Dan Lewis Vilifies Criminal Justice System And Judges In Video

Pandering can be defined as the act of expressing one’s views in accordance with the likes of a group to which one is attempting to appeal. (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pandering_(politics)

The term “pandering” is most notably associated with politics.

Pandering is also political grandstanding for votes by someone who is really part of the problem of failed leadership.

Westside Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis is running for Mayor and he is part of the problem of failed city hall leadership.

Emerging as Dan Lewis’ major theme to get elected Mayor is pandering by appealing to voter’s biggest fears on crime and attacking our criminal justice system and our elected or appointed judges.

LEWIS FACEBOOK VIDEO

Dan Lewis has posted on FACEBOOK a video squinting and pontificating and standing at the location where Albuquerque Police Department (APD) Officer Daniel Webster was killed saying that APD Officer Webster was shot and killed by a violent repeat offender that should have never been on the streets.
(See https://www.facebook.com/LewisABQ/?hc_ref=SEARCH)

There is no doubt that APD Police Officer Daniel Webster is a hero and that Officer Webster should be honored for making the ultimate sacrifice for our community.

However, Dan Lewis using the location where APD Officer Webster was killed for a political video is downright disrespectful of a fallen hero.

Lewis does fallen APD Officer Daniel Webster dishonor and Webster’s family a disservice by using the location of the killing to film a video to inflame people over Officer Webster’s tragic killing and blaming the judicial system.

Lewis omits in his video that a few weeks before convicted murderer Devon Lymon killed officer Daniel Webster, undercover agents from the federal bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Explosive (ATF) allegedly purchased heroin and firearms from him and did NOT make an arrest and let him go.

No judge had anything to do with Davon Lymon being on the street at the time as Lewis implies in his video and it was law enforcement that did not make an arrest.
(See March 29, 2016 New Mexico In Depth Article “Davon Lyman Timeline: 15 years on law enforcement radar” at http://nmindepth.com/2016/03/29/davon-lymon-timeline-15-years-on-law-enforcements-radar)

Davon Lymon is the same convicted murderer that then District Attorney Susana Martinez, now New Mexico Governor, years ago plead to a reduced manslaughter charge for the killing of Ronald Chanslor, the grandson of Blake Chanslor, the owner of Blake’s Lotta Burger.

Had Lymon been convicted of second degree murder for Chandler’s killing, instead of plead out for manslaughter, chances are he would have still been in jail for the first killing.
(See http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/accused-cop-killer-previously-prosecuted-by-martinez-s-office/article_b2fed6bf-987d-536a-a4f7-12bda10b6ca9.html)

LEWIS PONTIFICATES AND IGNORES CONSTITUTION

Lewis in his FACDBOOK video pontificates that Albuquerque is being defined by criminals and proclaims it must stop.

Lewis says in his video “We will make Albuquerque the most unwelcome place for people who want to steal our cars and break into our homes and wreak havoc on our city neighborhoods”.

This should sound very familiar because it is essentially what Mayor Berry said the first time he ran for Mayor.

Lewis states in his video “we do not have to accept an unhealthy status quo” yet Lewis has been a big part of the very “unhealthy status quo” for seven years.

Dan Lewis has served for seven years as an Albuquerque City Counselor including being President of the City Council and has done next to nothing when it comes to APD, its staffing and the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree reforms.

Lewis proclaims in his video when it comes to APD and the consent decree mandated reforms “We are going to lead the reform effort with APD from the front with a new Chief and new police leadership and not being dragged along by the courts and the DOJ”.

Dan Lewis likes to point out he voted to have the Department of Justice (DOJ) come in to investigate APD as if that somehow absolves him from being held responsible for failed city council oversight of APD and for what has happened to APD during the last seven years. It does not.

During one briefing by Federal Monitor James Ginger, Lewis asked the Federal Monitor who is ultimately responsible for APD and when the Monitor said the City Council, the City Council Committee Lewis was chairing all had a good “uncomfortable” laugh and Lewis rephrased his question apparently not liking the truth he got from Dr. Ginger.

Truth is, three years ago, Chief Eden and his Assistant Chief took over APD at the time the DOJ consent decree was negotiated.

Eden’s Assistant Chief was the SWAT commander during the time period the DOJ found a pattern of excessive use of force and deadly force by SWAT and found a “culture of aggression”.

