There are 6 Democrats running for the First Congressional District being vacated by Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham and they are:

Albuquerque City Councilor Pat Davis
Former Democratic Party Chair Debra Haaland
Former UNM Law School Associate Dean Antonette Sedillo Lopez
Immigration and tax attorney Damian Lara
Former United States Attorney for the District of New Mexico Damon Martinez
Albuquerque businessman Paul Moya

PUBLIC POLICY POLL (PPP)

A poll was conducted the weekend of Friday, April 13, 2018 to Sunday, April 15, 2018 and consisted of contacting 508 registered democrats with the poll having a margin of error of 4.4%.

It was Pat Davis that commissioned an “auto-phone” opinion poll with Public Policy Poll (PPP) with the link to the full poll here:

https://www.scribd.com/document/377327356/New-Mexico-1-Results

According to the poll, Debra Haaland and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez were tied with 15%.

Pat Davis polled at 11% and Damon Martinez polled at 7%.

Paul Moya and Damian Lara polled in single digits at 4% each.

43% of those polled in mid-April were undecided.

Since the mid April poll, the three candidates that have spent the most money on television advertising have gone up in the polls and the race is now too close to call between the top three, with one candidate having the clear momentum.

VOTEVETS POLL

A poll commissioned by VoteVets was conducted on May 13 and 14 by Lake Research in Washington, DC.

The firm that did the poll has been around for some time and has a good track record.

The organization that commissioned the poll is promoting Damon Martinez.

Notwithstanding who paid for the poll, it should be considered highly reliable.

The poll was of 390 “likely” Democratic voters and the poll used professional phone interviews as opposed to the “auto-phone” poll conducted by PPP and commissioned by Pat Davis.

Professional phone interview polls are considered more reliable and far more expensive than “robo-call” polls.

The poll shows an extremely tight race between three candidates with “undecided” voters still winning.

The margin of error for the poll was 5%.

The poll found that Antoinette Sedillo Lopez came in first with 25%, Damon Martinez came in a close second 23% and Deb Haaland came in with 20%.

27% of those polled said they were still undecided.

Pat Davis, Damian Laura and Paul Moya each garnered only 5 percent of the vote.

ANALYSIS

It is clear comparing the two polls that the media expenditures by the three top candidates have had a major impact on the race.

Damon Martinez appears to be the one that has had the best return on his investment and now has significant momentum.

Damon Martinez in the PPP poll was a distant fourth with 7% and now he is a close second in the Vote-Vets commissioned poll with 23%, more than three times his original PPP poll number.

Martinez has improved his poll standing by an impressive 15% in just one months time.

In the PPP poll Debra Haaland and Antoinette Sedillo Lopez were tied each with 15% and have spent significant amounts of money on media.

Sedillo Lopez improved her poll numbers by 10% and Haaland improved her poll numbers by 9%.

The one candidate that has had the biggest set back is Pat Davis who dropped by 6% despite his use of vulgar language in a TV commercial to attack the National Rifle Association.

Both polls also reflect that Debra Halaand and Antonette Sedillo Lopez are splitting the more progressive and woman’s vote and that Damon Martinez is benefitting from that.

Notwithstanding the polls, there are still three weeks left before the primary, and at this point it is more likely than not that either Damon Martinez, Antoinette Sedillo Lopez or Debora Haaland will be the Democratic nominee.

It is being reported that Mayor Tim Keller and APD Chief Michael Geier are defending the actions of the Albuquerque Police Department and its interactions with the 7-year-old child who the Attorney General’s Office says was being trafficked for prostitution by her relatives.

Both Mayor Keller and the Interim Chief are saying that no one violated any policies or procedures, including an instance where an APD officer tossed out the blood-stained underwear of a 7 year old rather than tagging it into evidence.

APD Interim Chief Michael Geier told media outlets that officers and detectives did everything they could with the information they had at the time.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1172987/mayor-apd-defend-officer-say-underwear-not-enough-to-warrant-crime-investigation.html

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-police-apd-child-abuse-case-james-stewart-teri-sanchez/4911125/?cat=500

Geier repeatedly said that the blood-stained underwear by itself was not a strong enough reason to cause further investigation beyond what the officer did that day.

