With all this talk of the City Council wanting to raise our gross receipts taxes and the beginning public outcry opposing it, the City Council needs to start thinking out of the box.

City Councilors Trudy Jones and Ken Sanchez want to raise the gross receipts tax that will generate $55 million a year to help pay for the $40 million projected deficit as well as hire more cops and dedicate money to public safety.

Police Union President Shawn Willoughby wants the City Council to guarantee at least 60% of the new revenue be given to APD to help recruitment and give his membership raises.

“Public Safety” represents 29% of a $529.6 million general fund budget appropriations for the City of Albuquerque, and includes the Albuquerque Police Department and the Fire Department.

The Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) Annual budget is $171.8 million.

APD employs 1,484 full time employees.

The Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) employs 699 full time employees.

The Albuquerque Police Department had a general fund budget of $171.8 million approved for the 2017-2018 fiscal year which included an increase by $7 million or a 4.2% increase for the Department.

The Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) annual budget is $75.5 million.

The Fire Department budget had a decrease of 1.6% or $1.2 million below the FY/17 original budget.

It turns out that the City is also facing a $75 million shortfall to pay for the ART Bus prject if the federal grant money is not forthcoming.

The ART Bus project construction is almost complete and the bill must be paid.

Six more brand new ART buses have been delivered but the administration has no idea when the ART Bus project will be completed nor when the buses will be used, but the buses still must be paid for to the tune of $22 million.

What the City owes on the ART Bus project could almost pay for a full year’s budget for the Fire Department.

It’s time for the city council to think out of the bus when dealing with the city’s financial crises and the projected deficits.

Perhaps our Firefighters could use the ART Buses to go to emergency calls for service using the ART Busses as a means of saving money.

The city could also install extension ladders bought at COSTCO on the tops of the buses and convert them to ladder units to deal with high rise fires.

Hell, the city could even convert the ART Buses to APD Breathalyzer Test stations or portable APD area command stations for use by our police officers.

Maybe the City Council could replace Shawn Willoughby’s patrol car with an ART Bus and put him in charge of police recruitment and send him around the country finding qualified people to become police officers, at least that way the City Administration would get him out of town and out of the papers and off the TV and allow them to do their jobs without police union interference.

APD’s slogan is “to serve and protect” while the police union slogan is “what’s in your wallet”.

Albuquerque City Councilors Republican Trudy Jones and Democrat Ken Sanchez have introduced a bill that would increase Albuquerque’s gross receipts tax by 0.375 percentage point, or three-eighths of a cent per dollar is expected to bring in about $55 million annually.

(February 20, 2018 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1, Council asked to tie tax hike to APD growth; Police Union seeks guarantee that money will help hire officers)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1135802/council-asked-to-tie-tax-hike-to-apd-growth.html

The City Council legislation states that public safety is a priority for the city and that additional funding is necessary to attract more police officers to Albuquerque but says revenue from the tax would be used for “general municipal purposes.”

The bill does not specifically say how much of the tax revenue would go to police, prompting the Police Union to complain.

After 8 years of budget cuts, downsizing government and reduction of personnel, and the city facing a $40 million deficit, the proposed tax increase is no surprise.

Timing of the proposed tax increase dove tails into Mayor Tim Keller submitting his first city budget on April 1, 2018, with city council budget hearings to follow and enactment of the budget by July 1, 2018.

Shaun Willoughby, the president of the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, wants the city councilors to amend the legislation to “guarantee” that 60 percent of all the revenue generated from the tax will be new revenue for the police department to recruit more officers and increase pay.

According to the police union, the revenue generated from the tax increase should go to the police department until the department is fully staffed.

The union goes as far as to say that the city council is “flying the banner of public safety” to help justify enacting the tax.

What the Police Union President is really saying is that no other city department is hurting as much as the police and for that reason his union members and APD are the only department that should really benefit from any sort of tax increase.

The City of Albuquerque has a total general budget of $955.3 million dollars, of which $529.6 million is the general fund which goes to providing all essential services, with the balance going to capital improvement projects, debt service and other essential services.

The essential services provided by the city include not only police protection but also fire protection, solid waste and garbage pickup, our transit and bus services, family community services, the bio park including the zoo and aquarium, museums, children’s science museum and balloon museum, libraries, senior citizen centers, parks, golf courses, open space management, swimming pools, youth programs, programs to help the homeless, the planning department, code enforcement, municipal affairs and street repairs and projects, fleet maintenance just to mention a few.

