Support Due

Mayor Berry is showing some vision, for the first time I think, in his push for a modern rapid transit bus system running up and down the length of Central Avenue, Old Route 66.  It will certainly help with infill and denser housing options, especially on the east and west ends of the City.  I would also suggest the same system be made operational along north 4th street as far as the Peoples Republic of Los Ranchos.  That is another corridor screaming for new dense development and housing.  This is the kind of development that makes the Santolina sprawl on the westside look pretty irresponsible.

We also should support, on another subject, the addition for testing for steroid use by Police Officers and other public safety employees.  It is no longer recognized as a harmless muscle builder but a substance that can make people overly violent.

Hillary Diversion

You need all sorts of identification in this life.  You have to present a drivers license to buy a six pack of beer, even if you are 70 years old.  You need strong i.d. to get on an airplane.  You need i.d. to purchase just about anything where you present a credit card.  It is just a way of life that people may not like, but they acccept.

Some politicians think requiring an i.d. when you go into vote is some sort of attempt to keep you from  voting.  It is one of those culture war things that helps divert attention from the real problems in this country, and Hillary Clinton has joined the battle. Her notion that everyone should be automatically registered to vote on the 18th birthday is a good one.  But the debate on ID is a red herring.  Hopefully, she can move on from this diversion soon.

I would rather see her tackle the gerrymandering of congress and how to stop it.  I would much rather her talk about reigning in the big and corrupt bankers in this nation.  I would much rather see more action on getting a coherent foreign policy.  I would much rather see her take a realistic approach to the so called 'war on drugs.'  But right now she seems concerned about having to show voter i.d.

I am not talking here about many right wing people trying to keep poor people from voting.  A reasonable requirement for a simple i.d. for voting won't stop voters from going to the polls.  If someone doesn't have any reasonable i.d. to show, a new one can be devised just for them.  But it wouldn't really be many people who need one would it, anymore than the number of people who the republicans say vote fraudulently every election cycle?  That has been proven a myth.

So lets talk about the important things instead of little culture battles where the only goal is to win a meaningless victory.

Hatred

I had deleted a comment I made on the last post wondering if the police officers attending todays funeral for a fallen comrade were being paid.  The hate mail I have received is really incredible.  Apparently these people think I hate cops and veterans.  Well, I don't.(Actually I am a veteran and headed up a law enforcement agency in my career.)   Me thinks all the hatred is on their side.

I have often said that when a police officer falls in the line of duty it is a tragic thing.  But I also think it is a tragic thing when a sanitation department worker falls carrying out his role as a public servant too.  In fact the job of a refuse worker is the 5th most dangerous job in the nation.  Police work doesn't rank in the top ten.   But you never see this level of public grief for the death of the refuse worker because many have all been brainwashed into believing some people are more important than others because of media hype, public relations, or political opportunism. (Would Governor Susana attend a funeral for a trashman?) It works both ways really.  Some people are also singled out for hatred. Like when this officer was killed by a ganger with a latino name.  Immediately some folks started blaming illegal immigrants even though they had nothing do to with the murder of the officer.

And so this is just something we put up with.  Human nature at its worse.  As for the original question of compensating people for  going to his services, it still stands.  It would be interesting to know, but I bet no one in the media will ever ask it.

Misc.

I did not cough up $2700 dollars to attend Hilary Clintons fundraiser yesterday in Albuquerque.  About 300 attended with maybe half paying that much to get in.  Still, it is a good crowd and shows her strength amongst the old guard of the Democratic Party.  It is pretty hard to tell what the rest of the democrats are thinking about in the state until we see some polling.  I am assuming many are like me and want to stop reaching into the 90's for our leadership, but are willing to work hard for her if she gets the nomination.

I am not so sure that is a lock for her.  Maryland's Martin O'Malley could generate some excitement, although like me he will be hated by the assault rifle toting NRA mascots.  Lincoln Chafee has entered the race also.  Don't forget all of their chances are destined to hinge on a bunch of corn on the cob eating delegates in Iowa.  What an insane system!

There is a wonderful story in the New York Times this morning that shows how incredible internet service can be when there is some competition.  In South Korea the populace has speeds and services twice as fast as Americans with great free access.  Even in their subways.  Sometime I daydream about kidnapping the CEOs of the internet providers like Comcast and subjecting them to some kind of mind altering torture.  Maybe like trying to deal with american airline rate schedules and poor service.  Stick them in that hell for a while.  That would be fun.

Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and the rest of the GOP menagerie just keeps growing.  The good thing about it is that there are not enough right wing religious fundamentalists to split up amongst them.

Proof

The Albuquerque Journal ran a story this morning about crime in Baltimore which had extensive quotes in it from the city's African American Mayor.  She was called on to defend her leadership and that of the police department.

This morning there was another story on New Mexico's and Albuquerque's disastrous ratings in the area of public safety.  And of course the Journal didn't get an interview with either the Mayor or the Governor on our community's downward spiral into third world status.  The comments came from the Mayor's chief of staff and from a functionary in the Governor's Office.

So one can surmise that if an elected official is to be quoted in the Journal they must meet the qualifications as follows.

1. Be an African American
2. Be a Democrat
3. Live 1800 miles away

Thieves in the Night

Think about our Governor vetoing renewable energy credits.  And then read the new study below.  We know who's lot she has thrown in with, don't we?

The fossil fuel boys might easily be called thieves in the night.  Maybe worse.  Take some time to delve into this new study by the International Monetary Fund, not exactly a liberal group, to see how poor people are being stolen from in the guise of subsidies for the oil and coal boys.  It is revolting and morally corrupt.  

A Great Debate

Who is closest to the Truth?

Charles Stross.

Or David Brin.

Misc.

There is a cute documentary on Net Flix called "The Short Game".  It follows eight young golfers, ages seven and eight, as the prepare for the world championship of child golfers in Pinehurst, New Jersey.  These kids are really incredible.  But what I think is most important is the fact that their parents are there for them constantly, and that you get a good look into their lives in their home countries.  In their schools around the world  you see some things that stands out.  They are disciplined, they attend music and art classes to stoke their creativity, and they are very happy kids.  The outlier is that the American kids don't get music and art classes.  That might not seem like a big deal, but I think it is incredibly important.  But those things have mostly disappeared from American public schools.  Corporations and republicans strangling education budgets to lower taxes are the reason.  I have no doubt.

The Journal today editorialized against logic and common sense in saying that Santolina development won't increase demand for water.  Their editorial board can now be officially called stupid.  They do have a very interesting graphic that shows just how much water agriculture uses in the deserts of our state.  There is no doubt that Santolina could buy out an ample supply of those water rights to use.  But they aren't doing it so far as I can see and they will insist on drawing down on non agricultural uses before paying the real price for water in the west.  Yes, there might be ample water for an ill advised sprawl development, but it might need to be paid for by the developers rather than the taxpayers in the existing city and county where infrastructure rehab needs are ever growing. 

