The Albuquerque Police Department (APD) intends to spend $88 million dollars, over the next 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 2018-2019 fiscal year budget provides for increasing funding from 1,000 sworn police to 1,040.

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.

The APD recruiting plan to grow the size of the department includes the city increasing police officer hourly pay and increasing longevity pay.

GROWING APD WITH LATERAL HIRES AND RETIREES

APD is projecting that it will have 980 officers by next summer by growing the ranks with both new cadets and lateral hires from other departments, including APD retirees.

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 about 30 officers is expecting to graduate in December.

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

11 from the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office
11 from the Santa Fe Police Department
8 from 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.

RIO RANCHO POLICE DEPARTMENT LATERAL HIRE RECRUITS

APD Chief Michael Geier is a retired APD Police officer and is the former Rio Rancho Police Chief that Mayor Keller recruited for APD.

Rio Rancho Police Officers start at $20.30 an hour while APD officers’ start at $29 an hour.

The Rio Rancho Police Department (RRPD) is authorized for 135 officers.

Currently, the RRPD has 16 vacancies and they have lost 11 officers to Albuquerque Police Department this year.

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/rio-rancho-police-ups-recruitment-efforts/5157589/?cat=500

In early November, 7 Rio Rancho police officers announced resignations to join the Albuquerque Police Department.

Including the 7 officers who recently resigned, 11 Rio Rancho officers have left the Rio Rancho Police Department to join APD.

Eight former Rio Rancho police have either graduated or are currently seated in the APD Police Academy.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1248996/apd-snags-11-rio-rancho-officers.html

LUCRATIVE RETENTION AND INCENTIVE PAY

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 four 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 new contract, officers with 4 to 14 years of experience are paid $30 an hour.

The new contract pays senior officers to 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 up 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 and for example include:

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies make $27.03 an hour.
Rio Rancho police officers start out making $20.30 an hour.
Santa Fe police officers make $19 an hour.

The approved longevity pay scale effective August 1, 2018 for the 2018-2019 fiscal year is as follows:

For 5 to 9 years of experience: $100 will be paid bi-weekly, or $2,600 yearly
For 10 to 14 years of experience: $150 will be paid bi-weekly, or $3,900 yearly
For 15 to 17 years of experience: $200 will be paid bi-weekly, or $5,200 yearly
For 18 to 19 years of experience: $300 will be paid bi-weekly, or $7,800 yearly
For 19 to 20 years or more: $500 will be paid bi-weekly, or $13,000 yearly

The approved longevity pay scale effective the first full pay period following July 1, 2019, and that will replace the 2018-2019 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 in October 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.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The Albuquerque Police Department’s new pay structure and increased longevity pay incentive bonuses are allowing APD to recruit experienced police officers from other New Mexico law enforcement agencies.

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.

Mayor Tim Keller has said he has heard concerns from nearby local governments about Albuquerque taking officers from other departments.

Keller proclaims that fixing Albuquerque’s crime problem is his main priority, as it should be, but it is also at the expense of other municipal police departments and communities.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1233680/apd-growth-shaking-up-other-police-departments.html

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, is an accurate description of what Keller and APD Chief Geier are doing now.

Geier is the former Chief of Rio Rancho Police Department which explains to a degree why so many lateral hires are coming from Rio Rancho.

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.

Keller and Geier need to realize that APD needs to recruit a new generation of young, committed police officers to start their careers who are fully trained in constitutional policing practices.

Keller and Geier are also hiring and returning to work APD retirees and the danger with that is 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 rebuild APD from the ground up.

Following is the Sunday, November 25, 2018, Albuquerque Journal Editorial that appeared on page A-14, with the link provided thereafter:

Editorial Headline: ABQ and bus maker BYD locked in a costly game of chicken over troubled ART

Fasten your seatbelts, Albuquerque. It looks like we’re headed for a legal bus wreck down at the courthouse.

The rocky relationship between the administration of Mayor Tim Keller and Chinese-owned bus manufacturer BYD (Build Your Dreams), which had struck a deal with Keller’s predecessor to provide the city with 20, 60-foot-long electric buses for the controversial Albuquerque Rapid Transit project, veered off the highway and into the ditch this month.

From the perspective of an aerial traffic cam, the two sides’ narratives are on vastly different paths as both sides threaten legal action. For its part, the city says it still does not have the full fleet BYD promised to have here in late 2017, the buses that are here don’t perform as advertised, and many are riddled with safety hazards. Meanwhile, BYD says the buses are fine and the Keller administration’s criticism is politically motivated grandstanding that hurts Albuquerque residents and poses a threat to the company’s business reputation.

