Unforthcoming and Truth Distortion Revealed: Banks and Perea

"Grunt"                  "You make my head hurt"         "Lies!!!"

Faced with having to reinstate Russell Perea as a police officer with all back pay, benefits, seniority, and attorney’s fees, the City of Albuquerque and APD’s interim chief Allen Banks are spinning in crisis mode.  And there is no better evidence of this than City of Albuquerque attorney David Tourek’s statement on the matter:

“We’re evaluating this problematic ruling from the court that is forcing us to take back a Police Officer that we felt we had sufficient grounds to terminate. We’ll be reviewing Judge Bacon’s decision and exploring all appellate, administrative, and policy options that are available.”

We know the city lives in backwards land.

How else do you explain giving the city’s CAO a 22% raise (equal to $33,0000) when his police department has cost tax payers over $55,000,000 in judgments?

Or promoting a deputy chief to the rank of chief when he’s been caught lying in public, lying under oath, tampering with crime scenes, covering up crimes, violates his own officer’s civil rights, and can hardly speak a single sentence with proper grammar?

Or describing a city as operating efficiently when, duh, there are 30% fewer officers and morale is in the tank amongst all NON MANAGEMENT personnel?

Or maintaining the health and safety of fire department personnel when toxic fumes continue to bleed into several fire stations despite the public reporting of these issues?

Or in this case, claiming that not only was the hearing officer wrong, but the personnel board, and District Court Judge Nash, and District Court Judge Bacon. In fact, Judge Bacon wasn’t just wrong according to Tourek, but it was problematic.

Well, let’s put Tourek’s statement in the context of things. 

•Russell Perea was the target of an IA investigation shortly after Levi Chavez was indicted for  

  murdering his wife and interviewed by Commander Doug West on 5/10/11.

•7/18/11 DCOP Allen Banks adopts and supports the termination of Perea for untruthfulness.

•7/28/11 the Albuquerque Journal quotes Ray Schultz as saying an officer in connection with

  Levi Chavez will be fired.

•7/29/11 Russell Perea is notified by APD that he will be fired.

•8/8/11 DCOP Feist holds Perea’s Laudermill hearing and confirms Perea will be fired.
•8/15/11 Perea receives written notice of his termination signed by Feist.

•12/9/11 Perea appeals the termination through the city’s administrative hearing office and Dr. Zane Reeves is randomly selected as the hearing officer. Hearing to start on 12/9.

•12/29/11 the 12/9 hearing reconvenes because the city failed to provide all internal affairs documents to Perea. The hearing is rescheduled for 1/27/12.

•1/27/12 hearing concludes.

•2/6/12 Dr. Reeves issues his recommendation finding the city did not have just cause to terminate Perea because the city failed to demonstrate wrongdoing by Perea.

•2/13/12 City attorneys contact Dr. Reeves in private and ask that he recuse himself from the current case and not appear before the April meeting of the Personnel Board as required.

•3/5/12 City attorney and CAO ask the Personnel Board to remove Dr. Reeves

•4/11/12 the Personnel Board denies the city’s effort to remove Dr. Reeves and unanimously votes to accept Dr. Reeves’ recommendation and orders the city to reinstate Perea

•4/20/12 city attorneys appeal the Personnel Board’s decision to district court and seek a restraining order against Dr. Reeves from hearing other scheduled personnel hearings.

•5/1/12 District Court Judge Nash hears arguments and denies the city’s motions from the bench.

•5/1/12 Rob Perry terminates Dr. Reeves’s contract with the city by fax.

And of course Tourek/Perry resist the order of their own personnel board. Think about that for a minute. Doesn't this mean that for every hearing officer's recommendation that the city DID have justification to terminate an employee and the board adopted that recommendation gets to be reinstated if Tourek/Perry get their way?!?!?

But the secret to decoding the idiocy of the Perry/Tourek actions is not just looking at the obvious. But in looking at what isn’t being said. Paralleling Perea's case is another high profile matter:

•11/17/11 APD officer Rob Woolever receives notice of termination and files his appeal

•2/1/12 Woolever receives notice that his personnel hearing is scheduled for 4/18/12

•2/1/12 Dr. ZANE REEVES randomly selected as the hearing officer in the Woolever matter

•5/11/12 Woolever receives notice that his hearing is rescheduled to 7/20/12 and Bingham is the hearing officer.

These are things that not only make one go hmmmmmm, but they make one ill. 

Up until 2/1/12, Dr. Reeves had been a contract employee with the city of Albuquerque as a hearing officer for decades. And now Tourek/Perry would have us believe that after one decision he is biased and prejudiced when over 75% of his decisions were in favor of the city? Nah, it’s only too obvious. This isn't about Perea at all, it's about Doyle and Woolever.

Tourek/Perry/Schultz saw the writing on the wall. They knew that even though they had bungled up the investigation and termination of Perea they had done even worse with the matter involving officers Rob Woolever and John Doyle. They knew that if those cases were going to be held, and with Woolever’s scheduled to occur on 4/18/12 their lies and illegal actions were going to be disclosed as well.

So they did what bullies do, they tried to get others to fight their fight. In this case, first they went to the personnel board. When the board said no, they went to court. When the judge said no, only then did they do what they could’ve done all along and directly fire Dr. Reeves.

Except now, the proverbial chickens are coming home. Judge Bacon found Tourek/Perry’s actions not just dumb but unfounded. Dr. Reeves’s decision was found to be the correct one even after intense judicial scrutiny. And Tourek/Perry have failed. Again…… Our Eyes tell us, Mr. Doyle’s case is in district court where once again the actions of the city will be subject to intense judicial scrutiny. And we are told the lies and illegal actions by city personnel involved in this matter defy belief.

