During the November 16, 2017 all day hearing before Federal Judge Robert on the Federal Monitor’s sixth report, it was revealed that the Albuquerque Police Department has only 830 sworn police officers despite the department being fully funded for 1,000.

During the hearing, Chief Gordon Eden testified about APD’s recruitment efforts during 2016.

Chief Eden reported that in 2016, the department graduated more than 90 cadets from its training academy, and because of retirements and other departures, the department had a net gain of six (6) officers.

Chief Eden reported that 1,000 to 1,200 applicants are needed to get a class of 40 cadets.

Eden went on to say “Our net gain this year will be almost zero.”

APD Academy Director Jessica Tyler also spoke and reported that APD currently has only 830 sworn officers contrary to the 850 that has been reported.

Major Tyler said the academy will graduate 73 cadets this year.

Last year, APD had 90 retirements.

The problem identified is that if APD has the same number of retirements and other departures that it had last year, it means that the department’s number of sworn officers will shrink.

There was a discrepancy between Eden’s and Tyler’s testimony before Brack in that both had different figures about the net gain of officers last year.

Eden said the department graduate 92 cadets for a net gain of six (6) officers.

Tyler said that last year’s net gain was four (4) officers and later she claimed the net gain was four to six officers.

After hearing from Chief Eden and Major Tyler, Judge Brack’s asked “How do we fix this? You are not going to get [to a fully staffed department] in my lifetime or in the lifetimes of anyone here. What have you done?”

Major Tyler response was “We have got to do more to retain our officers. This year we hired seven lateral officers.”

WHERE APD WAS AND WHERE IT NEEDS TO GO

Eight years ago, Albuquerque had a police department that was fully committed to community based policing and APD employed 1,100 sworn police officers, the most sworn police officers in its history.

Eight years ago, APD was the best trained, best equipped and the best funded department in its history and crime rates were going down.

Today, APD cannot recruit and hire enough sworn officers to keep the department at the 1,000 level already funded let alone the 1,200 that is being proposed.

The average and normal yearly salary paid APD Police Officers First Class after one year on the job is $56,000 a year.

The number of APD sworn officers has fallen from 1,100 officers to 836 over the past eight years in large part because of extensive retirements, extreme low morale resulting in experienced officers deciding to retire sooner rather than later, changes in the Public Employee Retirement Association benefits, failed APD management, heavy workloads and intense scrutiny by the Department of Justice resulting in the DOJ consent decree.

Although APD has 830 sworn police officers, only 436 are assigned to the field services, less those on annual leave or sick leave, spread out over three shifts, and taking 69,000 911 priority one calls a year not to mention priority 2 and 3 calls for service.

Recruiting a younger, new generation of sworn police officers and growing the size of the police department has become very difficult and unachievable for any number of reasons.

The APD Police Academy is unable to keep up with retirement losses and for many years graduating classes have averaged 35 to 40 a class, well below the number to keep up with yearly retirements.

The overwhelming number of police academy applicants fail to get into the academy for any number of reasons including failing to meet minimum education and entry qualifications, unable to pass criminal background checks, unable to make it through psychological background analysis or they fail polygraph tests or perhaps even lie on their applications.

Once in the police academy, many cadets are unable to meet minimum physical requirements or unable to handle the training and academic requirements to graduate from the academy.

The “pool” of recruits must be increased by increasing entry level salaries, offering more incentives to join APD and reevaluate whether entry level pay is commensurate with entry level requirements and minimum qualifications.

The City needs 1,200 sworn police officers to effectively return to community based policing that will reduce crime, but to accomplish that will take time, major changes in management and a major financial investment.

Every effort should be made to avoid the hiring of lateral hires with concentration made on hiring a new generation of police officer fully trained in constitutional policing policies and procedures.

The city needs to fund and implement a non-negotiated major hourly rate increase for entry level sworn officers, excluding management, to improve recruitment, retention and morale.

As an alternative, the City needs to negotiate a “salary” structure with steps, not an hourly wage structure as exists now, and eliminate overtime.

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.

If necessary, the City Council needs to enact a public safety tax to pay for APD’s staffing expansion, pay incentive programs, needed training programs, DOJ-mandated reforms, equipment acquisitions and 911 emergency operations, staffing and equipment.

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, crime rates will continue to rise and Albuquerque will continue to see dramatic spikes in violent crime.

This is what you call poking the bear after you have been mauled and you are on life support.

The day after the November 16, 2017, hearing on Federal Monitor James Ginger’s sixth progress report regarding the Albuquerque Police Department’s (APD) compliance with the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA), Albuquerque City Attorney Jessica Hernandez filed a notice with the court asking for further “clarification” of his order.

The Court denied the City’s Motion to have an evidentiary hearing on whether Federal Monitor James Ginger is biased against the Albuquerque Police Department.