Misc.

John Salazar, a lawyer for the Santolina sprawl development, suspended belief in nature at a Bernalillo County Commission meeting on that horrible project yesterday.  Salazar said the project won't increase demand for water.  He really said that?  Could  he enlighten us on how that works?  Is it magic?  Witchcraft?  This is right up there with george bush saying "Mission Accomplished."

My advice to Salazar and his developer bosses is to read the book "Cadillac Desert."  Or maybe for a really entertaining read by a great young author he could read "The Water Knife."  It  is about a dystopian southwestern U.S. which has essentially gone to war between the states over water.  As a matter of fact, those county commissioners who support this stupid development should be locked into a room and given some lessons on water issues and the future.  Commissioners Art de la Cruz, Lonnie Talbert, and Wayne Johnson are heading us towards a financial and natural resource disaster.

And, it is hard to remember how many times the Albuquerque Journal has published pictures of our failed Governor reading to school children.  They did it again today.  It is bizarre on how they can actually be in the same room with her but never manage to get hard hitting questions in on her poor performance in building our economy.  The same goes for our Mayor.  They get a free ride from our daily newspaper and TV stations.

Justice

Justice has been served, right?  The FIFA's executive team has been arrested for corruption, fraud and bribery in the administration of that Soccer Athletic scam.  I am sure some of them will go to prison and be fined.  They will pay.  They have committed a great crime that may have netted them 150 million dollars!

Now think of the bankers who ripped off poor working people through fraud and corruption.  Not one of them were personally fined or put in jail.  This recent story appeared for a couple of days in the media.  I am pretty sure the FIFA story will be around for months.  The soccer guys get a perp walk in front of the cameras and the bankers get in their jets for vacations.

There are a lot of people calling for justice in the shooting murder of that Rio Rancho police officer, and in many strange ways on the Albuquerque Journal comment page.  If you want some frightening and revealing reading on the subject of racism in our community,  just visit that page.

And finally,  justice has been served properly in Santa Fe after that ridiculous arrest of a school teacher for throwing some paperback books at unruly students.  The Santa Fe Mayor blew it when he supported those charges.  The DA there said there was no case and I think most reasonable people would agree.

Alike

Thinking about that vote in Ireland.  The Pope is like our President.  A modern thinker open to changing the way we do things and achieving justice on many fronts.  The Cardinals and Bishops are like our Congress.  Full of dogma ridden idiots who can't see that train heading straight for them.  The Clergy hierarchy and the Christian fundamentalist Congress will soon find themselves the most reviled groups in modern times.  

Tomorrowland

We went to the Imax theater to see the Disney movie "Tomorrowland"  It was a movie with a message and was fun to watch.  Although in the entire movie I never once saw a fat person.  I guess they don't exist in Disney's casting calls.  There were black people, brown people, yellow people, white people, red people,  and everything in between.  But not one fat person.  Really.  Go see it and tell me if I am wrong.  Not even in the crowd scenes.

Seeing a fatty in a Disney movie would be like seeing a serious issue discussed by our Democrat Congressmen on their Face Book Pages.  It ain't going to happen.  Just visit Congresswoman Grisham Lujan's page and Congressman Ben Lujan's page.  All they do is puffy news releases.  They give out lots of awards, but no real information on how they stand on an issue.  Oh, they always say they are for supporting our veterans and they like to pin medals on WWII vets, but that is about it.

Did any of them call for jail terms for the leaders of those banks that were just fined $5 billion for ripping off the man in the street.  Nope. Now that is something I would like to see them do.

Spring runoff

The Rio Grande looks like chocolate milk from all of the sediment.  It's nice to see that water!

Bubba's Memory

Blogger Bubba Munster remembers some things on Memorial Day Weekend.  It is worth the read.

Trust

Do you trust Governor Susana Martinez and Mayor Richard Berry to make a more successful effort at growing New Mexico's and Albuquerque's economy?  Again, today in the Washington Post, a story about all of the great economic growth in many south western states and cities.  We are not among them in any measure.  They only thing the local media can cover in the way of economic news are plans for more mini breweries opening and more mediocre call center jobs.  Hardly a way to affluence.

There was a story in the Journal this morning about a highly successful and now seeking retirement school teacher who got a poor ranking because of one of those new teacher evaluations.  I don't really trust those new teacher evaluations at all.  But there has been an effort made to measure performance at least.  How is it that we can not do this on the Governor's performance?

There is a group chartered by Albuquerque City Government called the 'Indicators Progress Commission' that every two years checks on our community progress in many key areas.  This latest report  shows abysmal performance on economic indicators.  (Download the PDF)  Read it and weep.  We need the same kind of report made on a statewide level on the Governor's performance.  Now go back ten  years to see how good things were in our community when measured during my term in office as Mayor.  I certainly don't merit all the credit, but back then we had more bipartisanship and a business community that was involved in working to grow opportunity here.  Now they just protect themselves.

RANK

A new effort at putting together an index to rank all Congressmen and Senators on their bipartisanship is underway.  It is a good idea if it is done fairly.  I think that it might also be a good idea for some media watchdog group to do the same on newspapers and TV News operations.

I am pretty sure the Albuquerque Journal would rank near lowest in the nation for newspapers.  Fox News of course would hold down the anchor position.

Today the Albuquerque Journal ran a column from a republican legislator, Sarah Maestas Barnes,  who most likely had the piece written by the Governor's right wing mascots.  She essentially blames Senate legislative democrats for defense of child pornography.   This is a perfect example of how the Journal Publisher and Editor publish items that work at destroying bipartisanship.  And this legislator will have to go back into a chamber next time they meet and face these colleagues who all have children and might have some choice comments for her. 

Managed News

I gave a plus to Channel 13 yesterday for uncovering the horrendous actions of APD in the case of the man who died in a storage container after wounding a police dog.

Today they get a giant F for Larry Barker's so called expose on a supercomputer system purchased by the state in 2008.  He had Governor Martinez on the air attacking former Governor Bill Richardson for allowing the system to fail.  She said there was no business plan to utilize the system.  Lets analyse this.  Richardson had the system for two  years.  She has had it for five years and yet she convinces Barker it was all her predecessors fault.

And Barker had her in front of the cameras and failed to ask her about her business plan for New Mexico.  There is an out migration of people, the worst roads in the country, the worst job growth in the country, the total lack of bipartisanship ever because of her hateful approach to politics, and generally a war on nature as seen in her vindictive efforts at eradicating wildlife such as the mountain lion and wolf in our state.  And Barker didn't even attempt to ask a question that her handlers might not have wanted him to ask.

