On Wednesday, December 4, 2019 , the administration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced it has entered into settlement agreements with 5 remaining of 15 behavioral health care providers whose Medicaid funding was frozen in 2013 by the former Republican Governor “She Who Shall Not Be Named”. The previous Republican Administration alleged fraud, over billing and mismanagement by the providers. New Mexico’ system for treating mental illness and drug addiction was seriously undermined by the actions of the previous Republican administration.

Since January 1 when Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took office, 10 behavioral health nonprofits have settled their claims against the state. Governor Lujan Grisham has said repeatedly that the forced closure of the 15 behavioral health program caused severe disruption to New Mexico’s behavioral health system and had ripple effects on many families and businesses and also caused private health care costs to increase.

TERMS OF THE SETTLEMENTS

The five providers who settled their claims are Southwest Counseling Center, Border Area Mental Health Services, Families and Youth Inc., Southern New Mexico Human Development, and Santa Fe-based Santa Maria El Mirador, which was formerly known as Easter Seals El Mirador. Originally, the 5 providers sought more than $27 million in damages.

The New Mexico Human Services Department is agreeing to pay $10 million to settle the legal claims. The settlement concludes the many years of litigation that has cost the state millions of taxpayer dollars. In exchange for the $10 million in settlement, the 5 providers have agreed to drop their lawsuits against the state. The New Mexico Human Services Department also agreed to waive its claim to alleged over-payments received by the providers.

According to Human Services Secretary David Scrase, his department plans to request a $10 million supplemental appropriation during the 30-day 2020 legislative session that starts in January to help cover the settlement. The Human Services Department is working with mental health care providers to rebuild the state’s system for treating mental illness and drug addiction.
Democrat Senate President Pro Tem Mary Kay Papen, D-Las Cruces, in a statement issued described the settlement agreements as bringing long-awaited resolution to the state’s behavioral health system and said:

“Now, we can get providers back in business to help those individuals who have had to do without needed behavioral health care services”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1397990/nm-agency-settles-with-5-remaining-behavioral-health-providers.html

OTHER SETTLEMENTS REACHED

During a July 9, 2019 press conference, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that her Administration negotiated settlement agreements with 3 of the nonprofit behavioral health providers affected by the 2013 Medicaid funding freeze. The 3 providers the state settled with were: Valencia County Counseling Services, The Counseling Center and Hogares.

Under the terms of the negotiated settlement agreements, the state will paid the Valencia County Counseling Services, The Counseling Center and Hogares nearly $2.7 million in damages. The 3 providers agreed to pay the state roughly $191,000. One of the providers will also be able to apply to the state for a reinstatement of its Medicaid provider number.
Notwithstanding the 3 settlements announced, Governor Lujan Grisham said the damage to New Mexico’s mental health system caused by 2013 Medicaid funding freeze ordered by her predecessor affected numerous families and businesses and it will take years to recover from and she said:

“Quite frankly, it’s created such deep holes in the other health care delivery systems in Medicaid … that in fact it’s raised the cost in the private market for health care.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1338147/settlements-reached-with-three-mental-health-providers.html

On Wednesday August 21, 2019, the administration of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced it has entered into settlement agreements with Team Builders Counseling Services and Counseling Associates.

Team Builders Counseling Services received more than $1.9 million from the state. Team Builders was one of the state’s largest behavioral health providers. It operated in 23 counties and employed upwards of 400 workers. As part of the settlement, the state agreed to allow Team Builders to resume operations in the state and agreed to expedite the process for resumption of providing services.

The state has agreed to pay more than $173,000 in damages to settle the claims with Counseling Associates.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1356618/two-more-behavioral-health-providers-settle-claims-against-nm.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The single most cruelest thing that former Republican Governor “She Who Shall Not Be Named” did was when she ordered an “audit” of mental health services by nonprofits in New Mexico based on questionable information. The audit eventually devastated New Mexico’s behavioral health system.

In June 2013, under the direction of the former Republican Governor, the Human Services Department (HSD) cut off Medicaid funding to 15 behavioral health nonprofits operating in New Mexico. In 2014, more than 160,000 New Mexicans received behavioral health services, with most of those services funded by Medicaid, according to the Human Services Department. After the audits were completed, the former Republican Administration said that the outside audit showed more than $36 million in over billing, as well as mismanagement and possible fraud. Under the orders of the Republican Governor, Human Services Department agency brought in 5 Arizona providers to take over from New Mexico providers.

In early 2016, following exhaustive investigations, the Attorney General cleared all 15 of the healthcare providers of any wrongdoing and exonerated all of them of fraud. Even though the NM Attorney General found no fraud and cleared the nonprofits of fraud, the damage had been done to the nonprofits. With the Medicaid funding freeze, many of the 15 nonprofits could not continue and just went out of business leaving many patients without a behavioral health service provider. Lawsuits against the state were initiated by the mental health care providers.

Three of the five Arizona providers brought in by the previous Republican Administration in 2013 to replace the New Mexico nonprofits pulled out of the state. New Mexico’s mental health system is still struggling to recover.

https://www.abqjournal.com/749923/third-arizona-behavioral-health-provider-to-pull-out-of-state.html

The former New Mexico Republican Governor never understood the need for mental health services. The mental health care providers were easy targets for her conservative anti-government philosophy to freeze Medicaid funding to bring 15 nonprofits to their knees and forcing them out of business. To the former prosecutor, the answer was always increasing penalties and incarceration and never even trying to address at least two of the underlying causes of crime: drug addiction and poverty.

It has never been fully reported on how the 5 Arizona Heath Care providers were selected to replace the New Mexico nonprofits. It has also never been revealed to what extent the former Republican Governor was involved with the selection nor what orders her office gave in the selection of the out of state providers.

What is known is that legacy of Republican Governor “She Who Must Not Be Named” is a legacy of shame when it comes to the destruction of New Mexico’s nonprofit mental health care system. Her political wrath and cost cutting measures affected thousands of New Mexico residents in need of mental and behavioral health care services and she simply did not give a damn.

All of the settlements contain the standard provision found in settlements entered into by state government agencies that “neither the state nor the providers” admit any liability or fault. This no doubt also helped the previous Republican Administration save face by not being force to admit the false and heavy-handed approach it took to destroy all the nonprofits that allowed them to bring in Arizona providers. The settlements reflect good faith negotiations to end the litigation to avoid prolong litigation costing thousands. There is no doubt that settling the cases is critical to rebuilding the state’s system for treating mental illness and drug addiction.

NEED TO KNOW ELECTED OFFICIALS POSITIONS ON BEHAVIORAL HEATH CARE

During my early teenage, high school and college years, my family dealt with a member who suffered from very severe, chronic and self-destructive mental illness who never recovered from it until his passing. I will always remember how my father was treated by health care professionals and yes at times by law enforcement.