(See November 17, Albuquerque Journal, “City wants clarification on video edit ruling”)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1094802/city-wants-clarification-on-video-edit-ruling.html

One day before the November 1, 2017 release of the Federal Monitor’s sixth report, the City Attorney’s Office filed a motion challenging the impartiality of the Federal Monitor accusing the independent monitor in the reform effort of being biased against the department.

The city’s motion cited a lapel camera video recording made back in March, 2016 by Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman.

On November 16, 2017 the Federal Court held a hearing on the sixth monitor’s report.

The monitor’s report was again highly critical of APD and finding a “culture of accountability” markedly absent from APD.

After a daylong hearing Judge Robert Brack denied the City’s Motion requesting an evidentiary hearing to determine if the Monitor was biased against APD.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack in his ruling denying the motion found that Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman and the city tried to smear and discredit the independent monitor in an attempt to discredit the reform process itself.

In what amounted to a 20-minute, unrelenting public dress-down, Judge Brack said in open court, and in front of Assistant Chief Huntsman, APD Chief Gorden Eden and City Attorney Jessica Hernandez that the city, APD and Huntsman tried to deceive the Court, manipulated evidence and set up the Monitor in an attempt to discredit him.

The Court made a finding that the making a secret lapel camera recording of Federal Monitor Ginger on March 18, 2016 by APD Assistant Chief Huntsman violated the reform settlement agreement the city signed with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Judge Brack denied the city’s request for an evidentiary hearing without even allowing any argument by the City Attorney.

Brack said the city’s behavior amounted to an “attempt to undermine and intimidate the monitor”.

Judge Brack found that the city was playing a “political game” and said “This game is not acceptable.”

In saying that the city tried to deceive the court, Brack pointed out the October 31, 2017 motion filed by the city said the secret video of Ginger by Huntsman made with his lapel camera was nine minutes long.

Judge Brack found that the transcript of the video the city filed with the court represented nine minutes of video and not the full 14 minutes.

U.S. District Judge Robert Brack found that the City manipulated the lapel camera video conversation recorded by Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman between APD, the City Attorney and the Federal Monitor James Ginger back in March, 2016.

Judge Brack found that the City filed a different transcript version in court than what the city released to the news media and that an “edit” by the city was done to cast James Ginger in a negative light and make him appear biased against APD.

City Attorney Jessica Hernandez said in her court filing that both the news media and the court received the same 14-minute video, which was just a segment of a longer video that police made of Ginger, some of which hasn’t been released.

The Federal Judge realized what the City did when he reviewed the transcript and compared it to the video and discovered the discrepancy between the video evidence and the arguments being made in the pleading which are not evidence.

Failing to disclose is just as good as lying, or at least misleading, which is something you never do to a Federal Judge or Court Official such as a Federal Monitor.

Perhaps City Attorney Jessica Hernandez and Assistant Chief Huntsman were so stunned by what the Court said at the conclusion of the daylong hearing that they did not listen to Judge Brack and the points he was making.

When Federal Judge Brack made his ruling from the bench, what he was referring to as an “edit” was the City’s intentional conduct of not transcribing the entire 14 minutes of the conversation and attaching a transcript of only the last 9 minutes of the conversation to the motion.

The City conveniently ignored and did not transcribe the first 5 minutes that lead up to the confrontation between the monitor and the City Attorney.

Deleting the first 5 minutes of the recording took the entire incident out of context and allowed the City to argue that the Federal Monitor was biased.

The Court also found that Deputy Chief Huntsman made sure he got his self-righteous comments that it was not a game so he could be recorded, all the while not telling the Monitor he was being recorded.

The City of Albuquerque, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman showed their absolute contempt for the Federal Court and authority over the Albuquerque Police Department by recording Federal Monitor James Ginger without his consent or knowledge.

The Federal Monitor Ginger is an officer of the court that reports directly to the Judge and represents the Judge.

Judge Brack found that the recording by Huntsman of the conversation was a violation of the consent decree and a violation of other applicable law.

The only rational for seeking clarification from the Federal Court on his ruling would be that the City is contemplating an appeal of the ruling

To appeal the Court’s ruling, the City would have to argue in part that there was abuse of discretion by the Judge.

The City Attorney is lucky she was not sanctioned and fined for her conduct.

The careers with the City by both City Attorney Jessica Hernandez and Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman are on life support seeing as that they will probably be replaced come December 1, 2017 when a new Mayor.

The desire to have further clarification from the Court is almost an invite to the Judge to refer the conduct of the City Attorney to the New Mexico Disciplinary Board for the State Bar of New Mexico.

Before she is no longer City Attorney, it would be wise for Jessica Hernandez to withdraw her request for further clarification from the Judge.

Reporter Dennis Domrzalski published in his blog “ALB Reports” one of the hardest hitting editorial pieces I have seen regarding the Albuquerque Police command staff and their failure to implement the DOJ reforms under the settlement agreement.

