My Feelings about John Dendahl Leaving New Mexico

John Dendahl says enough is enough and I'm off to Colorado. As reported in the Albuquerque Journal John Dendahl is leaving New Mexico, hitting I-25 and headed North to Colorado. This reminded me of my political wins and losses, actually it reminded me of my losses. I know his official rant about leaving New Mexico because it is corrupt and the voters like it that way. I think as I remember how I felt after a huge loss in a more localized election that the truth of the matter is that even thought he was like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza mounting an unsuccessful attack on a windmill in every political fight there is still some hope that you will defeat the windmill.

As I read about John Dendahl leaving New Mexico it reminded me of when I ran for my last re-election for City Police Union President in 1994. Donald Grady was Chief of the City of Santa Fe Police Department. Appointed as an agent of Change by then Mayor Debbie Jaramillo, the first Black Chief in Santa Fe's history was controversial and his tenure created deep divisions in the City Police that remain to this day. The Department was divided into two camps led by myself as President and Sergeant Frank Novelli who was a radical activist who would become President. The group led by Frank Novelli wanted Grady removed at all costs. Racial comments were often thrown about behind closed doors and really disgusting things such as pubic hairs placed in cake which was given to him were the types of things this situation had degenerated into.

Former S.F. Chief Donald Grady

I as Union President, while agreeing that his tenure had done more harm then good, still tried to find common ground between his administration and the officers. As such I was often portrayed as on the fence or pro-Grady. Flyer's were made up with a cartoon showing me standing on a wood fence with half the Police Department yelling at me from one side of the fence and the other half yelling at me from the opposite side. I lost the Union Presidency by 3 votes in 1994. I have to admit I was very demoralized. The fight was bitter and had taken all that I had. Half the department who voted for me wanted for me to continue the fight as a board member of the union.

The truth is I had nothing left. Being in the minority on the board meant that I would have little chance of having decisions go our way. Being listed as a board member meant that my name would still be tied to decisions the board made even if I voted against them. The racial aspects of the unions fight to remove Chief Grady continued until his eventual resignation in February of 1996. I lasted about 1 year longer before I made the decision to walk away. I was already a Sergeant in the department so walking away meant losing seniority and a position as a commander in the department. Some family and co-workers still give me their opinion that I should not have left. That I would probably be Chief or Deputy Chief by now and would be eligible for retirement next year. To this day the bitterness over Chief Grady is such that every Chief's photo hangs in the Police Station except Chief Grady's. Whenever one is put up to replace the missing one it goes mysteriously missing.

John Dendahl

So what does all this have to do with John Dendahl? I have never agreed with anything John Dendahl has had to say. He and Republican extremists like Whitney Cheshire leave no room for middle ground so they make it hard for those like me who truly believe in the ideals of the Democratic Party to find common ground. But for the first time I had something in common with John Dendahl. He probably believes in his causes as much as I do and even though he was like Don Quixote attacking the windmill that is Governor Bill Richardson he probably somewhere in the back of his mind thought he would have a chance and maybe make a difference. When he was unable to make a noticeable dent in Governor Richardson's Armor he was so disgusted he just walked away. The way I walked away from the City Police.

When I left I did so quietly and it was many years of introspection before I ever really was able to talk about how I felt and what the loss of the Union Presidency did to me. In the end it made me stronger and I would not be where I am today if it were not for what I went through then. John Dendahl should have done the same thing. Walked away quietly and not talk about his feelings until he fully understood them. He should not have lashed out against the very voters he once courted. The voters decide and then those of us in political positions or with political aspirations must live by those decisions and use them as a growth and educational experience. Some people call it pandering to voters when politicians look at what citizens want and react. I call it doing your job.

Bill Richardson Declared Winner !

The writer of this blog, who also writes a Las Vegas Poker Blog, Declared Bill Richardson the Winner of the Democratic Primary on Monday. The author apparently is not too up to date with political news as on Monday Jan 22, 2007 when he declared our Governor the winner he was not aware Bill had even officially jumped into the race. Either way Nevada is an early primary state and here is one Nevada resident sold on Governor Richardson. Could this be the begining of an internet revolution for the underdog?

What about the Lieutenant Governor?

A few friends and I were discussing Governor Richardson's Presidential bid and we were both in agreement that regardless of what happened in the Democratic Primary Election the Democrats will probably win the General Election. We were also in agreement that Governor Richardson will probably be Vice President or Secretary of State. But some interesting dynamics began to come into play as we discussed this.

