Mayor Chavez: Flip-flopper on binding arbitration?

from the New Mexico Independent

By Marjorie Childress 08/27/2008 79 Views -->
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Andrew Padilla, president of public employees union AFSCME Council 18, calls Mayor Martin Chavez’s threat to veto a bill passed last week by the Albuquerque City Council a “punch in the gut to labor.”
That’s because of what the mayor said last fall during his short-lived Senate race.
According to Padilla, Chavez came to the AFSCME union hall to speak with blue-collar workers and union representatives last fall to drum up support for his Senate campaign. During that visit, Padilla said, the mayor clearly voiced support for a binding arbitration measure like the one passed by the City Council.
“When he was running for the Senate last fall, he was for this measure,” Padilla said. “He came down to the union hall and said, in front of blue-collars and union reps, that he was in favor of binding arbitration for noneconomic issues. He said that. His vow to now veto this bill is a big deal for us. It’s a punch in the gut to labor from Marty Chavez.”
The Mayor’s Office did not respond to inquiries by the Independent asking for the mayor’s recollections of last year's campaign visit, or to questions in general about his thoughts on how to resolve the union’s concerns.
The New Mexico Public Employee Bargaining Act provides for forced arbitration to break through an impasse during labor contract negotiations. In such a case, an approved arbitrator is agreed to by both parties and has the final say on unresolved issues. The cost of arbitration is borne equally by both sides.
But when the act was signed into law in 2003, it grandfathered in municipal ordinances already in effect. One of those is the City of Albuquerque Labor-Management Relations Ordinance. The city ordinance allows the two sides to voluntarily enter into binding resolution, but does not allow either side to force the other into arbitration for unresolved issues.
Padilla told the Independent that he could not recall the city ever agreeing to enter into voluntary arbitration to resolve an impasse during contract negotiations, and attributes this to the city knowing that it can simply impose a contract in the end since public employees don't have the right to strike.
For this reason, he said, the city’s labor ordinance has long hampered genuine negotiations between the city and it’s public employees.
“Negotiations really aren’t negotiations if the employer can just impose a contract on you in the end,” Padilla said. “In the past, when we’ve reached an impasse and mediation hasn’t worked, we’ve sent a letter requesting arbitration. Then they say no.”
When asked about concerns that the bill would constitute a “substantial” change, which under the state statute would end the grandfathering provision and make the city ordinance null and void, Padilla said it was pure speculation. Different attorneys say different things, he said, and in any event Councilor Debbie O’Malley offered an amendment to the bill that would make the binding arbitration provision null and void should it be declared a “substantial” change in court.
Other concerns are that the bill would make it difficult for the city to schedule workers when and where they are needed. Padilla said that would not be the case either since O’Malley added an amendment to the bill exempting “management rights.”
Under the City’s labor ordinance, management rights have the following definition:

§ 3-2-5 MANAGEMENT RIGHTS.
Subject to existing law, the Mayor and his administrative staff shall have the following rights:
(A) To direct the work of its employees;
(B) To hire, promote, evaluate, transfer and assign employees;
(C) To demote, suspend, discharge or terminate employees for just cause;
(D) To determine staffing requirements;
(E) To maintain the efficiency of the city government and ensure the carrying out ofnormal management functions;
(F) To take actions as may be necessary to carry out the mission of the citygovernment in emergencies; and
(G) To manage and to exercise judgment on all matters not specifically prohibitedby this article or by a collective bargaining agreement in effect between the city employer and an employee organization.

Padilla argues that staffing questions regarding when and where employees would be assigned to work falls under management rights that are exempt from the bill. O’Malley also amended the bill to exclude drug use policy.
There are a whole host of other issues that fall outside of economic issues, management rights, and drug use policy, that are the subject of contract negotiations. Current city contracts can be seen on this Web page.
The table of contents in each shows the scope of issues covered. The City Council passed the bill 5-3, with Councilor Sally Mayer absent. To override the mayor’s veto, Mayer would need to provide the sixth vote in favor of the bill.
Padilla said his union will challenge the city’s ordinance in court if necessary in an attempt to bring it in line with the arbitration provisions in the state statute.

More Support for Reforming 1872 Mining Law

Only in NM blogger and former Albuquerque Mayor Jim Baca posted about Licncoln County Commission adding to the list of supporters for reform to the 1872 Mining Law.

As you recall, Councilor Rey Garduño sponsored and passed a City Council Resolution to support the Federal Government to reform the 1872 Mining Law. R-08-67 was unanimously passed, you can read the press release here.

The Weekly Alibi Endorses Rey! Can we get any more endorsements?