On Novmber 6, 2017 the Albuquerque Journal did an editorial stating that a hearing was needed to determine if the Federal Monitor was biased so that the reform effort could move on.
(See https://www.abqjournal.com/1088362/we-need-a-hearing-so-apd-reform-moves-forward.html)

At the heart of the editorial was the fact that Assistant Chief Huntsman recorded on his lapel camera a confidential discussion with the City Attorney and the Federal monitor that suggested that the monitor was biased.

The Albuquerque Journal in its editorial failed to disclose that only 9 minutes of the full 14-minute lapel camera video was provided to the Journal and the Court.

What was surprising is that the Albuquerque Journal apparently had no problem with Huntsman recording the conversation without the monitors knowledge or consent given the fact no objection to the unethical conduct was mention in the editorial and the Journal seemed to continue to give cover to the Berry Administration.

The ABQ Reports article on the November 16, 2017 Federal Court hearing is very compelling and is a true reflection of what happened in the Courtroom.

Following is the commentary in full as written by Dennis Domrzalski on his blog:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/2017/11/17/APds-House-Of-Sleaze-Implodes
APD’s House Of Sleaze Implodes
November 17, 2017

Dennis Domrzalski

“It will be remembered forever by those who were there as the day a federal court judge told the sleaze what it really was, which is sleaze; the day Albuquerque regained control of is police department; and the day the sleazy edifice of lies built by the Albuquerque Police Department’s command staff came crashing down on its sleazy, lying and manipulating inhabitants.

It was the day that City Attorney Jessica Hernandez, APD Chief Gorden Eden, Assistant Chief Bob Huntsman and others were exposed in public for what they were: sleazy manipulators who tried to deceive a federal court judge with manipulated evidence, who tried to smear the independent monitor in APD’s reform case with that manipulated evidence, and liars who misstated their case to the judge – no who basically lied in court documents and to the judge’s face in court.

That day, November 16, 2017, and the judge, U.S. District Court Judge Robert C. Brack, should be memorialized and celebrated forever in the city’s history. The day should be celebrated as one in which the city regained its freedom and sanity, and Brack as the humble, unassuming, mild-mannered judge who exposed and smote the sleaze with those mightiest of weapons: openness, words and the pen.

It didn’t seem like it would ever happen. After more than six hours of testimony in his courtroom Thursday, much of it slamming APD, Brack seemed to do what he has always done in these hearings about APD’s lack of progress in the reform process: express mild dissatisfaction with APD, suggest that everybody do better in the future, and thank everyone for their hard work.

After all, this was the judge who threw a barbecue in his courtroom not that long ago to celebrate the fact that APD actually did what it was supposed to do under its settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice, never mind that it was about a year late in achieving its goal of actually writing acceptable policies.

And the day was different as well. The independent monitor, James Ginger, had apparently had enough of APD’s lies. In past hearings he had gone easy in court on the department even though his written reports savaged APD’s command staff.

Not this time, though.

Ginger came out swinging hard and told Brack in no uncertain terms that, three years into the reform process, APD continued to willfully obstruct the reform effort. And then, as always, there was attorney Peter Cubra, who told Brack that APD had violated his orders – court orders – and that he needed to hold the city and APD in contempt of court.

Then there was the coalition of community policing councils from the Northeast Heights who told Brack that APD was ignoring them, even though the CPCs are mandated by the settlement agreement, and how some officers at the department’s civilian police academy told them that the initials D-O-J were really a four-letter word.

The ACLU was there as well to tell Brack what appeared obvious to a lot of people: that in attacking Ginger’s credibility, APD was trying to smear him and derail the reform process.

And, as if they had emerged from a 1,000-year sleep, four city councilors – four do-nothing city councilors who had previously done nothing about APD’s obstructionist tactics – showed up for the hearing. No city councilor had been seen at previous hearings.

When the day’s testimony had ended, many in the packed courtroom figured the hearing would end like all the others had.

Ginger had the final word and said he wanted to “clear the air” about the city’s allegations that he was biased against APD and the fact that Huntsman had secretly recorded him 20 months ago and used that lapel camera video to try to destroy him.

Brack told Ginger that he should wait for another time. Ginger sat down, and then the mild-mannered judge began to speak. It was business as usual at first, and then he got into the city’s case against Ginger and said he was denying the city’s motion for an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

People in the courtroom benches sat up.

Then the words of destruction came, not in a torrent, not in a rush of anger, not in anything but a calm and deliberate voice that had simply had enough of APD’s and the city’s sleaziness. And those words went on and on and on for who knows, 10 minutes, 20 minutes? No one kept track, and the words were so incredible that no one wanted them to end, except, of course, the sleazeoids at the city’s table in Brack’s courtroom.

