During the final October 19 televised debate on Channel 4 between incumbent Mayor Tim Keller, Sheriff Manny Gonzales and radio Talk Show host Eddy Aragon, the candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other. The moderators were not told what the questions would be from the candidates. Sheriff Manny Gonzales asked his question of Mayor Tim Keller.

Following is the transcript of the Gonzales and Keller debate exchange:

SHERIFF GONZALES: Mayor Keller, where is your accountability? There are serious misconduct allegations at City Hall under your watch, allegations of your own domestic violence incident being covered up by high-ranking city officials. Another allegation of a high-ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash. And the third is also you having allegations of having an affair with a city subordinate. How can the public trust you to fight crime in ABQ when you can’t even fight crime at City Hall?

MAYOR KELLR: What a disgusting prepared question you just read. . . I don’t even know where to begin. . . I have never been involved in any of the incidents you mentioned and as my family will attest to have never, ever done things like had an affair. Look, if you’re going to just make your questions the gossip on Twitter and Facebook. I mean, I hear all sorts of stuff about everyone all the time, I don’t dignify it because I don’t believe it because there’s no evidence or truth behind any of it. And this is coming from a guy who has a litany of myths and mistruths that he says. . . . There is literally nothing behind anything your saying. You’re just saying words you saw on social media.

During and after the live debate, Sheriff Manny Gonzales never identified the two “high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department with direct knowledge of the domestic incident stemming from the sexual harassment scandal.” Sheriff Gonzales also failed to identify by name the “high ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash.”

After the debate, Gonzales’ campaign manager Shannan Calland said in a statement to the Albuquerque Journal:

“We have spoken to two high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department with direct knowledge of the domestic incident stemming from the sexual harassment scandal and are awaiting IPRA responses based on that information (which we expect to be intentionally covered up until after election).
The statement included the phrase in parentheses. IPRA refers to the state’s … [Inspection of Public Records Act].”

You can read the entire Journal article quoted here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2439136/televised-mayoral-debate-gets-personal-ex-gonzales-accuses-keller-of-serious-misconduct-mayor-denies-allegations.html

GONZALES LIE THAT RAEL INVOLVED IN DWI

Although Sheriff Gonzales did not specifically name the high-ranking city official who was driving drunk by name during the debate, the Gonzales campaign confirmed to the Albuquerque Journal that Sheriff Gonzales was referring to Chief Operations Officer Lawrence Rael.

On October 21, city spokeswoman Ava Montoya confirmed Chief Operation Officer Lawrence Rael was in a car accident on September 24 while driving his city owned vehicle. Montoya called the drunken-driving allegations made by Gonzales “false, defamatory and sadly motivated purely by political gain.”

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2440060/city-official-not-drunk-in-accident-ex-allegation-was-made-by-gonzales-against-coo-in-mayoral-debate-with-keller.html

SEPTEMBER 14 FENDER BENDER

It was on September 14 that Chief Operations Office Lawrence Rael, while driving his city owned vehicle, was involved in what the city described as a “minor fender bender”. According to the city, the incident occurred around 9:45 a.m. as Rael was driving on Fifth, turned left on a green light at Tijeras. Fifth and Tijeras is where city hall is located. According to the City Risk management report filed out by Rael and stamped as received on September 29, Rael hit a black truck.

City spokeswoman Ava Montoya City acknowledged that city policy requires employees in city vehicles involved with an accident to call police if they get into an accident. Montoya acknowledges that Rael did not call the police but said Rael did report the incident to Risk Management. According to Montoya:

“Following City procedures, Rael went immediately to Risk Management. He was instructed to fill out a form, which he did … Risk Management then resolves these situations following normal protocols. … [no alcohol was involved]. … Rael and the other driver both agreed to exchange information and due to the minor nature of the accident, neither driver felt it was necessary to tie up law enforcement.”

According to Montoya, the car accident resulted in minor damage to both vehicles and no injuries. City risk management compensated the driver of the truck $1,116 for the damages to her vehicle.

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2440060/city-official-not-drunk-in-accident-ex-allegation-was-made-by-gonzales-against-coo-in-mayoral-debate-with-keller.html

COO LAWRENCE RAEL

Mayor Tim Keller appointed Lawrence Rael Chief Operations Officer (COO) in December, 2017 and he has served in that capacity for the last 4 years. Mr. Rael is also a former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the city for 12 years under former mayors. Rael is an “at will employee” that works at the pleasure of the mayor and can be fired without cause by the mayor at any time and for no reason at all. As an at will employee, Rael does not have the same protections given to classified employees.

Mr. Rael is highly respected and is known for his professionalism, knowledge and understanding on how the city operates and “the nuts and bolts” of running the city and “keeping the trains running on time” as the old adage goes.

Rael may have violated personnel rules and regulations in the delay in reporting the accident and that may be grounds to take disciplinary action against him by Mayor Keller, but that’s Keller’s decision and no one else’s.

CITY IS SELF-INSURED ENTITY

The City of Albuquerque is a self-insured entity, and as such it does not carry insurance but has a Risk Management Division that employs claims adjusters, like insurance companies. The adjusters investigate and pay claims filed either by city employees or by the public. Each year, as required by state law for self-insured entities, the City Council allocates taxpayer funding to pay projected claims.

Lawrence Rael giving the driver of the truck his business car and reporting the accident to city risk management allowed City Risk management to adjust the claim and pay the $1,116 for the damages to the other driver’s vehicle. A few years ago, APD did initiate a process to encourage the general public not to call APD for minor traffic accidents where no serious injury occurs and to exchange insurance coverage. APD allows citizens to file police reports either on-line or at police substations for car accidents for purposes of insurance claims.

KOAT TV TARGET 7 REPORT

On October 21, KOAT-TV Target 7 posted a report that a Target 7 public records request in June came back showing no evidence of a domestic violence incident involving Mayor Tim Keller.

Target 7 also reported it had obtained documents on the car crash involving a city employee and a city-owned car. KOAT TV confirm a crash occurred. Channel 7 did not identify who was driving the city vehicle.

Target 7 reported it spoke with the person whose car was hit by the city employee. The woman, who didn’t want to go on camera, claims that after the crash, the city employee got out of the car, handed her his card and then left. The woman involved with the crash told Target 7:

“Real weird, no cop, it was real simple, real fast. … He said he worked for the mayor on the 11th floor. No police came or ambulance came. Nobody came. … ” the crash victim said to Target 7.

Channel 7 asked her if she thought the city employee was driving under the influence.

She said, “no I didn’t.”

