http://www.freeabq.com/2017/06/30/keller-to-gt-pac-help/

There are eight (8) candidates running for Mayor of Albuquerque that have been qualified by the Albuquerque City Clerk and who will appear on the Tuesday, October 3, 2017 ballot:

1. Republican Ricardo Chaves, founder of Parking Company of America
2. Democrat Brian Colon, Former Democratic Party Chair and private attorney
3. Independent Michelle Garcia Holmes, retired APD Detective
4. Republican Wayne Johnson, Bernalillo County Commissioner
5. Democrat Timothy Keller, first term State Auditor
6. Republican Dan Lewis, Albuquerque City Councilor
7. Democrat Gus Pedrotty, UNM College Graduate and community activist
8. Democrat Susan Wheeler-Deichel, founder of civic group Urban ABQ

If no candidate gets 50% or more of the vote, a runoff is held between the two top candidates who get the most votes.

I predict it will take $1 million to be successful to make it to the run-off and another $500,000 for the run off.

Any successful candidate will need money to finance their campaigns both in the first election and then for the run-off if they make it to the run off.

Candidates for Mayor and City Council will want help from Measured Finance Committees, especially if they get into a runoff.

BALLOT INITIATIVES

Mayor Berry has vetoed the City Council resolution putting the Healthy Workforce initiative that requires the payment of sick leave on the October 3, 2017 municipal ballot and the City Council will need to hold a special meeting in July to override or enact another resolution to put it on the ballot.

Increasing public financing for Mayor candidates from $380,000 to $640,000 will also be on the October 2, 2017 ballot for voter approval.

PRIVATELY FINANCED CANDIDATES AND CAMPAIGNS

Privately financed municipal candidates have no overall fundraising cap and no overall spending limit.

Privately finance campaigns can raise money from any one, any source and any location, throughout the campaign period all the way to election day.

Under Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, the maximum allowed contribution from any one individual donor or corporation is $5,193 which represents 5% of the Mayor’s salary.

Seven (7) of the eight (8) candidates for Mayor are privately finance candidates.

Following is what has been reported raised from January 15, 2017 to March 31, 2017 by the privately financed candidates:

Ricardo Chavez, Republican, Founder of Parking Company of America – $300,000 (personal campaign loan)

Brian Colon, former State Democratic Party Chairman and attorney – $389,834

Mitchell Garcia Holmes, Independent, retired APD police detective – $ 6,120 cash ($9,900 in kind)

Wayne Johnson, Republican, Bernalillo County Commissioner – $100,876

Dan Lewis, Republican, Albuquerque City Councilor – $100,876 (Not including $90,000 carry over for a total of $190,000)

Augustus “Gus” Pedrotty, University Student – $1,707

Susan Wheeler-Deischel, Independent, founder Urban Albuquerque – $1,583 ($475 in kind)

July 14, 2017 is the next date campaign finance reports must be filed by all candidates and all measured finance committees.

PUBLIC FINANCE CAMPAIGNS

Public financed candidates are required to solicit $5.00 qualifying donations to the city and those donations can only come from registered city voters.

Qualifying public financed candidates for Mayor and City Council are given a single lump sum of money from the city they can use to run their initial campaign and if they make it into a runoff election, they are given a significantly reduced lump sum amount in public financing for the runoff election.

According to the Albuquerque City Charter for the first election, qualifying public financed candidates for Mayor are given $1.00 per registered voter in the city or approximately $380,000 and if the Mayoral candidate makes it into the runoff, they are given an additional 33 cents per registered voter or approximately $127,000 for the run off.

The city charter provides that for the first election, qualifying public finance candidates for City Council are given $1.00 per registered voter in their City Council Districts or approximately $35,000 to $40,000, and if the city council candidate makes it into the runoff, they are given an additional 33 cents per registered voter in their district or approximately $12,000 to $14,000 for the runoff election.

All public finance campaigns and public finance candidates are required to agree to the spending caps in writing and are prohibited from soliciting and asking for any other donations.

Public finance candidates are at a distinct disadvantage to privately financed candidates when it comes to what can be raised and spent.

It is naive to think that any candidate for Mayor or City Council will refuse or denounce any help from a Measure Finance Committee set up to campaign for them and to help get them elected or help them in a runoff election.

Measure Finance Committees can do all the dirty work for a candidate especially in any runoff when the public finance candidate has spent all the campaign money they had to get into the runoff.

TIM KELLER’S MEASURED FINANCE COMMITTEE

Tim Keller is the only candidate for Mayor who has qualified for public financing.

On January 11, 2017 Tim Keller announced he was running for Mayor of Albuquerque.

In his announcement, Tim Keller said “Let’s elect a Mayor without the big money we’ve come to expect in politics. That’s why we are running a community-driven, publicly financed campaign that fits the future of Albuquerque.”

Under Albuquerque’s public finance laws, Tim Keller was required to collect 3,800 qualifying $5 donations and it was a very impressive feat when he collected 6,000 donations and he deserves credit for getting it done while no others succeeded.

Mr. Keller has already been given approximately $380,000 in taxpayer funds by the city for his campaign for Mayor of Albuquerque.

It was very noble and commendable that Mr. Keller would commit public financing to run his campaign and agree to spending caps, but that may not be what is unfolding in his race for Mayor.

Mr. Keller has complained about “big money” in politics and he played the “money ball” game himself just over two years ago when he ran for New Mexico State Auditor and won.

According to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office and campaign finance reports filed, Mr. Keller received contributions of $487,276.66 and had expenditures of $545,372 as a candidate for New Mexico State Auditor, a four-year term he will not finish if elected Mayor of Albuquerque in October.

(See https://www.cfis.state.nm.us/media/CandidateCandidateList.aspx?es=17&fn=Tim&ln=Keller)

According to the City Clerk’ Office, Tim Keller thus far is the only candidate for Mayor who has a measured finance committee formed on his behalf but expect that to change.

Mr. Keller will have the best of all political campaign finance world’s by getting public financing to the tune of $380,000, claiming he is “walking the walk” and running a “grassroots campaign”, while at the same time receiving assistance from a measured finance committee that is chaired by a political consultant who has worked on his past campaigns for the New Mexico State Senate.

Neri Olguin is identified on the City Clerk’s web site as the chairperson for “ABQ FORWARD” whose purpose is “to support Tim Keller’s bid for Mayor”.