During the last three years, Dan Lewis has voiced no substantive complaints about Chief Eden nor his command staff, he has never called for their removal until now that he is running for Mayor, not even when Chief Eden proclaimed the killing of homeless camper James Boyd by APD was “justified”.

The City later paid the Boyd family $5 million to settle the case.

Each time Federal Monitor James Ginger has issued a scathing report of the lack of progress by APD, Dan Lewis and the City Council have done nothing with regards to demanding the removal of the APD command staff and demanding more be done with respect to implementing the DOJ agreed to reforms.

The Lewis solution of replacing the APD command staff and having 1,200 police officers is in no way going to solve the “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ.

Thankfully, it has been the federal court and the consent decree that has indeed, in Lewis’ word, “dragged” APD into attempted reform measures.

LEWIS PROMOTES IGNORANCE OF OUR CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM IN VIDEO

Going after and complaining about elected judges for their rulings is a red flag of ignorance of our criminal justice system.

The most disturbing part of the Lewis video is his apparent ignorance of our criminal justice system, our constitutional rights of due process of law and the presumption of innocence.

Lewis in his FACEBOOK video shows contempt for judges.

Attacking our Judicial system and judge’s rulings is a familiar tactic of President Donald Trump and is a lesson learned by Dan Lewis to “gin up” his conservative base in Albuquerque.

All judge’s take an oath of office to preserve, defend and protect our constitution.

Judges are strictly prohibited by the Supreme Court Rules and the Code of Judicial Conduct from commenting on pending cases and voicing opinions that call into question their fairness and impartiality, especially in criminal cases.

Judges are prohibited from defending their decisions and sentencing in a public forum outside of their courtroom so criticizing judges is like “shooting fish” in a barrel.

Lewis says in the FACEBOOK video “We’re gonna hold judges in this city accountable. Judges that misinterpret our laws and they put repeat offenders and habitual offenders back on the street often times before the officer that arrested them is off their shift”.

Councilor Lewis needs to disclose the judges he says are “misinterpreting the law”, or violating or ignoring bond requirements and violating sentencing guidelines, unless the accusation is an alternative fact Lewis has created now that he is running for Mayor.

Lewis threatens in his FACEBOOK video “we will hold judges accountable in this city, put their faces on billboards and their names and faces on a website that will reveal and show the records they have.”

Lewis says “We will fill up that MDC, that Metro detention center. Right now there is 800 empty beds at that detention center and there is people that should be in that detention center that are out in our streets … we are going to keep them in jail … We will make Albuquerque number one for the worst place to be a criminal in this country.”

Dan Lewis talks like he is running for District Attorney and not Mayor of Albuquerque.

What Lewis is saying is we need to keep people in jail and forget and ignore our constitutional rights of presumption of innocence and due process of law.

It is so easy to ignore our U. S. Constitution when you are pandering and running for Mayor and essentially say “catch them and lock them up and throw away the key”.

Lewis thus far has proposed no solutions to the root causes of crime among them being poverty, our poor educational system, drug abuse and addiction, high unemployment rates and a failing economy.

All Lewis is saying in his video is replace the command staff, hire more cops and that somehow is going to solve the “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ and reduce crime rates.

Lewis needs to articulate real solution for APD and for reducing crime instead pandering to people’s fear of crime and blaming judges.

Lewis now supports a “study” of consolidating public safety services of law enforcement and fire with the County. (See March 20, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, Metro & NM, page C-1 “Council to look at consolidating police, fire services with county.)

The proposed consolidation of city and county law enforcement is taken out of the political playbook of former Bernalillo County Sheriff Darren White who years ago proposed it as a way to take over APD by the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.

CONCLUSION

One vote to call in the DOJ to investigate APD does not absolve Dan Lewis from being part of the problem of failed leadership on the City Council when it comes to APD oversight and giving Berry a pass for seven years.

If you want more of the same for Albuquerque, vote for Dan Lewis for Mayor, but just be careful if you’re a Judge, because you may find you face on a billboard if he is elected.

Political Pandering By Dan Lewis

Albuquerque City Councilor Dan Lewis is now calling for a study of the impact of the ART bus project. (See March 18, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page B-1, Metro & NM Section, “Councilor calls for study of ART’s impact”)

The City Council resolution would require data collection AFTER the construction has been completed and after the bus line is fully operational.

This is what you call political grandstanding and pandering for votes by someone who is running for Mayor and who is really part of the problem of city hall failed leadership.

