Oma on Board: 2012

To whom does the public record belong?

It depends upon who you ask.If you ask politicians and public servants, and they were inclined to candor, most would admit that effectively speaking, the record belongs to them. It is their prerogative to decide which records will be made available for immediate inspection, and which will not. There is no personal penalty in the law, for their deliberate delay in the production of documents according to their personal interests.Why...

Will transparency, standards and accountability on the table in school board election?

The lack of transparent accountability to meaningful standards of conduct and competence for APS school board members and administrators is a significant problem. It can be rectified by the creation and enforcement of a new school board policy, one that raises standards and provides due process for legitimate complaints of administrative or executive incompetency or corruption.That new policy will not be created nor enforced by the same board members who have never created the policy nor enforced before; the same board...

Internal oversight is oxymoronic.

The City Inspector General Neftali Carrasquillo Jr. has resigned, link. Carrasquillo says he isn't being allowed to do his job.The City Council is concerned that the inspector-general system needs to be fixed. Apparently, many of the complaints that his office would normally investigate, are being investigated by private investigators whose findings then belong to the Mayor Richard Berry administration, to publish or to hide.One of the private investigators is Robert Caswell Investigations, who get a lot of Berry's...

Transparency, standards and accountability are issues in APS board election

APS has transparency and accountability issues. Nobody denies it. Seriously, if you ask APS, they won't deny it. If you ask the establishment press, they won't deny it either. Nor will either admit to it. They stonewall, The only defense of an indefensible position is to hide it. When asked to comment, neither will.The issues of transparency, standards and accountability are important because the lack of transparent accountability to meaningful standards in the leadership of the APS...

What do you want to happen in February?

Do you want to authorize $368M in mill levies and bond issues?Are you looking for more of the the same old, same old in new board members?Potential voters don't yet know it, because it is yet to be published by the establishment press, but because a majority of the board is up for election, there is an opportunity to actually change the direction APS will take for the next four years.There are at least two paths; one is the one we follow now.We simply surrender control over our power and resources toa handful of people, and...

Steven Michael Quezada stands unopposed, so far.

Steven Michael Quezada's opponent in APS school board district 5, Cynthia Chavers has withdrawn.His seat on the board is guaranteed unless a write-in candidate files in January....

Deliberate disobedience "could lead to consequences" for students; but probably won't.

Apparently, rumors of pending violence are running rampant in some APS schools. Some of those rumors are undoubtedly being started by students just wanting to stir up trouble. They do so in deliberate disobedience of the student standards of conduct established by the board of education and enforced by their superintendent and his administration.APS Superintendent Winston Brooks has laid it out for students, their parents and...

Who in the hell is Richard Shin?

And who is he to put limits the free exercise of Constitutionally protected human rights to free speech and to petition one's government?Journal editors are righteously concerned, link, over an effort by Police Oversight Commissioner Richard Shin to put limits on citizens' comments during public forums.“You do not have an unlimited right to come up and speak about anything you want, and say anything you want, during public comment.” And you sir, do not have any right at all limit free speech and the unfettered petition of government.Liberty...

Breaking Bad actor running for school board

The Journal reports, link; Steven Michael Quezada ... has filed to run for the Albuquerque school board.I don't watch Breaking Bad, and I don't know Quezada from Adam's off ox, but the apparently popular actor has the potential to bring some wide spread attention to the school board race. People will show up to debates to see the actor rather than the candidate, but showing up for any reason is better than not showing up at all. Perhaps voter turnout will climb above 3.5%.As the parent of three charter school students,...

In the Albuquerque Journal this morning,

you will find no mention of the fact that today is filing dayin the APS school board election.The Journal actually told me once, when I was looking for exposure for my campaign in their pages, they "don't start covering the election until after filing day."If you go to the Journal website and search for "2013 aps school board election" link, you will find no evidence that the Journal is about generating any interest in the February election; a turning point election in the course and success of the APS. You will find...

It's too late to recruit school board candidates

Tuesday next is filing day for the APS school board election. All you have to do to run for the school board is go into the county clerk's office and sign up. Early voting begins January 11, I think. Fundamental to government of the people, by the people, and for the people, is people running for office; people running for seats on the school board. If "people" aren't elected to fill the seats, the seats will be filled...

Why are we last in education?

How would you find out?You could ask the people who run the schools. It's fair to assume board members and administrators are in a position to answer the question. If anyone has access to the data, they do.Yet in asking the question of them, a conflict of interests is created. Because they own some part of the failure, their personal interests are served by attaching blame elsewhere, while the public interests compel them to disclose their shortcomings candidly, forthrightly and honestly.The problem with asking...