The Police Union ignores that there are roughly 4,000 other city employees that are overworked and other city departments and services that have also suffered from severe budget cutbacks and reduced salaries.

The Police Union also ignores the huge budget deficit the City is facing.

The City is facing a $6 million deficit for this year, a $40 million dollar deficit for the next fiscal year, $69 million for the ART Bus project that must be found if the federal grant is not forthcoming, $40 million needed for the emergency operations center and communications center, the need for funding for 350 more police officers that the Mayor and city council want, replacement of the roughly 20% of police units and fire department units that are needing to be replaced, not to mention the $25 million dollars lost because of repeal of the hold harmless provision.

The point is that the lion share of the $55 million raised by the tax being proposed will in all probability have to be applied to the $40 million dollar projected deficit and other incurred debts.

There is also a need for further tax revenue to address all the other city departments, vacancies and increases in salaries to those other city employees who have been given significantly less in salary increases, or no increases at all, for the last eight years while APD’s budget and salaries increased.

APD BY THE NUMBERS

“Public Safety” represents 29% of a $529.6 million general fund budget appropriations for the City of Albuquerque, and includes the Albuquerque Police Department and the Fire Department.

The Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) Annual budget is $171.8 million.

APD employs 1,484 full time employees.

The Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) employs 699 full time employees.

The Albuquerque Fire Department (AFD) annual budget is $75.5 million.

The Albuquerque Police Department had a general fund budget of $171.8 million approved for the 2017-2018 fiscal year which included an increase by $7 million or a 4.2% increase for the Department.

The adopted FY/18 General Fund budget for APD has funding for a total of 1,484 full-time positions which consists of funding for 484 civilian support staff and funding for 1,000 sworn police officers.

Although fully funded for 1,000 sworn officers, APD has 853 sworn police officers, and only 436 are assigned to field services, divided into three working shifts, less any of those on vacation, sick leave or in court.

At any given time, there are 124 sworn police officers assigned to field services, divided by three shifts, or 24 officers per field command shift.

IT TOOK EIGHT YEARS TO DOWNSIZE APD

The operative words the union is using is dedicate the new tax “until the department is fully” staffed.

If history is any indication of what is going to happen, it is going to take years to grow the police department until it is fully staffed as the union wants, even if the entire tax is dedicated to APD.

In other words, taxpayer money will just sit in an account if the police union has its way.

Eight (8) years ago, the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) was the best trained, best equipped, best funded department in its history and it was fully staffed with 1,100 sworn police officers.

In eight (8) years under the watchful eye of the Albuquerque City Council, APD went from 1,100 sworn police to 853 sworn police officers.

From 2010 to 2014, APD was fully funded for 1,100 sworn police positions despite the mass exodus of sworn police and the APD Police Academy’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements.

Three years ago, the City Council reduced funding from 1,100 sworn officers to 1,000 sworn officers because of the Berry Administration’s failure to recruit and keep up with retirements.

Currently, the Albuquerque Police Department is budgeted for 1,000 police officers but actually employs 836 with only 430 assigned to the field to take calls for service.

Money from the 150-plus police officer vacancies has gone to pay police overtime, and the Albuquerque Police Department busted its overtime budget by $4 million going from the $9 million budgeted to $13 million.

It’s not likely the new administration is going to be very successful anytime soon in filling all the vacancies APD already has, let alone know what to do with millions thrown its way that can only be used for one department.

CONCLUSION

Mayor Tim Keller made the campaign promise that he wanted to increase the number of sworn police officers from the current 836 positions filled to 1,200, or by 350 sworn police officers, and return to community-based policing, a promise that in all likely can not be fulfilled unless there is a tax increase or a cannibalization of other city services and budgets.

Keller was endorsed by the Police Union and no doubt the Union will be making its demands and expecting the Mayor to support what it wants.

Getting to the 1,200 level of sworn officers where APD is fully staffed is going to take years and it will have to be done in increments that is realistic and can be accomplished.

If the Police Union is really concerned about public safety, rather than only thinking of themselves, it should be asking the City Council and the Mayor to take bold action and propose a sperate and additional “public safety” tax to be enacted by the City Council along with the creation of a Department of Public Safety that is fully funded and staffed with the consolidation of the police department, fire department, 911 emergency dispatch center as well as the emergency operations center.