The link to the KOAT TV Report is here:

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-mayoral-race-heats-up-with-personal-attacks-accusations/38018587

GONZALES DENIED PUBLIC FINACING FOR HIS LIES, FORGERIES AND FRAUD

In a letter dated July 9, Albuquerque City Clerk Ethan Watson notified Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales’ that the city was denying his campaign $661,00 in public financing citing misconduct in the qualifying process and forgery of signatures on $5 qualifying donations. City Clerk Watson wrote Gonzales he could not confirm that Gonzales had complied with the city’s Open and Ethical Election Code and associated regulations.

The Keller campaign submitted to the City Clerk 149 examples of alleged forgeries on documents submitted to the City Clerk by the Gonzales campaign. The Keller campaign also filed signed statements from upwards of 40 people contacted by a private investigator hired by Keller campaign. Most of those contacted said the signatures on Gonzales’ nominating petition was theirs and half confirmed they had contributed $5 to Gonzales’ public financing effort. Nearly all said signatures on the $5 qualifying donations were forgeries.

The city’s Office of Inspector General investigated the qualifying $5.00 contribution receipts and found that there were problems with 15% of the 239 randomly selected Gonzales campaign receipts it reviewed. According to the Inspector General, the voters identified and contacted in those instances said either that they signed the receipt but never gave money or that they never signed the receipt or gave $5.

On July 14, after repeated denials of any wrong doing by the Gonzales campaign, and in a written response to an ethics complaint filed with the Board of Ethics and Campaign Practices, Gonzales’ campaign stated.

“It does appear, upon the Gonzales campaign’s own investigation, that many of the qualifying-contribution (“QC”) receipts…were signed by someone other than the voter.”

DISTRICT ATTORNEY REFERS GONZALES FRAUD INVESTIGATION TO STATE POLICE

On October 12, Albuquerque City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. wrote a letter to Bernalillo County District Attorney Raul Torrez and New Mexico Attorney General Hector Balderas making a referral to them to investigate allegations of fraud and forgeries by the Manny Gonzales campaign to secure over $640,000 in public financing. Aguilar outlined the fraud allegations in his letter to Torrez and Balderas and said he made the referrals because his office “lacks the prosecutorial authority to investigate or file criminal charges for violations of state law.”

On October 13, District Attorney Raúl Torrez wrote a letter to Albuquerque City Attorney Esteban Aguilar Jr. notifying Aguilar that he will be referring for investigation the allegations of election-related fraud against Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales’ to the New Mexico State Police. DA Torrez wrote that the referral will be made only after the city’s November 2 election. Torrez wrote Aguilar:

“My review of this matter will begin immediately, but as you know, prosecutorial decisions must await the completion of a criminal investigation. … Further, my prosecutorial review must be independent and nonpartisan. … [For that reason, I will refer the investigation to the State Police] which is a conflict-free law enforcement agency having jurisdiction over this matter. [I want] to prevent the timing of an investigation or prosecution from having an effect on an election. … I will scrupulously adhere to this practice and will not take official action or make any public comment on this matter until the results of the upcoming election have been certified.”

Shannan Calland, a spokeswoman for the Gonzales campaign, denied any wrongdoing by the Gonzales campaign and said the campaign welcomed any investigations into the allegations. Calland said in a written statement:

“The Keller administration sending letters two weeks before the election is a shameless political stunt and demonstrates that Keller knows his campaign is in deep trouble.”

Matt Baca, a spokesman for Attorney General Hector Balderas had this to say:

“… District Attorney [Raul Torrez] has asserted jurisdiction in the case … and [the attorney general’s office will] monitor the matter in the event that we need to take appropriate action.”

The link to quoted source material is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2439120/da-to-refer-gonzales-fraud-case-to-state-police.html

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

This whole mess of the 2021 Mayor’s election will be known as the campaign of “The liar and the lies he told during a live debate.” The allegations of DWI or other criminal conduct was nothing more than speculation and falsehoods by an elected law enforcement official desperately trying to continue with his political career. Sheriff Gonzales is the same candidate for Mayor that argued he was denied “due process of law” when his campaign was denied public finance by the city clerk, yet he makes salacious accusations and false accusations of DWI assuming guilt without due process of law afforded to those he has accused without any proof.

Sheriff Gonzales has failed to identify the 2 high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD), if they even exist, he alleges have direct knowledge of the domestic incident involving the Keller family and an allege affair. As a law enforcement official, Sheriff Gonzales must be held to a higher standard. He has taken an oath office to uphold the law and knows that law enforcement at all levels must tell the truth. He knows he can discipline his deputies if they lie and even terminate them if they commit perjury. Gonzales has committed perjury in the court of public opinion with his lies and he knows damn well that he accused Keller of a crime and accused another of DWI with virtually no proof and he needs to be held accountable.

Sheriff Manny Gonzales has likely already lost his case to becoming the next Mayor of Albuquerque. This will likely be confirmed by the Journal poll to be published on Sunday, October 23. Sheriff Gonzales has managed to damaged, if not completely destroy, his own personal reputation of honesty and integrity, what little he had left after his reliance on forgeries and fraudulent documents to try and secure $630,000 in public finance.

If Sheriff Manny Gonzales has any shred of honesty or integrity left, he should admit to his lies and apologize to Mayor Tim Keller, the Keller family and COO Lawrence Rael. If he has any shred decency left, he should withdraw from the Mayor’s race and resign as Bernalillo County Sheriff and simply retire from law enforcement.

KOB Channel 4 devoted a significant amount of time to report on what occurred during and after the live debate it sponsored on October 19 between Incumbent Mayor Tim Keller, Sheriff Manny Gonzales and radio Talk Show host Eddy Aragon.

During the debate, the candidate were allowed to ask questions of each other. The moderators were not told what the questions would be from the candidates. Sheriff Manny Gonzales asked his question of Mayor Tim Keller.

Following is the transcript of the exchange:

SHERIFF GONZALES: Mayor Keller, Where is your accountability? There are serious misconduct allegations at City Hall under your watch, allegations of your own domestic violence incident being covered up by high ranking city officials. Another allegation of a high ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash. And the third is also you having allegations of having an affair with a city subordinate. How can the public trust you to fight crime in ABQ when you can’t even fight crime at City Hall?

MAYOR KELLR: What a disgusting prepared question you just read. . . I don’t even know where to begin. . . I have never been involved in any of the incidents you mentioned and as my family will attest to have never, ever done things like had an affair. Look, if you’re going to just make your questions the gossip on Twitter and Facebook. I mean, I hear all sorts of stuff about everyone all the time, I don’t dignify it because I don’t believe it because there’s no evidence or truth behind any of it. And this is coming from a guy who has a litany of myths and mistruths that he says. .
…

There is literally nothing behind anything your saying. You’re just saying words you saw on social media. . There was something in there about a co-worker and you know that’s defamation and you should know that, Sheriff. You can have a debate. We can talk about policies but unless you have any shred of evidence of any kind then that is actually to be on you. Talk about accountability. Fraud in your own campaign. Literally. And now just blatantly defaming people for a political stunt so that you can raise money off of it which is what you just asked voters to do. It’s pathetic.