The ART bus project has been pending for at least four years and there were two federal lawsuits with numerous court hearings as well as five very well attended public hearings with angry constituents but City Councilor Dan Lewis was nowhere to be found during any of those hearings.

Lewis thinks that just because he voted against spending the federal grant funding for ART, that is good enough, but it’s not.

Lewis never pushed for nor did he advocate that the ART bus project be placed on the ballot for voter approval.

Lewis never made a public effort to stop the project.

Six months before the project is set to be completed, Lewis is now calling for a “good hard evaluation” of the impact ART is having on traffic, businesses and the environment now that the federal grant is in jeopardy. Why now?

Had Lewis attended the federal court hearings on the injunction and the public hearings to listen to citizen’s complaints, he would know that businesses and citizens were demanding traffic evaluations along central and residential areas, environmental impact studies and an evaluation of the effects on central businesses ART would have all before construction even started.

A full analysis of the traffic and lost parking spaces was done for the federal court by a former UNM professor.

Dan Lewis had no problems being present to vote on the $60 million dollars in revenue bonds used to fund the building of “pickle ball courts” and baseball fields and other pet projects of city counselors.

What was included in the revenue bonds Lewis voted for was $13 million for the ART Bus project.

One vote against ART funding does not hide the fact Lewis is part of the problem of failed leadership on the City Council and giving Berry a pass for seven years.

Lewis is now running for Mayor so now he calls for a “study” after the damage has been done to Route 66.

One final note: Dan Lewis has said before he does not believe that mass transit, such as a bus system, is an essential service to be provided by the City.

Biggest Lie: The Check Is In The Mail

No ART in Trump’s Budget

President Trump has thrown Mayor Berry and the Albuquerque City Council under the ART bus.

Trump’s proposed 2018 federal budget, which was released March 16, 2017, does not contain the $69 million Federal Transit Administration grant the mayor and his staff have said repeatedly is coming.

Over 20% of the ART bus project is complete and construction should be finished sometime October.

The contractor for the project Bradbury and Stamm will no doubt will be demanding full payment for their work.

The City has already placed and order for new buses.

Chief Operation Officer Michael Reardon and Transit Director Bruce Rizzieri both repeatedly said during public forums that such funding is never denied once the Federal Transit Administration grants are approved.

The Albuquerque City Council refused to put the project on the ballot and voted to fund the construction without having the money from the Federal government.

U. S. House and Senate conference committees have recommended a $20 million cut in Albuquerque’s Grant under the 2017 Obama budget and funding has not been approved.

According to the ABQ Free Press article, officials at the FTA said that if ART does not appear on the current list of “fully funded” projects, it’s won’t get any more federal money, and Albuquerque’s ART Project does not appear on the list of “fully funded” projects.

Mayor Berry and the Albuquerque City Council have egg all over their faces while city taxpayers will suffer the consequences of their sure stupidity for spending money that has not been received.

There are at least three ways the City can make up for the lost grant money but the money will still need to come out of the general fund:

1. Cuts to services with money taken out of all city departments.
2. City Council can pass revenue bonds guaranteed with future gross receipts tax revenues and at least seven (7) city councilors must vote yes for enactment.
3. Enact a special 1/8 cent gross receipts tax with a sunset clause.

The Albuquerque City Council has already enacted $13 million in revenue bonds to help pay for the project.

The entire ART Bus project has been based on lies as I said in my March 13, 2017 blog article “The City Hall Liar”s Club.

Every Albuquerque City Councilor who is running for re-election including Diane Gibson, Ken Sanchez, and Don Harris and who voted to fund the ART project need to be voted out office as does Pat Davis if he runs again.

For ART’S Sake, Breakout The “Tin Foil Hats”

FOLLOWING IS AN ARTICLE THAT APPEARED IN THE ALBUQUERQUE FREE PRESS ON MARCH 15, 2017. I WAS DELIGHTED TO HAVE BEEN QUOTED IN THE ARTICLE.

12 • March 15-21, 2017 • ABQ FREE PRESS WEEKLY

Transit Group Predicts Fed Money for ART Won’t Materialize
Berry Administration Maintains It’s Coming
BY DENNIS DOMRZALSKI | dennis@freeabq.com

Mayoral candidate Brian Colón says that Mayor Richard Berry’s administration dismisses people who question whether the city will get all, or even any, of its federal grant money to complete the $126 million Albuquerque Rapid Transit project as wackos who “are wearing a tinfoil hat.” If that’s the case, Berry’s minions will have to start accusing a Washington, D.C.-based transit advocacy group of slapping rolls of Reynolds Wrap on their heads.

