On December 1, 2009, when Mayor Richard Berry was sworn in to office for his first term, APD was the best trained, best equipped, best funded department in its history and was fully staffed at 1,100 full time police officers.

Over a period of 8 years, APD went through a complete meltdown because of total mismanagement of the department by the previous Republican Administration with the hiring of political Republican operatives such as Darren White as Chief Public Safety Officer, retention of Chief Ray Schultz, who should have been fired for allowing the “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ, and the hiring of former APD Chief Gordon Eden who had absolutely no prior experience managing a municipal police department.

From December 1, 2009 to December 1, 2013 when Berry was sworn into office for a second term, APD had dropped from 1,100 sworn police officers to a low of 850 sworn police officers. In 2016, APD hit an all-time low of 821. From 2010 to 2017, the cities crime rates spiked reaching all time highs.

On June 17, 2019, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) announced that is has hired 116 police officers during the first full budget year of the Mayor Tim Keller Administration. A very large percentage of those officers are lateral hires from other departments.

It is projected that with the additions APD will reach 957 sworn officers by the end of July, 2019 and reach 981 by the end of the summer. For the 2019-20129 fiscal year that begins July 1, 2019 APD has been is budgeted for 1,040 full time sworn officers.

According to an APD news release, about two-thirds of the 116 new officers are already patrolling the streets and taking calls for service. The remainder are expected to be on duty by the end of the summer.

Mayor Tim Keller in a TV News interview had this to say:

“All of the hard work to hire the first 100 new officers as we promised is finally coming to fruition. … We met our first-year goal, and now, most of those officers are on the streets of Albuquerque and engaging in community-based policing. We have a lot more work to do as we work to hire another 300 officers over the next three years, but we are in a much better position to attack crime from all sides.”

https://www.koat.com/article/116-new-officers-hitting-abq-streets/28069973

Of the 957 police officers APD now has, 533 are patrolling the streets taking calls for service. The breakdown of assignments for the new 116 officers are as follows:

72 are being added to the six area commands, with each area command getting 7 to 17 new officers.
3 will serve in other commands that were not specified.
13 are completing on-the-job training now.
28 which are made up of two classes, one made up of cadets and the other of lateral transfers from other police departments will be finishing their APD Academy training by the end of the summer.

According to an APD Spokesman, the new officers on patrol will allow more experienced officers to fill out positions in the homicide unit, sex crimes unit, the newly created gun violence reduction unit and the problem response teams that were created to address the needs of specific neighborhoods and areas.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1329712/apd-added-116-officers-over-past-year.html

LATERAL HIRES MAKE UP LARGE PORTION OF NEW RECRUITS

APD’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.

LUCRATIVE PAY INCREASES AND RETENTION AND INCENTIVE PAY

The APD recruiting plan to grow the size of the department includes the city increasing police officer hourly pay and increasing longevity incentive pay. In 2018, the Keller Administration and the APD Union negotiated and agreed to a 2-year contract. The approved contract provides that the pay rate for officers with zero to 4 years of experience went from $28 to $29 an hour. Starting pay for an APD officer right out of the APD academy is $29 an hour. Under the two-year contract, officers with 4 to 14 years of experience are paid $30 an hour. The new contract pays senior officers between $30 to $31.50 an hour. Officers with 15 years or more experience are paid $31.50 an hour. The rate for sergeants went from $32 to $35 an hour, and lieutenants pay went from $36.70 to $40.00 an hour.

APD’s hourly pay is significantly higher than what officers and deputies make in other law enforcement agencies in the state. Notwithstanding, Bernalillo County Sheriff Officers (BCSO) are paid about the same as APD and the Santa Fe Police Department (SFPD) has raised their pay scale to match APD.

The approved longevity pay scale effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2019 is as follows:

For 5 years of experience: $100 will be paid bi-weekly, or $2,600 yearly
For 6 years of experience: $125 will be paid bi-weekly, or $3,250 yearly
For 7 to 9 years of experience: $225 will be paid bi-weekly, or $5,800 yearly
For 10 to 12 years of experience: $300 will be paid bi-weekly, or $7,800 yearly
For 13 to 15 years o experience: $350 will be paid bi-weekly, or $9,100 yearly
For 16 to 17 years or more: $450 will be paid bi-weekly, or $11,700 yearly
For 18 or more years of experience: $600 will be paid bi-weekly, 15,600 yearly.

Specialty pay and longevity bonuses offered by APD can add $100 to $600 to an officer’s paycheck. Time employed by lateral at other law enforcement agencies qualify for the APD longevity bonuses. APD announced that officers from other departments can get credit for up to 10 years of experience they have had with other law enforcement agencies which means $3,900 longevity pay after working for APD for only 1 year. In the past, lateral hires were given credit for only half of their previous work experience. That work experience directly increases an officer’s pay in the form of yearly incentive retention bonuses.

GROWING APD WITH LATERAL HIRES AND RETIREES

Deputy Police Chief Harold Medina credited the recent boost of 116 officers to the Keller Administration’s focus on recruiting officers from other departments around the state. It was estimated by Medina that of the 116 new officers, 70 were lateral hires. According to Deputy Chief Medina, the majority of the officers hired from other agencies were from the Santa Fe Police Department,the Rio Rancho Police Department and the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and he stated:

“We’re paying more than anyone else in the state, in some cases substantially [more] … And it’s really led to individuals wanting to come over to the department.”

Notwithstanding Medina’s inability to provide many details on lateral hires, in November of 2018, it was reported by the media APD has recruited 59 sworn police officers as “lateral hires” from other law enforcement agencies in the State of New Mexico. In October, APD graduated a lateral academy with 29 officers. Another lateral academy with 30 officers graduated in December, 2018.

The 59 “lateral hires” from other law enforcement agencies included:

11 from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office
11 from the Santa Fe Police Department
8 from the Rio Rancho Police Department
2 from the Farmington Police Department
2 from the Isleta Pueblo Police Department
2 from the Valencia County Sheriff’s Department
11 from other law enforcement agencies, including other Sheriff Departments, the Attorney General’s Office and the NM Corrections Department.
10 previously retired APD officers have been recruited to returned to work.
2 retirees from other departments have recruited to returned to work.

RECRUITING AND TRAINING A NEW GENERATION OF YOUNGER POLICE OFFICERS WILL BE DIFFICULT AT BEST

Recruiting a younger, new generation of sworn police officers and growing the size of the police department at this point will be difficult for any number of reasons including:

1. APD’s poor and negative national reputation.
2. Albuquerque’s high violent crime rates are not conducive to attracting people who want to begin a long-term career in law enforcement in Albuquerque.
3. The increased dangers of being a police officer in a violent city such as Albuquerque.
4. The DOJ oversight requirements.

APD consistently has thousands of applicants that apply to the police academy every year. The overwhelming number of police academy applicants fail to get into the academy for any number of reasons including failing to meet minimum education and entry qualifications, unable to pass criminal background checks, unable to make it through psychological background analysis, failing the polygraph tests, lying on the on the applications or failing a credit check. Once in the police academy, many cadets are unable to meet minimum physical requirements or unable to handle the training and academic requirements to graduate from the academy and drop out.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Mayor Keller’s proclamation that he wants to hire another 300 officers over the next three years is very commendable, but he will probably have to be elected to a second term in 2021 to be able do that, saying he needs to finish the work he has started. Another term as mayor is never guaranteed, as was the case with Harry Kinney, David Rusk, Ken Schultz, Jim Baca and even Martin Chavez. Louis Saavedra left office after one term and Richard Berry left office after serving two terms but left with an approval ratting of 35% thereby ending his aspirations for higher office. APD is still under a DOJ consent decree, violent crime continues to be at unacceptable levels and political fortunes can change dramatically and swiftly over 2 years.

It is great news that APD has added 116 new police officers to its ranks and respectable progress has been made in 18 months to rebuild the department. APD’S needs to recruit another 220 police officers to get the department to a force of 1,200 which looks doable. That number of new hires will be much easier said than done and much harder for three reasons:

1. APD’s ability to attract officers from other New Mexico Law enforcement agencies probably has peaked with the other agencies also increasing their pay to compete with APD, and

2. Many recruited lateral hires may also be looking to retire sooner rather than later, coming to the City to increase their high three salary to retire with a more lucrative pension and collect the longevity pay bonuses, and

3. From a personnel management standpoint, it is highly likely that many APD police officers who are eligible for retirement now have decided to stay on and continue for a few more years with APD because of the significant increases in hourly pay and longevity pay and increasing their retirement benefits but still plan on retiring in three years once they get their high 3 years of pay.

The increases in hourly pay and longevity pay translates into being able to “grow the department” faster because of the reduced need to recruit in order replace retirees. Each year, APD has as many as 30 to 50 police officers who are eligible to retire and must be replaced once they do retire which drags down APD’s overall full-time personnel numbers.