Neri Olguin is with “Olguin Campaigns and Communications” and its web site lists as former clients the “2008 Tim Keller for State Senate (Primary)” and “Tim Keller for State Senate District 17 (General, 2012)”.

There is nothing legally that prohibits the Keller for Mayor measured finance committee from soliciting and collecting contributions from those donors who contributed over $480,000 to Keller’s candidacy for New Mexico State Auditor or from those who contributed to Keller’s campaigns for the New Mexico State Senate.

The fact that a measured finance committee has now been set up for Tim Keller significantly increases the likelihood that other measured finance committees will be set up for other candidates especially Republicans Dan Lewis and Wayne Johnson given the Republicans desire to hold onto the Mayor’s office and all the patronage and city contracts that are involved.

THREE 2017 MEASURED FIANCE COMMITTEES THUS FAR

To date, there are three (3) Measure Finance Committees that have registered for the 2017 municipal election:

1. ABQFIREPAC
Purpose: “2017 MUNICIPAL CANDIDATES & PUBLIC SAFETY”
Chairperson: Diego Rincon (President of local Firefighter’s Union)
Treasurer: John Roump
Alternate Contact: Kelly Silvis
NOTE: Diego Rincon is the President of the local Albuquerque Firefighters Union.

2. ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER
Purpose listed: “THIS MFC WAS FORMED TO SUPPORT TIM KELLER’S BID FOR MAYOR OF ALBUQUERQUE”
Chairperson: NERI OLGUIN
Treasurer: MACON MCCROSSEN

3. ALBUQUERQUE COALITION FOR A HEALTHY ECONOMY
Purpose listed: “EDUCATE PUBLIC ON PAID SICK LEAVE ORDINANCE”
Chairperson: Carol M. Wright
Treasurer: Kent L. Cravens

NOTE: Kent L. Cravens is a former Republican State Senator and is a known an opponent of the Healthy Workforce Ordinance mandating the payment of sick leave to employees by employers.

It appears the Albuquerque Coalition for a Healthy Economy is a measured finance committee formed to raise money to oppose the Healthy Workforce ordinance.

A coalition of 27 businesses and business organizations was formed last year to oppose the Healthy Work Force ordinance in court and only time will tell if they donate to the measured finance committee opposing the voter initiative.

Both Republican Dan Lewis and Republican Wayne Johnson oppose the Healthy Workforce ordinance and stand to benefit by their opposition and seek campaign donations from the business coalition opposing the mandatory sick leave ordinance.

Another development to watch is “dark money” being spent by outside organizations to help the various candidates as was the case with Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torres last year when billionaire George Soros spent $110,000 on the race to promote Torrez.

DEFINITION OF A MEASURE FINANCE COMMITTEE

Under the City of Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, a Measure Finance Committee is a political action committee (PAC), person or group that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure within the City of Albuquerque.

Measure Finance Committees are required to register with the City Clerk within five (5) days once they have raised or spent more than $250 towards their purpose.

All Measure Finance Committees must register with the Albuquerque City Clerk, regardless of the group’s registration as a political action committee (PAC) with another governmental entity, county, state or federal.

Measure finance committees must also file financial statements at the same time the candidates running for office report.

There has been only one (1) financial statement disclosure required thus far of the candidates with the next reports due in July 14, 2017.

NO CONTRIBUTION LIMITS FOR MEASURED FINANCE COMMITTEES

Measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates.

However, a Measure Finance Committee that receives aggregate contributions more than 30 percent of the Mayor’s salary from one individual or entity, must incorporate the donor’s name into the name of the committee.

For 2016 measure finance committees, that threshold number was $31,156.32 and will be likely be the same in 2017 because the Mayor’s salary has not changed.

No Measure Finance Committee is supposed to coordinate their activities with the individual candidates running for office, but this is a very gray area as to what constitutes coordination of activities and it is difficult to enforce.

A HIDEOUS THREAT TO 2017 MUNICIPAL ELECTION

The fact that Measure Finance Committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates is what makes them a major threat to warping and influencing our municipal elections and the outcome.

Any Measure Finance Committee can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and can produce negative ads to destroy any candidate’s reputation and candidacy.

Governor Susana Martinez’s PAC headed up by Jay Mc Clusky is the best example of a PAC or Measure Finance Committee influencing an election when it went after former Majority Leader Senator Michael Sanchez in the 2016 state election with a series of negative and sensational ads and spent upwards of $1 million dollars to defeat Senator Michael Sanchez.

It is a possibility that the Governor’s PAC will get involved with this year’s Mayor’s race to assist any one of the three Republican candidates for Mayor who are Dan Lewis, Wayne Johnson or Ricardo Chavez.

CONCLUSION

The influence of big money in elections allowed by the US Supreme Court decision Citizens United is destroying our democracy.

Political campaign fundraising and big money influence are warping our election process.

Money spent becomes equated with the final vote.

Money drives the message, affects voter turnout and ultimately the outcome.

It is disingenuous for any public finance candidate to secure taxpayer money first to run their campaigns, agree in writing to a spending cap, and then have their political operatives or supporters solicit or create a measure finance committee to help them get elected and spend massive amounts of money to give them an unfair advantage in the first election and then the runoff.

Voters need to follow the money and demand to know where the outside money known as “dark money” is coming from for any Measure Finance Committee and find out exactly who is trying to influence the election for the candidates.

Voters need to beware of the candidates and their political consultants who are seeking help from measured finance committees to be fully informed as to who they are indebted to once they have been elected.

Albuquerque municipal elections need campaign finance reform and enforcement, but I doubt we will ever get it in the age of Citizen’s United.

The Albuquerque City Clerk has verified that fourteen (14) candidate have qualified to be on the October 3, 2017 ballot to run for Five (5) City Council seats, which is the majority of the nine (9) person city council.

All the incumbent City Councilors have opposition and the majority of the nine (9) person city council is at stake.

(See June 29, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, Section C, Metro and NM, page C-1, “14 candiates qualify for 5 council seats).

(https://www.abqjournal.com/1025107/five-abq-council-races-draw-14-candidates-by-signature-deadline.html)

Each candidate had to secure 500 signatures from registered voters who live in their City Council District by June 28, 2017.

A number of the City Council candidates also collected the $5 qualifying donations and qualified for public financing.

The office of Mayor will also be on the ballot.

The opportunity to change the majority of City Council seats and the office of the Mayor only comes once every four years.