Brack stunned the courtroom when he said that Huntsman, APD’s master spy, was wrong to have turned on his lapel camera to secretly record Ginger on March 18, 2016 just before a city council meeting. That, Brack said, was almost certainly a violation of the settlement agreement, which says APD officers can use their lapel cameras only for legitimate police purposes.

Brack further amazed the spectators when he noted that APD’s motion to discredit Ginger was filed on the eve of when Ginger’s sixth report – a report that absolutely ripped the command staff – was to be filed with the court. He amazed the audience when he noted that three city councilors had asked for an audit of Ginger around the same time and noted that Ginger’s duties are explicitly detailed in the settlement agreement that APD and the city signed with the DOJ.

By the time Brack said that Huntsman and Hernandez set Ginger up in the video, courtroom spectators were giddy on their insides, but still sitting in stunned silence because they had never heard anything like what they were hearing: a federal court judge – true power and authority in our society – exposing and ripping APD from the bench and in public like it had never been done before by anyone in power.

And by the time Brack said that it was APD and the city that were playing games and trying to discredit the reform process, some in the courtroom were near tears, so happy were they to hear the truth coming from such authority.

When Brack got to the city’s triple hearsay affidavit in support of its motion, people were amazed. The judge detailed just how useless the affidavit, which was signed by Eden, was. An anonymous employee from Ginger’s office told an unnamed APD employee that Ginger had an ax to grind. The unnamed city employee then told Eden, who promptly put his name to a sworn affidavit.

Brack noted the triple hearsay, and then destroyed Hernandez and Eden by saying that that triple hearsay had “less than zero evidentiary value.”

And then Brack revealed the true sleaze of Hernandez, Huntsman, APD Chief Gorden Eden and company. He took apart their motion and revealed how they tried to deceive and trick a federal court judge.

“The Court finds that the manner in which the City framed the March 18, 2016 meeting comes dangerously close to obstruction of this reform process,” Brack’s order in denying APD’s request for a evidentiary hearing on Ginger said. “In his affidavit, Assistant Chief Huntsman swears that he turned on his on-body camera because of Dr. Ginger’s ‘escalating behavior.’ The DVD of the 2016 meeting that the City produced to the court of public opinion via YouTube and the Albuquerque Journal, which is just shy of nine minutes, could be spun in support of Assistant Chief Huntsman’s statement.

“The City produced a different video, however, to the Court. The official video exhibit is approximately 14 minutes long, with the five additional minutes on the front end. It is apparent why the City chose to cut these additional five minutes—they reflect an atmosphere of cordial conversation. There is certainly no evidence of irritation or ‘escalating behavior’ from Dr. Ginger that would have concerned Assistant Chief Huntsman.

“The discrepancy between these two versions of the secret recording is the most damning evidence that the City and APD leadership has manipulated the video to cast Dr. Ginger in a light that allegedly demonstrates bias or prejudice. Again, the Court finds the last nine minutes are insufficient to show bias or prejudice, much less the full 14 minutes.

“Moreover, if this video is not in direct contravention of paragraph 229 of the CASA, it is plainly not in keeping with the spirit of that paragraph, which restricts the use of lapel cams to official law enforcement duties. The City’s decision to secretly record the Monitor in order to blindside him later is unacceptable. This type of conduct chills the possibility of candid communication in the future and erodes trust. To ensure that the City has not surreptitiously recorded other meetings for future use, the Court orders the City to immediately produce, in camera [in Brack’s chambers], all video and/or audio recordings and/or transcripts it has secretly obtained of either the Monitor, the monitoring team, or of this Court.”

It was simple and direct: APD and the city, and that means Eden, Huntsman, Hernandez and company manipulated evidence.

Brack’s dismantling of APD’s case against Ginger was pure beauty. But when he suggested that he himself might have been recorded by Master Spy Huntsman, some in the courtroom started exclaiming things like, “Holy shit,” and “My god!”

It was unbelievable, and after Brack had finished, spectators filed out of the courtroom, mostly in silence because they were in shock. No one had expected it, and everyone was thrilled that it had happened.

The sleaze had finally been exposed and hammered in court by a federal judge. It was simply magnificent.

Outside the courtroom someone half shouted what was on many people’s minds:

“They’re not even smart criminals.”

They’re not, and God bless Judge Brack for bulldozing their house of sleaze.”

On November 16, 2017, after sitting through a day long hearing before Federal Judge Robert Brack, I was witness to something that I do not recall ever seeing a Federal Judge ever do in my entire 40 year career as an attorney.

Federal Judge Robert Brack publicly admonished a party to a lawsuit and discredited them from the bench with an order making findings he had prepared for filing and filed simultaneously with his announcement of the ruling from the bench.

On November 16, 2017 the Court held a hearing on Federal Monitor James Ginger’s sixth progress report regarding the Albuquerque Police Department’s compliance with the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA).

The sixth monitor’s report was again highly critical of APD and finding a “culture of accountability” markedly absent from APD.