Mayor Tim Keller parroted the Chief’s position when he said:

“Based on information they had at the time we have no reason to believe protocol wasn’t followed and procedure wasn’t followed.”

Mayor Keller’s comments were in conflict to what he told Action 7 News that he be believed error were made when it came to officer’s interactions with Terri Sanchez, James Stewart and their children, failing to mention the interactions the police officer had with the reporting teacher, when he said:

“You’ve got to acknowledge what actually happened and based on that, we had to have done things differently. We should have done things differently and that is definitely the case.”

http://www.koat.com/article/mayor-we-should-have-done-more-and-we-should-have-done-things-differently/20712312

THERE WAS MORE EVIDENCE THAN JUST THE CLOTHING

Interim Chief Geier says that the blood-stained underwear by itself was not a strong enough reason to cause further investigation, which is simply not the case.

Interim Chief Geier saying APD did everything they could with the information they had at the time rings very hollow when you’re dealing with a seven-year-old child and a teacher trying to do the right thing.

Interim Chief Geier ignores the other evidence the officer was told by the teacher indicating child abuse or neglect, including the child going to school unkempt and smelling of urine, which are classic signs of child neglect.

When both the Mayor and Chief say that that no one violated any policies or procedures, they are ignoring the fact that the police officer in the police offense report mentions the bloodstained underwear but did not say what happened to it nor does the report mention why it was thrown in the trash.

If the blood stain underwear merited mentioning in the written offense report, it should have been taken from the child’s teacher and tagged into evidence for further examination by APD’s forensic lab.

During the three-day detention hearing for defendants James Stewart and Teri Sanchez it was revealed by a teacher that on November 14, 2017, the child went to school unkempt and smelling of urine.

http://www.koat.com/article/mayor-we-should-have-done-more-and-we-should-have-done-things-differently/20712312

When the teacher helped the child change into clean clothes, the teacher saw the child had blood on the crotch of her underwear.

The teacher removed the underwear from the 7-year-old student and saved it for investigators.

The teacher testified when the police officer came to the school the following day, the APD officer said they could not use the underwear as evidence and threw the clothing in the trash.

She said the APD officer told her the underwear had not been kept in a secure location and that the police office said, “they’re going to have a field day if this ever went to court.”

A police officer telling a potential witness in a case “they’re going to have a field day if this ever went to court” and then “tossing evidence” is totally inappropriate.

The requirement of keeping evidence in a “extreme-secure location” applies only to evidence collected by law enforcement to ensure “chain of custody”.

There is no such requirement of “extreme-secure location” placed on victims or witnesses to crimes who turn over evidence to law enforcement, which is what the teacher was doing with the child’s blood-stained underwear.

The policies and procedures for the taking and tagging of evidence are clear from reading APD’s standard operating procedure.

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/2-73-submission-of-evidence-cofiscated-property-and-found-items.pdf

CONCLUSION

During my career as Bernalillo County Assistant District Attorney, I prosecuted child abuse cases and because of the emotional toll it took on me, I decided to move on and go into the private practice of law.

Thirty five years ago, I did a grand jury investigation of the mishandling of child abuse cases by a state agency, and to this day I can recall too many details of those crimes and the people I prosecuted.

Since 2001, in New Mexico, no less than 22 children, ranging from ages of 5 weeks old to 3, 4, 5 months old to 3, 4, 5, and 11 years old, have been killed as a result of child physical and sexual abuse.

(Re: August 31, 2016 Albuquerque Journal Editorial Guest column by Allen Sanchez.)

Study after study has shown that children from lower economic homes have a higher risk to suffer severe physical abuse and sexual abuse from their parents.

After 35 years, I still can remember the specifics of many of the cases I prosecuted.

All too often, DNA evidence found in blood and a victim’s testimony are the only evidence available to obtain a conviction for rape and child sexual abuse.

Any forensic testing results of bodily fluids such as blood and seaman would probably be enough to sustain a conviction for child rape and abuse.

DNA evidence found in rape kits is the type of evidence used to identify and convict rapists and child molesters.

The problem is, the fact that the child’s underwear was thrown away means that no one will ever know if the blood on the child’s underwear was her blood or of either defendants.