APD’s new pay structure and increased longevity pay incentive bonuses are also allowing APD to recruit experienced police officers from other New Mexico law enforcement agencies. The law enforcement agencies APD recruited from have raised serious concerns about losing their officers to Albuquerque to the point many have also raised their pay structure to retain their officers. Police officers who are leaving other agencies to join APD are some of the more experienced and highly trained officers at the agencies they are leaving.

Keller and APD hiring so many police officers from other agencies should come as absolutely no surprise. On January 27, 2017, then New Mexico State Auditor and Albuquerque Mayor candidate Tim Keller was interviewed by the on line and now defunct Albuquerque Free Press, Keller told the Albuquerque Free Press that the solution to APD’s shortage of sworn officers is that “you poach” them from other law enforcement agencies.

The term “poaching” although somewhat insulting as an illegal hunting term when referring to law enforcement recruitment, is an accurate description of what Keller and APD Chief Geier have done with APD recruiting. The problem with “poaching” is that it increases the risk of hiring problem officers from other agencies as lateral transfers, which is what caused in part APDs problems in the first place with the Department of Justice. It also resulted in a major lawsuit and a large payout when the plaintiff’s attorney established that an inordinate number of police shootings came from a single APD class.

Keller and Geier and the command staff need to realize that APD needs to recruit a new generation of young, committed police officers to start their law enforcement careers with the city who are fully trained in constitutional policing practices. Keller and Geier are also hiring and returning to work APD retirees, with Geier himself being a retired APD Commander under Chief Ray Schultz. The danger with returning APD retired police officers is that APD may be hiring back cops that created, contributed or who did not stop the culture of aggression found by the DOJ.

APD needs to curb its efforts on hiring more lateral hires and concentrate on hiring younger new generation of police officer to begin their law enforcement career and to continue rebuilding APD from the ground up.

The Kids Count Data Book is published annually from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, a nonprofit that tracks the status of children in the United States. The 30th edition of the report was released on June 17, 2019. The report found that 18% of the nation’s children live in poverty, down from the 10 year Great Recession. However, according to the report: “The nation’s racial inequities remain deep, systemic and stubbornly persistent” and advances were not seen in the Southwest, where many children are Native Americans, Latinos and immigrants who have long faced disadvantages. You can read a summary of the report at the below link.

https://www.aecf.org/resources/2019-kids-count-data-book/?utm_source=eblast&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=annie-e-news

According to the report, the good news is that of the 16 areas of child well-being tracked across the four domains of health, education, family and community and economic well-being, 11 have improved since the foundation published its first Kids Count Data Book 30 editions ago. According to the report:

“The data reveal, in the United States today, more parents are financially stable and living without burdensome housing costs. More teens are graduating from high school and delaying parenthood. And access to children’s health insurance has increased compared to just seven years ago. But it is not all good news. The risk of babies being born at a low weight continues to rise, racial inequities remain systemic and stubbornly persistent and 12% of kids across the country are still growing up in areas of concentrated poverty.”

According to the 2019 Kids Count Data Book, the five states with the lowest rankings for child well-being, 46-50, are the states of Arizona, Nevada, Mississippi, Louisiana, and New Mexico.

The five states with the best ranking for child-well being, 1-5 are the states of New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Iowa, Minnesota, and New Jersey.

NEW MEXICO RANKS DEAD LAST THIRD YEAR IN A ROW

Notwithstanding the good new nationally, for the third time in seven years, New Mexico came in dead last out of 50 states for child well-being. The state was ranked 50th in 2016, again in 2017 and now in 2018 continuing in to this year. According to the study, Louisiana was ranked 49th this year, bumping Mississippi up to 48th. Not at all surprising, it is New Mexico’s widespread poverty and lagging education among Native American and rural Hispanics that brings down the state’s overall rankings.

The Kids Count Data Book rankings are based on 16 indicators under four major domains:

1. Economic well-being
2. Education
3. Health and
4. Family and community.

ECONOMIC WELL BEING

Under the rating category for economic well-being indicators, the statistics break down as follows:

27% of New Mexico children are living in poverty which was a 3% improvement from last year
28% of New Mexico children live in homes where an unusually large portion of family income goes toward housing costs, a 4% percentage point improvement.
36% of New Mexico children live in homes where parents lack secure employment which is virtually the same from last year.
10% of teens are neither working nor attending school, up 1% point from the previous year.

EDUCATION

Under education indicators, not much has changed from last year. The following statistics were reported:

56% of young children are not in school, a 1% point improvement.
75% of fourth graders are not proficient in reading, unchanged from the previous year.
80% of eighth graders are not proficient in math, unchanged from the previous year.
29% of high school students do not graduate on time, unchanged from the previous year.

HEALTH INDICATORS:

Under health indicators, the following statistics were reported:
9.5% of babies are born with low birth weight, a half percentage point worse than last year.
5% of children have no health insurance, unchanged from the previous year.
There are 32 child and teen deaths per 100,000 which is a 1 percentage point improvement.
6% of teens report abusing drugs or alcohol, a 1 percentage point improvement.

FAMILY AND COMMUNITY INDICATORS

Under Family and Community Indicators the following statistics were reported:

45% of children live in single-parent families, a 3% increase from last year.
16% of children live in families where the head of household lacks a high school diploma, a 2% increase from last year.
24% of children live in homes in high poverty areas of the state, 2% worse than last year.
28 babies are born to teens per 1,000 births, a 2% point improvement over last year.

REACTION TO THE 2019 KIDS COUNT DATA BOOK REPORT

Amber Wallin, deputy director for New Mexico Voices for Children, had this to say about the 2019 Kids Count Data Book report:

“We made some real strides toward increasing our investments in children during the 2019 legislative session. … However, it takes some time before improvements in public policy show up in measurable changes to child well-being. Our ranking is also dependent upon how well other states are doing, and most states made the kinds of investments during the recession that led to quicker, more robust recoveries than New Mexico … .”

James Jimenez, executive director of New Mexico Voices for Children, which runs the state’s Kids Count program, had this to say about this years report:

“It’s disappointing, but not terribly surprising to see New Mexico ranked at the bottom again, given the last 10 years [meaning the great recession] It is going to take sustained investment to undo the damage from a decade of under-funding all of our child-serving programs and services like health care, child care and K-12 education. … We started making progress in 2019, but clearly much more needs to be done”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1329692/new-mexico-again-ranks-dead-last-in-child-well-being.html

EDUCATION BUDGET ENACTMENT

On March 15, 2019, Democratic Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham finished her very first 60-day Legislative session as Governor. By all accounts, it was one of the most productive sessions in a long time when it comes to the future well being of New Mexico children.

Financial stress over the budget process was greatly reduced from years past by a nearly $2 Billion in additional revenue generated by the Southern New Mexico oil boom and increased royalties filling the state coffers. The 2019 Legislature enacted over a $7 billion state budget, the largest budget ever enacted in state history. The legislature appropriated a total education budget at a whopping $3.2 Billion, 16% over last year’s budget, out of the total budget of $7 Billion.

Included in the budget is a $500 million in additional funding for K-12 education and increases in teacher pay. The massive infusion of funding to public education is the result of a District Court ruling that ruled the state of New Mexico is violating the constitutional rights of at-risk students by failing to provide them with a sufficient education. The District Court found that many New Mexico students are not receiving the basic education in reading, writing and math they should be receiving in our public-school system.

Early childhood programs will be given a major increase in funding. Under the enacted 2019-2020 budget, every public-school district will be allocated significantly more funding. Teachers and school administrators will be given 6% pay raises or more with more money to hire more teachers.

DEPARTMENT OF EARLY CHILDHOOD

A new “Early Childhood Department” was created by the 2019 New Mexico Legislature starting in January 2020. This was a major priority of Governor Lujan Grisham. The new department will focus state resources on children from birth to 5 years of age. A major goal of the new department, coupled with other investments, will be more New Mexico children growing up to secure gainful employment as adults who don’t require government services.

PROTECTING CHILDREN

Albuquerque and New Mexico for the last 4 years have been shocked and haunted with the news of the tragic and brutal killing of children by their own parents. Media reports all too often have included reports where those children had fallen through the cracks of law enforcement and the New Mexico’s Children, Youth and Families Department. Lujan Grisham’s recommendation calls for an additional $36.5 million for the chronically understaffed Children, Youth and Families Department. Under the enacted budget, 102 new social workers are to be hired by the agency’s child’s Protective Services Division.