The link to the full Channel 4 debate is here:

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/watch-kob-4-hosts-albuquerque-mayoral-debate/6274455/?cat=500

KOB 4 FOLLOW UP REPORTING

On the Wednesday October 20 Channel 4 news cast, the station devoted a significant amount of air time to report on what they had found out that occurred during and after the debate.

According to the report, KOB 4 was aware of the rumors of an affair and a domestic call out to the Keller residence and received multiple tips on the allegations made by Gonzales. The 4 Investigation team went to search for records or documentation that police were called to the mayor’s house, and came up empty-handed. The tips never provided any documentation or proof.

As far as a coverup of a “DWI by a high ranking official” the Albuquerque Police Department told KOB it has not covered up a DWI.

In a statement released to KOB 4 after the debate, the Keller campaign said:

“We’re appalled by these tactics but not surprised that Manny is so desperate, with no record to run on, that all he has is internet conspiracy theories. We are pursuing legal options against these defamatory claims.”

The Gonzales’campaign manager Shannan Calland also said in a statement to the Albuquerque Journal:

“We have spoken to two high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department with direct knowledge of the domestic incident stemming from the sexual harassment scandal and are awaiting IPRA responses based on that information (which we expect to be intentionally covered up until after election),” she wrote. The statement included the phrase in parentheses. IPRA refers to the state’s … [Inspection of Public Records Act].”

You can read the entire Journal article quoted here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2439136/televised-mayoral-debate-gets-personal-ex-gonzales-accuses-keller-of-serious-misconduct-mayor-denies-allegations.html

READING A PREPARED QUESTION

Channel 4 reporter and debate moderator Chris Ramirez went out of his way to point out how Sheriff Gonzales read his line of questioning of Mayor Keller from a piece of paper. Gonzales had ostensibly hidden the paper from the moderators and produced it when he asked his question of Keller. It was reported that it was against the debate rules to have a prepared line of questioning.

According to the KOB 4 news report:

Keller’s campaign manager notified KOB 4 staff that Gonzales met with a campaign staffer during a commercial break and took a pre-prepared note into the studio. If that is true, it would violate the rules candidates agreed to prior to the debate. When these allegations were made, KOB 4 management spoke with the debate moderators and staff, but none of our staff saw Mr. Gonzales take the note into the studio.

“VERBAL ALTERCATION” REPORTED

After the debate ended, KOB 4 reported Keller and Gonzales got into a “verbal altercation” inside the studio. Keller demanded Gonzales apologize to his wife for the remarks he made. Gonzales responded by saying he has no respect for the mayor. It was Ramirez who reported that Keller and Gonzales did not get physical with each other but were yelling. Ramirez also reported that no one else in the news station was accosted or hurt by either of the men.

In addition to denying the allegations, the Keller campaign said it is planning to take legal action.

KOAT TV TARGET 7 REPORT

On October 21, KOAT-TV Target 7 posted a report that a Target 7 public records request in June came back showing no evidence of a domestic violence incident involving Mayor Tim Keller.

Target 7 also reported it had obtained documents on the cae crash involving a city employee and a city-owned car. KOAT TV confirm a crash occurred, but never identified who was driving the city vehicle.

Target 7 reported it spoke with the person whose car was hit by the city employee. The woman, who didn’t want to go on camera, claims that after the crash, the city employee got out of the car, handed her his card and then left. The woman involved with the crash told Target 7:

“It was real simple … Real weird, no cop, it was real simple, real fast. … He said he worked for the mayor on the 11th floor. No police came or ambulance came. Nobody came. … ” the crash victim said to Target 7.

Channel 7 asked her if she thought the city employee was driving under the influence.

She said, “no I didn’t.”

The link to the KOAT TV Report is here:

https://www.koat.com/article/albuquerque-mayoral-race-heats-up-with-personal-attacks-accusations/38018587

LIKELY SOURCE OF RUMORS OF ACCIDENT COVERUP

During and after the live debate, Sheriff Manny Gonzales never identified the two “high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department with direct knowledge of the domestic incident stemming from the sexual harassment scandal.” Sheriff Gonzales also failed to identify by name the “high ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash.”

Not withstanding, a car accident by “ high ranking city official” on September 14, was reported on by the on line news ABQReports.

On October 14, ABQReports posted a story written by retired APD Sergeant Dan Klein, who is now a private business owner and also writes articles for ABQReports. Klein is known to support and advise Sheriff Manny Gonzales and has been severely critical of Mayor Keller and his administration. Following are the relevant excerpts from the ABQ article:

“…

ABQReport was notified by attorney, Thomas Grover, of a car accident that Albuquerque Chief Operations Officer, Lawrence Rael was involved in on September 14, 2021, while Rael was driving his city Tahoe. Grover had to tell us because APD has no record of this accident, or at least that is what the city is saying. That’s right, COO Lawrence Rael, who knows the rules and regulations for city employees never notified APD, as required, of his car accident involving an expensive piece of city property”

“My office was alerted to this matter in September and an IPRA request was promptly filed. The day following the submission of the IPRA request, goons from Keller’s office went to the City’s fleet yards to shake employees down to find out who “leaked” this information to my office. I’d like to remind the Keller Administration that there’s a Whistleblower statute in this state (as well as a City Whistleblower ordinance) and while we know you don’t like to follow rules and laws that apply to you, others will enforce them. Also, the balance of the public records my office requested will be past due if they are not produced by close of business on Thursday, October 14, 2021.”

Editor’ Note: Private Attorney Grover is also a retired APD police officer who represents APD officers in personnel actions charging them with misconduct. Grover represented ex-Albuquerque Police Officer Jeremy Dear who was cleared of all criminal wrongdoing in the 2014 fatal shooting of 19-year-old Mary Hawkes that resulted in the city paying $5 million to settle the wrongful death action filed by the Hawkes family against the city.

The ABQ Reports article continues:

Mayoral spokesman Ava Montoya emailed ABQReport this statement about Rael’s crash:

“The City’s COO was involved in a minor traffic accident at a stop light on 5th Street. There was only minor damage and no injuries so Rael and the other driver exchanged contact information and insurance information. For minor accidents like this, APD recommends that drivers exchange information and address the situation through their insurance companies. Following City procedures, Rael went immediately to Risk Management to report the accident, where he was instructed to fill out a form, which he did. Risk Management then resolves these situations following normal protocols.”