What will be unconscionable is if the offenders are not brought to justice all because a police officer failed to understand APD standard operating procedures, declined to take evidence from a victim and a witness in a case and unilaterally made the decision to trash the evidence.

A Mayor and a Chief trying to act transparent before an Internal Affairs Investigation is completed does not help much.

A three-day detention hearing was held for James Stewart and Teri Sanchez who have been charged with the heinous crime of prostituting a seven-year-old child.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1172440/pair-in-child-prostitution-case-to-remain-in-jail.html

One witnessed testified the child has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and has an extremely low IQ.

James Stewart is charged with human trafficking, promoting prostitution, criminal sexual contact of a minor and other crimes.

Teri Sanchez is charged with child abuse and contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

THE COURT MADE THE RIGHT DECISION NOT TO RELEASE

In denying the release of the two defendant, State District Judge Alisa Hart recited a list of allegations recounted by witnesses during the hearing including:

1. A teacher said the 7-year-old girl came to school in bloodstained underwear, and another school staff member said she had hickeys on her neck and chest.
2. Teri Sanchez was alleged to have hit the child in the face, used her to panhandle and dressed her up for “secret parties with strippers”
3. James Stewart was alleged to have forced the child to “touch his friends in a sexual manner in exchange for drugs and paraphernalia,” and touched her in a way that made her uncomfortable.

What is amazing is that a public safety assessments report prepared for Judge Alisa Hart recommended that both defendants be released with the assessments based largely on past convictions and pending criminal cases.

In the case of Teri Sanchez’s, it was recommended that she be released with no conditions.

In the case of James Stewart, it was recommended he be released with medium-level court-ordered supervision.

State District Judge Hart totally disagreed and rejected the recommendation to release and said:

“The alleged offenses against James Stewart are so morally reprehensible it brings into question defendant Stewart’s willingness or capability to follow the most basic mores. … It’s my belief that Mr. Stewart controls Ms. Sanchez … and if she is released and he is detained, I still believe that he will have control over her, he will have a means to gain access and influence over the children.”

Among the reasons Judge Alisa Hart listed for ruling that Sanchez must stay in custody is that she also felt that defendant Teri Sanchez was diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome and has an extremely low IQ, between 65 and 68, making all the more likely he will have control over the co-defendant.

State District Judge Alisa Hart must be commended for her decision in denying the release of both defendants and that they be held until time of trial.

There is no doubt that Judge Alisa Hart is one of the better State District Court Judges on the bench and is a credit to the Judiciary upholding the highest of judicial standards of fairness and impartiality.

WHAT WAS THE COP THINKING?

During the three-day detention hearing for James Stewart and Teri Sanchez it was revealed by a teacher that on an November 14, 2017, the child went to school unkempt and smelling of urine.

http://www.koat.com/article/mayor-we-should-have-done-more-and-we-should-have-done-things-differently/20712312

When the teacher helped the child change into clean clothes, the teacher saw the child had blood on the crotch of her underwear.

The teacher removed the underwear from the 7-year-old student and saved it for investigators.

During the detention hearing, the teacher testified when a police officer came to the school the following day, the APD officer said they could not use the underwear as evidence and threw the clothing in the dumpster.

She said the officer told her the underwear had not been kept in a secure location and that the police office said “they’re going to have a field day if this ever went to court.”

What is very disturbing is that in the police offense report, the APD officer actually mentions the bloodstained underwear but did not say what happened to it nor does the report mention why it was thrown in the trash.

The teacher saying that the underwear was potential evidence shows that the teacher knows more about the law and the “rules of evidence” than the cop did just by using her common sense.

All too often, DNA evidence found in blood and a victim’s testimony are the only evidence available to obtain a conviction for rape and child sexual abuse.

DNA evidence found in rape kits is the type of evidence used to identify and convict rapists, especially serial rapists.

The problem is, the fact that the child’s underwear was thrown away means that no one will ever know if the blood on the child’s underwear was her blood or the blood of either defendants.

Any forensic testing results of bodily fluids such as blood and seaman would probably be enough to sustain a conviction for child rape and abuse.