Until then, APD’s slogan will be “To serve and protect” while the police union’s slogan will be “What’s in your wallet?”

There should be absolutely no surprise that the Albuquerque City Council is now considering increasing the city’s gross receipts tax.

(See February 17, 2018 Albuquerque Journal, “City Council to consider tax hike; Councilors say city facing budget shortfall, needs more officers)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1134761/city-council-to-consider-tax-hike.html

The tax that is being proposed is three eights of a cent and could potentially raise $22 million and upwards of $55 million.

The City Council also has the option to increase property taxes if it wanted to, but that would probably be way to controversial to the voting public.

Mayor Tim Keller is due to announce his first budget on April 1, 2018 which will then be enacted by the city council effective July 1, 2018 after city council budget hearing.

For the last eight (8) years, the City Council Republicans Trudy Jones, Brad Winter, Dan Lewis and Don Harris, strongly resisted raising the gross receipts tax at all costs despite the effect that budget cuts were having a severe impact on essential services and a disastrous effect on public safety.

All of a sudden Republican City Councilor Trudy Jones has “seen the light”, or perhaps the “deficit red”, and is not only supportive of the gross receipts tax increase but is cosponsoring the tax increase with City Council President Ken Sanchez.

Jones is probably supporting the tax because she knows she is not running for re election next year and no longer has to tow the Republican party line.

The city has lost $25 million in revenue due to the loss of the states “hold harmless” agreement enacted to reimburse the city for loss of gross receipts revenues with the repeal of gross receipts on food by the legislature.

The former Mayor expressed support of the legislature’s repeal of the gross receipts tax on food when he lobbied for it in Santa Fe to the detriment of city finances and revenues.

The gross receipts tax is a very regressive tax that hurts the poor and has a chilling effect on economic development.

Notwithstanding the regressive nature, gross receipts tax revenues is the major source of revenues to the city and no one wants property taxes increased or a city income tax enacted.

THEY KNEW IT WAS COMING FOR SOME TIME

Back in December, 2017, it was reported that the city was facing a $6 million-dollar short fall this fiscal year that would have to be made up somehow.

Among the contributing factors for the $6 million deficit was the the Albuquerque Police Department exceeding its overtime budget by $4 million by going from $9 million to $13 million and the excessive judgements paid out in APD deadly use of force cases such as the $5 million settlement paid in the Mary Hawkes case.

Further, it was reported that the city was facing a whopping $40 million-dollar budget short fall the city will be dealing with next fiscal year.

(See December 19, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “Mayor: APD still a priority despite projected deficit).

The $40 million dollars deficit does not include the $69 million dollars that will have to be found to complete the ART Bus project if the Federal Grant is not approved and congress does not appropriate the money.

At least $20 million will have to be found for ART in that the congressional committees have already cut the project by that amount.

The fiscal and budget policy of the last eight (8) years of cut city services and downsizing government has now run its course and there is not much more that can be cut, let alone savings that can be found.

It is going to take a lot more than just raising permit fees, licensing fees, golf fees, parking fees, entrance fees and bus fares to make up a $40 million deficit.

Back in December, Mayor Keller held a press conference at which time he said:

“Because we have a deficit situation, we are really going to have to focus on prioritizing what is important this year for our city. … A piece of that is also understanding we’ve got to find ways to step up for our officers, and we also have to prioritize job creation and keep our kids at the forefront of the budget process this year.”

Asked during his press conference in December if a tax increases would be required, Keller said:

“I certainly hope not, and I can’t imagine that at the end of the day, given what we want to prioritize, that is going to happen. The tougher question is how do we actually get more officers on the streets, and we’re going to be working with our police chief and the City Council to find a way to do that.”

Well Mayor Keller you need to start imagining a tax increase without a public vote and get behind it if public safety is in fact your priority.

And while your at it, please act boldly and propose a full quarter cent “public safety” tax to be enacted by the City Council along with the creation of a Department of Public Safety that is fully funded and staffed with the consolidation of the police department, fire department, 911 emergency dispatch center as well as the emergency operations center.

Currently, the Albuquerque Police Department is budgeted for 1,000 police officers but actually employs 836 with only 430 assigned to the field to take calls for service.

Money from the 150 + police officer vacancies has gone to pay police overtime and the Albuquerque Police Department busted its overtime budget by $4 million going from the $9 million budgeted to $13 million.

