Republican City Councilors Dan Lewis and Don Harris have learned their lesson well from Mayor Richard Berry and perhaps Republican Congressman Steve Pearce.

Both Lewis and Harris skipped the City Council meeting when the City Council voted to affirm Albuquerque’s “ Immigrant Friendly” status. (See February 23, 2017 Albuquerque Journal article “Council affirms ‘immigrant –friendly’ status”, Metro & NM Section, page C-1)

Berry has showed repeated failure of leadership for 7 years of never being around and at times not even being in town when the preverbal you know what hits the fan.

New Mexico Congressman Steve Pearce is refusing to have town hall meetings preferring mass phone conferences to avoid facing angry constituents about issues.

A crowd of about 300 showed up to the City Council meeting and no doubt Lewis who is running for Mayor and Harris who is running for re-election did not want to take a stand on such a controversial issue as “sanctuary city”.

What is so laughable is that Lewis and Harris skipped a vote on a memorial, which has no legal or binding effect on the City and which does not require the Mayor to sign or veto.

All that the memorial does is reaffirm that Albuquerque will not use city resources to identify or apprehend illegal immigrants “unless otherwise required by law to do so”.

City Councilor Pat Davis, a co-sponsor, said that the memorial is largely symbolic and that it shows that the council has the political will to block cooperation and data sharing between the city and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, should they become more aggressive about enforcement, which is classic Pat Davis double speak.

If the council had the political will to stop use of city resources to help U.S. Customs it should have enacted a resolution or ordinance.

The problem is that the city is in fact using city resources to identify illegal immigrants and is sharing data with U.S. Customs.

In 2010 Mayor Berry declared that Albuquerque was no longer a “sanctuary city” and ordered the implementation of a policy that screened every person who is arrested, no matter the offense, such as misdemeanor DWI, shoplifting, drug possession, to see if the person is in the country legally.

By Berry’s orders, US Immigration and Customs agents (ICE) are allowed into city jail holding facilities to screen virtually all people arrested and brought in by APD and determine their immigration status.

The City Council needed to show more political backbone and should have enacted and resolution that would have forced all the City Councilors to vote on and force Berry to sign it or veto it.

Sooner rather than later, all candidates running for Mayor, including Dan Lewis, need to make their thoughts know on if Albuquerque should become a sanctuary city.

In the meantime, someone needs to tell Dan Lewis and Don Harris the coast is clear and they can come out and play now.

It has been reported that the opponents of the ART Bus project have now decided to drop their Federal lawsuit to stop the project. (See Albuquerque Journal, Opponents drop lawsuit against ART; Lawyer: Clients will still raise concerns on project, page A-1)

The dismissal is disappointing but not at all surprising given the Federal District Court and Court of Appeals rulings denying the injunctions and the amount of construction that has gone on.

The Berry Administration supposedly paid $250,000 in taxpayer money to out of state attorneys to defend the lawsuit.

I would not be at all surprised if the Berry Administration now becomes vindictive and seeks the award of attorney’s fees and costs for defending the federal case against the Plaintiff’s federal lawsuit.

ART BUS FUNDING IN JEOPARDY

Yolanda Gallegos, one of the attorneys for the plaintiff’s is quoted as saying “a new mayor will inherit this unworkable and irresponsible juggernaut and the citizens of Albuquerque could be left holding the bag”.

It is indeed becoming more likely than not that the citizens of Albuquerque will be left holding the bag with millions diverted from other city projects and essential services to complete the ART Bus project and pay the contractor Bradbury & Stamm.

The appropriations conference committees in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate have recommended cutting the Federal Transportation Grant grant by anywhere from $19 million to $23 million.

When it’s all said a done, and the City does not get any money from the federal government, it will be up to the new Mayor and City Council to find the money to complete the project.

REVENUE BONDS LIKELY SOURCE FOR ART FUNDING SHORTFALL

Berry and the Albuquerque City Council thus far have used $13 million dollars in revenue bonds to pay for the ART Bus project that was not voted upon by the public.

It was reported that Mayor Berry and the Albuquerque City Council have borrowed over $63 million dollars over the past two years to build “pickle ball” courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing the voters. (For full story see January 2, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “BYPASSING the Voters” page A-1).