Throughout my adult life and public service career, I made sure I knew how elected officials dealt with behavioral health care issues. When I was a prosecutor, I understood the importance of drug treatment programs and behavioral health programs as an alternative to prosecution and incarceration and returning people to be productive citizens.

ACT OF COMPASSION

In politics, more can be learned about a politician and their character by observing them in private and especially how they treat other people. A little more than 5 years ago, I attended a small fund raiser for then Congresswoman Michelle Lujan Grisham. In attendance was a person who we both knew and dealt with in the past, who was a very vocal critic of both of us in the past, and who we both understood to have mental health issues.

Michelle Lujan Grisham, not knowing that I was listening and watching her, had one of her aides approach her and ask her if she wanted the person removed before she started to speak. Her response was quick and sure and it told me more about her than I had ever known. She told her aide to talk to the person, make sure he did not need anything, and then after the event, make sure he got a ride home seeing as the person walked to the event and it would be dark when the event ended. This one act of understanding revealed the true character of an elected official.

CONCLUSION

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham served as Director of New Mexico’s Agency on Aging under Governors Bruce King, Gary Johnson and Bill Richardson. Governor Richardson elevated the position to the state cabinet. In 2004, Lujan Grisham was appointed as New Mexico Secretary of Health where she was a champion for mental health services. After 8 very long years, New Mexico has a Governor that truly understands the need for effective and critical mental and behavioral health care services and is now acting with understanding and compassion.

The process to rebuild the state’s behavioral health care services will be a slow process that no doubt will take years.

On December 4, it was announced that a $1.2 million federal grant to improve infrastructure at the Rail Yards has been awarded to the City of Albuquerque. The federal grant will require a $1.2 million match from the city. The federal grant will fund water, sewer, street scape infrastructure and broadband internet to the facility that will house Central New Mexico Community College’s Film Production School of Excellence. The combined funding of $2.4 million is expected to help create 316 jobs and generate $9 million in private investment

John Fleming the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development for the Trump Administration was in Albuquerque to make the announcement with Mayor Tim Keller. Fleming commented on the matching fund aspect of the grant and said:

“It represents a significant buy-in from the community. … We love to see skin in the game. We find that these projects succeed when the city or community foundations match our investment. [The federal grant] … will help shore up infrastructure so the private sector can come up and make things happen. … This will be state of the art in terms of infrastructure … This is what private companies require before they invest their money to make things happen.”

Mayor Tim Keller during the joint appearance with Fleming said the city tried to get the private sector involved in addressing the areas that will be funded by the Department of Commerce Economic Development Association grant. According to Mayor Keller:

“No private company was going to invest in all of the infrastructure. .. And they would tell us in all of these meetings, ‘When are you going to fix up the water, the plumbing and the electricity, and the security, and bring in broadband?’ We thought, ‘Wow, we thought that’s what you were going to do.’ … Finally, we decided we had to do this. In any way you look at it, the responsibility, for better or worse …. to restore a lot of these properties, the responsibility of building that infrastructure is in many ways the government’s. … We do believe if we can build out the infrastructure and make this a leasable, occupied space that, it will be a huge economic benefit”

According to Keller, the city’s commitment exceeded the matching amount required for the grant. On November 5, City voters approved $5 million in general obligation bond funding for the Rail yards, and during the 2019 New Mexico Legislative session, the state legislature appropriated $7.5 million for the rail yards.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1397844/rail-yards-grant-requires-city-to-have-skin-in-the-game.html

KELLER SUFFERS FROM POLITICAL AMNESIA ON RAIL YARDS INVESTORS

Mayor Tim Keller is suffering from political amnesia. It is simply not true when Keller says that the city tried to get the private sector involved with the Rail Yard Development and no one showed any interest or will to deal with the infrastructure. Keller had private meetings with private investors willing to take over the Railyards project, but he said no.

John Strong has lived in New Mexico since 1997. He is a highly successful private business owner and has been investing in business startups since 2004. He is a co-founder or board member at several different companies, mostly in technology, healthcare, and financial services. Mr. Strong describes himself as being “obsessed” with entrepreneurship and small businesses.

John Strong had a reaction to Mayor Tim Keller’s announcement of the federal grant for the railyards:

“Recently, I’ve read … that Mayor Tim Keller had wished there was a private developer interested in the Railyards project, but that no one was. That is not only false, it’s a lie. Here’s how I know that.

In November of 2018 I was contacted by Stu Jones, a developer in Dallas, Texas who had an interest in the Railyards. Here’s a little background on him. Stu Jones is arguably one of the nation’s most prominent “Brownfield” developers. Brownfield projects are those that require environmental remediation, water table cleanup, or toxic waste cleanup. Jones’ company has completed billions of dollars of these re-developments in the United States including recently the re-development of a 5 million square foot former aircraft manufacturing facility in Dallas. He is recognized nationally as an expert in this area.

At this point I have only two requests for Mayor Keller. I want an explanation for why he feels compelled to mislead us about the Railyards project by lying about no private sector interest in the project, and I want an apology from him to every citizen for having done so.”

$14.4 MILLION NOT ENOUGH

The $1.2 million federal grant and the city’s matching $1.2 million, the state’s $7 million and the $5 million in voter approved bonds falls short of what is actually needed for site preparation and development.

Leland Consulting Group is a Portland-based development consulting firm that was contracted to study the financial feasibility of redeveloping the Albuquerque Rail Yards. This past summer, the Leland Consulting Group determined that it will cost the city between $50 million and $80 million in infrastructure, environmental remediation and structural renovations to develop the property.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1359516/rail-yards-site-prep-could-cost-city-50m-to-80m-million.html

The city has completed an environmental study of the site and has submitted a voluntary remediation plan to the state. The Leland report suggested 3 different levels of development of varying levels of density. The report notes redevelopment will occur over many years, making it impossible to predict the exact mix that would work. All the levels of redevelopment call for “adaptive reuse” of buildings on the property’s north side, which the report calls the Rail Yards’ “front door.” Proposed uses include Central New Mexico Community College’s film center, the existing Rail Yards Market, and new retail, restaurants and commercial tenants and residential homes.

According to the financial analysis:

“As a conservative starting point, LCG recommends viewing these as costs [of $55 million to $80 million] that are likely to be borne by the City … These costs associated with ‘horizontal’ development (site preparation, transportation, utilities) will be necessary in order to set the stage for ‘vertical’ development (i.e., building improvements and new building construction, which are not shown).”

In other words, Leland suggested the taxpayer money be used for the $55 million to $80 million site preparation. In comparison, the ART Bus project was $130 million to build infrastructure and platforms up and down central.