APD STANDARD OPRATING PROCEDURES

When the cop said of the underwear “I can’t take them because they weren’t in an extreme — secure location” it is apparent the officer did not understand, know or realize he had no business discarding the evidence and acting like a judge.

The police officer should have taken the evidence and tagged it into evidence.

The requirement of keeping evidence in a “extreme-secure location” applies to evidence collected by law enforcement to ensure “chain of custody”.

There is no such requirement placed on victims or witnesses to crimes who turn over evidence to law enforcement, which is what the teacher was doing with the child’s blood-stained underwear.

The process for tagging evidence is clear from reading APD’s standard operating procedure.

APD’s Standard Operating Procedures provide in part as follows:

“2-73 SUBMISSION OF EVIDENCE, CONFISCATED PROPERTY, AND FOUND ITEMS 2-73-1
…
2.73.2 Rules

A. … Officers will tag all found, safekeeping and evidence items using the Officer Input Module (OIM) evidence accounting tracking system. A supervisor’s signature and completed log sheet is required to authorize the use of hard copy evidence tags for exigent/unusual circumstances like OIM system outages.

B. Items to be Tagged

1. …

2. All articles of evidence, safekeeping, and found items will be tagged/entered into evidence using OIM and submitted to the Evidence Unit and deposited in substation drop boxes by the end of the officer’s tour of duty. Only a supervisor due to exigent or unusual circumstances can authorize exceptions to this; however, the evidence must be placed in a secure setting within a police building such as a safe or a locker or cabinet that can be secured under the direct control of the supervisor. Also, the tagging officer will seal all evidence tagged either in plastic or paper bags. The officer will ensure that sealed evidence bag has the officer’s initials and date across the seal, using a permanent type marker, before placing the evidence in a locker. Failure to place initials and date across the seal will result in rejection of the evidence. Large items that cannot be placed in bags will have the evidence tag affixed to them. The officer will ensure that sealed evidence bag has the officer’s initials and date across the seal, using a permanent type marker, before placing the evidence in a locker. Failure to place initials and date across the seal will result in rejection of the evidence.

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/standard-operating-procedures/2-73-submission-of-evidence-cofiscated-property-and-found-items.pdf

CONCLUSION

What happened with the physical evidence in this case makes one wonder what the hell are they teaching at the APD police academy when it comes to standard operating procedure policy.

The teacher knew more about the law of evidence using her common sense than the cop who investigated the case and wrote the report.

It was bad enough that an innocent seven-year-old child was victimized and perhaps raped.

What will be unconscionable is if the offenders are not brought to justice all because a police officer failed to understand APD standard operating procedures, declined to take evidence from a victim and a witness in a case and unilaterally made the decision to trash the evidence.

Mayor Tim Keller is approaching being in office a full six months and gave a speech that was billed as a “first six months update” speech.

I could not help but burst out laughing when I read what Mayor Tim Keller had to say in the speech before the monthly luncheon of the National Association of Industrial Office Parks (NAIOP) which is held at the Albuquerque Marriott every month.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1172116/keller-puts-out-call-for-volunteers.html

It was not as much as what he said that made me laugh, but who he was saying it to.

NAIOP’s membership is considered by many elected politicians as the “heavy hitters” in Albuquerque’s commercial development industry, construction industry and the real estate community and a source of major campaign contributions.

NAIOP and many of its membership are known to donate to the candidates for Mayor and City Council and the organization even sponsors candidate forums.

Many of NAIOPs members are also big promoters of all things Republican and the Republican Agenda and Republican candidates for office.

NAIOP or many of its membership have supported “right to work” legislation, opposed increasing the minimum wage, opposed the mandatory sick leave initiative, strongly opposes city government regulations and zoning regulations and are decidedly “anti union” when it comes to construction contracts and being required to pay “union wage” rates in any shape or form.

Many of the NAIOP membership also supported the ABC-Z comprehensive zoning plan which will have long term impact on our neighborhoods and favors developers.

The enactment of the comprehensive plan was a major priority of Republican Mayor Berry and the development community pushed hard for its enactment before Berry left office and no doubt the NAIOP rejoiced in the enactment the ABC-Z comprehensive plan.