On March 9, Transportation for America, a group of elected officials, business people and civic leaders that advocates for “smart, homegrown, locally driven transportation solutions,” raised the possibility that the Trump administration could kill or greatly reduce funding for the Small Starts grant program — the source of the federal money the city needs to complete ART.

“Despite the ongoing discussion emanating from the White House about a $1 trillion infrastructure package, over the next few weeks, we’ll discover where the Trump administration’s transportation priorities truly lie as they release their first budget, one which could very well slash funding for competitive multimodal grants and transit capital construction,” TFA said in its newsletter. “While the bulk of annual federal transportation spending is sourced from the highway trust fund and could be somewhat insulated from the worst of these cuts, discretionary cuts would fall disproportionately on funding for new transit.”

With ART more than 20 percent complete, the city has paid, or committed to pay, $35.8 million for construction and electric buses. That represents 63 percent of the $57.2 million in local money and previous federal grant money that the city has on hand for the project.

What the city doesn’t have is final approval from the Federal Transit Administration for the $69 million in Small Starts money it needs to complete ART. That raises the question of what the city will do if it doesn’t get all of its federal money, or if it doesn’t get any of it. So far, the Berry administration hasn’t put forward any contingency plan, despite being asked for one by the City Council. Instead of a plan, the city has repeatedly insisted that no city that has advanced this far in the grant process has been denied a Small Starts grant.

Mayoral spokeswoman Rhiannon Samuel gave ABQ Free Press Weekly this statement when asked what the city would do if it didn’t get all of its requested federal grant money: “In the unlikely event that the full funding is not awarded, the city will need to evaluate all the resources available at that time, including other federal funds, in order to complete the project.”

The city’s refrain that no city has ever been denied federal transit funds offends Colón, who said that with the unpredictable Trump in office, previous history doesn’t matter. “If this happens, [the city gets reduced federal funding, or none at all] it will be a complete disaster,” said Colón, a Democrat running for mayor. “We have a federal administration that is no holds barred. A new day has dawned in the federal government. He [Berry] needs to tell the public what his Plan B is,” Colón said. “It’s not fair to say this has never happened before, and it’s not fair to say that anybody who questions whether we’ll get funding, that they are wearing a tinfoil hat.”

State Auditor Tim Keller, who is also running for mayor, said that any scenario short of full federal funding “is a terrible scenario, no matter what.” If the city keeps building ART, it will have to pay the general contractor, Bradbury Stamm Construction, for all of the work it has done. And if the city doesn’t get its federal money, it would have to find it elsewhere. “You have to pay, no matter what,” Keller said, adding that bond rating companies would downgrade the city’s bond rating if it carried a large, unfunded debt on its books.
So what could the city do, if in April or May, it learns that it won’t get ART funding? It could order an immediate halt to construction and try to redesign the project to fit the reduced funding. Or it could look for more money.

Pete Dinelli, a former city councilor and city chief public safety officer, said a likely option would be for the city to sell revenue bonds, which would be paid off with gross receipts tax revenue. That route would require the votes of seven of the nine city councilors. Dinelli also said the city could cancel its $23 million bus order for ART and use that money for construction.

Keller said just stopping the project isn’t an option. “The new mayor has to be ready to make the best of it or deal with a huge hole in the road,” Keller said.

Dennis Domrzalski is an associate editor at ABQ Free Press. BY DENNIS DOMRZALSKI | dennis@freeabq.com

New Mexico First in Unemployment; So Do Something For A Change

New Mexico’s unemployment rate is now 6.7%, the nation’s highest, while the national unemployment rate is 4.3%. (See March 14, 2017 Albuquerque Journal article “NM unemployment rate now nation’s highest” page B-1).

New Mexico employment grew by a paltry 0.1% or by 900 jobs.

Ben Cloutier, spokesman for the State’s Economic Development Department blames our reliance on federal funding and reliance on the oil and gas industry for the states failure to diversify our economy.

The truth is that there has been a complete failure of leadership for the last eight (8) years by the Albuquerque and New Mexico business community as well as our elected officials to do what needs to be done to diversify our economy.

ALBUQUERQUE IS ECONOMIC ENGINE FOR STATE

It is often said that the Albuquerque’s economy is the engine that propels our State economy.