The 911 emergency dispatch center is in need of a $40 million-dollar upgrade.

The is also a need to acquire new police patrol vehicles to replace the aging portion of the fleet.

STATE AUDITOR TIM KELLER VS CANDIDATE AND ELECTED MAYOR TIM KELLER

Over a year ago on February 14, 2017 the mandatory state audit of the city was released by State Auditor Tim Keller, and he said Albuquerque needed to substantially increase funding for the risk management fund to $6.3 million a year to cover the shortfall.

“The city is basically spending more than it can afford for settlements for police shootings and civil rights violations. … That’s obviously a financial problem, which is why it shows up in our audit” Keller said at the time.

“In light of the city’s troubling trend of incurring more liabilities, it is appropriate and necessary for the city to better fund the (risk management fund),” Keller told the city.

The city budgeted from $2.1 million to $3.6 million a year to bolster the risk management fund in the past three years.

Now that Mr. Keller is Mayor, he is now facing the consequences of city lawsuits and settlements and spending beyond its means.

Tim Keller was swept into office in part by voter anger about rising crime rates and how bad things are in the City when it came to the police department.

On the campaign trail, Candidate Keller laid out his plans for APD and his determination to complete the Department of Justice (DOJ) reforms.

Keller made the campaign promise that he wanted to increase the number of sworn police officers from the current 850 to 1,200, or by 350 sworn police officers and return to community based policing.

Frankly getting to the 1,200 level of sworn officers is going to take years and probably will not be accomplished without a tax increase and that is a cold reality.

On the campaign trail, candidate Keller said he would raise taxes as a last resort for public safety but and only with voter approval.

Candidate Keller saying he would draw from various agencies, departments and programs where large, misappropriated budgets exist was a fantastic talking point that sounded good, but not very realistic after the 8 years of budget cuts and downsizing of government by his predicessor.

There is not much more that can be done to find money.

Issuing paper audits by State Auditor Tim Keller is a far cry from running a municipality that has no money by Mayor Tim Keller.

Now that we have Mayor Tim Keller, he is mum thus far on a tax increase and his spokesman says everything is on the table.

I am always disappointed when Mayors and City Councilors proclaim they will put increases in taxes on the ballot thereby trying to avoid the political “hot potato” and accusation that they increased taxes when they run for office again.

People have no business running for office if they do not want to make the hard decisions, especially when it comes to taxes and public safety and providing police services.

In any representative form of government such as our city government and our congress, people are elected to make the best decisions they can based on the facts and needs of their constituents.

Public safety and police services is one of the very few areas that elected officials should never resist increasing taxes when there is a crisis such as we have now in Albuquerque with our high crime rates.

On a federal level, our military defense is akin to police services on the local level, and you never see congress put to a public vote the pentagon budget.

Keller is quickly learning, albeit the hard way, there is a big difference between running for office, making a lot of promises that you may be unable to keep versus actually governing and making the decisions that have to be made that will most assuredly anger people.

One of those decisions that upsets voters is having to increase taxes.

As former Mayor David Rusk said “Taxes are the dues we pay to live in a civilized society.”

It is the City Council that has the authority to raise taxes, not the Mayor.

For those City Councilors who refuse to support a tax increase, Keller needs to remind them that they are the ones that have failed the public during the last eight years to fully address our public safety needs and allowing the destruction of APD.

Keller also needs to remind Republican City Councillors Don Harris and Brad Winter they are the ones who voted to spend the $69 million of Federal Transportation grant money that the City has yet to see a dime even though the construction on the project is complete and the bill must now be paid.

CONCLUSION

If Keller feels we need a public safety tax for police and the DOJ reforms, he should advocate its enactment by the City Council and not put it to a public vote.

It’s great being Mayor during good economic times and low crime rates, and miserable being Mayor during a bad economy and rising crime rates.

A Mayor making decisions with an eye towards future office or a legacy is a recipe for failure.

The ultimate question is will the City Council and the Mayor want to put the tax increase on the ballot for voter approval or show backbone and political courage and just enact a tax?

Alan Webber is a New Mexico progressive Democrat who is running for Mayor of Santa Fe and who has also run for Governor.

Mr. Webber is a successful businessman, having worked in government and in journalism for a number of years.

Mr. Webber sent out an email regarding the Florida high school mass shooting that caught my eye, no so much for promoting his candidacy for Mayor, but what he said regarding responsible gun control and the National Rifle Association.

