Payment in Advance?

I see where Mayor Marty Chavez is getting a workman's compensation settlement for injuring his back jumping a fence. One might consider this compensation for the pending storm of criticism he will have to endure on the budget he is leaving the Mayor elect. I heard yesterday from a pretty good source that the outlook is very grim and that furloughs or layoffs for city employees are likely. I have been harping that the budget shortfalls at city hall are a lot more than what the outgoing administration have said they were. We will find out in just a few weeks.

I offered to go in and chat with incoming Mayor Berry a couple of times. So far his staff hasn't even called me back. They must think however that my administration could not have been too bad since they are hiring people who were involved in my four years at city hall. They are good people. Dave Campbell, the incoming CAO, was always willing to take on issues for me during my term in office. Bruce Rizzeri will now take up the post as head of transportation replacing Greg Payne.

I had to chuckle when I read the story yesterday about all the new riders on Albuquerque's transportation system. They would not be riding if it were not for my initiative on passing a transportation tax back in 1999. That has made possible all the new infrastructure over the last ten years. All I got out of it was the hatred of the right wingers in town who thought I was just a taxing SOB. They just didn't think it was worth the money to have a modern transportation system in Albuquerque. Well, they were wrong. Ask one million people in the last year who have used it.