NEW MEXICO UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN

In April 2019 17, 2019, the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions reported that New Mexico’s adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, down from 5.1 percent in March 2019. The national unemployment rate in April was 3.6 percent, down from 3.8 percent in March 2019 and 3.9 percent in April 2018.
The economic update for May 17, 2019 from Workforce Solutions States:

“The total non agricultural payroll employment grew by 13,000 jobs, or 1.5 percent, between April 2018 and April 2019. All aggregate gains came from the private sector, which was up 13,800 jobs, or 2.1 percent. The public sector was down 800 jobs, or 0.4 percent. Growth was reported in both components of the private sector. The private service-providing industries were up 8,000 jobs, or 1.4 percent, while the goods-producing industries were up 5,800 jobs, representing a gain of 5.9 percent. Six private industries added jobs, two lost jobs, and one reported employment that was unchanged from its April 2018 level.

Mining and construction reported the largest employment increase with a gain of 5,500 jobs, or 7.7 percent. Within mining and construction, mining added 3,000 jobs, which represented over-the-year growth of 12.4 percent. Construction was up 2,500 jobs, or 5.3 percent. Leisure and hospitality employment increased by 4,600 jobs, or 4.7 percent. Employment in education and health services increased by 3,100 jobs, or 2.2 percent. Most growth in the industry occurred within health care and social assistance, which was up 2,500 jobs, or 2.1 percent; educational services employment was up 600 jobs, or 2.9 percent. Professional and business services employment was up 1,200 jobs, or 1.1 percent. Employment in miscellaneous other services increased by 600 jobs, or 2.1 percent. Aggregate manufacturing employment was up 300 jobs, or 1.1 percent, from its April 2018 level. Within this industry, durable goods manufacturing was up 200 jobs, or 1.3 percent, and non-durable goods manufacturing was up 100 jobs, or 0.9 percent.

Trade, transportation, and utilities was down 1,300 jobs, or 1.0 percent. Within the industry, employment in each of wholesale trade (down 3.8 percent) and retail trade (down 0.9 percent) decreased by 800 jobs; transportation, warehousing, and utilities reported a gain of 300 jobs, or 1.2 percent. Employment in information was down 200 jobs, or 1.7 percent. Employment in financial activities was unchanged from its level in April 2018.

Within the public sector, local government employment grew by 1,000 jobs, or 1.0 percent, with all gains coming from local government excluding education. Federal government reported a gain of 100 jobs, or 0.3 percent. State government employment decreased by 1,900 jobs, or 3.3 percent. Within state government, state government excluding education was up 300 jobs, or 1.0 percent, with state government education posting a loss of 2,200 jobs, or 8.3 percent.”

https://www.jobs.state.nm.us/gsipub/index.asp?enc=JdKtFhuODzQ+aO5C6MuCGQ==

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION

According to the Governor’s executive 2019-2020 budget summary, “in order to tackle high poverty rates, spur robust job creation, and put an end to the brain drain” the budget includes significant investments in the areas of employer recruitment and retention with emphasis on the following expanding sectors:

1. The Film and television industry
2. Intelligent manufacturing
3. Sustainable and green energy
4. Cybersecurity aerospace
5. Sustainable and value-added agriculture bioscience
6. Tourism in relation to our outdoor economy

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is very difficult to read, let alone accept, that New Mexico ranks dead last the third year in a row for child well-being. With that in mind, the state now has only one direction to go now and that is up when it comes to the welfare of our children.

There is a direct correlation between a family’s overall income and child well being. When employment rates go up, child well being also goes up. Both the City of Albuquerque’s and the State of New Mexico’s Economic Development Departments need to pay far more attention to the growth industries if the city and the state are going to continue turning our economy around.

With NBC Universal coming to Albuquerque and the purchase of Albuquerque Studios by Netflix, the film industry is clearly in the future of Albuquerque and the best hope at this point in diversifying our economy. Last year alone, the film and TV production industry brought in over $180 million of direct spending to the city and state. Far more important, jobs that will be provided by both NBC Universal and NETFLEX are a far cry from the hourly wage jobs provided by the “call centers” that the city has become accustomed to being announced.

Albuquerque and New Mexico need to pursue with a vengeance the real growth industry 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 and New Mexico’s film industry which is developing, expanding and proving to be very successful in providing well-paying jobs.

The City and the State need to continue with efforts that will insure that our education institutions such as the New Mexico Community College continue to offer a trained work force. Both the City and the State need to create more incentives to build and guarantee that the growth industries continue to prosper in New Mexico.

The 16% increase in the education budget, the creation of the Department of Early Childhood, the $36.5 million increase for the understaffed Children, Youth and Families Department which includes funding for 102 new social workers for the agency’s child’s Protective Services Division, and the decline in New Mexico’s unemployment rate, reflects that progress is indeed being made towards improving the future of New Mexico’s Children.

Notwithstanding, it will take time before New Mexico’s child well being ranking are made better. For that reason, the debate over using a small portion of the state’s $17 billion Land Grant Permanent fund for early childhood education, care and intervention needs to continue. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham should continue her efforts to give major attention to use of the State’s Land Grant and Permanent Fund to finally solve many of our early childhood education, care and intervention problems.

The Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) is the legislative created and state regulated retirement association for all government employees. PERA pays pensions to more than 40,000 retirees and also has a public employee plan for about 49,000 active members. PERA manages a $15 billion pension fund.

PERA administers the pension funds for active, inactive, and retired public employees in New Mexico. PERA includes state, county and municipal plans, firefighters, police officers, blue collar workers and various municipal plans. PERA has an Executive Board duly elected by the members of the Association.

Over the last few years, it has been reported that the state’s two major pension funds, the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA) and the Educational Retirement Board (ERB), are in serious financial trouble because of long term liabilities of benefits to paid retirees in the future will exceed literally by the billions the funds that are available.

TARGET INVESTMENT RETURNS DOWN

In May, financial experts warned New Mexico officials to prepare for the possibility of poor investment returns or other circumstances that could damage the pension systems further.

On June 12, 2019, the New Mexico Legislature’s Investments and Pensions Oversight Committee were warned that PERA is not on track to hit the target for investment returns this year. PERA’S goal is to reach 100% funding of liabilities by 2043.

PERA Executive Director Wayne Propst told the committee that PERA thus far this year is missing the investment target by 2.25% points. Further, the committee was told that investment gains this year might come in at 3% to 5% and not the standard 7.25% target used by many pension plans throughout the United States.

The committee was warned it could have a serious impact on the long-term financial projection for PERA. According to Propst, a 5% return would be enough to reduce the projected funding ratio in 2043 from 74% to 69%. The challenge, Propst said, isn’t unique to PERA and he said:
“This has been a very volatile year in the markets for public pension plans across the country.”

POTENTIAL SOURCE TO SHORE UP SAGGING PENSION RETURNS

On June 16, 2017, State Senate Finance Committee Chairman John Author Smith told an interim legislative committee that if the price of oil does not change drastically, the State could once again receive between $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in additional tax dollars next year. If that happens, it will be the second year in a row that the state will get a $1 billion plus windfall. The oil boom in Southern New Mexico is going strong and royalties paid to the state continue to increase. The additional revenues could be relied upon to invest more in the PERA and ERB pension funds to make sure they become 100% solvent.

https://www.apnews.com/d06489c30b714ff3a7f758226f8205d2

GOVERNOR’S PERA SOLVENCY TASK FORCE

Financial warnings to the New Mexico Legislature’s Investments and Pensions Oversight Committee come as a task force established by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham works on recommendations to improve the financial health of PERA.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced a “solvency task force” for PERA. The 19-member task force includes PERA officials, labor union leaders, retiree representatives and others. The committee is tasked with providing recommendations to the governor by August 30, 2019. The task force will make recommendations on contributions and payouts and a plan will be presented to the 2020 New Mexico legislative session.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1282402/governor-creates-task-force-to-study-pension-issues.html

PERA’s Board Chair, Jacquelin Kohlasch, along with Executive Director Wayne Propst and Chief Investment Officer Dominic Garcia serve as Task Force members.

Other Task Force members include a representative from the following entities:

New Mexico House of Representatives
New Mexico State Senate
New Mexico Investments & Pensions Oversight Committee
Retired Public Employees of New Mexico
Fraternal Order of Police
National Association of Police Organizations
New Mexico State Police Association
New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association
New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Association
Albuquerque Fire Department Retirees’ Association
American Federation of State County & Municipal Employees
Communication Workers of America
New Mexico Counties
New Mexico Municipal League

IMPLODING RETIREMENT FUNDS

In a February meeting of the PERA board, Chief Investment Officer Dominic Garcia, reported that PERA’s investment funds suffered a 2.5 percent loss in 2018. In comparison, the teacher ERB retirement fund earned 6 percent return during 2018. The PERA fund fell from $15 billion to $14.6 billion.

Both PERA and ERB retirement systems requested a one-time infusion of funds during the 2019 New Mexico legislative session, but the legislature resisted it as not being a truly viable solution to the projected insolvency of the retirement plans.