One day before the November 1, 2017 release of the Federal Monitor’s sixth report, the City Attorney’s Office filed a motion challenging the impartiality of the Federal Monitor and citing a lapel camera video recording made in March, 2016 by Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman.

During a March of 2016 confidential meeting, APD Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman secretly turned on his lapel camera to record Federal Court Monitor James Ginger when he was having a heated discussion with City Attorney Jessica Hernandez.

The City filed a motion with the federal court challenging the impartiality of the Federal Monitor and demanding an evidentiary hearing on the matter.

The Motion attached affidavits from Chief Eden and Assistant Chief Huntsman and claimed that the Federal Monitor was hostile and biased towards APD and that the Court should decide if the monitor should be removed.

The Federal court denied the city’s motion for an evidentiary hearing but not before severely criticizing the city’s conduct and tactics.

(See November 16, 2017, page A-1, Albuquerque Journal: Judge blasts city’s tactics against APD Monitor)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1093971/judge-rips-city-for-trying-get-rid-of-apd-monitor.html

ABQ REPORT

Following is the blog report posted by Dennis Domrzalski, ABQ Report, detailing the Court’s findings on the City’s Motion for an Evidentiary Hearing:
“Federal Judge Nukes City And APD
November 16, 2017

Dennis Domrzalski, ABQ Report

Judge Brack Says APD Tried To Smear The Independent Monitor In order To Get Rid Of Him

Says APD Manipulated Video Evidence

Asst. Chief Huntsman Was Wrong to Secretly Record The Independent Monitor

Says APD Set The Monitor Up And Blindsided Him

The city and APD tried to throw a hand grenade into the police reform process in the final days of Mayor Richard Berry’s administration by accusing the independent monitor in the reform effort of being biased against the department.

On late Thursday afternoon, the federal court judge in the case responded by dropping an atomic bomb on the city, APD and assistant police chief Robert Huntsman.

U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack accused Huntsman and the city of trying to smear and discredit the independent monitor, James Ginger, in an attempt to discredit the reform process itself.

In what amounted to an unprecedented and unrelenting public dress-down, Brack said in open court, and in front of Huntsman, APD Chief Gorden Eden and City Attorney Jessica Hernandez that the city, APD and Huntsman tried to deceive him, manipulated evidence and set up Ginger in an attempt to discredit him.

And, in making a secret lapel camera recording of Ginger on March 18, 2016, Huntsman apparently violated the reform settlement agreement the city signed with the U.S. Department of Justice, Brack said.

In ripping the city and APD, Brack denied the city’s request for an evidentiary hearing to determine whether Ginger was biased against APD.

Brack said the city’s behavior amounted to an “attempt to undermine and intimidate the monitor,” and added that he thought the city was playing a political game in the situation. “This game,” Brack said, “is not acceptable.”

In saying that the city tried to deceive the court, Brack pointed to the Oct. 31 motion filed by the city in which it said the secret video of Ginger that Huntsman made with his lapel camera was nine minutes long. The transcript of the video the city filed with the court represented nine minutes of video, Brack said.

But the city included the entire video with the motion, and it was 14 minutes long. The first five minutes of the conversation between Ginger and City Attorney Jessica Hernandez were pleasant and presented no reason for Huntsman to turn on his lapel camera, Brack said.

Brack said that the city tried to manipulate the situation by deleting the first five minutes out of its transcript of Huntsman’s video

“The Court finds that the manner in which the City framed the March 18, 2016 meeting comes dangerously close to obstruction of this reform process,” Brack’s order said. “ In his affidavit, Assistant Chief Huntsman swears that he turned on his on-body camera because of Dr. Ginger’s ‘escalating behavior.’ The DVD of the 2016 meeting that the City produced to the court of public opinion via YouTube and the Albuquerque Journal, which is just shy of nine minutes, could be spun in support of Assistant Chief Huntsman’s statement.

“The City produced a different video, however, to the Court. The official video exhibit is approximately 14 minutes long, with the five additional minutes on the front end. It is apparent why the City chose to cut these additional five minutes—they reflect an atmosphere of cordial conversation. There is certainly no evidence of irritation or ‘escalating behavior’ from Dr. Ginger that would have concerned Assistant Chief Huntsman.

“The discrepancy between these two versions of the secret recording is the most damning evidence that the City and APD leadership has manipulated the video to cast Dr. Ginger in a light that allegedly demonstrates bias or prejudice. Again, the Court finds the last nine minutes are insufficient to show bias or prejudice, much less the full 14 minutes.

“Moreover, if this video is not in direct contravention of paragraph 229 of the CASA, it is plainly not in keeping with the spirit of that paragraph, which restricts the use of lapel cams to official law enforcement duties.