The consultant’s estimates do not include the many other possible expenses, or hidden costs, associated with structural retrofits of two of the buildings “where evidence of past fire(s) were observed, which could affect the structure,” and the foundation retrofits and floor resurfacing in some of the buildings that are 100 years old. According to the report a more thorough “property and building conditions assessment” is required.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Successful cities that have transformed blighted and struggling older areas of their cities have been Tulsa, Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Denver, Colorado, Phoenix and Scottsdale, Arizona. El Paso, Texas has dramatically transformed its downtown area. The way each one of these cities did it was with a massive infusion of capital and building large capital projects costing billions of dollars.

Some of the best examples of billion-dollar investments are the building of the BOK Center in downtown Tulsa, the Chesapeake Arena in Oklahoma City, the municipal railway running from the outskirts of Denver and through downtown Denver, Colorado or the River Area in downtown Scottsdale, Arizona. In Tulsa the BOK Center sparked hundreds of millions of dollars of redevelopment in adjoining neighborhoods.

In Oklahoma City, the Chesapeake Arena and adjoining Bricktown continue to expand. Previously blighted areas are being filled in with business developments, new housing, recreational facilities, and even cultural amenities. A key component has also been law enforcement to make people feel safe enough to move into those areas as they were being redeveloped. A key involvement to most if not all was seeking voter approval of the projects. Tulsa and Oklahoma City have been so successful that voters continue to approve new ones.

What is ill advise is for Mayor Tim Keller to think the Rail Yard redevelopment can all be done with local talent and local and state investment tax dollars.

The established Albuquerque business and development community and the accompanying construction industry tend to suckle at the tit of city government for projects without making any financial investment of their own. Such massive amounts of capital, usually in the billions of dollars, is needed to build large capital projects that could be built on the Railyards.

Mayor Tim Keller needs to set aside his ego for a legacy project and seek out major investors to get the rail yards development accomplished and stop saying that no private investor is interested in the project. Otherwise, the city will be dealing with an even bigger fiasco than the ART Bus project.

On Saturday, December 1, the two year delayed Albuquerque Rapid Transit (ART) bus service began operation on the 9 mile stretch of Central with great fanfare to coincide with Small Business Saturday. The city’s transit department had “ station ambassadors” at each of the 19 ART bus stop platforms in the middle of central to answer questions and help direct passengers. Mayor Tim Keller even took the opportunity to ride the bus for photo ops. It was announced the ART bus service is free through the end of the year with the city scheduled to start charging fees on January 2.

ART is a replacement of the 766 Red Line, which runs from the Central and Unser Transit Center to Louisiana Boulevard before turning north to the Uptown Transit Center It also extends the 777 Green Line, which serves Central Avenue all the way from Unser Boulevard to Tramway Boulevard.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1396308/after-delays-art-to-begin-service-on-saturday-ex-all-bus-rides-will-be-free-until-january-2-after-which-fares-will-be-the-same-as-abq-ride.html

SIX ACCIDENTS IN 12 DAYS OF FULL OPERATION

The local news media has reported that there have been 6 accidents involving the ART Buses in the first 12 days of full operation.

The first crash involving an ART bus happened on Central near 52nd Street on Wednesday morning, December 4. APD Police reported that a driver was in the ART bus lane when he was hit by the bus. The driver of the car hit was taken to the hospital for medical treatment, and the bus had to be towed.

The second ART bus crash happened in front of the New Mexico State Fairgrounds at Central and Louisiana at around 4:30 p.m on December 4. A driver sideswiped the bus with their front left light as they were trying to turn into the ART lane. The bus was scratched, but resumed service. No injuries were reported.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/third-art-bus-involved-in-crash-since-launching-last-week/5571442/?cat=500

On December 5, a third ART bus crash was reported near Central and Monroe. According to one news report the crash involved a black Dodge that appeared to have damage to the driver’s side door. Accroding to news reports, a driver heading east merged into the ART bus lane thinking it was a left-hand turn lane, east of Nob Hill on Central near Monroe.

City spokeswoman Alicia Manzano said this of the accident:

“The driver of the car needed to be turning left, and he told officers he thought he needed to be one more lane over … He turned into the ART bus.”

On December 6th, the city confirmed a 4th crash involving an Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus in its first week of service. According to a news report, a car crashed into the bus around 10:30 p.m. Friday, December 6 at Central and Princeton, possibly after trying to pass another vehicle by using the ART lane. The driver of the car was taken to the hospital in unknown condition, and the bus only sustained minor damage to the front bumper.

On December 7, a 5th accident involving another ART Bus occurred around 5:15 pm on Central Ave. SW, near New York Ave. SW., directly across the street from the El Vado Hotel. There were approximately 10 passengers on board, at the time of the crash. No one was injured.

On December 11, a 6th Albuquerque Rapid Transit bus crash was reported in southwest Albuquerque. The crash happened at Central Avenue and 52nd Street. It is the same spot the first ART bus crash happened. According to a city spokesperson, an eastbound ART bus had the right of way and was trying to proceed when a black vehicle turned in front of the bus. The driver of the black vehicle was at fault. The ART Bus sustained minor scratches and resume its normal route.

Media reports of all 5 accidents can be viewed at the below links:

https://www.koat.com/article/sixth-art-bus-crash-reported/30201310

https://www.koat.com/article/fifth-art-bus-crash/30162514

https://www.krqe.com/home/art-bus-crash-marks-fourth-in-transit-systems-first-week/

https://www.abqjournal.com/1398363/art-bus-involved-in-east-central-crash.html

https://www.koat.com/article/art-bus-involved-in-another-crash/30141389

NEWS UPDATE

As of December 20, there have been 10 accidents with ART Buses. The city says it has “$300,000 in replacement parts, including mirrors … fenders, windshields and windows and wheelchair ramps, doors, the whole slew of different parts” to repair the ART Buses in anticipation of all the accidents. According to this report, the parts are interchangeable with buses they already have. After 10 accidents, the city is now worried about running out of buses and parts and the city says if they’re forced to take any more buses off the route, they’ll have to change the schedule. According to this report two ART buses are out of commission and it will cost about $80,000 to repair them.

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/how-is-the-city-maintaining-art-buses-after-crashes/

A CASE OF NEGLIGENT DESIGN

(DISCLAIMER: This section is not intended in any way to be an exhaustive or definitive statement of the law to be relied upon as legal advice to anyone or by anyone.)

In general, tort law is a collection of civil law remedies entitling a person to recover damages for loss and injury, even death, which have been caused by the actions, omissions or statements of another person in such circumstances that the latter was in breach of a duty or obligation imposed by law.

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/Contract_vs_tort

When it comes to civil causes of action for negligence to collect damages, a plaintiff in general must establish in court by preponderance of the evidence 5 elements:

1. A duty of care owed by the defendant to the plaintiff;
2. A breach of that duty by the defendant;
3. A “causal connection” between the defendant’s conduct and the resulting harm;
4. Proximate cause, which relates to whether the harm was foreseeable;
5. Actual harm (monetary or physical damages)

(SOURCE: Pete Dinelli memories from second semester law school, TORTS II)

When it comes to the ART Bus Project, many of the same principles applied to “defective products” and “negligent design” will probably be argued.