If no candidate gets 50% of the vote in the respective City Council Districts and the Mayor’s office, a runoff election will be held one month later between the two top vote getters.

Following is a listing of the City Council candidates who qualified to be on the ballot:

City Council District 1:

1. Three term Incumbent Democratic City Councilor Ken Sanchez, accountant. (Secured public financing)
2. Progressive Democrat Javier Benavidez, co-director of Southwest Organizing Project. (Secured public financing)
3. Independent Sandra Mills, Albuquerque native and retired IBM employee. (Private financed)
4. Independent Johnny F. Luevano, retired Marine Captain and Presbyterian Health plan employee. (Private financed).

City Council District 3:

1. First term Incumbent Democrat City Councilor Klarissa Pena (Secured public financing)
2. Democrat Christopher Sedillo, Albuquerque native, retired from navy after 26 years having served as a navy paratrooper and numerous tours of duty in Iraq, Kuwait, Persian Gulf and Viet Nam. (Private financed)

City Council District 5:

1. Republican Robert Aragon, private attorney, NM Board of Finance member. (Private financed)
2. Democrat Cynthia Borrego, retired city planner. (Secured public financing)
4. Independent Catherine Trujillo, provider of workforce placement. (Private financed)

City Council District 7:

1. First term Democrat incumbent Diane Gibson, retired Sandia National Laboratories employee. (Secured public finance)
2. Republican Eric L. Lucero, retired New Mexico Army National Guard and Air Force. (Private financed)

City Council District 9:

1. Three term Republican Incumbent Don Harris, private attorney (Secured public finance)
2. Libertarian Paul Ryan McKenny, Air Force veteran, college student, (Private financed)
3. Democrat Byron K. Powdrell, Albuquerque native and general manager of radio station and Albuquerque native. (Private fianced)

Following are a few issues voters should be thinking about and a few questions the city council candidates should be asked:

APD and CRIME:

1. The Albuquerque City Council plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including approving its budget. As a City Councilor, would you challenge the APD command staff in any meaningful manner and demand compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms? If not, what oversight role do you believe the Albuquerque City Council should play when it come to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD)?
2. What is your position on the APD and the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and mandated reforms?
3. Should the City seek to renegotiate or set aside the terms and conditions of the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) and if so why?
4. The Albuquerque City Council has “advise and consent” authority over the Albuquerque Chief of Police and will be required to approve the new Mayor’s appointment of Police Chief. Should the current APD Chief be replaced? Should City Council authority to give “advice and consent” be extended to the Assistant Chief and Deputy Chiefs?
5. Should a national search be conducted for a new law enforcement management team to assume control of APD and make changes and implement the DOJ consent decree mandated reforms?
6. Should the City Council by ordinance create a Department of Public Safety with the appointment of a Chief Public Safety Officer to assume management and control of the Albuquerque Police Department, the Albuquerque Fire Department, the Emergency Operations Center and the 911 emergency operations call center?
7. Should the function of Internal Affairs be removed from APD and “civilianized” under the City Office of Inspector General, the Internal Audit Department and the City Human Resources Department?
8. What are your plans for increasing APD staffing levels and what should those staffing levels be?
9. Are you in favor of the proposed charter amendment that seeks to add 375 Albuquerque Police Officers at a cost of $16 million dollars a year and that would require the city to have 25 sworn officers for every 11,500 residents and if so, how would you pay for such an increase?
10. Should APD staffing be “work load” based or “population” based?
11. How do you feel the Albuquerque City Council can enhance civilian oversight of APD and the implementation of the Department of Justice mandated reforms?
12. Since 2010, there have been 41 police officer involved shootings and the city has paid out $60 million to settle deadly force and excessive use of force cases, with all settlements negotiated by the City Attorney’s office and the Mayor’s Office . Do you feel the City Council should have representation on the City Risk Management Committee that approves settlements or have ultimate and final authority to approve settlements? Should the City return to a “no settlement” policy involving alleged police misconduct cases and require a trial on the merits or a damages jury trial?
13. What are your plans or solutions to bringing down high property and violent crime rates in your district and Albuquerque and does your plan include community based policing?
14. Should APD personnel or APD resources be used in any manner to enforce federal immigration laws and assist federal immigration authorities?
15. Should the City of Albuquerque consolidate law enforcement and fire services with Bernalillo County and create a single agency under one governing authority?
16. The City of Albuquerque has a vehicle forfeiture program where vehicles are seized by the city when a person is arrested for the second time for DWI, the City secures title to the vehicles and they are sold at auction. Are you in favor of the program or would you order the program stopped?
17. Should the City Council reinstate the “red light camera” program where civil traffic citations are issued to combat and reduce red light violations and intersection traffic accidents?

THE ALBUQUERQUE ECONOMY:

1. What strategy or policies should the Albuquerque City Council implement to bring new industries, corporations and jobs to Albuquerque?
2. Albuquerque’s major growth industries include health care, transportation, manufacturing, retail and tourism with an emerging film industry. What should the City Council do to help or enhance or grow these industries?
3. To what extent should the Albuquerque City Council use tax increment districts, industrial revenue bonds and income bonds to spur Albuquerque’s economy?
5. What financial incentives do you feel the city can or should offer and provide to the private sector to attract new industry and jobs to Albuquerque, and should the Albuquerque City Council implement a policy that includes start-up grants or loans with “claw back” provisions?
6. What sort of private and public partnership agreements or programs should the City Council promote to spur economic development?
7. What sort of major projects or facilities, such as a multi-purposed arena or event center, if any, should the City Council consider to spur economic development?
8. What programs can the City Council implement to better coordinate its economic development with the University of New Mexico and the Community College of New Mexico (CNM) to insure an adequately trained workforce for new employers locating to Albuquerque?
9. Are you in favor of the enactment of a gross receipt tax or property tax dedicated strictly to economic development, programs or construction projects to revitalize Albuquerque that would be enacted by the City Council or be voter approved?
11. What programs can the Albuquerque City Council enact to implement to insure better cooperation with Sandia Labs and the transfer of technology information for economic development?

CITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT:

1. What is your position on the two-year rewrite of the City’s comprehensive plan known as ABC-Z project which is an attempt to bring “clarity and predictability” to the development regulations and to attract more “private sector investment”?
2. What do you feel the Albuquerque City Council can do to promote “infill development” and would it include the City acquiring property to be sold to developers and the formation of public/private partnerships?
3. What do you feel the City Council can do to address vacant residential and commercial properties that have been declared “substandard” by city zoning and unfit for occupancy?
4. Should the City of Albuquerque seek the repeal by the New Mexico legislature of laws that prohibits City and City Council resolutions annexation of property without county approval?
5. What is your position on the Santolina development project on the West side and should it be annex by the City through City Council resolution to provide utility services?
6. What is your position on City and County consolidation for all government services, including zoning and development?

EDUCATION:

1. Should the City of Albuquerque have representation or be included on the Albuquerque School board, the University of New Mexico Board of Regents and the Community College of New Mexico Board?
2. What should the City do to help reduce high school dropout rates?
3. Should the City of Albuquerque advocate to the New Mexico legislature increasing funding for early child care development programs and intervention programs with increased funding from the permanent fund?
4. What education resources should or can the City make available to the Albuquerque school system?

POVERTY AND THE HOMELESS:

1. What should be done to reduce the homeless population in Albuquerque or your District?
2. What services should the City provide to the homeless and the poor if any?
3. Should the City continue to support the “coming home” program?
4. Should the city be more involved with the county in providing mental health care facilities and programs?

PROJECT PLANNING AND FUNDING:

1. The Albuquerque Rapid Transit Project (ART) is a $129 million-dollar project including $69 million Federal Transportation (FTA) grant that has yet to be approved by congress. Should ART project be completed?
2. If the total $69 million ART grant is not approved by congress, where do you propose the money should come from for any shortfall, the general fund, revenue bonds or a tax increase?
3. Are you in favor of increasing the city’s current gross receipts tax or property taxes to pay for essential services and make up for lost gross receipt tax revenues caused in part by the repeal of the “hold harmless” provision and that has mandated budget and personnel cuts during the last 7 years?
4. Do you feel that all increases in gross receipts taxes should be voter approved?
5. Are you in favor of diverting any funding from the Bio Park tax enacted by city voters that will generate $250 million for other services or projects not associated with the Bio Park?
6. The City Council has approved over $63 million dollars over the past two years to build “pickle ball” courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing voters and using revenue bonds as the financing mechanism to pay for big capital projects. Do you feel revenue bonds is an appropriate funding mechanism for large capital improvement projects?

ANIMAL WELFARE
1. Are you in favor of replacing the current Director of the Animal Welfare Department?
2. What is your position on the City’s “catch and release” program for feral cat’s that upon being caught by the city’s Animal Welfare Department, they are spade or neutered and then released?
3. What would you do to promote dog and cat adoptions or should the city euthanize all animals after a thirty (30) day hold?
4. What is your familiarity with the HEART ordinance and do you feel it is too restrictive and should it be amended or repealed?

BALLOT INITIATIVES:

1. What is your position on the mandatory sick leave initiative known as the “Healthy Workforce” ordinance mandating private businesses to pay sick leave to employees and that will appear on the October 3, 2017 ballot?’
2. Should the City Council by resolution instruct the City Attorney’s office enforce the increase in the minimum wage enacted by voters?
3. Should the City Council by resolution instruct the City Attorney’s office to enforce the mandatory sick leave initiative if it is enacted by city voters?
4. Are you in favor of increasing public financing for Mayoral and City Council candidates or should Albuquerque’s public finance laws be repealed by the City Council?
5. Do you feel changes to the city public finance laws should be made expanding the time frame to collect contributions and making it easier for candidates for Mayor and City Council to qualify for public finance?
6. Do you intend to ask for or rely upon your political party affiliation to promote your candidacy for City Council?
7. Should major capital improvement projects such as the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project (ART), be placed on the ballot for voter approval and should there be a specified amount before a public vote is required?
8. What is your position on the ART Bus project and should it be stopped or scaled back if Congress does not fund the $69 million federal grant?
9. Should Albuquerque become a “sanctuary city” by City Council resolution?
10. Should the issue of Albuquerque becoming a “sanctuary city” be placed on the ballot for voter approval?
11. All municipal elections in the State of New Mexico are supposed to be none partisan. Notwithstanding, should the City Clerk be required to disclose party affiliation of candidates running for municipal office on the ballot?
12. Is it your intent to endorse any one of the candidates for Mayor and if so who?

CONCLUSION

Four years ago, only 19% of all eligible voters voted in the municipal election.

Each City Council District has approximately 75,000 residents.

Historically, only 2,000 to 4,000 votes are cast in each City Council District.

Each vote can and does make a difference.

Voters should demand and expect more from candidates than fake smiles, slick campaign flyers, and no solutions and no ideas.

Our City needs more than promises of better economic times and lower crime rates for Albuquerque.

Voters need to demand answers and find out what candidates really stand for and what they intend to do once elected.

Unless you vote, real change can never occur and if you do not vote you have no business complaining about the condition of our city.

Please vote and get involved.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/06/28/abq-insanity-berry-to-get-public-safety-award/

This is one of the strongest editorial comments that I have seen in many years from any news agency.

The article was written by ALB Free Press editor Dennis Domrzalski.

Dennis has 40+ years’ experience covering and writing stories about Albuquerque City Hall and the Albuquerque business community and he knows both like the back of his hand.

His discussion of what has been going on in this city with the elected officials and the business community for so many years is on the mark, especially when it comes to groups like NAIOP and the Economic Forum.

Following are portions of the article that are particularly powerful:

“Only in Albuquerque are public officials who are total incompetents and failures feted with dinners and awards.

And that’s why Albuquerque has always been, and will always be, an economic and social backwater, a place of self-and-rigidly-imposed mediocrity.

It’s no coincidence that Cole is giving a failed mayor an award. Cole and her organization, and pretty much every other business and political group, are part of a small clique of people who have run this town for decades. Their faces and names never change.

In the 40 years that this clique has run things, nothing has changed. Albuquerque is still the backwater that it was 40 years ago. Clique members have had no new ideas in decades and they have presided over a colossal effort in mediocrity. And they have always given each other awards.
…
That’s how the system works. Members of the clique, no matter how awful and mediocre they are, give each other awards. The media sheepishly report on these awards as if they’re legitimate and never ask why the same people keep giving and getting awards from each other.

Who’s in the clique?