The ABC-Z project rewrite was nothing more than making “gentrification” an official city policy and the “gutting” of long standing sector development plans by the development community to repeal those sector development plans designed to protect neighborhoods and their character.

NAIOP and it membership were staunch supporters of the previous Republican Berry Administration when it came to the disastrous $132 million ART Bus Project.

Many members of NAIOP, including developers, contractors and architects, benefited directly from the ART Bus project as well as many other construction contracts handed out over the last eight years by the Berry Administration.

WHAT MAYOR KELLER TOLD NAIOP

Not at all surprising is that Mayor Keller in his speech said that crime, homelessness and our very weak economy are Albuquerque’s biggest challenges.

Keller told the group the solutions to Albuquerque’s problems must include city residents and not government alone when he said:

“As I’m sure it’s not lost on anyone in this room, or certainly myself, there’s no way a singular leader or politician can do this on their own. … I believe in the upcoming years, we must look to ourselves for our own solutions. … We must try and hit the target instead of looking for other silver bullets. To do this, we have to come together as one Albuquerque.”

Mayor Keller encouraged local businesses to submit bids for city services by saying:

“Some of those contracts are readily available. … There’s the city’s coffee contract. There’s the city’s business card contract. The amazing thing is either people don’t know about them or the procurement process is too long. You name the reason – we’re going to work on all of those reasons and make sure they’re not a barrier anymore.”

Mayor Keller said his administration would also be reaching out soon to establish what he called a “massive volunteer program” that will have at least 4,000 volunteers that could easily double and went on to say:

“This is going to be a way to take folks who want to help the city in any way possible. … It could be filing paperwork. It could be working at one of our community centers. It could be to help facilitate some of our permitting process. It could be testing out some of the new applications on cellphones that almost nobody is using right now. … If we can come together as a city, we can reach our full potential. … It means setting our differences aside or aiming them at the particular government entity that’s causing them.”

It is when I read that Mayor Tim Keller challenged NAIOP and its membership to volunteer and come up with initiatives to help his administration’s efforts to cure the ills that beset the city that I burst out laughing knowing how many of it members donated to either Republicans Dan Lewis or Wayne Johnson who both ran against Mayor Keller.

COMMNETARY

NAIOP has never been considered a major source or a wealth of volunteerism for the city, and it never will be seeing as they do not do anything for free in their respective industries.

Profit margins is what motivates the sure existence of NAIOP and its members.

NAIOP membership is interested in bidding upon multi-million dollar city construction contracts and not the city’s coffee contract nor the city’s business card contract.

If anything, NAIOP is always looking for the “silver bullet” to solve economic development problems for its membership in that many of its membership are the very first in line to bid on city construction projects and get behind zoning changes that are detrimental to neighborhoods and to enhance developments.

NAIOP has an extensive history of being extremely critical of the city’s zoning laws, enforcement actions and regulations especially the permitting and inspection processes required by the city’s building codes.

Challenging the NAIOP membership to “volunteer and come up with in initiatives to help his administration” is somewhat embarrassing seeing as NAIOP will in all likely oppose any progressive agenda Mayor Keller wants to implement, especially when it comes to increasing the minimum wage or mandatory sick leave.

The Mayor’s call for an army of 4,000 volunteers, let alone doubling that number to 8,000 is looking through rose-colored glasses Mayor Keller no doubt found left in his office by his predecessor.

No one has time to volunteer to do anything for free for the city when you cannot make a living and perhaps holding down two jobs to make ends meet.

CONCLUSION

Mayor Tim Keller was swept into office with a 62% vote landslide giving him a mandate for change.

High crime rates, public safety, the Albuquerque Police Department, the Department of Justice reforms, the economy and increasing taxes were the biggest issues debated in the 2017 Mayor’s race.

The tone and direction the Keller Administration has taken in the last six months does not represent visionary change and frankly not much of change at all, especially when it comes to economic development.

Talking to groups like the Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Forum and NAIOP is not going to help much given that they have been part of our problem for so many years void of any vision or leadership and more concerned about protecting their own self interests.