Since taking office, Keller’s team has pointed out various problems with the buses. Some problems were to be expected. After all, it’s a first-of-its-kind product in the U.S. – namely a 60-foot, articulated, five-door electric bus. BYD has vacillated between being defensive and pledging to fix any issues, and the city did have inspectors on-site in California where the buses are assembled – although their work is highly suspect.

Keller upped the ante considerably this month when he announced the city would pull the plug on the BYD contract and search for clean diesel or natural gas alternative buses. He hammered the BYD buses, citing problems with the brakes, doors that open when they aren’t supposed to, handicap wheelchair locks that release when the driver turns on a cooling fan, two-way radios that go dead, and malfunctioning ramp sensors that could lead to crushed feet on the passenger platforms designed specifically for this bus.

Oh, and he said there was a possibility the battery bank inside the bus could overheat and catch fire. All this on top of operational problems the city says are led by batteries that won’t hold anywhere near the charge needed for a bus to go the promised 270 miles. That’s a bigger problem than it sounds, because it means the city doesn’t have enough buses to operate on the ART route.

Keller said in a meeting with Journal editors and reporters that BYD has missed every benchmark under the contract and added “I just don’t trust them anymore. I think they are in way over their head in America. I don’t think they have a stable leadership team, (and) we’re not going to be their test guinea pig for R&D on electric batteries.”

The city then fired off a legal shot, telling BYD in a letter that in addition to rejecting the buses it would seek damages, costs, attorney fees and other relief.
It would be an understatement to say the mayor’s pronouncement didn’t sit well with BYD president Stella Li.

“Keller’s media statements slander and maliciously harm the reputation and good name of BYD,” the company said. “These statements show the city is not acting in good faith under the contract and further indicate a potential political agenda to discredit and throttle a public works project that the mayor has long criticized as part of his campaign platform.”

It’s true some of the Keller administration’s early criticisms of BYD’s products seemed to quickly run out of gas. BYD said the charging station instructions that were reportedly all in Mandarin simply required a user to change the language. Leaking axles had just been overfilled. And mirrors that struck station canopies could be adjusted to clear them.

But the newer issues appear far more serious.

Li promised to hire independent experts to prove the buses work and are safe. The company said it is the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer with 36,000 buses in service and City Hall’s actions have damaged BYD’s reputation. Indeed, any potential government customer looking for buses would surely pause given Albuquerque’s general description of BYD’s product as something akin to a rolling death trap – to the extent it will roll at all.

BYD shows no sign of backing down or going away, so at this point Albuquerque is engaged in a high stakes game of “chicken” with 60-foot electric buses on a collision course for the courthouse. Meanwhile, the city is stuck with $69 million in construction up and down Central Avenue built specifically for a 60-foot, five-door bus. Finding an alternative is expected to take at least a year and could mean the loss of $6 million in federal funds earmarked for the electric buses.

Let’s be clear. Whether Keller ever liked this project is irrelevant. What is relevant is he has an absolute duty not to knowingly put an unsafe product on the streets or to pay for buses that don’t work as advertised. So IF his team is correct in its assessment of BYD’s product, he’s done the right thing.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1250156/on-a-collision-course.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Former Mayor Richard Berry has now become Lord Voldemort to the Albuquerque Journal as “he whose name must not be spoken” when it comes to the disastrous ART Bus project.

The Albuquerque Journal does not even mention once the name of Mayor Richard Berry in the editorial calling him “Keller’s predecessor.”

On July 13, 2016, then Mayor Richard Berry said the buses being purchased from BYD for the ART bus project would be electric and powered by batteries, not diesel, a move Berry said would save money and reduce pollution.

Berry also proclaimed that “electric vehicles are the way of the future.” According to Berry, the BYD bus purchase would put Albuquerque in position to be the first city in the country to operate a fleet of 60-foot-long electric buses.

Berry proudly proclaimed “I’m a fiscal conservative … This is a fiscally conservative decision. It’s a proven technology … I’m very comfortable with this.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/806990/electric-buses-to-be-used-for-art.html

During his year and a half quest to become Mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller never called upon his predecessor to stop the ART Bus project, nor to cancel the bus contract nor did he ever condemn it as destroying historical Route 66.

Tim Keller did not attend a single public hearing or meeting held by the Berry Administration on the project, including the meetings hosted by city councilors where councilors were urged to place it on the ballot.

When the federal lawsuit was filed to enjoin the lawsuit, not a single candidate for Mayor at the time attended any of the court hearings.

Soon after being sworn in as Mayor, Keller was urged to file a lawsuit over the buses.

Notwithstanding, Mayor Keller has said that too much has been spent on the entire ART Bus project and it would be too costly to Restore route 66 and to remove the platforms.

