On Friday, September 14, 2017, KOB Channel 4 sponsored a two hour, prime time forum between all eight of the candidates for Mayor.

The format was billed as a “town hall” with questions asked exclusively by registered voters from various locations in the city and the format was a success.

Keeping in line with recent KOB news reports and the stations concentration on the City of Albuquerque’s high crime rates, the town hall was devoted exclusively to the Albuquerque Police Department, the candidate’s platforms on crime and the Department of Justice mandated reforms.

All the candidates agree that APD staffing needs to be increased, that there needs to be a return to community based policing and the big challenge will be the Department of Justice (DOJ)reforms.

Only Wayne Johnson expressed opposition to the DOJ reforms saying that they interfere with the police from doing their jobs when in fact police shootings are down and the entire department has been trained in crisis intervention.

Wayne Johnson reminded me of the Mayor in the TV sitcom Spin City starring Michael J. Fox where the actor looked like a Mayor but who was totally clueless especially when Johnson said “crime is caused by criminals, not guns” or words to the affect.

The speaking styles of each of the candidates came out very clearly.

Brian Colon and Gus Pedrotty showed far more passion and a strong desire to be Mayor, they showed extensive knowledge of the APD and our crime rates and proposed solutions solutions.

Tim Keller and Dan Lewis were more measured with their responses and tended to use many of the same talking points that I have heard at so many other forums before but they did offer viable solutions to bring down crime rates and both advocated increasing the number of police officers on the street and a return to community based policing.

Wane Johnson and Michell Garcia Holmes both emphasized their past experiences at the positions they have held over the years, with Garcia Holmes emphasizing her work as a former police detective and Wayne Johnson talking about his work on the County Commission.

Susan Wheeler Diechel and Recardo Chaves seemed totally out of their element when talking about crime, which was to be expected given their backgrounds.

Ms. Wheeler Diechel went out of her way to say how much she agreed with Brian Colon and Gus Pedrotty as if adopting their platforms.

Mr. Chaves continued to have a difficult time speaking in front of an audience and expressing himself, but that was more of a reflection of being nervous, not a public speaker and a businessman all of his life.

Their love and commitment to the city by both Susan Wheeler Deichel and Ricardo Chaves came through as well as a desire to do a good job.

All the candidates performed well, gave succinct answers to the questions posed and there were no major gaffs that would jeopardize or damage their campaigns.

I was delighted to see Brian Colon and Wayne Johnson give kudos and encouragement to Gus Pedrotty acknowledging that he has indeed brought something to the table with his ideas.

After watching the two hour forum, I began writing my satirical article on the candidates entitled “Care For Some Cheese, My Precious? Then Meet Me In The Parking Lot!” and it can be read on my blog here: https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/09/16/care-for-some-cheese-my-precious-then-meet-me-in-the-parking-lot/

ANNOYING ETHICS COMPLAINTS

The Republican Party of New Mexico and Republican candidate for Mayor Wayne Johnson filed complaints with the Board of Elections and Campaign Practices challenging the cash “in-kind” donations received by Tim Keller as being a violation of the public finance laws prohibiting Mr. Keller from soliciting any further cash donations after accepting public financing.

At the heart of the allegations are that Tim Keller’s political consultants or manager solicited cash donations from donors and then reported those cash donations as “in kind” donations for goods and service to the campaign.

The truth is that there is no specific rule or regulation that prohibits the solicitation of cash as was done and then listing the cash donations as “in-kind donation” but such solicitation by a public finance candidate at the very least looks bad, gives the appearance of impropriety and undermines the spirit and intent of the public finance laws.

Republican County Commissioner Wayne Johnson was also on the receiving end of ethics charges relating to his fundraising activities, but the charges were filed with the county ethics board and not the City.

At the heart of the charges are that Wayne Johnson solicited donations for his Mayoral race from people who do business with Bernalillo County.

Ethics complaints usually never get as much traction in the races as people may think and are followed mostly by political insiders.

Voters tend to view them skeptically as part of the process and par for the course.

