Letter to the Editor
By Barbara L. Taylor. Taylor is the former Capital Implementation Program Official and former director of the Parks and Recreation Department in the City of Albuquerque
Ideally election campaigns are about aspirations and solutions. Municipal government, more than any other level of government, provides services that touch people’s lives every day. Fire and police for public safety; community center programs to care for our children and seniors; libraries that reach out to everyone to enhance education and improve literacy; convenient public transportation; paved streets and well-maintained parks; safe livable neighborhoods; concern for the environment: these are the down-to-earth daily aspirations of most Albuquerqueños.
Albuquerque is in the midst of a mayoral election campaign that, hopefully, will focus on these aspirations. Ideally, candidates will propose pragmatic solutions to the myriad problems facing the City, so that voters can make well informed decisions about who they want for their next Mayor.
I was excited when I heard that the former U.S. Attorney had joined the race. Alex Uballez is intelligent; and well-spoken; his emotional intelligence is high; his crime fighting skill is apparent from his record as U.S. Attorney. And he has a wonderful family.
Regrettably, the campaign seems to have been led astray. Recently I received a campaign alert from “Alex for Albuquerque” that includes a copy of a twenty-one-page “Inspection of Public Records Request.” There are nine categories of requests, with multiple subcategories of requests, for records related to issues and problems that are well known to anybody who lives in the city. Even on the campaign website there are no solutions proposed, just elegantly stated goals for problems that are, in fact, desperately in need of plainly stated solutions.
And to make matters much worse, the IPRA request names a career City employee and implies that there is something wrong with his promotion to an executive position. Politicking on the back of a highly competent, highly qualified career employee is unacceptable.
Here are the facts. This employee was promoted from the position of accountant in the City’s Finance Department, to the position of finance manager and subsequently to deputy director in the Parks and Recreation Department. He was appropriately and lawfully appointed director of the Solid Waste Management Department because he is an excellent manager and has prior experience in the field. From there he was appropriately and lawfully appointed to the mayor’s executive staff.
Directors and above are appointed positions, not advertised positions. Salaries for these positions may be negotiated. Any hint of wrongdoing in this case is perilously close to libelous and the campaign needs to make a public retraction.
I care deeply about the future of Albuquerque and desperately would like to vote for a pragmatic, solutions-based candidate for mayor. We have a couple of months left; I will keep looking and listening.
Truth, Transparency and Accountability. The investigation is not a “tactic”.
Thanks for your comment. After multiple requests to different city departments over the last few months for maintenance issues in our neighborhood (including our park) and absolutely no response, let alone improvements, I have come to the personal assumption that unless one’s request does not utilize the specific words “swimming pool, new bike path, soccer stadium or Route 66, one is in Nowhereville. Where exactly is that famous Harry Truman “buck” stopping? Certainly not on the department managers’ desks or they wouldn’t think of themselves doing such a great job. This is the kind of information that Mr. Uballez has been probably hearing from voters and why his people are asking questions.
“Directors and above are appointed positions” And that is exactly why Mayor Keller – or any mayor – needs to be held accountable for the appointments he has made. What do you think these public records – records which belong to us, the citizens and taxpayers – will reveal? Why are you so afraid of transparency?
Thanks for that response. As someone who has represented my requests on the behalf of many neighbors, my own opinion is that the city departments dealing with the “upkeep” of Albuquerque does not represent the city in a positive light. Our sidewalks are crumbling, park equipment and park garbage collection with problems ignored, problem properties get the barest of attention, complaints regarding the fiber optic debacle were ignored until the local news reported on it. 311 sends the message, no response. Face to face requests at the neighborhood meets with city reps, useless. So where exactly is that famous Harry Truman “buck” stopping in the chain of command in Albuquerque? Maybe the Uballez campaign has heard from a few voters who feel as I do and is interested.