Going after and complaining about elected judges for their rulings is a red flag of ignorance of our criminal justice system unless it is just plain pandering to appeal to people’s worst fears to get votes or even worse, lying to the public.

Both Republicans Dan Lewis and Wayne Johnson with their recent commercials promoting their candidacies for Mayor are taking to a whole new level pandering to upset people and to appeal to their worst fears to get votes.

The most disturbing part of both their commercials promoting their candidacies for Mayor is their intentional promotion of ignorance of our criminal justice system, our constitutional rights of due process of law and the presumption of innocence.

Both Republicans Wayne Johnson and Dan Lewis in their commercials show contempt for judges and our criminal justice system.

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

It is as if both are trying to one up each other on who has the better attack on Judges.

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

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

Johnson has now gotten into the act of bashing judges in his commercials saying he too will hold the judiciary accountable for releasing criminals, so take that Dan Lewis.

The truth is, the City and especially a Mayor has absolutely no authority nor jurisdiction over the courts which is something we need to be very thankful for and it is called “separation of powers”.

A Mayor of Albuquerque has absolutely no control or authority over any Judge and our courts are a state function and the courts are funded by the state.

On the other hand, our courts and judges do have authority over city government whenever litigation is filed against the city to make decisions in civil disputes in a fair and impartial manner as required by law.

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

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

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

Republican Dan Lewis and Wayne Johnson in their commercials talk like they are running for District Attorney, Bernalillo County Sherriff or District Court Judge and not Mayor of Albuquerque.

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

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

Neither Lewis nor Johnson thus far has proposed any solutions to the root causes of crime among them being poverty, our poor educational system, drug abuse and addiction, high unemployment rates and a failing economy.

All Lewis and Johnson have been saying throughout the campaign is to replace the Chief, command staff, hire more cops and put more criminals in jail and that somehow is going to solve the “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ and reduce our skyrocketing crime rates.

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

But then again, coming up with real solutions to reduce our crime rates takes thought and commitment, and why do that when it is so much easier to show your total ignorance of our criminal justice system or just lie to the voters and pander to their worst fears to get votes.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/09/27/dinelli-satire/

It is now six days before the October 3, 2017 municipal election, and I am sure all the candidates are feeling the pressure and are exhausted.

Running for office is as stressful as you can get.

With that in mind, I made a few changes to a satirical post of mine a few weeks ago.

I was a little surprised that I got a few hostile responses to the original post and told those people to chill out please.

I have added one last line that I felt was in order.

Following is the satirical commentary I hope everyone finds just a little funny.

Tim Keller stared as Harvey Dent and “Two Face” in a Batman movie and has been seen lately attending a meeting of the campaign ethics board flipping an “in kind” cash donation gold piece while his longtime political consultant from Rio Strategies watched him with adoring eyes saying “my precious, my precious” over and over again. Rumor has it Tim has already talked to the City’s Office of Film promotion about staring in the remake of the classic political movie “The Candidate” that stared Robert Redford and Tim has been practicing the last verse of the movie “What do I do now?”

Brian Colon still collects and stores powdered milk and government blocks of cheese in his home. He is eyeing the City warehouses as an alternative storage site for all the excess government cheese he has at home and buried in a cellar in his backyard. Rumor is he has a very good buddy in the New Mexico State Senate willing to set up a call center to sell that cheese so they can make a profit. Brian has also gotten Attorney General Hector Balderas to issue an AG opinion that he does not have to charge nor collect gross receipts tax on internet sales of the cheese sold in bulk.

Gus Pedrotty does indeed still have his wisdom teeth with the other candidates poised to pull them out or strangle him to shut him up. As an alternative, they want to slip him some medical marijuana just to settle him down and slow down his public speaking at all the forums so everyone can understand what he is saying for a change. If things do not go his way, Gus already has an airline ticket and plans to move to Colorado and start his own recreational marijuana business and send all the proceeds to Albuquerque to help our disadvantaged immigrant communities.

As an ex-cop running for Mayor, Michell Garcia Holmes promises to carry a holster with a 57-magnum gun when she becomes Mayor. On the campaign trail, Mitchell has said she is not afraid to use it on all child molesters by shooting them in the groin. She has told other candidates at forums “Well do you feel lucky, punk, well do ya?” while snearing at them like Dirty Harry

Dan Lewis wants to be the next District Attorney or Bernalillo County Sheriff so he can make Albuquerque “the worse place to be a criminal” just like he has watched idly by during the last eight (8) years as a City Councilor telling Mayor Berry what a good job he has done. Dan also promises to open a city sponsored used car lot so that all the crooks can bring all our stolen cars and sell them and give city hall a cut of the action. According to Lewis, no cars stolen from Sidewinders clientele will be allowed to be sold at the city used car lot as per the instructions of Legacy Church Pastor Steve Smotherman.

Wayne Johnson wants to be a Federal Judge so he can deport people who are here illegally, especially Muslims and all those damn rapists and murderers from Mexico. He already has bought a judicial robe and has emblazoned on it in red the initials “CR” for Conservative Republican. Rumor is Wayne is buying stock in a national fence company that sells chain link fence at a discount and he is waiting for a return call from Donald Trump.