Why is it so important that students march in unison?

According to KOB TV, link, the APS Policy and Instruction Committee undertook what APS "spokeswoman" and Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta describes as "... one of the trickiest, most complex issues we take on all year". A third of students attending APS will not graduate. I suspect there are more than a few tricky and complex issues.It's hard to believe a school calendar is one of them; I mean really, how hard can...

Next election, the most important ever.

Every election season posits itself pivotal in the course of humankind. Each is.By definition, it's too late for the people to exercise their rights and responsibilities in creating a government that is by the people, of the people and for the people, in the last election.The next election in the Albuquerque area is a three-fer, a school board election, a bond issue election, and a mill levy election. They are all important on their face.Each is extraordinarily important in its own right. The bond issue and...

APS joins club, taxpayers on the hook for about $40M

The leadership of the APS, when they go looking for answers, look for national movements to join.The have grabbed another straw, the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers.In order to join the club, APS has to comply with the requirements of PARCC. Compliance will cost $39M upfront and $15M every year thereafter.APS doesn't need to be part of a consortium to teach and test the Core Standards. They can do...

Will the DOJ probe APD morale?

Is there a correlation between low police force morale and a propensity to overreact in potentially violent situations?There is, and that's why the DOJ needs to investigate and report upon morale in the APD. Will every cop be surveyed? Will every cop have the opportunity to say what they think needs to be said about the conduct and competence of their leadership, without fear of retribution and retaliation? Will every cop know their voice has been counted? Will the DOJ the opinions of the cops they're investigating?Likely,...

"Culture of complacency" root cause of fake audit

The Journal reports, link, the state's top securities regulator has found"... a fake audit of the New Mexico Finance Authority went undetected for months because of a lack of oversight by top managers and the authority's appointed governing board."How surprised are you? If you Google search for New Mexico State Government and "lack of oversight", you'll get more than five million hits. How many other state authorities, agencies, bureaus, and departments in state government lack the managerial oversight necessary to protect...

News Tip; APS spending record unavailable to voters

In less than two months, voters will have an opportunity to elect four board members and spend $368M. 96% of them will not.The few that do, have a need to know how their power and resources are being spent currently, by the folks asking them for hundreds of millions more. They need to know because, the record of APS' past and current spending is the single best indicator of how they intend to spend the $368M they're asking for...

Journal coverage of school board, bond issue, and mill levy elections

The Journal can be counted upon for at least one piece with feeling, about the upcoming elections. The day or two after the elections there will be an editorial lamenting the disinterest of voters.It begs a fair question, does the press, in this case the Journal, have any obligation to drum up interest in elections? I believe they do.It is already too late most likely, for the Journal to drum up any interest in people who might want to run for the board. Filing day is less than two weeks away. They already...

Oops! That page is not published.

I went looking on APS' award winning website, for how much money APS school board members are paid for their service.A friend had asked me, I didn't know.I still don't.Search their website for "board compensation", link.Click on Time Commitments and Compensation for Board Members and you get;Oops! That page is not published.OK, I get it, stuff happens, people make mistakes.Not all omissions are nefarious. But when there are a lot of mistakes and they all have the same effect; that of making public information and records harder...

KRQE lands Brooks interview

KOAT is being denied interviews with senior APS administrators, link. Apparently, KRQE is not.Last night, KRQE broadcast an interview they had with APS Supt Winston Brooks in which he was given the opportunity to address a manifest inconsistency in his claims of parental support of APS.Brooks claims 89% of parents approve of the quality of APS education, link, despite the fact that a full third of APS students are destined to drop...

APS claims 89% of parents approve

APS claims, link, a survey they did last September, showed 89% of parents approve of the quality of APS education.According to their own statistics; 33% of parents have children who drop out.It would appear a substantial number of parents approve of their children dropping out.They also report 67% of parents approve of Supt Winston Brooks;the lowest approval rating assigned in the report.Had teachers been asked, the numbers would have been different.Ergo, they will not be asked. Nor will anyone else working beside or beneath...

APS refuses to submit to KOAT interviews

Government by, for and of the people depends upon meaningful communication between the government and the people; two-way communication.There are a number of reasons why the people can't expect individual face time with the most powerful politicians and public servants.The solution we settled upon is for the people depend upon "the press" to ask the questions and then publish the responses. The press, KOAT, asked to do interviews...

Rosary ban "lifted" at Atrisco Heritage High

A week ago, according to the Journal, link, and APS communications staffer Monica Armenta,Students at the school wearing rosaries visibly are being asked to conceal them under their shirts or in their pockets, Armenta said, adding that the request is intended to limit students from identifying themselves with specific groups, either on or off campus. Armenta said it is a measure APS police and school staff are taking “to curb gang activity.This...