“The City’s decision to secretly record the Monitor in order to blindside him later is unacceptable. This type of conduct chills the possibility of candid communication in the future and erodes trust. To ensure that the City has not surreptitiously recorded other meetings for future use, the Court orders the City to immediately produce, in camera, all video and/or audio recordings and/or transcripts it has secretly obtained of either the Monitor, the monitoring team, or of this Court.”

Brack said he wasn’t prepared Thursday to rule on whether the city of APD should be held in contempt of court, but he ordered DOJ attorneys to prepare a list of what things, if any, he could find the city in contempt of.

In ripping the city and APD for more than 10 minutes in open court, Brack said that Ginger was frustrated with APD’s slow progress on the reform effort.

In its motion in which it alleged that Ginger was biased against APD, the city noted that Ginger said that the reform effort was a “game.”

But Brack said Ginger was using everyday language and that the real political game in the situation was being played by the city.

“The city is the one that is playing games,” Brack said, while noting that the city’s motion was filed on the eve of the filing of Ginger’s sixth report and of a mayoral election in the city. He also blasted the city for withholding the video for 20 months.”

CONCLUSION COMMENTRY

It was embarrassing watching City Attorney Jessica Hernandez argue the motion for the City and make arguments that stretched all credibility trying to justify the actions of Assitant Chief Huntsman and his unethical conduct in recording the Federal Monitor without his consent.

It was even more embarrassing to think that the Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman would think he could get away with his conduct of recording a court official without his knowledge or consent and during a confidential meeting.

The Federal Monitor Ginger is an officer of the court that reports directly to the Judge and represents the Judge.

City Attorney Jessica Hernandez and Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman should have been fined and sanctioned by the court for the underhanded recording of a federal court official during a confidential discussion and meeting.

However, what happened to them in a courtroom was enough to have an impact on their career reputations.

The city of Albuquerque, Albuquerque Police Department (APD) and Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman showed their absolute contempt for the Federal Court and authority over the Albuquerque Police Department by recording Federal Monitor James Ginger without his consent or knowledge and without his permission.

The recording by Huntsman of the conversation was noted by the Judge as a clear violation of the terms and conditions of the settlement agreement decree that specifically provides that police body cameras can only be used by police officials during legitimate contacts and interaction with the public.

City Attorney Jessica Hernandez and Assistant Chief Robert Huntsman should be thanked for their past service and notified that their services are no longer needed.

Both should be replaced by Mayor Tim Keller come December 1, 2017.

Congratulations to mayor-elect Tim Keller!

Best wishes to him and his wife and kids as he begins to prepare to be sworn in as mayor of Albuquerque.

I had a blast election night reporting on election returns with Joe Monahan and his team of political analysts including Rick Abraham, Sisto Abeyta, Gene Grant, Greg Payne and Christina Trujillo.

On Friday, November 10th, 2017 in my blog article “Hell Freezes Over” https://www.petedinelli.com/2017/11/10/hell-freezing-over/) regarding the Albuquerque Journal endorsement of Tim Keller and the paper’s Sunday poll I predicted that the poll would show that Tim Keller would have a substantial lead over Dan Lewis.

I predicted a Tim Keller win approaching 63% or more to Dan Lewis having 37% or less.

The final vote Tuesday night was 62% for Tim Keller and 38% for Dan Lewis.

Glad to see my political instincts have returned.

Once again, best wishes to Mayor elect Tim Keller.

Keller has a mandate now from the voters and he will need it to get things done.

During ancient Roman times, when a victorious general won a major war battle, he would ride into Rome on his chariot as the throngs of adoring citizens cheered him on.

Riding in the chariot with the conquering hero was one of his soldiers whispering in his ear “all victory is fleeting” to remind him that the war was continuing.

Mayor Keller’s real work will begin December 1, 2017 when he is sworn in and I am confident he is up to the task and the battles that lay ahead.

Joe Monahan did a great job on his blog reporting the results of the election.

Following is Joe Monahan’s blog article in full:

From joemonahan.com: KELLER TAKES CONTROL

“Tim Keller scored a landslide victory in ABQ Tuesday night, giving Democrats control of City Hall after an 8 year Republican run and setting the stage for a major change in tone and policy in the state’s largest city. Keller, who will turn 40 this month, will take the oath of office for a four year term December 1.

The charismatic Keller swept through the city with opposition that was softer than the Pillsbury Dough Boy. Republican Dan Lewis could manage only 38 percent of the vote to Keller’s 62 percent. (Complete results here.)

“It was about a city wanting to hope again, to turn the corner on the drumbeat of negativity to getting on with solving our problems and making ABQ realize its potential,”opined Gene Grant of KNME-TV to our KANW-FM 89.1 Election Night audience.

Our other experts nodded in agreement. They said the landslide was due to that and these other reasons:

–The city had tired of 8 years of GOP rule under Mayor Berry and his lack of success in curbing the crime wave,
–The smooth campaign run by Keller with emphasis on the ground game and getting out the vote
–Keller is charismatic, intelligence and telegenic. He looks like change. It brought voters to his side and he will become the second youngest mayor in city history.
–The Keller message or as veteran Dem activist Sandy Buffett explained: “Tim had an aspirational message and his opponent was all negative.”