When will some real effort be made by someone in the mainstream media to get her on the record on these failures?  How long can this sordid leadership be allowed to go unrevealed?  How can the media not have been allowed a free for all interview with her in five years that wasn't limited to certain questions as approved by her handlers?

The biggest failure here is the new corporate journalism's approach to do nothing that would hurt a rightwing GOP politician.  

Remember

Remember when I was on a rant about a criminal suspect found dead in a metal container after the guy allegedly shot a police dog?   I talked about this for months because all of the attention was on the police dog, and not the death of a man surrounded by officers in a large metal storage container.  They said he shot himself but the autopsy report said there were no powder burns on his clothing.  No one cared because of the canine.

Well, I got nowhere getting anyone interested in this.  Now Channel 13 News has done us all a favor.  They have uncovered another outrageous incident that resulted from flawed APD and State Police procedures and leadership.  They actually mauled a man's body for hours after his death.  It is sickening and it is all on a video that APD said didn't exist.  And of course the Mayor and APD Chief are refusing to deal with this in front of the media.

The level of corruption in withholding information by city officials from the news media and other governmental entities  has reached a point where we seem to be living in the age of newspeak that George Orwell visualized in his novel 1984.  Black is white, yes is no, trust only us and not yourselves.

Perhaps the new City Attorney, Jessica Hernandez,  should turn much of her attention to this chaos.  She could be a real heroine if she did so.

Misc.

The Middle Rio Grande Conservancy District, which exists to provide subsidies to farmers at the expense of city dwellers, will begin early voting for their board elections.  Voter turn out amounts to around 3% in their stealth elections.

I am hoping that incumbent John Kelley and Michael Sandoval are elected.  They will bring reality to this organization which has great impacts on property tax payments in a four county area along the Rio Grande.  I was manager of that notorious outfit for a year back in 1989.  It was traditionally corrupt and I got nowhere in trying to fix it.

We have some irrigated farm land in Pena Blanca on which we pay irrigation fees.  I also pay taxes on my home for so called flood control, but at this time it is nothing more than subsidy money for farmers growing alfalfa.  Over 90% of the cost of the district is paid for by city dwellers who get little benefit.  And so we need people on the board who will look after everyone's interest.  Kelley and Sandoval will do that.  There is value in having open and irrigated spaces, but one can argue that using water for agriculture in the desert is not all that wise.

Mayor Berry is proposing spending a million dollars promoting Albuquerque to be viewed as a "city worth investing in."  This is a soundbite effort at making it look like something is happening in the way of economic development.  It is also kind of a wimpy statement.  Who writes his speeches?  At the same time the City Council has grudgingly approved $4.5 million to have some outside consultant guide the police department to being a more non violent organization.  Add to that the increased self insurance rates and lawsuit payouts for wrongful police actions and you can see why there isn't much going on in the economic development arena.  There is no money to do it.

Read It and Weep

Another black eye for Mayor Berry and other government officials.  How long do they get to duck these issues?

  

Misc.

Here is a map provided by the Center for Disease Control that shows the most distinctive cause of death in each state.  Guess what ours is caused by?  "Legal Intervention."   That means death at the hands of the police. Nevada is in the same boat.  Click on the map to make it bigger.

Well meaning Bio Park supporters have decided that the poor should pay for the rich in supporting these great local facilities.  They are starting a referendum effort to raise the gross receipts tax to fund the Bio Park.  Of course this is the most regressive tax around and will hit the poor much harder than the rich.  We can blame this situation on the fact that Mayor Marty Chavez started taking the city's share of the property tax for operational purposes instead of using it to fund capital improvements through bond issues.  And of course Mayor Berry just continues to be an ineffectual leader in fixing anything.  I would vote for a bond issue to do this, but give a big thumbs down on a gross receipts tax, especially after the Bernalillo County Commissioners raised it because of their incompetence at being financially responsible.  We must stop making the poor pay for everything.

I don't mind paying taxes at all.  I just want the rich to pay a progressive tax.

P.S.  The new Max Max movie is the best of all of them!

Governor Loses Mind

Oh Susana, you have truly lost your mind in not calling a special Legislative session to pass a much needed Capital Outlay bill.  You and your mascots are sacrificing the well being of New Mexico's citizens with your bizarre approach to government.  You hate government, but you are leading it in our state, and doing a disastrous job.  You are putting your national political aspirations ahead of our long term well being.  Even after economic development experts have taken state leaders to task on their lack of any aspirations.  You are the worst Governor in the nation in economic development. The worst.  And I for one hate being second to Alabama or Mississippi.

We are lost.  Adrift.  At sea.  And we will be until you and other right wing nut jobs are gone from our realm.  You are Looney Tunes and will soon be seen as such.  But it might be too late for our future.  Shame.

Golf and Religion

One of the things I like about golf is that it is a sport that attracts all kinds of players.  The rich and poor play in foursomes and usually have really good times.  Right wing and left wing also put away the axes and strive for pars and birdies.  Everyone is equal on the golf course which utilizes a great handicap system to even out the playing field.

I play golf with a one time Minister in a Protestant Church who after many years took off the collar and went forth into the business world.  He became very successful.  He also kept his faith.  We often discuss religion, me as an atheist and him as a believer.  Yesterday we were trying to figure out why more and more people are describing themselves as 'none' when asked about their beliefs.  I feel the internet and its ability to open peoples eyes to so many points of view is responsible.  He believes that the great scientific discoveries of the last few decades, especially in physics and cosmology are responsible.  I  think we are both correct to a certain extent.

No matter what we think the latest Pew Surveys show that people believe less and less in the dogma of the different religions.  That doesn't mean they aren't spiritual, just that they don't believe in the stories and fables surrounding religion.  I think this trend will continue but there will always be believers.

"Some of us worship in churches, some in synagogues, and some on the golf course." - Adlai Stevenson

Imagine

Imagine you are a economic development specialist sent to New Mexico to scope out the possibility of bringing a business to Albuquerque.  You pick up the Albuquerque Journal and start reading.  The first thing you see is an item about how New Mexico school teachers are leaving their profession because they are not paid enough.  And then  you read a story about how basic constitutional rights are being denied because the Public Defenders Office is underfunded and representation in court is doubtful.  Then you read that the Governor and divided legislature can't even pass capital outlay measures to fix roads and infrastructure, thanks to a right wing emergence in the House of Representatives.

You get back in the plane and report to the CEO that the Land of Enchantment isn't very enchanting.  No wonder we are not getting where we need to be in the economic recovery.  It just comes down to one thing, and that is a lack of leadership at all levels.  And the sap public sits and takes it.