Ethics complaints usually cause little press except for when filed and then when ruled upon giving bragging rights to the party that prevails.

What the complaints do is become a real nuisance to distract candidate’s attention and take up lots of time and at times money to respond to the allegations.

The outcomes are usually fines, with nothing more happening, except the anxiety it causes candidates.

CONCLUSION

From a historical standpoint, municipal elections are very low voter turnout.

The reliable municipal voters tend to be 50 years and older and conservative.

Four years ago, only 19% of eligible voters voted in the lowest voter turnout since 1977 and I suspect that this year the voter turnout will be less than 25%.

As the saying goes “a week in politics is an eternity”.

Even with only two weeks remaining, just about anything can and will happen.

After watching so many Mayoral candidate forums and listening for hours to all the candidates, does anyone think the following is mudslinging or at least a little bit funny?

Tim Keller stared as Harvey Dent and “Two Face” in a Batman movie and flipping a silver dollar as an “in kind” cash donation while his longtime political consultant watched him with adoring eyes saying “my precious” over and over again.

Brian Colon still collects and stores powdered milk and government blocks of cheese in his home. He is eyeing the City warehouses as an alternative storage site for all the excess government cheese he has at home and buried in a cellar in his backyard. Rumor is he has a good buddy willing to set up a call center to sell that cheese so they can make a profit.

Gus Pedrotty does indeed still have his wisdom teeth with the other candidates poised to pull them out or strangle him to shut him up. As an alternative, they want to slip him some medical marijuana just to settle him down and slow down his public speaking at all the forums so everyone can understand what he is saying for a change.

As an ex-cop running for Mayor, Michell Garcia Holmes promises to carry a holster with a 57-magnum gun when she becomes Mayor and she is not afraid to use it on all child molesters by shooting them in the groin. Her favorite movie quote is from Dirty Harry, “Well do you feel lucky, punk, well do ya?”

Dan Lewis wants to be the next District Attorney or Bernalillo County Sheriff so he can make Albuquerque “the worse place to be a criminal” just like he watched during the last eight (8) years as a City Councilor as Mayor Berry has done. Dan also promises to open a city sponsored used car lot so that all the crooks can bring all our stolen cars and sell them and give city hall a cut of the action. According to Lewis, no cars stolen from Sidewinders clientele will be allowed to be sold at the city used car lot as per the instructions of Legacy Church Pastor Steve Smotherman.

Wayne Johnson wants to be a Federal Judge so he can deport people who are here illegally, especially Muslims and all those damn rapists and murderers from Mexico. Rumor is Wayne is buying stock in a national fence company that sells chain link fence at a discount and he is waiting for a return call from Donald Trump.

Susan Wheeler Diechel wants to give out free bikes and free walking shoes to everyone in the city and schedule bake sales to raise money to fund our police department. It is rumored Susan is really Martha Stewart in disguise here to serve her federal probation period and that she gave her identity away at a forum when she said “I just love broken ABQ but I have a hot glue gun and I am not afraid to use it and that’s a good thing!”

Ricardo Chavez wants to make civic plaza and our city parks and city golf courses into parking lots and charge $3.00 a day for overnight parking to solve our city budget problems. His city slogan will be “Mi parking lot es su parking lot.”

Please feel free to comment or add your own observations or mud, but make sure you make at least an attempt at humor.

On Wednesday September 13, 2017 early voting began in the Albuquerque mayoral and city council elections.

There are 12 early voting locations and they will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. from September 13, 2017 to September 29, 2017.

There are eight mayoral candidates and the candidates are as follows:

• Former state Democratic Party Chairman and private attorney Brian Colón.
• Republican Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson.
• Republican Ricardo Chaves and founder of Parking Company of America.
• Democrat Augustus “Gus” Pedrotty, recent UNM graduate.
• Independent Susan Wheeler-Deichsel and founder of the civic group Urban ABQ.
• Republican City Councilor Dan Lewis.
• Democrat first term New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller.
• Independent Michelle Garcia Holmes, a retired Albuquerque police detective.