Under the law of negligence, one of the most common causes of action for damages that the general public is familiar with is for “defective product” claims involving negligent design of the product. “Such cases involve the design decisions made by the manufacturer during the creation of the product. The focus of a negligent design claim is that even if the product was in its intended condition once produce, there was something inherently wrong with the product that was foreseeable and that caused the damage. In a negligent design case, a plaintiff must prove that a defendant failed to exercise reasonable care, the injured plaintiff must demonstrate that the product created an unreasonable risk of foreseeable injury.To establish a negligent design case, the injured person must present evidence regarding either:
The magnitude of the risk of injury presented by the defect in the product and the reasonableness of the proposed alternative designs, or
Other evidence concerning the “unreasonableness” of the risks in the design”

https://callsam.com/resources/negligent-design-of-the-product/

Many of the principles of negligence and burden of proof requirements apply and are relied upon in “negligent design of highway construction.” Accidents caused by inadequate signage, lack of warning lights, poor lighting, improper drainage, defective traffic control signs, faded highway lines or even unsafe, inadequate or nonexistent guardrails could all be considered negligent road design. Improper maintenance of the road such as loose debris, gravel, potholes, construction refuse, or cement cracks can also be considered negligent road design. When it comes to ART, the bus stop platforms in the middle of central and no left turns along the route could conceivably fall into the category of negligent design contributing to accidents.

https://www.rosenthalkreeger.com/negligent-road-design/

Under the New Mexico Tort claims act, the city is generally granted immunity from liability for personal injury barring recovery for tort (41-1-4 NMSA 1978). However, there are exceptions to the immunity. The immunity granted does not apply to liability for damages resulting from bodily injury, wrongful death or property damage caused by the negligence of the government entity and immunity exists for design but not for maintenance. ( 41-4-11. Liability; highways and streets.)

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2011/chapter41/article4/section41-4-4/

The subsequent maintenance language of 41-4-11 (A) is what is problematic and says immunity granted “does not apply to liability for damages resulting from bodily injury, wrongful death or property damage caused by the negligence … in subsequent maintenance of any … highway, roadway, street, … .” The platforms were completed almost a year ago and stood idle and unused and with no accidents. Now that the buses are up and running the city has the duty to maintain the route and required to take steps to reduce accidents now that the city now knows what the problems are with the line and there is a duty of maintenance. If the buses themselves, the platforms and no left turns are contributing to accidents that can now be forseen, and the city does not do anything to mitigate or cure the problem, it’s a maintenance issue and the language of 41-4-11 (A) kicks in.

https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/2011/chapter41/article4/section41-4-11/

In the event that a civil lawsuit is filed relating to any accident on the ART Bus route, it is extremely likely that the attorney for the injured plaintiff will be demanding all documents relating to the design and construction of the ART Bus project. The lawyers will demand to see all the plans, construction designs and traffic flow studies for the project and perhaps even environmental impact studies and the applications with the Federal Transportation Administration for the $125 million dollar grant. At the center of the law suite will be that the city knew or should have known that the construction and design of the ART Bus system would lead to multiple accidents with the buses and perhaps the death of pedestrians trying to catch a bus in the middle of central. What is pathetic is that during public hearings on the ART project held by the previous Republican administration, speaker after speaker warned city officials of the problems associated with building bus platforms in the middle of central.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

After 5 accidents in 8 days of full operation involving ART Buses, the city said it has no plans to suspend service and are looking at plans to add barriers or make changes to the ART stretch. Alicia Manzano, a city spokesperson said:

“We’ve been trying to do an evaluation of the corridor, and we’ll continue to do that over the next six months to see if there are probably areas, if we need to put temporary barricading. … What we’ve heard from partners across the country, like those in Cleveland who have operated a system similar, it took folks many years to get used to the new driving pattern and it’s just a matter of continuing to educate drivers.”

https://www.koat.com/article/four-art-bus-crashes-in-first-week-of-service/30159227

No one in their right mind will want to take an ART Bus and risk serious injury as a passenger and no one will want to drive central and deal with 60 foot buses barreling down on you on left side. No one will want to wait years for people to get use to driving patterns.

With 4 ART Bus accidents in 7 full days of operation, this is what happens with a negligent design of a bus system. Keller should suspend the service along central before someone gets killed, rededicate the bus lanes to public use and start to find an alternative use for the platforms. It is better to have the dedicated lanes used by the public and the platforms stand idle before someone gets killed. Otherwise, the Keller Administration is setting the city up for lawsuit after lawsuit as more accidents happen.

From the get go, it was a lack of common sense to have a bus system on one of the busiest streets in the city that resulted in one lane of traffic in each direction and that prohibits left lane turns along a 9 mile stretch of central. It was also obvious that the platforms built in the middle of Central would lead to people getting into danger by walking through traffic to get to them. With the 3 accidents its apparent vehicular traffic will have trouble adjusting to having 60-foot buses traveling passing by them on their left side. It was foreseeable that the ART Bus System would result in serious accident.

Complicating the problem is that bus ridership continues to plummet and it is doubtful a “cheesy” little 9 mile stretch of central is going to increase ridership. See the below postscript on bus ridership.

ALTERNATIVE USE SOLUTION PROPOSED

Although the financial cost of ART was $125 million, it did not come out of the city’s coffers. The funding was overwhelmingly from federal grants from the Federal Transportation Department. The real loss the city sustained is the destruction of the character of central and Route 66. Mayor Tim Keller when refusing to stop the project said it would cost upwards of $200,000,000 million to restore central to its original state. The argument made by Keller was highly doubtful without him providing how that figure was arrived. Keller was also presuming the bus stop platforms would have to be removed.

One solution to consider is to get rid of the dedicated bus lanes and return Central to the two-lane traffic it was in both directions and restore the 350 lost parking spaces on Central. An alternative use for the bus station platforms needs to be found. The white “elephant canopies” should be removed and the platforms stripped barren, but leaving the electrical utilities installed. An alternative use for the platforms that blends into the neighborhood architecture needs to be found. Such alternative use could be large sculptures to commemorate route 66, neon signage reminiscent of the 1950s and Route 66’s heyday or even planters for trees and nighttime lighting.

The $50,000 BURQUE sculpture which now sits on a flat bed at the Rio Grande zoo after removed from civic center could be placed on one of the platforms as a permanent fixture. Designed sculptures could carry the theme of the platform’s locations, such as the Nob Hill platform, the UNM platform across the street from the Frontier Restaurant and the Old Town area platform.

The funding can easily come from the Capital Improvements Program (CIP) with general obligation bonds placed on next year’s ballot for voter approval. Funding could also come from the “Art In Public Places” fund mandated for development.

Work on rededicating the bus platforms for other usage would not take as much time nor as much construction and no tearing up central the way ART did.