The ABQReports article provides the following links to the city’s “accident information sheet” and the Risk Management Report on the Rael car accident:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rX0Pa8AE6FYtyL592aTgdlEFBQzlbf3B/view

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1coPZDV0-WiwsWs16nLGryj0exVI8deCn/view

The accident information sheet outlines the process that city employees are required to follow to follow when an accident occurs while driving a city vehile. The Risk Management Report provides the factual basis for the claim to be processed by the city.

The City of Albuquerque Risk Management form is required to be filled out by the drivers’ supervisor or their designee and is required to submitted to City Risk Management within 24 hours of the accident. According to the report, Rael crashed his assigned city owned vehicle on September 14, 2021, yet Risk Management didn’t sign it in until September 29, 2021. There is no explanation for the delay in the filing.

The ABQReport continues:

“More issues with this report include the fact that Rael is listed as the person filling out the form, not his supervisor or designee. Sources tell ABQReport that the damage was anything but “minor” as Rael writes in the report, and that Rael’s city vehicle was not drivable and had to be towed to the city yards. Furthermore, the other driver, Victoria Elosia, has no phone number as required by the Risk Management form. The license plate is also missing. A search of available databases doesn’t show anyone with the name Victoria Elosia (or Elosia Victoria) in the Albuquerque area.”

The link to the full ABQReport is here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/did-coo-rael-break-the-rules

ABQREPORTS CALLS FOR RAEL’S RESIGNATION OR FIRING

SECOND ARTICLE PUBLISHED

ABQ Reports published a second article again written by Dan Klein on the Rael car accident demanding that Rael resign or be fired by Mayor Tim Keller for Rael’s violation of personnel rules and regulations. The most relevant portions of the second published article include:

“…

… .

The link to read the full ABQReport article is here:

https://www.abqreport.com/single-post/lawrence-rael-should-be-fired

JOURNAL POLL

Sources have confirmed that the Albuquerque Journal began taking a poll in the Mayor’s race the day of the KOB 4 debate. The poll was taken Tuesday to Thursday and was conducted by Research and Polling, the most respected and most reliable polling company in the state with Brian Sanderoff as the chief principal. The Albuquerque Journal has used Research and Polling for decades as its exclusive pollster. The result of the poll will be published on Sunday, October 24 and likely accompanied by an editorial on Gonzales performance at the debate.

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Both the ABQReports articles ask far more questions than they answer, contain hearsay and speculation, including asking did Lawrence Rael break the city’s personnel rules and regulations that he knows extensively about and that he has enforced against many city employees over his years of service with the city. That is not the big picture.

Connecting the dots, you can see the big picture. That picture is that it’s far more likely than not that Sheriff Manny Gonzales was relying on the September 14 car accident involving Chief Operations Officer Lawrence Rael, the city documents and the ABQReports articles written by one of his supporters as the basis of his libelous and false claim “of a high-ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash.” Sheriff Gonzales did not actually name the official during the debate. Not naming the official was likely intentional by Sheriff Gonzales knowing damn well that naming and accusing Rael would be grounds for a cause of action for libel or slander if not true.

Mayor Keller appointed Lawrence Rael Chief Operations Officer and he has served in that capacity for the last 4 years. He has served the city well. Mr. Rael is also a former Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the city for 12 years under former mayors. Mr. Rael is highly respected and is known for his professionalism, knowledge and understanding on how the city operates and “the nuts and bolts” of running the city and “keeping the trains running on time” as the old adage goes. COO Lawrence Rael knows more about the city and how it operates than Mayor Keller, CAO Sarita Nair and all of Keller’s department directors combined, but then again they do not know much anyway about running a city like Lawrence does.

PROGRESSIVE DICIPLENARY PROCESS VERSUS “AT WILL” EMPLOYMENT

As COO, Rael is an “at will employee” that works at the pleasure of the Mayor and can be fired without cause by the Mayor at any time and for no reason at all. As an at will employee, Rael does not have the same protections given to classified employees. Classified positions are jobs were you must be terminated for cause and even then you are entitled to the “progressive disciplinary” process and ultimately a right to appeal a termination to the personnel board. Progressive discipline for classified employees begins with verbal or written admonishments, suspension of pay, being place on administrative leave with or without pay, transfer, demotion or termination for cause.

Rael may have violated personnel rules and regulations in the delay in reporting the accident and that may be grounds to take disciplinary action against him by Mayor Keller, but that’s Keller’s decision and no one else’s. To say that Rael should be terminated is too extreme. The Mayor has many other options far more appropriate but only if he decides personnel action is warranted.

Any allegations of DWI or other criminal conduct is sure speculation, yet Sheriff Manny Gonzales went there with his false allegations. Sheriff Gonzales is the same candidate for Mayor that argued he was denied “due process of law” when his campaign was denied public finance by the city clerk, yet he makes salacious accusations and accusations of DWI assuming guilt without due process of law afforded to those he has accuses without any proof.

Sheriff Gonzales has failed to identify the 2 high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) with direct knowledge of the domestic incident he is alleging involves the Keller family and an allege affair. As a law enforcement official, Sheriff Gonzales is held to a higher standard and knows better and damn well that he accused Keller of a crime and accused another of DWI with virtually no proof.

CONCLUSION

Sheriff Manny Gonzales has likely already lost his case to becoming the next Mayor of Albuquerque. This will likely be confirmed by the Journal poll to be published on October 23. Sheriff Gonzales has managed to damaged, if not destroy, his own personal reputation of honesty and integrity, what little he had left after his reliance on forgeries and fraudulent documents to try and secure $630,000 in public finance.

Sheriff Manny Gonzales should apologize to Mayor Tim Keller, the Keller family and withdraw from the race and perhaps even resign as Bernalillo County Sheriff.

During the final October 19 televised debate on Channel 4 between incumbent Mayor Tim Keller, Sheriff Manny Gonzales and radio Talk Show host Eddy Aragon, the candidates were allowed to ask questions of each other. The moderators were not told what the questions would be from the candidates. Sheriff Manny Gonzales asked his question of Mayor Tim Keller.

Following is the transcript of the exchange:

SHERIFF GONZALES: Mayor Keller, Where is your accountability? There are serious misconduct allegations at City Hall under your watch, allegations of your own domestic violence incident being covered up by high ranking city officials. Another allegation of a high ranking city official who was driving drunk and was involved driving a city vehicle and involved in a crash. And the third is also you having allegations of having an affair with a city subordinate. How can the public trust you to fight crime in ABQ when you can’t even fight crime at City Hall?