Bubba on Corruption

Bubba Munster, a frequent commenter on this blog and a great blog author himself made a comment on my rant on Susana Martinez using taxpayer money to attend the Republican Governor's Conference and Legislators sabotaging their own legislation.  It is so good I wanted to make sure everyone sees it.  Here it is.

"We should be alarmed by things like this, I think, and jump on them as soon as they raise their ugly heads.

These are corrupt practices. The interesting thing about corruption is that it's corrosive. Note how the lawmakers interviewed see nothing wrong with what they've done.

According to the Journal article, the practice of New Mexico lawmakers inserting the word "notwithstanding" into budget items to subvert existing law has been increasing in the last few years, almost exponentially. The Republican Governor's Association has no civic function. According to its own web site it exists "primarily" to "help elect Republicans to governorships throughout the nation". For the governor to attend their conferences and charge it to the people of New Mexico is clearly illegal, but that's not an impediment to the governor and the people around her. Why?

Well, we have a mayor who doesn't go after corruption ("I don't play the blame game") and a president and attorney general who haven't prosecuted one Wall Street banker or CEO. We have our own lawmakers keeping watch here.

There's always some corruption. We cut corners. We act in self interest. We're imperfect. But in the US we have the "rule of law," a standard outside ourselves, that we've all agreed on, and against which we can measure ourselves. When government begins to ignore that standard, not just secretly but blatantly, you're headed for trouble.

Just look at countries where corruption is rampant. It's a long, long way back from that. It literally requires generations."

Susana

Susana Martinez is spending tax payer money going to rightwing meetings of the Republican Governor's Association.  $27,000 so far.

Segue to the AP story today that talks about the budget chicanery that allows agencies to use the word "notwithstanding" in their funding legislation to get around that legislation.  One example of it would be that the underfunded court system, thanks to Susana, could reduce payments to jurors if they wanted to do so.

It all stinks.

Happy Mother's Day Bobbi

Here is Bobbi with Justin and Noelle back in about 1986.  She has been the perfect Mom for them all these years.  Now they are great parents themselves.  

Harry

Many people on the political scene in New Mexico know Harry Pavlides.  He has been a gadfly, in a good way, around the political campaigns of the last forty years.  He passed away yesterday after multiple health battles over the last ten years.

Harry was one of those individuals who would just never give up on his dreams.  Despite his health problems, he always saw a silver lining in the numerous clouds that surrounded him. Despite his hardships He was incredibly generous.  He was one of the most interesting characters I have ever known.  RIP Harry.

Misc.

The people in our neighborhood have to be wondering if there is much in the way of policing being done in our city.  While APDs resources are being spent on self policing our neighborhood continues experiencing problems.  Two days ago a pistol packing guy followed a woman into her garage and demanded her purse after she got out of her car.  Last night another car was ransacked.  I am not saying this is a crime wave because generally, crime is down.  But as we see APD trying to clean up its act, if it is, we wonder where the enforcement might be for us lowly taxpayers.  Of course this is all happening  because drugs are illegal and theft is the only way users can feed their habits.

The officers who gunned down that homeless man in the foothills last year are now trying to either blame each other or confuse the case against them by insisting that it is important to find out who fired the fatal shot.  Two assault rifles blazing away at a mentally ill and unarmed man and they are trying to duck responsibility.  It is nauseating.

The Mayor is trying to get rid of panhandling on the streets of Albuquerque.  Probably the best way to do that is to insist your economic development team actually do their jobs.  That won't solve it all, but it would help a lot.  My fellow blogger Joe Monahan has a great piece today about what has happened in Albuquerque vs. Tucson from the standpoint of a Tucson resident who loves Albuquerque, but not so much any more.  This falls right in the Mayor's lap.

Ski Team Stuns!

The Albuquerque Police Department Ski Team's stunning (pun intended) receipt of a cash donation from the Taser folks is just one of the new revelations of the ongoing sweetheart contract between APD's former Chief Schultz and Taser.  The Ski Team!

First the State Auditor slams the multimillion dollar contract and now the city's own Auditor piles on.  Soon the city's Inspector General will do the same.

There is solid evidence that city officials purposely evaded proper and prudent financial procedures in the award of this contract.  And everyone goes unpunished  because they are cops?

The Mayor and CAO should immediately place on administrative leave anyone who, in Shultz's own words, "greased the deal."  And if they don't do so then finally we know this is a corrupt administration.  And if the city council doesn't raise hell then you know they are just hopeless bystanders. There is nothing they can do as a council on personnel issues, which is good, but they can certainly send a message at budget deliberations that gets the public's attention.

You can read the document here.

Final Amended Special Audit Report Body-Worn Camera Procurements-APD

Misc.

The new chair of the NM Democratic Party just went ahead and said it today in an Albuquerque Journal OpEd.  Debra Haaland outed the Journal after they attacked the two highest democratic elected state officials for engaging in politics.  Oh my!   My hats of to Ms. Haaland for being unafraid to call the editorial crew at the Journal rightwing.

Mayor Berry has hired Erin Gentry, the wife of Legislative Republican Leader and bad boy Nate Gentry to try and help him communicate better.  I don't know her and she may be very good at what she does.  If she is then lets hope the she makes the Mayor understand that he has to appear on camera once in a while at something other than reading to kids at a grade school.  Of course he learned that from the Governor.  This aversion to dealing with the press is starting to erode his credibility and I assume that he knows it and that is why he brought someone in to help.  One can only wonder if the Governor's aversion to answering questions will ever start eroding her reputation.

The old Archbishop Sheehan, who recently resigned, just couldn't help himself yesterday when he weighed in on Gay sex in another oped.  He said it wasn't a sin to be gay, just a sin to have gay sex.  I am so glad he is gone.  Now he can move into a new house that was purchased for him by the archdiocese on the west side bluffs of the Rio Grande in Albuquerque.  Since it was purchased for him by the church there will be no property tax payed on the residence.  It is just down the street from the other church owned home that he live in while on active duty.  This money is all spent while many churches are in disrepair and many priests and nuns struggle in retirement.  Also, while the church pleads it has no money to compensate victims of pedophile priests.  Very sad.

Road Tax

The Albuquerque Journal today did a fairly good story on the deterioration of the state's highways.  It made needed comparisons in the gasoline taxes collected by other states in the region, and we are pretty much at the bottom.  For a wide open state that has so many miles of highways to maintain, this is incredibly bad and you can thank Governor Susana Martinez.  Her whole reason for being right now is to be able to say she never raised taxes while Governor.  That is what is required as she seeks the GOP national spotlight.  And to hell with the well being of New Mexico and the people who live  here.  She really doesn't give a damn.

