The Furr's Still Flying

We told you recently about the Chavez administration's continuing problems with fuzzy math (read it here and here). They seem to have problems with numbers in just about every department and frankly if the 11th floor claimed that there were 24 hours in a day, we'd ask to see a clock. Now they seem to be tailoring reports to specific councilor's sensibilities (or lack thereof).

Monday, the Albuquerque Journal reported that a four page report - meant to justify the mayor's shakeup over at Animal Control and convince the council to release some $4 MILLION in funding that had been frozen in response to the shakeup - had been tailored in an effort to please one councilor.

The administration's initial four-page report was cut in half at the request of Councilor Sally Mayer. The final document failed to include criticism of the old animal-care leadership team— information the administration had included to bolster its case for hiring a new director.

In an interview last week, Mayer, who supported the previous leadership, said the parts she objected to were misleading.

"I said, 'This is insulting,' '' Mayer said. "It was a big spin campaign."

-ABQ Journal Subscription

The Mayer didn't like the idea that the administration's report included information that was less than flattering to the previous manager and her staff. First of all, we don't know what the heck Ed Adams was doing having a councilor approve a report to council. Second, the thing was four whole pages?! If your average mid-schooler showed up with a book report of four pages they'd probably be spending more time in mid-school than they'd like (except at APS but that's another story).

Remember, this report was supposed to justify the major shakeup over at animal control and almost half of the original report was characterized by The Mayer as "spin." So... the council takes definitive action freezing $4 MILLION and demands an accounting of the administration's actions and Mayor Chavez's team comes up with four pages. That's $1 MILLION per page - $2 MILLION per page for the submitted report. Apparently, even the councilors noted the lack of report in the report.

City councilors seemed surprised recently when the administration presented a two-page report on plans to improve animal care.

"This is the report?" two councilors asked during a November meeting, sounding surprised and disappointed.

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

We've been baffled by this whole shakeup thing and suspicious of the apparent rift between The Mayer and the mayor from the very beginning. It almost seemed to be a fight over who was going to take credit for making Albuquerque a live exit city.

From the numbers we saw the shelter was making substantial gains before the shakeup. After the shakeup the new director claims credit and follows up by inflating numbers at an adopt-a-thon that was by all accounts successful without the fuzzy fib.

There really doesn't seem to be any justification for what the mayor did when he sacked the previous management and even less justification for what The Mayer did afterwards. Why lead the charge to freeze money for Animal Control only to accept a substandard report as justification as long as it didn't speak ill of the people that it was supposed to justify replacing?

Yeah, we know... bizarre doesn't even begin to describe recent events.

APS W-2 Snafu

If you went to school here in Albuquerque, chances are you spent some time at one of the many APS elementary, mid, or high schools. One of the things we remember distinctly was being told to fill in each box (or bubble) completely when taking one of the many standardized tests. It was as much an exercise in art as it was an exercise in following the directions.

Well Friday the folks over in APS's accounting department failed to heed the advice of almost every teacher that has ever given one of those bubble sheet tests. Seems that our education administrators failed to fill in a couple of boxes on their employee's W-2 tax forms - the employers state tax ID number and the information for the ERA box 12.

APS is promising to fix the mistake by January 31st, but the biggest problem is that the fix will require the re-issuance of thousands of W-2 forms. That's a lot of money that won't be making it into our kids classrooms because the accountants at APS didn't fill in their employee's forms completely.

Taking Command

This past Thursday a little known and perhaps little understood APD special order went out, quietly creating a new position in APD's command structure.

Effective immediately, the current rank of Captain has been officially changed to Commander. The new rank will be incorporated into the Departments SOP, General Orders, Procedural Orders and Administrative Orders Manuals at a later date.

- Department Special Order 08-03

It certainly doesn't look like much, but with the stroke of a pen Chief Schultz removed an entire rank from the APOA. You see, up until last Thursday, your local substation commander was a captain; now the Captain in command is a Commander in charge.

You're probably thinking so what, a rose by any other name... The problem here isn't in the title it's in the job description. Now that Captains are Commanders, they are no longer a part of the APOA. In essence they have become at will employees of the Chief - who in turn is an at will employee of the mayor.

By creating the new rank to supplant the old, the 11th floor has managed to extend its tentacles through the 5th floor and right into your neighborhood substation. Our problem is that APD already has a problem with ambitious officers buying their rank (we won't mention DC Castro's name), removing Captains from the union only increases the necessity for Commanders to be loyal to the current administration.

We've been watching the administration for some time as it worked to move "their" people into the captain slots; as more senior and experienced Lieutenants were repeatedly passed over for promotion. Our Eyes tell us that these passed over Lieutenants didn't have a problem with qualification, but rather with loyalty to the current administration.