What Mr. Webber said in part is:

“… [W]e must call out the NRA at every opportunity. Congress, spurred by the NRA, has put legal limits on what city governments can do to stop gun violence. … even common-sense measures like one to keep guns out of the hands of violent offenders—which most law enforcement officials support—isn’t possible at a city level, because of the NRA.

Long ago, the NRA exceeded their charter. The NRA was founded in 1871 to promote “training, education, and marksmanship.” They added the NRA Foundation in 1990 to “raise millions of dollars to fund gun safety and educational projects of benefit to the general public.”
…

But today, [the NRA] is the single greatest opponent to laws that would help prevent what [happened in a Florida High School] as well as seventeen others school-based shootings since the new year. Seventeen shootings since January 1. That’s more than two school shootings per week

We have a deadly epidemic on our hands. And yes, there are many components to the epidemic– we need more mental health treatment facilities, more parental involvement, better education, early intervention in cases where young people are crying out for help – and more. But no one can deny that the NRA isn’t part of the problem. So let’s start there. Let’s start by calling out the NRA for what they are: complicit in this deadly epidemic” according to Alan Webber’s email.

What caught my interest is when Mr. Weber proposed and said what he felt we must do and where we can begin to deal with the epidemic of gun violence.

WEBBER SPECIFIC PROPOSALS TO BE CONSIDERED

The specific proposals outlined in Mr. Webber’s email are as follows:

1. Implement background checks on the sale of all guns.

2. Close the “Charleston loophole” or “delayed denial” where federally licensed dealers can sell guns if three business days pass without FBI clearance.

3. Update and enhance the federal National Instant Criminal Background Check system (NCIS).

4. Institute mandatory waiting periods for all gun purchases.

5. Enact a gun violence restraining order/extreme risk protection process to temporarily prohibit an individual deemed by a judge to pose a danger to self or others, from purchasing or possessing firearms or ammunition and allow law enforcement to remove any firearms or ammunition already in the individual’s possession.

6. Implement handgun licensing, permitting, training, and registration.

7. Ban bump-fire stocks and other dangerous accessories.

8. Ban future manufacture/sale of assault weapons, regulate existing assault weapons under the National Firearms Act of 1934, and initiate a federal gun buyback program.

9. Impose limits on high capacity magazines.

10. Make gun trafficking a federal crime and punish.

11. Repeal Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA) to eliminate the corporate gun industry special protection from civil justice law that no other industry enjoys.

12. Restrict and penalize firearm possession by or transfer to a person subject to a domestic violence protection order or a person (including dating partners) convicted of a domestic violence misdemeanor.

13. Prohibit firearm sale or transfer to and receipt or possession by an individual who has: (1) been convicted in any court of a misdemeanor hate crime, or (2) received from any court an enhanced hate crime misdemeanor sentence.

14. Repeal the Dickey Amendment to adequately fund government research on gun violence.

15. Institute child access prevention/safe storage requirement.

16. Provide resources and treatment for people with mental illness.

17. Enhance accountability of federally licensed firearms dealers.

18. Implement micro stamped code on each bullet that links it to a specific gun.

19. Produce ‘xmart guns’ with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or biometric recognition (fingerprint) capability.

20. Limit gun purchases to one gun per month to reduce trafficking and straw purchases.

21. Prohibit open carry of firearms.

22. Digitize ATF gun records.

23. Require licensing for ammunition dealers.

OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

A few of the proposals are already in existence in one form or another and some of the proposals have been been around for a time, but congress has failed and refused to act.

Gun trafficking of certain firearms is already a federal offense, but the penalty could be increased substantially.

Allowing the “open carry” of firearms is embodied in the New Mexico constitution and therefore any prohibition would require a constitutional amendment.

One area in particular that needs to be considered is the prohibition of the manufacture and sale of “ghost guns” which are guns that are manufactured and sold in parts without any serial numbers to be assembled by the purchaser and that can be sold to anyone.

Another gun technology that is available is the personalization of handguns and rifles that are computer chipped programed with fingerprint identification and can only be discharged by the owner.

Still another proposal is the requiring the purchase of “liability insurance”, as is the case for automobiles, with each handgun sold and at the time of sale.