Susan Wheeler Diechel wants to give out free bikes and free walking shoes to everyone in the city and schedule bake sales to raise money to fund our police department. It is rumored Susan is really Martha Stewart in disguise here to serve her federal probation period. Susan gave her identity away at a recent forum when she said “I just love broken ABQ but I have a hot glue gun, I am not afraid to use it, and that’s a good thing!” Once elected, Susan plans to require all uniform police officers to carry glue guns on their utility belts.

Ricardo Chavez wants to make civic plaza and our city parks and city golf courses into parking lots. The Chavez plan is to charge $3.00 a day for overnight parking to solve our city budget problems. His city slogan to attract business will be “Mi parking lot es su parking lot.” As a sign of solidarity with our senior citizens, Recardo plans to eat all of his lunches and dinners at the Senior Citizens Centers and intends to pay for everyone’s food out of his own pocket, but he does intend to charge $1.00 an hour for parking at the senior centers.

Mayor Richard Berry was seen after his last State of The City address before NAIOP handing out his resume to its members while Terri Cole from the Chamber of Commerce kept rubbing his back saying “Your going to be alright. You still know how to handle a hammer and cut wood!”

Dennis Domrzalki and Pete Dinelli of the Albuquerque Free Press were seen at the last mayoral forum sitting in balcony seats like the two old guys in the Muppets making fun of the candidates, while Pete mumbled, “It should have been me, it should have been me.”

CONCLUSION

There are times politicians, including myself, and the press take ourselves far way too serious.

There is nothing wrong or offensive about poking fun at elected officials and those who run for office.

What is wrong and that is offensive is for voters not to get out and vote.

Please vote on October 3, 2017 for the candidate of your choice and do not hold it against people who may vote for another candidate.

http://www.freeabq.com/2017/09/25/campaign-finance-four/

The fourth Campaign Finance Reports for Mayor of Albuquerque were filed on September 22, 2017 with the Albuquerque City Clerk for the reporting period of September 8, 2017 to September 21, 2017.

(See: https://www.cabq.gov/voting-elections/candidate-information/2017-mayoral-candidates)

If no candidate secures 50% or more of the vote, a runoff I will be held between the top voter getters, which is more likely than not given recent polling data.

There are seven (7) privately financed candidates, one (1) publicly financed candidate, one (1) measured finance committee to promote the one publicly financed candidate and one (1) measured finance committee to oppose the one publicly finance candidate.

There is one week remaining until the October 3, 2017 municipal election.

TIM KELLER CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

Democrat Tim Keller is the only “publicly finance” candidate for Mayor.

The July 14, 2017 Tim Keller Campaign Finance Report states that on April 3, 2017 the Keller campaign was given $342,952 by the City of Albuquerque in public financing.

The Keller September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $118,807.44 and that $104,656.58 was spent and the closing balance for the third reporting period is $14,150.66.

The August 11, 2017 finance report reflects that $938.71 of “in kind” donations reflected in cash amounts were made to the Keller campaign and notable “in kind” cash donations for goods and services to the Tim Keller campaign include $500 from Atrisco Oil & Gas and $400 from Robert Dickson a realtor with Paradigm and Company.

Notable expenditures for the Tim Keller campaign include $12,245 to PUTMAN PARTNERS of Washington, DC for “MEDIA”, $81,368 to BUYING TIME of Washington, DC for Media, and $9,970.83 to RIO STATEGIES (Jessie Hunt), the longtime political consultants for Mr. Keller, for Professional Services.

Mr. Keller is running 15 second positive commercials featuring him talking and the ads theme is “let’s move Albuquerque forward”.

It is interesting to note that on the campaign trail Mr. Keller has emphasized the importance of the City of Albuquerque to give priority to local businesses but his media work is being performed by Washington, DC firms.

If Mr. Keller gets into the runoff as is expected, his campaign will be given approximately $126,000 more in public finance funds.

ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER is a measure finance committee, registered with the City Clerk’s office, formed for the purpose “to support Tim Keller’s bid for Mayor”.

Measured finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like a candidate.

The September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance report for “ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER” reflects that it had a beginning cash balance of $174,032.26 from the last reporting period, it had monetary contributions of $124,705.00 for the current reporting period, spent $222,095.44 and has a closing balance of $76,641.82 left to spend as it sees fit to promote Mr. Keller until the October 3, 2017 election.

Cash donations to “ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER” that are noteworthy include: $31,000 from BIG ORGANIZING ACTION FUND, $30,000 from AFSME, Washington, DC, $25,000 from THE CIVIC PARTICIPATION ACTION FUND, $5,000 from the Albuquerque Teachers Federation Committee on Political Action, $5,000 from the Center for Civic Action.

ABQ Forward is running 30 second, positive ads featuring Mr. Keller, his wife and two young children, with no response to the attack ads being run by the anti-Keller pac.

The pro Keller ads are slick and well produced highlighting his record as state auditor.

It is clear from the donations made to ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER that Mr. Keller continues to get significant financial support from organized labor which will translate into significant volunteer help and even more contributions from union members and union organizations.

There are nine (9) unions representing city employees, including AFSME that according to finance reports has contributed $50,000 to the Keller measured finance committee, that a Keller Administration will have to negotiate contracts with and the influence of union donations will pose a problem for Tim Keller.

ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER can raise money up and through to the election day and beyond for a runoff election if Tim Keller gets into the runoff.

MAKE ALBUQUERQUE SAFE

According to the Measured Finance Committee Registration filed with the City clerk the “Make Albuquerque Safe” purpose is to oppose “Associated Candidates/Ballot Measures, Tim Keller”.

The Chairperson of Make Albuquerque Safe is Denis Romero and the Treasurer is Donna Taylor.

“Make Albuquerque Safe” raised $60,000 for the reporting period, had expenditures of $50,335 and has a closing balance of $9,664.

Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC (JEFF Garrett) donated $30,000 and $30,000 was donated by VETEO PROPERTIES, LLC (MARK VETOTO) of Hobbs, New Mexico.

Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC owns the controversial and massive Santolina development on the west side.

Tim Keller has said he is opposed to the Santolina development.

Expenditures of $50,335 were made by Make Albuquerque Safe to produce and run TV and radio commercials on KOB-TV channel 4, KRQE channel 13, and Clear Channel radio stations with no time shown purchased on KOAT-TV channel 7.

The ads are deceitful and manipulative and they are smearing a qualified candidate and may have backfired only to have galvanized the Keller progressive base.

The TV and radios attack ads will probably have no impact on Mr. Keller’s core and very loyal progressive constituency and I predict Mr. Keller will be in the runoff.

The big questions are is if the attack ads had any effect on undecided voters and who will come in first or second to get into the runoff.

It is seriously doubt full that Make Albuquerque Safe is going to let up on the attacks on Keller and will engage another line of attack once Keller makes it into the runoff.

(See my September 23, 2017 blog article “A Week In Politics For Tim Keller Is An Eternity” at https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/09/23/the-next-days-in-politics-for-tim-keller-running-for-mayor-is-an-eternity/ for further commentary.)

BRIAN COLON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

From review of the finance report of contributions and expenditures, Democrat Brian Colon has expended the most since the last reporting period and his fund raising was diminished for the period.

The Colon September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $535,579.82 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is $219,514.85 and spent $362,241.97 during the reporting period.

The Colon September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $219,514.85, and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is $114,175.40 and the campaign spent another $142,102 during the reporting period.

Brian Colon raised an additional $36,762.70 during the reporting period.

Notable individuals or businesses that made cash contributions and reported in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for Brian Colon for Mayor include the following donors: Patricia Vincent Collawin, $5,192.70, Edward Garcia, Garcia Automotive, $5,150, Payam Ghoreishi (PG Enterprises), $5,150, Wisepies Franchise Services, LLC (Steve Chavez), $5,000, former APD Commander Levi Anaya, $4,650, Juliene Martinez Abrams, $3,000 and PNM Responsible Citizens Group, $1,500.

Notable expenditures listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for the Colon for Mayor include $45,000 paid to Richard Gold Communications of Austin, Texas, $77,075 Paid to CANAL Partners Media of Atlanta, Georgia for “media”, $12,00 paid to Bouchard Gols Communications of Austin, Texas, and $6,000 paid to Potomac Waves, LLC of Washington, DC.

Mr. Colon has run two separate TV commercials, one featuring Attorney General Hector Balderas and the second more biographical.

The biographical ads appear to have run their course as far as being effective prompting speculation that another, far more aggressive ad will be produced in an effort to “seal the deal” and get Colon in the runoff.

Political insiders have also noticed that Mr. Colon has not spoken in any of the commercials and none have featured his wife and son.

It is interesting to note that on the campaign trail during debate forums, Mr. Colon has emphasized the importance of the City giving priority to local businesses for work but his media work is being done with out of state firms in Georgia, Texas, Washington, DC.

DAN LEWIS CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

The Dan Lewis September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $169,289.37 and the closing balance for the current reporting period is $194,501 available to the campaign until the October 3, 2017 election.

The Dan Lewis September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $194,501 and the closing balance for the current reporting period is $75,778.80 available to the campaign until the October 3, 2017 election.

Republican Dan Lewis raised an additional $55,917 during the reporting period and had expenditures of $174,640.07 during the last reporting period.

Total “in-kind” contributions to Dan Lewis for the reporting period was $1,286.00.

Notable individuals or businesses that made cash contributions listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for Dan Lewis for Mayor include the following donors: $5,000 from Paseo Village LLC, (Jimmy Daskolos of “Nick& Jimmy’s restaurant, $5,000 from Solid Gold Classic, LLC, (Peggy Daskolos), $5,192 from Valley Fence Company (Paul Chavez), $2,500 from Guzman Construction Solutions (Rudy Gusman), $2,500 from Integrated Construction Services, LLC, $2,500 from Mobile Pathways, $1,500 from Chris Olsen (PNM Resources), and $1,000 from JJ’s Premier Tire & Services.

Notable expenditures listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for the Dan Lewis for Mayor include:

The Stoneridge Group, payment of $5,000, $40,451.28, $12,822, $12,782 and $1,197, MEDIUM BUYING of Columbus, Ohio, $92,800 and Stewart Bragg (Staff), $7,000.

The Stoneridge Group is a political campaign marketing firm based in Alpharetta, Georgia, with offices in Louisville Kentucky and provides services to pro-life, Republican campaigns, associations, and non-profits including voter contact mail, website design and online campaigns, print and collateral items, and strategic consulting.