The $65 million dollars was borrowed with the Albuquerque City Councilors voting to use revenue bonds as the financing mechanism to pay for big capital projects.

Revenue bonds are repaid with gross receipts tax revenues.

The Mayor and City Council have become enamored with revenue bonds because they can literally pick and choose what projects they want to fund and build without any public input or vote whatsoever, so long as they have seven votes on the city council.

Normally, multi-million dollar capital projects are funded by using general obligation bonds which require voter approval.

What the Mayor and City Council do not like are the complicated requirements associated with general obligation bonds and the fact that they must be voted upon by the public.

General obligation bonds have major safeguards to protect the public with restrictions in place on how the bond funding must be dedicated and used.

General obligation bonds also include public budget hearings while revenue bonds do not.

Using revenue bonds for major capital projects that are repaid with gross receipts tax revenue cuts into revenues that should be used for essential services such as police protection, fire protection and government operations and personnel.

CARRYING THE MAYOR’S WATER

Diane Gibson is my city councilor and she said at a neighborhood association meeting she was tired of “carrying the Mayor’s” water on the ART Bus project but still refused to put it to a public vote and vote no on the appropriations for ART.

I for one am tired of Diane Gibson’s failure to represent her constituents and do anything worthwhile for her Council District other than holding monthly coffees and attend neighborhood association meetings to tell people there is nothing she can do.

All the candidates for Mayor need to be asked if they supported the ART Bus project as is and want to “carry Berry’s water” after he is gone, what they intend to do with the project, how can it be modified and reduced in scope, how will it be paid for and if they intend to dismantle the project as much as they can and restore Route 66 once elected.

City Council Candidates running for reelection like Diane Gibson, Ken Sanchez and Don Harris need to be reminded that they voted to spend money for the ART Bus project that has yet to be appropriated by congress and that they refused to put it on the ballot for voter approval.

City Councilor Pat Davis told his constituents at a forum he sponsored that there was nothing he could do about the ART bus project and he refused to put it on the ballot for a public vote.

Voters need to remember that City Councilor Pat Davis and Ken Sanchez voted to support ART, and who both now say they are considering running for Congress to replace Mitchell Lujan Grisham.

Frankly, Albuquerque does not need politicians willing to carry water for poorly designed and useless legacy construction projects and use sneaky funding sources to bypass voters.

Following is my 350 word Letter to the Editor published February 21, 2017 by the Albuquerque Journal on page A-7:

Mayor two-faced on immigrants

Albuquerque Mayor Berry revealed his hypocrisy at his press conference to announce the creation of the city department the “Office of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs”.

The office is intended to serve Albuquerque’s immigrant and refugees community by acting as a point of contact with other agencies that serve them.
Berry said the new city department will help immigrants and refugees without regard to their legal immigration status and that it will help allay the fears of people in Albuquerque’s immigrant and refugee community.

Berry said “There has always been rhetoric from the left and right regarding immigration … But I do not think it has ever been ramped up to the level we’ve seen most recently”. Sure it has and it was done by none other than candidate Richard Berry.

Berry used the issue of “sanctuary city” in 2009 to get elected the first time with his supporters driving a vehicle around the city with a billboard mounted on it condemning then Mayor Marty Chavez making Albuquerque a “sanctuary city” for immigrants.

After elected, Mayor Berry declared that Albuquerque was no longer a sanctuary city.

In 2010, Berry ordered the implementation of a policy that screened every person who is arrested, no matter the offense, such as misdemeanor DWI, shoplifting, drug possession, to see if the person is in the country legally.

By Berry’s orders, US Immigration and Customs agents (ICE) were allowed into city jail holding facilities to screen virtually all people arrested and brought in by APD and determine their immigration status.

In 2010, Berry said, “If convicted, they will serve their sentence and could be deported. I’m not looking at this as an immigration issue, but more as a public safety issue,” said Berry thereby endorsing deportation of people no matter the offense and no matter their guilt or innocence of people arrested and taken into custody by APD.

