The below article published by ABQ Reports (Dennis Domrzalski) takes to task the credibility of our District Attorney Raul Torrez and the way he his managing the largest law firm in the State:

Dennis Domrzalski

DA Torrez Crying Wolf?
January 25, 2018
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Imagine this scenario: You’re the owner of a company with a 300-person sales department. The manager of the sales department tells you he needs a 30 percent budget increase so he can hire 20 more sales people in order to do his job properly. You look at the sales department and realize that with its current budget it has 45 unfilled jobs, 18 of which are sales reps.

You would?

A. Give the sales department the 30 percent increase with no questions asked.
B. Ask the sales manager why he hasn’t filled those 45 vacant positions and what he’s doing with all that unspent money.
C. Demand that the sales manager fill the 45 vacant positions and see how things go before asking for more money.
D. Tell the sales manager that with his attitude he should be working in government.
E. Fire the sales manager.

That scenario I just described is real, but for a slight change: The sales manager is actually Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez. He runs the 300-person DA’s office and he is asking the state Legislature for a 30 percent increase to his current budget of $18.2 million so he can hire 20 more attorneys and give us more crime-fighting punch.

But, like the sales manager, Torrez has 45 unfilled positions in his office, 18 of which are attorneys.

So why is Torrez asking for more money for more attorneys when he hasn’t hired all the attorneys he’s budgeted for?

Why doesn’t Torrez fill those positions and see how his office does with 18 more attorneys before asking for more money?

And why aren’t state lawmakers demanding to know of Torrez why he’s asking for more money for more attorneys when he has 18 vacant attorney positions?

One possible answer to those questions is that this is government, and this is New Mexico, and no one seems to care about how our money – that’s right, it’s our money – is being spent.

So why hasn’t Torrez filled those vacant positions and what is he doing with that money?

Well, he’s apparently using it to hire contract attorneys to go through a backlog of police shooting cases. And he’s apparently using it to pay the attorneys he does hire more than the state says he should be paying them. Here’s what Torrez’s spokesman, Michael Patrick, emailed me in response to my questions about why Torrez is asking for more money when he has 18 unfilled attorney positions:

“The Second Judicial District Attorney’s Office has been underfunded for years, a point made plain by the fact that while this jurisdiction has 50% or more of the reported crime in the state it only receives 26.5% of the funds appropriated for prosecutors. Though authorized, attorney positions in this were never adequately funded – indeed, as the following graph makes clear, our employees are paid less than other criminal justice stakeholders including other district attorneys, the Attorney General’s Office and the public defender’s office.

“In addition to paying special prosecutors to review one of the largest backlogs of officer involved shootings in the country, and providing critical resources for trial, we primarily use vacancy savings to recruit and retain more experienced attorneys rather than losing them to the Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office or the private sector, all of which are able to pay substantially more money. Moreover, the strategy of paying more to recruit and retain more experienced attorneys is already paying off, as evidenced by the fact that our homicide conviction rate increased 15% in the first year of this administration.”

So how poorly are those attorneys in Torrez’s office paid that the DA has to offer them more money to stick around?

According to the state’s Sunshine Portal, a trial attorney in Torrez’s office is paid $67,662 a year. A senior trial attorney gets $74,755 a year, and a chief deputy DA – Torrez has one unfilled job in this category – $91,270 a year. There is also a vacancy for a deputy DA, which pays $82,596 a year.

Torrez wants more money from the Legislature to hire 20 more attorneys. Yet, with his current budget he has 18 vacant attorney positions.

Something isn’t right here.

Maybe some legislators and members of the news media will start asking Torrez some hard questions.

DINELLI COMMENTARTY: NOT THE FIRST TIME TORREZ HAS TARNISHED HIS CREDIBILTY

According to the article the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office has 45 vacancies which includes 18 attorney positions.

Mr. Torrez now wants funding for and additional 20 attorneys without explaining how he is going to recruit 38 attorneys to go work for him.

Bernalillo County District Raul Torrez has been in office a little over a year.

By all news accounts, he seems to be doing his very best to prosecute violent crime and repeat offenders to bring down our crime rates.

However, Torrez lost a lot of support from the courts, and some would say his credibility, when he blamed the Courts for all of our high crime rates.

Less than six months after being sworn in as Bernalillo County District Attorney, Raul Torres blamed the New Mexico Supreme Court’s Case Management Order (CMO) for Albuquerque’s increasing crime rates.

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, or jail, for months, and at times years, to the point that the jail was becoming severely overcrowded exceeding its capacity of approximately 2,200 inmates.

Torrez had his District Attorney Office issue a report that outlined the so-called problems he perceived since the issuance of the Case Management Order by the Supreme Court in February, 2015.

The main points of the DA’s report was that defense attorneys were “gaming” the court mandated discovery deadlines under the CMO to get cases dismissed by demanding evidence they are entitled to under the law and the Rules of Criminal Procedure and asking for trials instead of entering into plea agreements.

The Judges strongly disputed the Torrez report.

In response to the Torrez report, the Courts did their own case review of statistics and found out the it was the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office that was dismissing the majority of cases.

The Case Management Order (CMO) has since been amended and Torres and the Courts seem to be getting along much better.

CONCLUSION

The problem is that Torrez does not seem to understand fully that the prosecution of any crime demands full cooperation of law enforcement, the public defender’s office and the courts.

The criminal justice system is very much like a chain in that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.

Instead of advocating for increase funding not only for his office, Torrez ignored how underfunded the Courts, the public defender office as well as all law enforcement are in the State Of New Mexico.

I really want our still new District Attorney to do well and still confident he will.

However, Torrez is going to have to learn that blaming others and complaining about lack of resources is no substitute for making tough decisions to run an office and doing a good job.

Last November, 2017, the Albuquerque City Attorney filed a motion requesting an evidentiary hearing to determine if Federal Monitor James Ginger should be removed for being biased against the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) in his auditing and reporting of the progress made with the Department of Justice reforms.

Attached to the motion was a transcript of 9 minutes of a 14-minute lapel camera video secretly recorded by the former Assistant APD Chief of a meeting with Federal Monitor James Ginger without his permission or knowledge.

The Federal Court denied the City’s motion for an evidentiary hearing but ordered the city to turn over to the court all secret recordings the City made of the Federal Monitor.