In 2013, the New Mexico legislature tackled pension reform. The changes made have not been enough to make the pensions fully solvent. A shrinking government workforce as a result of government cuts and a sluggish economy over the last 8 years has dragged down New Mexico’s largest pension program. It is estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 state government employee vacancies and eliminated positions have occurred over the last 8 years resulting in fewer employee and employer contributions made to the funds and effective solvency. Another factor contributing to insolvency is that people are living much longer and are collecting their pensions for longer periods of time.

http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lawmakers-tie-pension-shortfall-to-fewer-state-employees/article_d23fe441-eb6a-5aff-ad32-3c776b042553.html

Despite changes enacted in 2013, PERA’s estimated unfunded liability which is the gap between future retirement benefits owed and expected future assets on hand, has increased over the past four years from $4.6 billion to $4.8 billion.

Decreases in the ERB’s expected investment returns and inflation calculations have caused the system’s unfunded liability to rise to $7.4 billion, an increase of more than $1 billion since 2014 and its funded ratio to drop to 61.5 percent. The ERB pension fund is not expected to reach 100 percent funded status for 84 years or until the year 2100.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1075327/viability-of-state-pension-funds-questioned-%C2%AD-again.html

DEFINED CONTRIBUTION PLANS

A “defined contribution” plan is a type of retirement plan where employers, employees, or both regularly make contributions to the plan and future employee retirement benefits are based on the dollar amount of contributions made and the final value based on “investment growth”.

A defined contribution plan does not guarantee a specific benefit to be paid in the future. With a defined contribution plan, individual employees assume all of the investment risk involved. The most common type of defined contribution plan is the 401(k), where employees contribute a portion of their earnings and invest their money so it grows over time.

In the private sector, it is common with defined contribution plans for employers to offer to match a portion of employee contributions, but most of the burden of funding 401(k)s falls at the individual employee level. With defined contribution plans, most associated administration fees are passed on to the employees who participate.

PERA PLANS ARE DEFINED BENEFIT PLANS

Most if not all of PERA’s pension plans it administers are “defined benefit” plans as opposed to “defined contribution” plans. With a “defined benefit plan”, the state, county or municipality government entity promises the government employees a specific payout upon retirement and guaranteed for life. Further, a person can designate a spouse as a beneficiary and the spouse can be paid the pension for the rest of their life.

The pension payout is based on a formula that accounts for factors such as length of service, age, and earnings history. With a defined benefit plan, PERA is responsible for making sure there’s enough money to pay employee benefits as scheduled, and PERA assumes all of the investment risk involved in the plan.

Under the PERA system, the formula used for a very large portion of retirees is 25 years of total service multiplied by 3 for each year of service applied to the average high 3 years of pay. A person’s age can also allow a person to retire before the age of 67, but it reduces the benefits where the total years of service is less than 25 years.

(EXAMPLE: Government employee works a full 25 years and is paid an average of $50,000 each year of last 3 years of service. A multiplier of 3% is given each year of service or 75% of high three average yearly pay of $50,000 = $37,500 pension). Law enforcement officers have a separate retirement formula and can retire with 25 years of service and can be paid 90% of their high 3 years of pay.

All of the PERA pensions are funded by government employer contributions usually matching the employee contributing a portion of their earnings. Defined benefit plans are considered riskier for employers and they are more expensive to maintain. For this reasons, defined benefit plans have become far less popular in the private sector.

In 1998, 60% of Fortune 500 companies offered defined benefit plans to new hires, but by the end of 2013, that number fell to just 24%. This absence of defined benefit plans has left more and more employees in a less secure spot financially with regard to retirement.

Under the PERA Pension plans, retirees have been given cost of living raises (COLA) that have been anywhere from 2% to 3% over the years and were considered guaranteed and paid after a few years in retirement. During the 2019 New Mexico Legislative session that ended on March 15, 2019, the legislature considered legislation that would have eliminated all cost of living adjustments or suspend the COLA for a period of years, but the legislation failed.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s 2019- 2020 approved budget attempted to shore up New Mexico’s two major pension funds by increasing how much the state pays into workers’ retirement accounts with $13.7 million in funding.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

There are 6 representatives from public safety out of 16 on the Governor’s PERA Solvency Task Force: the Fraternal Order of Police, National Association of Police Organizations, New Mexico State Police Association, New Mexico Sheriffs’ Association, New Mexico Professional Fire Fighters Association, Albuquerque Fire Department Retirees’ Association. The Governor’s PERA Solvency Task force is very top heavy with public safety representatives. The Chair of the Task Force is the former President of the Albuquerque Fire Fighters union who has retired from the Albuquerque Fire Department. Public Safety retirees have far more lucrative retirement benefits when it comes to years of service required to retire and the amount of pension benefits that they will paid once retired.

The fact that PERA’s Board Chair, Jacquelin Kohlasch, along with Executive Director Wayne Propst and Chief Investment Officer Dominic Garcia serve as Task Force members is no consolation given the fact that all three are somewhat controversial with many retirees who have been highly critical of the management of the PERA funds. Executive Director Wayne Propst is currently being investigated by the New Mexico Attorney General for improprieties of giving himself a raise along with many of his staff without PERA Board approval. The Attorney General has yet to announce if there was anything improper about the raises.

There are 40,000 PERA retirees and the overwhelming majority of those retirees are not public safety retirees. The Governor needs to increase the representation on the PERA Solvency Task Force Task Force with far more voting members that are at least equal, and preferably more, to the public safety representatives from other retirement sectors of the PERA system, including blue collar and white-collar employees that have retired. Otherwise, serious doubts will be raised by the majority of the stakeholder retirees that they were not fairly and equitably represented when it comes to any changes in the PERA benefits and that public safety representatives will protect their own benefits over other retirees.

The financial problems PERA is experiencing can be directly related to the type of pensions offered to government employees as well as what many PERA retirees feel has been mismanagement of the pension funds. Public school teacher and employee retirement and pension funds are separate and not managed PERA but by Education Retirement Board (ERB).

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico legislature have a looming financial crisis that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. While the State is experiencing a windfall in increased revenues, the New Mexico Legislature should use the opportunity to increase funding to the PERA funds significantly more than the $13 million approved being, but such an expenditure is not going to be a long-term solution but the beginning of it.

The New Mexico Legislature needs to consider pension reform measures once again but during a special session where a solution can be hammered out without the distractions of a general session. It is likely the New Mexico legislature will need to consider pension reform in the form of including “defined contribution plans” in one form or another for future government employees, increasing employer and employee contribution plans under the defined benefit plans or modifying the multipliers and increasing years of service or age before retirement.

What is needed is a special session the sooner the better to deal with pension reform measures that will work. Ultimately, the lives of 90,000 New Mexicans and their families, currently employed or retired, will be affected by the decisions made with the PERA pension system.

The ongoing saga between District Attorney Raul Torrez, Mayor Tim Keller, the Second Judicial District Court and the New Mexico Supreme Court continues regarding the use of preliminary hearings versus grand jury proceedings. A new player in the ongoing saga has now been identified in the form of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, and many in the legal community and the judiciary want to know why.

BACKGROUND ON THE ON-GOING SAGA BETWEEN DA TORREZ AND THE COURTS

Since mid-2015 the Bernalillo County 2nd District Court has been shifting from grand jury use to implementing a “preliminary hearing” schedule. DA Raul Torrez was sworn in as District Attorney on January 1, 2017 and from day one he has opposed the shift to preliminary hearings.

On May 10, 2019, Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez and Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller wrote a joint letter to the New Mexico Supreme Court requesting it to intervene and stop the plans of 2nd Judicial District Court (SJDC) to shift away from the use of grand jury system to a preliminary hearing system. Torrez and Keller copied their letter to Stan Whitaker, the Chief Judge of the Second Judicial District and Charles Brown, the Presiding Criminal Judge for the Second Judicial District. The New Mexico Supreme Court has administrative and regulatory and rule making powers over virtually every court in the state.

DA Torres and Mayor Keller wrote to the Supreme Court in part:

“We write to you with an urgent request that the New Mexico Supreme Court take immediate action to prevent further elimination of existing grand jury panels in the Second Judicial [District Court] … Additional cuts to the grand jury will only further destabilize an already overburdened system and will result in our respective institutions spending considerable more resources to resolve felony cases. … “

On May 22, 2019, District Court Judges Stan Whitiker and Charlie Brown responded to the Torrez-Keller letter and provided an extensive amount of statistics to the NM Supreme Court. The District Court Judges notified the Supreme Court that the Bernalillo County District Attorney’s Office under Raul Torrez has a 65% combined dismissal, acquittal and mistrial rate with cases charged by grand juries. Judges Whitaker and Brown told the Supreme Court the shift from grand jury hearings was necessary because:

“… the move to preliminary hearings is particularly important given the historic failure of the District Attorney’s Office … to frontload cases … by interviewing witnesses and reviewing evidence early in the process which results in a waste of resources for all criminal justice stakeholders … [T]he change is needed because preliminary hearings are efficient and effective. … The DA’s Office tends to focus on getting cases into the system rather than the disposition of cases … [R]recognizing [the court’s] responsibility to push the system toward best practices to increase the use of preliminary hearings have been in the works for years.”