There are five City Council seats that are on the ballot and they are as follows:

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. (Secured public 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 candidate)

City Council District 5:

1. Republican Robert Aragon, private attorney, NM Board of Finance member. (Private financed cnadidate)
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)
The regular election will be held on Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2017 with polls open from 7:00 am to 7:00 pm.

Early voting is taking place at the following locations:

98th and Central (Bernalillo County Rental), 120 98th NW, Suite A5
City of Albuquerque Records Center, 604 Menaul NW, 87107
Office of the City Clerk, 600 2nd NW, 87102
Alamosa Community Center, 6900 Gonzales SW, 87121
North Domingo Baca Multigenerational Center, 7521 Carmel NE, 87113
Don Newton/Taylor Ranch Community Center, 4900 Kachina NW, 87120
Petroglyph Plaza, 8201 Golf Course NW, Suite D1, 87120
Cesar Chavez Community Center, 7505 Kathryn SE, 87108
Los Altos Plaza, 4200 Wyoming NE, 87111
Daskalos Plaza, 5339 Menaul NE, 87110
Caracol Plaza, 12500 Montgomery NE, 87111
Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center, 501 Elizabeth SE, 87123
To vote in a city election you will need a photo identification (ID).

Acceptable IDs include:

* Government-issued card containing the voter’s name and photo
* Driver’s license
* Student identification card
* Credit or debit card
* Insurance card
* Union membership card
* Professional association card
* City Clerk-issued identification
* Other membership cards with the voter’s name and photo

I encourage everyone to get out and vote for the candidate of your choice.

Also on the ballot is the mandatory sick leave ordinance as well as increasing public financing for candidates for Mayor from the current $380,000 to $630,000.

Thank you, Albuquerque Journal, for publishing my guest editorial column “Nonpartisan mayoral election is a farce; The reality is that partisanship rules for mayor and city council” (See September 12, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-13).

Following is my published guest editorial column:

To say Albuquerque has a form of “nonpartisan” municipal government is a farce when it comes to reality and how the Mayor acts and the city council really works and votes.

The New Mexico Constitution provides that all municipal elections be nonpartisan and that is why it is in our city charter and not because the framers of our city charter thought it was a great idea.

Albuquerque’s municipal elections are held in odd number years and voter turnouts are miserably low like four years ago when voter turnout was 19% of registered voters.

It is important that Albuquerque City Councilors cooperate with each other and the Mayor as I did when I was on the city council but there are indeed limits to cooperation.

As a City Councilor, I worked and cooperated with the entire city council and Mayor when it came to issues like passage of the quality of life tax, passage of the vehicle emissions program and the creation of the Independent Council Office to review citizen complaints against APD and the creation of the Internal Audit Department.

However, there is a significant difference between cooperating and working with other elected officials from the opposite party and being hypocritical and going against your own basic political philosophy of what you believe to be true and what you stand for as an elected official.

What I am sick of are Democrats trying to act and talk like Republicans, and Republicans trying to act like Democrats, especially after they get elected to positions like Mayor and City Council and arguing that they are being “nonpartisan”.

City issues many times are partisan such as minimum wage, the mandatory sick leave initiative, public financed elections, late term abortions, equal pay for woman, sanctuary city and marriage equality.

I was criticized for running as a Democrat for Mayor and told by many Democratic Party officials they would not help because the race was non-partisan.

The Republican Party has been extremely involved in Albuquerque’s nonpartisan elections.

For the last 8 years, we have had the most partisan Mayor in Albuquerque history especially when the Republicans controlled the City Council by a 6 to 3 margin four years ago.

During his time in office, Mayor Berry appointed numerous Republican political operatives to six figure plus salaried positions with contacts to Republican Governor Martinez and Jay Mc Clusky and good examples include Republicans Darren White appointed Chief Public Safety Officer, Rob Perry appointed Chief Administrative Officer and Gordon Eden appointed APD Chief.

