The Citizen Media Group

Check Palenick's Deals

By Sharon Ford

As a resident of Rio Rancho, I have been faithfully following, with interest, the tenure and now firing of our ex-City Manager, James Palenick. Hooray for the City Council’s action in ridding our fair city of a public official with a very dark past and questionable current business practices as well.

Now, the City Council should seriously look into Mr. Palenick’s murky and expensive project dealings for the city, including his championing the Lionsgate deal.

At Mr. Palenick’s insistence and bamboozling, while using smoke and mirrors tactics, the city council passed the sweetheart deal for Lionsgate by using “$7M” suddenly promised by the State Investment Council to be immediately followed with a contract.

Both contract and money were allegedly forthcoming from the SIC, but neither has yet materialized. This has been approximately six months. Only land has been thrown at them, for which we are financially responsible. Hasn’t Mr. Palenick put the council in violation of its own Ordinance, which requires $7M on the table?

Newspaper articles since published clearly state that Lionsgate does not have any intention in providing any of their own funds for their “studio” which may or may not be built anywhere. I don’t want to have a government-supported business in my city that has no interest in commitment to its residents. It is a slap in the face to us as well as all New Mexicans.

We shouldn’t leave out an equally questionable new made-up company called LWP (Live, Work and Play) for whom Mr. Palenick again managed to get city council approval without them having any plans, money or business experience as a company. I question what else are we paying for.

So, what was done in the smoky backroom to get these deals made? I am one Rio Rancho citizen who would like to know.

The Citizen Recognizes Community Heroes

While The Citizen Media Group is run by journalists and publishes news online, the overarching purpose of our group is to encourage and empower citizens to use the media to make a difference.

To that end, as the year draws to a close, we would like to introduce our “Hero's Voice” program that recognizes community heroes, individuals who:
• Courageously spoke out on important issues, often speaking alone
• Faced actual or potential consequences for going against the status quo
• Effectively used the media to inform others

We thank these three heroes for their courage in using the media to inform their fellow citizens and, in the process, for speaking truth to power:

Attorney Protects Cop from Police Chief, Sheriff

Bully Cops May Cost Taxpayers

Al Unser Sr.’s attorney is now seeking to protect the APD officer who testified on Unser’s behalf against three Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies. The attorney has also filed for possible civil action against the Sheriff’s Office, a move that could cost taxpayers.

Police Chief Manipulates Alb. Journal

When Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz decided to unleash an “internal investigation” against Officer Sam Costales, defense witness in the Al Unser Sr. trial, Schultz knew who to call.

The Albuquerque Journal jumped like a trained dog.

The story, published the last day of the trial, led defense attorneys to question why Schultz should not be held in contempt of court for intimidation of a witness.

Costales had testified against the three Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Deputies who arrested the 67-year-old Unser on his own property after dragging him from his truck and slamming him to the ground.

Unser was charged with disobeying officers and resisting arrest. Costales testified the deputies were rude and unprofessional.

Unser was acquitted on both counts.

Costales now faces payback from his own boss, as well as from Sheriff Darren White, for simply telling the inconvenient truth about fellow cops using excessive force on a senior citizen.

Unser attorney Robert McNeill is asking both the Attorney General and District Attorney Kari Brandenburg to intervene. His letter states:

"Chief Schultz’s announcement (of an internal investigation) was triggered by a telephone call he received from BCSO Sheriff Darren White, who was annoyed that an APD officer would contradict the sworn testimony of the sheriff’s deputies...It is evident that an orchestrated effort to persecute and discredit an honest police officer is underway."

The arrogance of both Schultz and White, demonstrated in this transparent retaliation against Costales, shows how bad the system can get when public officials are not held accountable.

While Schultz and White may be expected to defend the status quo of their own disgraced departments, the state’s largest daily newspaper should be ashamed it ran Schultz’s story on demand, enabling his attempted intimidation of Costales.

Costales was not allowed to defend himself in the press, nor were Unser’s attorneys allowed to defend him.

Now that they have published emails between White and police union official James Badway exposing the “bad cop fraternity” that exists between the Sheriff’s Office and APD, we can only hope editors Karen Moses and Kent Walz pause before jumping the next time either Schultz or White calls.

Council Plays TIDD for Tat on Mesa Del Sol Project

Albuquerque City Council voted to create the state’s first Tax Increment Development Districts, known as TIDDs, for Mesa del Sol, a 12,000-acre, mixed-use development on the Southeast Mesa.

TIDDs allow developers to issue bonds against projected tax revenues to raise money for roads, water, sewer and other infrastructure.

The council approved five districts. But they split on how much in gross receipts and property taxes developer Forrest City Covington should be able to use to back its bonds.

Big Box Bills Shelved

Unlike with its streetcar protest, this time the startup taxpayer group Stop Wasting Albuquerque Taxes had some powerful company in opposing City Council President Debbie O’Malley’s “big box” retail bills.

One bill proposed a six-month moratorium on stores 60,000 square feet or larger. The second proposed 34 pages of new design rules for such stores.