When 15 new buses were delivered, the Keller administration took possession and did not return them and only now is trying to cancel the contract.

Keller has now wasted the first year of his 4-year term by failing to be decisive and trying to save the project by giving BYD the benefit of the doubt in their ability to deliver the buses.

Rather admitting just how wrong they have been about the ART Bus project, the Albuquerque Journal editors chooses to no even mention the name of Richard Berry.

The time for talking is over and it’s time to get on with litigation to make taxpayers whole again and perhaps restore Route 66.

Dinelli Blog Articles On ART Bus Project Listed

On Tuesday, November 13, 2018, the city announced its plans to cancel the manufacturing contract with Build Your Dreams (BYD) with two major problem cited as the brakes and the batteries for the electric buses.

The city wants to return all the 60-foot electric buses manufactured and delivered for the disastrous ART Bus Project.

During the November 13, 2018 press conference, Mayor Keller revealed that the city sent a “registered mail” letter demanding that BYD take possession of the buses and the chargers by November 30, 2018.

The demand letter also put BYD on notice that the city intends to seek “damages, costs, attorney fees and any relief to which it is legally entitled to” essentially giving BYD notice that the city intends to sue.

On November 14, 2018, BYD President Stella Li issued a statement vehemently denying the accusations made by Mayor Tim Keller saying:

“Keller’s media statements slander and maliciously harm the reputation and good name of BYD, … These statements show that the city is not acting in good faith under the contract and further indicate a potential political agenda to discredit and throttle a public works project that the mayor has long criticized as part of his campaign platform. … [Albuquerque] City hall’s actions have not only wrongfully damaged BYD’s reputation, but also have deprived the citizens of Albuquerque of the world’s safest and most advanced pollution- and cost-reducing zero-emission transit bus. BYD will take all appropriate legal actions to protect itself in light of City Hall’s conduct.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1247449/byd-will-hire-independent-experts-to-examine-buses.html

On Monday, November 19, 2018 BYD Vice President Michael Austin told an Indianapolis television station that ABQ Ride bus drivers were to blame for reported braking problems.

During an on-air TV interview in Indianapolis, Michael Austin said BYD buses were inspected 3 times before they were sent to Albuquerque, and pronounced the BYD bus technology as safe.

Additional news media coverage can be reviewed here:

https://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/indianapolis/indygo-electric-bus-safety-questioned-after-alburquerque-points-out-major-problems-returns-them

https://www.abqjournal.com/1248943/bus-vp-blames-abq-ride-drivers-for-braking-problems.html

LONG DISTANCE ACCUSATIONS

BYD Vice President Michael Austin was in Indianapolis on Monday, November 19, 2018 to take local media on a test ride of one of their IndyGo buses, and when asked about the Albuquerque buses he said a lack of driver training was part of ABQ Ride problems.

IndyGo manages and operates the Indiana capital city’s public bus transit system and has purchased 13 60-foot electric buses from BYD in an effort to replace its mass-transit system’s older diesel fleet.

The city of Indianapolis has contracted to pay more than $1.2 million each for the buses that will run along a 14-mile route.

IndyGo told the TV station it is not seeing the same problems on their BYD test bus in part because the bus now uses different battery technology.

According to BYD, Albuquerque’s ART buses use iron-phosphate batteries that are “fire-safe, nontoxic and environmentally friendly.”

The IndyGo buses are using liquid-cooled batteries, according to Indianapolis Business Journal.

Albuquerque officials have said the battery life on the ART Buses is much shorter than promised, and that the batteries overheat and can be in danger of exploding.

According to Austin:

“We have 36,000 buses deployed. … We have not seen those issues. We know what the issues are, and they were more driver errors misreported to the media as safety issues.”

Austin is now blaming Mayor Tim Keller for coming up with falsehoods to get out of the purchase agreement by saying:

“The buses [manufactured for Albuquerque] were inspected three times before they ever left our factory, they passed all brake testing, and they still pass, so they were looking for a way out of the contract from the beginning. … When Albuquerque’s new elected mayor came into office he immediately asked to terminate the contract before any issues were found. Now he’s figuring out a way … He’s come up with some claims that we believe are false.”

Mayor Keller responded to Austin by saying:

“Well that’s not actually true, we never tried to terminate the contract. In fact, it was the opposite. We reached out and said can you help us get this done in a way that the busses will actually work. … We want to do business with companies that just keep their words, are professional and deliver on their contractual obligations.”