MAYOR KELLR: What a disgusting prepared question you just read. . . I don’t even know where to begin. . . I have never been involved in any of the incidents you mentioned and as my family will attest to have never, ever done things like had an affair. Look, if you’re going to just make your questions the gossip on Twitter and Facebook. I mean, I hear all sorts of stuff about everyone all the time, I don’t dignify it because I don’t believe it because there’s no evidence or truth behind any of it. And this is coming from a guy who has a litany of myths and mistruths that he says. . .

There is literally nothing behind anything your saying. You’re just saying words you saw on social media. . There was something in there about a co-worker and you know that’s defamation and you should know that, Sheriff. You can have a debate. We can talk about policies but unless you have any shred of evidence of any kind then that is actually to be on you. Talk about accountability. Fraud in your own campaign. Literally. And now just blatantly defaming people for a political stunt so that you can raise money off of it which is what you just asked voters to do. It’s pathetic.

SHERIFF GONZALES: All I asked was a simple question. A yes or no answer if you could. How could the public trust you fighting crime when you can’t even fight crime at City Hall. That was my question.

RADIO TALK SHOW HOST EDDY GONZALES: “Real life TV drama here.”

The link to the full Channel 4 debate is here:

https://www.kob.com/albuquerque-news/watch-kob-4-hosts-albuquerque-mayoral-debate/6274455/?cat=500

ALBQUERQUE JOURNAL COVERAGE

On Wednesday, October 20, the Albuquerque Journal reported the exchange in part as follows:

“Rumors have swirled for months on social media about police covering up a domestic violence response at Keller’s home and about an alleged affair Keller is having with a city employee.

“We have spoken to two high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department with direct knowledge of the domestic incident stemming from the sexual harassment scandal and are awaiting IPRA responses based on that information (which we expect to be intentionally covered up until after election),” she wrote. The statement included the phrase in parentheses. IPRA refers to the state’s … [Inspection of Public Records Act].”

You can read the entire Journal article quoted here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2439136/televised-mayoral-debate-gets-personal-ex-gonzales-accuses-keller-of-serious-misconduct-mayor-denies-allegations.html

COMMENTRY AND ANALYSIS

Live political debates, especially those on TV, are in the courtroom of public opinion. There is an old saying amongst experienced trial attorneys, especially prosecutors:

“Never, ever, ask a question of a witness on the witness stand one you do not already know the answer to. ”

The rational for the saying is that you need to know your case completely and want to be able to impeach and discredit the witness with proof they are lying if they do not tell the truth when they testify.

Sheriff Gonzales needs to identify the two high-ranking members of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD) with direct knowledge of the domestic incident he is alleging and the affair. If not, Gonzales needs to apologize to Mayor Keller and consider withdrawing from the race. As a law enforcement official, he is held to a higher standard and knows damn well that he is accusing Keller of a crime, and to make such a charge without proof is libelous.

Notwithstanding, it is not at all likely that this stunt will cost Gonzales any votes in that those who support him, like Trump supporters, will not change their minds about him. Mayor Keller’s and Eddy’s Aragon’s supporters will be embolden to vote.

Sheriff Manny Gonzales has likely already lost his case to becoming the next Mayor of Albuquerque. He has also damaged his own personal reputation of honesty and integrity, what little he had left after the forgery to public finance debacle, but he got way too personal and asked a salacious question that he ostensibly thought he had the answer to and based on gossip and innuendo.

On Sunday October 17, the Albuquerque Journal published its endorsement of Mayor Tim Keller for a second term over Sheriff Manny Gonzales and radio talk show host Eddy Aragon . The link to read the full endorsement is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2438101/keller-best-of-field.html

The Journal endorsement of Keller was predicted by city hall watchers and political analysts. The endorsement reads in part:

“The Journal Editorial Board endorses Tim Keller for mayor as he is the most qualified candidate for the job. … The reality for Albuquerque voters is their choice of candidates consists of a radio talk show host with little to no management experience, a sheriff who talks tough about protecting the public but who’s displayed a complete disregard for the public’s right to know and Keller, the incumbent, who steered the city through the pandemic and has started some initiatives to fight crime and homelessness that have promise.”

What is revealing is that in no way can the Journal endorsement be considered unequivocal. It did not say that Keller has done a brilliant or fantastic job as Mayor. Four years ago, there were 8 candidates running for Mayor with more than 3 qualified to be mayor. Saying that Keller is the “best of the field” is a cause for snickering when only 3 are running. Saying Keller is the most qualified of the 3 is telling voters we do not have much of a choice.

At the end of the endorsement, the Journal editors make an appeal that borders on begging Mayor Keller to do better if elected to another years by saying:

“… we accompany our endorsement with an appeal that, if elected, Keller get the Gateway Center going while adopting a more aggressive approach to tackling the homeless issue, redeploy resources to cut 911 response times (so our senior citizens don’t have to play Dirty Harry) and follow through on recent promises to support legislative changes that would keep more repeat violent suspects in custody prior to trial. We also urge him to do his homework and due diligence on grand ideas like the stadium before asking for voter support. That’s quite a to-do list. Keller will need to hit the ground running to tackle these and other pressing issues to move Albuquerque toward a brighter future.”

FACT CHECKING THE ENDORSEMENT

There were a few misstatements and conclusions in the editorial containing false content and false statements made by Mayor Keller. Following are those editorial comments with fact checking analysis and commentary.

JOURNAL EDITORIAL CONTENT

“Keller inherited a tough situation after the U.S. Department of Justice hammered the Albuquerque Police Department in 2014 for a “pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

On April 10, 2014, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), Civil Rights Division, submitted a scathing 46-page investigation report on an 18-month civil rights investigation of the Albuquerque Police Department (APD). You can read the entire report here.

https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/crt/legacy/2014/04/10/apd_findings_4-10-14.pdf

It was not just a “pattern or practice of use of excessive force, including deadly force” that the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation found. It was a “culture of aggression” that had gone on in the department for many years, if not decades, engrained in the department, costing the city millions to settle police misconduct cases and use of deadly force cases. APD’s consent decree is totally different from all other consent decrees in the country.

What differentiates the DOJ’s investigation of APD from the other federal investigations of police departments and consent decrees is that the other consent decrees in the country involve in one form or another the finding of “racial profiling” and use of excessive force or deadly force against minorities. The DOJ’s finding of a “culture of aggression” within APD dealt with APD’s interactions and responses to suspects that were mentally ill and that were having severe psychotic episodes.