Keller’s assertion in his Election Night victory speech that he was given a “mandate” was backed up not only by the massive win, but by a healthy turnout of 96,908, only slightly lower than the 97,399 who showed up for the initial round of balloting October 3 and led to Tuesday’s run-off election. (Keller’s full speech is here.)

The race was immediately called by our KANW 89.1 FM election team when 60,451 votes cast early and absentee were posted thirty minutes after the polls closed. That represented 60 percent of all votes cast. Keller was ahead with 63 percent and only gave up a point when all the ballots, including the 38 percent of the vote cast on Election Day, were counted.

The small gathering for Dan Lewis cleared out fast and the night belonged to a jubilant Keller who gave media interviews and mingled with the throng gathered at the Hotel Andaluz. Only a couple of hundred yards away at the downtown Hyatt his rival admitted defeat early and called Keller to congratulate him. He then conducted this press gaggle.

The photo posted here and snapped by KRQE-TV’s Chris McKee at Lewis’ party sums up the moment. Lewis appears abandoned, a fitting analogy as his own Republican Party never fully warmed to his candidacy.

ASKING KELLER

I asked Keller in our radio interview for details on his transition. He confirmed that former high ranking city officials James B. Lewis and Fred Mondragon are helping to head up his transition team. He will need their expertise as he pointed out his will be the shortest transition in city history with only days to go before he takes the oath. However, the transition will continue over the course of several months, he said, and he will select interim leaders for some city departments as he ponders who to name permanently.
As he said during the campaign, APD will get an interim chief as a national search is launched for a new APD leader for a city besieged by crime and which was the paramount issue of the campaign.

Keller’s pick for the powerful position of Chief Administrative Officer is widely anticipated and should come soon.

Former City Councilor Pete Dinelli said while there is hope for change in ABQ there is also impatience over the crime epidemic. Realistic or not, Dinelli said “people will expect some results in 6 to 12 months. Because of the state of the city and the high expectations for Keller, this could be a relatively short honeymoon.”

ARAGON DERAILED

The Keller camp breathed easier when the results came in from the runoff in City Council District 5 on the west side and showed Dem Cynthia Borrego handily defeating R Robert Aragon, an ardent Keller foe.

The Borrego win–54-46%–gives Keller 6 Dems on the nine member council, a super majority if he can keep them together. Most important there will be no Robert Aragon, an effective opponent who has now been silenced.

FOOTNOTES

Former City Councilor Greg Payne and consultant Steve Cabiedes said that the mayoral election also showed that a progressive Democrat can unite the party. “It doesn’t always have to be a progressive reaching out to the moderates. Keller showed how it can be the other way around, even though he also had appeal to independents who liked his watchdogging as State Auditor.” said Cabiedes.

Payne said Keller’s willingness to criticize Berry and Borrego’s willingness to take on both Berry and Gov. Martinez was a departure from previous “meek” Democratic behavior that cost them dearly. “He brought home the Democrats because he showed something that has not been seen from them–leadership,” analyzed the Democratic attorney.”

In January of this year, I predicted that whoever was elected Mayor of Albuquerque would be spending between $1 million to $1.5 million to be elected.

It appears I was correct in the event Tim Keller is elected Mayor on Tuesday, November 16, 2017.

On Friday, November 10, 2017, campaign finance reports were filed in the Mayor’s race by Democrat Tim Keller and Republican Dan Lewis as well as the measured finance committees.

The finance reports reveal just how costly the Mayor’s race has become and that big money and influence has indeed been involved.

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

DAN LEWIS

Dan Lewis is a “privately financed” candidate and Tim Keller is the only publicly financed candidate.

Review of all the campaign finance reports filed with the City Clerk reveals that Republican Dan Lewis raised more than $847,000 in cash contributions for the October election and the November runoff election.

Dan Lewis also raised more than $22,000 in “in-kind” contributions for the elections for a total of $869,000, which is an impressive amount of money by any measure for a municipal election.

Dan Lewis still has over $30,000 in his campaign account as of Friday before the Tuesday election.

It is likely the remaining amount will be used by the Lewis campaign for “get out the vote” initiatives on election day and to pay what remaining debts there may be, including attorney’s fees for the various ethics complaints filed against Dan Lewis.

TIM KELLER

What is a real eye opener is the amount of money raised and spent on behalf of and for the benefit of Tim Keller, the publicly financed candidate.

According to campaign finance reports, Tim Keller was given a total of $506,254 in public finance combined for the first election and the runoff and he collected $37,870 in “in kind” donations.

Notwithstanding being a public finance candidate, Keller had three (3) measured finance committees that either raised money directly to spend on his behalf or that indirectly spent money and supported him financially.