Dan Lewis has been running a traditional media political campaign on TV with commercials highlighting Albuquerque’s crime rates and to make Albuquerque the worst place to be a criminal.

One ad by Lewis again attacks the Judicial system and makes the bogus claim that he will hold judges accountable.

WAYNE JOHNSON CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

The Wayne Johnson September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $207,770.61 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is now $219,738.25.

The Wayne Johnson September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $219,738.25 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is now $109,248.55.

Republican Wayne Johnson raised an additional $29,267.00 during the reporting period.

The Wayne Johnson for Mayor campaign reported spending $139,756.70 during the last reporting period.

Notable individuals or businesses that made cash contributions listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for Wayne Johnson for Mayor include the following donors: Scott Garrett, $500, Jerry Geist, 250, Pat Vincent -Collawn (PNM), $5,192, PNM Responsible Citizens PAC, $1,500, Neil Hise, $3,000, Mike Sivage, Sivage Homes, $1,000, Debbie Maestas, $1,000, and Stanly Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting, $1,000.

Notable expenditures listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for the Wayne Johnson for Mayor include: SRCP Media, Alexandria, VA, for media placement, $44,802.87, $53,547.87, Direct Edge Campaigns, Nashville Tennessee, $23,303, EKERN COMPANY, Anne Erken for consulting, $5,375, and Dialing services for polling, $1,561.

The Wayne Johnson campaign for mayor had $2,085 of “in-kind” donations during the last reporting period of which $750 was for legal services donated by and attorney.

Wayne Johnson has been running a traditional media political campaign on TV with commercials highlighting his opposition to the ART bus project and Albuquerque’s crime rates.

RICARDO CHAVES CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

Ricardo Chaves is a “self-financed” candidate for Mayor.

The Ricardo Chaves July 14, 2017 Campaign Finance Report revealed that he loaned his campaign for Mayor $500,000.

Mr. Chaves reported in the July 14, 2017 report that he spent $134,666.27 for campaign consulting, management and petition signature gathering to get on the ballot and he had $373,981.53 remaining in his campaign account.

The Ricardo Chaves September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $373,228.34 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is now $298,174.64.

The Ricardo Chaves September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $298,174.64 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is now $223,054.45.

The only notable expenditures listed in the September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for the Ricardo Chaves for Mayor is another $75,000 paid to Robert E. Cornelius as a consulting fee.

Mr. Chaves reported he received and $1,920.66 “in kind” contribution from himself for office rental and warehouse space.

Mr. Chavez has begun to run political commercials within the last two weeks highlighting his theme of making Albuquerque safe and reduce the size of government

MICHELLE GARCIA HOLMES CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

The Garcia-Holmes September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states a cash balance from the last reporting period of $33,300.06 and a closing balance for the recent reporting period as $11,158.36.

The September 8, 2017 financial report reflects Michelle Garcia Holmes reported cash contributions of $9,145.00 with expenditures of $31,286.70 and a closing balance of $11,158.36.

The September 22, 2017 financial report reflects Michelle Garcia Holmes reported cash contributions of $1,375.00 with expenditures of $2,493.92 and a closing balance of $10,039.

Notable expenditures include $1,125 to EXHIB-T for marketing and $731.64 to ADELANTE MAILING SERVICES.

Michelle Garcia Holmes and her husband Earl Holmes each contributed $5,000 for a total of $10,000 to her campaign for Mayor and it appears they have enough left to reimburse themselves.

Michelle Garcia Holmes has been running TV commercials with scarce telecasting due to her budget.

SUSAN WHEELER-DEICHEL CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

The Susan Wheeler-Deichel campaign did not file the September 8, 2017 finance report.

The August 11, 2017 Campaign Finance Report for Wheeler-Deichel reported a balance from the last reporting period of $341.34, total monetary contributions for the reporting period of $1,685.00, total expenditures of $3,955.63 with a negative balance of $1,929.29.

The July 17, 2017 finance report reflected $6,275 in monetary contributions to the Susan Wheeler-Deichel campaign, of which $6,175 was a personal loan to her campaign.

The Susan Wheeler-Deichel September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $298,174.64 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is now $223,054.45.

GUS PEDROTTY CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS AND EXPENDITURES

Gus Pedrotty is running a social media campaign by making FACEBOOK commercials that he has written and produced by himself with the commercials being well produced and exhibiting great creativity.

The Gus Pedrotty September 8, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $3,091.88, total monetary contributions for the reporting period as $3,272.39, total expenditures of $3,274.79 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is as $3,089.48.

The Gus Pedrotty September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance Report states that the cash balance from the last reporting period was $3,089.48 total monetary contributions for the current reporting period as $5,742.13, total expenditures of $1,932.88 and the closing balance for the recent reporting period is as $6,898.73.

Most of Mr. Pedrotty’s donations are cash amounts of $5, $25, $50 with a few $100, $200 and two $500 donations.

Notable expenditures have been to Greetings Etc. for $1,393, $296, $516 for printed materials and $1,000 paid for “filed work.”

Mr. Pedrotty continues with a “social media” campaign.