Albuquerque City Councilors introduced a measure to reaffirm a 16 year old resolution making Albuquerque an Immigrant friendly community.

I wonder if Berry will have a press conference to sign it if it passes or to veto it?

PETE DINELLI
ALBUQUERQUE

Thus far announced candidates for Mayor have said if elected that they intend to remove Chief Gordon Eden.

It is as if the Mayor candidates are saying removing Eden is all that is needed to solve the problems of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). It will not in that APD’s problems are severe and deeply rooted.

A few candidates running for Mayor appear to be seriously uninformed about APD and think they can gloss over APD’s problem by saying “trust me, I know what needs to be done”.

For the last three years, I cannot recall seeing anyone of the 14 candidates for Mayor attending any of the Federal Court hearings on the Department of Justice Consent decree and presentations of the Federal Monitor’s reports to the Court.

OTHERS NEED TO BE REPLACED

Terminating Chief Gordon Eden is a good start to reforming APD, but you also need to terminate the Chief Administrative Officer and the City Attorney who have been interfering with implementation of the Department of Justice mandated reforms.

Additionally, the entire APD command staff all the way down to commanders and lieutenants is what needs to be done so that APD can truly have a fresh start with a new generation of leadership who has a firm understanding of “Constitutional’ policing.

The April 10, 2014 Department of Justice Investigation report that found a “culture of aggression” within APD as well as the reports of the Independent Federal Monitor show that APD cannot police itself and for that reason the Internal Affairs function of APD should be taken out of APD and civilianized.

RESISTANCE TO FEDERAL COURT APPOINTED MONITOR

A little over a year ago, Federal Monitor James Ginger in his second report to the Federal Judge accused the City Attorney of what he called, “delay, do little and deflect” tactics saying his relationship with the City Attorney was “a little rougher than most” compared with top attorneys in other cities and states where he has overseen seen police reform.

The July 1, 2016 third APD progress report of Federal Monitor James Ginger was the most revealing when it comes to identifying APD’s management resistance to change and the DOJ mandated reforms.

The July 1, 2016 monitor’s report states: “Across the board … the components in APD’s system for overseeing and holding officers accountable for the use of force, for the most part, has failed … the serious deficiencies revealed point to a deeply-rooted systemic problem. … The deficiencies, in part, indicate a culture [of] low accountability is at work within APD, particularly in chain-of-command reviews. … [F]ostering the constitutional use of force is the primary goal of this entire effort [of police reform]”.

The Federal Monitor’s third report reflects that you get failed law enforcement management when you appoint a Chief of Police who has absolutely no prior experience managing a municipal police department and who is considered a “political operative”.

The Federal Monitor’s third report reflects what happens when you keep or return management who created, participated or who did not stop the culture of aggression and the “deeply-rooted systemic problems” found by the Department of Justice.

During the January 5, 2017 status conference with US District Court Judge Robert Brack on the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), bitter divides and disagreements over the role, authority and expectations of the Independent Federal Monitor James Ginger were revealed and lead to heated and emotional exchanges between the City’s attorneys and DOJ attorneys. (See January 11, 2017 Albuquerque Free Press article “APD-DOJ Deal Cratering”)

During the January 5, 2017 hearing before Judge Brack, DOJ Attorney Luis Saucedo accused the City of unfairly attacking the independent Federal Monitor and said “The parties [including the city] have a responsibility and a duty to the Court to assist and support the monitor in carrying out his duties under [the settlement agreement]. This … does not include attacking the monitor or blaming implementation problems at APD on the monitor.”

TRAINING, TURNOVER, TIME NEEDED TO SOLVE “CULTURE OF AGGRESSION”

Even when the entire command staff is removed, it will not solve the “culture of aggression” that took at least 10 years to permeate APD.

The “culture of aggression” found by the DOJ will be reduced in part with the Department of Justice mandated reforms and training.

The “culture of aggression” will not be truly resolved until there is a 100% turnover of APD sworn police officer staffing and with a new generation of police officers trained in constitutional policing which will only be achieved overtime with retirements and replacements with newly trained, young police officers.

The solution to APD’s shortage of sworn officers is not to recruit “experienced” officers from other agencies which has been attempted in the past with the “lateral” hiring classes.