A significant number of the cases reviewed by the DOJ involved persons suffering from acute mental illness and who were in crisis. A few of those cases resulted in judgments and settlements in the millions of dollars. The investigation found APD’s policies, training, and supervision did not ensure that officers encountering people with mental illness were respected and police did not act in a manner that was safe for all involved.

JOURNAL EDITORIAL CONTENT

“… Keller told the Journal Editorial Board court-appointed independent monitor Dr. James Ginger has gone well beyond oversight and is “straight-up dictating what’s up at APD.” It’s hard to argue otherwise. Ginger has become the weekend guest who never leaves.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

This statement by Mayor Keller is simply false. The only people with authority to “straight-up dictate what’s up at APD”is Mayor Keller, APD Chief Harold Medina and APD’s command staff. Federal court appointed Monitor Ginger has no such authority.

Under the terms and conditions of the settlement, Federal Court appointed monitor James Ginger and his monitoring team have absolutely no management, authority or control over APD, its resources nor its personnel. The Federal Monitor has no authority under the settlement to dictate nor order APD to do anything. The only thing the federal monitor can do is “audit” APD for compliance and report findings to the Federal Judge.

The CASA is a 112-page, federal court approved agreement with 344 paragraphs containing 271 mandated reforms. A link to the CASA is here:

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/reports/department-of-justice/465-second-amended-restated-casa.pdf

Review of the monitors authority under the settlement merits review. It is paragraphs 294, 295, 296, 297 and 298 on pages 85, 86, 87, 88 of the CASA settlement that outlines with great specification the limited authority the monitor has over APD as well specifically outlining the duties and responsibilities of the monitor. Following are the paragraphs:

“A. Independent Monitor

295. The Monitor shall only have the duties, responsibilities, and authority conferred by this Agreement. The Monitor shall not, and is not intended to, replace or assume the role and duties of APD, including the Chief or any other City official. The Monitor shall be subject to the supervision and orders of the Court, consistent with this Agreement and applicable law.

EDITOR’S NOTE: There are no provisions in the settlement giving the monitor authority to write policy, and no authority is given to disciplined nor to remove and appoint personnel and issue appropriate orders and commands to sworn personnel. The only power the monitor has is to audit as provided in the settlement terms. The specific terms of the CASA are as follows:

“296. In order to assess and report on the implementation of this Agreement and whether implementation is resulting in the outcomes … , the Monitor shall conduct the reviews specified in this Agreement, and shall review APD policies, training curricula, and programs developed and implemented under this Agreement.

[listing A through I] … .”

http://documents.cabq.gov/police/reports/department-of-justice/465-second-amended-restated-casa.pdf

The Journal Editor’s likely know that all the monitor can do is conduct audits, file reports and report to the federal court, yet the editors failed to challenge Keller for making the accusation that the monitor is “straight-up dictating what’s up at APD.”

JOURNAL EDITORIAL CONTENT

“[Federal court appointed monitor] Ginger has become the weekend guest who never leaves.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

This is a very common complaint by Mayor Keller and his administration, Chief Medina and the Police Union, but the complaint is bogus when they fail to assume any responsibility for contributing to the Federal Monitor still being here after 8 years when the Court Approved Settlement Agreement (CASA) was supposed to be fully implemented after 4 years and dismissed after a full 2 years of compliance.

The CASA contains the following suspension and termination provisions:

“Termination of the Agreement

343. If after six years from the Effective Date the Parties disagree whether the City has been in full and effective compliance for two years, either Party may seek to terminate this Agreement. In the case of termination sought by the City, prior to filing a motion to terminate, the City agrees to notify DOJ in writing when the City has determined that it is in full and effective compliance with this Agreement and that such compliance has been maintained for no less than two years.”

The key to the Federal Monitor leaving and the case being dismissed is the “full and effective compliance” in 3 compliance levels by APD that the monitor reviews.

After a full 7 years under the CASA and in the last and the 13th Independent Monitors Report (IME13) the Federal Monitor made the following findings on the 3 compliance levels:

Primary Compliance: 100%;
Secondary Compliance: 82%;
Operational Compliance: 59%.

Since the 12th federal monitor’s report, compliance levels went down in 2 of the major compliance areas as follows:

Primary Compliance: No change at 100%
Secondary Compliance: A loss of 9.9%
Operational Compliance: A loss of 7.8%

As has been the case so many times over the past 8 years with two Mayors (Berry and Keller), 3 APD Chiefs (Eden, Geier and Medina), 3 United States Attorneys for New Mexico (Martinez, Anderson and Interim Federici) and 2 Federal Judges (Judges Brack and Browning), APD is in no better position under Keller’s leadership after 4 years to dismiss the case. The CASA is nowhere close to being dismissed after millions spent on the reforms by the Keller Administration.

The only thing that has not changed in 8 years is Federal Court Appointed Monitor James Ginger making damaging findings and the City, the DOJ, APD and the Union never being taken to task by the Federal Court in any meaningful way.

REASONS FOR NONE COMPLIANCE

All of the complaints of delay in compliance went on for a full 7 years, before the pandemic and before the national movement of police scrutiny and accountability of police misconduct. The implementation of the Department of Justice reforms falls squarely on the shoulders of Mayor Keller, Keller’s appointed APD Chief Medina and his 3 Deputies and the Police Union obstruction and interference with the reforms. It is their actions, failures to act, resistance and negligent personnel management that have delayed full implementation of the reforms.

When you read all 13 of Federal Monitor’s reports it becomes very clear that one of the biggest causes of the delay for APD not becoming in compliance with the settlement is the police union opposition and objections to the settlement. The police union leadership have said repeatedly over the last 8 years that the mandated reforms under the consent decree are interfering with rank and file officer’s ability to perform their job duties. The police union went so far as to initiate a $70,000 political ad campaign saying “You can either have compliance with DOJ reforms or you can have lower crime. You can’t have both”, discrediting the need for reforms.

According to the police union, police officers are afraid to do their jobs for fear of being investigated, fired or disciplined. The police union has never articulated in open court and in clear terms exactly what it is about the reforms that are keeping rank and file from “doing their” jobs and “why they hate” the CASA as articulated by the union president.

It’s likely the union feels what is interfering with police from doing their jobs is the mandatory use of lapel cameras, police can no longer shoot at fleeing cars, police can no longer use choke holds, police need to use less lethal force and not rely on the SWAT unit, police must use de-escalating tactics and be trained in crisis intervention, and management must hold police accountable for violation of standard operating procedures.