The trajectory indications from the last six months period from Mayor Keller being in office is that Albuquerque is set to have another uninspiring four years from a Mayor filled with extensive photo ops, ribbon cuttings and talking to business organizations in the hopes of getting their support.

I totally agree when Mayor Keller say’s “there’s no way a singular leader or politician can do this on their own”, but no one is asking Mayor Keller to do it on his own.

Putting out a call for “volunteers” rings hollow given all the problems the city is facing.

What voters are asking for is leadership, inspiration and solutions, which is why so many people voted for Tim Keller for Mayor and will be very disappointed when he fails to deliver.

Following is an article by retired APD Sergeant Dan Klein published by ABQ Reports on May 14, 2018.

The Klein article is followed by what I believe is the answer to the question.

HAS APD REALLY CHANGED?

May 14, 2018
By: Dan Klein, Retired APD Sargeant

Has the Albuquerque Police Department changed, really changed? Soon we will find out.

It’s time to make accountable those who think working for the City of Albuquerque is like working at a brothel.

Two court cases this month are dragging up old, painful memories of a police department that fell from grace through poor leadership and management. The first case involved a civilian scientist, Furman Sizemore, at the APD Crime Lab. He sued the City of Albuquerque over violations of the human rights act. His lawsuit stemmed from actions by his supervisors at the APD Scientific Evidence Unit in 2015, when Gorden Eden was Chief of Police. D 202 CV 2016 05356, Sizemore vs City of Albuquerque.

The jury in this matter agreed with Sizemore, stating that his race (Sizemore is African American) was a “motivating factor in his supervisors discriminating in matters of compensation” against him. Basically, the jury said that because he is black, APD management didn’t give him a raise that they gave others who were not black. And yes, you and I are going to pay for this discrimination.

If this sounds like Groundhog Day it is, the citizens have been paying for egregious actions by APD management for years now, with no one at City Hall ever holding them personally accountable.

The second case is scheduled to start on May 14, 2018 in federal district court (Welch vs City of Albuquerque). In this case current Albuquerque Airport Police Lieutenant Terysa Welch is alleging sexual harassment and discrimination during the time she was an APD detective in the Repeat Offenders Project (ROP). This alleged harassment occurred slightly less than ten years ago when Ray Schultz (the Nature at Play chief) oversaw APD.

The allegations that Welch make are disturbing to anyone with a moral compass that works. Her complaint includes unwanted touching and hugging by her supervisors and fellow detectives, a request for her to refer to her supervisor as “daddy,” and an offer of a “three-way” sex act with one of the detectives and his wife.

Welch make a lot of other disturbing allegations such as physical threats by her fellow detectives and that they refused to provide her backup when needed. If any of this is true, it will just be one more reminder of how low APD sunk under the command of people like Schultz.

I used to tell officers in my squad that it is always darkest right before it goes completely black. Of course, it could be that it is darkest just before the dawn of a new day. This is the question Albuquerque citizens need to be asking of Chief Geier and Mayor Keller.

Will Geier and Keller ignore these two court cases and their verdicts? Or will they step in front of the cameras and put forth to the citizens and officers at APD that this is a new day and this type of activity will not be tolerated any longer.

Some of the people involved in these cases still work for the city of Albuquerque. What I hope happens is that Geier will call for an Internal Affairs investigation into Sizemore’s discrimination and Welch’s sexual harassment. If any current APD employees are found that they participated Geier must discipline them.

And this isn’t just a problem at APD. If you remember the Parking Division had their own supervisor who cost the city a couple hundred thousand dollars because he sexually harassed his subordinates.

This brings me to Mayor Keller and the strong leadership he promised. Mayor Keller, I know this crap didn’t happen under your watch, but as a Albuquerque taxpayer I am disgusted in the millions of dollars paid out for disgusting antics by people in management at the City of Albuquerque. Keller needs to put forth several policies to protect our checkbook.

Keller must enact a city policy regarding “nature at play.” It’s time to make accountable those who think working for the City of Albuquerque is like working at a brothel. Keller must also put forth a policy that if the actions of a city employee cost the taxpayers money in court settlements or verdicts, an immediate investigation must be opened. If that employee if found to have acted in violation of city rules and regulations then the punishment should be swift and sure.