CONCLUSION

Given the continuing plunge in bus ridership, it is more likely than not ART is already an obsolete project that no one will use. The $135 million ART Bus project was built on the philosophy “if we build it, people will use it”. With the accidents, the real philosophy is looking more and more like “if we built it, someone is gonna get killed.”

Mayor Tim Keller should order the the transit department to shut down the ART Bus line immediately.

_________________________________

POSTSCRIPT

On November 5, 2019, the city’s ABQ RIDE Ridership Statistics by Route for Fiscal Year 2018 (July 2017 through June 2018) were released by the Keller Administration. You can read the report here:

https://www.cabq.gov/transit/documents/fy18-annual-productivity-summary.pdf

The city report published by ABQ RIDE bus service shows a decreasing number of riders boarding buses in total and a decrease in ridership on some of the city’s bus system’s most popular routes. According to the statistics compiled by ABQ Ride for Rapid Ride buses, ridership fell from 1.91 million total riders on all Rapid Ride routes in FY 2017, to 1.65 million total riders on all Rapid Ride routes in FY 2018.

The Route 66 bus across Central Avenue, the total number of riders fell from 2.26 million total riders in FY 2017, to 2.06 million total riders in FY 2018. Comparing the data between FY 2016 and FY 2018, the ridership decline is very noticeable. In FY 2016 (July 2015-June 2016), ABQ Ride counted 11.20 million riders on all Rapid Ride and regular routes. In FY 2018 (July 2017-June 2018) ABQ Ride counted 9.47 million riders on all Rapid Ride and regular routes.

In a story written by reporter Dennis Domrzalski and published by ABQ Reports on November 18, it was reported very few, or almost no one, uses the Albuquerque bus transit system. According to the United states Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, a meager 1.7% of working-age people in the Albuquerque area use public transit to commute to work while 89.5% take cars or trucks to commute to work.

According to the census, there are 322,822 working-age people yet a mere 4,857 of those people, or 1.5%, walked to work, and 6,150, or 1.9% found some other way to get to their jobs. The statistics reflect that 98.3% of the working-age people in the Albuquerque area do not use public transit to get to work all the while the city’s bus system keeps growing despite falling ridership.

You can read the full ABQ Report and review statistical graphs here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2019/11/18/Almost-no-one-rides-buses-in-ABQ-Really-almost-no-one

Since taking office on December 1, 2017, every quarter when APD has released the city’s crime statistics, Mayor Tim Keller has done a press conference to release the statistics. He did so on July 1, 2019 to report the statistics for the 2019 second quarter and to compare them to the 2018 midterm year numbers. Keller reported that crime was down significantly , with double-digit drops in many category including violent offenses such as robberies, aggravated assaults, and rapes.

On Sunday, December 1, 2019, two years to the date Keller assumed office, the Albuquerque Journal ran a front-page story that all the crime rate reductions Mayor Tim Keller reported in his July 1, 2019 press conference were in fact seriously flawed and false. According to the report, both the 2019 mid-year statistics and the statistics released at the end of 2018 were revised dramatically to include hundreds, and in some cases thousands, of more incidents than were initially reported.

The final numbers for all of 2018 showed violent crime actually increased, and in many categories the crime rates only dropped in single digits and not the double digits reported by Keller. At an October meeting of the City Council, APD provided the revised statistics but failed to report that the numbers had changed drastically. Mayor Keller also did not hold any kind of a press conference to correct nor announce the corrected statistics.

You can review the corrected statistics in the postscript after this article.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1335502/crime-declining-in-albuquerque-new-numbers-show.html

WHAT WENT WRONG

Alarmed by the December 1 Albuquerque Journal report that crime statistics were dramatically understated, the Albuquerque City Council during its December 2 meeting confronted the Keller Administration. The City Council asked Keller Administration Chief Administrative Office Sarita Nair and Deputy APD Chief of Staff Liz Armijo what caused the statistics fiasco, how many years had it been going on and what is being done to correct the problem. You can review the entire exchange and discussion here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsAOmTRsT0M&fbclid=IwAR2u1UdcKadW_RsygeRZSadJ6FIqGuGgyQJVkdZsa07lQet3vvGSbuV0tzo

During the exchange with city councilors, Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair cited several major reasons for the false numbers. The reasons cited include:

1. Antiquated data collection systems, inefficient technology and the lack of an “across the board integrated data reporting system”.
2. Delayed reporting of crimes to APD by victims
3. A shift in how APD categorizes certain crimes
4. Human error in labor intensive manual record making and record keeping process
5. A shortage of 8 employees in the APD records division.

During the December 2 City Council meeting, Deputy Chief Armijo blamed the inaccurate statistics on different software programs that are antiquated and that are not fully integrated. At one point, Armijo told City Councilors that when APD converted its data system in 2018 from the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) system to the National Incident-Based Reporting System(NIBRS), APD’s crime statistic “numbers went into a black hole”. When the glitch was discovered, the system was re-calibrated and the numbers were downloaded on the new system. It was Deputy APD Chief of Staff Liz Armijo that presented second quarter crime data at the October 21 City Council meeting. However at the time, Armijo did not mention that APD had identified problems with the numbers it publicly released months earlier.

(NOTE: Computer-aided dispatch (CAD) is a computer-assisted dispatch of law enforcement for calls for service. National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBERS) is more sophisticated and is an incident-based reporting system used by law enforcement agencies for collecting and reporting data on crimes.)

CAO Nair reported to the city council:

“We don’t know that there’s a problem, but I don’t think we can confidently say there’s not a problem, so we have to go back. … By moving to quarterly [reporting of the statistics] we exposed all the flaws in the system. This has been a problem for a long time, but when you give stats on an annual basis you give yourself all that time to clean up and patch up and get to the right numbers. ”

According to Nair, the mistakes and issues were complicated by Mayor Tim Keller’ s desire to provide quarterly updates in the name of transparency instead of releasing only annual data, which increased the likelihood of errors. Nair told the city council the Keller Administration is going back and reviewing the accuracy of the statistics for the past two years.

Further, Nair said the city has worked to fill vacancies on the records staff. The Keller Administration is also asking the NM Legislature for $20 million to modernize “crime fighting” technology, including an updated record management system.