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/bus-company-blames-keller-for-art-deal-going-sour/5152070/?cat=500

REPORTED PROBLEMS WITH THE BYD BUSES

The reported problems associated with the buses that can be gleaned from newspaper and media accounts include:

1. The center and rear brakes had zero air pressure, yet the 60-foot-long articulated buses were able to move, meaning that the center and rear axle brakes were not working and the buses were relying on their front brakes alone.
2. Rear doors would open during bus operation without any action by the driver.
3. The buses have air conditioning outages.
4. Bolts flying off doors
5. The electric buses delivered are supposed to operate for 275 miles, but city officials found the buses cannot go more than 177 miles before they need recharging.
6. The lack of undercarriage protection.
7. Buses that wouldn’t stop when emergency doors were utilized.
8. Cracking on bus exteriors.
9. Mirrors not set up correctly.
10. Wiring problems and electrical system problems.
11. The handicap electric chair lock becoming unsecured when the driver turns on the air conditioner.
12. BYD still has not provided the extra charging stations promised.
13. The bus batteries heat up so much that they can’t take a charge.
14. The batteries or not properly stored or cooled on the buses posing a fire hazard.

The Keller Administration reported that the deficiencies with the brakes, batteries and doors are “fleet-wide issues”.

Albuquerque city officials are standing by their previous comments on the BYD buses.

Alicia Manzano, spokeswoman for Mayor Tim Keller’s office, had this to say in response to Austin:

“We’ve laid out the facts since the beginning, and these buses are not safe for the road. We refuse to jeopardize the safety of our residents and want BYD to hold up their end of the deal.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is easy to imagine hearing the bus manufacturer spokesman say:

“All the problems with the new buses are driver error! There is nothing wrong with the the buses! Don’t you damn fools in Albuquerque believe former Mayor Richard Berry when he said that this is “proven technology”, we know what we are doing. You taxpayers have no right to demand to get what you paid for. Your elected officials know what is good for you and let the buyer beware!”

What is so damn laughable is the false accusation being made against Keller that when he was sworn into office last year he immediately asked to terminate the contract before any problems were found.

BDY’s accusation that the ART Bus project is a public works project that Mayor Keller has long criticized as part of his campaign platform to get elected Mayor is downright false and could not be further from the truth.

During his year and a half quest to become Mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller never called upon his predecessor to stop the ART Bus project, nor to cancel the bus contract nor did he ever condemn it as destroying historical Route 66.

Tim Keller did not attend a single public hearing or meetings held by the Berry Administration on the project, including the meetings hosted by city councilors.

Keller has wasted the first year of his 4-year term trying to save the project by giving BYD the benefit of the doubt in their ability to deliver the buses.

From day one of being Mayor, Keller has said that too much has been spent on the project and it would be too costly to reverse the project.

When 15 new buses were delivered, the Keller administration took possession and did not return them and only now is trying to cancel the contract.

The time for talking is over and its time to get on with litigation to make taxpayers whole again and perhaps restore Route 66.

Dinelli Blog Articles On ART Bus Project Listed

Since the enactment of the City Charter creating Albuquerque’s Mayor/City Council form of government, municipal elections have been held every two years of odd-number years in October on the first Tuesday of October, with run offs held six weeks later and the winner sworn in on December 1 after the runoff.

The New Mexico legislature during the 2018 legislative session enacted the Local Election Act which went into effect July 1, 2018.

The Local Election Act requires municipalities like Albuquerque to either move their municipal elections to a consolidated local election in November of odd-numbered years or hold non-consolidated elections in March of even-numbered years.

On November 19, 2018, the Albuquerque City Council unanimously approved a measure moving Albuquerque’s municipal elections from October to November of an election year to comply with the Local Election Act.

The November election date also moves municipal runoff elections to December and term starting dates to January.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1248537/abq-councilors-approve-moving-city-elections-from-october-to-november.html
PUBLIC FINANCING CHARTER AMENDMENT ENACTED

The City Council also approved a charter amendment that will require voter approval making changes in the city public financing of candidates.

The proposed changes in the charter amendment include:

1. Increasing city public financing distribution for mayoral and council races from $1 per voter to $1.75 cents per voter for regular elections and from 33 cents to 60 cents for runoff elections.
2. Increasing “seed money” from $100 per person to $250 per person.
3. The aggregate amount of seed money will be increased from 10% to 20% of distribution, but the distribution would be reduced by the amount of seed money collected.
4. The length of the qualifying period to collect will be increased and match dates to the petition signature period for mayoral and council races.
5. Another proposal increases the length of qualifying period and match dates to the petition signature period for mayoral and council races.

The charter amendment will require voter approval with a special election, but the city council voted to defer for 60 days scheduling a mail-in special election on the proposed city charter amendment.

The City Council approved an election code ordinance bill designed to “encourage compliance with election laws and discourage frivolous complaints.”