ALBUQUERQUE JOURNAL ENDORSEMENT

The Albuquerque Journal made its long anticipate endorsement surprising many by endorsing two candidates for Mayor, Democrat Brian Colon and Republican Dan Lewis,saying Colon and Lewis have the best plans for Albuquerque.

https://www.abqjournal.com/1068268/coloacuten-lewis-have-best.html?fb_action_ids=1646185922182419&fb_action_types=og.likes

This is the first time in history that the Albuquerque Journal has given a double endorsement such as this.

This is also the first time I can recall that the Journal has given any positive acknowledgements and encouragement to others who are running, but who they did not endorse.

The endorsement of one Democrat and one Republican by the paper is an admission of just how partisan municipal elections have become.

I said this in my September 13, guest editorial column “Nonpartisan mayoral election is farce; The reality is that partisanship rules for mayor and city council”. https://www.petedinelli.com/…/nonpartisan-mayoral-election-…/

Now let’s see who the Journal endorses when the runoff is between Tim Keller and Brian Colon, which I suspect will happen, and the paper will endorse Colon.

CONCLUSION

With only nine (9) days remaining until the October 3 election, just about anything can happen.

Political television ads, especially negative ads, can affect poll numbers and the outcome of a runoff race.

People constantly condemn negative and highly inflammatory political advertising and polls, but the cold hard reality is that people believe the ads, they affect the polls and the ads work.

Candidates on the receiving end of attack find themselves using precious resources to defend themselves against lies.

The TV and radio ads against Keller are only the beginning of more to come, not only against Keller but the other candidate who gets into the runoff.

What is for sure there will be a runoff and we can all look forward to another six full weeks of the two top vote getters bashing the hell out of each other until the runoff which is scheduled for November 14, 2017.

Whoever become Mayor will have the privilege and honor to deal with a police department and an economy that are akin to backed upped sewer lines.

I have no doubt the work can be done and there is a way to fix things, but if you do not do it right and do not get things flowing in the right direction you sure going to smell after four (4) years in office.

It is extremely disappointing that the Albuquerque Police Officers Association (APOA) has endorsed a candidate for Mayor.

(See September 28, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, “Albuquerque Police Union Endorses Keller”)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1067209/albuquerque-police-union-endorses-keller.html

What is even more disappointing is that any candidate for Mayor would accept the endorsement from the police union.

The appearance of impropriety looks terrible but what motivates both are clear.

The police union wants to have some influence over the next Mayor and the candidate wants the vote of rank and file police officers and be able to say law enforcement has your back and you have theirs.

What all the candidates for Mayor do not understand is that the Albuquerque Police Department is has been operating under a Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree and mandated reforms.

Under normal circumstances, union endorsements are common place, but when it comes to the Albuquerque Police Department, it is a department in crisis and for the first time in its history is under a Department of Justice consent decree.

Almost four (4) years ago, a Department of Justice investigation found a “pattern and practice of excessive force” and a “culture of aggression” within the Albuquerque Police Department (APD).

In the last eight (8) years, there has been 41 police officer involved shootings, and the city has paid out $61 million dollars in settlements for police misconduct cases.

The single biggest crisis the next Mayor will be confronted with on day one is reforming the Albuquerque Police Department, selecting a new command staff and implementation of the mandated reforms for constitutional policing.

You cannot blame the candidates for not understanding the DOJ consent decree given the fact not even one of them has ever attended a court hearing when the Federal Monitor presented his critical reports to the Federal Judge and took testimony from all the parties of interest.

The APOA Union on the other hand understands full well the consent decree in that the police union leadership has attended and has sat at counsel table during court hearings and Federal Monitor presentations.

The union leadership was at the negotiating table for the full year assisting in the drafting of the “use of force” and “deadly use of force” policy.

The APOA has made it clear that it does not like the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree nor the mandated reforms.

The police union and its leadership feels that the mandated reforms under the consent decree are interfering with rank and file officer’s ability to performing their jobs.

The union wants the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go away and does not like civilian oversight.

It is not surprising that the APOA would endorse a candidate for Mayor given that it has been at repeated impasse with the Berry Administration during contract negotiations for the last eight years.

Mayor Berry unilaterally decided not to pay 5% pay raises negotiated in good faith by the police union and eliminated longevity pay for rank and file.

All prior Mayors have taken great precautions to select Chiefs with real substantive credentials.

Chief Gordon Eden is the first chief ever selected that had absolutely no prior experience managing a municipal police department even after a national search that was a shame.

Mayors have selected Chiefs of the opposite party, but there was an emphasis on ability to perform.

The DOJ consent decree complicates things with the police union opposing many of the reforms and not liking civilian oversight.

The police union has now fully politicized the department by making a specific endorsement rather than interviewing all the candidates and giving information to their membership so the membership could decide on their own who to vote for Mayor.

There is no doubt that the police union will want a place at the personnel table when the next mayor selects a new Chief as well as command staff even to the point of wanting to resist the appointment of any potential candidate for chief and command staff not to their liking.

When unions start dictating who should be in management is what breads contempt by management and hamstrings the ability to make decisions by an administration.

Tim Keller accepting the endorsement compromises his commitment to implement the consent decree mandated reforms.

Keller’s acceptance of the endorsement further politicizes the police department.