On May 31, 2019, Chief Supreme Court Justice Judith Nakamura wrote a letter addressed to Mayor Tim Keller and DA Raul Torrez telling them that the Supreme Court would not intervene but urging District Attorney Torrez to “participate personally in the process” and work with the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council (BCCJCC) to resolve his concerns about ongoing cuts to the grand jury system, essentially telling both the DA and Mayor it was a local matter.

In her letter Justice Nakamura explained to Torrez and Keller events that occurred in 2013 and in 2016, years before either took office as District Attorney and Mayor, by saying the New Mexico Supreme Court:

“entered an order requiring each of New Mexico’s thirteen judicial districts to convene a Criminal Justice Coordinating Council comprised of local stakeholders to address criminal justice issues in their communities. Each Council was charged with identifying and implementing “data driven” policies and evidence-based practices that result in improved public safety outcomes, cost effective responses to crime and fair and efficient adjudication processes. …The impetus for the Supreme Court’s order came in part from the success of the Bernalillo County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council … initially established by the New Mexico legislature in 2013 and subsequently continued by Supreme Court order…[and it] has proven instrumental in improving the criminal justice system in Bernalillo County.”

In her letter to Torrez and Keller, Justice Nakamura also acknowledge efforts and arrangements were being made to meet with Mayor Keller to continue conversations on the matter and “other matters of mutual concern”. Justice Nakamura sent a copy of her letter to Torrez – Keller to District Court Judges Stan Whitaker and Charlie Brown which was expected. What was not expected and that came as a surprise to many in the legal community was that Justice Nakamura also sent a copy of her May 31, 2019 letter to Teri Cole, the President of the Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce.

DA RAUL TORREZ RESPONDS TO SUPREME COURT

On June 6, 2019, District Attorney Raul Torrez sent a response to Justice Nakamura’s May 31, 2019 letter. However, Torrez did not send a copy of his letter to Mayor Tim Keller, District Court Judges Stan Whitiker and Charlie Brown nor Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce Terry Cole. The critical portions of the Torrez letter to the Supreme Court are as follows:

“…while I respect your request to discuss this issue at the BCCJCC, I do not believe that forum is the appropriate place to resolve this particular issue. My authority to determine how felony cases are initiated in this jurisdiction is derived from the New Mexico Constitution and confirmed by Supreme Court precedent. [Citations to NM Constitution and case law omitted]. The District Court’s unilateral policy decision to reduce grand jury availability arises from its limited, ministerial role as an administrator of the grand jury. As such, this is a question that falls squarely within the superintending control of the New Mexico Supreme Court. While I am happy to receive feedback from other criminal justice stakeholders in this county, neither my constitutional authority as the people’s elected prosecutor, nor that of the District Court, shall be limited by the judgment of the BCCCJCC.

Finally, I ask that the Supreme court exercise its authority over the District Court and direct it not to make any additional cuts to the grand jury while we honor your request and present our resolution to the BCCJCC. Indeed, without this assurance, there is a substantial likelihood that we will be further impacted by cuts to the grand jury while the Council is considering our resolution.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It was no accident that Justice Nakamura urged Torrez to “participate personally in this process or, at a minimum, designate a representative with policy and decision-making authority to attend on … [your] behalf.” The problem has been Torrez himself has repeatedly failed to attend BCCJCC meetings. Even the Albuquerque Journal, which consistently puts Torrez on its front pages in a positive light, noted in a recent editorial about the shift to preliminary hearings when it wrote “Unfortunately, Torrez hasn’t helped his cause by not personally and regularly attending meetings of the Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, where these issues are supposed to be hashed out.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1323251/grand-jury-cuts-akin-to-pouring-gasoline-on-a-fire.html

Since August of 2015, the 2nd Judicial District Court has worked with law enforcement and defense lawyers to gradually increase the use of preliminary hearings in lieu of grand jury proceedings. The BCCJCC has been arguing for some time over the best way to launch new cases in District Court, but Torrez has been nowhere to be found. The last time Torrez showed up to a BCCJCC meeting and had anything of substance to say was 7 months after he was elected DA. Torrez showed up to the meeting with TV News cameras and a Journal photographer in tow to make the false charge that the Judges were responsible for the all the dismissals when it was the DA’s office dismissing the overwhelming majority of cases.

It is absolutely no surprise to the legal community, and most assuredly the courts, that Torrez is not taking “NO” for an answer. In his June 6, 2019 letter he still is asking the Supreme Court to direct the District Court to halt the planned cuts to the grand jury system until he makes a presentation to the BCCJCC. DA Torrez cites the New Mexico Constitution and a Supreme Court decision on his authority to charge. Torres proclaims in his letter that the BCCJCC cannot tell him what to do. What he ignores is the fact that the New Mexico legislature and the New Mexico Supreme Court delegated authority and instructed the BCCJCC to do what it is doing. Torrez just does not like it and does not want to cooperate.

The Torrez letter is very condescending and dismissive of the courts when he writes:

“The District Court’s unilateral policy decision to reduce grand jury availability arises from its limited, ministerial role as an administrator of the grand jury. As such, this is a question that falls squarely within the superintending control of the New Mexico Supreme Court.”

If Torrez truly feels that way, he should have filed a formal Complaint seeking a “Writ of Superintendent Control” with the Supreme Court against the Second Judicial District Court to halt grand jury reductions. Torrez does know how to apply for such a writ seeing as he did so against none other than District Court Judge Stan Whitaker on one of Whitiker’s release rulings that Torrez did not like. Torrez filed the writ against Judge Whitacker in order to challenge the Supreme Court’s Case Management Order (CMO) that was created to ensure speedy trials and address the overcrowding problem at Metropolitan Detention Center. The detention center’s inmate population has steadily decreased the last three years. The case management order only applies to Bernalillo County orders on release hearings. No doubt Torrez realizes the filing of such a formal complaint would require him to practice law for a change, prove his case in a courtroom, present evidence, when writing a letter with the Mayor of Albuquerque, lobbying the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce and talking to the press is so much easier and better public relations for his image.

Chief Justice Judith Nakamura is considered by the New Mexico Bar legal community and New Mexico voters as one of the most experienced and capable Justices today on the New Mexico Supreme Court. There is little doubt she knows how to manage an entire court system and case load. For years, Justice Nakamura established a solid and respected reputation as the Presiding Judge of the Bernalillo County Metropolitan Court, the busiest court in the state, with crushing caseloads for all the judges. Justice Nakamura during her tenure with the Metro Court was able to implement many programs that streamlined the process of handling misdemeanor cases. One such Metro program was the Metro Court Traffic Arraignment Program that handles thousands of traffic cases a year with the help of the City Attorney’s Office. When she ran for Supreme Court, Nakamura made history and was elected state wide with a comfortable margin as the first Republican actually elected, not appointed, in decades to the New Mexico Supreme Court.

Confidential sources have said that Torrez sent a letter to the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce soliciting the chamber’s support with the New Mexico Supreme Court. It is more likely than not that Teri Cole has been in contact with the New Mexico Supreme Court in one form or another in support of DA Raul Torrez to promote his agenda of more grand jury time. For that reason alone, it is easy to understand why Justice Nakamura, out of a sense of courtesy, felt it necessary to send a copy of her May 31, 2019 letter addressed to DA Torrez and Mayor Keller to Teri Cole.

The Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce promotes no one else’s agenda unless it feels it is in their best interests of their membership and not the general public’s. The Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, and in particular its President Teri Cole, has a well know reputation for promoting the Albuquerque Republican business establishment agenda, lobbying the New Mexico legislature to change laws they do not like and essentially sticking their noses in political issues that they have no business being involved with in order to promote a right wing Republican agenda. The Chamber of Commerce has no business engaging in any type of lobbying tactics with the New Mexico Supreme Court. How the courts manage their caseloads and whether or not grand jury or preliminary hearing should be utilized for charging people with felonies is none of the Chambers business. Torrez was clearly out of line if in fact he asked the Chamber to lobby the Supreme Court on his behalf and it smacks of political undue influence.

Since day one of being sworn into office as District Attorney, Torrez has done nothing but complain about lack of resources, despite having 50 vacant position within his office including 17 vacant “at will” attorney positions. Since taking office, Torrez has attempted to blame the courts for all of his problems and has complained about the shift to preliminary hearings and attacking the criminal justice system. Torrez made things even worse when he notified the District Court that his office would no longer schedule preliminary hearings in State District Court after he and Keller wrote the New Mexico Supreme Court asking it to intervene.