UNION REACTION

Shaun Willoughby, president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, said he’s worried that the revelation that the decreases are far less significant will make it harder for the public to trust the Police Department’s briefings in the future:

“I don’t think this was done intentionally, but I think the public is going to have a credibility issue with the Police Department, and this administration and we need to work together as a team to prevent this from ever happening again.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1397614/city-to-review-two-years-of-crime-data-after-recent-discrepancies.html

NEED TO KNOW WHAT IS WORKING

City Councilor Pat Davis told Nair that the city council needs the right data for budgetary reasons and to establish APD priorities and to know what programs are working. In the last 9 months alone, Mayor Tim Keller has announced 4 separate initiatives to combat violent crime and reduce crime rates. According to Davis:

“I think we felt like there was no real disclosure that APD was aware that as much as 20 or 30% of their data could’ve been under reported. … We’ve seen the number of strategies from the administration about how to deal with crime all based on the premise that what we’ve done so far is working. … [It] appears our changes in crime stats in particular areas are no better than the majority of cities the same size as us around the country. … You wonder how effective some of the special initiatives have been. … We put extra money into APD for special initiatives to solve specific problems, and maybe they haven’t been as successful as we thought they were, and maybe that money could’ve gone somewhere else that could’ve been.”

MODERNIZING APD’S RECORD KEEPING

On December 2, Mayor Keller held a press conference to reveal his legislative priorities for the upcoming 2020 New Mexico Legislative session that starts in mid-January. Keller said his top priority will again be public safety and made a pitch for money from the legislature to update the city’s crime fighting technology. His requests include $10 million for his violence intervention programs and $20 million for modernizing crime fighting technology.

The breakdown of the $20 million ask by Mayor Keller to bring Albuquerque’s crime-fighting technology up to date includes:

$13 million for CAD / Records Management System;
$1.2 million for Video Management Software;
$2.5 million for Crime Scene Response, including a new crime scene bus;
$1.2 million to update the Laboratory Information Management System;
$250,000 in upgrades to the Evidence Warehouse;
$810,000 for Latent Fingerprint Section improvement;
$320,000 for Automated License Plate Readers;
$150,000 for Firearms & Toolmarks Technology;
$370,000 to upgrade DNA equipment; and
$100,000 for a ballistic water tank replacement.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayor-lays-out-wish-list-for-2020-legislative-session/5568427/?cat=500

https://www.koat.com/article/mayor-holds-another-news-conference-to-address-crime-epidemic/30093713

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

A sure way for any Mayor or a Police Department to lose credibility with the public is to repeatedly announce reductions in crime and then having to admit the statistics announced were dramatically from the truth. What is downright embarrassing is when the Mayor’s own Police Department is incapable of compiling the information reported to the FBI and then proclaims crime is down. There is a huge risk in trying to report crime statistics on a quarterly basis because of how rapidly they can change over 3 months. It is doubtful that Mayor Keller intentionally wanted to mislead the public.

No doubt Keller was anxious and had the desire to show reduced crime rates so he could take credit for progress in reducing crime and went forward with the quarterly press conferences proclaiming he was interested in transparency. CAO Nair acknowledged that “moving to quarterly [reporting of the statistics] we exposed all the flaws in the system” and they learned that is why prior administrations waited to the end of the full year when the numbers were finalized.

The “statistics reporting fiasco” is a lot more serious than what Mayor Keller and what CAO Sarita Nair want to let on or care to admit. The City relies heavily on Federal Law enforcement grants, often in the millions of dollars, to conduct operations, tactical plans such as DWI, and fund programs. Often, federal funding is based upon the statistics that the city provides to the FBI. It is more than just possible but highly likely the feds will withdraw funding or demand refunds of funding if the city is found to have submitted bogus crime statistics in applications for grant funding.

DON’T HOLD YOUR BREATH FOR A BAILOUT

Mayor Keller and the City Council should not hold their breath expecting that the New Mexico Legislature will allocate $20 million to update the APD records keeping and data entry system. The New Mexico legislature will probably be asking why? The $20 million dollar request is being made 18 months after Keller signed into law a gross receipt sales tax increase enacted by the city council that raised gross receipts taxes by $60 million a year and breaking his promise not to raise taxes, even for public safety, without a public vote. It also comes after a mere 7 months after the City announced in April a onetime $34.4 million dollar windfall, called an “orphan month”, as a result of a change in accounting policy to align the city finances and accounting practices with state government financing and nearly all other governmental entities. It also comes two months after Keller submitted a $29 million dollar lodger’s tax and the City Council approved on October 7 a $30.5 million “Sports -Tourism” lodger tax package on a unanimous vote to upgrade and build sports facilities throughout the city.

CONCLUSION

At worst, what happened with the statistics was downright incompetence or at best, downright sneaky, especially when APD gives the accurate statistics to the City Council a full two months before the mistakes were made public and not bringing it to the attention of the council and the public.

Mayor Keller did say he plans to eventually hold another news conference acknowledging the discrepancies and providing new data. That is a sure bet as Keller announcing yet another new program to reduce violent crime after the next high profile murder spree.

NEWS UPDATE:

On December 6, Mayor Tim Keller announced that his administration will hire a researcher to oversee an independent review of the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) data systems. Peter Winograd, a retired professor with the University of New Mexico School of Law, will be retained on contract to review the data entry systems and the crime statistics. Winograd has previously conducted studies for the city on crime rates. Mayor Keller had this to say:

“We are bringing in a respected, independent researcher to manage a thorough review of the systems used for decades by APD to track crime. …. As we continue our efforts to reform areas throughout the department, it’s become clear we need to overhaul APD’s data systems, and Dr. Winograd’s outside expertise will help ensure that the department fixes these longstanding problems.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/mayor-keller-announces-review-of-apd-data-systems-/5572267/?cat=500

Winograd will assist in analyzing data and redesigning APD’s use-of-force reporting and accountability processes to comply with a reform effort mandated by the U.S. Department of Justice Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA). According to Deputy Chief J.J. Griego, who oversees the Records Division, Winograd’s review will be broad and said: “He’s going to be looking at the whole process. … As far as a review of past years, I think that is probably in order to ensure that everybody knows we’re being transparent and that there are no issues in the past that may raise its head later.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1398737/researcher-to-review-how-apd-collects-crime-data.html
____________________________

POSTSCRIPT

The corrected statistics as reported by the Journal are:

Auto burglaries decreased 16%, not the 38% as previously announced
Auto theft decreased 22%, not 39% as Keller reported
Commercial burglary decreased 3%, not the 27% Keller reported
Residential burglary decreased 16%, not 39% as Keller reported
Homicide decreased 2.5%, not 18%, but homicides have since increased substantially and the city has tied the all-time record of 71.
Rape decreased 3%, not the 29% Keller reported
Robbery decreased 30%, not 47% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault decreased 7.5%, not 33% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault increased 21%, rather than decreasing 8% as announced during Keller’s July news conference
Rape increased by 3%, rather than decreasing 3%
Auto theft decreased 14%, not the 31% reported by Keller
Homicides remained basically the same decreasing by a single murder
Robbery decreased 32% and Keller reported it decreasing by 36%

Dan Klein is a retired Albuquerque Police Sergeant after 20 years of public service. He has been a small business owner in the private sector now for 15 years. Mr. Klein has been a reporter for both on line news outlets the ALB Free Press and ABQ Reports.

