Press "Enter" to skip to content

It’s Them NOT Us

On the eve before the primary elections, a handful of Albuquerque City Councilors defeat the ethics reform package introduced by City Councilor Brad Winter. What a perfect reminder as to why it is so important to vote in every election. Yes, we’re talking about the same city council that felt is was necessary to introduce and pass a revised all encompassing animal ordinance that dictates the size and number of perches in a bird cage, yet in the current climate of widespread governmental corruption did not see fit to pass ethics reform. The money quote of the week goes to Councilor Ken Sanchez:

Sanchez said Albuquerque officials already have high ethical standards. He said the need for improvement is at a state government level.

Of course, the others who voted against reform with Councilor Sanchez also had some gems of wisdom worth noting:

Mayer raised several questions about Winter’s proposal, but she was especially critical of provisions that would prevent the mayor and councilors from trying to steer city contracts to their campaign contributors when an independent review committee recommended a different bidder. She said there could be good reasons for favoring a campaign contributor and councilors should not be blocked from voting to do so.

Loy also said he was troubled by the proposed restriction. He said elected officials should make decisions about contracts and should not be required to defer to a review committee.

“We can’t tie the hands of elected officials,” he said.

These people are unreal.