One was what if John Edwards wins the Primary? Kerry/Edwards team was not happy that Governor Richardson did not deliver New Mexico. Patricia Madrid who was supported by the Governor in her bid to unseat Heather Wilson is supporting Senator John Edwards and not Governor Richardson in the Presidential Primary. Patricia has always supported Senator John Edwards and she headed his New Mexico Campaign when he last ran for the Democratic Presidential nomination. Patricia and John Edwards are also good friends. So the Governor had no expectation she would not continue to support John Edwards. He did however have no choice but to support then Attorney General Patricia Madrid in her race against Heather. How much influence will Patricia have to recommend or not recommend Governor Richardson to her good friend John Edwards should he win the nomination? It has long been felt by many that there is no love lost between Patricia and the Governor.

What about Hillary? would she forgive Governor Richardson for running against her? Can the Governor run an aggressive campaign without straining his relationship with Hillary? My feeling is he probably can. On this week with George Stephanopoulos the Governor talked about his light hearted Got Milk?, Cowboy ads which he ran during the Governors race. He stated he felt the public was ready for positive light hearted ads that were a change from the negative voting record type ads of the past. I feel this is part of his strategy. Run a clean light hearted campaign that will not endanger his chances of a Vice President or Secretary of State position.

This brought our conversation to the Lieutenant Governors position. I have been taking a look at this situation as it was interesting to note that should the Governor leave for what ever position in Washington there is no provision to put a Lieutenant Governor in place for the remainder of current Lt. Governor Diane Denish's term. A good friend in State Government brought it to my attention that barring a constitutional amendment the position could remain unfilled until the next election cycle.

The legislative session currently underway allows for an opportunity to fix that situation. Sen. Gerald Ortiz y Pino plans to introduce a Constitutional amendment which if passed must still be voted on in 2008 in a state wide election, that would allow the lieutenant governor-turned governor to pick a second in command, to be approved by the Senate. It is my understanding that at least one name is being tossed around by the Lt. Governors staff for this position.

I began looking at it because I had been asked by a group of supporters to consider running for this position in 2010. (no this is not an announcement). This situation is very interesting however. If the voters do not approve a constitutional amendment (very few proposed amendments are approved), this would leave us with no Lt. Governor for the remainder of Diane Denish's term. If the voters do approve the amendment Lt. Governor Denish would be in the unique position of choosing her Lt. Governor prior to any election giving that person a distinct advantage in the next election. In New Mexico the Lt. Governor and the Governor run seperate campaigns in the primary and then must join forces in the General Election. So in essence the Governor candidate really does not choose his or her running mate the public does.

While Richardson has much national campaigning to do, look for Diane Denish to begin taking more local news time then she has in the past as she prepares for her race. However Richardson will still be careful of giving the impression that he is not spending enough time or keeping tabs on the goings on in New Mexico. Very few Lieutenant Governors go on to win the Governors race and there are some formidable opponents eyeing the Governors seat even as only the first month of Governor Richardson's second term is finishing up. However, Lt. Governor Denish has made it very clear she intends to run for Governor. As for me, I am watching with interest but very busy completing only my first month in the next four years as Sheriff in Santa Fe County.

One final note: I took a look at Bill Richardson's Presidential Campaign Web Site and he has covered many bases including a My Space Page, a You Tube page, Flickr and of course a Blog. Of special note is his video The New Mexico Comeback, it was a well made video which was visually pleasing as well as informative for those who don't know much about New Mexico.

I HAVE A DREAM......

Hanging in my office is a quote that I have always admired.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Great words from a great man.

Today we honor Dr. King and in that spirit I have provided courtesy of YOU TUBE his famous I Have a Dream Speech. I would be born less than three months after he gave this speech on August 28, 1963.

End Homelessness, Private Prisons and Jails

Yesterday I was up and out of the house really early to attend Mayor David Coss's Blue Ribbon Panel tasked with coming up with a plan to end homelessness in five years. It is an ambitious goal. I give a lot of credit to Mayor Coss for beginning this process. I was asked by Mayor Coss to sit on the panel and I was happy to do so. I am not a morning person so I am glad the next meeting is not at 7:30 am like the first one was. The first meeting was introductions and preliminary discussions while the next meeting will begin breaking the group up into committees. The Santa Fe New Mexican's Henry Lopez was up early to cover the meeting. The one thing I have always admired about Mayor Coss both when he was a Councilor and as Mayor was his ability to think "bigger picture" and not just take on the easy political issues. These types of initiatives take courage to even begin and most politicians will not take them on for fear of the high chance of failure to do more than make short term gains both politically and realistically. This group seems highly motivated and knowledgeable so I see good things coming out of these meetings.