CONCLUSION

Mr. Weber acknowledges that there are many proposals that people may not agree with, but the point is that it is long over due to begin the discussion and force our elected officials, both on a local and national level, to take action.

Unless we begin now with responsible measures to deal with gun violence in this country, we will never complete the journey and eliminate mass shootings and we will be waiting for the next news cycle, the next mass shooting and watch funerals.

Another mass school shooting in the United States as a former student opened fired with a semiautomatic rifle at a Florida High School.

The killer, equipped with a gas mask and smoke grenades, set off a fire alarm to draw students out of their classrooms shortly before the school day ended so he could start shooting them.

Seventeen people killed, 12 wounded by the nineteen year old suspect that had attended the school but had been expelled for disciplinary reasons.

There have been EIGHTEEN school shootings in the United States six weeks into the new year, with one occurring in New Mexico.

None of the shooters were religious fanatics or religious terrorists.

We will now go through the two-week news cycle of outrage, mourning and demands for action.

We will hear and now endure the news accounts of the funerals and eulogies given of the dead.

We will hear the biographies and see photos of the innocent children and victims killed who had their entire lives ahead of them.

We will hear from the students and watch the news footage of the kids walking or running from the school in terror.

We will hear from the parents who have children at the school say how they ran desperately to the school after hearing the news to look for their kid.

We will hear and see the crying parents talk about the loss of their children and how they are making funeral arrangements.

We will hear the interviews of the survivors and witnesses of the shooting, with some interviews done in hospitals of those recovering from their gunshot wounds.

We will hear the newscasters warn “the images you are about to see may be too graphic, so you may want to turn away” from your set.

We will hear how survivors who were shot will have to endure a life time of pain, suffering and physical infirmity from their wounds.

We will hear from the psychologists and psychiatrists about post traumatic stress disorder that the survivors will need to be treated for with counselling given to the children on how to cope with death and loss of their friends.

We will hear the news accounts of the heroes and first responder’s reactions during the shooting and of those who lost their lives and of the lives they saved.

We will hear of the background and life of the troubled shooter and the mental illness he endured and what a broken person he was.

We will hear how easy it was for the killer to get the guns.

We will hear about the killer’s FACEBOOK posts or YOUTube videos that gave hints about what he was about to do.

We will hear how many were not surprised or who were shocked at what the killer did.

We will hear from the parents or relatives of the killer say that they are deeply shocked and saddened by the actions of their relative.

We will hear the killer’s parents condemned for not being good parents.

We will hear no real satisfactory explanation nor what motivated the killer to kill and murder innocent people.

We will hear about the killer’s arraignment, the charges he is face with and the likelihood he will be sentenced to death or spend the rest of his life in prison or in a mental institution.

We will hear from the prosecutors that this is the very type of crime that the death penalty is deserved to be imposed.

We will hear corrections official declare that the defendant has been placed on a suicide watch or that he has attempted suicide.

We will hear that the defendant has been declared incompetent to stand trial.

We will again hear about the mass shootings that occur in Orlando, Florida (49 killed, 50 injured), Blacksburg, Va. (32 killed), Newton, Conn. (27 killed) San Ysidro, Cal (21 killed), San Bernardino, (14 killed), Edmond Oklahoma (14 killed), Fort Hood (13 killed), Binghamton, NY (13 killed) Washington, DC (12 killed), Aurora, Colorado (12 killed).

We will again hear about the largest mass shooting in this country’s history that occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada with at least 59 dead and at least 515 wounded.

We will hear once again how the shooting can only be described as an act of “pure evil”.

We will hear calls for congress to enact responsible gun control laws and restrictions such as extensive background checks, prohibit the sale of “bump stocks”, outlaw gun shows, prohibit the manufacture and sale of the the AR-15, prohibit the sale of firearms to anyone 18 or younger and outlaw the manufacture of high capacity clips.

We will hear the public demand more security of our schools with armed guards, metal detectors.

We will hear about the steps schools can take or need to take to prevent further school shootings, including to allow teachers to arm themselves.

We will hear the statistics that this is the third largest mass shooting that has occurred in the United State within the last 5 months and that there have been 96 mass shootings in the country since 1995.

We will hear from those trying to look “presidential” or running for congress or re-election and take advantage of the tragedy and making all sorts of promises to end gun violence by enacting gun control.

We will hear the National Rifle Association (NRA) orchestrate opposition to any and all kind of gun control and campaign against anyone who advocates for gun control.