The new election code ordinance will clarify and add definitions to establish expectations for candidates, close campaign finance loopholes and make the campaign finance reporting schedule match the state’s schedule.

The approved ordinance changes the definition of a candidate to include people who raise or spend more than $1,000.

The new election code ordinance also creates an administrative process for the city to respond to potential election code issues.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1248537/abq-councilors-approve-moving-city-elections-from-october-to-november.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

The Albuquerque City Council has once again ignored making any real attempt at campaign finance reform.

The proposed charter amendment only addresses changes in the election date and the time frame for collecting qualifying signatures to get on the ballot.

Candidates for Mayor and City Council are given three months to collect nominating petition signatures from registered voters.

However, under the city’s public financing laws, candidates are only given six weeks to collect $5 qualifying donations which is a very difficult and daunting task unless you’re an incumbent and have done it before.

It makes no sense giving more than double to time to collect qualifying signatures and just six weeks to collect $5 qualifying donations to secure public financing.

If a candidate seeking public financing donations does not secure the qualifying $5 donations, all the money reverts to the city and not kept by the candidate that collected the donations.

Further, no effort was made to address the disparity between public financed candidates, privately financed candidates and measured finance committees.

Candidates that decide to go with private financing as well as measured finance committees for candidates can solicit unlimited cash donations from any source including out of city and state contributions.

Public finance laws should not be set up to make it too difficult to qualify for public financing.

Every effort should be made to make Albuquerque’s public financing laws for municipal elections to legally provide for a “dollar for dollar” match to privately raised funds by candidates, thereby providing a real level playing field.

The influence of big money in elections allowed by the US Supreme Court decision in Citizens United is destroying our democracy.

Many highly qualified candidates for office all too often do not bother to run because of the inability or difficulty raising the necessary money to run.

Political campaign fundraising and big money influence are warping our election process.

Money spent becomes equated with the final vote.

Money drives the message, affects voter turnout and ultimately the outcome of an election.

Albuquerque municipal elections need campaign finance reform and enforcement.

POSTSCRIPT

Following are recommendations for changes to the City’s public finance laws outlined in a January 2, 2018 blog article on the city’s public finance ordinance:

1. Allow four (4) months and two (2) weeks, from January 1 to May 15, to collected both the qualifying donations and petition signatures, and private campaign donation collection.

2. Allow the collection of the qualifying donations from anyone who wants, and not just residents or registered voters of Albuquerque. Privately finance candidates now can collect donations from anyone they want and anywhere in the State and Country.

3. Once the allowed number of qualifying donations is collected, the public financing would be made immediately available, but not allowed to be spent until starting May 15.

4. Permit campaign spending for both publicly financed and privately financed candidates only from May 15 to the October election day.

5. Return to candidates for their use in their campaign any qualifying donations the candidate has collected when the candidate fails to secure the required number of qualifying donations to get the public financing.

6. Mandate the City Clerk to issue debit card or credit card collection devices to collect the qualifying donations and to issue receipts and eliminate the mandatory use of “paper receipts”.

7. Increase from $1.00 to $2.50 per registered voter the amount of public financing, which will be approximately $900,000, and allow for incremental increases of 10% every election cycle keeping up with inflation.

8. Allow for additional matching public financing available for run offs at the rate of $1.25 per registered voter, or $450,000.

9. Albuquerque should make every effort to make municipal elections partisan elections to be held along with State and Federal elections by seeking a constitutional amendment from the legislature to be voted upon by the public.

10. Any money raised and spent by measured finance committees on behalf a candidate should be required to first be applied to reimburse the City for any taxpayer money advanced to a public finance candidate or deducted from a publicly financed candidates account and returned to the city.

11. City of Albuquerque campaign reporting and finance ordinances and regulations need to define with absolute clarity that strictly prohibit the coordination of expenditures and campaign activities with measured finance committees and individual candidate’s campaigns in municipal elections.

12. A mandatory schedule of fines and penalties for violations of the code of ethics and campaign practices act should be enacted by the City Council.

2018 YEAR TO REFORM CITY PUBLIC CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAWS

Two days before Thanksgiving, President Donald Trump issued pardons to two hefty tom turkeys, one named Peas weighing 39 pounds and one named Carrots weighing 41 pounds.

https://www.npr.org/2018/11/20/669362990/president-trump-prepares-to-spare-two-thanksgiving-turkeys

More on this in commentary and analysis below.

Trump during his visit to Northern California to view the damage caused by the wildfires did not blame climate change for the deadliest wildfire the nation has seen in a century.

Trump said that the country of Finland does not have the same problem with wild fires because “they spend a lot of time on raking” leaves.