When Mayor Berry had the chance to appoint two city councilors to vacancies in predominantly Democrat seats, he chose to appoint two Republicans who later lost to Democrats.

For a supposedly nonpartisan race, Berry’s 2013 contributors list was top heavy with prominent Republican donors and players including the Republican National Committee.

The Republican Party is again getting involved in this year’s Mayors race by filing a complaint to investigate the only Democrat who qualified for public financing.

The press, especially the Albuquerque Journal, likes to point out party affiliations of candidates running for municipal office, even though the races are supposed to be non-partisan.

The first question that the Albuquerque Journal asks in their candidate questionnaire is what party affiliation are you?

What I have also seen over the years, and seeing today, are candidates, both Democrat and Republican, who are downplaying their party affiliation when running for municipal office to get votes and donations only to show their true colors once elected.

This happens especially in Council districts that are predominantly voters from the opposite party.

The New Mexico legislature needs to allow municipal elections to be conducted in the same year as federal and state elections and make them partisan to enhance voter turnout.

We need to be honest with our municipal elections and allow the City Clerk to print ballots with party affiliation of candidates for Mayor and City Council.

They say that timing in politics is everything.

It is being reported that Legacy Church Pastor Steve Smothermon issued and endorsement of Republican Dan Lewis for Mayor.

The endorsement comes the same day as early voting starts and exactly three weeks before the October 3, 2017 election for Mayor.

(See Albuquerque Journal “Pastor: Lewis won’t support homosexual agenda”)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1062574/pastor-lewis-wont-support-homosexual-agenda.html

Legacy Church has a membership of 20,000 and if they vote, could influence who gets in a runoff.

Legacy Church pastor Steve Smothermon’s endorsement comes with a caveat when he said:

“I wholeheartedly support Dan Lewis for mayor. He’s the one true believer in the race, and could never in anyway support the homosexual agenda. He will bring business to our city and he will reduce crime.”

Who is Smotherman to say who is a true believer?

It was Pope Francis who said “Who am I to judge?”

What is meant by the term “homosexual agenda” other than bigotry against someone who is born the way they are?

In the past, Smothermon has criticized Gov. Susana Martinez for appointing a gay man to the state Public Regulation Commission and he has previously taken issue with Mayor Richard Berry for signing a proclamation supporting the annual gay pride parade.

City hall insiders claimed eight (8) years ago that Smotherman and Berry had a dispute when Berry hired a gay man to work as a public information officer and who later left a few months after he was hired.

Dan Lewis is an ordained Baptist minister and said the nation is being ripped apart by divisive personal agenda politics, “driven mostly by the media,” something he said weakens us.

I guess the massacre of over 50 gay people at the “Pulse Bar” in Florida just a few years ago was “driven mostly by the media”.

I also recall that Dan Lewis has been nowhere to be found during Albuquerque’s gay pride parade, nor did he show up to give support to Albuquerque’s gay community during the many vigil’s that were held when the Pulse mass shooting occurred.

I think actions and how one treats people, not words, reflects people’s true philosophy.

Lewis was asked if he would hire a gay person in the mayor’s office if he wins or whether he would be open to signing a proclamation for the gay pride parade, Lewis said he would and said:

“As mayor, I would never refuse to hire someone for a job based on their sexual preference. Not only is it unconstitutional, it is just plain wrong to set such a condition to get a job”.

As a candidate for Mayor, Lewis should have said he does not accept endorsements with any conditions or caveats and should have said “thanks, but no thanks” to pastor Smotherman, but that no doubt would have alienated a large core of Dan Lewis’ constituency.

It’s been just over four (4) years that marriage equality was recognized by New Mexico Courts and a few years by the United States Supreme Court.

Baptist Minister Dan Lewis needs to be asked if he recognizes same sex marriage or if he still believes that marriage can only be between a man and a woman.

Baptist Minister Dan Lewis also needs to be asked if he would ever perform a same sex marriage and welcome gays into his congregation.

Will Mayor Lewis allow city facilities be used for same sex marriages?

It is never good to mix religion and politics.