The New Mexican's Steve Terrell did a piece on private prisons and this subject always interests me. It was a standard piece which contained the usual quotes from the firm Rothstien and Donatelli. All reporters run to them for their negative quotes whenever doing a prison or jail story. The firm has made millions off the backs of governments and taxpayers while purporting to be advocates for prisoners. I have said it before and I will say it again when this firm puts even 10% of the millions they make into any inmate programs whether it be vocational training, living skills or substance abuse programs I will have a little more respect for them.




















Donatelli mentioned that Santa Fe County was struggling to run its jail after years of it being run by private entities. One of the reasons the County, (any County for that matter) has to struggle is that resources and money that could go towards operations and programs go to insurance and legal costs to fend off those who make a living taking advantage of taxpayers and getting the easy money to be made in the lawsuits against jails. The Firm Donatelli and Rothstien collected two million dollars for 6 months work in the Strip Search lawsuit. Even if they worked all day every day 40 hours a week this comes out to a ridicules hourly wage.

District judges and defense attorneys try to keep prisoners who are sentenced to prison out of the prison system by having prisoners sentenced to say five years in prison but deferring all but 364 days. What this does is burden the county jails with hard core prisoners who belong in prison and whose bill should be paid by the state but because of the deferred sentence they end up with the bill for their incarceration being paid by the County. Private jails and prisons have not been good for New Mexico and that is one of the few areas where Donatelli and Rothstien and I agree. Privatization does make more sense for prisons than jails and I have yet to see a jail in New Mexico where it has worked out. On the other hand the State of New Mexico sets up jails for failure. State inmates are forced to be housed in county run jails with counties forced to foot the bill.

It also means that a jail which is not equipped or able to afford programs to reintegrate felons into society is saddled with long term housing of felons. Exactly the type of housing a prison is designed for. The legislature refuses to address these problems because it would mean increasing State Corrections costs considerably. As more and more jails bankrupt county budgets you are going to see increased pressure on legislatures from the local governments to do something about this. Remember all politics is local and legislators have to run in their local districts and more and more roads, libraries and other local services are suffering because of jail costs.

Ok, this is one of my longer blog posts and I tend to go off on tangents where jails are concerned. It is an issue which both intrigues me and incenses me. We have a lot of dedicated people in Santa Fe County who really care about the jail and having a well run jail that has meaningful programs. We just struggle because of costs and burdens saddled on local governments by law firms who take advantage and the state government.

.....One final note, I do have some really good friends who are attorneys so on thier behalf I offer this disclaimer.

*** Nothing in this blog is meant to label all attorneys and any remarks which resemble attorneys living or deceased is purely coincidental, accidental or on purpose depending on which portion of this disclaimer stands up in court.

Christmas is over, enough with the snow.

I know, no blogging for weeks. Between the Snow, the Snow and the Snow I have not had much else to deal with. Its been very busy at the Sheriff's Office and the weather has presented many challenges from citizens who don’t have propane, running low on medications, or live in an area powered by solar power and are not getting enough sun. If I never see another snow flake that will be fine with me. Let it rain for moisture.

Tonight we found our first weather related death in Santa Fe County from the winter storms. A 20 year old male was found dead of apparent hypothermia. We are not sure if drugs or alcohol were involved but apparently he was walking home when he died in a field not far from his home. I am very sorry for his family but I am glad we have not had more deaths and frankly I am surprised.

Even though there is a lot of criticism being thrown around, this storm was one that is not the norm and many dedicated people have worked around the clock cleaning roads, getting supplies to those in need and evacuating those who must be evacuated. The hundreds of phone calls we received on a daily basis that were resolved by dedicated public servants (especially Fire and Public Works) who do not make the news. For every one of you who were inconvenienced there was one person who literally was in need of lifesaving medication, or had run out of food or propane. Those people, EVERY ONE OF THEM, who called and needed help, got that help. Ok, that’s my rant and rave for the day.

I am really glad pretty much everyone lived through the storm of 2006/2007 and maybe one day I will tell my grandchildren about the time the snow was so deep we had to use a snow cat and rescue people from their homes. I might even embellish the story and say how I walked to work in the snow with bad shoes for miles and they should be happy they have school buses. :-)

A Bill Richardson Christmas

I ran across "Bill's Gift From Santa" at Jay Miller's Inside the Capitol Blog. It was hilarious so I wanted to pass it on to my readers as well. Great job Jay !

Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of you and may you have wonderfull holidays full of friends, family, laughter and good times.

Sheriff Greg Solano

Police Rank in the Middle of Most Honest and Ethical Professions

A Gallup poll revealed that the most honest and ethical profession according to respondents of the poll is Nurses. Interesting to me was that Police were in the middle of the pack, right between Clergy and Psychiatrists. My friends the Journalists were about 4 spots down the list but don't despair, you all came in one step above State Governors. Governor Bill Richardson might take issue with that. However, Governor take heart, your profession rated above Lawyers, Congressman and Senators.


The ratings for police dropped this year from 61 percent down to 54 percent of respondents found that police were the most honest profession. This was still well above its low point in 1977 which was a paltry 37 percent. The highest year was 2001 with 68 percent. Of course this was the year of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America.



















There is a noticeable difference between Whites and Non-Whites and their feelings towards the honesty and ethics of police.















Another interesting note: Republicans think Police are more honest and ethical than my fellow Democrats .





















So who do you think were the least Ethical and Honest according to those who responded to the Gallup Poll?

Who else? Used Car Salesman.

Christmas Comes Early in Santa Fe County.

Yesterday Christmas came early for Santa Fe County. Santa wore a Bolo Tie as Governor Bill Richardson's staff called me a couple of days ago and asked me if I would like $300,000 to hire 4 more deputies and assign them to work strictly on the D.W.I. problem in Santa Fe County. I was really excited as I said "absolutely"! This came just days after one of my deputies stopped another wrong way D.W.I. driver on a major highway. Our current D.W.I. unit consists of 2 deputies and one supervisor. The four additional deputies will more than double the D.W.I. unit.

We work very hard on the D.W.I. problem and are among the highest county in the state for number of arrests and convictions. I know we can even do better with more deputies devoted full time to the problem. Part of this money will also go to education and outreach. The deputies will be used for more checkpoints, saturation patrols and regular D.W.I. patrols. Rachael O' Conner the D.W.I. Czar called me herself with the news and I must say she is one of many people working very, very hard, and long hours on this problem. I know every police agency in the state could use extra officers and I feel especially honored to have been given this opportunity.

Red Light Running Prevention Web Site tied to Camera Industry

The Free New Mexican has posted a link on its Red Light Camera Story to a web site called www.stopredlightrunning.com. The web site purports to be part of The National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running . Some cursory checking shows the site and the National Campaign is sponsored by the Red Light Camera Industry. Among the sponsors is Redflex Traffic Systems. This company has contracts in 106 cities* world-wide and, with 90 USA cities under contract, is the largest provider of digital red light and speed enforcement services in North America. It is also the same company who supplies the cameras to Albuquerque and is proposing to supply them to Santa Fe.

The Executive Director of the National Campaign to Stop Red Light Running is Leslie Blakey. She is a hired gun from the firm Blakey & Agnew, LLC. This is a public affairs and communications consulting firm based in Washington, DC. The web site www.stopredlightrunning.com is an advertisement for the Red Light Camera industry. All the news listed in its news section pertains to Red Light Camera's. The only solution listed to preventing red light running accidents is the camera's. Nothing about proper light timing, enforcement by officers, or education of the driving public. Why do I bring all this up? This highlights one of the big concerns I have about this industry.

The movement for these camera's is being developed by private company's with an intense profit motive. The company's charge up to 40% of the fine to provide equipment, technical support and administer the program. Cities cannot install the cameras without contracting with these companies to provide the complete package with a percentage of ticket fines going to the company. Because of the high cost of administering the program the fines are set extremely high usually with entities using the excuse that the fines need to be high in order to be an effective deterrent.

These companies gloss over safety concerns brought about involving rear end collisions when drivers stop suddenly to avoid a red light camera ticket. That message would reduce sales. Since most states require citations to be issued by an officer who witnesses the violation (New Mexico included), these companies promote a civil violation program which skirts the state law.

As I stated in an earlier blog post that goes into more detail about the safety concerns, don't get me wrong there are a lot of good reasons to have red light cameras and I would not be as opposed to them if they were put in such a manner as to not be a revenue generating scheme. Proper procedures must be put in place to protest the citation, and the driver is photographed also to prove who was driving. We must also look at the amount of time the yellow light is on, Many cities have reduced accident just by adjusting the timing of the yellow lights. We should also look at educational programs to educate the motoring public.