Trump standing next to California Governor Jerry Brown and Governor-elect Gavin Newsom during a press conference had this to say:

“You’ve got to take care of the floors. You know the floors of the forest, very important. You look at other countries where they do it differently and it’s a whole different story. … I was with the president of Finland and he said, ‘We have a much different—we’re a forest nation.’ He called it a forest nation, and they spent a lot of time on raking and cleaning and doing things [making a raking motion]. And they don’t have any problem. … And when it is, it’s a very small problem, so I know everybody is looking at it to that end and it’s going to work out, it’s going to work out well.”

Trump brought up the same point about the need to rake leaves in an interview with Fox News’ Chris Wallace and said:

“I was watching the firemen the other day and they were raking areas, they were raking areas where the fire was right over there. … And they’re raking trees, little trees like this that are not trees, little bushes that you could see are totally dry. Weeds. And they’re raking them, they’re on fire. That should have been all raked out. You wouldn’t have the fires.”

When asked by Wallace if climate change could have contributed to the wildfires, Trump said:

“Maybe it contributes a little bit. …The big problem we have is management.”

The Camp Fire in Butte County has killed more than 171 people since it started on November 8, becoming the deadliest wildfire in the United States in 100 years.

More than 1,000 people are missing and 148,000 acres have been burned.

Entire small towns have been burnt to the ground with thousands of people evacuated and now homeless having lost virtually everything except for their lives.

Before his visit to California, Trump threatened on Twitter to take federal funds away from California if the state did not change its forestry management practices.

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/18/politics/finnish-president-trump-raking-forest-fires/index.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

President Donald Trump is a self-proclaimed “really smart guy” who was called a moron by his former Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

Turkeys have a reputation for being just plain stupid.

There is a very old myth that turkeys are so stupid that during a rainstorm, turkeys will stare up at the clouds with their beaks wide open, transfixed, with water running down their nostrils and throats until they drown themselves.

Last year during the total eclipse of the sun, Trump looked up at the eclipse without eye protection and with his mouth opened, very much like a turkey looking up at the rain.

When you call someone a turkey you are calling them a stupid failure of a person.

After the midterms and declaring victory and not admitting to defeat, Trump is looking more, and more like a stupid failure of a president.

Trump with his remarks about the California wildfires, denying climate change could have contributed to the wildfires and raking leaves establishes that he is a moron.

No doubt Trump already has his own personal presidential turkey pardons for himself and his kids already signed and ready to go, he just has not made them public waiting for the indictments and the the Special Counsel Robert Mueller report on Russian interference with the 2016 presidential election.

On Tuesday, November 13, 2018, Mayor Tim Keller held a press conference to announce the city’s plans to cancel the manufacturing contract with Build Your Dreams (BYD).

The city wants to return all the 60-foot electric buses manufactured and delivered for the disastrous ART Bus Project.

During the November 13, 2018 press conference, Mayor Keller revealed that the city hired the services of a respected private Albuquerque law firm to represent the city in the dispute with the bus manufacturer.

A “registered mail” demand letter dated November 13, 2018, the same day as the press conference, was sent by the private attorneys and not from the City Attorney’s Office.

The letter demanded that BYD take possession of the buses and the chargers by November 30, 2018.

The demand letter also put BYD on notice that the city intends to seek “damages, costs, attorney fees and any relief to which it is legally entitled to” under the giving BYD notice that the city intends to sue.

You can read the demand letter here:

https://www.cabq.gov/mayor/documents/byd-notice-of-rejection-nov-13-2018.pdf

During a November 1, 2018 press conference, Mayor Keller outlined the numerous problems with the buses reported.

The problems include:

1. The center and rear brakes had zero air pressure, yet the 60-foot-long articulated buses were able to move, meaning that the center and rear axle brakes were not working and the buses were relying on their front brakes alone.
2. Rear doors would open during bus operation without any action by the driver.
3. The buses have air conditioning outages.
4. Bolts flying off doors
5. The electric buses do not have the required range on a full battery charge and the bus manufacturer still has not provided the extra charging stations. 6. The lack of undercarriage protection.
7. Buses that wouldn’t stop when emergency doors were utilized.
8. Cracking on bus exteriors.
9. Mirrors not set up correctly.
10. Wiring problems and electrical system problems.
11. The handicap electric chair lock becoming unsecured when the driver turns on the air conditioner.

The deficiencies with the brakes, batteries and doors were reported as “fleet-wide issues” that posed such significant safety concerns that the city could not allow any member of the public to ride on the buses to avoid the risk of injury.

During the November 1, 2018 press conference update, Keller pronounced the new ART Buses as “unsafe at any speed” and said:

“We are not going to let these buses on our streets until we are 100 percent sure they’re safe. … And what the tests found is that, today, several of them are not. We’re testing the buses through an inspection process and we want to make sure nobody gets hurt either riding these buses or driving these buses. … I’m running out of patience with [BYD].”