DA Raul Torrez needs to cease his assault on the courts and the criminal justice system, buckle down and do his job instead of looking for television cameras and reporters to blame judges and the courts for all his problems. DA Torrez needs to mend fences with the Courts by ordering his prosecutors to commence preparing cases for preliminary hearings. Otherwise there is no end in sight to the political saga that is damaging the images of both DA Raul Torrez and the Criminal Justice System.

The City of Albuquerque has settled and paid $3.7 million in a civil law suit to the family of a criminal suspect who was seriously injured on May 28, 2015 by the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) using “excessive use of force” and “deadly force.” The biggest difference between the recent settlement and those of the past is that the injured criminal suspect survived while others were killed by APD.

UNDERLYING FACTS SUPPORTING THE $3.7 MILLION SETTLEMENT

The recent story reporting the $3.7 million settlement and 3 other settlements leaves very little doubt why the City and APD had no choice but to enter into the October 31, 2014 federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA). The settlement agreement required re write and reforms of APD policies and training on “use of force” and “deadly use of force” in order to address the “culture of aggression” found by the Department of Justice. The most recent settlement for $3.7 million alleges civil rights violations and that 10 APD officers used excessive force shooting their weapons 82 times in one incident.

On June 13, 2019, the Albuquerque Journal reported the facts that supported the $3.7 million settlement:

“A little over four years ago, on the evening of May 28, 2015, 10 Albuquerque police officers opened fire on an unarmed suspect in a stolen SUV, shooting at least 82 times. Rodrigo Garcia, then 20 years old, was struck approximately seven times in his head and body. The officers did not provide medical care immediately. Instead, they continued to shout commands for him to give himself up for the next 90 minutes or so. Garcia lived, but was severely injured. He now has the functional capacity of a 5- or 6-year-old and cannot move around by himself. Those claims were included in a lawsuit filed in federal court last year by Garcia’s mother, Loretta Garcia, against the 10 officers who fired their weapons, the four who removed Garcia from the SUV, then-police chief Gorden Eden and the city of Albuquerque.” After the shooting 20-year-old Rodrigo Garcia was on life-support for close to a year and he underwent surgeries to remove bullet fragments and part of his brain.

According to one of the attorneys representing the Rodrigo Garcia family:

“One of the reasons there was a substantial settlement was because we had a panel of experts who explained the 90-minute delay in getting … [Rodrigo Garcia] medical care really had an adverse impact on the extent of his brain injury. … Had he gotten adequate emergency medical care perhaps he wouldn’t have had as much brain damage. But he bled out for 90 minutes, and that was not good. … [Rodrigo Garcia’s] life span is likely not going to be more than until he is 35 years old”. The panel of experts predicted that Garcia, now 24, probably won’t live much longer.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1328176/city-pays-out-3-75-million-in-2015-police-shooting.html

At the time of the shooting, an APD spokesman said when APD tried to arrest Garcia, he and a woman he was with got out of a vehicle they were in but when officers tried to arrest them, Garcia jumped back into and drove away, running into a chain link fence. An officer was either knocked down or fell down during the escape and that is when APD police officers began shooting at the moving vehicle. APD lapel camera video show multiple officers firing at the back of the SUV as it drives away, then again as it slowly rolls backward. It is likely that when the vehicle started to roll back, Garcia had already been shot in the head. Ten police officers fired shots at Garcia driving off and 4 police officers “forcibly removed Garcia from his vehicle and dragged him back to the APD command area where he was handcuffed.”

https://www.scribd.com/document/245127631/DOJ-APD-Settlement-Agreement

THREE APD DEADLY USE OF FOR CASES SETTLED FOR $18 MILLION

There have been 3 previous several million-dollar settlements where suspects have been killed by APD and the city has settled the cases with the families without going to trial. Three of the largest settlements involved the killing of James Ellis, III, a veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, mentally ill and homeless camper James Boyd, and 19-year-old Mary Hawkes.

KENNETH ELLIS, III

On January 28, 2014, the City announced it had settled with the Kenneth Ellis III family for almost $8 million. A judge had ruled the shooting unlawful and a jury returned a $10.3 million verdict. Jurors ruled that the APD Detective who shot Ellis acted “willfully, wantonly or recklessly.” Ken Ellis was a 25-year-old Iraq War veteran suffering from service connected post-traumatic stress disorder. Ellis was killed on January 13, 2010 in a standoff with APD outside a Northeast Heights convenience store. He was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and held a gun to his own head throughout the encounter, which ended when an APD Officer shot him once in the neck.

https://www.abqjournal.com/344029/city-would-pay-8m-to-settle-ellis-shooting-case.html

JAMES BOYD

On July 10, 2015, the city settled with the family of mentally ill and homeless camper James Boyd for $5 million. James Boyd in March, 2014 was shot and killed in the Sandia Foothills by APD after hours of confrontation. Boyd refused to surrender and was armed with two knifes. While Boyd began to surrender, police escalated the confrontation and Boyd was shot and killed by two APD SWAT officers shooting rifles from a distance. The two SWAT officers who killed Boyd were charged with murder, defending the killing as doing what they were trained to do to defend APD officers on the scene. The jurors were unable to reach a verdict, a mistrial was declared and the criminal charges were eventually dismissed against the two APD officers.

https://www.abqjournal.com/610827/albuquerque-reaches-settlement-in-lawsuit-over-james-boyds-death.html

MARY HAWKES

On January 17, 2018, the city of Albuquerque announced it has reached a $5 million settlement with the family of Mary Hawkes, a 19-year-old woman who was shot and killed by police during a foot chase in 2014. 19-year-old Mary Hawkes was allegedly armed with a handgun and fleeing from police and she was shot in the back. Hawkes was killed just days after the Department of Justice announced the city’s police department had a pattern of using excessive force and force. The Hawkes family alleged that the police department’s “structural and systemic deficiencies” led to her killing.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1120552/hawkes-family-settles-lawsuit-fatal-apd-shooting.html

SETTLEMENT MONEY COMES FROM THE TAXPAYER

The City of Albuquerque is a self insured entity and as such carries NO insurance for law enforcement liability nor for any other tort claims or causes of action. The city has a Risk Management Department and the City Council funds the reserves with the money coming out of the general fund, so its all taxpayer money paying the settlements. The city has a claims review board that meets regularly and decides what cases and for how much the cases should be settled. In order to keep its self insurance status, the city must keep in cash reserves a percentage of liability exposure. Virtually none of the agreed to settlements paid come from an insurance carrier. Under state law, when a cop or any city employee is sued, the city is required by law to defend them, pay for their attorney and further pay all attorneys fees, costs and judgments rendered against the cop or city employee. The $60 million plus paid by the city in police misconduct cases and deadly use of force came out of the general fund, which is all taxpayer money.

DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE CONSENT DECREE

The City of Albuquerque has paid out upwards of $64 million in settlements over the last 10 years involving 42 police officer involved shootings. It was 2012 when the Department of Justice (DOJ) came to Albuquerque to investigate the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) for excessive use of force and deadly forced.

Albuquerque is one of 18 law enforcement agencies throughout the country operating under a consent decree brought on by a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation that found systemic problems and a “culture of aggression”. What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from all the other federal investigations and consent decrees is the fact that the others involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and use of excessive force. The DOJ’s finding of a “culture of aggression” within APD dealt with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that were mentally ill.

In APD’s case, the DOJ found a “culture of aggression” within APD after reviewing as many as 18 “deadly use of force cases” and other cases of “excessive use of force” mostly with the mentally ill and having nothing to do with racial profiling. The implementation of reforms under the federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) began in 2014 after a Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found a “pattern and practice of excessive force” and a “culture of aggression” within the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

At the time of the July 10, 2015 settlement with the Boyd family, lawsuits stemming from police shootings had cost taxpayers more than $25 million in settlements, and APD had shot more than 40 people since 2010 with 29 of them fatal.

The CASA was entered into on October 31, 2014. There is no doubt the CASA has addressed the “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ. This November it will be a full five years since the city entered into the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) with the Department of Justice (DOJ). The CASA was negotiated to be fully implemented over a four-year period.

APD has completed the following mandated reforms under the CASA:

1. After a full year of negotiations, the new “use of force” and “use of deadly force” policies have been written and implemented. All APD sworn officers have received training on the policies.

2. All sworn officers have received at least 40 hours crisis management intervention training.

3. APD has created a “Use of Force Review Board” that oversees all internal affairs investigations of use of force and deadly force.

4. The Internal Affairs Unit has been divided into two sections, one dealing with general complaints and the other dealing with use-of-force incidents.

