APS School Board President and Defendant Esquivel arrived at his deposition 45 minutes late and disheveled. He spent a lot of the day with his head in his hands, eyes closed, or gazing out the windows at the mountains. His hands trembled visibly most most of the morning. He brought nothing with him to write on and ended up taking notes on what appeared to be a motel courtesy note pad.There were three lawyers on his side of the table, taxpayers paid for two and the third was there on his own dime. For what its worth they seem like decent men, a big step up from my experience with APS/Modrall.
I think its fair to say that Esquivel did not respond candidly, forthrightly and honestly to legitimate questions about his public service. The transcripts will be published at the earliest opportunity. We all watched together, video tapes of my "misconduct". It is difficult to imagine how these men can show these videos, paint them as disruptive to a point beyond the protection of the First Amendment, and keep a straight face. I can't wait.
Esquivel first responses allowed him to express his contempt for me as a journalist. His contempt dripped from every word. Apparently he is practicing soundbites in hope the he can make them sound convincing - so far, not so much.
For the record, I have never claimed to be a journalist. There are probably as many definitions for "journalist" as there are for "ethics". At the very least I think, a "journalist" holds himself accountable to a recognized journalists code of ethics. I don't; not that I have a problem with their code; frankly I've never really studied it; it's not what I'm doing.
I claim protection under the First Amendment as a member of the press. "Journalists" are not mentioned in the First Amendment; the "press" are.
The same press, a political pamphleteer, the First amendment was written to protect. Esquivel shares the view of the privileged class; "the press" are their establishment reporters, period. And to think he is the Vice President of the NM Foundation for Open Government and transparency.
Esquivel objected to the banning letter being called a banning letter. He got quite testy when my lawyer insisted upon calling it one.
For the record, the man who co-signed the life time ban on my free exercise of Constitutionally protected human rights, calls it a "ban letter", link.I would argue, if the guy who commands their Praetorian Guard; their publicly funded private police force, APS Police Chief Steve Tellez says it's a banning letter, and if he willing to commit sworn officers to enforce it, it's a banning letter.
Apparently Esquivel is leading people to believe that I am capable of bringing a gun to a school board meeting and shooting them all. When asked how keeping me out of school board meetings would keep me from shooting them anywhere else, he could come up with a good answer. Apparently, it's only when I am standing up at public forum asking them for;
- an independent standards and accountability audit, or for
- an honest answer as to why they are not accountable as role models of student standards of conduct, or
- why they have yet to surrender to the DA, evidence of felony criminal misconduct involving APS senior administrators,
He testified about my conduct during the August 25, 2010 Audit Committee Meeting. He testified about my conduct before the meeting began. He said my behavior before the meeting was part of his justification for banning me for life from school board meetings.
He did not arrive at the meeting until it had already adjourned into executive session. He could not have seen anything that happened before the meeting; he wasn't there.
He testified about a number of other things I allegedly did during the meeting. We watched a video that directly contradicts his testimony.
He let us know that APS Foundation Director and lifelong friend of Esquivel's, Phill Casaus is helping spread the rumor that I might someday "shoot up the place".Esquivel claimed he lost faith in me when I asked him to help me revisit a previous settlement I made with APS. It is an absolute lie; a complete fabrication. I never asked for his help with respect to resolving any problems with either of my two settlements with APS.
What I did ask from Esquivel, and from then APS School Board Member, now NM Economic Development Secretary Jon Barela, was that one make, and the other second, a motion to put an independent standards and accountability audit of the leadership of the APS, on the table for open and honest public discussion. They would not, link.
The proof that the senior-most role model in the entire APS, of student standards of conduct, APS School Board President Marty Esquivel will not hold himself honestly accountable to the same standards of conduct he establishes and enforces upon students, is the fact that he has not.
He cannot point the system over which he has no undue influence and powerful enough to hold him accountable even against his will, to the Pillars of Character Counts!, a nationally recognized, accepted and respected code of ethical conduct, and most importantly, APS student standards of conduct, and he cannot.
He can point to a few times when my eyes wet as I tried to convince them that, if we really want students to grow into adults who embrace character and courage and honor, someone has to show them what it looks like.
He counts each tear as evidence of the likelihood that I might one day shoot him. It really is impossible to underestimate Esquivel's character.
For the record, there is still no evidence that there is any oversight whatsoever over Brooks' and Esquivel's spending in their own defense. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in litigation expenses will be approved by subordinates. Subordinate oversight is oxymoronic.
No case analysis has ever been presented to the school board as a whole, for their approval. The entire school board is complicit or complacent. Though it can't be proved they know what's going on because they won't meet for that purpose, they remain at best, deliberately ignorant.
photos Mark Bralley
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