Yesterday she stood in front of the TV cameras to brag about 70 new jobs coming to the State, after she gave the company a small fortune to locate here.  70 jobs in six years.  What a record!  And the sap public just stands by and takes it.

But not for much longer I think.  The first match was struck in a conflagration in Baltimore this week where the chronically unemployed and poor started rampaging.  Some people think it was about police abuse, but mostly it was about the rich getting richer and the poor remaining without jobs.  I think it might be a really tough summer in this country.

I want to give a quote from a book I just  read, "The Affinities" by Robert Charles Wilson.  In it he said,   "In the early decades of this century we saw the world’s financial elites become increasingly divorced from national loyalties. The wealthy learned to think of themselves as essentially stateless—citizens of the Republic of Net Worth—while the rest of us clung to our old-fashioned patriotism."

That may be coming to an end soon.  And of course the ever diminishing middle class should  participate. 

Tased

State Auditor Tim Keller has tased the Albuquerque Mayor, Chief Administrative Officer, former Police Chief Ray Schultz and his upper echelon for probable improprieties in dealing with the company that manufactures Tasers.  It seems they all supported some pretty iffy back slapping between Shultz and the manufacturer as Shultz received gifts and then went to work for the company, even as he worked for the city.  Millions of dollars in contracts, in Shutz's own words, were 'greased' to provide officers with the stun guns.

So, now what will happen?  Will anyone followup on the Mayor and CAO's blessing of this mess?  Will the city council barge in and say, 'this is corruption'?  Or will they get into a partisan pissing match instead of standing up for honest government?  And will the procurement system get a strong working over?  Often it seems that the bigger amount of money involved in government corruption, the less that gets done.

Unpaid Violence

That UFC world champion cage fighter who is handsomely paid to inflict violence onto others has now been stripped of his crown for inflicting violence on others, for which he was not paid.  Of course the media is all over this story after 'Bones' Jones hit a vehicle and injured a pregnant woman in Albuquerque. Jones fled the scene with a bag of cash, leaving his victim in a heap on the street.  If he had done this in a Mixed Martial Arts fight he would have been praised.  Now, he will suffer consequences.

The Journal had a picture of UFC officials walking down a street after they had a meeting with Jones' attorney.  They are something right out of a B-movie.  Their career is generating violence to the extreme in order to make money by getting mostly economically deprived men to beat the crap out of each other. The photo could be made into a movie poster for a bad fight movie.  You really wonder why these guys aren't arrested for inciting violence like some of those Baltimore folks who are fed up with their everlasting unemployment, underpaid jobs and unrestrained cops.

Misc

Pope Francis has sent one of his like minded clerical supporters to be the new Archbishop of the Santa Fe Archdiocese.  At least it looks that way.  I know some of my friends who are still active in the church will be happy about this.  I know some Catholic supporters of the fossil fuel industry will not be happy at all.  In case you haven't noticed, Pope Francis is getting ready to come down hard on the climate change issue because he sees it as a real danger to the continuance of life on the planet.  Of course the Koch brothers, big supporters of our Governor, immediately took on Francis for being a dupe of the United Nations.  It will be interesting to see how this all works out.

Senator Martin Heinrich has come out against the new Trade Promotion Authority legislation that would prevent congress from amending the proposed Trans Pacific Partnership free trade agreement.  This is a gutsy thing for Heinrich to do and I think it should show his credentials as an independent Senator who won't march lockstep with many of his colleagues.  He wants answers and he should get them before any such agreement is inked.

Watchdog Needed

I applaud Senator Martin Heinrich's bill to place the federal government in the driver's seat for siting new power lines that will take advantage of  our growing renewable energy push in this country.  That oil, gas and coal loving mascot, republican land commissioner Aubrey Dunn, is slowing down the Sun Zia renewable project after he took office.  This could be a dagger in the heart of the only exciting economic play in New Mexico right now.  Dunn is joining Governor Susana Martinez in helping out their fossil fuel masters.  She has already vetoed a renewable energy tax credit that would continue to encourage solar installations in the sunniest state in the union.

We need a new watchdog group that will do nothing but dig into all policy and doings at the State Land Office.   Dunn could be doing a lot more harm than one thinks by quietly changing policies that harm the state.  Such changes would go pretty much unnoticed since journalists are on the rocks in New Mexico.

It will be interesting to see what the more welcoming Catholics in the state will do in researching the history of the newly appointed Archbishop for the Archdiocese.  The new man, the Rev. John Wester comes from Salt Lake City.  After the extremely conservative administration of Archbishop Sheehan, just about any change might be good.  Wester might have learned something from the pragmatic Mormons in that state who have changed policies on Gays in that religion. This is a good article on the issue.

Six months

Luke and Kate

Noelle and Alex

Twins are half year old!

Colorado

'

Kate and Alex. Our twin grand daughters. 

Colorado. Bound

A Hard Thing to Do

Many elected or appointed officials have one thing in common.  They don't like to fire people they have hired.  Usually, these are people they like and trust and who are given more chances to perform than many others would get.  But sometimes things just don't work out and it is time to get them to resign their positions.  It is an uncomfortable thing to do as I found out on several occasions in my career.

Now it is time for Mayor Richard Berry to ask for the resignation of his police chief Gordon Eden.  I am still unable to figure out why this unqualified pol was hired to run a troubled police force in the first place, but the Mayor must have had a reason to believe he could handle things.  But, Eden has failed time and again.  And so has the Mayor in not admitting he made a mistake in this appointment. Things keep getting worse.

And I look on in astonishment at the fact that our city councillors have not chimed in on this issue.  Perhaps a vote of confidence should be taken on Eden's leadership.  I have a feeling that even the GOP members of the nonpartisan body might see some wisdom in sending a message to Mayor Berry.  After all, history will be looking at every councillor's tenure in regards to this APD disaster.

City States

Will there be a new battle of city states like in ancient Greece?  Except these new fights will occur in New Mexico.  Our hapless and unqualified police chief in Albuquerque just declared war on all the other Mayors and City Councils in the region by bribing their police officers to come to work for the troubled and understaffed APD.  And Mayor Berry approves.  Put your self in their positions for a moment and think how this helps our regional cooperation over time.

I speak from experience on this as some of this was going on when I took over as Mayor in the late 90's.  I organized monthly meetings over lunch with all of the other regional Mayors and tribal governors in hopes of finding common issues to  work on.  This had never been done before and it was productive.  The one thing regional leaders were upset about was raiding their police departments.  We stopped it and relations got better for the most part.  And so Mayor Berry you might think twice about continuing on with this.  Your little $5,000 dollar bonuses for officers deserting other departments might work, but it is a form of capitalism that will earn  you nothing but disdain.

