Take a look at the pictures above, because like it or not, these persons are in control of what is happening in Albuquerque. They control what the city is doing and not doing, and they control what is being reported and not reported. And if you you think coverups and corruption by these people is limited to our little bubble of the state, think again.
And it's about money and control. Period.
"Oh Eye, we've heard this all before nothing is new" you might say. Well, this is new, and if this doesn't illicit outrage and investigation, than I guess the notion of "a bad government is better than no government" is really what's holding things in place.
Because it's not competence, as the city and the state are much much worse than they were years ago.
Starting from the left, we have Jerry Walz. He is the principal owner of the Walz & Associates law firm.
Then we have Kent Walz, Jerry's brother. He is the editor in chief of the Albuquerque Journal.
In the middle is Steve French, principal owner of the French & Associates law firm.
Then of course city mayor RJ Berry, his CAO Rob Perry, and city attorney David Tourek.
In the last 4 years, Jerry Walz and his law firm has received over $531,578 from the city of Albuquerque.
Over the same time period, Steve French and his firm has received over $1,174,891 from the city.
If the Albuquerque Journal were to truly be objective in any analysis of the city, we all know how Berry would fair. He'd be shown for the utter disgrace and failure he is. But given that Kent's brother brings in hundreds of thousands in cash, and the fact that Perry would pull the plug on that just like he tries to intimidate citizens at city council meetings, it's clear the Journal would never touch Berry or Perry.
And French? Well that's even easier. You see he's married to city attorney David Tourek's sister, Katherine E. Tourek. And David's other sister, Lisa Mack, is also a lawyer at French's firm.
Faithful readers, we're not going to bother posting the statutes, ordinances, and ethics rules, these relationships seem to violate. You decide for yourself if you are ok with the editor of the state's largest paper omitting or only softly covering Berry in his paper because his brother makes so much from the city and Berry. You decide for yourself if you are ok with direct and in-law family members making so much money from the city and Berry because they are related to the city attorney.
You decide for yourself if you are ok with the city's former police chief taking a high paying position with a company he had just finalized at multimillion dollar contract with before leaving the department while it's under a DOJ investigation and is hemorrhaging at the seems.
For once, quit shrugging and act like this is your home, because like it or not, these people are taking it from you.
****UPDATE****
Kudos to one of our Eyes who forwarded us the information below. It seems that despite Berry and Perry's statements of being fiscally conservative, it seems there was no amount of money spared in support of their favorite paper run by the Walz brothers. Is it just a coincidence that in an election year the Berry administration paid the paper almost 2x as much in fees than the years before?
****UPDATE 2****
We just can't keep up. In case you missed it, today the PRC rightfully lost a lawsuit where none other than his royal legal contractness, Steve French, represented them and a wrongful termination lawsuit. The jury found in favor of the former employee and awarded him $110,000. (See the story here: http://krqe.com/2014/03/06/former-prc-employee-wins-lawsuit-over-firing/). It seems lawyer French is trying to keep pace with city lawyer Levy. Not only did he lose this case, but he actually helped the plaintiff. You see back in November, the court awarded monetary and procedural sanctions against French for his conduct in this case when he, we know this is shocking, withheld information he was required to produce....Hmmm, another tactic learned by Levy: why produce when you can wait and be required to and just pass the buck to the taxpayers!