ABQ Forward Together is the measured finance committee that was formed specifically to raise money to promote Tim Keller for Mayor and it is managed by one of Tim Keller’s former campaign managers for his State Senate runs.

ABQ Forward Together raised $663,000, with major contributions from organized labor including city unions such as AFSME.

The measured finance committee ABQFIREPAC, organized by the City’s local Fire Union raised $67,000 with that money spent to help not only Keller but also Democrat City Council candidates.

ABQFIREPAC spent at least $25,000 for a TV commercial benefiting Keller, yards signs and a freeway billboard.

ABQFIREPAC has an ending balance of $9,378.

The measured finance committee ABQ Working Families also supported Tim Keller and raised $122,000 and has $22,000 remaining.

Broken down, at least $1,169,254 minimum has been spent on Tim Keller’s campaign for Mayor ($506,254 public finance money + $663,000 ABQ Forward = $1,169,254 total).

Broken down further, a maximum of $1,358,254 was potentially spent on Tim Keller’s campaign for Mayor ($506,254 public finance money + $663,000 ABQ Forward + $67,000 ABQFIREPAC + $122,000 ABQ Working Families = $1,358,254.)

Tim Keller had a measured finance committee “Making Albuquerque Safe/Western Albuquerque Land Holdings” that was organized to oppose his candidacy.

“Making Albuquerque Safe/Western Albuquerque Land Holdings” raised $63,000, with most of the money spent during the first election on negative commercials against Keller which I suspect backfired.

The final tab for the Mayor’s race reflects Republican Dan Lewis raised and spent $847,000 to Democrat Tim Keller’s minimum of $1,169, 254 spent or up to $1,358,254 spent.

During the last three weeks, the Keller campaign and the measured finance committees supporting him significantly outspent the Dan Lewis campaign on TV and in all probability the TV ads had a major impact on the polls increasing Keller’s lead even more over Lewis.

FINAL ALBQUERQUE JOURNAL POLL

Two days after the October 4 initial election, Channel 4 released a poll that showed Lewis was 13 points behind Keller as follows:

• 49.2 percent said Keller.
• 36.4 percent said Lewis.
• 14.4 percent were undecided or didn’t know

Lewis is now 19% points behind Keller according to the final Albuquerque Journal poll.

On Sunday, November 12, 2017, the Albuquerque Journal released it final opinion poll before Tuesday’s, November 14, 2017 Mayoral election.

(See November 12, 2017 Albuquerque Journal, page A-1, “Keller maintains healthy lead in mayoral race; Gap widens to 19 points as Tuesday’s election looms”.)

https://www.abqjournal.com/1091421/keller-maintains-healthy-lead-in-mayoral-race.html

The Journal poll reflects as follows:

• 53% percent said Keller.
• 34 percent said Lewis.
• 13 percent were undecided or didn’t know

The 13% undecided in the Journal poll is basically the same as the 14.4% in the poll taken six weeks ago because of the margin of error of both polls.

According to the Journal poll, the 13% undecided vote breaks down and consists of 9% Democrat, 14% Republican and 24% Independent.

13% undecided a few days before an election is still a little high, but not enough to overcome the 19% lead by Tim Keller over Dan Lewis in the Journal poll.

KELLER IS PREDICTED WINNER

When the Albuquerque Journal endorsed Tim Keller on a Friday, I predicted that the Sunday Journal poll would show that Mr. Keller has a substantial lead over Mr. Lewis.

I predicted Keller would have a lead approaching 63% or more to Dan Lewis having 37% or less.

What I did not consider nor predict was the “undecided”.

What I think will happen now is that the 13% undecided vote will break for Tim Keller because Independents will tend to want a Democrat after eight years of a Republican as mayor.

I predict that Mr. Keller will become our next Mayor with a final vote approaching 60% or more for Mr. Keller and Mr. Lewis will get 40% or less of the vote.

Polls tend to become self-fulling prophecies, they affect a candidate’s morale and when taken weeks before and election, dry up a candidate’s ability to raise money.

Polls also tend to affect and suppress election day turnout, unless you are Donald Trump.

Dan Lewis may act and talk like Donald Trump, but he is not Donald Trump.

If we have learned anything from the election of Donald Trump, polls can be very wrong and the candidate that has spent the most, like Hillary Clinton, does not necessarily win.

CONCLUSION

Political campaign fundraising and big money do influence and do effect on 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.

With polls taken and money spent, it is now time for the electorate to have the final say.

No one should take anything for granted.

If we have learned anything from the election of Donald Trump, polls can be very wrong and the candidate that has spent the most, like Hillary Clinton, do not necessarily win.

However, in Albuquerque, it appears that the money spent and the final poll in the Mayor’s race reflect that once again the election will be won by the candidate who spent the most money and had the most financial support to get his message out.