Speaking of which, when was the last time you had all the other leaders in for lunch?  You might learn some things and get some real ideas for cooperation.

Wondering

One can only wonder if the one per centers and their enablers in politics can see anything headed their way.  Not just in this country but globally.  After the horrific deaths of 700 Mediterranean region refugees desperate to flee poverty and persecution, one might thing if one were rational, that pretty soon many more will be willing to take down the economic systems that is ruining life for so many in the world.

As far as the USA is concerned the latest effort of giving even more tax breaks to the ridiculously wealthy by dumping the estate tax just keeps encouraging a sense of rage.  Can't these folks see any downside to their unparalleled greed?  They might be good at making money and hoarding it, but their inability to see a cataclysm headed straight for them is almost comical.

Top of the Fold

The Journal is beginning to look more and more like a local TV newscast.  A case in point is a major front page story today on a strangled dog.  Pictures and everything.  The poor dog was caught up in domestic problems and died for it.  But, front page news?  And people on the comment page of this story are calling for the woman who killed the pooch to be strangled also.  Insanity!

We have been pet owners our whole lives.  We are currently into our cats but I keep thinking about getting another dog.  They are so needy but so rewarding.  We felt with all the travel we do it would be best to wait to get another one after our beloved Beagles died.  Still, I wish we had one.  People just love them.  Our neighborhood alert system over the last few days revolved around a homeless Pomeranian dog found wandering the neighborhood.  Someone rescued it and found out it had heart problems.  A big effort was made and it was taken in by an organization helping with such cases.  If that dog had been a homeless person wandering the streets the police would have been notified.

Maybe that is why TV and now Newspapers spend so much time on animal issues.  Because that is obviously what folks care about.  It is a good thing really, but like everything we need to keep it in perspective.

I recently reread "Childhood's End" by Arthur C. Clarke.  When aliens surround our planet in massive space ships to help us move to the next level of evolution, the first thing they look at to see if we might be ready is how we treat other species on our planet.  The book was written in the early 1950's and demonstrates that many people have always thought about animal welfare.  I am just saying we need to show as much concern for the poor and homeless as well.

P.S. I am looking forward to the SciFi channel's miniseries of "Childhood's End" in December.  It is said to be very good.

Rabid Press Secretaries

My first ever political job was Press Secretary for Governor Bruce King back in 1975, the last  year in his first term.   I had just left Channel 7 in disgust as they entered the 'chatty news' era that eventually led to the state of local broadcast news we see today.

King had called me a few hours after I left my job and asked me to come  up for an interview for the position.  There were numerous applicants and I would be the first to see him on a Monday morning.  When I entered his office he said I was his pick and asked me when I could start, even though all the other applicants were in the reception area.  And that is how I got into politics.  Apparently I had done some stories on his administration which he liked and so decided I was the right guy for the job.  He told me to be honest and forthright in dealing with the media who covered state government.  There were a lot of them back then and they were professionals.  King told be to always treat critics with respect and merely give our side of an issue.  I followed his orders and loved the job.

Now we see what the roles of press secretaries are in the current Governor's administration.  The job is not to give their side of an issue, but to attack personally the critics who disagree with them.  And since we have such a poor press corp these days, that is usually what gets printed or aired.  There are some exceptions, like the Santa Fe Reporter.

And so, the governor's rabid press relations person is moving to a new job after pulling off so many personal and nasty attacks on anyone who disagreed with our Tea Party right wing Governor.  Good riddance to Enrique Knell.  And welcome to the new guy Chris Sanchez.  Will he be a rabid dog too?  Of course he will if he takes orders from the governor's neocon political advisors.  Destroying someone's reputation who disagrees with you is so much more likely to gain ink than a thoughtful debate.

Misc.

The Albuquerque Police Department and Democratic Presidential hopeful Hilary Clinton are both using social media to skirt the press in making announcements.  APD Chief Eden, a certifiable failure, has used YouTube to announce an investigation into two officers accused of beating a suspect.  That way there is no hard questions for him to answer.  That is good for him and bad for us.  And of course not a peep from the Mayor.

And Hilary Clinton gives us a four minute blurb announcing her run for the Presidency.  That is it.  No hard questions for her either.  Don't get me wrong, I like her and would vote for her in a general election.  But once again, where is the new leadership?  Why are we reaching into the 90's again with the Clintons and bushes?

The Albuquerque Journal story on public transit was a good recap today about the importance of getting people around our metro area.  The modern day bus system we now have started back during my term as Mayor when we got the voters to approve a quarter cent sales tax to improve maintenance and public transit.  The republicans on the council at that time tried every thing they could to gut the public transit part of the effort.  We ended  up using 20% of that money to update the system and it has paid off.  Of course, public transit never pays for itself, but it is the kind of service a city must provide to make an efficient economy possible.  The republican intellect is still at work though in constant attacks on the Rail Runner system to Santa Fe.  In a few years they will be proven fools once again.

Susanna Martinez seems to be only a fly on the wall as legislators negotiate issues that might be considered for a special session.  The leadership is moving ahead while the governor seems to be ambivalent about doing her job.  I have never understood pols like here who seem to think that 'being there' is the only reason for being elected.  Voters need to think about leadership qualities once in a while.

We are back from upstate New York.  On Sunday in the town of Camillus where our son and family live the sun came out and a spring like day was presented.  It was great watching these upstaters come out of their homes into the nice weather shielding their eyes from the bright sky.  They looked like hibernating bears coming out of caves.  Most of them got to work right away walking dogs or working in the yards.  Their several feet of snow had disappeared. 

Welcome

Dear First Solar,

Welcome to New Mexico.  Fuck You and your clean energy.  I vetoed the solar tax credits.

Sincerely,

Governor Susana Martinez


cc:  NM Oil and Gas Association

Headed to Upstate NY

I am pretty hopeful most of the snow is gone from upstate New York.  We are going to see our grandsons and family there.  There will be lots of rain, or so the forecast says.  But not much pollen yet.  Blogging from afar.

Our house sitter's new flame thrower is still under warranty.  If that doesn't work we will call the good god fearing people from that west side New Life Baptist church to come blast away at the bad guys.  Shoot first and Jesus will take care of the left overs.

Holy Shit

This is the guy who was just hired as a chief deputy at the Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office at $100K a year. This whole Jesus and guns thing really is telling. And the county commission wasted money on this. Click on the full screen arrows to see it better.

Who is in Jail?

Bernalillo County Commissioners want the city of Albuquerque to pay them to house prisoners in the County Jail.  That puts all city taxpayers in a fiscal prison because we  already pay county taxes.  This is all happening because of malfeasance in county government finance management.  This would amount to double dipping by the Commissioners to relieve them of their poor fiscal management.  This is a loser for everyone.  The city shouldn't pay them a dime more until we see some hard decision making on the county level.  First off, they could just forget about putting us in another financial bind by approving that massive Santolina development plan ten miles from the city on the west side.  It is sprawl development at its worse.