I am tired of the embarrassment. I am tired of my tax dollars being handed out with no one being held accountable. Chief Geier and Mayor Keller, is this a new day or just more of the same?

TO ANSWER THE QUESTION: PROBABLY NOT

Appointing Michael Geier as interim chief was one of the better appointments Keller has made.

Geier has done a good job of calming things down at APD.

But doing a good job for the first six months does not in any way mean that there is a “culture shift” within the department nor any shift in attitudes by management let alone the rank and file police officers.

Appointing a new interim police chief who is a retired APD commander and former Rio Rancho Police Chief is not changing the traditional way of managing APD.

The is no real indication nor proof that engrained attitudes developed over the years have changed that contributed to the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice.

Chief Michael Geier’s appointment is a throwback to former APD Chief Ray Schulz and Gordon Eden management styles.

Notwithstanding the work Chief Geier is performing, Candidate Keller said if elected, he would do a national search for a new APD Police Chief and make sweeping changes to the department.

However, after almost 6 months in office, Keller finally announced a national search to for hiring a new permanent Chief.

Immediately upon announcing the national search for a permanent APD Chief, Interim Chief Michael Geier immediately announced he was applying to be made permanent, something Mayor Keller encourage by all accounts.

Chief Geier and his Deputy Chiefs represent the “old guard” of APD management.

The current command staff reflects APD’s past.

The Chief Geier’s Deputy Chiefs are not outsiders at all but have been with APD for some time.

The Deputy Chiefs of Police appointed by Mayor Keller include Harold Medina who retired from APD as commander after serving 20 years, Rogelio Banez who was the area commander in southwest Albuquerque, and Eric Garcia who was a Deputy Chief under APD Chief Gordon Eden.

The command staff under Chief Geier do not reflect a new generation of police officer fully committed and trained in constitutional policing.

All the previous commanders under the previous administration have been shuffled around with a few retiring, with no firm commitment that they will be kept as commanders.

The current organization of APD under Mayor Keller is a remarkable look alike consisting of even older faces replacing the old faces under former Chiefs Ray Schultz and Chief Gordon Eden and people brought up through the ranks of APD over the last 20 years.

Thus far, we are not seeing any real visionary change to APD and a return to a reliance on past management of the department.

It was the past APD management practices that resulted in the “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice that lead to the federal consent decree after 18 police officer involved shootings and the findings of excessive use of force and deadly force by APD.

APD needs a clean sweep in management to remove anyone who may have assisted, contributed or who did not stop the culture of aggression found by the Department of Justice and who have resisted the reform process during the last 3 years of the consent decree.

Once a permanent APD Chief is appointed, that person should be given a wide range of authority to surround themselves with who they want as Deputy Chiefs and Commanders, even if that means hiring people from outside of the department, from around the state or for that matter from out of state.

However, if Chief Geier is made permanent, it is likely he will keep the Deputy Chiefs already in place that are a throwback to the past and nothing is going to change.

The Keller Administration should consider creating a Department of Public Safety as advocated in my May 1, 2018 blog article “Create Department Of Public Safety; Abolish APD Internal Affairs; Create Salary Structure”. (See link below).

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/05/01/create-department-of-public-safety-abolish-apd-internal-affairs-create-salary-structure/

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2018/05/14/The-Future-of-APD-is-Now

It has been announced that the construction on the Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) project is now completed, a full 6 months after it was dedicated!

http://www.koat.com/article/art-construction-complete-buses-still-not-running/20143684

That’s right, it was dedicated back in November by former Mayor Richard Berry as his legacy project to transform Route 66.

In November, 2017, Mayor Richard Berry dedicated ART with great fanfare taking a bus ride on one of the new buses along with a number of supporters.

Berry also made sure a few of the buses were used for the “river of lights” during the month of November before he left office.

What was not reported extensively is that the Berry’s administration ended up renting portable generators to power the buses in order to use them for the River of Lights.

The Keller administration stopped the practice of using portable generators after being informed that using the generators could compromise the equipment’s warranty.

For a full year and a half, businesses and residents endured all the construction along central with the installation of bus platforms in the center of the street.