JOURNAL EDITORIAL CONTENT

“Keller’s creation of an Internal Affairs Department staffed by civilians rather than police officers was smart, as was creating the position of superintendent of police reform to handle the Internal Affairs division, discipline, the DOJ reform effort and the police academy.”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

It is false to say that Mayor Tim Keller created an “Internal Affairs Department staffed by civilians”. Keller had nothing to do with it and the Internal Affairs division is still predominately staffed by APD Detectives with civilian support staff. The Internal Affairs Division (IA) is divided into two separate divisions or bureaus:

1. The Internal Affairs Compliance Bureau, Accountability and Oversight Division responsible for investigations of sworn police violating policy and working with the Department of Justice (DOJ) consent decree (CASA) and its implementation of its terms and conditions.

2. The Internal Affairs Force Division deals with investigation police misconduct cases involving excessive use of force and deadly force cases by APD.

APD Internal Affairs employs upwards of 25 full time sworn police detectives that investigate police misconduct and civilian complaints. APD has upwards of 8 “civilian investigators”, but they are not in charge nor do they supervise police officers.

On February 5, 2021, the City of Albuquerque and the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a stipulated order establishing an “External Force Investigation Team” (EFIT) on a temporary basis to assist APD in conducting use of force investigations by APD officers, while also assisting APD with improving the quality of its use of force by police investigations.

The EFIT team trains APD Internal Affairs investigators on how to properly investigate uses of force instances by APD police officers. According to the agreed to court order, the City will ensure that APD maintains at least 25 force investigators assigned to the APD Internal Affairs unit unless and until APD can demonstrate by an internal staffing analysis that fewer investigators are necessary to timely investigate uses of force by APD Officers. The EFIT teams are on negotiated contracts with $400,000 allocated for the current fiscal year and are staffed by retired police officers. The EFIT do not have management authority over APD Internal Affairs but function as another lawyer of review and bureaucracy to confirm that use of force cases have been properly done by APD Internal Affairs.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DO2UyAGKf5Srw50Y9DcYCmuX3WzESukC/view<

SUPERINTENDENT OF POLICE REFORM

The Journal editorial states in part:

“Keller’s … creating the position of superintendent of police reform to handle the Internal Affairs division, discipline, the DOJ reform effort and the police academy [was smart] .”

COMMENTARY AND ANALYSIS

Many of the citizens stakeholders involved with bringing the DOJ here in the first place and involved with the CASA reforms would disagree that it was “smart” for Keller to create the position of Superintendent of Police Reform. Along with his appointment of Harold Medina as permanent APD Chief, Mayor Keller appointed Sylvester Stanley as “Interim Superintendent of Police Reform” in addition to the position of Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO). Stanley’s extensive law enforcement background and experience, although impressive as it is, is void of any work or dealing with federal consent decrees and void of any background in constitutional policing practices which are the center piece of the DOJ reforms.

The Federal Monitors testimony in one status conference with the court are worth repeating:

“Our advice was to bring somebody in with a very good understanding nationally of how a department should be run related to uses of force, issues of mental health, those sorts of things. That was our recommendation. They chose not to implement it. That doesn’t mean it’s wrong. The proof is in the pudding, as they say. And we’ll continue to monitor and see if this bifurcated command system works.”

This testimony given to the Federal Court by the Federal Monitor totally discredits Keller’s assertion that the monitor is “straight-up dictating what’s up at APD.” In other words, the monitor can only make recommendations and not dictate to APD.

Two major shortcomings to the Stanly appointment is that he is “interim” meaning temporary and his background and experience is as traditional law enforcement as it gets. Lacking of experience with implementation of any Federal Court Approved Settlement Agreements dealing with excessive use of force and deadly force cases and police interaction with mental health issues is a cause of concern. Superintendent Stanley has also been given authority over disciplining police officers for violations of the DOJ reforms. The police union has objected to Stanley having any authority to discipline asserting that the union contract gives that authority exclusively to the Chief.

An Interim Superintendent of Police Reform with little or no background in police reforms is not likely going to make much of a difference and is setting Stanly up for failure and giving Keller and Median “plausible” deniability that they are no longer responsible for the reform failures. This “set up” by Keller is very much like what Keller did to former APD Chief Michael Geier when he terminated him and blaming him for failures to implement the reforms. The creation and the appointment of a “Superintendent of Police Reform” will not change the APD culture and union resistance to the reforms. Superintendent Stanley will likely be held ultimately accountable by Keller and Medina and will blame him for any and all failures of APD to reach 100% compliance of the reforms.

FINAL COMMENTARY

With the endorsement of the Albuquerque Journal and recent polls showing Mayor Tim Keller having a solid lead, the general consensus amongst city hall observers and political analysts is that Keller is on his way to being elected to a second 4-year term as Mayor. What Keller cannot take too much comfort in is he will NOT win because he has “done good” as he likes to say , but because his opposition is so weak and neither are qualified to be Mayor as pointed out by the Journal editorial endorsement.

The downside to winning a second term for Keller is that nothing is going to change much for him over the next four years. After 4 years in office, Mayor Tim Keller under his leadership still has a police department that is failing miserably to police itself and is in catastrophic failure. Keller has only himself to blame given the fact he personally selected those that have been in charge of APD and he went back on his campaign promise to hire a new Chief from outside the agency.

Second terms are usually worse than first terms for mayor if they get one. All the problems we have now will still exist, including skyrocketing violent crime rates, APD failing to come into compliance with the DOJ consent decree, and an ever-shirking APD, spiking homeless numbers, increasing poverty, no measurable economic development and a ghost of a downtown.

Federal Monitor’s 12th And 13th Reports Highlight Mayor Tim Keller’s “Catastrophic Failure” To Implement The DOJ Mandated Reforms

This is a guest column written by Rudolfo Carrillo in the form of an open letter to Mayor Tim Keller and submitted for publication on this blog.

Rudolfo Carrillo is a native New Mexican and was the news and music editor at Weekly Alibi from August 2015 until March 2020, where he used the pen name “August March” to write about Albuquerque culture, history and politics. He is a graduate of the University of New Mexico’s fine arts program. He is an artistic painter, sculptor and an award winning writer. His award-winning writings and analysis have been featured at international academic conferences and in notable literary journals as well as local media outlets like the Albuquerque Journal. His latest work can be read at Infinity Report with the link here:

http://infinityreport.blogspot.com

EDITOR’S DISCLAIMER: The opinions expressed in this article are those of Rudolfo Carrillo and do not necessarily reflect those of the political blog www.petedinelli.com. Mr. Carrillo was not compensated for his guest column.

Dear Mayor Keller:

I wonder if you remember me. I was among the small group of journalists and well-wishers who came by your house on the evening of Nov. 30, 2017 when you were first inaugurated as the leader of this town.