Keller ordered the grounding all the buses until each one had a full safety inspection.

For further media reports see:

https://www.abqjournal.com/1240432/mayor-puts-art-bus-project-on-hold.html

https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/mayor-to-provide-updates-on-art/1566360321

NOVEMBER 13, 2018 KELLER PRESS CONFERENCE

The biggest problems associated with the electric ART buses relate to the bus batteries.

The electric buses delivered are supposed to operate for 275 miles, but city officials found the buses cannot go more than 177 miles before they need recharging.

The batteries are stacked in a metal shelf and when overheated could cause a fire.

Keller during his November 13, 2018 press conference elaborated on the problems with the bus batteries by saying:

“We believe there’s not even close to adequate fire protection [when it comes to the bus batteries]. Right now, it would vent right in the middle of the bus and we would not be able to pull those out. They’re already heating up so they can’t take a charge. They’re not properly [stored] or cooled. … We’re no longer going to be guinea pigs [for BYD] anymore … Obviously, we very concerned about what we’ve been put through as a city by BYD … I think down the road, we’re interested in being fairly compensated for what we have been misled on these buses.”

BYD also has failed to construct additional charging stations on the Central Avenue route promised as part of an agreement with the city some months ago to address the problem with battery life.

Lawrence Rael, the city’s Chief Operating Officer, had this to say about the effort to cancel the bus contract:

“The mechanical pieces and issues we now find with the operation of the equipment are part of a long series of missed deadlines and missed issues with a company that I think have driven us to the point where we are today.”

BYD RESPONDS TO MAYOR TIM KELLER

After Mayor Keller’s November 13, 2018 press conference, BYD President Stella Li issued a statement vehemently denying the accusations made by Mayor Tim Keller.

Any experienced trial attorney would anticipate the response.

BYD announced in a statement the hiring of “independent transportation experts” to evaluate the buses and prove they are safe and ready for use and stated:

“We fully expect that these independent, unbiased inspections will conclusively demonstrate that our buses are built to the highest standards and capable of fulfilling the purpose that they were purchased for, … An independent investigation will prove to the world that we have been misrepresented.”

BYD further accused Keller of slander and bad faith by stating:

“Keller’s media statements slander and maliciously harm the reputation and good name of BYD, … These statements show that the city is not acting in good faith under the contract and further indicate a potential political agenda to discredit and throttle a public works project that the mayor has long criticized as part of his campaign platform. … [Albuquerque] City hall’s actions have not only wrongfully damaged BYD’s reputation, but also have deprived the citizens of Albuquerque of the world’s safest and most advanced pollution- and cost-reducing zero-emission transit bus. BYD will take all appropriate legal actions to protect itself in light of City Hall’s conduct.”

https://www.abqjournal.com/1247449/byd-will-hire-independent-experts-to-examine-buses.html

INSPECTOR GENERAL’S REPORT

On June 6, 2018, the city of Albuquerque’s Inspector General (IG) issued a report on the ART Bus Project.

The entire Inspector General report can be read here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fA-D6dk6lp3DZgQzQCWVEVbziQ2vXov/view

According to the Inspector General report, former Chief Operations Officer Michael Riordan “was adamant about having a bus transported to the City before the end of the Mayor Berry administration.”

An Albuquerque transit employee told the Inspector General that “core processes on manufacturing buses was altered to ensure delivery of the first bus by the deadline.”

The IG report described two city employees interviewed who recounted a “tense” and “unusual” phone call between then-city Chief Operating Officer Michael Riordan and top executives from the manufacturer.

According to the IG’s report the first bus delivered in August 2017, was assembled by the manufacturer using a “frame intended for buses being built for [another city’s transit authority].”

Frames intended for the Albuquerque’s buses had not yet been shipped nor received by the manufacturer.

The Inspector General found that the bus manufacturer used “parts and pieces” intended for another city’s buses for the first ART bus delivered.

The city employee further reported that the first bus was moved to whatever assembly station was available to ensure it was assembled in time in order to get it shipped to Albuquerque before Mayor Berry left office.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

“Truth” is always an affirmative defense preventing recovery when it comes to any cause of action for libel and slander, but defending against such accusations in contract disputes can be costly.

“Client control” over any elected public official by their attorneys is always very difficult and tenuous at best, just ask Donald Trump’s lawyers.

The City Attorney’s office should have anticipated BYD’s reaction and now the city needs to brace for costly litigation.

BDY’s accusation that the ART Bus project is a public works project that the Mayor Keller has long criticized as part of his campaign platform is downright false and could not be further from the truth.