It turns out that there were 12 meetings secretly recorded over a two-year period with hours of secret recordings made by the Albuquerque Police Department command staff and former City Attorney Jessica Hernandez of the court appointed Federal Monitor James Ginger.

In a transmittal letter forwarding the 12 recordings to the Court, the City claimed the recordings were done for internal use only.

Nine of the recording were made by a civilian member of the APD command staff and one recording was made by then City Attorney Jessica Hernandez during a meeting in the City Attorney’s office.

In a transmittal letter forwarding the 12 recordings to the Court, the City claimed the recordings were done for internal use only and not to undermine the reform process.

The City’s defense that the recordings were done for internal use only was proven false when city officials did not let the Federal Monitor know he was being recorded and then turned around and tried to use one of the recording to make the monitor look bad and show he was biased.

THE “SMOKING GUN”

One secret recording made by the City Attorney occurred during a time the City Attorney and Federal Monitor were at odds with each other and publicly disagreeing on the reform process.

Following is the beginning portion of a meeting recorded behind closed doors in the City Attorney’s office:

City Attorney Hernandez: “I’m not planning to take … I’m not going to be writing notes. If you are comfortable not…”

Dr. Ginger: “Unfortunately, if I don’t take notes, I don’t remember. I’m getting to be that age.”

The Federal Monitor objected to the request not to take notes saying he needed to take notes to help his memory.

What is alarming is that the former City Attorney Jessica Hernandez tells the Federal Monitor at the beginning of the meeting that she did not feel anyone should take notes.

The City Attorney failed to disclose to the Federal Monitor she was actually recording the private meeting and their conversation at the time.

The appearance of impropriety by not disclosing to the Federal Monitor that the meeting was being recorded is astonishing.

The way the conversation proceeds makes it clear that what the City Attorney wanted to record were admissions or statements by the Federal Monitor that reflected he was biased and to record anything that would compromise his position that could be used to have him removed by the Federal Judge.

The private meeting continues with City Attorney Hernandez telling Dr. Ginger she has concerns about her personal relationship with Ginger and that the relationship is not working by making the following accusation:

City Attorney Hernandez: “I know that you have told people that you can’t or you won’t work with me, and that’s not going to work.”

Dr. Ginger: “That’s not true. I don’t know who told you that, but it’s incorrect. I don’t think I’ve ever uttered the phrase in my life “I can’t work with so and so.”

City Attorney Hernandez complains that the APD monitoring team is setting goals impossible to reach and asserts that the goals constantly change by saying:

City Attorney Hernandez: “When they receive feedback from you or from the monitoring team, they would like it to be something they can continue to rely on. They would like it to not shift, and they would like it to not be different when the monitor’s report comes out.”

The recorded meeting conversation then turns to the recording made by former APD Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman with his department-issued lapel camera:

“Hernandez: “You expressed your frustration with me, and you told them ‘this department is going to be collateral damage” referring to the Huntsman recording.

According to the body camera video released by City Attorney Hernandez last November in the motion asking for an evidentiary hearing to determine if the Federal Monitor was biased, Dr. Ginger does indeed use the words ‘this department is going to be collateral damage but Ginger denies he said it:

Dr.Ginger: “I’m telling you I didn’t say that. I know I didn’t say it because that’s not who I am. I’m not vindictive. Never have been, don’t plan on being.”

Even though Dr. Ginger used the words “collateral damage”, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez took his use of the term out of context asserting that Ginger was intentionally trying to damage APD which has never been the case.

In the context used by Dr. Ginger, “collateral damage” means damage that would result to an unintended target, APD, because of his disagreement or feud with City Attorney Jessica Hernandez.

It’s the intent that matters, and Ginger by his actions, words and reports has never intended to do harm to APD but rather do his job and report to the Federal Court APD’s failures and successes in the reform process.

FEDERAL COURT DECIDES NOT TO IMPOSE SANCTIONS

On January 9, 2017, United States Federal Judge Robert Brack held a status conference with the parties to the DOJ consent decree.

During the status conference Judge Brack announce he would not impose sanctions against the City for the secret recordings of the Federal Monitor:

“I’m letting you-all know I have no interest in looking back. My shoulder’s to the wheel and my hand is on the plow. I am looking forward with all of you and I have no intention of pursuing sanctions against the prior administration … and I certainly don’t think the successor administration has any accountability on that score. So this is a — this is a public hearing, I know. I’m glad for that information to be out.” Judge Brack said during the status conference.

Brack’s decision not to waste any more time on the past and not to sanction the City is understandable when he said:

“I really appreciate everyone, everyone’s willingness to take a fresh look into and to “reset,” as we keep overusing that metaphor. … I appreciate the pronouncements that I’ve seen from Mayor Keller and the evidence of good faith and a really willingness to make this process work for the betterment of the City and the people of Albuquerque, as evidenced by the chief’s appearance at the meeting of the Community Policing Council last night. Those are all just — we’re off to a great start.”

Judge Brack’s decision not to take action himself is understandable and must be respected, but that should not be the end of it when it comes to restoring the reputation of the City Attorney’s office.

The fact is, there are hours of secret recordings of twelve confidential meetings that have been turned over to the Federal Court that the public has no idea what was said nor what APD was up to nor instructed to do by the City Attorney.

Attorney’s are held to a higher standard, and their professional conduct is governed by the Code of Professional conduct.

NEW MEXICO CODE OF PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT FOR LAWYERS

The New Mexico Code of Professional responsibility governs the conduct of attorneys.

Any infraction of the Code of Professional responsibility is investigated by the Disciplinary Board for the State Bar of New Mexico.

The Federal Monitor is a court appointed official and is therefore an officer of the court or tribunal.

There are any number of the rules of professional conduct that may apply to the hours of secret recordings, including the following:

Rule 16-303 Candor Toward the Tribunal
A. Duties. A lawyer shall not knowingly:
(1) make a false statement of material fact or law to a tribunal;
(2) fail to disclose a material fact to a tribunal when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by the client;
(3) fail to disclose to the tribunal legal authority in the controlling jurisdiction known to the lawyer to be directly adverse to the position of the client and not disclosed by opposing counsel; or
(4) offer evidence that the lawyer knows to be false. If a lawyer has offered material evidence and comes to know of its falsity, the lawyer shall take reasonable remedial measures.