Such hiring of “laterals” is what contributed to APDs problems in the first place because lateral hiring increases the risk of hiring problem officers from other agencies.

Very few good and experienced police officers from other law enforcement departments even want or are they willing to come to a department with such a poor reputation.

Allowing the return to work of retired police officers and allowing them to “double dip” and collect their pensions and salary only encourages the return of an older generation of police officer not fully trained in constitutional policing of who may have contributed to the culture of aggression.

APD needs to “triple down” on recruitment and dramatically increase the size and number of police academy classes per year.

A PROPOSED SOLUTION

A Department of Public Safety needs to be created with the appointment of civilian Police Commissioner.

A national search for a Police Commissioner and Chief of Police needs to be conducted.

A Police Commissioner and Chief with extensive and proven leadership in managing a municipal police department must be hired, not political operatives.

What needs to be recruited with a national search is an entire “management team” to come in and assume control of APD.

The civilian Police Commissioner would assume primary responsibility for implementation of all the DOJ-mandated reforms and only be removed for cause by the Mayor and City Council approval.

The Police Commissioner would completely overhaul and restructure APD, appoint new chiefs, commanders, lieutenants, academy director and a 911 manager and each would report directly to the Chief of Police, with the Police Commissioner in the Chain of Command as the Commissioner determines to be necessary and appropriate to carry out his or her duties.

The civilian Police Commissioner would be responsible for preparing budgets, personnel management and enforcement of personnel policies and procedures and imposing personnel disciplinary action.

The Chief of Police would be responsible for day-to-day operations of APD, public safety initiatives and management of sworn staff and report directly to the civilian Police Commissioner.

The Public Safety Department would consist of four civilian staffed divisions and managed by the Police Commissioner:
1. Personnel and training, for recruiting, hiring, internal affairs investigations and police academy;
2. Budget and finance;
3. Information technology support and crime lab; and
4. 911 emergency operations center with a civilian manager.

“Deadly use of force” cases would continue to be investigated by the Critical Incident Review Team and the final reports with finding and recommendations submitted to the Police Commissioner.

CIVILIANIZE INTERNAL AFFAIRS FUNCTIONS OUTSIDE OF APD

The APD Internal Affairs Unit would be abolished.

The investigation of police misconduct cases including excessive use of force cases not resulting in death or nor serious bodily harm would be done by “civilian” personnel investigators.

The function and responsibility for investigating police misconduct cases and violations of personnel policy and procedures by police would be assumed by the Office of Independent Council in conjunction with the City Human Resources Department and the Office of Internal Audit where necessary.

The Office of Independent Council would make findings and recommendations to the Police Commissioner for implementation and imposition of disciplinary action.

CONCLUSION.

Until aggressive action is taken with APD and the Department of Justice mandated and agreed to reforms, APD will continue to spin out of control, violent crime will continue to rise and Albuquerque will continue to see dramatic spikes in crime.

Berry’s White Elephant is an appropriate nickname for a conservative Republican Mayor’s legacy project that no will use and a Mayor who campaigned on being fiscally responsible and who is now running for Governor.

Below is an Albuquerque Free Press article on the hidden costs of the ART Bus project.

ALBUQUERQUE FREE PRESS
Vol IV, Issue 6, February 15 – 21, 2017, page 14
“Utility Work Sends ART’s Price Tag Higher”

BY DENNIS DOMRZALSKI

Add another couple million dollars to the cost of Mayor Richard Berry’s $126 million Albuquerque Rapid Transit Project. That’s the cost of all the water and sewer line work that the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority has done and continues to do along Central Avenue in preparation for full-blown ART construction. The $7 million bill is being paid by local residents through their water and sewer bills. The water authority said on Feb. 10 that the total cost of the ART-related work along Central would be $7 million – nearly twice what was estimated to relocate water lines away from the center of the street and away from where ART stations are to be built. Water Utility spokesman David Morris said much of the work would have been needed anyway over the next 10 years. To cover the cost, the water authority approved a bond issue in January to raise $15 million more than the $56 million in bonds it sells every two years. About half of the extra $15 million is for ART-related work, Morris said. When the water authority’s staff presented the proposed bond issue to its board in December, they did not mention that more money was needed for ART-related projects. Elaine Hebard, a water activist who attends the water authority’s board meetings, said she was troubled by the lack of disclosure. “It bothers me that they didn’t say to the board or to the public that they were going to borrow an extra $15 million,” Hebard said. She said she wondered which other capital projects the ABCWUA has delayed so it could complete the work along a nine-mile stretch of Central.