Both drew criticism from the Albuquerque chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties and from national retailers themselves.

The moratorium was defeated in a 5-4 vote, while the new design rules were sent to the Environmental Planning Commission for public process, delaying council action until February.

“Big-Box” Proposal Makes No Sense

By Paul J. Gessing

Having wisely postponed plans to construct a $270 million streetcar, City Council is again on the verge of taking a policy stance that is driven by the philosophy of “new urbanism” rather than the wishes of a vast majority of Albuquerque residents.

How do I know this?

I don’t need polling data to prove that residents of the Duke City love their big box stores; all I need is to head into my local Wal-Mart (or Target, or any other “big box” store) and see the hordes of people of all racial and income groups who are taking advantage of the low costs and vast array of goods available.

The most dangerous part of the proposed “big-box” legislation is that it would slap a six-month moratorium on development of stores sized at more than 50,000 square feet. There is no better way to stifle economic growth than the use of arbitrary prohibitions aimed at specific businesses or industries.

Worse, would this be only a six month moratorium or, as first occurred with the transit tax for the streetcar, will the moratorium, once in place, be extended?

According to the ringleader of the anti-big box coalition, Councilor Debbie O'Malley, the goal of her legislation is to use the moratorium to give Council time to develop a permanent set of guidelines.

This sounds nice, but big box stores are certainly not new to Albuquerque, why is this suddenly such an emergency that a moratorium is required?

Secondly, there already are standards for all development in this City called zoning requirements. If Council wants to alter the way development is done here, they already have the tools to do it.

Instead of being an honest effort to make our fair city a bit fairer, the proposed regulations – 37 pages in length – appear to be little more than a cynical ploy to slow down the process of locating and constructing these stores. At every turn in the process, the regulations make it possible for a small handful of NIMBY activists and radicals to stop the process of locating one of these stores in its tracks.

Traffic issues, for example, are already taken into account in the location of any new business or shopping area, but the regulations add additional steps to the process. The appearance guidelines are particularly absurd.

If window size and pedestrian-friendliness are going to be factors in the development of big-box stores, why shouldn’t all developers face similar issues?

Clearly, what we DON’T need in this city is government bureaucrats determining window size, toilet flow, and every other aspect of our homes and businesses.

One last example of just how out of touch many of our Councilors are with the citizens they represent is the idea contained in the proposed regulations to place residential units in and around big-box stores. It is hard to believe, given the opposition these stores often face, that people would want to live on top of or immediately next door to their local grocery store or Wal-Mart.

The reality is that the very same middle and working class residents on behalf of whom Council purportedly acts, also happen to be the biggest beneficiaries of big box stores. Wal-Mart alone draws 100 million customers a week and is estimated to save the average household $2,300 annually. Now, in response to Wal-Mart’s introduction of $4.00 generic drugs, retailers are battling to offer the cheapest generic drugs.

And, perhaps even more importantly, a rising number of big box retailers are opening in-store health clinics that charge patients a fraction of what doctors do. These tangible benefits offered to low-income customers are an obvious reason why Counselor Sanchez wants to exempt his district from the legislation.

If O’Malley and her allies get their way and pass a moratorium and subsequent regulations that dramatically raise the costs of locating big box stores in Albuquerque, she will be attacking the very residents of this community that can least afford it. Of course, given Council’s track record, they’ll probably respond to the economic harm done to low-income workers with new subsidies or welfare.

Paul Gessing is the president of the Rio Grande Foundation, a non-partisan, tax-exempt research and educational organization dedicated to promoting prosperity for New Mexico based on principles of limited government, economic freedom and individual responsibility.

RR City Council Votes Palenick Out

The Rio Rancho City Council voted unanimously to oust City Manager James Palenick. Palenick was given three minutes to speak. He read a prepared statement, expressing surprise about the “juggernaut force to remove me from office before questions could be asked, options could be pondered or the public could be allowed to weigh in.”

Rio Rancho’s City Manager Out

Rio Rancho City Manager James Palenick is expected to resign today or face a possible ouster by the city council.

NM Filmmakers Face Challenge Accessing Money

“The Deck Is Stacked Against Us”

Even as starry-eyed, hopeful screenwriters and producers look forward to the Santa Fe Film Festival this week, established film people get no respect, or at least no access.

The state’s multi-million dollar, interest-free loans, 25 percent tax credit and other incentives offered freely to Hollywood remain frustratingly out of reach to New Mexico filmmakers themselves.

While some blame politics, Eric Witt, the state’s director of media arts and industry, says officials must follow the laws restricting the incentives. Others say the rules keep changing.

Controversy Dogs New Marilyn Monroe Book, Highlights Hollyweird

Like the Hollywood star herself, the latest book on Marilyn Monroe is already engulfed in controversy. But the book’s biggest critics have credibility issues of their own.

The row is one more hurdle native New Mexican Ken Knoll faces in trying to turn the book “Marilyn, Joe and Me” into a made-in-New Mexico movie. Knoll, who recently transplanted his Sacramento media business to the state, is a manager of the limited liability company formed for the book project.