On November 25, 2019, the following article written by Dan Klein, with introductory bullet talking points was published by ABQ Report:

“The same old BS: Keller and Geier want more money to fight crime. How about real cops?

|
– More data isn’t going to reduce crime. Neither is more money.

– Albuquerque needs a police chief like Bob Stover, who understood that citizens don’t give a damn about having coffee with a cop. Or having the worthless Horse Patrol poop all over their neighborhood the day after a homicide has occurred.”

“Albuquerque is having more murders. Crime is out of control. APD is spending more time and man-hours policing themselves than policing our neighborhoods.

We don’t need more data; we need a police chief and a district attorney who know how to be law enforcement professionals. We need a mayor who starts firing people who aren’t getting the job done. Until that time crime will continue to pillage Albuquerque and the finger pointing and demand for more money will never stop.”

The link to the Dan Klein article on ABQReport is here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2019/11/25/The-same-old-BS-Keller-and-Geier-want-more-money-to-fight-crime-How-about-real-cops

ANOTHER PRESS CONFERENCE, ANOTHER PLEA FOR FUNDING

On December 2 Mayor Keller held a press conference to reveal his legislative priorities for the upcoming 2020 New Mexico Legislative session that starts in January. Keller said his top priority will again be public safety and made a pitch for money from the legislature to update the city’s crime fighting technology. His requests include $10 million for his violence intervention programs and $20 million for modernizing crime fighting technology.

In addressing the city’s violent crime rates Keller said:

“Violent crime is still Albuquerque’s biggest challenge, and New Mexico’s biggest challenge, even as we have made strides fighting other crimes like auto theft and robbery … We’re facing that reality with evidence-based violence reduction and tough on crime policing, and with the State’s help we can take another step towards making New Mexico’s largest metro area safer. … For us, we know that the pain and the violence that we’ve seen, one we have to acknowledge that this has been with us a long time, and what we are going to do is everything we can to try and do something about it.”

The breakdown of the $20 million ask by Mayor Keller to bring Albuquerque’s crime-fighting technology up to date includes:

$13 million for CAD / Records Management System;
$1.2 million for Video Management Software;
$2.5 million for Crime Scene Response, including a new crime scene bus;
$1.2 million to update the Laboratory Information Management System;
$250,000 in upgrades to the Evidence Warehouse;
$810,000 for Latent Fingerprint Section improvement;
$320,000 for Automated License Plate Readers;
$150,000 for Firearms & Toolmarks Technology;
$370,000 to upgrade DNA equipment; and
$100,000 for a ballistic water tank replacement.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayor-lays-out-wish-list-for-2020-legislative-session/5568427/?cat=500

https://www.koat.com/article/mayor-holds-another-news-conference-to-address-crime-epidemic/30093713

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Mayor Keller’s goal is to spend $88 million dollars starting last year in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 sworn officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers. The massive investment is being done in order to full fill Mayor Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates. Last year’s 2018-2019 fiscal year budget provided for increasing APD funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040. This year’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget has funding for 1,040 sworn police.

Mayor Keller has essentially been given everything he has wanted for public safety and then some. Keller is now asking for $20 million more from the Governor and the New Mexico legislature to “modernize” the police department records keeping. The request is being made 18 months after Keller signed into law a gross receipt increase enacted by the city council that raised gross receipts taxes by $60 million a year and breaking his promise not to raise taxes, even for public safety, without a public vote. It also comes after a mere seven months after the City announced in April a onetime $34.4 million dollar windfall, called an “orphan month”, as a result of a change in accounting policy to align the city finances and accounting practices with state government financing and nearly all other governmental entities. It also comes two months after Keller submitted a $29 million dollar lodger’s tax and the City Council approved on October 7 a $30.5 million “Sports -Tourism” lodger tax package on a unanimous vote to upgrade and build sports facilities throughout the city.

During a November 5 election night radio interview, Tim Keller made it known he is running for a second term in 2021. It is painfully obvious with 72 murders this year and counting, Keller’s policies have not had much of an effect. As the shootings, assaults and killings continue to rise, Keller is focused on the gun violence and the city’s murder rates, but time is running out for him despite all of his efforts. The City’s crime rates and APD will once again be a defining issue in the 2021 race for Mayor.

For a related blog article see:

Mayor Keller “Cooking The Books” With “All That Stuff”; Keller and APD Chief Geier Looking Desperate With 4th Program In 9 Months; Time For Another Reorganization And A Few Terminations

On November 19 and 26, Mayor Keller held press conferences regarding his Violence Intervention Program (VIP) and his “Metro 15” program, the 3rd and 4th programs within 9 months to deal with the City’s violent crime and murder rates. At the time of both press conferences, the city’s homicide count was at 72, matching the city’s record in 2017. Before 2017, the last time the City had the highest number of homicides in one year was in 1996 with 70 murders that year.

Mayor Keller announced that he plans on asking New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico State Legislature for $30 million in funding during the upcoming 2020 legislative session to “modernize” APD’s data reporting system. Keller said $20 million dollars of that will go to changing the way police file reports and produce crime stats and how they connect all the crime-fighting data into one.

STATISTICS FIASCO

On Sunday, December 1, the Albuquerque Journal ran a front-page story that all the crime rate reductions Keller reported in his July 1, 2019 press conference were in fact seriously flawed and inflated showing dramatic reductions in crime not at all accurate. According to the report, both the 2019 mid-year statistics and the statistics released at the end of 2018 were revised dramatically to include hundreds, and in some cases thousands, more incidents than were reported initially. The final numbers for all of 2018 showed violent crime actually increased.

At an October meeting of the City Council, APD provided the revised statistics to it but failed to report that the numbers had changed drastically no doubt believing no one would notice. Mayor Keller also did not hold any kind of a press conference to correct and announce the corrected statistics. The Keller Administration blamed the false numbers on antiquated software programs, but only after the Keller Administration had essentially been caught by the Albuquerque Journal.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1335502/crime-declining-in-albuquerque-new-numbers-show.html

The corrected statistics are as follows:

Auto burglaries decreased 16%, not 38% as previously announced
Auto theft decreased 22%, not 39% as Keller reported
Commercial burglary decreased 3%, not the 27% Keller reported
Residential burglary decreased 16%, not 39% as Keller reported
Homicide decreased 2.5%, not 18%, but homicides have since increased substantially and the city has tied the all-time record of 71.
Rape decreased 3%, not the 29% Keller reported
Robbery decreased 30%, not 47% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault decreased 7.5%, not 33% reported by Keller
Aggravated assault increased 21%, rather than decreasing 8% as announced during Keller’s July news conference
Rape increased by 3%, rather than decreasing 3%
Auto theft decreased 14%, not the 31% reported by Keller
Homicides remained basically the same decreasing by a single murder
Robbery decreased 32% and Keller reported it decreasing by 36%

Mayor Keller blamed the inaccurate statistics on different software programs that are antiquated and that are not very conducive to pulling crime statistics on a real time basis. The statistic fiasco could conceivably jeopardize federal grant funding for law enforcement that is often in the millions. The feds rely on the stats for the award of grants and funding.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1335502/crime-declining-in-albuquerque-new-numbers-show.html

ANOTHER PRESS CONFERENCE, ANOTHER PLEA FOR FUNDING

On December 2, within 24 hours after the Albuquerque’ Journal story on the flawed statistics, Mayor Keller held yet another press conference to reveal his legislative priorities for the upcoming 2020 New Mexico Legislative session that starts in January. Keller said his top priority will again be public safety. His requests include $10 million for his violence intervention programs and $20 million for modernizing crime fighting technology.