Rule 16-401 Truthfulness in Statements to Others
In the course of representing a client a lawyer shall not knowingly:
(a) make a false statement of material fact or law to a third person; or
(b) fail to disclose a material fact to a third person when disclosure is necessary to avoid assisting a criminal or fraudulent act by a client, unless disclosure is prohibited by Rule 16-106.

Rule 16-803 Reporting Professional Misconduct
A. Misconduct of Other Lawyers. A lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

Rule 16-804 Misconduct
It is professional misconduct for a lawyer to:
(a) violate or attempt to violate the Rules of Professional Conduct, knowingly assist or induce another to do so, or do so through the acts of another;
(b) commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects;
(c) engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit or misrepresentation;
(d) engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice;
(e) willfully violate the Supreme Court Rules on Minimum Continuing Legal Education or the New Mexico Plan of Specialization, or the board regulations promulgated under the authority of the rules or the plan;
(f) state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official;
(g) knowingly assist a judge or judicial officer in conduct that is a violation of applicable rules of judicial conduct or other law; or
(h) engage in any conduct that adversely reflects on his fitness to practice law.

CONCLUSION

The hours of secret recordings are proof of just how ethically challenged Chief Gorden Eden, his command staff and City Attorney Jessica Hernandez were during three years of the DOJ reform process.

Attorneys have an ethical responsibility to report unethical conduct or impropriety they witness in a pending case.

The secret recording of a federal court appointed official without their knowledge is an extremely serious breach of ethics by any licensed attorney and should never be tolerated.

Former Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry was the supervisor of former City Attorney Jessica Hernandez and no one knows if Rob Perry approved or sanctioned the secret recordings.

Both Rob Perry and Jessica Hernandez are licensed New Mexico attorneys and they need to be compelled to disclose what they knew about all the secret recordings by APD command staff, and in particular explain in full detail why they did not disclose to the Federal Monitor he was being recorded without his consent nor knowledge.

US District Court Judge Brack may not want to take action himself and impose sanctions against the city, but at the very least he should consider referring the matter to the New Mexico Disciplinary Board for the State Bar and let them investigate the City Attorney’s office for unethical conduct.

At the very least, anyone of the other parties to the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree should file a complaint with the State Bar of New Mexico Disciplinary Board to investigate and sanction if appropriate.

Public confidence needs to be restored in the City Attorney’s Office and the removal of Jessica Hernandez as City Attorney and the departure of CAO Rob Perry was only a good start.

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2018/01/24/Reform-monitor-Sea-change-at-APD

In September 2017, the Albuquerque City Council adopted R-2017-185, sponsored by Albuquerque City Councilor Diane Gibson.

The Gibson resolution created a 7-member task force to explore options and make recommendations for addressing vacant and abandoned houses within the City of Albuquerque.

“The Resolution acknowledged the myriad of challenges in addressing this issue including:

• Enforcement of minimum health and safety requirements for vacant or abandoned residential properties;

• The City staff and resources needed to monitor over 600 properties that are either already a public nuisance or are in danger of becoming a public nuisance, and the arduous process of nuisance abatement enforcement that is presently overwhelming available resources; and

• The potential negative impact on property values and resale of homes and the disruption of the quality of life in Albuquerque’s neighborhoods due to dilapidation and potential attraction of illicit activities.”

Specific issues explored by the Gibson Task Force were as follows:

1. Options for efficient enforcement methods to address the most pressing problems associated with vacant and abandoned houses;

2. Options for collaborative and proactive programs to prevent the dilapidation or deterioration of such houses;

3. Options for the City to help facilitate recommissioning such houses for people and families. …”

For full task force report see:

https://www.cabq.gov/council/documents/vacant-abandoned-houses-task-force-final-final-report-1-17-18.pdf

GIBSON TASK FORCE REPORT PROPOSES NOTHING NEW

There is very little if anything reported by the task force that was not already known or should have been known by city hall.

Further, the Gibson Task Force Report makes recommendations that have been done or that was actually done by the Safe City Strike Force for eight years from 2002 to 2009.

One good example of what was done that is now being proposed is the “land bank” concept.

Under the Safe City Strike Force, a land bank took the form of the “Metropolitan Redevelopment Project” where the City assembled substandard properties at fair market value in the Southeast Heights “International District” and then had it developed for housing.

The “metropolitan redevelopment project” resulted in a large area of housing developed in the International District.

The only thing that is not in the final task force report is the absence of using the title “Safe City Strike Force.”

A lot of time and energy was wasted on the Vacant and Abandoned House Task Force when it would have been easier to fully staff and seek reinstatement and funding fore the Safe City Strike Force.

For the past four (4) years, Gibson has told her constituents that she could not do anything about the numerous vacant and boarded up homes declared and posted substandard in her district.

Gibson came up with the idea of a task force to placate her angry constituents to help get her reelected.

Diane Gibson’s Vacant and Abandoned House Task Force report can be considered nothing more than “political plagiarism”.

Now that the report is in and she has been reelected, I suspect the report will sit on a shelf and gather dust.

SAFE CITY STRIKE FORCE

In 2002, the Safe City Strike Force was formed to combat blighted commercial and residential properties and I was appointed its Director and tasked with putting it together.

Thirty (30) to forty-five (40) representatives from the Albuquerque Police Department, the Albuquerque Fire Department, the Fire Marshal’s Office, the Planning Department Code residential and commercial code inspectors, Family Community Services and the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office participated comprised the strike force.

Seventy (70) to one hundred fifty (150) properties a week, both residential and commercial properties would be reviewed by the Strike Force.

The Safe City Strike Force would handle referrals from the general public, neighborhood associations, the Mayor and the Albuquerque City Council.

The Albuquerque City Council would be given weekly updates on the progress made in their districts on the nuisance properties found.

The Safe City Strike Force routinely prepared condemnation resolutions for enactment by the Albuquerque City Council to tear down substandard buildings.

The Safe City Strike Force took civil enforcement action against some 6,500 properties, both commercial and residential.

MAGNETS FOR CRIME

Crime rates can be brought down with civil nuisance abatement actions.

The Safe City Strike Force took civil action against substandard properties that had become magnets for crime.

A magnet for crime property is one that has an extensive history of calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and where crime occurs.