The platforms have destroyed the character of old Route 66 reducing it to one lane use in either direction.

A number of the business along central could not survive and just went out of business because of ART.

For the first 5 months of Mayor Tim Keller’s term, his administration has been trying to clean up the disaster known as ART not only with the construction of the platforms but the buses and the federal funding as well.

Even though construction on the street bus platforms is finished, ART isn’t done because the buses still aren’t running.

PROBLEMS WITH THE ART BUSES

One month after taking office, Mayor Keller and his CAO Lawrence Rael did a press conference and a few of the many problems with the buses were outlined including:

• Some of the buses could no be charged because the charging system doesn’t work.

• Axles on the buses were leaking oil.

• The buses had not gone through the certification process required in order for the city to be reimbursed for the buses by the federal government. Rael said one of the ART buses put through the certification process did not pass.

• A third-party certification officer wouldn’t certify the chargers that have been installed. “The chargers themselves are not operable because they’ve used what looks like Chinese equipment and probably a different standard for how they built these boxes,” Rael said.

• Fully charged batteries on the buses are supposed to last for 275 miles, but the testing the city did indicated that the charge is only good for 200 miles, which means that the city will need additional buses for ART unless the problem was 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.

• The battery cages that house the bus batteries were already starting to crack and separate.

Under the Keller Administration, another problem with the buses occurred when the Keller Administration and the City took delivery of at least 10 of the buses in California where they were assembled.

Instead of being shipped by rail, the buses were driven across country and a few sustained damages which may have also voided the warranty.

A manufacturer spokesman stated at the time the busses were not designed for cross country driving and any damages caused by the delivery to Albuquerque may not be covered by the warranty.

Mayor Tim Keller said his office is still negotiating contracts with the bus manufacturer.

In the meantime, the buses are not being used and the bus platforms remain idle.

THE FEDERAL FUNDING

There are continuing problems with the federal funding.

http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/as-city-finishes-art-refinements-where-is-the-anticipated-federal-funding/4893974/?cat=500

The city is still waiting on the federal government for the $69 million grant to reimburse the city for the project.

Mayor Keller went to Washington, D.C. hat in hand in January of this year to meet with Federal Transportation Administration officials and to lobby and try to get the $69 million dollars from congress.

Keller came back empty handed with no assurances that the $69 million grant will be funded.

Mayor Tim Keller in his second report on the ART project is quoted as saying:

“To be clear, funds were never guaranteed. … That was simply never the case.”

What was simply the case is that former Mayor Richard Berry, former Chief Operations Officer Michael Riordan and former Transit Director Bruce Rizierri repeatedly lied to the public that the federal money was forthcoming because the city had received a “letter of no prejudice” from the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) on the funding expressing support for the project.

During the second update on ART, Keller said “I think that this notion that somehow we’re just waiting for guaranteed funds is factually inaccurate and it always was.”

The truth is the House and Senate Congressional committees cut $20 million dollars from the grant with no guarantee that it will be made up in this year’s budget resulting in Albuquerque having to identify additional funding sources to make up for the shortfall.

The Keller Administration is going to have to find that money somewhere if the Feds do not come through.

CONCLUSION

It’s really a damn shame so much time is being expended by the Keller Administration to clean up the mess and the disaster known as ART.

The problem is, Mayor Keller now owns the mess know as ART at this point when he announced he wants to turn “lemons into lemonade”.

Keller has said he’ll hold more press conferences to talk about when ART buses will be running.

ART is rapidly becoming an albatross around Mayor Keller’s neck and it will more so the second the City finds out that the $69 million in federal grant money is not going to be received.

The Keller Administration will be stuck footing the bill and finding the money for a disaster that has destroyed Route 66.

We can now call it Keller’s “Albatross Rapid Transit” (ART) Bus Project.

FOR MORE ON ART SEE:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/03/07/to-be-clear-funds-were-never-guaranteed-that-was-simply-never-the-case/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/10/the-lemons-and-lies-of-berrys-art/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/01/22/mayor-keller-should-scrap-art-bus-project-and-find-alternatives/

https://www.petedinelli.com/2018/02/23/district-attorney-should-convene-special-grand-jury-to-investigate-art-bus-project/