In addressing the city’s violent crime rates Keller said:

“Violent crime is still Albuquerque’s biggest challenge, and New Mexico’s biggest challenge, even as we have made strides fighting other crimes like auto theft and robbery … We’re facing that reality with evidence-based violence reduction and tough on crime policing, and with the State’s help we can take another step towards making New Mexico’s largest metro area safer. … For us, we know that the pain and the violence that we’ve seen, one we have to acknowledge that this has been with us a long time, and what we are going to do is everything we can to try and do something about it.”

Keller attempted to explain the problem with the statistics fiasco, blamed the inaccurate statistics on different software programs that are antiquated and made another pitch for money from the legislature to update the city’s crime fighting technology.

The breakdown of the $20 million ask by Mayor Keller to bring Albuquerque’s crime-fighting technology up to date includes:

$13 million for CAD / Records Management System;
$1.2 million for Video Management Software;
$2.5 million for Crime Scene Response, including a new crime scene bus;
$1.2 million to update the Laboratory Information Management System;
$250,000 in upgrades to the Evidence Warehouse;
$810,000 for Latent Fingerprint Section improvement;
$320,000 for Automated License Plate Readers;
$150,000 for Firearms & Toolmarks Technology;
$370,000 to upgrade DNA equipment; and
$100,000 for a ballistic water tank replacement.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-mayor-lays-out-wish-list-for-2020-legislative-session/5568427/?cat=500

https://www.koat.com/article/mayor-holds-another-news-conference-to-address-crime-epidemic/30093713

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Candidate Tim Keller campaigned to get elected Mayor on the platform of increasing the size of APD, returning to community-based policing and a promise to bring down skyrocketing crime rates. After two full years in office with two years remaining, Mayor Tim Keller has not made the significant progress he promised to reduce crime contrary to his repeated claims that crime rates are on the decline in all categories. Further, Mayor Keller has been taking the approach of announcing new initiatives to reduce violent crime after violent crimes shocking the community are reported.

Mayor Keller’s goal is to spend $88 million dollars starting last year in the 2018-2019 fiscal year, over a four-year period, with 32 million dollars of recurring expenditures, to hire 322 sworn officers and expand APD from 878 sworn police officers to 1,200 officers. The massive investment is being done in order to full fill Mayor Tim Keller’s 2017 campaign promise to increase the size of APD and return to community-based policing as a means to reduce the city’s high crime rates. Last year’s 2018-2019 fiscal year budget provided for increasing APD funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040. This year’s 2019-2020 fiscal year budget has funding for 1,040 sworn police.

Mayor Keller has essentially been given everything he has wanted for public safety and then some. Keller is now asking for $20 million more from the Governor and the New Mexico legislature to “modernize” the police department records keeping. The request is being made 18 months after Keller signed into law a gross receipt increase enacted by the city council that raised gross receipts taxes by $60 million a year and breaking his promise not to raise taxes, even for public safety, without a public vote. It also comes after a mere seven months after the City announced in April a onetime $34.4 million dollar windfall, called an “orphan month”, as a result of a change in accounting policy to align the city finances and accounting practices with state government financing and nearly all other governmental entities. It also comes two months after Keller submitted a $29 million dollar lodger’s tax and the City Council approved on October 7 a $30.5 million “Sports -Tourism” lodger tax package on a unanimous vote to upgrade and build sports facilities throughout the city.

LAW ENFORCEMENT IS MORE THAN PUBLIC RELATIONS

The Statistics Fiasco is a lot more serious than what Keller wants to let on. The City relies heavily on Federal Law enforcement grants often in the millions to conduct operations and fund programs. That federal funding is based upon the statistics that the city provides to the FBI. It is more than just possible but highly likely the feds will withdraw funding or for that matter demand refunds of funding if the city is submitting bogus and inflated crime statistics. At worst, what happened with the statistics was downright deceptive and at best down right sneaky, especially when APD gives the accurate statistics to the City Council a full two months before the mistakes were made public and not bringing it to the attention of the council and the public.

With the announcement of 4 separate programs within 9 months to combat our city’s violent crime and murder rates, Mayor Keller is looking desperate to portray himself as being proactive. Mayor Tim Keller is probably realizing that after 2 years in office that governing, law enforcement and reducing crime rates takes more than his trademark grin, condolences, expressions of empathy, press conferences, “nuance programs”, data collection and even more promises to get results. Keller is beginning to look foolish when he holds press conference, after press conference, after press conference to announce new programs that are in fact programs that are nothing more than the renaming or rebranding of existing programs and asking for more money.

What is very concerning for voters is that all the increases in APD budget and personnel and increases and new programs at APD are not having any effect on bringing down the violent crime and murder rates. Do not expect Keller’s VIP program or Metro 15 Program to be any different. It is no longer an issue of not having the money, personnel nor resources. It is now a failed personnel resource management issue. It’s time for Mayor Tim Keller to take stock, recognize APD is not getting the job done, reorganize APD and terminate a few of the command staff.

During a November 5 election night radio interview, Tim Keller made it known he is running for a second term in 2021. It is painfully obvious with 72 murders this year and counting, Keller’s policies have not had much of an effect. As the shootings, assaults and killings continue to rise, Keller is focused on the gun violence and the city’s murder rates, but time is running out for him despite all of his efforts. The City’s crime rates and APD will once again be a defining issue in the 2021 race for Mayor.

CONCLUSION

Voters are very fickle and unforgiving when politicians make promises they do not or cannot keep. Sooner rather than later people demand and want results. No amount of data collection, public relations or nuance programs are going to satisfy those demands or make people feel safe. A campaign based on “Give me more time and another chance to do good” is not a winning strategy, especially after what Keller promised when he was running the first time and what is still happening with violent crime.

Mayor Tim Keller’s biggest problem is his inability or reluctance to hold his APD command staff accountable for failures, ostensibly out of a sense of extreme loyalty. The Mayor Keller and Chief Geier relationship appears to be identical to that of Mayor Richard Berry and Chief Gordon Eden relationship. In the end, Keller and Geier just may leave city hall in two years under similar public distain as Berry and Geier did two years ago ending the political career of another Mayor.