Residential and commercial properties used for prostitution and drug activity such as meth labs and crack houses are examples of magnets for crime.

A review of the total number of calls for service a year is what is used in part to determine if a property is a public nuisance or a nuisance under city ordinances.

Calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department to deal with properties that have become “magnets for crime” result in a drain on police resources and costs millions of dollars a year in taxpayer funds.

The average cost of a call for service to dispatch police officers to handle such minor calls as suspicious persons, loitering, loud parties and loud music cost taxpayers between $75 to $150 per call depending on the time spent on the call by police officers dispatched.

The Albuquerque Police Department handles anywhere from 600,000 to 750,000 calls for service per year consisting of priority 1, 2 and 3 calls made to the 911 emergency operations center.

BLIGHTED, SLUMLORD PROPERTIES

Albuquerque and the commercial real estate sector may be on hard economic times, but that does not mean commercial property owners and landlords can just turn their backs on making repairs and do nothing to maintain their properties.

Not being able to afford to make repairs is not a good excuse when it comes to substandard commercial and residential buildings.

If commercial and residential rental property owners cannot afford to make repairs and keep maintenance up, then they need to sell their properties to someone who can.

Residential rental landlords and motel owners need to provide housing that is safe, secure and livable for all tenants.

Tenants are legally entitled to safe, secure, clean, living quarters with working utilities when they pay their rent.

As Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I saw way too many slumlords charging top dollar to rent their properties to some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.

Many slumlords refuse to make repairs when needed, even when the health and safety of tenants are at risk.

Slumlords have the financial upper hand with their tenants and have the attitude with their tenants that if you do not like what I am renting to you, then get the hell out.

Undocumented or non-United State citizens are also reluctant to complain to slumlords for repairs or the police because of fear of eviction or deportation.

Slumlords are also quick to evict when there is a missed monthly rental payment.

Some of the more egregious instances where property owners refused to make costly repairs and where health and safety was an issue involved heating and air condition systems that broke down during peak usage times.

CCIVIL ACTIONS EFFECTIVE TO ADDRESS SLUMLORD PROPERTIES

Nuisance and blighted properties bring down property values and can endanger an entire neighborhood when the property becomes a magnet for crime, especially when used for a crack house or meth lab.

The most effective approach to address blighted properties is to initiate civil complaints and secure temporary restraining orders, preliminary and permanent injunctions.

The City Attorneys’ office can seek court orders to compel property owners to bring their properties into compliance with city ordinances, codes and state laws.

The City Attorney’s office can file in State District Court civil complaints for injunctive relief or negotiated stipulated settlement agreements to abate nuisance properties.

Interventions with property owners can also be undertaken to negotiate stipulated settlement agreements.

The Safe City Strike Force required slum lords to make repairs to their properties so that the properties could be occupied safely without exposure or threat of injury.

During my eight (8) years as Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I saw way too many slum lords charging top dollar to rent their properties to some of our poorest citizens with the landlords refusing to make repairs when needed, even when health and safety was an issue for the tenants.

Some of the more egregious instances where property owners refused to make costly repairs and where health and safety involved heating and air condition systems that broke down during peak usage times by the tenants.

The goal was always to try to work with the property owners and negotiates stipulated settlement agreements with them, either for repairs or voluntary tear downs.

NEW MEXICO LAW AND CITY ORDINANCES

New Mexico and the City of Albuquerque have some of the strongest nuisance abatement laws in the country and enforcement action can be taken by the City Attorney’s Office.

The City of Albuquerque can have an impact and reduce the number of blighted and substandard commercial and residential properties in Albuquerque by relying on existing nuisance abatement state law and city ordinances.

In 2004 the city enacted the Vacant Building Maintenance Act which requires property owners to register their vacant buildings, repair them and keep them maintained.

Albuquerque’s housing and commercial codes define substandard structures and there are provisions that allow inspections and civil code enforcement actions.

Under existing city ordinances, property owners can be cited for code violations for not maintaining their properties in compliance with city codes.

Under the nuisance abatement ordinance, aggressive code enforcement action against blighted properties, both residential and commercial, can be taken where it is found that that the properties have become a nuisance and magnets of crime resulting in calls for service to the Albuquerque Police Department.

TEARDOWNS AND BOARD UPS

With the assistance of the Planning Department, Code Enforcement Manager, federal grant money was secured for the tear down of blighted, substandard properties and went from $25.000 the first year to $1 million.

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the tear down of an entire residential block of homes located at 5th Street and Summer in the Wells Park neighborhood area located north of downtown Albuquerque.

There was a total of 21 abandoned and vacant, boarded up properties that could not be repaired, owned by one elderly woman who agreed allowed a tear down of the structures by the City.

As Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I negotiated a voluntary tear down of an entire strip mall that had been boarded up for years, beyond repair, located near the former Octopus Car Wash on Manaul Street and Eubank.

The strip mall was constantly being broken into, with fires being set by the homeless, and at one time a dead body was found at the location.

Two long vacant and vandalized restaurants, the Purple Plum and a Furr’s cafeteria, both on far North-East heights Montgomery, were torn down by the Safe City Strike Force.

One year, Albuquerque experienced a huge spike in meth labs where almost 90 meth labs were found and identified and where the Safe City Strike Force was asked for assistance with contamination clean up.

CENTRAL MOTELS

The Safe City Strike Force required commercial property and motel owners to make repairs and they were required to reduce calls for service and address security on their properties.

The Safe City Strike Force took code enforcement action against 48 of the 150 motels along central and forced compliance with building codes and mandated repairs to the properties.

The Central motels that were demolished were not designated historical and were beyond repair as a result of years of neglect and failure to maintain and make improvements.

Central motels that had historical significance to Route 66 were purchased by the City for renovation and redevelopment.

The Central motels that the Safe City Strike Force took action against include the Gaslight (demolished), The Zia Motel (demolished), The Royal Inn (demolished), Route 66 (demolished), the Aztec Motel (demolished), the Hacienda, Cibola Court, Super-8 (renovated by owner), the Travel Inn (renovated by owner), Nob Hill Motel (renovated by owner), the Premier Motel (renovated by owner) the De Anza (purchased by City for historical significance), the No Name, the Canyon Road (demolished), Hill Top Lodge, American Inn (demolished), the El Vado (purchased by City for historical significance), the Interstate Inn (demolished).