We have had eight (8) years of Republican political operatives and incompetence such as Darren White and Gordon Eden managing APD and we do not need another four or more years of it.

Keller’s acceptance of the endorsement will no doubt be brought up during union negotiations as a reflection that Keller wants to fully support the demands of the police union.

Four years ago, I interviewed with the police union and specifically requested that they not make any endorsement in the Mayor’s race so as not to be compromised during contract negotiations and they did not make any endorsement.

Former APD Sergeant Paul Heh was also a candidate for Mayor and the police union made no endorsement, not even of one of their own.

This is one endorsement that should have not been sought and that should have been declined.

According to the Measured Finance Committee Registration filed with the City clerk the measured finance committee MAKE ALBUQUERQUE SAFE was formed for the purpose to oppose “Associated Candidates/Ballot Measures, Tim Keller”.

The Chairperson of Make Albuquerque Safe is Denise Romero and the Treasurer is Donna Taylor.

Sources say Donna Taylor is in fact Donna Madrid-Taylor who used her Madrid last name for the PAC that attacked anti-Santolina County Commission candidates in last year’s county commission elections.

Confidential sources say Donna Madrid-Taylor is a paralegal for the Jason Alarid Law firm and that a Vanessa Alarid is a lobbyist hired to promote the Santolina development project to elected officials with Vanessa Alarid married to Democrat New Mexico State Representative Antonio “Moe” Maestas whose district is on the westside.

“Make Albuquerque Safe” raised $60,000 for the most current reporting period, had expenditures of $50,335 and has a closing balance of $9,664.

Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC (JEFF Garrett) donated $30,000 and $30,000 was donated by VETEO PROPERTIES, LLC (MARK VETOTO) of Hobbs, New Mexico.

Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC owns the controversial and massive Santolina development on the west side.

Tim Keller has indicated at forums that he is opposed to the Santolina development project.

THOSE DAMN AND NEGATIVE ATTACK ADS

Expenditures of $50,335 were made by Make Albuquerque Safe to produce and run TV and radio commercials on KOB-TV channel 4, KRQE channel 13, and Clear Channel radio stations with no time shown purchased on KOAT-TV channel 7.

The TV and radio attack ads against Keller are hard hitting and bring up a Senate bill then State Senator Tim Keller voted in favor for in 2011, with the bill failing on a 16 to 20 vote against.

The Senate Bill that Keller voted for would have prohibited local governments from adopting rules or laws restricting where sex offenders could live but would have allowed distance restrictions for a registered sex offender’s residence as a condition of probation or parole.

The attack ads make the inflammatory and false accusation that Keller chose to protect “sex offenders over our children” … and that “Tim Keller wanted to make Albuquerque a safe haven to attract child molesters from around the country.”

The TV commercial uses dark and sinister images of a child with an adult having a hand over the child’s mouth as if being abducted.

The radio commercials describe Mr. Keller as a liberal elitist living in a $600,000 country club home.

The ads are deceitful and manipulative and they are smearing one of the most qualified candidates running for Mayor.

The TV and radios attack ads will probably have no impact on Mr. Keller’s core and very loyal progressive constituency and I predict Mr. Keller will be in the runoff.

The big questions are if the attack ads had any effect on undecided voters and who will be in the runoff with Tim Keller.

THE NEXT LINE OF ATTACK ON KELLER

It is seriously doubtful that Make Albuquerque Safe is going to let up on the attacks on Keller and will engage another line of attack once Keller makes it into the runoff.

Jeff Garret, the President of Garrett Development, the asset manager for Western Albuquerque Land Holdings, LLC penned and the Albuquerque Journal published on September 23, 2017 page A9 a guest editorial entitled “Why we got involved in the Albuquerque mayoral race; Keller will not address issues facing city unless it benefits him” .

https://www.abqjournal.com/1067946/why-we-got-involved-in-the-albuquerque-mayoral-race.html

Garrett basically outlined the next lines of attack on Keller in the runoff when he wrote in the Albuquerque Journal column as follows:

“Albuquerque cannot afford to elect a hypocrite that takes $380,000 in taxpayer money to run a “clean campaign” and then takes over $230,000 in private PAC money and illegal monetary in-kind contributions. This is disingenuous and contrary to the spirit of “clean campaign.” Keller claims to be a progressive champion, but just a short time ago, he switched from (being) a lifelong Republican to registering in the Democratic Party to win a state Senate seat.”
…
“Think of the $380,000 in public campaign funds he took from all taxpayers while scheming to have his former campaign manager form a PAC and collect hundreds of thousands more in private campaign funds. Think of how he collects cash contributions for his campaign operatives and then calls them “in-kind” contributions. Ask yourself, is this a “transparent, accountable and clean campaign?”

ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER

The PAC Jeff Garrett is referring to is ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER and it is a measure finance committee, registered with the City Clerk’s office, formed for the purpose “to support Tim Keller’s bid for Mayor”.

The September 22, 2017 Campaign Finance report for “ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER” reflects that it had a beginning cash balance of $174,032.26 from the last reporting period, it had monetary contributions of $124,705.00 for the current reporting period, spent $222,095.44 and has a closing balance of $76,641.82 left to spend as it sees fit to promote Mr. Keller until the October 3, 2017 election.