OTHER HIDDEN COSTS

Other hidden cost that have yet to be reported on include any costs for relocating gas lines and perhaps buried electrical cables.

Additionally, the Berry Administration and the Albuquerque City Council have used $13 million dollars in revenue bonds to pay for the ART Bus project that were not voted upon by the public.

It was reported that Mayor Berry and the Albuquerque City Council have borrowed over $63 million dollars over the past two years to build pickle ball courts, baseball fields and the ART bus project down central by bypassing the voters. (For full story see January 2, 2017 Albuquerque Journal “BYPASSING the Voters” page A-1).

The $65 million dollars was borrowed with the Albuquerque City Councilors voting to use revenue bonds as the financing mechanism to pay for big capital projects, including the ART Bus project.

Revenue bonds must repaid with gross receipts tax revenues.

Gross receipts tax revenues are traditionally used for essential services such as police and fire protection.

The Mayor and City Council have become enamored with revenue bonds because they can literally pick and choose what projects they want to fund and build without any public input or vote whatsoever, so long as they have seven votes on the city council.

It’s likely that revenue bonds not voted upon by voters will have to be used to fund the ART Bus project when the federal grant fails.

A black cloud that continues to loom over the ART Bus project is the problem that the $69 million Federal Transit Administration grant the city is counting on to complete ART has yet to be approved by the Federal Transportation Administration nor has any money been appropriated by Congress for the small starts grants. (See Albuquerque Free Press, Vol. 10, Issue 5, February 8 to 14, “ART FUNDING STILL IN DOUBT”)

Congress is not expected to consider the budget until late March or early April and there is a chance that all funding will be denied for the grant.

The appropriations conference committees in both the U.S. House and U.S. Senate have recommended cutting the Federal Transportation Grant of $69 million dollar grant by anywhere from $19 million to $23 million.

When it’s all said a done, and the City does not get a dime from the federal government, taxpayers are going to be left thrown under the bus so to speak to pay for a Berry’s White Elephant legacy project that no one will use.

City Council Candidates running for reelection like Diane Gibson, Ken Sanchez and Don Harris need to be reminded how they voted to spend money that was never appropriated by congress.

Voters need to remember City Councilor Pat Davis, who now says he is running for Congress to replace Mitchell Lujan Grisham, told his constituents that there was nothing he could do about the ART bus project and he refused to put it on the ballot for a public vote.

Candidates running for Mayor need to be asked where they stand on ART and what they intend to do with the project.

http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-police-department-data-increase-crime-decrease-staffing-officer-shortage-gorden-eden-union-apoa-shaun-willoughby/4401499/?cat=500

The above link to the February 15, 2017 KOB investigative story by KOB reporter Caleb James merits extensive quotation as follows:

“In a series of recent reports, KOB has asked the Albuquerque Police Department to explain an increase in violent crime over the years. Each time, the department blames a climbing crime rate on repeat offenders being lightly sentenced and released back onto the streets.”

“On Wednesday, KOB analyzed numbers pulled straight from the department’s own annual reports. Amidst recent court rulings governing speedy trial requirements and a microscope on lenient sentencing, there’s no arguing repeat offenders are busy committing crime in the metro and across New Mexico.”

“But according to the APD’s own official statistics, officers made nearly 10,000 fewer arrests in 2015 than in 2010 when the department had hundreds of more officers. According to APD’s annual reports — available to anyone online — the department had only 832 officers in 2015. In 2010, APD was already under-staffed but holding steady with a much healthier 1,065 officers on patrol.”

“Police Chief Gorden Eden has insisted there is no correlation between staffing and crime.”