Of course the real problem here is the taxpayers own making in refusing to consolidate city and county government.  It makes more sense than ever.  Why have two of everything when one would do?  Because of small political fiefdoms and conspiracy theories of county residents who think their lives would be hindered by a consolidated government.  Votes to consolidate taken in the past shows the city residents always vote yes and the county residents nix it.  Hubris.  Expensive hubris.

Misc.

The oil and gas boys are starting another media blitz on TV to let people know they are still very important people and should not be messed with at all.  They will spend a quarter of a million dollars to shine themselves up because environmentalists and critics have managed to convince the Bureau of Land Management that there are some places that should not see drilling rigs.  I would suggest that money be used instead to clean up some of the messes they have left in the Land of Enchantment.

It has been announced that a Chicago Real Estate Investment Trust has purchased Lovelace Medical Systems. The CEO said it would be good for Lovelace.  Will it be good for the patients?

The GOP and Dems on the Albuquerque City Council fought at length over a Memorial on immigration issues.  These memorial debates take up a lot of time and have no effect other than a statement on certain issues.  Strangely, the republicans on the council equated immigration issues with abortion and gun rights.  The GOP said they haven't bought these up to save time for the council.     Culture wars come to the Council.

We watched the latest John Oliver show on HBO last night.  It has to be one of the best political commentary(comedic) on TV.  Oliver spent 40 minutes on the upcoming extension vote on the so called Patriot Act that pretty much tramples on all Americans rights to privacy.  He even went to Moscow to interview Eric Snowden and provided evidence that Americans have no clue as to who Snowden is and what he did.  They only time his man on the street interviews got peoples dander up about privacy was when he stated that the NSA could see pictures of people's genitals that were mailed to boyfriends and girlfriends.  That got them riled up and they sort of began to understand the issue.  Other than that it really made citizens look uninformed and rather stupid.

I have the all time lowest golf handicap of my life.  I am spending entirely to much time on the golf course and I plan on continuing to do so.

Sucking Sound

A corporation named Global Foundries took out a half page ad in the Sunday Journal to advertise jobs available in New York State's 'Tech Valley".  This is a semiconductor factory.  It could also be another giant sucking sound of people fleeing New Mexico because of our total lack of economic development leadership both in government and the business community.  I hope this doesn't hint about the nature of Intel's plans here in our metro area.  Frightening stuff.

Meanwhile there is a happening on the oped page in which two republicans, that great self promoter Sherman McCorkle and Caleb Chandler of Clovis, NM, are asking for more money from government in higher funding for the US Air Force.  GOP types usually hate government spending, right?  But not when it comes to military spending.  They sort of have their classic double standard, like most of us do, but their's is especially hard to take.  It is okay to attract money for 'death technology and training', but not for healthcare for New Mexicans under the Affordable Care Act.

The Air Force is starting to use it's new F-22 Raptor Fighter.  They only cost $412 million dollars each.  It is a fighter without a mission since most countries just aren't willing to spend money on these ridiculous programs anymore.  Only the military defense lobby in the USA gets to pull that off.  Meanwhile we watch highways and bridges crumble and put up with third rate internet systems.

Resurrection

Easter.  Time of resurrection stories for many in Christendom.  But a second resurrection occurred on Good Friday.  He's Back!  That master chameleon Jaime Koch was brought back from the crypt of washed up politicos and made Regent again at UNM.  How did that stone get rolled back?

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall on how this all came about?  He resigned as Regent after being confirmed by the Senate because he was 'upset' that right winger Matt Chandler was not confirmed.  I opined that the only reason he was appointed again by the Governor was that he was charged in getting Chandler confirmed in the Democratic Senate.  When he failed, he fell on his sword because he didn't deliver.  I still think that is true.  But Koch has a way of turning up again and it is pretty impressive.

Meanwhile the Governor has appointed another prosecutor to the Board of Regents.  This is evidence to me that the Governor wants narrow focus people, like all prosecutors, on her team in every position of importance.

Misc.

Just a few questions lingering this morning.

1.  Why does the Mayor Berry jump quickly to fix idiocy at the Animal Services Center but let fester for so long the APD mess?

2.  Why aren't super tolerant young people voting to stop legislatures like Indiana and Arkansas from passing religious based discrimination laws?

3.  Why when I get my new annual Bernalillo County property tax assessment does it always go up my the maximum allowed by law?

4. Why does it matter which APD officer launched the fatal bullet into that homeless guy when both of them were blazing away at the man?

5.  Why do some people think a line on a map should determine who might be the best new APS school superintendent?

Just asking while in a pollen induced coma.

On the Plus Side

We can lament our legislature and Governor, but frankly in hindsight, looking at Indiana and Arkansas, our elected officials look pretty benign.  They haven't set out just yet to persecute a whole segment of the population because an old white guy who lives in the clouds told them to do so.  Yes, the Governor and GOP seem to dislike brown people from south of the border using state drivers licenses to get around in NM, but mostly that is just GOP dogma that says you have to single out some group as a cause of all your problems.  But they are not using their god as a reason.  So far as I know.

The problem here is that those anti gay laws are being passed because christian fundamentalists are so adept at voting.  They elect the people who carry their dogma into the halls of government.  The only way to counter it is for young people to start voting strongly.  Mostly, they aren't afraid of gay marriage and teaching of science in schools.

Here is an enjoyable chart.  Click on it to make it larger.

Who?

Who is really running the Governor's office?  Susana Martinez or the spin chiefs of the radical right wing GOP.  It is the spinners for sure and Martinez is following their peculiar idea that destroying the state's economic well being will keep the GOP in power.

Her refusal to call a special session of the Legislature to pass a capital outlay bill is really just a way to blame Senate Democrats for everything down the road.  Just watch what they do in the next election cycle.

In the meantime much needed projects and stimulus are abandoned.  This is really hurting New Mexico and its citizens and businesses.  And speaking of the business community, where the hell are they on this mess?  Staying silent and cowed?  It is bad enough to see a lack of leadership on the state political scene, but I would also blame our leaders in commerce for sitting on their hands.  Is supporting right to work laws the best they can do? Apparently so!

Misc

The Albuquerque Journal has done it it again with a skewed headline saying New Mexico is the number one dependent of the federal government.  Its Business section today made it look like a shameful thing.  Like our National Research Labs are a bad thing?  The article says we should diversify.  I agree, but our Governor and Albuquerque Mayor don't provide the leadership to pull it off.  It also says the federal government owns one quarter of the land in this state.  Actually, those are public lands owned by all Americans.  We agreed to that when we became a state in 1912.  Maybe the headline writer and reporter should educate themselves just a little bit. And maybe the editor of the paper should edit rather than just be a partisan lackey for the GOP and fossil fuel boys.