The last thing we need is a Mayor who will take religion into consideration when forming policy for the city.

The Republican Party of New Mexico and Republican candidate for Mayor Wayne Johnson have filed complaints with the Board of Elections and Campaign Practices challenging the cash “in-kind” donations received by Tim Keller as being a violation of the public finance laws prohibiting Mr. Keller from soliciting any further cash donations after accepting public financing.

(See September 9, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1 “GOP seeks inquiry into Keller campaign; Critics question use of in-kind donations; campaign manager calls complaints frivolous)

At the heart of the allegations are that Tim Keller’s political consultants or manager solicited cash donations from donors and then reported those cash donations as “in kind” donations for goods and service to the campaign.

Charges of “laundering money contributions” are being made against Mr. Keller by the Republican Party and Republican candidate for Mayor Wayne Johnson that just may stick.

THOSE “IN KIND” CASH DONATIONS

The August 11, 2017 Tim Keller for Mayor finance reports reflect that $24,615 of “in kind” donations reflected in cash amounts were made to the Keller campaign.

Notable “in kind” cash donations to the Tim Keller campaign include:

Former New Mexico Lt. Governor Diane Denish ($1,000) who ran for NM Governor with Brian Colon as her running mate for Lt. Governor, New Mexico State Senator Mimi Stewart ($200), John Badal ($1,000), Scott Goodman, Goodman Realty Group ($2,500), Art Gardenshwartz ($1,000), Paul Cochran ($5,000), Joinie Griffin, Griffin & Associates the firm handling the public relations for the ART bus project ($1,000), Adam Harrington, HB Construction ($1,000), IATSE Local 423 ($1,000), William Sabatini ($500), City of Albuquerque Union AFSME Council 18 ($220), APD Police Oversight Board member William Kass ($1,000), Sam Field (1,000), Caporale Consultants ($1,000), Jim Collie ($1,000), Jason Harrignton ($1,000), Debra McFarlan ($500), Virginia Scharff ($500), Polly Jackson ($500).

The September 8, 2017 finance report reflects $3,000 of “in kind” donations in cash amounts were made to the Tim Keller campaign which includes a single “in kind” donation of $2,500 from Ashley and Mathew Proctor.

Most of the checks for the “cash donations” were made out to the political consultant firm Rio Strategies, Mr. Keller’s longtime political consulting firm, but the finance reports list the purpose of the donations as “professional services” with no further explanations.

The cash donations were made after Mr. Keller qualified for public finance and after he was given $342,952 in taxpayer money to run his campaign.

What makes the “in-kind” donations to Mr. Keller’s campaign for “professional services” listed as “cash” donations troubling is that there is no definitive rule or regulation that it is improper, but the solicitation of such donations by Mr. Keller’s campaign manager at the very least undermines the intent and spirit of the public finance laws.

Channel 4 did a lengthy interview with Keller’s campaign manager where she was asked repeatedly about the propriety of the in-kind cash donations for “professional services” but she gave answers that were evasive and at best questionable.

http://www.kob.com/investigative-news/tim-keller-mayoral-campaign-manager-soliciting-monetary-donations-despite-public-financing-rules/4597420/

To compound the appearance of impropriety or wrongdoing during the TV interview, Keller’s longtime political consultant Alan Packman with Rio Strategies stood off to the side, unaware he was on camera, fidgeting and swaying back and forth and visibly upset by the line of questioning no doubt realizing the damage that was being done by the campaign manager.

PUBLIC FINANCE AND HOW IT WAS SPENT

To secure public financing from the city, Mr. Keller had to collect 3,802 $5.00 contributions to the city from registered Albuquerque voters and he collected 6,000 which was very impressive and a task he has every right to be proud of by anyone’s standards.

Upon being qualified for public financing, Mr. Keller agreed in writing to spending caps.

Mr. Keller by agreeing to public financing is strictly prohibited from soliciting and using donations from any other source to run for Mayor.

