Councilors Come Down On PIO Gallegos For Social Media Blasts; Threats To Defund The Position As Verbal Combat With Citizens Over Crime Continues, Plus: Starry Internet Nights

Gilbert Gallegos

Is Gilbert Gallegos, the outspoken public information officer for APD and the former communications chief for former Gov Bill Richardson, about to be bounced?

For months Gallegos has been taking incoming for his disparaging and often cocky comments on Twitter from those crticizing APD's crime fighting efforts. His battle with ABQ businessman and longtime Mayor Keller and APD critic Doug Petersen has been so intense that several councilors at Monday's council meeting demanded to know why the PIO is engaging in personal debates with citizens which is not part of the PIO's job description.

It got really nasty when businessman Peterson took to Twitter on March 16 to dispute APD's claim of a reduced crime rate. Gallegos retorted: "How is crime in Tanoan?" which is a wealthy gated community in NE ABQ.

ABQ NE Heights Councilor Renee Grout displayed the exchange (posted here) for all the councilors and the mayoral representatives to see. 

City Chief Administrative Officer Lawrence Rael seemed flummoxed by the Gallegos controversy. 

Mayor Keller and Chief Medina stood by Gallegos when TV news did an investigative report on his behavior. Rael did tell the councilors there would be more internal discussion about Gallegos. And Medina said the personal attacks will be curbed.

Gallegos' "greatest hits" against Peterson include these:

“Calling out your b.s. is public service.” 

 “You only complain and never offer solutions.” 

 “Your racism aside, we have charged 99 murder suspects this year.” 

It's all too much for Councilor Pat Davis who dressed down Rael and Chief Medina: 

I will work personally to defund that position, to defund that account, and prohibit the City from using Twitter in that way if we continue to not solve this problem. We are not going to pick a fight with people online in social media. We are not QAnon trolls but we are participating in it and encouraging it, and elevating all those people by responding to it. . . someone needed to be disciplined for it and as far as I can tell it hasn't happened," said Davis.

Perhaps Galleogs, a onetime political reporter for the ABQ Tribune, can be shifted to a position where they take away his social media privileges. But if he is shown the exits he knows how to file for unemployment. When he lost his job when Gov. Richardson's terms were over he filed for unemployment benefits and the Martinez administration tried to stop them. Gallegos lost in court. 

STARRY NIGHTS

Veteran political consultant and Santa Fe reader Chris Brown reacts to our report on the Feds announcing in ABQ this week additional millions to build out more high speed internet in rural NM. He relays an experience a relative has had with the Starlink service which is delivered via satellite:

 Joe, My son-in-law brought his Starlink gear from Colorado recently. He gets speed of  38 Mbps (while ATT touts 25) and he showed me a streaming high resolution video on his phone. He uses his Starlink receiver for small RV camping trips around Colorado and Utah as do other coworkers at his Fortune 500 employer so they can flex-work remotely. They have not found canyon walls or trees to be a problem they can’t resolve. And thanks to drought and the Forest Service, trees are a diminishing nuisance in the Mountain West. Competition in satellite internet is heating up with not only Amazon’s satellite constellations but One Web's. The dug fiber solution seems backward looking, but maybe the cable layers will unearth more dinosaurs to put in museums lit with those fiber optic Christmas trees. 

Starlink does seem an alternative for parts of rural New Mexico, but according to user reports trees and other obstacles can often interrupt the service. Still, it costs les than $599 to set-up and monthly fees begin at $110.00. They also offer a free 30 day trial period. However, the service is not available in all rural areas. The company web site can tell if you are a potential customer. 

This is the home of New Mexico politics.

E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com)

Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.  

(c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2023