Big developers, construction company CEO’s, architects, engineers, bankers, consultants and everyone else who lives off city and government contracts. They are, in short, the NAIOP crowd, and their world is, in many ways, light years away from the rest of ours.

They live in gated communities and hire private security firms to patrol their neighborhoods. And if they have Police Chief Gordon Eden’s private cell phone number, they’ll get a cop to immediately show up when their car is burglarized, all while more serious calls from the rest of us are backing up because there aren’t enough cops to get to them.

Like Albuquerque, the clique is small. Its members depend on one another for jobs and government contracts. That’s why you never hear any of these people criticizing each other, or city councilors or mayors. If they do, they’ll lose their contracts and won’t get any more.

So they keep their mouths shut and gleefully go along with the mediocrity and failure in the hopes that they too will get some dumb and worthless award.

The clique has been in control for more than 40 years and they have failed, and failed completely. They will stay in control and keep giving each other awards unless the rest of us change things.”

At the end of his column, Dennis calls upon every Albuquerque resident who has been the victim of crime during the last eight years that Berry has been mayor should show up at 5 p.m. Thursday, June 29, at the award ceremony at the Albuquerque Museum and tell Berry and Chamber of Commerce President Terri Cole exactly what they think of the job Berry has done making Albuquerque the crime capital of America and whether he deserves the “Excellence in Public Safety Award”.

Knowing how Berry literally runs and hides from controversy, I would not be surprised if Berry did not show up to get his award once he sees a crowd of protesters.

The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce (GACC) has announced in a press release it will present Mayor RJ Berry with an “Award for Excellence in Public Safety”.

(http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayor-richard-berry-crime-public-safety-award-commerce-chamber/4527228/?cat=500)

The award is one of many awards given out yearly to business and civic leaders by the GACC.

The Chamber claims Mayor Berry is entitled to the award for three main reasons:

1. Because he secured funding for a government innovation program to “study” approaches to curbing crime,
2. Berry announced a program with law enforcement agencies to coordinate efforts to prosecute repeat offenders, and
3. Berry advocated “double dipping” to allow retired police officers to return to work and get paid their salaries and retirement pay.

The GACC giving the award to Berry is an insult to the voters of Albuquerque and to its membership struggling and contending with high violent and property crime rates.

The GACC is giving Berry and award for trying to solve the very problems he has been instrumental in creating.

Among the problems Mayor Berry needs to be held accountable for include the dramatic increases in our crime rates and the destruction of one of the finest police departments in country from gross mismanagement.

Only in the corporate world are awards such as a golden parachute are given to someone for absolute failure.

Mayor Berry’s Public Safety record for the last eight (8) years has been nothing but a total failure and in no way deserving of any public safety award for excellence.

For eight (8) years, Mayor Berry has done nothing about the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) spiraling out of control, the tremendous decline in the number of sworn police officers and our rising crime rates.

DECLINE OF APD UNDER MAYOR BERRY

Eight (8) years ago when Berry took office, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) was the best trained, best equipped, best funded department in its history and was fully staffed with 1,100 sworn police officers.

In 2009 when Berry took office, APD response times had been brought down below the national average and violent and property crime rates in Albuquerque were hitting historical lows.

Today in 2017, response times are at historical highs with calls to APD taking hours instead of minutes to respond threatening public safety.

In eight (8) years, APD went from 1,100 sworn police to 853 sworn police all under the public safety leadership of Mayor Berry and his appointed police chiefs.

The first year he was in office, Berry made numerous mistakes that started the Albuquerque Police Department in the downward spiral it has yet to recover from and problems it will take years to correct.

The first major mistake Berry made with APD was the appointment of political Republican operative Darren White as Chief Public Safety Officer who implemented policies that had a disastrous effect on moral and APD recruitment.

White wound up resigning under pressure after 16 months in office when he showed up to a traffic accident investigation involving his wife and was accused of interfering with the investigation.

The first year of Berry Administration, Mayor Berry abolished the longevity program that kept experienced police officers from retiring, unilaterally decided not to pay a 5% negotiated pay raise, abolished the APD take home car policy, eliminated sign on bonuses and mortgage down payments for new recruits and implemented a college education requirement for new recruits but did not pay college wages.

Moral within APD plummeted and the mass exodus of experienced police officers began with Berry’s gross mismanagement of APD.

After four years of losing experienced officers because of his policies and because the police academy could not keep up with retirements, Mayor Berry began his efforts to advocate the New Mexico legislature to reinstate “double dipping” to allow retired police officers to return to work and get paid their salaries and retirement pay.

In 2017, APD is funded for 1,000 sworn officers but has only 853 sworn police officers.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard.

In 2017, APD has 853 sworn police with 436 are assigned to field services and 417 sworn police officers assigned to the various specialized felony units and command staff.

Given the volume of felony arrests and cases, APD is severely understaffed to complete felony investigations.

Over the last eight (8) years, Mayor Berry has been very hands off with APD and allowed his appointed Chief’s to destroy one of the finest police departments in the country.

For close to four (4) years, Berry retained APD Chief Ray Schultz, first under the supervision of political operative Darren White who had no problem keeping Schultz as Chief.

Berry allowed Schultz to mismanage APD without civilian supervision and Schultz engaged in questionable management tactics against rank and file police officers and at one time Shultz labeled sexual misconduct within the department as “nature at play” without Berry voicing any objections.

Schultz left APD in 2013 but only after negotiating a million-dollar plus city contract with TAZER International a contract Schultz said had been “greased”.

Schultz later went to work for TAZER within less than a year after leaving the city.

The legality of the city TAZER contract is still being reviewed by the New Mexico Attorney General.

In 2013 after proclaiming the city conducted a “national search” for a police chief, Berry selected and appointed political operative Gordon Eden as APD Chief who had no prior experience managing a municipal police department.

During the last eight (8) years, there have been over 40 police officer involved shootings resulting in 38 deaths with over $61 million dollars in paid in settlements for police misconduct and excessive use of force cases.

Mayor Berry has done next to nothing about APD gross mismanagement, not even when the Department of Justice (DOJ) found a “culture of aggression” that lead to a federal consent decree and mandated reforms.

Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD to the Federal Court, Berry has essentially remained silent and declined to demand accountability from Chief Gordon Eden and the APD command staff and hold them responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms.

CRIME RATES UNDER MAYOR BERRY

Violent and property crime rates in Albuquerque are at historical highs under Mayor Richard Berry.