HBO's documentary on Scientology was an excellent piece on the weirdness of cults and religions.  I don't mean to offend anyone, but that kind of expose could be done on any old or modern day religion.  Scientology's end game may be at hand after this eye-opener, but they have amassed great wealth from their brainwashed members.

I am sure it has never been hard for readers of this blog to understand I am not a believer.  I happen to believe my creator was a star going Nova in the past.  That created the elements that eventually became Jim Baca.  However, I don't think that believers are stupid or ignorant.  Religion is just a way for them to live their lives, like being an atheist is a way for me to live mine.  I am pretty comfortable with it all until I see the abuses that religion heaps upon the innocent.  From Catholic pedophile priests to bible thumping fundamentalists who hate gays and love assault rifles.  But, really most believers are okay as long as they don't try and make you believe what they believe.

Stick

Is the news that New Mexico generated 16,000 new jobs last year a good thing?  Well, it is better than a stick in the eye, but it is hardly worthy of praise coming from the editor of the Journal and head of the Chamber of Commerce.  Those two seemed joined at the hip in turning tepid news into sensational news.  The fact is it is pretty dismal performance and probably represents jobs at the lowest levels of wages.  This is the Journal's way of saying that the republican Governor and Mayor of Albuquerque are actually showing leadership.

Speaking of sticks in the eye, I had an APD family comment on some of my comments that surely shows the 'us vs. them' attitude is still alive and well at APD.  This is all because of a comment I made that the death of an officer from a heart attack was sad, but that this kind of attention would never be afforded other city workers with dangerous jobs.  Here is the comment that I think is the main problem with the culture at APD.  It is hateful.

Lynette wrote: "Jim Baca, Excuse you, SIR! Who the hell are you to be speaking in this manner? Perhaps you are upset because when you die, (you are old, so I'm hoping you are right with your maker), no one will care. WHY you say? Because you sir, are an asshole! Take that from a women who knows better! My APD family mourns this loss. Your opinion on the matter is neither important or valued! You are dismissed and a disgrace to this city!"

And there  you are.  APD's problems for all to see.

Misc.

City Councillor Dan Lewis got on my case on the peculiar story about an APD officer who succumbed to a heart attack on Thursday.  I had made a comment that it was a sad thing, but that it was evidence of a PR machine at APD that it got so much attention.  I said that many other city workers with just as dangerous jobs would never get that attention.  If they died on the job you would never hear about it.  Lewis then criticized the fact that as Mayor I never set up a PR machine for those other workers.  How utterly weird!   Lewis is one of the councillors that sat on their butts for years before finally paying attention to APD's problems.  I had actually thought Lewis did the right thing when he finally signed a letter asking for a Justice Department investigation, but it was a long time coming.

So, I hear that Lobo athletes will now get payments.  I am all for college students getting aid in their endeavors.  But how about all the kids who are struggling with loans and costs that don't happen to be jocks?  Things are turning upside down at UNM.  Thank the NCAA.

It is good to see the Bernalillo County Commission blinking on the ill advised Santolina land development 10 miles west of the city.  I hope Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins will keep asking really hard questions.  This whole situation really points out the need for a consolidated City and County government political leadership.  It will probably never happen as little politicos protect their turf.  Maybe in a more enlightened age?

Misc.

One of New Mexico's longest tenure journalists is retiring and it is sad to see.  John Roberston of the Journal, a fair minded reporter, has announced his departure.  He has been undergoing treatment for cancer and is doing well.  I  have known John since the 70's when newspapers mostly reported the news as fairly as they could.  He was a star in his profession.  He could write accurately because he always checked his facts and made sure no partisanship entered into his longtime role as a political reporter.  The Journal will miss his expertise.  If you want to read John's blog you will find a thoughtful piece just about every day.  See it here.

The oil and gas boys are trying to drum up support, via the Farmington Daily Times editorial board, to get royalty rates reduced on stripper wells in New Mexico.  They say they aren't feasible with the drop in oil prices.  If Land Commissioner Aubrey Dunn does this he will violate his fiduciary responsibility.  And if you think about it, where were these oil boys when prices were outrageously high?  Were they offering to pay more royalties?

The NM GOP is hiring a new staff.  It doesn't appear that any Latinos were amongst the new leadership.  Maybe the party right wingers are worried about valid drivers licenses.

Misc.

We are trying something new in our household.  We will now only get the Sunday editions of the Journal and New York Times and read the digital versions on all other days.  We tried it for the first time today and both the Journal and Times have excellent apps that make it seem like you have an actual paper.  Except no ink stains and small print.  At least on iPads.  Bobbi traded in her old one yesterday for a new one with better screen capabilities.  I really like the font size options on the digital versions.  As for the crosswords, I will now just buy books full of them.

I am getting convinced that social media is turning America into a land of paranoid citizens.  We have had some problems with crime in our close north valley neighborhood, although the overall crime rate is down.  Now every time there is an incident the list serve fills up with scared comments and how everything is going to hell around here.  Yesterday someone saw two strangers in our public park and called the police because they might be homeless drug addicts.  They were asleep in the park and not causing any problems, but well, they were just there!  The good thing is that neighbors around here really look out for each other.  We did manage to get one of the burglars arrested by working with APD.

County Commissioner Art de la Cruz should opt out of voting on that ill advised Santolina development on the far...far west side of Albuquerque.  Even before he was to listen to testimony on the project, he was supporting it on the Albuquerque Journal's OPED page.  A huge blunder on is part.

Commissioners on the Precipice

Bernalillo County Commissioners have done a outrageously poor job of managing in the last few years.  They just raised our taxes because they were fiscally irresponsible and have walked themselves into an almost 20% deficit.  That is huge. Now they are asking department heads to cut 10% from their budgets.  This is draconian but necessary due to their malfeasance.

 Now they want to compound problems  by getting ready to approve the master plan for the Santolina mega development on the west side of Albuquerque. This will be another long term financial disaster for all of  us, unless some very hard and stringent requirements are insisted upon to keep the county from raiding taxpayer pockets to pay subsidies for the developers.

Of course all of this is happening at the same time the close in Mesa Del Sol project is languishing because of our horrible economy in Albuquerque and New Mexico.  The weak leadership we are experiencing in the Governor's and Mayor's office in job creation has slowed down the recovery of that ready to go development.  And so, why should we let the county commit us to a development ten miles out of Albuquerque?  This all happens at the same time many existing county areas are in great need of redevelopment and infrastructure investment.