Friday Funny - Richardson and Bill Maher

Here is an October interview of Governor Bill Richardson on Bill Maher's T.V. Show. While the Governor would crack a few smiles, he tried to remain serious as Bill Maher made fun of Korea's leader and our own President.

Red Light Camera's Tested in Santa Fe

The City of Santa Fe moves closer to installing red light camera's after a test done on November 17, 2006 at several Cerrillos Road intersections. As reported in our local daily papers a test was done in order to test the camera's effectiveness. As those who regularly read my blog know I have reservations about bringing the camera's to Santa Fe. Some of those reservations include:

National highway safety experts concur that the cameras cut crashes but the number of rear end accidents are going up in some areas as motorists slam on their brakes to avoid a crash, only to be struck from behind. In some cases a 50% increase in the number of accidents at a particular intersection have occurred where camera's have been installed. On the other hand the severity of the rear end collisions and injures are usually less then the side impact collisions which show a decrease when camera's are installed.

Here are three studies which shows that accidents increase at intersections with red light camera's due to motorists making abrupt stops in order to avoid the citation.

Maryland county's red light cameras net $2.85 million, increase accidents

Georgia: Accidents Increased with Red Light Cameras

Washington study

Some studies show increases in injuries from the rear end collisions verses the red light running collisions.

The movement for these camera's is being developed by private company's with an intense profit motive. These company's have even been ensnared in bribery investigations in order to get cities to enact ordinances which allow the camera's. The company's charge up to 40% of the fine to provide equiptment, technical support and administer the program. Because of the high cost of administering the program the fines are set extremely high usually with entities using the excuse that the fines need to be high in order to be an effective deterrent. This leads to resentment from the citizens when they see the government entity (the City) raising large sums of money from the red light camera's. In Albuquerque the city has raised millions with the camera's and Speeding camera's and slowly there is resentment building from the community. On 770 KKOB Radio a few days ago the host Jim Villanucci was bragging about his photo blocker license plate cover while callers were complaining about "Mayor Marty Chavez's Money Making Scheme".

Up to 80% of the tickets issued from red light camera's can involve split second violations where the violator just missed the light and would not have been cited by a police officer who witnessed the violation as opposed to the camera which makes no distinction. There have even been reports of entities adjusting light timing in order to encourage citations. Because the citations do not go on your driving record and do not cause points on your license or cost you increased insurance rates there is not as much pressure to ensure accuracy.

Don't get me wrong there are a lot of good reasons to have red light cameras and I would not be as opposed to them if they were put in such a manner as to not be a revenue generating scheme and proper procedures were put in place to protest the citation, and the driver is photographed also to prove who was driving. I hope the City of Santa Fe considers these factors as they move ahead with this plan. Many cites and even one state has removed the camera's after using them for a year or two when they found they did not work, were not safe, or were not well received by the public.

Blog hits 10,000 hits.

I don't usually blog on Saturdays but my wife noticed that this blog hit 10,000 views sometime last night. I started this blog on January 7, 2006 wondering if anyone besides myself and my wife would read it. Actually there was no guarantee she would read it! So, I am humbled and pleasantly surprised that there has been 10,000 views in the last 11 months. I hope there has been some enjoyment in reading my ramblings in the last year.

Here are some other stats that came from my counter service:

* The most used search terms to find my blog are:

Red Light Cameras

How to be a politician

legalize drugs

Sheriff Solano and Greg Solano

Joe Arpaio and Sheriff Joe Arpaio

* The busiest day is Wednesday

* The busiest hour is 8:00 am

* The average page views per day is 38

* Google Page Rank for this page: 5

* Yahoo! has found 17 links to this site. Who links to me?

* MSN Search has found 1,408 links to this site.


So next month this blog will be a year old, I thank all of you who regularly check in and hope you will continue.

Happy Holidays!

Free Speech or Bad Reflection on Department?

I ran across this story in the Santa Fe New Mexican about a New Mexico State Police Officer who was allegedly posting inappropriate comments in a chat forum dedicated to the Denver Broncos. This was a double whammy to me since I am a Bronco Fan as well as the Sheriff. All kidding aside however this did bring up an interesting dilemma. Many employers would frown on this type of activity however they will not fire someone or discipline them for fear of a free speech type lawsuit. Officers are in the public eye and public servants. Those of us in management tell them this from the day they are hired. We have Standard Operating Procedures which outline acts which bring the department in a bad light as punishable offenses. Therefore chat rooms, blogs, letters to the editor and other forms of free speech need to be balanced against what the public expects from their men and women who wear badges.