It has been reported that Albuquerque lost 14,900 jobs during the last 10 years, which is roughly 4 jobs a day.

According to one Brookings Institution report, the Albuquerque metro area’s economy was so bad between 2009 and 2014 that it almost fell off the charts of three measures of economic health.

Of the largest 100 metro areas in the U.S., Albuquerque ranked 100th, 99th and 83rd in the three areas measured by the Brookings Institute: Growth, Prosperity and Inclusion.

According to the same Bookings Institute report, economically hobbled cities like Jackson, Miss., and Rochester, New York, fared better than Albuquerque.

Albuquerque ranked 99th for economic growth, 83rd for prosperity and 100th for inclusion, which measures how an area’s poorest residents are doing in the economy.

According to US Census reports, more people are leaving the State than moving in, and our youth are leaving Albuquerque in droves to seek employment with a future elsewhere even after they get their college education at our universities.

Organizations such as the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, the Economic Forum and the National Association of Commerce and Industry (NAIOP), the New Mexico Business Coalitions must share some responsibility for having done little next to nothing over the last eight years to attract new businesses to Albuquerque.

When City of Albuquerque Economic Development Director Gary Oppendahl was first hired, he was called a “serial entrepreneur” by the Mayor and maybe he needs to be called a “serial business killer” for his absolute failure when it comes to economic development.

For the past seven years, the City of Albuquerque’s Economic Development Department has not attracted or convinced a single major corporation to relocate to Albuquerque.

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LEADERSHIP REQUIRED

Albuquerque must redefine its identity, take bold and aggressive, calculated risks to attract and create high-paying jobs to keep our youth and talent from leaving.

Albuquerque’s taxpayers must be convinced by its political and business leaders of the importance of investing in major public facilities, construction projects and infra structure for economic development.

Albuquerque can turn our economy around with an aggressive and massive investment to reinvent itself like has been done by great American cities such as Denver, El Paso, Pittsburgh, Oklahoma City, Columbus, and other cities that have invested billions in their communities.

The City of Albuquerque could use financial incentives for economic development such as tax increment districts (TIDS), industrial revenue bonds and even fund an economic development investment program for initial startup funding with claw back provisions.

Improving our schools and vocational systems, reducing dropout rates, are critical to diversifying Albuquerque’s and New Mexico’s economy.

Albuquerque and New Mexico as a community need to voice our demands loud and clear to the New Mexico legislature that it needs to be far more aggressive in improving and funding our education system and fund early childhood care and intervention programs and mental health care programs and start solving the root causes of crime: poverty, poor education system, high unemployment, drug addiction, to mention just a few.

Albuquerque’s economic development efforts need to be better coordinated with our vocational institutions to identify new industries that can be attracted to Albuquerque and insure Albuquerque has the trained work force to accommodate any new industry.

Albuquerque can and must expand and find better ways to use financial incentives for economic development such as tax increment districts (TIDS), industrial revenue bonds, and even fund economic development investment programs such as initial start up funding with claw back provisions.

Albuquerque needs to pursue with a vengeance real growth industries like heath care, transportation and manufacturing, and the film industry to diversify our economy.

Public-private partnerships in the growth industries where ever possible should be encouraged and developed.

Special emphasis and support should be given to Albuquerque’s film industry which is developing, expanding and proving to be very successful in providing well-paying jobs.

The City of Albuquerque needs to partner more with the State of New Mexico wherever possible.

A good first start in partnering with the State is to find a new vision for the State Fair grounds and how that very valuable gem in the center of Albuquerque can be better utilized to serve the Albuquerque community.

Other joint powers agreements can be entered between the City, State and County for the mutual use of facilities.

CONCLUSION

Our political, business and civic leaders need to show far more backbone and commitment to improving and diversifying Albuquerque’s and New Mexico’s economy.

Otherwise, we are destined to become a dying, dusty southwest city and state without any real potential for growth and better economic times and continued high unemployment rates.

The City Hall Liar’s Club

“I feel I have been lied to. We have been lied to all along”, so says Susan Ricker, the owner of a Nob Hill business for 30 years, when it comes to the ART Bus Project. (See March 13, 2017 Albuquerque Journal article, page A-1 “ART ATTACK; Transit project failing to deliver on promises, business owner’s say”)

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

Let’s count a few of the lies:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12th lie: Sidewalks will be widened for pedestrian traffic; Simply not true per the Journal story.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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