The July 14, 2017 Tim Keller Campaign Finance Report states that on April 3, 2017 the Keller campaign was given $342,952 by the City of Albuquerque in public financing.

The Keller for Mayor Campaign Finance Report filed on July 14, 2017 listed total expenditures of $130,863.63 with $101,978 paid to “Rio Strategies” for “staff salaries and campaign management” and paid $15,000 to “GBA Strategies” for “RESEARCH”, leaving a closing balance of $232,446.09.

The Keller for Mayor August 11, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $232,446 and the closing balance for the second reporting period is $227,229.88.

Mr. Keller is using the same political consulting firm “Rio Strategies” to run for Mayor that he used to run for State Auditor and paid $101,978 to “Rio Strategies” for “staff salaries and campaign management” to run for Mayor out of the $342,952 taxpayer money given to him to run his campaign for Mayor.

FAMILIARTY OF BIG MONEY AND CONSULTANTS IN POLITICS

Tim Keller is very familiar with big money in politics and the use of highly paid political consultants to run for political office.

Mr. Keller in his successful campaign for New Mexico State Auditor in 2014 received contributions of $487,276.66 and had expenditures of $545,372 according to the campaign finance reports filed with the New Mexico Secretary of State.

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

Under the New Mexico Campaign Reporting Act, New Mexico State Auditor Tim Keller is required to file “Reports of Expenditures and Contributions” biannually and report any contributions solicited and received in his capacity as New Mexico State Auditor.

According to campaign finance and expenditure reports filed in 2016, from January 20, 2016 to December 19, 2016, Mr. Keller paid political consulting firms “Rio Strategies” and “Full Arsenal Strategies” $53,311.30 in “consulting” fees and “retainers” with both firms associated with Mr. Keller’s longtime political consultant Alan Packman.

According to the New Mexico Secretary of State First Biannual “Report of Expenditures and Contributions” filed on April 10, 2017 for the reporting period, Mr. Keller had $22,665.00 total monetary contributions with total expenditures of $30,711.39 and paid $18,951 to his political consulting firms.

IT IS THE APPEARANCE OF IMPROPRIETY THAT LOOKS SO BAD

Tim Keller in his capacity as New Mexico State Auditor has been very public and has garnered extensive state-wide publicity as a government watchdog championing accountability and transparency when it comes to the collection and expenditure of taxpayer money by government agencies.

In his January announcement for Mayor, 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.”

Using high paid political consultants and paying them $101,978 of $342,952 of taxpayer money and spending another $15,000 of taxpayer money for research and polling is not necessarily running a community driven campaign.

It is the appearance of impropriety that looks so damaging coming from a New Mexico State Auditor that has earned a compelling reputation of holding people and government accountable for expending taxpayer money.

When Mr. Keller qualified for public financing, he agreed to a spending cap and agreed not to solicit any cash donations.

An audit can be performed by the city’s Campaign and Election Auditor which is provided for under the election code, rules and regulations to monitor all campaign disclosure statements, but three weeks before the election may not be enough time for a definitive ruling.

However, the damage has been done to the Keller campaign which was done by his own high paid political consultants.

CONCLUSION

The state Republican Party going after Tim Keller should not come as any surprise, except perhaps those who think Albuquerque municipal elections are nonpartisan.

Four years ago, I had to endure the incumbents $910,000 media campaign versus my $340,000 in public financing campaign all the while the Republican Party smeared me as much as they could while Republican operative Jay Mc Clusky managed the incumbents campaign and ran negative ads.

I was told by too many Democratic elected and party officials that it was a nonpartisan race and they would not help.

My biggest disappointment four years ago was that my own party did very little next to nothing to help my campaign, but that’s politics for you.

The question that remains to be answered is if the Democratic Party will do anything to defend Mr. Keller?

Mr. Keller now needs to decide if his longtime political consultants are worth the money he has paid them or if they have done more damage than good.

How Mr. Keller handles this controversy will go a long way in revealing what kind of Mayor he will be if elected.

If Mr. Keller does not make it into the runoff, I suspect he will know who to blame.