A big public inauguration and celebration followed the next day, but I didn’t go. I’m not one for large crowds and, besides, I was confident that I had already witnessed the heart and soul of a movement that I had faith would restore and advance our city.

THE BEFORE TIME

In the months leading up to the general election of Oct. 3, 2017, I admit I had a difficult time deciding which candidate the little newspaper I worked for would endorse. The general election featured some real characters, to put it mildly.

I recall the youthfully blind optimism of Gus Pedrotty, the stiff conservatism of Wayne Johnson, the perpetual electioneering of Brian Colon as well as Susan Wheeler-Deichsel’s quiet certitude. And, of course, I recall the deeply resonant yet coldly cavernous voice of Dan Lewis, the man you faced in the run-off election that followed on Nov. 14.

FOR THE RECORD

Then there was the guy who looked like District Attorney Harvey Dent in the Batman film The Dark Knight—the young blond guy with the chiseled, Robert Redford good looks, who spoke calmly above the din about cleaning up crime and police corruption in “Gotham City,” the man with a plan. That would be you, sir.

You also told me, in regards to the Albuquerque Police Department, that “… we’ll start our APD reforms right away” following that up with, “I’ll try to build out some of the issue areas that are important to me. In particular, the social justice concerns …”

“Thanksgiving With Mr. Keller: New mayor reflects, looks forward”, by August March in Weekly Alibi, Volume 26, Number 47, November 23, 2017:

https://alibi.com/news/54671/Thanksgiving-with-Mr-Keller.html

In February of that winter, I ran into you at a heavy metal concert headlined by Anthrax. You were friendly and personable, eager to be part of the community and do some good for the city.

A REVEALING CHAT

The next time we spoke in an official sense was during the summer of 2018. There was some confusion among the press folks at your office, who had been expecting August March to call but were instead presented with an overweight, long-haired writer with a nearly-impossible-to-pronounce, traditional Hispanic name.

Ironically, all that paid off and our readers wrote in to say that your words had inspired in them something called hope. You seemed like a hero to many then but, sadly, I had begun to feel otherwise. You went from resembling Gotham City D.A. Harvey Dent to more closely mirroring Two-Face.

“Keller Fights the Good Fight: Immigration policy an ethical lapse” by August March in Weekly Alibi, Volume 27, Number 26, June 28, 2018:

https://alibi.com/news/56283/Keller-Fights-the-Good-Fight.html

ELECTRIC GUITAR

At the end of that year, you stopped by for another formal interview. Beforehand, you mentioned a fancy electric guitar that a notable rock musician let you borrow. You intimated that you would stop by sometime so that I could check it out and play the thing for myself. Recalling our previous encounter, I had to excuse myself for a moment, stepping out into the hallway to stifle a hearty laugh.

That road has certainly been long and arduous, but I don’t believe that you and your administration have addressed those issues in all their complexity. Instead, you seem more focused on getting a new soccer stadium built.

“Year One: Keller on the long road to Burque” by August March in Weekly Alibi, Volume 27, Number 50, December 13, 2018:

https://alibi.com/news/57567/Year-One.html

COUNTDOWN TO PANDEMIC

At the end of 2019, right before winter came calling and just three months before a global pandemic plunged us all into chaos, I walked over to City Hall to meet with you. I was amazed to see a huge painting by my dear old professor John Wenger hanging in your office reception area. When you pointed out a framed clipping of one of my columns in your work area, I was pleased—not because you hung it up, but because it was presented alongside a painting created by a man whose art continues to deeply influence my own artistic output.

After that, the pandemic came, washing much away. Crime and homelessness became more pronounced as a consequence. But, rather than addressing these complex issues in a comprehensive manner, you have advocated for a new sports stadium, fired the police chief you hand-picked to bring reform to APD, and advanced the careers of a multitude of millennials at the expense of older, more experienced workers and job seekers here in the city.

TREAT THOSE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED

Mayor Keller, here’s a personal anecdote, presented near the close of this open letter. We haven’t spoken for almost two years now. As a mayor who touts concern for his constituents’ wellness, I am sure you’d like to know what I’ve been up to since we last talked, at least that is what I hope.

My concerns about age discrimination and a lack of traditional Human Resources Department boundaries were strengthened when I read an article about a “whistleblower lawsuit” filed against you and your top administrators by a terminated Deputy Human Resources Director. That lawsuit maintains that this former HR director was repeatedly directed to hire “preselected people,” to “fabricate reasons for reassigning others” and to give preferential treatment to “millennial” job candidates and “friends and allies” of yourself and your executive management team. The lawsuit charges that your top managers manipulated city hiring and personnel processes, using that former deputy director to do their bidding, then firing her for raising concerns. She also claims she was fired for reporting these concerns to various parties in our city government, including the Office of the Inspector General and the city attorney.

The link to the full Albuquerque Journal article is here:

https://www.abqjournal.com/2353571/past-city-official-files-whistleblower-suit.html

MAKING IT CLEAR

Mayor Keller, I want to make something absolutely clear to you. I do not expect—nor do I want—any favors from you. This is not about sour grapes. It’s about the way you treat others and your sense of entitlement to the job of mayor that is bothersome. The purpose of this open letter is to remind you of what you said to me about decency, transparency, and ethics.

Over the past few years, I certainly expected better from you, your Human Resources Department and the people who work directly for you. If you are re-elected, I sincerely hope that you and your administration learn to treat the working class of this burg with the dignity and respect that we deserve.

“Labor Day Guest Column by Rudolfo Carrillo: Something To Be: A Labor Day Reminiscence” by Rudolfo Carrillo at PeteDinelli.com, September 6, 2021:

https://www.petedinelli.com/2021/09/06/labor-day-guest-column-by-rudolfo-carrillo-something-to-be-a-labor-day-reminiscence/

CHANGES IN ATTITUDE, CHANGES IN JOBS

Today, I am working as a cook. It’s a job that I really like. Who knows, it may even become a management position for me. I’m making food that nourishes people. It’s hard but good work. After a couple months, I have regained the physical strength and endurance that allowed me to navigate the Annapurna Circuit without a guide in the fall of 1996. I also cut my hair. The people who I work with wonder if I’m in a witness protection program because I’m burly now, wear aviator frames and, according to them, I’m not like anyone else that they’ve ever met while working in a kitchen.

Come Nov. 2, I will settle down to vote and will then, and only then, decide whether you actually deserve to be reelected to a second term as this city’s leader. After that, I will probably make at least 50 pizzas while listening to Bleach by Nirvana. I always dug that album’s final track, “Big Cheese”—hey, it may not be metal, Mr. Mayor, but sometimes proletariat punk is better.

Respectfully yours,

Rudolfo Carrillo