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the demolition of at least seven (7) blighted motels that were beyond repair.

When people were displaced by enforcement actions taken by the Safe City Strike Force, the City’s Family and Community Services Department would provide vouchers to the displaced and assist in locating temporary housing for them.

VIOLENT BARS

The Safe City Strike Force took action against violent bars on Central that were magnets for crime.

Many Central bars have hundreds of calls for service a year placing a drain on law enforcement resources.

A few of the bars located on or near Central that were closed or torn down by the Safe City Strike Force include the Blue Spruce Bar, Rusty’s Cork and Bottle, the Last Chance Bar and Grill and Club 7.

The Safe City Strike Force closed Club 7 and the owner was convicted of commercial code violations.

As a Deputy City Attorney, I was co-counsel with the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s office and brought charges against and convicted the Club 7 downtown Central Avenue bar owner that hosted a “rave” that allowed under age participants to mingle with adults and where a young girl was killed.

CONVENIENCE STORES

The Safe City Strike Force took enforcement action against a number of convenience stores on Central that had substantial calls for service to APD.

In 2005, The Safe City Strike Force identified convenience stores that had an unacceptable number of “calls for service” which resulted in the convenience stores being considered a public nuisance by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

Outdoor phones at the convenience stores used for illicit drug transactions were identified.

APD felt the convenience stores were relying upon APD to provide security at taxpayer’s expense rather than hiring their own private security company.

In 2005, as Director of the Safe City Strike Force, I was able to negotiate a stipulated settlement agreement with three major convenience store corporate owners of seventeen (17) convenience stores throughout Albuquerque and they agreed to pay for private security patrols.

FLEA MARKETS

The Safe City Strike Force was responsible for the closure of Louie’s Flea Market and the Star Flea Market, two Westside flea markets both on Old Coors Road South of Central.

Area residents felt the flea markets brought down property values.

Both flea markets had been around for decades and caused extreme traffic congestion on weekends they operated causing problems for the established or developing residential areas.

Both flea markets were found by the Albuquerque Police Department to be locations where stolen property was being sold and both had an excessive number of calls for service.

HOARDERS

Some of the most tragic and heart-breaking cases that the Safe City Strike Force dealt with involved “hoarders”.

Hoarding is a pattern of behavior that is characterized by excessive acquisition and an inability or unwillingness to discard large quantities of objects or animals that cover the entire living areas or exterior of a home or property.

The Strike Force dealt with approximately 10 cases of hoarders.

One hoarder case I vividly recall involved an elderly woman who was housing over 60 cats in her 1,200 square foot, three bedrooms home. The home was not fit to be lived in as a result of contamination by the animals. Dead cats were found in her freezer.

The City removed the cats, cleaned up the property and placed a $40,000 lien on the home for the cleanup of the contamination.

Another hoarder had accumulated an extensive number of items in his front and backyards to the extent that the area had become rat infested and the City forced a cleanup of the area.

CONCLUSION

For the eight (8) years, little or next to nothing has been done by the City of Albuquerque to address blighted and substandard commercial and residential properties.

There is a lack of commitment by city hall to properly fund a program that was recognized as a best practice by municipalities throughout the country.

The City of Albuquerque was safer and cleaner because of the work of the Safe City Strike Force.

Today, the Safe City Strike Force has one employee, its director, and the Safe City Strike Force exists in name only.

Funding the Safe City Strike Force may not be a construction project like the ART Bus project, a library or fire station that Mayor’s and city councilors always love taking credit for, but it would go a long way to getting rid of blighted commercial and residential properties, which only sully entire neighborhoods and put residents in danger and bring property values down.

A “boondoggle” can be defined as a government project that is considered a waste of both time and money, yet is often continued due to misguided policy or political motivations.

A “money pit” is generally defined as something you foolishly keep spending a lot of money on to fix up or make repairs believing it’s going to get better, but it winds up being a total waste of money, time and effort. Dilapidated houses and junk cars are a good examples of money pits. Another example of a money pit are brand new vehicles which are considered lemons subject to repeated manufacture recalls requiring extensive repairs before a warranty runs out.

There comes a time you need to cut your losses with any boondoggle or money pit and stop the money waste, especially when it is taxpayer money that can be put to better use.Former Mayor Berry’s ART Bus project down Central is both one big boondoggle of a money pit. The ART Bus project will have a major negative impact and drain on the priorities of newly elected Mayor Tim Keller.

A MISLEADING PHOTO OPS

ART was dedicated with great fanfare before it was fully functional, up and running so as to give former Mayor Richard Berry an ART supporters a photo op before Berry left office. Mayor Keller’s administration found extensive problems with ART not revealed by the previous administration to the point Mayor Keller pronounced the project as “bit of a lemon”. When former Mayor Berry announced the purchase of 60-foot electric buses for ART, he said he was very comfortable with electric buses because “It’s a proven technology”.

It has now been revealed that the 60 foot all electric buses ordered and purchased by the city as “proven” technology is far from “proven” and there are many “kinks” to be worked out.

(See January 21, 2018 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1, “ART victim of ‘new bus blues’; Few 60 foot all electric buses are on U.S. roads, and they are still working out the kinks”.)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1122198/art-is-a-victim-of-the-new-bus-blues.html

Richard De Rock, the general manager of the Link Transit Company based in Wenatchee, Washington, a purchaser of electric buses, labeled electric busses as “experimental technology” that is “challenging beyond belief”.

ALBUQUERQUE’S ELECTRIC BUS ORDER

On Oct. 4, 2017, only 9 out the 20 busses ordered by City Transit were delivered. Chief Operations Officer Lawrence Rael reported that the city detected upward of 24 issues or problems associated with the new buses delivered.

The manufacturer of the new buses claims that the problems with the buses are “minor”. The manufacture has vowed to fix the problems which they are required to do anyway by law and the purchase contract. The problems with the electric buses delivered were so extensive, the city ended up renting portable generators to power the buses in order to use them for the “River of Lights” holiday exhibition.

The practice of using the generators was stopped by the City because it could compromise the bus warranty.