Remember the city’s argument to fire Perea was that he was unforthcoming in correcting facts asked of him by West. Funny, with current officer Brett Lampiris-Tremba not only did you have somebody who had blatantly lied to supervisors but falsified calendar records.

And there is no greater truth-distortionist than the grand poo-bah of unforthcoming actions than APD’s own Allen Banks. Perhaps Mr. Banks would like to go under oath and answer some very direct questions about his nefarious on and off duty activities?

Doyle and Woolever were cast away by APD as an offering to keep DOJ investigators from coming in. Schultz/Banks thought by making a huge publicity stunt it would send a message to DOJ that APD polices itself and doesn't need review by Washington. But like everything else Schultz has touched, this plan also failed but at the expense of two decent officers.

But don't take our word for it, hear what happened directly from an interview journalist Peter St. Cyr did with Dr. Reeves just last week:

https://soundcloud.com/peter505/zane-reeves-vindicated

Professional Truth Distortionist

Perhaps Banks, Tourek, or Perry would like to go on record and challenge these details? What's that? Crickets? Nah, we thought so....

Zane Prevails!!

On May 12, 2012 we reported how City of Albuquerque CAO Rob Perry had terminated contract employment with nationally respected hearing officer Zane Reeves because of a recent finding Dr. Reeves had made in a case before him. (Reread the story here:http://eyeonalbuquerque.blogspot.com/2012/05/city-does-insane-to-zane.html)

You see, Mr. Perry was upset that Dr. Reeves had held the city to task for unjustly terminating then APD Officer Russell Perea. While many presume Mr. Perea covered for former officer Levi Chavez during the night of Tera Chavez's death, APD failed to prove in Mr. Perea's termination hearing that he did anything to justify his firing from APD. The primary reason the city offered for Mr. Perea's termination was that he was "unforthcoming" as APD's current Chief, and then Deputy Chief and the one responsible for Mr. Perea's termination, put it. Unforthcoming.

Well, yesterday the honorable 2nd Judicial District Court Judge Shannon Bacon found the city unforthcoming in their reasons to appeal Mr. Perea's reinstatement as ordered by the city's own Personnel Board. Where the city stated Dr. Reeves was "arbitrary and capricious," Judge Bacon found the city's own reasoning "specious." That's another way of saying the city was wrong. In fact, and even more directly, Judge Bacon wrote:

"The Court has reviewed the transcript of all three hearings—including those portions the City cites in support of its claim—and finds the City’s claim that the hearing officer acted arbitrarily is unfounded."

Where the city said Dr. Reeves considered evidence not part of the case, Judge Bacon pondered the city's reasoning when the city itself, through Kathy Levy's cohort Rebecca Wardlaw, raised the link between Mr. Perea and Mr. Chavez.

In short, Judge Bacon denied the city's appeal of the Personnel Board's order to reinstate Mr. Perea and she flat out rejected the Ms. Wardlaw's pathetic arguments that Dr. Reeves acted in an arbitrary and capricious manner. In closing, Judge Bacon ordered:

"The Court concludes: (1) the Hearing Officer’s determination is supported by substantial evidence; (2) the Hearing Officer did not act arbitrarily or capriciously; (3) the Board did not act arbitrarily or capriciously; and (4) the City has failed to demonstrate grounds for reversal. Accordingly, the decision of the City Personnel Board is AFFIRMED."

We at the Eye would like to remind our readers that the mess that will unfold because of the city's inept and illegal actions are the result of decisions made by none other than, yup the city's highest paid employee: Rob Perry.  One would think the city's CAO would know a little about contract law. Ooops, our bad.

None of this should really be surprising because if you recall, during this hearing we got a taste of the future as then DCOP Allen Banks was caught being untruthful while giving testimony under oath.  Here is an audio clip with "lowlights" from the Perea hearing:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5CaJaQ61tw

In it you can also hear the poor and incompetent testimony by then DCOP Paul "Crime Scene Tampering Expert" Feist and Commander Doug "Baby Huey" West.

Folks, this is but one of many chickens that are coming home to roost. Get ready for many more....  The Eye wishes to extend a hearty congratulations to Dr. Reeves for vindication from the city and Rob Perry's despicable acts. We wish him well it whatever course of action he pursues against Mr. Perry.

UPDATE

 Thanks to one of our Eyes.....It seems back when Perry terminated Dr. Reeves's contract, he made the following statement to KRQE: "We think its basically in the city's best interest this time to terminate the contract and proceed with future personnel hearings with a different personnel officer. “We have to be assured there is an absolutely fair and neutral process in place. I’m not asking for a stacked deck, but I’m certainly asking – and the citizens expect – a fair one.”

Dr. Reeves was already scheduled to hear former APD officer Rob Woolever's appeal of his termination. As Judge Bacon confirmed in her ruling yesterday, the city's appeal was unfounded and had no merit. In other words Perry was wrong again. This entire fiasco rests upon the decision personally made by Rob Perry. Please tell us Mr. Perry how unlawfully terminating a contract involving a nationally respected hearing officer is in the city's best interest? Please tell us how intimidating other hearing officers who are sworn to be objective and are quasi-judicial personnel is in the city's best interest? Please tell us how actions such as this and the endless other justify your existence as an employee nevermind your disgusting raise of $33,000?