What? Those who protect the rights of others must give up some of those rights to be an officer? Yes, and you sign on the dotted line to do so. The case referred to above is a perfect example of why. A state police officer was not only allegedly posting inappropriate comments but he was posting comments in which even though he has a Hispanic sur name he ripped into Hispanics and illegal Mexican nationals, threatened to frame people for drug possession and discussed the effectiveness of stun guns. Maybe he was just venting but the problem lies in that defense attorneys will use these comments against him on each and every case he is involved in. Remember Mark Furman in the O.J. Case? Any time he uses a Tazer in the line of duty it will be alleged it was excessive force and lawsuits will be filed. His effectiveness as an officer is shot and his credibility in court is zero. So when we have officers sign on the dotted line that their personal and professional life must remain unsullied it is really about their credibility in the courts and in the public eye, not about just whether or not we want the department to look good in the public.

On another note I was really miffed when he brought up the Tazer as a fun thing. The Tazer saves lives every day. When I first became sheriff, deputies had a firearm and a baton, the choices were hit them or shoot them if you could not talk them or wrestle them into complying. I brought in Pepper Spray and Tazers. This allowed options when dealing with uncooperative subjects. Tazers are in my opinion one of the greatest additions to law enforcement since bullet resistant vests. They not only save suspects lives every day they save officers lives and prevent untold numbers of injuries to both suspects and officers. They are not a toy and their use should always be serious and necessary. Tazers are still relatively new and I would hate to lose them as a tool because we allowed stupid comments to turn the publics opinion against them.

So, what do you think? Does the officers rights to free speech out weigh the responsibility to the public as a public official?

The Long, Long Weekend

Its been a long weekend. Saturday night I was with some friends who had come over to my house for dinner. I received a phone call that we had a fatal motor vehicle accident on I-25. The first call made it seem as though one person had died. The call had just come in so we did not have many details at that point. Usually I get one call when we know we have a fatality or homicide and then I will get a follow up call from someone on the scene once things have calmed down and there is more details. The next call I got was within a minute or two and I was informed we now may have two dead. I got my hand held radio and turned it on and soon it looked like this was more than just your normal highway accident. I called one of the commanders on scene. I usually try not to call them on the scene in the first 20 or 30 minutes because they are so busy trying to take care of victims, direct traffic, and such that they don't need to be bothered. In this case I wanted to see just how bad this accident was. The commander was busy coordinating traffic control but advised me that we may have three dead. We had gone from 1 dead to three in a few minutes so I excused myself from our dinner guests and put on my uniform and headed to the scene.

When I got to the scene on I-25 the first deputy I approached told me the count was now five dead with a sixth flown to University of New Mexico Hospital with life threatening injures. I could not believe how the death count kept rising. As I approached the two vehicles I could see a white dodge pickup facing me with the front end completely obliterated. A van was in front of me with the drivers side facing me. The front end of that was completely gone also. I could see the first victim at the drivers side passenger door. The driver and front seat passengers were also pinned between the seat and the steering console and dash. As I continued to approach the van I knew this was no ordinary accident scene ( to a cop who has seen many of these I guess there is such a thing as an ordinary scene). I could see a small brown stuffed animal on the roadway at the rear of the van. Boxes of Peanut M&M's like you buy at Sams Club were on the ground near the drivers door. I walked around the rear of the mini van where I saw soccer shin guards and a soccer ball. Then came a young child lying in the rear seat still wearing her soccer clothing. She reminded me of my daughter who is age 14. The first victim I saw earlier was her older sister. The youngest girl was in an ambulance at the scene, she had not made it either.

I could not believe what I was seeing. I have been to too many accidents, homicides, and assaults to count but I could not ever recall feeling as I did just then. While I know we can never show the public what I saw that night I keep thinking that if the public did see what I saw, who would ever drink and drive again? The truth is that some probably still will continue to drink and drive.

I knew this was going to be a long night. I also knew this story would have legs as they say in the news business. I always try to let my people do their jobs, they are the best in the business and they know what they are doing. I usually handle the press, so we can keep them informed and out of the investigating deputies way. I also try to make sure they have every thing they need to do their jobs and take care of the little details that can bog them down. The press and their ability to learn of these things is amazing. In no time all major newspapers and TV stations were calling and arriving on the scene.