We will hear again the mantra “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

We wilL hear again if you take away guns from the law abiding, only the criminals will have guns.

We will hear about the influence the NRA has over elected officials and hear about the millions of campaign contributions given to those running for office, both on a national and local level.

We will hear congressional leaders say this is “no time to talk about gun control” and that we need to have that discussion later and then condemn those who do try and talk about gun control as “politicizing” the tragedy saying they have no respect for the dead and injured.

We will hear the names of the elected US Senators and US Representatives who have accepted millions in campaign donations over years and claim how the contributions do not affect their votes.

We will hear again, and again and again gun owners and gun advocates say the only way their guns will ever be taken away from them is when their gun is “pried from their cold dead hands”, even the high capacity magazine rifles designed only to kill people or used by the military to inflict as much death as possible.

We will hear President Donald Trump and the First Lady express sorrow and condolences to the victims and their families, yet no condemnation of the NRA.

We will hear the President’s words when he travels to Florida to console family members, go to the school and take a tour, visit the wounded but hear no condemnation from him of the NRA nor hear him advocate any gun control.

We will hear the reduced news coverage as we move on to yet another crisis created by a Presidential tweet.

We will hear in a few weeks or months of another mass shooting in the United States.

We will hear the “Sound of Silence” with nothing done to prevent further mass shooting tragedies.

We will hear the gun advocates and the NRA to continue to bow and pray to the “neon gun gods” they have made.

We all need to hear the lyrics of Paul Simon’s “Sounds of Silence” as the gun control debate rages on in this country and when we have another mass shooting:

“Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dared
Disturb the sound of silence

Fools, said I, you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you
But my words, like silent raindrops fell
And echoed in the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence”

CONCLUSION

May God bless the children, the victims and the families of this tragedy.

Please, Lord bless this country in these turbulent times.

Give us the guidance and wisdom to handle yet another mass shooting tragedy.

On February 7, 2018, the Albuquerque Journal published on its editorial page an inflammatory political cartoon depicting a frightened white couple holding their hands up apparently being robbed by two MS-13 gang members pointing a gun at the couple, and depicting a terrorist strapped with lighted bomb fuses and holding a bloody machete.

The man is quoted telling his wife: “Now Honey … I believe they prefer to be called ‘Dreamers’ … or future Democrats …”

The cartoon sent the clear, false and inflammatory message that all dreamers and Democrats are criminal gang members and terrorists willing to kill or commit suicide to kill.

The cartoon was swiftly condemned by readers and elected officials, both Republican and Democrat, as being “misguided”, “bigoted”, and described as an example of “ignorance, racism and hatred”.

A protest erupted over the cartoon at the Journal Center and others called for people to cancel their Albuquerque Journal subscriptions.

Within two days, the Albuquerque Journal issued an apology and said it would better screen political cartoons it publishes on its editorial page.

In describing the Journal’s rationale for choosing to publish the cartoon, Editorial Page Editor D’ Val Westphal said “the mission of an editorial page is to explore all sides of an issue, to make people think and debate and examine closely the opposing view of an argument. Unfortunately, this cartoon did not inspire that kind of discussion.”

Under the United States Constitution First Amendment guarantees of freedom of speech and of the press, the Albuquerque Journal had every right to publish the political cartoon on its editorial page, but that does not mean it should have published it.

Publishing the cartoon reflected very poor judgment or lack of common sense by the editors.

The Albuquerque Journal’s apology was viewed by many as an effort to control the damage and lacking sincerity and somewhat hollow.

“ABSENCE OF MALICE”

Our first amendment rights of free speech and of the press have limitations when it comes to libel, slander, and malicious statements that harm others or to insight murder or violence.

An act of malice involves the intentional commission of a wrongful act, absent real justification, with the intent to cause harm to others.

In other words, an act of malice is considered an intentional violation of the law that injures another individual in some manner.

“Absence of malice” refers to the legal defense against charges of libel (written) defamation, and is used in journalism to illustrate the conflict between disclosing damaging personal information and the public’s right to know.

If something is published or telecast with an “absence of malice”, there is no liability owed to the person or subject harmed with the publication considered freedom of speech.

In the context of civil defamation actions for libel and slander for damages, a person who is found to be a “public figure”, such as an elected official, cannot succeed and recover damages in a lawsuit for false statements unless there is proof that the writer or publisher acted with actual malice by knowing the falsity or by reckless disregard for the truth and there must be actual and provable damages.

