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Thursday, August 07, 2025News Coverage Of APD DWI Scandal Still Stymied; Watchdog Speaks Out, Plus: Reader React To Housing Crisis APD cops continue to admit to taking bribes in the sweeping DWI scandal that has engulfed the department and is being traced back 30 years. And former APD sergeant and watchdog Dan Klein and others continue to criticize federal court plea bargain hearings where officers admit guilt but are conducted with no news reporters present. No quotes from the judges, attorneys or defendants and no courtroom sketches. Also, those "perp walks" so familiar to TV viewers where defendants are shown walking into the courthouse for their hearings are nowhere to be seen, unlike in other criminal cases. Klein says: The federal courts are supposed to step in when the system fails and violates the Constitution by not making public (in a timely manner) the docketed plea deals. This means that citizens victimized by the DWI scandal don’t get the chance to see the officers and attorneys who harmed them standing before a federal magistrate and pleading guilty. When justice happens in private there is no justice, this is what our constitution wanted to protect us from. Federal judges, the US Attorney, defense attorneys, the federal court administration seem to be working very hard to keep the public and victims in the dark when it comes to plea deals with the DWI scandal. You don’t see this in any other criminal cases. It drives the belief home that in New Mexico defendants who were part of the criminal justice system get better treatment than those who were not. We would add that the NM media has been alarmingly shy in pursuing their right to attend the hearings and protecting the public's right to know. KRQE has tried, unsuccessfully, but what happened to the NM Foundation for Open Government (FOG)? What other dominoes will be allowed to fall? As for the future APD, mayoral candidates Mayling Armijo and Louie Sanchez are two of the seven contenders on the November ballot who say, if elected, they will seek new APD leadership. HOUSING CRISIS  Joe, I will cut to the chase. The median home price in Albuquerque is $395.000. Income requirement to buy the median priced home is $115,234. Median home income in Albuquerque is $63,971. We've seen inflation in the price of land and price of building materials but when it comes to income, stagflation. If we don't do something to address the wages side of the affordability equation then I fear those alphabet generations will never be "homeowners" in the traditional sense. Another longtime reader, conservative Jim McClure, commented: Thanks for calling attention to the housing crisis. One reason it exists is because politicians believe that high-priced government apartment buildings are the only alternative to homelessness. Another way is to encourage private developers to build starter homes by rolling back government regulations that drive up costs. Wider use of manufactured housing can reduce construction costs. Not just mobile homes: Modular homes (even luxury models) can be quickly assembled on-site from factory-built components. This will require changing zoning laws, streamlining permitting and rolling back environmental rules that add to the costs of every new home. The Navajo Nation recently inked a deal to build manufactured homes and Mayor Keller is using creative zoning to encourage casitas. Instead of just putting people under a roof, encouraging low-cost starter homes will move people into the middle class by making them homeowners. Good stuff, guys. We welcome your comments, criticisms, observations and existential angst. Reporting from Albuquerque, I'm Joe Monahan. This is the Home of New Mexico Politics. |
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