According to our Eyes this move has been in the works since 2005, when a number of APD Captains and Lieutenants were openly supporting other candidates; which by the way, they have every right to do as long as they are not in uniform and not on duty. Then Deputy Chief Paul Chavez vowed that the mayor was going to remove both Captains and Lieutenants from the ranks of the APOA; and it looks to us as if that is exactly what the mayor is up to.

You may be wondering why the APOA would go along with such an obvious power grab. Well The Eyes have it that the APOA quietly agreed to the provision under the tenure of former President, Lawrence Torres; who now coincidentally works for the mayor.

Our Eyes tell us that these types of tactics have been compared to the iron fisted control over the police wielded by the legendary "mayor" of Albuquerque Clyde Tingley, by none other than current DC Michael Castro. Oddly enough, we might find ourselves agreeing with the Deputy Chief on this one.

In the final analysis, it really doesn't matter whether we have a Captain or a Commander. What matters is that they make law enforcement their first and only priority. The Area Commands are not the places for the politics of the 11th and 5th floors; they're a place where citizens should be able to trust that eradicating crime is the only goal.

Unfortunately, these new Commanders will owe their jobs to the Almighty Alcalde and should they prove too independent from his honor, they we be forced to go it alone. Our Eyes have seen it too many times; cross the administration and suddenly there's an IA investigation that pops up out of nowhere. If you're perceived to be disloyal, you end up with your phone bugged.

The Albuquerque Police Department needs more insulation from the politics of the 11th floor, not less. That means that they need to be less dependent on the good favor of the mayor and more concerned about fighting crime so that headlines like "Crime Welcomes TV Crew" (ABQ Journal - Subscription) aren't just an expected part of the Albuquerque experience.

Getting in on the Scam-eras

Tuesday Governor Bill Richardson announced that he's got a hankerin' for some scam-era cash (ABQ Tribune). We figured that it would only be a matter of time before Santa Fe got into the act and tapped the new revenue stream that the Almighty Alcalde has created. With oil and gas tax revenue dwindling and state roads crumbling due to the Rail Runner raid on the state's road fund, we guess it was only a matter of time before Big Bill and company succumbed to the scam-era tax temptation.

Gov. Bill Richardson has added Albuquerque's controversial red-light camera program to the agenda of state legislators, with an eye on using some of its revenue for DWI prevention.

-ABQ Tribune

During last year's legislative session we were hopeful that Governor Bill would sign legislation that stripped the city of its prize "excess revenue" cash cow. After all, Marty said last year that he would have to end the scam-eras if the state got hold of his red light booty.

Senate Bill 780, unanimously approved by the Senate last week, would require the city to give the state $74 for every citation issued by the traffic camera program.
"This bill is a program killer," Chávez said. "This is very unfortunate. The state's largest city comes up with an innovative program to improve public safety, and the legislators just see green."

- ABQ Journal (Subscription)

It's amazing how a year and two failed attempts at higher officer have changed The Almighty One. Now it seems that the city and Mayor Marty are ready to share and in a courageous statement made by Marty's political, uh... police chief, Marty embraced the Guv's idea.

"The mayor would welcome the opportunity, as of course would the Albuquerque Police Department, to work with the governor and the Governor's Office to utilize this excess revenue for traffic awareness and enforcement on a statewide level," Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz said Monday.

- ABQ Tribune

Note the repeat of the phrase "excess revenue," known to the rest of us as profit. The scam has raked in over $5 MILLION in pure profit thus far. Marty has already used part of its largess to balance the city budget and Bill is moving to get his share just like Bill's neighboring gubernatorial colleague and Sandia High School graduate, Janet Napolitano.

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano says the deployment of new photo radar or other speed enforcement technology on state highways is all about public safety. But her proposed state budget counts on the anticipated speeding fines to help erase a projected revenue shortfall.

- Breitbart.com (Hat tip Eye Reader)

We had that AP story emailed to us over the weekend and couldn't believe our Eyes. Governor Napolitano came right out and nearly screamed "it's all about the money!" At least the Arizona Scammer-In-Chief is being honest about her desire to balance the state budget on the backs of scammed drivers. Our own Governor is trying to pass off the state's monetary pursuit as a philanthropic venture benefiting DWI prevention programs.

It's a new twist on a "sin tax." Eventually, we can sell prepaid scam-era indulgences to people who don't drive so well or just want to be careless for a week or two. Perhaps we can encourage participation by giving bulk discounts - buy a pack of ten and get one free. Just think - we'll all be able to sleep better knowing that we've already paid for something that we haven't done yet since we haven't got a chance to prove that we didn't do it in the first place.