A few of the problems found with the buses delivered include:

Some of the buses cannot be charged because the charging system don’t work.
Axles on the new buses delivered were leaking oil, a problem supposedly fixed.
The buses have not gone through the certification process required in order for the city to be reimbursed for the buses by the federal government.
One of the ART buses put through the certification process did not pass the inspection.

A third-party certification officer would not certify the electric battery chargers that have been installed for the reason that the chargers themselves are not operable because what was used were equipment parts manufactured in China that used different standards for how the equipment was built. Fully charged batteries on the buses are supposed to last for 275 miles but testing the city did indicated that the charge is only good for 200 miles and city transit will need additional buses for ART unless the problem is resolved.

Restraint belts that are used to keep wheelchairs locked in place while they’re in transit are in different locations in almost all the buses delivered. The battery cages that house the bus batteries were cracking and separating.

PROBLEMS IDENTIFIED WITH NEWLY CONSTRUCTED ART BUS STATION PLATFORMS

Problems with the electric buses are not the only problems with ART. Numerous problems with the bus stop platforms have been identified. There are problems with inconsistent height levels on some of the bus stop platforms constructed creating problems for wheelchair accesses ability which is mandated on Federal funded transportation projects such as ART.

The Atrisco bus stop platform is at an angle which creates problems of accessibility for people in wheelchairs. Major concerns about two of the bus stations have been raised because of the distance between the intersection and the actual platforms.

The Washington and Central platform is so close to the intersection that a bus coming from the east side going west can’t make the approach without taking up the entire intersection, and it will probably have to be demolished and reconstructed.

The mirrors on the ART buses are slamming into the pillars that hold up the fabric awnings at the bus stations constructed in the middle of Central and the stations will have to be altered so the mirrors are protected from damage.

The ART bus station at Central and Washington is too short and in order to get the 60-foot-long articulated buses into the station, bus drivers must make an “S” maneuver, which swerves the buses into regular traffic lanes increasing the risks of traffic accidents.

The station at Atrisco and Central is too long resulting in the ART bus going into the station tilted at a three-to-four-degree angle resulting in the bus floor being a few inches higher than the station platform increasing the risk of injury to passengers boarding and exiting the buses.

There are gaps of at least three inches at some stations between the platform edge and the bus floor resulting in unsafe boarding and unloading conditions for people with disabilities.

CITY COUNCIL WAS ASLEEP AT THE ART BUS WHEEL

The ART Bus project was originally represented as a $129 million project and has gone to $135 million. At least $7 million in hidden sewer line replacement and relocation costs were incurred and the project has an estimated cost $135 million with overruns.

For three years, the Albuquerque City Council was silent and blindly supported ART because it was the “Mayor’s project”. No questions were raised about the purchase of electric buses by any City Councilor, even by City Council Dan Lewis who opposed the project and ran for Mayor and lost. The City Council went so far as to approve spending $69 million of federal grant money the city applied for that has yet to be appropriated by Congress.

The City Council also issued upwards of $15 million dollars in revenue bonds encumbering future gross receipt tax revenues for ARTs construction. Congressional committees have cut $20 million dollars from the $69 million 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 on the project once it happens.

The Keller administration and taxpayers will be stuck with the bill if the Federal grant money is not forthcoming. In all likelihood, the City Council will have to issue more revenue bonds encumbering future gross receipts tax to pay for the $69 million dollar shortfall if Congress fails to make the appropriation.

It is an embarrassment that Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis is now wondering if the city picked the best bus vendor. Davis claims he is asking questions and is looking at bus purchase invoices and bid documents. Davis claims he has found out the City is paying millions more for the electric buses than another low bidder. What is laughable is that the city council is now asking questions after the project is exposed for the boondoggle money pit it is.

SCRAP ART, CUT OUR LOSES

All the problems with ART are so bad, it was announced by the Keller Administration that it will probably not be up and running for at least a year. City Hall needs to recognize the ART Bus project is never going to be a success in the long run, even if the “kinks” are worked out with the electric buses and the platforms.

Study after study has shown that bus ridership is down in Albuquerque and City transit always operates at a loss.In 2012, bus ridership in Albuquerque peaked at 13 million boardings and has steadily declined year after year ever since. In the first two months of 2017, bus ridership was down in Albuquerque by 11 percent from the same period as 2016. According to the Federal Transit Administration, in January and February of 2017, ABQ Ride had a total of 1.6 million passenger boardings compared to 1.8 million boardings.

A transportation study released by the city revealed the ART bus project has a 19-year shelf life. Sooner rather than later the bus stop platforms in the middle of Central will have to be removed or lanes widened and traffic lanes will have to be rededicated to accommodate projected increases in traffic along central and increases in population.

ALTERNATIVE SOLUTIONS NEEDED

During the campaign for Mayor, candidate Tim Keller talked about addressing and coming up with solutions for the city’s homeless problem, his desire for after school programs, offering more social services, public safety, returning to community based policing, hiring 300 more police officers and reducing our crime rates. The Keller agenda is going to take considerable funding and being saddled with the previous administrations legacy project and debt threatens that agenda.

The Keller priorities are all far more important than a cheesy nine-mile electric bus route that has destroyed the character of Route 66. It is becoming more and more likely Albuquerque will not get the $69 million from the Federal Transportation Administration. Mayor Keller will have to find the money somewhere to complete ART as originally planned. It is very doubtful the federal government in the age of Trump will be any help now that there is a Federal Government shutdown.

Further, the city is facing a $6 million-dollar deficit this fiscal year and a projected $40 million-dollar deficit for next fiscal year. Mayor Keller is going hat in hand seeking major funding from the 2018 New Mexico legislature.

Mayor Keller announced his legislative priorities include funding for public safety, including 200 plus new police vehicles and a $40 million-dollar upgrade of the city emergency operation phone system that was last upgraded decades ago. Even if funding is secured by Mayor Keller from the legislature, it is likely the vindictive Republican Governor Martinez would line item such appropriations so as to not to help a Democrat Mayor who she has clashed with in the past when he was State Auditor.

KELLER SHOULD NOT FEEL SADDLED WITH ART

The likely millions to fix ART, or the $69 million the city will have to come up with if the federal grant money does not materialize, could go to fund homeless initiatives, early childhood programs and public safety for that matter. At this point, pouring any more money down the boondoggle money pit known as ART would be a mistake.

