APS School Board enforcer tells union leader to shut up

Those weren't APS School Board enforcer Marty Esquivel's actual words. His actual words are difficult to discern because once again, our investment in at least two warm bodies and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of recording equipment has failed to produce a legible record of an APS School Board meeting.

Once again, the recording of a school board member embarrassing them self has been somehow been corrupted or lost. APS no longer allows links to specific board meetings, so you will have to go to, link, and then scroll down to the August 15, 2012 meeting. Click on "video".

Fast forward to 3:14:4?, where Esquivel's antics begin.

He is upset because Albuquerque Teachers Federation President Ellen Bernstein had pointed out that the board's decision making process (surrounding the policy changed that prevents APS employees from getting paid to serve in the legislature) manifest "bad faith" in so much as the board changed the terms of the contract without stakeholders representation in negotiations over the change.

Esquivel began with a PowerPoint presentation a la APS; too many words, too small a font, which he then read for us, over and over.

About 12 minutes later, he starts pointing his finger at Bernstein and taking a tone with her. Later he complains that he is a victim of her disrespect. She was in fact, giving him quite a spanking; but it was with logic and facts, not her demeanor. She remained in control of her temper even as he progressively lost his control over his own. Or, maybe he just thinks bullying is alright if you've been "elected". It could be one or both; in no case is it excusable or even acceptable.

At 3:43ish, Esquivel starts going off on Bernstein for suggesting that he was being disrespectful. "I'm not asking you for a comment" were the exact words, as nearly as I can make out, that he used to tell her to shut up when she tried to respond to his attack on her.

That the whole exchange is not intelligible could be the result of some technical glitch; although they have so many conveniently timed glitches that the odds they're honest glitches are astronomical. That leaves incompetence, always a possibility, or corruption; they're editing in obfuscation and editing out the truth.

Esquivel is a thug and a bully. He claims he has struggled for five years on behalf of teachers, and yet they still have no seat at the table where decisions are made. He is a hypocrite. He is dishonest.

There's a reason he won't hold himself accountable as a role model of any standard of conduct higher than the law, not even the APS Student Standards of Conduct, the Pillars of Character Counts!, link, a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct.

None of Esquivel's constituents know how he treats citizens who show up at public forums. Scroll further down the list of board meetings until you can click on "show all past meetings". Scroll down to Nov 4, 2009; click on video. Fast forward to 42:00 and watch how Esquivel behaves when I attempt to ask legitimate questions, link.

Esquivel used my behavior that night, to justify the writing of an utterly unlawful restraining order, link, he calls it a banning letter, ordering a publicly funded private police force, which is not supposed to be taking orders from him in the first place, to deny me the free exercise of my Constitutionally protected human rights to speak freely and petition my government at school board meetings.

Of note; none of this was reported in the Journal, is being reported by the Journal, or ever will be reported by the Journal, because Journal Managing Editor Kent Walz is a crony of Esquivel's and has joined with him and APS Supt Winston Brooks to cover up the cover up of felony criminal misconduct by APS senior administrators.

All any of them has to do controvert the allegation, is to explain why APS won't surrender the findings of at least three investigations into the felony criminal misconduct; two internal investigations, one by APS personnel and the other by the same police force whose corruption and incompetence were investigated, and one by private investigator Robert Caswell. His report names the names of APS senior administrators and the felonies the participated in.

All Walz has to do, is to explain why the hiding of the corruption and incompetence his paper first reported, link, and the fact that evidence of felony criminal misconduct was turned over to the District Attorney, is not newsworthy. So far, he has not responded, link.




photo and Walz framegrab Mark Bralley