A LESSON LEARNED FROM A CLASSIC MOVIE

In the 1981 classic movie “Absence of Malice” starring Paul Newman and Sally Field, there is a scene where a Deputy United States Attorney was sent in from Washington talking to an elected District Attorney, an appointed federal Assistant United States Attorney and a newspaper reporter after the Assistant United States Attorney and elected District Attorney leaked information in a federal case to dupe a newspaper reporter to write a false and misleading article.

The newspaper ran the false, front page story where the woman subject of the story committed suicide because of it.

Before committing suicide, she ran around her neighborhood desperately trying to pick up all the delivered morning newspapers so no one would see the front-page headline and read the false story.

Although the newspaper story was false, the fact that the reporter and paper were duped, there was an “absence of malice” by the newspaper thereby negating liability for the woman’s death.

The Deputy United States Attorney said something to the duped reporter that has always stuck with me during my public service career as a prosecutor and elected official:

Elected and government officials and readers cannot demand, instruct or tell the press or any reporter what to write, how to write it, when to write it, what tone it should take, nor what sources are used, but they damn well can demand and expect the truth and accuracy in the published reports and are entitled to corrections and retractions.

Sometimes apologies and retractions are simply not enough to repair the damage done.

In the movie, the Assistant United States Attorney was fired, the elected District Attorney was left to deal with a negative publicity nightmare that would have an impact on his reelection, while the reporter became the news with the newspaper’s credibility undermined.

DIFFERENT STANDARD FOR POLITICAL OPINIONS AND RHETORIC

I once listened to a very prominent civil rights attorney who worked for the ACLU give a presentation to a civic group.

The civil rights attorney said private citizens can walk up to a uniform police officer and call them any name in the book they wanted to, even using the “F word”, in protest, and he said it is protected free speech.

He then went on to say “But why the hell would you do anything that stupid to anyone who is carrying a gun?”

There is a very old case taught in law school where the United States Supreme Court found free speech does not mean you can stand up in a packed theater and falsely yell “fire” causing a stampede for the exits.

The point is, protected free speech and of the press have limitations that requires the use of common sense.

What is true and can be expected is that newspaper editorials, editorial political cartoons and for that matter political opinions do not have to be accurate nor even be truthful for the reason editorial content and political opinions are considered protected free speech, especially against public figures or elected officials.

Just because something is protected free speech does not mean you go ahead and publish it or even say it.

The public and voters need to hold responsible and accountable those who publish or voice political opinions for what is said in editorial opinions or reflected in the political cartoons when violence against others, hatred and racism and bigotry toward any class is being promoted.

CONCLUSION

What is troublesome is the level of political discourse in this country that is being held out as “free speech” or of the press that has violent overtones, that promotes violence, promotes racial discrimination, promotes religious intolerance against others, and promotes hate and distrust of others, and that denigrates women and minorities.

Too much intolerance is being promoted by our elected officials and public figures and the press seems to go along with it when it publishes political cartoons such as the one published by the Albuquerque Journal.

President Donald Trump has done more than his fair share of promoting intolerance, racial discrimination, promoting religious intolerance against others, promoting hatred and distrust of others, and he denigrates women and minorities.

After watching what has been happening in Washington during the first year of President Donald Trump’s term, we must wonder what is our country coming to, what are we becoming as a nation, and realize what we are we doing to ourselves and our freedoms.

We are a nation of laws and institutions, and I am absolutely confident things will unfold as they should in Washington despite so called “free speech”, “freedom of the press” and political cartoons that are nothing more than promoting violence, discrimination, racism, hatred and bigotry against others.

As Americans, we need to come together, be tolerant and respect each other, confront our demons and set aside our differences and come up with solutions.

We must seek within ourselves to find solutions to our problems and our differences, without violence and hatred and contempt for each other before we destroy ourselves, our country and the freedoms we cherish in this country, including our freedoms of the press and speech.

We should not forget what happened in 2015 when two terrorists forced their way into the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo in Paris when it published a satirical cartoon involving a religious figure.

Armed with rifles and other weapons, they killed 12 people and injured 11 others at the newspaper because they considered the cartoon published sacrilegious.

What happened in Paris could happen here in the United States one day on some level if we are not careful and use our common sense when we exercise our freedoms of speech and the press.