City Hall needs to cut our losses as best it can and scrap ART as much as it can. City Hall needs to rededicate the bus lanes for all traffic and do its best to restore Route 66. The Keller Administration should explore if the center bus platform stops can modified with a new purpose and alternative be found. The platforms have utilities installed that could be used for other purposes. Tearing down the ART Bus stop platforms would have too much of another negative impact on Route 66 businesses. Examples of new dedicated purposes for the platforms could be elevated landscaping or distinctive lighting fixtures or platforms for large sculptures that would commemorate Route 66.

CONCLUSION

As Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel once said:

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste. And what I mean by that it’s an opportunity to do things you think you could not do before.”

KOB Channel 4 reported upon the hours of secret recordings made by the Albuquerque Police Department command staff and former City Attorney Jessica Hernandez of the court appointed Federal Monitor James Ginger.

http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/justice-department-albuquerque-police-department-doj-apd-feud-james-ginger-jessica-hernandez-secret-recording-audio/4749717/?cat=500

There were 12 private meeting conversations recorded without the Federal Monitors knowledge nor consent.

One secret recording was made of a meeting that occurred roughly around the two year anniversary of the Department of Justice Consent Decree (DOJ) process being review and audited by the monitor and during a time the City Attorney and Federal Monitor were at odds with each other and publicly disagreeing on the reform process.

Following is the beginning portion of a meeting recorded behind closed doors in the City Attorney’s office:

City Attorney Hernandez: “I’m not planning to take … I’m not going to be writing notes. If you are comfortable not…”

Dr. Ginger: “Unfortunately, if I don’t take notes, I don’t remember. I’m getting to be that age.”

The Federal Monitor objected to the request not to take notes saying he needed to take notes to help his memory.

What is alarming is that the former City Attorney Jessica Hernandez tells the Federal Monitor at the beginning of the meeting that she did not feel anyone should take notes but she fails to disclose to the Federal Monitor she was actually recording the private meeting and their conversation at the time.

Failing to disclose a fact is at the very least misleading and at worse a lie.

The appearance of impropriety by not disclosing to the Federal Monitor that the meeting was being recorded is astonishing.

The way the conversation proceeds makes it clear that what the City Attorney wanted to record are admissions or statements by the Federal Monitor that reflected he was biased and to record anything that would compromise his position that could be used to have him removed by the Federal Judge.

The private meeting continues with City Attorney Hernandez telling Dr. Ginger she has concerns about her personal relationship with Ginger and that the relationship is not working by making the following accusation:

“City Attorney Hernandez: “I know that you have told people that you can’t or you won’t work with me, and that’s not going to work.”

Dr. Ginger: “That’s not true. I don’t know who told you that, but it’s incorrect. I don’t think I’ve ever uttered the phrase in my life “I can’t work with so and so.”

When you listen to the conversation further, the Federal Monitor raises concerns about former APD Chief Gorden Eden and Eden’s management style implying that Chief Eden is more of a manger than he is a leader when it came to APD.

Dr. Ginger says there are chiefs who lead and chiefs who manage and Dr. Ginger goes on to say “What this place needs is leadership.”

City Attorney Hernandez complains that the APD monitoring team is setting goals impossible to reach and asserts that the goals constantly change by saying:

City Attorney Hernandez: “When they receive feedback from you or from the monitoring team, they would like it to be something they can continue to rely on. They would like it to not shift, and they would like it to not be different when the monitor’s report comes out.”

The recorded meeting conversation then turns to the recording made by former APD Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman with his department-issued lapel camera:

“Hernandez: “You expressed your frustration with me, and you told them ‘this department is going to be collateral damage” referring to the Huntsman recording.

According to the body camera video released by City Attorney Hernandez last November in a motion asking for an evidentiary hearing to determine if the Federal Monitor was biased, Dr. Ginger does indeed use the words ‘this department is going to be collateral damage but Ginger denies he said it:

Dr.Ginger: “I’m telling you I didn’t say that. I know I didn’t say it because that’s not who I am. I’m not vindictive. Never have been, don’t plan on being.”

Even though Dr. Ginger used the words “collateral damage”, City Attorney Jessica Hernandez took his use of the term out of context asserting that Ginger was intentionally trying to damage APD which has never been the case.

In the context used by Dr. Ginger, “collateral damage” means damage that would result to an unintended target, APD, because of his disagreement or fued with City Attorney Jesseca Hernandez.

It’s the intent that matters, and Ginger by his actions, words and reports has never intended to do harm to APD but rather report to the Federal Court APD’s failures and successes in the reform process.

CONCLUSION

The secret recordings filed are clear proof of just how ethically challenged Chief Gorden Eden, his command staff and City Attorney Jessica Hernandez really were for the last three (3) years.

Attorneys have an ethical responsibility to report unethical conduct or impropriety they witness in a pending case to the Federal Court and do not have authorization to secretly record Court appointed officials.

The secret recording of a federal court appointed official without their knowledge is an extremely serious breach of ethics by any licensed attorney and should never be tolerated and should be sanctioned.

Rule 16-803 of the New Mexico Code of professional responsibility provides in part as follows:

Rule 16-803 Reporting Professional Misconduct

A. Misconduct of Other Lawyers. A lawyer having knowledge that another lawyer has committed a violation of the Rules of Professional Conduct that raises a substantial question as to that lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects, shall inform the appropriate professional authority.

Both former Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry and Jessica Hernandez are licensed New Mexico attorneys and they need to disclose to the Federal Court what they knew about all the secret recordings by APD command staff, and in particular explain in full detail why they did not disclose to the Federal Monitor he was being recorded without his consent nor knowledge.

The other parties to the DOJ Consent Decree need to seek sanctions in federal court against the city attorney’s office to prevent this from ever happening again.

An even bigger issue is if anyone of the parties or if the Federal Court will make a referral or file a complaint with the New Mexico Bar for the full investigation of the City Attorney’s office.

The next Federal Court Monitor’s report will be filed in four months.

The Federal Monitor needs to address the issue and ask Federal Court Judges Brack to take the appropriate action.

The only “collateral damage” inflicted by the clandestine recordings of the Federal Monitor without his knowledge nor consent is the reputation of the City Attorney’s Office.

Public confidence needs to be restored by the new administration in the City Attorneys Office and the removal of Jessica Hernandez and the departure of CAO Rob Perry was a good start.