5. Sweeping changes – ranging from APD’s SWAT team protocols, to a ban on chokeholds, to an audit of every Taser used by officers, to a re-write and implementation of new use-of-force and deadly force policies – have been completed.

6. The CASA identified that APD was severely understaffed. APD has added 116 police officers, is returning to community-based policing and has gone from 821 officers in 2016 to 957 police officers on June 18, 2019 and APD expects to be at 987 police officers by the end of July. https://www.abqjournal.com/1329712/apd-added-116-officers-over-past-year.html

7. All other federal consent decrees in the country involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and the use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. APD’s consent decree deals with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that are mentally ill and having psychotic episodes. “Constitutional policing” practices and methods, and mandatory crisis intervention techniques and de-escalation tactics with the mentally ill have now been implemented, with all sworn officers having received the training.

8. APD has adopted a new system to hold officers and supervisors accountable for all use-of-force incidents, with personnel procedures implemented detailing how use-of-force cases are investigated.

9. APD has revised and updated its policies on the mandatory use of lapel cameras by all sworn police officers.

10. The Repeat Offenders Project, known as ROP, has been abolished.

11. The Police Oversight Board has been created, funded, fully staffed, and a director has been hired and his contract renewed.

12. The Community Policing Counsels have been created in area commands and meet monthly.

13. The Mental Health Advisory Committee has been implemented.

14. Under the CASA, once APD achieves a 95% compliance rate in all three compliance areas, the case can be dismissed. The May APD monitor’s report found APD achieved a 100% compliance with primary tasks, 79% secondary compliance and 61% operational compliance.

15. According to the Use of Force Report for 2017 and 2018, APD’s “use of force” and “deadly force” is down, which was the primary objective of the CASA reforms.

VIOLENT CRIME STATS

On March 30, 2019, the Albuquerque Police Department released the City’s crime statistics for the first quarter of 2019 which runs from January to March of 2019.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/apd-most-crime-is-down-but-non-fatal-shootings-are-up/5299172/?cat=500

The good news is that APD reported that crime is continuing to drop from 10 years of historic highs in all major categories. The bad news in the statistics released is that the city saw an increase in nonfatal shootings.

According to the statistics, non-fatal shootings went up 12% and there have been 131 nonfatal shootings the first quarter of the year compared to last year’s number of 114. The statistics reflect that in the first three months of nonfatal shootings around the city occurred roughly three times every two days. Nonfatal shootings have increased from 2017 to 2018 rising by 14%.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

All too often, people who consider themselves “law and order” types and supporters of law enforcement say criminal suspects who are shot or even killed by police get what they deserve. The opinion expressed usually includes that the families of suspects killed should not be compensated for damages or violations of constitutional rights by law enforcement and wrongful death claims. Such attitudes are misguided and reflect a degree of ignorance and purpose and function of law enforcement in general.

All 4 of the described cases that the city settled for a combined total of $21.7 million dollars leaves very little doubt why the City and APD had no choice but to enter into the federal Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA). The CASA mandated the rewrite and reform of APD policies, procedures and training on “use of force” and “deadly use of force.”

APD is slowly but assuredly growing and changing. APD has added 116 police officers, is returning to community-based policing and has gone from 821 officers in 2016 to 957 police officers on June 18, 2019. APD’s use of force and deadly use of force is also down dramatically. The goal is to spend $88 million over a four-year period and bring the level of police officers to a full force of 1,200. Notwithstanding the growth of APD, the city is still suffering from record high violent crime and APD has its work cut out for it.

The most common motto of law enforcement agencies throughout the country is to “protect and serve”. In general, the words define the mission of law enforcement which is to “protect” citizens from danger and “serve” the public. “Protect and Serve” does not mean “shoot and kill first and ask questions later.”

The mission of law enforcement is not “Judge, Jury and Executioner”. Taxpayers wind up paying for “use of excessive force” or “deadly force” by law enforcement when constitutional policing practices are not followed. There is no doubt that law enforcement have the right to defend themselves, but they must do so within the confines permitted by the United States Constitution. That is why APD police officers go through months of training and education at the police academy before they become police officers and then another period of on the job training.

It appears that APD has learned its lessons from past mistakes, is improving and that the CASA reforms are serving their function. However, Albuquerque is way too violent and APD has a steep mountain to climb to get the city’s violent crime down and making sure all police officers get home safe at the same time.

There is no doubt the film industry is emerging to be the biggest hope for Albuquerque and New Mexico to diversify both economies. The unmistakable evidence are the immense investment in the city and state by NBC Universal and the Netflix purchase of Albuquerque studios as the site of their new production hub. NBC Universal is the second major studio in less than a year to announce they are opening film production facilities in Albuquerque. However, one potential problem that New Mexico needs to address is the impact restrictive abortion laws could have on New Mexico’s expanding film industry. The New Mexico legislature needs to take aggressive legislative action to protect abortion rights and a woman’s right to choose.

THE NBC UNIVERSAL DEAL

On June 14, NBC Universal announce it will open a studio in Albuquerque as part of a 10-year venture with Garcia Realty and Development. The media giant will be taking over, renovating and creating sound stages at a now vacant industrial building south of I-40 on Commercial Street, north of downtown in the vicinity of historic Martineztown.

The NBC Universal plans are to redevelop the warehouse into a state-of-the-art television and film studio with two sound stages, offices and a film production mill. The turnaround time for the renovations is very short and it’s expected to be complete in the fall of 2019.

The media giant is expected to provide more than 330 full-time jobs year-round at the film studio. NBC Universal employees will earn about $58,000 a year which is a far cry from the minimum wage jobs the city is use to announcing with the arrival of new businesses. The studio operation is projected to generate an economic impact of $1.1 billion over a 10-year period.

Once complete, the studio will be used by NBC Universal to produce scripted productions for many platforms, including broadcast and cable channels.

The state’s Economic Development Department is providing $7.7 million through the Local Economic Development Act (LEDA) to the redevelopment and production commitment. The City of Albuquerque will provide another $3 million from its LEDA fund which was approved by the Albuquerque City Council on June 17, 2019 by a unanimous vote.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/nbcuniversal-to-open-studio-in-albuquerque/5389689/?cat=500

NBC UNIVERSAL DEAL IN A NUTSHELL

The Albuquerque Journal provided a bullet point nutshell of the NBC Universal deal as follows:

•The Warehouse [that is to be renovated] was constructed in 1976 for Richard’s Distributing, a beer distributing company. The building was sold to Southern Glazer’s Wine and Spirits and has been largely vacant since 2017.

• There will be two sound stages, offices and a fill production mill space.

• City of Albuquerque has completed street improvements, curbs and sidewalks with LED solar street lights to be installed.

• The 300-plus workers employed by NBC Universal will earn an average wage of $58,000 and support another 497 indirect workers with an average wage of $41,000.

• NBC Universal will develop a marketing strategy with the state and city to promote Albuquerque and New Mexico with the value to be in excess of $500,000 per year.

• NBC Universal will provide at least $55,000 per year to fund existing workforce development initiatives in the state.

• NBC Universal’s director mentorship program will provide a stipend to an aspiring director from the local community who will shadow a director for a period of one to three episodes, including pre- and post-production.

You can read the lengthy Journal story at the below link:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1328383/nbcuniversal-to-bring-production-venture-to-abq.html

THE NETFLIX PURCHASE OF ALB STUDIOS

On October 8, 2018, it was announced that Netflix was buying Albuquerque Studios.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1230755/netflix-to-buy-abq-studios.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/new-mexico/netflix-buys-albuquerque-studios/1507392854

The State contributed $10 million of Local Economic Development Act funds. The City of Albuquerque contributed another $4.5 million of Local Economic Development Funds. Albuquerque beat out other places such as Denver, Salt Lake City, Austin, New York, Georgia and Los Angeles. The Albuquerque site will be Netflix’s first hub purchased in the United States.

It is estimated that at least 1,000 well-paying jobs per year will be created. The jobs will run the gamut of film and TV production work, most of which is project-based contract labor. Many of the jobs are expected to pay $70,000 a year. The purchase deal also calls for $1 billion worth of production spent over 10 years which will have a dramatic effect on the City and State economies.

Albuquerque Studios is an enormous complex that includes 9 sound stages, a backlot and management offices. New Mexico’s other 4 production studios are I-25 Studios, Garson Studios, Santa Fe Studios and Las Cruces Studios as other productions seek studio space for their projects.

In 2006, Albuquerque studios was a $74 million, 50-acre project featuring eight sound stages, production officers and support space. On July 24, 2006, the groundbreaking of Albuquerque Studios occurred and once completed, it was and still is a state-of-the-art movie-making facility. Notwithstanding the sophistication of the facility, Albuquerque Studios for 17 years has been a rental house to production companies and was for sale for a number of years.