“It’s a disaster what’s happened from 2010 to 2015,” Albuquerque Police Officers Union President Shaun Willoughby said.”

“Willoughby said the department’s own numbers fly in the face of Eden’s position.
Take robbery, for instance. There were 940 cases in 2010, compared to 1,686 in 2015 — the latest official data available. Auto theft has skyrocketed. Compare 2,773 cases in 2010 to 5,179 reported, according to the department’s 2015 annual report. Total violent crime has also spiked across the board. There were 4,491 violent crime cases in 2010, according to APD, and 5,049 in 2015.”

“When KOB has asked APD about the increase in crime, they’ve pointed to the historically low inmate population at the Bernalillo County jail — arguing fewer inmates in jail equals more repeat offenders being let out and sentenced lightly.”

“But it is also true, according to the department’s statistics, officers are arresting far fewer people to begin with — nearly 10,000 fewer people than five years ago. According to the reports, officers arrested 31,176 people in 2010. In 2015, just 22,820 total arrests were made.”

(See full KOB story at http://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/albuquerque-police-department-data-increase-crime-decrease-staffing-officer-shortage-gorden-eden-union-apoa-shaun-willoughby/4401499/?cat=500 listing APD anual reports.)

ANOTHER TAKE ON THE KOB REPORT

Eden’s insistence and denial that there is no correlation between staffing and crime is a reflection of the type of ignorance in law enforcement management you get from someone who has absolutely no prior experience in managing a municipal police department and who is nothing more than a political operative way over his head.

The simple truth is, fewer cops means fewer arrests, fewer cases, fewer convictions, fewer sentencing of criminals.

For four years, I have been saying APD needs to return to community based policing and get more officers to patrol our streets.

In 2016, Albuquerque had a 20 year high in murders. Albuquerque has become one of the most violent cities in the Country. In 2015, murders in Albuquerque spiked by 53%.Since 2010, Albuquerque’s violent and property crime rates dramatically increased by 14% to 20% percent.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), in 2015 Albuquerque’s violent crime rates increased by 9.2% and property crime rates increased by 11.5%. APD officers have shot over 41 people with close to $50 million paid in police misconduct cases and excessive use of force cases.

The number of APD sworn officers has fallen from 1,100 in 2009 to 850 in 2016. Only 430 sworn officers are assigned to field services responding to 69,000 priority one 911 emergency calls a year.

Albuquerque needs 1,200 sworn police officers to effectively return to community based policing that will reduce crime. Yet all we get from a feckless city administration are excuses and finger pointing at judges and the legislature.

APD is severely understaffed and struggling to implement expansive and expensive Department of Justice (DOJ) agreed to and mandated reforms. More must be done to aggressively implement the DOJ reforms, solve the staffing shortages and address APD’s leadership crisis.

A PROPOSED SOLUTION

The City Council by ordinance can create a Department of Public Safety with an appointed civilian Police Commissioner.

The Police Commissioner would assume direct civilian oversight, management and control of APD.

A national search for a Police Commissioner and Chief of Police needs to be conducted.

A Police Commissioner and Chief with extensive and proven leadership in managing a municipal police department must be hired, not political operatives.

The civilian Police Commissioner would assume primary responsibility for implementation of all the DOJ-mandated reforms and only be removed for cause by the Mayor.

The Police Commissioner would completely overhaul and restructure APD, appoint new chiefs, commanders, lieutenants, academy director and a 911 manager and each would report directly to the Chief of Police, with the Police Commissioner in the Chain of Command as the Commissioner determines to be necessary and appropriate to carry out his or her duties.

The city needs to fund and implement a non-negotiated major hourly rate increase of up to 15% to 20% percent for sworn officers, excluding management, to improve recruitment, retention and morale.

Sign on bonuses, tuition debt payoff and mortgage down payment bonuses need to be offered to new recruits.

Yearly experienced officer retention bonuses must be made permanent.

APD needs to “triple down” on recruitment and dramatically increase the size and number of police academy classes per year.

Until aggressive action is taken with APD and the Department of Justice mandated reforms, APD will continue to spin out of control, violent crime will continue to rise and Albuquerque will continue to see dramatic spikes in crime.