In the final analysis, Governor Richardson is doing nothing to address the program's underlying injustices; he's merely providing yet another justification for continuing it. The scam was bad enough already with a mere 20 fixed locations and a couple of scam-vans participating. Just think if the state gets into the act spreading a couple hundred scam-era locations and ten or twenty scam-vans across the state. Public safety? Rrrrright.

Eye Poll: Limit Him!

Folks this special two week Eye Poll was never even close. In our unscientific poll 76% of Eye readers voted for term limits on current Mayor Martin Chavez; only 21% voted to let our current mayor continue after his second consecutive term (view it here).

We're generally in favor of term limits particularly in the case of administrative offices. By necessity and design, mayoral, gubernatorial, and presidential offices concentrate large amounts of power in the hands of one individual. An entrenched executive is not only difficult to remove, but difficult to catch should they decide to stick their hands in the public cookie jar; which brings us to our current Eye Poll.

Trust is an absolute necessity for government to operate effectively. Once the public trust has been violated it's almost impossible for it to be regained. Recently, the Chavez administration has been caught repeatedly fudging numbers in an apparent effort to make the mayor look good. Whether it's the number of cops on the streets, the number of accidents at scam-era intersections, the number of animals available for adoption, or even city greenhouse gas, the 11th floor has been caught giving out favorable statistics only to have them proven wrong.

We're curious what effect these repeated revelations have had on the public and the trust the public has in the current administration. Let us know what you think, don't forget to vote!

Infidelity

Mayor Marty announced that 1,200 jobs would be headed to Mesa del Sol as Fidelity investments agreed to a deal that would bring the jobs to Albuquerque (ABQ Journal - Subscription). So, what's the problem?

Well you see, Marty went and jumped the gun announcing the announcement before the announcement was to be announced. More importantly, it was none other than Big Bill himself that was to make the announcement. Marty's premature uh... revelation violated a written agreement with Fidelity, the county, and the state, drawing Governor Richardson's ire to say the least.

We think this is actually pretty funny. The man who would be governor, then senator, then mayor again, crossed the governor who would be president and now is governor again. Bill's not likely to be in a very good mood after leaving an almost two year campaign trail that ended unsuccessfully, a fact that failed to register with a mayor that can't seem to do anything right of late. The result is bound to be that if Marty wants it - Bill will make sure that he doesn't get it.

Even funnier is that this is the mayor who our Eyes say, is keeping a Washington lobbying job in his hip pocket just in case his elected days are behind him. Maybe he could take some classes in how not to offend the most powerful politician in the state.

Scam-era Contract Shenanigans

We know that you've been waiting for us to GO OFF on today's revelations about the Redflex contract. Frankly, none of this should come as a surprise to anyone. The Almighty Alcalde has been defending this scam from the very beginning like his life depended on it. The only exception being when the scam-eras became a political liability during his recent aborted U.S. Senate run; that's when he formed his task farce.

All things considered, finding out today that the council approved a significantly different contract than the one that was eventually signed wasn't exactly a surprise (ABQ Journal - Subscription). Councilors Winter, Jones, Cadigan, and O'Malley called it a "bait and switch," we call it unethical and potentially illegal. The mayor entered into a contract (which he has the authority to do) that our Eyes tell us never went out to bid and then made significant changes to a contract without informing the council of his actions.

Right now, the mayor is not required to go to bid for any contract that is under about $50,000 (You'd be surprised how many of those are being handed out). This Redflex contract has the potential to bring in MILLIONS of dollars and in essence, was a sole source contract.

Just this past Tuesday night, Councilor Harris threw a TIDD party that drew in a couple of hundred citizens. In addition to the lengthy TIDD presentation, a couple of Redflex representatives made a presentation "explaining" how the red light scam-eras worked. In addition they put on a little scare show that showed what can happen when a driver runs a red light. According to our Eyes the presentation contained enough gore to make the producers of the movie 300 proud, but failed to fully explain how red light scam-eras prevented these gory accidents.

What was more interesting than the Redflex propaganda presentation were a couple of questions asked by Bernalillo County Commissioner Michael Brasher. Apparently, what the commissioner wanted to know was whether or not Redflex had retained the service of a lobbyist and whether or not they had made any contributions to any political office holders. Their answer... "we don't know."

In light of today's bait and switch contract revelations, the commissioner's questions take on particular importance and we have the answer to at least one of those two questions. The Eyes have it that yes - the folks over at Redflex have retained a local lobbyist to protect their interests. Knowing that, it's hard to believe that Redflex didn't throw a few bucks at Marty in at least one of the campaigns he's been involved with over the last few months.

Now listen, it's not illegal to support a politician who supports your point of view. It's also not illegal to obtain the services of a lobbyist. That's the way the system is supposed to work. Our problem is with the very dubious claim of the Redflex folks that they didn't know anything about contributions or lobbyists. It makes things look dirty; which Marty's scam-era contract shenanigans seem to confirm.