Albuquerque Police Department (APD) statistics reveal the total number of violent crimes in Albuquerque increased steadily and went from 4,291 in 2010 to 5,409 in 2015.

According to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, from 2009 to 2015, Albuquerque’s violent crime rates increased by 21.5%.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reports that in the last eight (8) years, Albuquerque has become the is fifth-most violent city in the country on a per capita basis while the nation’s violent crime rate dropped by 13.7%.

In 2009, when Berry ran for office the first time, he made auto thefts a corner stone issue in the Mayor’s race by doing a commercial standing next to his burned out stolen truck and vowing that he could do better as Mayor and make Albuquerque the worse place to be a criminal.

Eight (8) years later, Albuquerque has become number one in the nation for auto thefts.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest Hot Spots report shows Albuquerque and of Bernalillo County as the worst place in the nation when it comes to auto theft per capita.

In 2016 more than 10,000 vehicles were stolen in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County or more than 27 vehicles a day.

According APD statistics, the total number of property crimes in Albuquerque has steadily increased each year during the last six (6) years going from 26,493 crimes in 2010 to 34,082 in 2015.

GACC AWARD CONTRADICTS ITS OWN FEARS

The Chamber’s “Award of Excellence in Public Safety” to Berry taints and destroys the Chambers credibility.

The Chambers award comes just days after high tech firm “Lavu” sent the city a letter that it is “fed up” with downtown Albuquerque crime and that it is contemplating moving out of downtown and out of the state unless city hall and APD does something about the crime in downtown.

(See June 24, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1 “The firm fed up with ABQ crime; Lavu mulls move as Downtown safety declines”)

The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce (GACC) has its offices just around the block from Lavu.

The President and CEO of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Terri Cole told the Journal that the chamber is also very concerned about crime in Downtown Albuquerque.

Cole said the crime problems in the area became so serious that seven months ago the chamber asked its landlord to secure their front door.

Visitors to the Chamber must now announce themselves through an intercom system so they can be buzzed in and allowed access to the Chambers offices.

No one can take the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce “Award of Excellence in Public Safety” to Berry serious given the Chambers own fears of crime in the downtown area.

CONCLUSION

The GACC giving an “Excellence in Public Safety Award” to RJ Berry is like giving an “Award of Excellence in Security Investments” to convicted Ponzi scheme felon Bernie Madoff who is serving a lifetime sentence for stealing billions from people who trusted him with their lifetime savings.

Berry was entrusted with protecting the public safety but instead has destroyed and robbed the city of one of the finest police departments in the country endangering public safety.

Rather than accepting an award that he does not in any way deserve, Berry should do the right thing and thank the Chamber for supporting him without any question for eight (8) years and ask the Chamber to not make the award to anyone given Albuquerque’s high crime rates.

The next thing you can expect is Berry to award the Chamber the “Excellence in Economic Development” award for all those jobs and corporations it has not brought to Albuquerque.

You can tell the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce what you think by calling their number (505) 764 3700, but don’t go there in person because the front doors are locked because crime is so bad downtown.

You can also tweet the Chambers President at @TerriCole3.

The Albuquerque Journal and other news outlets are reporting that Nob Hill merchants are downright angry that it was promised that the Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) project would be completed in time and would have no effect on the Route 66 Summerfest in the Nob Hill business district.

(See June 26, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1, “SUMMER FIASCO; Merchants say ART planners broke promise to finish work in time for Route 66 festival, but city says no such guarantee was made” and https://www.abqjournal.com/1023585/art-will-cut-businesses-off-from-summerfest.html)

Nob Hill merchants contend they were promised in a meeting last year with City Hall that Summerfest would not be disrupted and the city is denying it ever made such a promise.

During the past seven years, Summerfest has been celebrated on Central from Girard to Washington and has attracted upwards of 40,000 attendees boosting Nob Hill.

The City made the decision to severely reduce the area of Summerfest by bypassing Nob Hill from Carlisle to Washington.

The City got downright sneaky when it issued a press release on May 25 with the headline “ART Construction in Nob Hill to finish in time for Route 66 Summerfest” saying Summerfest would take place on Central between Girard and Carlisle but failed to disclose that eight (8) blocks of Nob Hill would be left out of this year’s Summerfest.

The entire ART Bus project has been built on promises and lies to the public by Mayor Berry, his administration and the Albuquerque City Council.

Let’s count a few of the lies:

1st lie: The Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) grant application for the project that said it will not be a controversial project and it has wide public support; Strong opposition occurred at five (5) public hearings with heated angry citizens.

2nd lie: There is no need for an environmental impact study; Businesses and citizens went to federal court and argued that such studies were indeed needed and required but the court said the requirement was waived by the FTA.

3rd lie: ART will not put people out of business nor affect businesses; Over 250 business say otherwise and many have lost as much as 25% to 50% of their business with others closing.

4th lie: ART will not reduce off street parking; There will be as many as 350 fewer parking spaces up central.

5th lie: ART will not ruin historic Route 66; It already has and it will with the canopy bus stop design.

6th lie: The canopy bus stop design conforms with historical areas of central; The City’s Landmarks Commission asked for a new design.

7th lie: ART will not impact traffic; The city admitted in a public forum the project has a 19-year shelf life and that sooner rather than later the bus stops in the middle of central will have to be removed and traffic lanes will have to be rededicated to accommodate projected increases in traffic along central.

8th lie: ART will not impact emergency services; There is only one lane of traffic in each direction with no left turn lanes that will impair emergency services such as ambulance and police emergency calls.

9th lie: ART will cost only $129 million dollars; At least $7 million in hidden sewer line replacement and relocation costs have been incurred.

10th lie: There will be loans or grants to help businesses starting March 1, 2017; After much delay, the loan program was finally implemented on April 21, 2017 with many businesses unable to qualify and businesses already closed that needed the money.

11th lie: Construction will not start until after December 2016; The city started to tear up the streets and relocate water lines in September 2016.

12th lie: Sidewalks will be widened for pedestrian traffic; Simply not true per the March 13, 2017 Albuquerque Journal article, page A-1 “ART ATTACK; Transit project failing to deliver on promises, business owner’s say”).

13th lie: The buses are always full now; Most people and businesses along Central report the buses are empty most of the time and bus usage is actually declining.

14th lie: The ART bus project will be used by millennials; ART only affects a 9 mile stretch of Central and millennials use their own vehicles to go to work all over the city and not just up and down Central.