ABQ Reports “City recorded APD reform monitor at least 12 times”
January 17, 2018
Dennis Domrzalski

Civilian and police officials in former Mayor Richard Berry’s administration made at least 12 secret recordings of the independent monitor in the Albuquerque Police Department’s reform case with the U.S. Department of Justice.

That’s 11 more recordings than the administration told a federal court judge about when it first revealed last October that then-Assistant Police Chief Robert Huntsman had recorded the monitor, James Ginger, on his lapel camera in March of 2016.

And Berry’s administration, particularly then-City Attorney Jessica Hernandez, was secretive to the end about the recordings. Hernandez turned over audio files and transcripts of the recordings to U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack on Nov. 22, 2017. But she never told the DOJ, nor the monitor, nor the Albuquerque Police Officers Association about the additional recordings or that she had filed them with the court.

The city revealed the existence of the 11 new recordings in a document filed Tuesday [January 16, 2017] with U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack.

The city’s notice of compliance with Brack’s Nov. 16, 2017 order that the city produce any additional recordings of the monitor said that three of the recordings, including the March 2016 recording of Ginger by Huntsman, were made out of concerns that Ginger was being too hard on the city, according to a letter from then-City Attorney Jessica Hernandez that was attached to the city’s court filing.

Hernandez turned recordings and the transcripts over to Brack on Nov. 22, 2017, and her letter to the judge detailed why the recordings were made.

At least nine other recordings were made of Ginger by Bill Slauson, a civilian APD executive who was involved in the reform effort. Those recordings were made between May 10, 2016 and Feb. 27, 2017 “for the sole purpose of having an internal reference regarding direction received from the monitor,” Hernandez’s letter said.

Someone also recorded a Sept. 30, 2016, telephone conference call between Ginger, Huntsman, then-APD Chief Gorden Eden and Slauson. The city gave Brack a transcript of the recording saying it could not find the actual tape.

“The purpose of the telephone conference was to discuss the chiefs’ concerns with recent interactions between the City and the Monitor and how those were affecting the monitoring process,” Hernandez’s letter to Brack said. “The city has searched for and not been able to locate an audio recording of this telephone call. The city believes that the audio recording was not kept once it was transcribed.”

On Nov. 15, 2016, someone recorded a meeting between Ginger, Hernandez and another person. “This meeting was recorded because of worries over how the Monitor would respond when the city directly raised its concerns about recent interactions with the Monitor and how those were affecting the monitoring process,” Hernandez’s letter said. “Ms. Hernandez had not listened to or distributed this recording to anyone prior to searching for and copying this recording in order to produce to the Court.”

Hernandez’s letter said that none of the recording were “made with the intention of making the recording public or using the recording in any manner to undermine the monitoring process.”

But undermining the reform process is exactly what Brack said the city did by recording Ginger in March of 2016 and using the recording in a motion to the court that alleged that Ginger was biased against the city.

The city’s notice to Brack also slammed Hernandez for being secretive about the additional recordings. She disclosed the existence of the recordings to Brack in the Nov. 22, 2017 letter, but she didn’t tell the DOJ, Ginger, or the union that represents APD officers, that she had filed the items with Brack.

“The former City Attorney did not provide copies of her letter or its enclosures to the United States, the APOA or the Monitor when she submitted them to the Court on November 22, 2017,” the city’s filing said. “Nor did the former City Attorney otherwise alert the United States, the APOA or the Monitor of the existence of recordings involving the Monitor or this reform process other than the former APD Assistant Chief’s lapel camera recording discussed in the Court’s November 16, 2016 Order.

“In mid-December 2017, after Officials in the new Administration and the new Acting City Attorney learned about the former City Attorney’s letter and the existence of additional recordings discussed therein, the City promptly notified the United States, the APOA and the Monitor. Thereafter, the City provided the former City Attorney’s letter and its enclosures to the United States, APOA and the Monitor.

“This Notice is to inform the Court that any prior ex parte communications with the Court have been corrected by providing the November 22, 2-17 submission to all named Parties in this matter, as well as the Monitor.

“Additionally, this Notice is to inform the Court that the current City administration has terminated the practice and will not make any further recordings without the Parties’ knowledge or consent.”

OTHER DISCLOSURES IN CITY FILED PLEADING

In addition to the meeting between Federal Monitor James Ginger and city officials that Assistant Chief Huntsman recorded with his on-body camera, there were 11 other secret recordings.

(January 18, 2018 Albuquerque Journal, page A7, Court Filing: APD monitor frequently recorded; Acting city attorney says practice will end)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1120617/former-city-officials-regularly-recorded-meetings-phone-calls-with-monitor.html

According to the city’s disclosure notice, Bill Slauson, who is a civilian and a former executive director appointed by Chief Eden, recorded nine conference calls that included himself, the monitor and other city officials.

City Attorney Jessica Hernandez recorded one of the meetings that included her, Ginger and another official.

There also was a transcript of a conference call with former Chief Gorden Eden, former Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman and Federal Monitor James Ginger.

CONCLUSION

The pleading and the secret recordings filed are clear proof of just how ethically challenged Chief Gorden Eden and his command staff really were for the last three (3) years.

The secret recording of a federal court appointed official without their knowledge or consent is extremely serious and should never be tolerated and should be sanctioned.

The question that now needs to be answered is who ordered all 11 the recordings and were the secret recording authorized by the Mayor’s Office, Chief Administrative Officer Rob Perry along with City Attorney Jessica Hernandez?

Both Rob Perry and Jessica Hernandez are licensed New Mexico attorneys and they need to disclose what they knew and when they knew about the secret recordings by APD command staff, and in particular did they order or authorize the secret recordings in any manner.

Attorneys have an ethical responsibility to report unethical conduct or impropriety in a pending case they witness to the Federal Court and do not have authorization to secretly record Court appointed officials.

The issues that are now raised is if any of the parties to the DOJ Consent Decree will seek sanctions in federal court against the city.

An even bigger issue is if anyone of the parties or if the Federal Court will make a referral or file a complaint with the New Mexico Bar for the full investigation of the City Attorney’s office.

The next Federal Court Monitor’s report will be filed in four months and hopefully he will address the issue and perhaps Federal Court Judges Brack will take the appropriate action.