The Netflix purchase will no doubt benefit the other major studios in the State that will likely be asked to provide additional overflow work. The jobs that will be created in Albuquerque run the gamut of film and TV production work, most of which is project-based contract labor. With the Nextflex purchase, you will have a production and distribution company that can create that will take it over and start producing far more projects.

NEW MEXICO’S EXPANDED TAX CREDITS FOR FILM AND TELEVISION PRODUCTION

On March 29, 2019, Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham signed into a law legislation expanding tax credits for film and television productions in a bid to bring more business to New Mexico’s studios as well as its cinematic mesas and small towns. Governor Michelle Lujan had called upon the legislature to abolish the annual $50 million cap on film rebate spending cap, but the legislature instead more than doubled it. The enacted legislation also pays off up to $225 million in tax credits already owed to the film and television industry. The film and television industry has hit the $50 million annual cap on tax credits in recent years, leaving the state with a backlog of $382 million through fiscal year 2023.

The enacted law more than doubles the original cap of $50 million to up to $110 million in in tax credits for film and television productions each year. That cap does not apply to production companies that have purchased or signed a 10-year lease for facilities, like Netflix, which is setting up shop in Albuquerque. The new law also provides an additional 5 percent credit for productions more than 60 miles outside of Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties, a measure that proponents argued would promote the industry in cities like Las Cruces as well as in rural areas of the state. The law also requires the state to collect additional data on how the credits are used.

FILM TAX CREDITS CRITICIZED AS GOING TOO FAR

Critics of the film rebates contend that the legislature has gone way too far with the rebates because companies like Netflex and NBC Universal that make a ten year commitment to film here because there is no cap. Under the rebate legislation, companies like Netflez and NBC Universal will be allowed to keep collecting upwards of 30% of what it costs to produce films and TV shows no matter how much is being billed by the industry. The argument critics make is that companies like Netflex and Universal could very easily take the incentive over the $110 million a year impacting the state’s budget in a very negative way.

For more on the criticism of the film rebated see June 17, 2019 post entitled “Hefty NM Film Incentives Draw Renewed Questioning In Wake of NBCU Deal: Too Generous? Blowing A Hole In State Budget? Other States Back Off” at New Mexico Politics With Joe Monahan at the below link:

http://joemonahansnewmexico.blogspot.com/

On June 16, 2017, State Senate Finance Commitee Chairman John Author Smith told an interim legislative commitee that if the price of oil does not change drastically, the State could once again recieve between $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in additional tax dollars next year. If that happens, it will be the second year in a row that the state will get a $1 billion plus windfall. The oil boom in Southern New Mexico is going strong and royalties paid to the state continue to increase. The additional revenues could be relied upon to continue with the film tax credits to some extent.

https://www.apnews.com/d06489c30b714ff3a7f758226f8205d2

RESTRICTIVE ABORTIONS LAWS IMPACT FILM INDUSTRY GROWTH

Nine states have now enacted laws restricting abortions an attempt to prompt the United States Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade which makes abortions legal throughout the country, protecting a woman’s right to choose and declaring unconstitutional state criminal law-making abortions illegal. Most of the new restrictions are in the South and Midwest. The State of Georgia has enacted one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the county.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2019/05/09/which-states-are-blocking-abortion-and-which-are-enacting-protections/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.1ce3897fcb8e

More feature films are made in Georgia than in any other U.S. state. Its film commission even likes to call Georgia “Y’allywood.” But a restrictive abortion law passed earlier this year is threatening the film industry in Georgia. Ten major film and TV studios have announced they might halt production altogether in Georgia. Some of the most popular shows filmed in Georgia include the science fiction hit “Stranger Things”. “Black Panther” and “Avengers: Endgame” are two Disney blockbusters that were shot partly in Georgia.

Ted Sarandos, who runs Netflix studios, said the Georgia law would restrict the rights of his female employees and his company would reconsider shooting there. Disney CEO Bob Iger made a similar comment in an interview with Reuters:

“Well, I think if it becomes law [which it now has], it will be very difficult to produce there. I rather doubt we will. I think many people who work for us will not want to work there. And we’ll have to heed their wishes in that regard.”

https://www.npr.org/2019/05/31/728542385/movie-productions-in-georgia-may-stop-over-states-abortion-law

Netflix, Disney, Warner Media, AMC Networks, NBC Universal and CBS Corp. and its Showtime subsidiary have all threatened to pull their business from Georgia and fear is rippling through the state’s film production industry, now bigger than California’s, according to Film LA.

Last year, a record 455 film and television productions generated an estimated economic impact of $9.5 billion, according to the Georgia state department of economic development. The film and TV industry is responsible for more than 92,100 jobs and nearly $4.6 billion in total wages in Georgia, including indirect jobs and wages, according to the Motion Picture Association of America, a trade union group.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-08/trouble-in-y-allywood-no-1-film-state-rattled-by-abortion-law

NEW MEXICO’S 1969 ABORTION LAW

An NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll on abortion was taken on June 8, 2019 and compared to an identical poll taken on September 19, 2008. The result was telecast on the June 16, 2019 Meet the Press show. The poll was one question “Should abortions be legal all the time/most of the time”. Comparing the two polls reveal an increase in support of abortion along both gender and party lines. Following are the results comparing “NOW” to the year 2008:

Men: NOW: 52% favor, before in 2008: 50% favor
Women: NOW: 60% favor, before in 2008: 49% favor
Democrats: NOW: 81% favor, before in 2008: 68% favor
Republicans: NOW: 29% favor, before in 2008: 25% favor

During the 2019 New Mexico legislature, one of the biggest failures was the failure to repeal the 1969 law that criminalizes abortion, except in cases in rape. The New Mexico statute now on the books criminalizing abortion is not enforceable as a result of the United State Supreme Court ruling in Rowe vs Wade that legalizes abortions. “Right to choose” advocates are concerned that the United States Supreme Court will reverse the Roe vs. Wade decision now that conservatives are in control of the United States Supreme Court. If that happens, New Mexico’s 1969 law would be enforceable.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham who attended the press conference announcement for the NBC Universal had this to say:

“I’m incredibly excited to announce today NBC Universal has chosen to plant their flag here in New Mexico, establishing a world-class production facility in Albuquerque. … New Mexico is the place to be for the future of the film and TV industry. … We are growing New Mexico’s film industry, diversifying our economy and creating exciting jobs – this is a home run deal”.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham was not exaggerating nor embellishing in the least with her remarks. It is not far fetched to envision New Mexico replacing the State of Georgia as the number one state for feature films than in any other U.S. state. The New Mexico film industry has been growing steadily for more than 17 years. Albuquerque has regularly been ranked in the top 10 of the trade magazine Moviemaker’s best places to be a filmmaker.

With NBC Universal coming to Albuquerque and the purchase of Albuquerque Studios by Netflix, the film industry is clearly in the future of Albuquerque and the best hope at this point in diversifying our economy. Last year alone, the film and TV production industry brought in over $180 million of direct spending to the city and state. Far more important, jobs that will be provided by both NBC Universal and NETFLEX are a far cry from the hourly wage jobs provided by the “call centers” that the city has become accustomed to being announced.

The City and the State need to continue with efforts that will insure that our education institutions such as the New Mexico Community College continue to offer a trained work force. Both the City and the State need to create more incentives to build and guarantee that the industry continues to prosper in New Mexico.

Albuquerque and New Mexico need to pursue with a vengeance the real growth industry 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 and New Mexico’s film industry which is developing, expanding and proving to be very successful in providing well-paying jobs.

Now that the United States Supreme court has a conservative majority, the chances are increasing that the United States Supreme Court will reverse Roe vs. Wade which could very well mean New Mexico’s 1969 law is again enforceable. A reversal of Roe vs. Wade will become even more likely if President Trump is given another opportunity to appoint a third conservative judge to the Supreme Court.

The New Mexico legislature’s failure to repeal the 1969 law that criminalizes abortion may be a dark cloud forming around New Mexico film industry that could jeopardize the successes made in attracting the industry to the state. Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the New Mexico Legislature would be wise to again make an effort to repeal the 1969 criminal abortion law and pass legislation that affirms in a woman’s right to choose and access to abortion and prenatal healthcare. The New Mexico legislature should take steps to amend the New Mexico constitution to protect abortion rights and a woman’s right to choose.

The fact that Universal NBC and Netflex are coming to Albuquerque and New Mexico, coupled with more than doubling the film tax credit to $110 million, ensures the state and city will indeed be a real contender in the film industry nationally and globally. The Governor and the legislature will no doubt have to monitor the film industry tax credit to insure that the credits are not dominated by the mega production companies and perhaps alter, reduce or abolish the tax credits in one form or another. The fact that the State could once again receive between $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion in additional tax dollars next year from oil and gas revenues should be sufficient cause to continue with the film tax rebates.

For now, its “lights, camera, action and jobs!” for New Mexico.