Cash donations to “ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER” that are noteworthy include: $31,000 from BIG ORGANIZING ACTION FUND, $30,000 from AFSME, Washington, DC, $25,000 from THE CIVIC PARTICIPATION ACTION FUND, $5,000 from the Albuquerque Teachers Federation Committee on Political Action, $5,000 from the Center for Civic Action, $20,000 from AFSME council 18, $10,000 from IAFF Local 244, $5,000 from IBEW PAC Voluntary Fund, $2,500 from Ironworkers Local 495, two $2,500 donations from Center For Civic Action, $3,000 from NMHS PAC, $1,000 from DPA Action Fund, $2,000 from Richard Schneider, $2,500 from Edward Garcia, Garcia Auto Dealership, $2,500 from Julian Garcia, Automundo De Garcia, $2,500 from Sandy Buffett, $2,000 from Tim W. Allisonhatch, $1,000 from John B, Strong, $1,000 from Susan Palmer, $1,000 from attorney Kate Fenlic, $1,000 from Joanie Griffin, Griffin & Associates, the public relations firm for the ART Bus project, $600 from NM State Senator William Tallman, $250 from Josh Anderson with AFSME and $500 from Bond Attorney David Bucholtz.

It is should not come as any surprise that Mr. Keller has very significant and very strong financial support from organized labor and which has already translated into volunteer help and contributions from union members and union organizations.

Tim Keller has been endorsed by the Albuquerque Police Officers Association, the Local Firefighters Union as well as AFSME council 18 that represents city employees.

There are nine (9) unions representing city employees, including AFSME that according to filed finance reports has contributed $50,000 to the Keller measured finance committee.

For the past eight years, the Berry Administration has been many times at an impasse with city union contract negotiations.

Mayor Berry is viewed as very anti organized labor and he unilaterally decided not to honor salary increases negotiated in good faith by the city unions.

Further, Mayor Berry has always advocated right to work laws during the legislative sessions, even when he was a Republican State Representative.

Tim Keller has gone on record repeatedly opposing right to work legislation and is therefore viewed very favorably by organized labor.

A Keller Administration will have to negotiate contracts with the city unions and the influence of union donations will pose a problem for Mr. Keller.

CONCLUSION

As the saying goes “a week in politics is an eternity”.

With only nine days remaining until the October 3 election, just about anything can happen.

Political television ads, especially negative ads, can affect poll numbers and the outcome of a runoff race.

People constantly condemn negative and highly inflammatory political advertising and polls, but the cold hard reality is that people believe the ads, they affect the polls and the ads work.

Candidates on the receiving end of attack find themselves using precious resources to defend themselves against lies.

The TV and radio ads against Keller are only the beginning of more to come, not only against Keller but the other candidate who gets into the runoff.

What is for sure there will be a runoff and we can all look forward to another six full weeks of the two top vote getters bashing the hell out of each other until the runoff which is scheduled for November 14, 2017.

Whoever become Mayor will have the privilege and honor to deal with a police department and an economy that are akin to backed upped sewer lines.

I have no doubt the work can be done, but you sure going to smell after four (4) years in office if you fail to do it right and fail get things flowing in the right direction.

ABQ’s campaign finance system needs reform

Former Albuquerque City Councilor and New Mexico State Senator Eric Griego penned an Albuquerque Journal guest editorial regarding the Albuquerque Open and Ethical elections system passed by voters overwhelming in 2005 by a 69% to 31% vote.

(See September 20, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A13, “Public election financing needs an overhaul)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1066167/public-election-financing-needs-an-overhaul.html

The Open and Ethical Elections system is Albuquerque’s public finance system for candidates for mayor and city council.

According to Mr. Griego’s commentary, he makes the accusation that Democratic and Republican candidates who are privately financed and their “operatives” have been “attacking the only publicly financed candidate in the race” and that “they may have signed the death knell for the system and any hopes of reducing the influence of big money in local elections.”

Former City Councilor Eric Griego was the primary sponsor of the ballot measure, something that he can take immense pride in and that he needs to be commended for by city voters.

Griego’s letter to Journal and his words are akin to a father going to the defense of his child and is in defense of his annoited candidate Tim Keller for Mayor.

Mr. Griego acknowledges “there is no question that the system needs to be overhauled. Making it more accessible, accountable and viable … to reducing the oversized role of powerful interests such as big developers and city contractors in city elections.”

Noble words ignoring what really happened and coming from someone who contributed $500 to “ABQ FORWARD TOGETHER” the measured finance committee formed exclusively to promote Tim Keller and that has spent and raised over $222,000 on his behalf.

The problem is, there was in fact an opportunity to overhaul the public finance system but the City Council failed miserably to place on this year’s municipal ballot for voter approval any substantive changes to the city’s public finance system.

Mr. Griego also conveniently ignores and does not mention that his chosen candidate Tim Keller not only is getting the benefit of $360,000 of taxpayer public finance money but the benefit of a measured finance committee chaired by a former campaign manager with the measured finance committee raising at least $200,000 to promote Mr. Keller.

Measured finance committees are just as powerful interest groups as developers and city contractors Griego complains about.