It was a long night that still has not ended. Yes, its now Tuesday night and It still seems like one really long day that has not ended. This story will continue to be a daily news story until the funerals are over and then probably through the weekend. The horror and publicity these stories provide are probably good in the sense that it brings a reminder and new light to the problems we still have with D.W.I. . The hard thing is for the news crews to keep coming up with new and different angles for the next days stories. As we go into the fourth day of three major TV stations, two major papers, several radio stations and the calls coming in from Colorado news crews and the Associated Press all calling for the latest details and looking for help with the latest angle on the story its getting to the point where I have no more information to give.

Some police agencies give very little information and therefore the news crews can drag out little tidbits at a time and dig for their own information which can drag the stories on much longer. I try to have a model Open Government and eliminate the need for any Freedom of Information requests by giving all information that we can without harming a case or releasing information that is not legal to release. This means a flood of information initially and then we have very little left afterwards, especially in this case where filing of criminal charges will not happen. Many news agencies are awaiting the completion and release of the official report. The truth is there will be very little if any information in that report that is not already available by reading any newspaper or watching any TV station that has covered this case.

The death of the alleged drunk driver in this case means we have no villain left to go after. Or do we? News media is frantically struggling to find someone to blame. Really I can not just pin this on just the media, the truth is the public wants someone to blame, someone to point their finger at and say "its your fault". It is not as easy to do that to a deceased person. So we look to who sold him the liquor? Is the airline at fault? Can we find some liquor establishment in New Mexico to blame? Can we reach the finger of blame out to Reno Nevada? Perhaps it's New Mexico's Laws and Courts, maybe they are to blame. Just months ago the state was touting that D.W.I. deaths are down in New Mexico. It made some feel warm and fuzzy and yes it gave politicians a chance to point at the stats and take credit. Then this happens, wow so much for our progress.

Once again we look to pass new laws, put up barricades on medians to prevent wrong way drivers and look to ways to prevent the next one. This is all good and with each new circumstance we learn of new problems we have to take care of to prevent the next tragedy. I don't think we will ever completely stop drunk driving but we can hope and keep working towards that goal. This is a sobering reminder of the fact that yes, we have made progress but we are not done yet. As a completion to today's blog I would like to ask for gods blessing on all the families involved. Both the Papst family and the Gonzales, and Collins family are suffering and will suffer for the rest of their lives. I only hope that with all our prayers we will ease their pain somewhat and allow them to go on.

Union Brothers Unite?

As a former Public Safety Union President I am embarrassed by the City Firefighters Union and what they are doing to a fellow union and Fire Department. As reported in the Santa Fe New Mexican and elsewhere the City Fire Fighters Union is not only verbally opposing the County Fire Fighters quest to expand its Fire Department through a county wide gross receipts tax, they are actually going door to door to try and convince voters to turn it down.

Union solidarity has always meant something in America. In fact unions strength through out the years have come from the fact that fellow unions always supported each other. It is through the solidarity of many that victories have been won since the times of sweatshops and indecent working conditions. Today's City Fire Fighters Union seems to have forgotten the struggles of the past and have also lost sight of the fact that in the future someday, perhaps in March when the city's public safety property tax is voted on, they will need the support of fellow unions and the other politically involved people to support them. When the city police and fire unions went to the City Council to ask for raises only a few months ago they fully had the support of county unions and officials, how soon we forget. I in this blog, and on the New Mexican web site urged the city council to give the full raises being asked for instead of half the amount that ended up being passed.

The City Fire Fighters union is really way off on this one. On the one hand they complain that the county should shoulder more of the burden to cover county areas the city is now covering. On the other hand they oppose the tax which would allow the County to expand its Fire Department. The County Fire Department is badly in need of beginning the transition from almost all volunteer, to staffed fire stations with the ability to handle the ever increasing growth in the county. The City cannot have it both ways they cannot complain about the city fire serving county properties out of one side of their mouth and then out of the other side complain about the counties attempts to raise money to remedy the situation. Both of the fire departments are trying to downplay the animosity and lack of cooperation that is developing out of this situation. Those of us in the trenches know different, It will be very unfortunate if a life is lost or a firefighters is hurt because of this lack of leadership and those in public safety forgetting about why they took these jobs in the first place.

Sheriff Andy Griffith is running again.

Normally I might save this for funny Friday but I ran across this and couldn't resist blogging it.

A man who is a co-owner of a music store in Platteville Wisconsin is running for sheriff. No big news there, except William Fenrick has legally changed his name to Andy Griffith. And why not? Who wouldn't vote for Andy Griffith for Sheriff? What also caught my eye was that in this area, according to Andy, the Sheriff's race garners little attention in Grant County Wisconsin.