15th lie: This is the Mayor’s project and there is nothing the city council can do to stop the project; The City Council could have voted not to fund the project and has funded the construction of the project with at least $13 million in revenue bonds.

16th lie: There is no need to put the project to a public vote; Albuquerque historically has always put major capital improvement projects such as ART to a public vote.

17th lie: Congress will approve the $69 million-dollar grant; Congressional committees have cut $20 million dollars from the grant with no guarantee that it will be made up in next year’s budget resulting in Albuquerque having to identify additional funding sources to make up for the shortfall.

18th lie: The $129 million-dollar project will have long term economic development benefits and will create jobs; The project is nothing more than a single construction project that only benefits the construction industry for a short term of a year.

19th lie: The project has already generated millions in economic development; The Berry Administration is taking credit for millions of dollars of construction projects that were permitted and planned long before the ART Bus project saying the new construction is because of ART.

20th greatest lie: Mayor Berry proclaims the project is a “world class” transportation project; ART is a cheesy nine mile, $129 million bus route. A world class transportation project costs billions of dollars like Denver’s and Phoenix’s light rail systems.

Stay tuned for more lies from the City Hall Liar’s Club.

CONCLUSION:

Municipal Election day is October 3, 2017 when we will be electing a new Mayor and five (5) city councilors.

Early voting is to start in mid-September.

Voters need to remember all three (3) city councilors who are up for re-election and who carried Mayor Berry’s water on the ART Bus project namely Diane Gibson, Ken Sanchez, Don Harris.

Gibson, Sanchez and Harris need to be voted out of office and held accountable for the arrogance they have exhibited with the ART Bus project and the destruction of Route 66.

Congressional candidate Pat Davis also supported ART to the determent of his own constituents in Nob Hill.

On Friday, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torres presented his written report to the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council blaming the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Case Management Order (CMO) for Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates, the higher percentage of cases going to trial and “gamesmanship” by defense attorneys.

It took just two (2) days for the Albuquerque Journal to agree with Torrez and unload on our criminal justice system blaming the courts and the Case Management Order for our increasing crime rates.

The Journal editorial did not hold responsible the Berry Administration, the Albuquerque Police Department nor the District Attorney’s Office as major contributors to our out of control crime rates.

(https://www.abqjournal.com/1023255/change-in-court-procedure-needed-to-cut-case-dismissals-and-stem-abqs-crime-wave.html)

The Albuquerque Journal has adopted President Trump’s, Mayor Berry’s and Chief Gordon Eden’s tactic of blaming our courts with all that is wrong with our criminal justice system.

The Journal essentially used Raul Torrez’ report as a new spear head to provide another assault on our courts that has been undertaken by Mayor Richard Berry, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and Chief Gordon Eden.

Torrez in his report says the rule’s application has been “arbitrary, unpredictable, and unjust, all at the expense of the State and Public”, arguments strongly disputed by the defense bar and the criminal justice Coordinating Council which helped draft the Case Management Order.

The Case Management Order (CMO) was issued by the New Mexico Supreme Court in February 2015 to eliminate the unacceptable backlog of criminal trials and sets deadlines for criminal prosecutions to ensure speedier trials for defendants and to deal with an overcrowded jail system and the CMO complies with well-established rules of criminal procedure.

By all accounts, the CMO is working and jail crowding is under control.

The CMO was necessitated by the fact that so many defendants were awaiting arraignments or trials and being held in the Bernalillo County Detention Center for months, and at times years, to the point that the jail was becoming severely overcrowded exceeding its capacity of approximately 2,200 inmates.

For decades, the jail has been the subject of a class action federal lawsuit for overcrowding.

The Sunday Albuquerque Journal editorial threw in for good measure colored photographs of Torres and CAO Rob Perry to accompany their bold print editorial headline “Cleanup time” and “Change in court procedure needed to cut case dismissals and stem ABQ’s crime wave”.

Perry was quoted as saying with bravado concern “Almost every night there’s a tragedy in this city, and it has absolutely eaten away at the quality of life, the economic vitality and what it means to live for the future in Albuquerque. I don’t think we have the luxury of getting into technical debates about this. We’ve got some bad hombres out there.”

The Albuquerque Journal editorial also quoted a letter from the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce supporting Torrez’s recommendations which said, “Albuquerque is a special place with many strengths, but it must also be a safe place for businesses and families if we are to compete for jobs.”

TORREZ’S ACTIONS CAN BE EXPLAINED

There should be no surprise with Torrez expressing frustration with rising crime rates seeing as when he ran for District Attorney he said our criminal justice system in Albuquerque is in dire need of change and he was the guy to get it done.

The fact that Torrez has been in office less than six months means he can be afforded some credit for trying to do something and trying to keep his campaign promises.

However, Torres blaming the Case Management Order for the increase in crime rates is “political gamesmanship” in and of itself and obvious effort to avoid being held accountable for his office’s future failures in dealing with our soaring crime rates.

A deficiency that has not been reported by the press is that the District Attorney’s Office is fully funded for 110 prosecutors but the office is down by approximately 10 positions which Torrez is having a tough time filling.

Torrez complains about the CMO order, but he is the one that abolished the grand jury bureau in the District Attorney’s office that screened felony cases for deficiencies and that was responsible for indicting cases for assignment to prosecutors.

The Priority Repeat Offender Program, which prosecuted career criminals to secure enhanced sentences was also disbanded by the District Attorney’s Office.

Soon after Torrez took office, he hired two (2) highly experienced special prosecutors on contract to review the backlog of some 40 plus police officer involved shootings to determine if charges should be brought against officers.

After six months of being paid, the special prosecutors have not announced anything about clearing up the backlog of officer involved shootings or if charges will be brought.

PERRY’S BRAVADO IS POLITICAL GAMESMANSHIP

What is so disgusting is the real gamesmanship of Rob Perry’s and the Chamber of Commerce trying to lay blame on our court’s for Albuquerque’s increased crime rates.

Rob Perry has been around for the last eight (8) years as Berry’s enforcer and right-hand administrator and has played a key role in the mismanagement of APD.

As Chief Administrative Officer, Rob Perry plays a crucial oversight role of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) including budget oversight.

Perry is the highest paid city employees and paid $198,000 a year base salary.