APS projects don't go to lowest bidder; what else goes to lesser qualified?

When APS let the contract for the work at Sandia High School, it didn't go to the lowest bidder.They've invented a rubric for the letting of contracts that includes intangibles. The intangibles in the Sandia contract amounted to a full 60%; far more than the interests of taxpayers; getting the most bang for their buck.It isn't the first time. When APS let their phone contract to Monica Armenta's mother, she wasn't the lowest bidder either, link. This is part if a pattern of behavior; a way of thinking in the...

Students packing rosaries at Atrisco Heritage

The editors take notice, link; APS is just begging for a lawsuit over a ban on the wearing of rosaries at school. Begging is exactly the right word; their lawyers will make a killing litigating settlements.The editors write, Albuquerque Public Schools must have a lot of extra money lying around for lawsuits. Actually they do, in the form of an "unlimited budget" in support of litigation.They spend so much money on litigation, their insurer, United Educators, raised our premiums on that basis. They spend so...

The power to avoid subordinate evaluation.

Socrates takes credit for observing that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.It would be difficult to find a better measure of conduct and competence in leaders, than the honest opinions of their subordinates; in particular of subordinates with demonstrable capability to participate meaningfully in that evaluation. Teachers for example.In fact, power doesn't corrupt absolutely; power doesn't corrupt at all.The opportunity...

Brooks v. Sink; a "private affair"?

The Journal reports; link, the no bid deal APS made for digital textbooks created quite a brouhaha; justifiably. But that's not the whole story. The story inside the story written by Journal investigative reporter Mike Gallagher is; it seems APS Supt Winston Brooks and recently retired Assoc Supt Linda Sink weren't getting along.It's a recurring theme; women working under Brooks and not getting along. A number of them are suing...

$368M going to highest bidders?

Two Journal reports this week of interest to taxpayers. One about APS awarding a contract to the highest bidder, link, and another about the school board and senior administration's quest for another $368M to spend on our behalf, in our stead.School bond issue and mill levy elections are the means by which taxpayers exert their will upon the politicians and public servants who will spend hundreds of millions of tax dollars. ...

Learning expensive and, apparently, quite transitory

In the Journal, link, this morning, a report on the proposed APS school calendar for next year.Of significance, spring break, which usually precedes high stakes standardized testing, will take place after the testing is completed. The logic; the longer you wait before administering the tests, the better students will do. If anyone ever explained why the tests aren't given at the end of the year, I must have missed it.The other...

In back to back meetings with no public forum

the APS School Board will make it harder for to students to shop around in their efforts to educate themselves.The Journal reports, link,A key limitation under the new policy is that students will be able to take outside credit only if they are taking a class that isn’t reasonably offered by APS.The board is experiencing a conflict of interests. On the one hand, they want to hang onto students and the money that comes with them. On the other hand, there is the school board's own code of ethics, link; their number...

A: Because they don't want you to know how bad it really is.

Q: Why will there never be a poll of APS employees, on their morale and confidence in their leadership?There has been a poll of APD police officers, link.The majority of respondents reported low morale and dissatisfaction with their chief.Subordinate evaluation?I don't need no stinkin'subordinate evaluations.If APS employees were given a similar survey, they would report low morale and dissatisfaction with their chief too.Low morale doesn't...

Armenta and Chavez; "communications staffers" or Journal bias?

It has bugged me from the first reading of Hailey Heinz' report on my federal civil rights lawsuit against the school board and a handful of individually identified board members and senior administrators.Two of the senior administrators and named respondents are APS Executive Director of Communications Monica Armenta and Director of Communications Rigo Chavez.Chavez is being sued in his capacity as "Records Custodian" and not over his...

Do Brooks and the board really need their own Police Department?

Their legislative agenda, link, indicates APS' lobbyist will be lobbying for their very own publicly funded private police department, a far cry from their publicly funded private police force.A police "department" is a step up from police "force"The APS Police force has oversight,an APS police department will not.They will be accountable only to Brooks and the board. Brooks and the board say they need a "department".Only if they are a police department can their officers "... specialize in working with children to focus...

Information overload?

The city has recently posted more public records on their website. KKOB reports that people are wondering if the new deluge of data from the city is "too much" data.The Journal reports on the deluge as well, link.All data has to be stored somewhere. It might as well be stored in a place that is readily accessible to the people whose data it is. There cannot be "too much" data, as long as it is searchable.In theory there...