In New Mexico usually the Sheriff's race is a very heated race which often draws voters to the polls in non-presidential years. The primary races where the party's battle their own to find a General Election candidate is especially heated with the General Elections usually being very benign. One difference between New Mexico and most other states is that Sheriff's are Term Limited. The incumbent in Grant County Wisconsin has been in office ten years. Other infamous sheriffs such as Sheriff Joe Arpaio who is completing 13 years this year and despite his detractors will probably be sheriff as long as he wants to be don't have term limits. On the one hand we lose valuable experience and maybe the ability to keep someone who is doing a good job. On the other hand sometimes too many years in office can allow some offices to stagnate and halt change and innovation. My feeling is it depends on the candidate and the voters can always elect for change so why force the voters hand with term limits.

According to Andy Griffith the Sheriff candidate he changed his name in order to draw attention to the Sheriff's Race. He is running as an independent in a race which features a Democrat and the Republican incumbent. Watch video news footage here. Only in America.........

Friday Funny - Top Ten Reasons to Vote Republican

The Top Ten Reasons to Vote Republican This November
By Jackson Thoreau

Oct. 22, 2002 (Jackson/Thoreau/APJP)






No. 10: So schoolchildren can pledge allegiance everyday to "one nation under God and Enron."

No. 9: So super-wealthy Americans can afford to hire some more special guards to keep the increasing number of protesters and homeless population out of their sight when they venture into public places.

No. 8: So more far-right judges who stop our elections to tell us who really won can be appointed to the Supreme Court.

No. 7: So HMOs can replace your doctor with "customer service representatives," and so universities can teach courses on the proper way to say, "Do you want fries with that?"

No. 6: So Wall Street interns can learn the ropes by gambling with Social Security funds in the stock market.

No. 5: So Republicans can control all branches of our government and bring about a real dictatorship.

(too late for this one.....Greg)

No. 4: So your children and grandchildren can view some "nice, clean oil wells," instead of the scenery, when they visit our national parks.

No. 3: So we can continue to blame everything that goes wrong on Clinton.

No. 2: So the poor and minorities can fight and die disproportionately in perpetual wars to make the world safe for democracy and keeping Republicans in office.

And the No. 1 reason to vote Republican

So Ann Coulter can be appointed Secretary of Foreign Affairs and either put up or shut up!!!!!

Free New Mexican Comments

The Free New Mexican Web Site recently stopped allowing comments on its news story's at their web site. I have to admit that I read the comments daily and sometimes on selective story's I would comment myself. In fact it was the Free New Mexican web site which led me to Steve Terrell's Blog which then led me to Julia Goldberg's blog and eventually led me to begin a blog of my own.

According to the Free New Mexican web editor there were many inappropriate comments about the recent violent assault and battery of Paige McKenzie, John Dendahl's spokeswoman. The upper management decided to stop all commenting until changes were made. The comments often resulted in what I would call very zealous free speech and while sometimes hateful and untruthful comments were made, for the most part a free thinking reasonable person could pick there way through the motivations for mean spirited comments. During the June Primary Elections many candidates, myself included were the recipient of mean spirited and untruthful comments. You would think that I would be opposed to the comments because of this but I actually blew off the extreme comments or responded to them with the truth. The good thing about the comment section is that it allowed me to see what citizens both normal citizens and the extremists thought about news stories that involved the Sheriff's Office or me personally. It was like taking a poll on each news story that involved me without having to pay for it.

The New Mexican is going to retool the comment rules and should be restarting the comments again soon. The one thing I did not like about the new rules is that the New Mexican will only choose certain news stories to allow comments on and only those stories during certain hours will have comments. It should be fairly easy for web editors to figure out which stories people will want to comment on, but will it become censorship? Will certain stories not be chosen because they are likely to attract more heated debate? Or will stories that are likely to attract comments which differ from the Editors or Newspapers point of view not be chosen as stories which comments are allowed in order to tow the papers editorial line? Only time will tell.

I have no doubt that the comments will be a lot more tame and maybe not as amusing to read. On the other hand I do know that some people who were not as used to the negative comments being said about them as I am were hurt by the comments. I remember during certain deaths that very hurtful things were said about the deceased and I know this had to be very hurtful to the family members. Things often get extreme before the pendulum swings back to somewhere in the middle. While I am very opposed to limiting free speech I do have a part of me that believes that things probably were getting out of hand on certain stories. The New Mexican is after all a business and cannot afford to allow things to get too far out of hand on their website. Steve Terrell had a good comment on his blog. If you want completely unrestricted free speech you can always start your own blog.