Tim Keller has the best of all political campaign finance world’s by first getting public financing to the tune of $342,952 and being able to say he is “walking the walk” and running a “grassroots campaign”, by qualifying for public financing while at the same time receiving assistance from a measured finance committee that has raised at least $200,000 to promote him and that is chaired by a former political consultant who has worked on his past campaigns for the New Mexico State Senate.

HOW PUBLIC FINANCE WORKS

Publicly financed candidates are required to solicit $5.00 qualifying donations to the city and those donations can only come from registered city voters.

Qualifying publicly financed candidates for Mayor and City Council are given a single lump sum of money from the city they can use to run their initial campaign and if they make it into a runoff election, they are given a significantly reduced lump sum amount in public financing for the runoff election.

According to the Albuquerque City Charter for the first election, qualifying public financed candidates for Mayor are given $1.00 per registered voter in the city or approximately $380,000 less in-kind donations and “seed money” and if the Mayoral candidate makes it into the runoff, they are given an additional 33 cents per registered voter or approximately $127,000 for the run off.

All public finance campaigns and public finance candidates are required to agree to the spending caps in writing and are prohibited from soliciting and asking for any other cash donations.

Public finance candidates are normally at a distinct disadvantage to privately financed candidates when it comes to what can be raised and spent, unless they have a measured finance committee set up to promote their candidacy.

City Public Finance candidates are given only 8 weeks to collect 3,600, qualifying $5.00 donations from Albuquerque residents and registered voters, which is a daunting and a very difficult task.

Contrary to what Eric Griego says, more than just “a few candidates” tried to qualify for public finance this year.

This election year for Mayor started with 12 original candidates attempting to qualify for the ballot, with eight declaring they would seek public finance and four declaring they would be privately financed candidates.

Only Tim Keller qualified for public finance in part because he had an enormous built in advantage of being an incumbent state wide elected official who could afford to pay significant amounts to political consultants to get him on the ballot and qualify for public financing.

The City Clerk has never set up a system to permit electronic transactions by donors, such as debit and credit cards, even though it was allowed by the ordinance.

The City Clerk requires the campaigns attempting to qualify for public finance to collect cash and issue paper receipts and it is a system set up for failure, unless you have a dedicated work force.

The $5-dollar donations are made to the City of Albuquerque and not to the candidates’ campaigns.

The $5 donations must come from registered voters, otherwise the donations do not count.

In the event a campaign fails to collect the minimum number of qualifying donations, all is collected in $5 donations reverts and is kept by the City.

Only after a campaign accumulates the required number of $5.00 donations is a campaign given the public financing based on voter registration numbers of those eligible to vote and based the last municipal election.

Four years ago, there was Federal Court litigation relating to companies that do business with the City filed by donors who worked for the corporations that do business with the city that struck down the City’s campaign finance law.

MEASURED FINANCE COMMITTEES

Under the City of Albuquerque’s campaign finance laws, a measure finance committee is a political action committee (PAC), person or group that supports or opposes a candidate or ballot measure within the City of Albuquerque.

Tim Keller is the only candidate running for Mayor this year who has a “measured finance” committee set up to promote his candidacy for Mayor and it has solicited and raised at least $200,000 according to campaign finance records filed with the city clerk.

Measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates.

Many voters cynical of politicians feel it is disingenuous for public finance candidates to secure taxpayer money first to run a campaign, agree in writing to a spending cap, only to have political operatives create a measure finance committee to help them get elected and spend massive amounts of money in the first election and then the runoff.

The fact that measure finance committees are not bound by the individual contribution limits and business bans like candidates is what makes them a major threat to warping and influencing our municipal elections and the outcome.

Any measure finance committee can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and can produce negative ads to destroy any candidate’s reputation and candidacy.

Measure finance committees can do all the dirty work for a candidate especially in any runoff when the public finance candidate has spent all the campaign money they had to get into the runoff.

FAILED CITY CHARTER TASK FORCE ON PUBLIC FINANCE SYSTEM

A few years ago, a Charter Review Task Force was convened to review and propose changes to the city’s charter that would be submitted to voters for approval.

The Task Force was made up of 15 members who are all residents of the City of Albuquerque:

• One member selected by each Councilor
• Five members appointed by the Mayor
• Chair of the Task Force selected by the Council.

The task force that was instructed to come up with major changes to the city charter which includes the public finance system.

The task force failed to recommend meaningful changes to our public finance laws that would make it easier for candidates to qualify for public finance.

After many public hearings, the only change proposed by the task force to our public finance system was increasing the amount of money candidates get and not the process.

The lack of any meaningful changes to the public finance laws favors incumbents in that they know the process and have the organizations to get it done by virtue of their incumbency and past experience in running public finance campaigns.

The attitude expressed by my own incumbent City Councilor Diane Gibson is “it’s supposed to be hard to qualify” and she has said it keeps out people “who are not serious candidates”, as if she should be the one deciding who are serious candidates.

I cannot and will not be voting for Diane Gibson.

SUGGESTED CHANGES TO ALBUQUERQUE’S PUBLIC FINANCE LAWS

Following are recommendations for changes to the City’s public finance and election laws that I believe are in order:

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.

CONCLUSION

Albuquerque’s public finance laws need major overhaul to be effective.

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.

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, but I doubt we will ever get it in the age of Citizen’s United.