During his year and a half quest to become Mayor of Albuquerque, Tim Keller never called upon his predecessor to stop the ART Bus project, nor to cancel the bus contract nor did he ever condemn it as destroying historical Route 66.

Tim Keller did not attend a single public hearing or meetings held by the Berry Administration on the project, including the meetings hosted by city councilors.

After becoming Mayor on December 1, 2018, Keller has wasted the first year of his 4-year term trying to save the project by giving BYD the benefit of the doubt in their ability to deliver the buses.

From day one of being Mayor, Keller has said that too much has been spent on the project and it would be too costly to reverse the project.

When 15 new buses were delivered, the Keller administration took possession and did not return them and only now trying to cancel the contract.

Keller’s November 13, 2018 press conference should never had happened, but it did nonetheless, and it aggravated matters for the worse all because of Keller’s penchant for press conferences, social media communications and his efforts to try and salvage a project the taxpayers have never really wanted.

Keller used the demand letter as a “political prop” holding it up during the press conference knowing full well he would be photographed with it with Keller knowing it was mailed the same day.

Sure enough, on November 17, 2018, a color picture of Keller was on the front page of the printed Albuquerque Journal holding up a copy of the letter above the fold with a headline reading “BYD defends buses, rips criticisms; ART bus maker wants independent inspection, threatens legal action”.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1247449/byd-will-hire-independent-experts-to-examine-buses.html

The private attorneys Mayor Keller hired to represent the city in the dispute were not present at the November 13, 2018 press conference.

What is significant to note is that City Attorney Esteban Aguilar and Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Sarita Nair, both who have experience as attorneys in private practice, did not participate in the November 13, 2018 Keller press conference.

The City Attorney’s office employees over 30 full time attorneys, it has at least one attorney assigned to Municipal Affairs or the Transit Department that oversaw the ART Bus project, yet Keller felt compelled to hire private attorneys to handle the dispute with no explanation given as to why.

Keller probably felt hiring private attorneys was necessary given the overall reputation of the City Attorney’s Office of settling cases too quickly, not defending cases adequately and the reluctance for the City Attorney’s office to go to trial.

Good examples of the City Attorney’s Office quickly settling cases include the $61 million paid out in settlements in police misconduct and deadly use of force cases over the last 9 years.

Both Aguilar and Nair should have told Mayor Tim Keller not to go forward with his press conference assuming they knew about it, because it is obvious from the content of the demand letter the city intends to initiate litigation.

The absence of the private attorneys hired by Keller, the City Attorney and the CAO makes one wonder if any of the attorneys were even invited to the press conference by Mayor Keller or if he sought their legal advice or counsel on whether the press conference was a good idea in the first place.

Keller violated the cardinal rule with his press conference that should never be broken by anyone who has hired an attorney.

When you hire an attorney, you keep your mouth shut so as not to complicate things, make matters worse with damaging “out of court statements” or admissions against your own interest that can be used against you in a court of law.

Once you hire an attorney, you must let your attorneys do all the talking, both in civil and criminal law matters, and you do not hold a press conference before an opposing party has had the opportunity to respond to demands being made by you in a written demand letter.

The November 13, 2018 Keller press conferences on the ART Bus project was nothing more than grand standing as well as invitation for a counterclaim for damages seeing as the bus manufacture had not even responded to the demand letter.

I suspect the bus manufacturer will now sue first or at the minimum, file a counterclaim against the city.

A silver lining to the likelihood of a lawsuit filed by BDY as a first strike or a counterclaim is that former Mayor Richard Berry, former Chief Operations Officer Michael Riordan and former Transit Director Bruce Rizzeri will probably have to be named “necessary and proper partys” in that all 3 were involved with the selection of BDY and there is a need to determine what was represented to them, what they agreed to and what was expected of BYD.

The June 6, 2018, Albuquerque Inspector General (IG) report on the ART Bus Project makes it likely that Berry, Riordan and Rizzieri will be named party defendants.

As party defendants, the depositions of all 3 would be in order to find out what representations were made to them by BYD or what threats may have been made by them as city officials to get the busses up and running before Berry left office.

Just maybe, just maybe, Berry, Reardon and Rizzieri will be held accountable for the $135 million boondoggle and the cramming the Bus Art project down the throats of taxpayers without a public vote.

In the meantime, Mayor Keller needs to stop his periodic press conference status reports on the ART Bus project, stop making public comments on the project as the dispute winds its way through settlement discussions or the courts.

For a related blog article see “Civil Lawsuit On ART No Substitute For Criminal Investigation On Whole Project” at the below link:

Civil Lawsuit On ART No Substitute For Criminal Investigation On Whole Project