It was Rob Perry that proclaimed the city conducted a “national search” for a police chief which wounded up with the selection of political operative Gordon Eden who has no prior experience managing a municipal police department.

Rob Perry has done nothing when it comes to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) reforms and has never challenged the APD command staff in any meaningful way demanding compliance with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Each time the Federal Monitor has presented his critical reports of APD, Rob Perry has been silent, has been nowhere to be found, and has declined to demand accountability from the APD command staff responsible for dragging their feet on the reforms.

For eight (8) years, Perry has done nothing about APD spiraling out of control, the tremendous decline in the number of sworn police officers and our rising crime rates.

FELONY VIOLENT CRIME STATISTICS

According to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) statistics, the total number of violent crimes in Albuquerque dipped two years and then steadily increased as follows:

2010 – 4,291
2011 – 4,207
2012 – 4,151
2013 – 4,323
2014 – 4,934
2015 – 5,409

According to the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office, from 2009 to 2015, Albuquerque’s violent crime rate increased by 21.5%.

Murders spiked in Albuquerque by over 50% from 30 murders in 2014 to 46 murders in 2015.

According to Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) statistics, in the last eight (8) years, Albuquerque has become the is fifth-most violent city in the country on a per capita basis while the nation’s violent crime rate dropped by 13.7%.

FELONY PROPERTY CRIME STATISTICS

Albuquerque has become number one in the nation for auto thefts.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau’s latest Hot Spots report shows Albuquerque and of Bernalillo County as the worst place in the nation when it comes to auto theft per capita.

In 2016 more than 10,000 vehicles were stolen in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County or more than 27 vehicles a day.

According to Albuquerque Police Department (APD) statistics, the total number of property crimes in Albuquerque has steadily increased each year during the last six (6) years as follows:

2010 – 26,493
2011 – 28,109
2012 – 29,804
2013 – 30,614
2014 – 30,523
2015 – 34,082

In 2015, APD made 9,049 felony arrests, 22,639 misdemeanor arrests, 2,213 DWI arrests, and 2,552 domestic violence arrests.

In 2016, APD made 8,744 felony arrests, 19,857 misdemeanor arrests, 1,070 DWI arrests, and 2,462 domestic violence arrests.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard. (Source: 2017-2018 City of Albuquerque Proposed budget)

FAILURE TO PROSECUTE MISDEMEANOR CASES PART OF CRIME WAIVE

The Bernalillo Count District Attorney Office has a misdemeanor division with approximately 25 Assistant District Attorney’s assigned to the division who are responsible for prosecuting cases that mandate a court record.

In 2009, there were 746 people arraigned for felony DWI and that number dropped to a mere 104 in 2015.

In 2008, there were 6,538 people arraigned for misdemeanor DWI and in 2015 that number dropped by close to 60% to 2,942.

In 2010, the APD traffic unit had more than 34 officers and today there are less than 12.

There is a direct correlation with the dramatic decline in the number of DWI arrests and arraignments and traffic arrangement cases and the severe decline in APD personnel.

The silence by the press and anti-DWI advocates is deafening given the serious drop in DWI arraignments and convictions, as is the silence from the District Attorney.

APD SWORN POLICE DEFICIENCY

Eight (8) years ago, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) was the best trained, best equipped, best funded department in its history and fully staffed with 1,100 sworn police officers.

In 2010 , APD response times had been brought down below the national average and crime rates were hitting historical lows.

In eight (8) years, APD went from 1,100 sworn police to 853 sworn police all under the watchful eye of Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and Mayor Berry.

From 2010 to 2014, the city council fully funded 1,100 positions despite the mass exodus of sworn police and the APD Police Academy’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements.

Three years ago, the City Council voted to reduce funding from 1,100 sworn officers to 1,000 sworn officers because of the Berry Administration’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements
.
In 2017, response times are at historical highs with calls to APD taking hours instead of minutes to respond threatening public safety.

In 2017, APD is funded for 1,000 sworn officers but has only 853 sworn police officers.

In 2016, field service officers responded to 546,550 calls for service with a priority 1 response time of 11 minutes, 35 seconds which is approximately two minutes over the national standard.

Of the 853 sworn police 436 are assigned to field services, resulting in 417 sworn police officers assigned to the various specialized felony units and command staff.

Given the volume of felony arrest and cases, APD is severely understaffed to complete felony investigations.

A December 11, 2015 Albuquerque Police Department Comprehensive Staffing Assessment and Resource Study concluded that APD needs at least 1,000 sworn officers.

THE DA’S OFFICE CANNOT PROSECUTE WITHOUT A COMPLETED CASE

A successful criminal felony prosecution by the District Attorney is only as good as the weakest link in the criminal investigation.

When it comes to felony prosecutions, final law enforcement reports, called supplemental offense reports, are prepared containing a narrative of the case, the investigation of the facts of the case, witness statements, an inventory of all the evidence gathered, forensic reports and anything related and needed for a prosecution, and only when the case is complete should it be turned over to the District Attorney,

When the Bernalillo County District Attorney brings charges either by criminal complaint or felony indictment by grand jury, there should be little need for extensive follow up and gathering of evidence.

If the criminal investigation or the evidence gathering has not been completed by law enforcement, then its law enforcement that must complete their work and not leave the work to the District Attorney.

Once a case is charged, if law enforcement has done its job properly investigating a case, the District Attorney should not have any problem adhering to discovery demands and deadlines of the CMO.

APD is so short staffed that the felony divisions including the violent crimes, property crimes and narcotics divisions, cannot keep up with the caseloads and finish the cases and submit completed supplemental offense reports, including the required evidence gathering to the District Attorney.

The best example of APD’s sworn personnel crisis is the auto theft unit which has only 4 detectives each having over 1,000 open cases, yet Albuquerque is number one in the nation per capita for auto theft.

Other examples of the sworn personnel crisis include the fact that APD no longer assigns a liaison officer to the District Attorney’s office to follow up with retrieving discovery to turn over to defense counsel and APD no longer transcribes interviews they take and forces the DA offices to do it.

CONCLUSION

The truth is Albuquerque’s severe rising crime rates have been in the making for the last eight (8) years.

Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates have very little to do with the Supermen Court’s Case Management Order implemented in 2015 and the yearly statistics bear this out.

Albuquerque’s increasing crimes rates have a lot to do with the fact that APD is so severely understaffed it cannot complete felony investigations and get the cases over to the District Attorney for successful prosecution.