala fixed this thing from the very beginning (read it here). Mayoral interviews were held in January when the only announced candidate was Michael Cadigan. Our Eyes tell us the APOA Political Hack-tion Committe run by Sagala only extended an invitation to one of the current candidates who spent all his time talking about being "green." Just guess who that candidate was.

One would think that if Marty were really concerned about public safety, he'd take the opportunity to talk about, ohh we don't know... public safety to those whose job it is to keep the public safe. Instead, the mayor for life talked about recycling. We sure feel safer.

Look these endorsements don't mean anything when they're the result of strong-arm tactics and back room deals. Only time will tell what deal Joey cut and whether it will help Marty win. But the APOA ought to start considering who's representing them and whether or not they really do represent them.

----- Correction -----
One of our Eyes just sent us one of The Almighty Alcalde's press releases touting the above back room deal. We immediately noticed that we had been misspelling APOA President Sagala's last name. We want to apologize to Officer Sagala and any other Joey Segallas out there for our mistake. It's been corrected above and we'll work to correct it in our other posts.

And Then There Were Four

Tuesday marked the fourth official entry into the mayoral sweepstakes. After November's Republican debacle, Democrats are lining up to take the executive chair of New Mexico's largest city. Richard Romero who ran twice (and lost twice) to Heather Wilson, has decided that his next office should be located on the 11th floor of city hall.

"These are truly the winds of change," Romero said as winds buffeted his podium on a blustery day.

He becomes the fourth candidate to announce a bid for mayor in the October election. Also running are City Councilors Michael Cadigan and Debbie O'Malley, as well as community activist Donna Rowe.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

All four of the announced candidates have pledged to run "publicly financed campaigns." In other words, there are four little piglets lined up to suck on the taxpayer's tee, uh... trough. And if you think the election's clean because voluntary contributions to candidates from individuals and businesses are verboten, think again. What do you really know about the candidates? How can you tell if you don't know who really supports them?

Richard Romero is a perfect example of hiding behind a bi-partisan past and selling his soul to a liberal future.

Romero also stressed his support for publicly financed elections and his record as a negotiator who works well with others, Republicans and Democrats alike. He said he would offer "a new way forward," drawing on his experience both as a legislator and as an administrator.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Managing Romero's campaign this time is Neri Holguin, who went undefeated as a campaign manager last year against opponents that represented more than 50 years of experience in the Legislature.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

Neri Holguin is part of Eli Lee's Nefarious Network of Non-Profits that have been determined by the Attorney General and the Secretary of State to be acting as political action committees (read our take here).

Holguin, who was the campaigns director for Soltari, a local consulting group that no longer does campaigns, said her '08 clients include newcomer Tim Keller who is seeking the Dem nomination for the state senate seat held by ABQ incumbent Shannon Robinson... Eric Griego, the former ABQ city councilor who is challenging incumbent South Valley Dem State Senator James Taylor, and Tim Eichenberg who is a Dem contender for the ABQ NE Heights seat held by the GOP's Diane Snyder.

- joemonahan.com

If the names above look familiar it's because the incumbents were targeted by Lee's non-profits for "educational" campaign materials in last year's election. The strategy was effective and all of Holguin's clients won their respective seats. Consequently all of the newly elected officials owe their positions and therefore their votes to Eli Lee and company.

Richard Romero has sold his bi-partisan soul to Eli Lee's leftist non-profits in an effort to get back in the game. Thus, his claims to past bi-partisan cooperation with Republicans are null and void because of his association with groups who demand allegiance to their far left causes. Failure to comply results in targeting and removal. Just ask Democrats Shannon Robinson or James Taylor.

A candidate's associations are important. The new law banning business contributions not only prohibits business influence but forces candidates to run under the "Albuquerque Open and Ethical Elections Ordinance" that was approved by the voters four years ago and by doing so, effectively hides their supporters behind an election law iron curtain.

So why is that important? So far we've got four declared candidates (five if Marty doesn't get his dream job in Washington). Two are honest lefties, O'Malley and Rowe. Two are leftists claiming to be centrists, Cadigan and Romero. Without campaign finance disclosure, it's extremely difficult for the average voter to tell the difference.

[Sidebar]
Ok... so we probably have five mayoral candidates. But to date the Almighty Alcalde has only gone to court to get his term limit over-turned and filed for public financing. That can't mean he's running does it? Rrrrriiiight.
[End Sidebar]

Public financing as implemented in Albuquerque, is already serving to hide candidates behind a shadowy vale of propaganda. In addition, it's costing all of us money at a time when the city is admittedly running a $20 MILLION deficit.

If all five official and un-official candidates decide to officially take public financing and they all are able to qualify, then the city will be another $1.64 MILLION in the hole - and that's before the council races.

It's not unheard of for there to be three to four candidates for each council district. Each candidate that qualifies for the dirty money of public financing would be entitled to around $30,000. This year that means five districts with four candidates at $30,000. Add another $600,000 to the $1.64 MILLION and you've got over $2 MILLION forcibly taken from taxpayers and given to ambitious politicians - most of whom are not even good politicians.

The mayor's race is already shaping up to be a leftist vs. leftier race. With no true conservative or strong Republican throwing their hat in the ring, many will vote for the devil they know - even if that devil is as corrupt as the day is long.

On the other hand, if a solid conservative Republican that can teach and inspire comes to the fore, they would be hard to beat. Especially considering the three wanna-be centrists and the two socialists who are now in the race.