District 6

The Alibi Endorses: Rey Garduño

District 6 is lucky. It has a track record of excellent councilors. Hess Yntema, one of Albuquerque’s all-time favorites, filled the seat for more than a decade. When he left four years ago, the position was filled by “movie star Martin” Heinrich, who has come to be another city favorite. Heinrich has garnered such a large fan base in his district and in Albuquerque that he’s decided to pull a “Heinrich maneuver” (you have no idea how long we’ve been waiting to use that term) and run for Congressional District One against incumbent Heather Wilson. That little move leaves his Council seat wide open, and now several outstanding candidates have entered the ring to take his place.
Like we said, District 6 is lucky. District 9 doesn’t even get a choice as to who its next councilor is because only one person is running. The other districts at least have races, but they still don’t compare to District 6, which has four savvy, knowledgeable and articulate candidates willing to work full-time for a relatively thankless job at less than $10,000 a year. All four would make good councilors. Three would be excellent—but, forced to choose, we did come out with a favorite, who we think would be best of all.
Rey Garduño has been living in District 6 in the same house for 33 years. During that time, he’s owned two local businesses and worked with a host of organizations (Common Cause New Mexico, CNM, the Spina Bifada Association, the Kiwanis Club, the Hispano Chamber of Commerce, the SouthWest Organizing Project, All Faiths Receiving Homes, more than 20 years working with APS and UNM Hospitals, etc.), exemplifying a long history of social activism. In fact, when we were going through archived issues for our anniversary a couple weeks ago, we found a picture of Garduño getting his eyes washed out after being sprayed with mace at the infamous 2003 peace march.
Garduño has a string of progressive ideas he’d like to see implemented in his district and in the city. He wants to revitalize some of the area’s more blighted neighborhoods, such as East Trumbull and La Mesa. But he wants to do so in a way that takes residents’ desires into account instead of pushing some cookie-cutter solution on the problem. He wants to explore practical ways of expanding our transportation service, such as with an excellent idea to use small, fuel-efficient, van-like buses (“collectivos”) that can go through neighborhoods where normal buses can’t. That, in addition to expanding arterial bus routes, could gradually increase ridership numbers until the city is ready for light rail and trolleys. Other cities like Portland have followed a similar model.
Garduño was also the only candidate who recognized that certain developments shouldn’t be allowed to build if we don’t have the water to support them. As he said, “We can’t promise water to anyone who wants it.” Garduño is focused on using what we have as wisely and efficiently as possible without relying on outside and unreliable sources of water to save us. Yet Garduño is by no means anti-development and believes in investing in smart projects, such as infill and redevelopment.
He has made a couple of mistakes in his past. He’s been criticized for using his UNM e-mail address to send out a campaign-related letter. He admits that, in hindsight, he shouldn’t have used it. But in his defense, he’s allowed personal use of the address for life as a retired UNM employee. Ultimately, the whole ordeal was a misunderstanding. He’s also gotten a lot of flack for not stating on his Albuquerque Journal questionnaire that he had been charged with shoplifting nearly 20 years ago. After hearing his explanation, the incident sounds innocent enough. He was at a department store picking up a few things before closing and, on his way out the door, stopped to look at a cell phone. He says he walked out the door without realizing he was still holding it. For the mistake he had to take three courses in petty larceny, which he thought would expunge the citation from his record. This is why he didn’t claim the event on his questionnaire. Still, Garduño takes full responsibility for his actions. We can’t really ask anything more of him.

Alibi Article: The Pave It or Save It Election. A Must Read

Read the Article below or link directly to it here:

http://alibi.com/index.php?story=20243&scn=news

The Pave It or Save It Election?

By Laura Sanchez
It's no secret the local blogosphere gets delirious over political gossip. It's also no secret Mayor Martin Chavez and several city councilors butt heads regularly over development projects. In this year's Council elections, the two non-secrets have collided for a perfect storm of speculation over who's backing whom to push through what. Four women who never previously ran for office are seeking Council seats in the even-numbered districts. They all have connections to Mayor Martin Chavez' administration.
Local blogger Coco recently sparked a Web-storm by posting a critique on http://www.dukecityfix.com/ of District 6 candidate Joanie Griffin, Chavez' 2005 press secretary. According to Coco, Griffin's website implies that she has been endorsed by both current District 6 councilor Martin Heinrich and Gov. Bill Richardson. However, Heinrich, who is running for Congress, formally endorsed competing candidate Rey Garduño, and Richardson's quote seemed to be simply a compliment on Griffin's PR skills. Griffin runs a public relations firm and the local dating service It's Just Lunch. She changed her registration from Republican to Democrat this spring before running in the heavily Democratic district.
Another Marty-centric news spasm erupted when Chavez headlined a fundraiser for District 2 candidate Katherine Martinez. Martinez, a relative newcomer to the city, is challenging Council President Debbie O'Malley, perhaps the legislator least likely to rubber-stamp Chavez' bills. Martinez is the director of Government/Community Affairs for the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. Chavez appointed Martinez to his Green Ribbon Task Force on energy-efficient building, and she has consulted on affordable housing.
In Districts 8 and 4, the connection runs through ABQ Ride Director, former councilor and wrangler of Republican votes for Marty, Greg Payne. Trudy Jones is running unopposed for the District 8 seat to be vacated by Craig Loy. Jones is a vice-president of the very large commercial real estate firm Grubb & Ellis. In 2002 then-councilor Payne appointed Jones to the Planned Growth Strategy (PGS) task force. The 19-member PGS task force was supposed to have four members from the real estate/development community and nine members representing neighborhood associations, one from each Council district. Controversy arose when Chavez and Council allies selected real estate or development people such as Jones for the neighborhood association slots.
Payne popped up again in the District 4 campaign of Paulette de'Pascal when the long, bizarre "Captain, First Mate and Honey Bee" e-mail had the city's political junkies rolling on the floor. The July 14 e-mail was purportedly sent to the wrong address by community activist and Chavez ally Sandra P. Richardson, then leaked to blogger Mario Burgos.
Richardson chastises de'Pascal for acting "like a honey bee, flitting from person to person, seeking their advice and opinion." Richardson obsessively repeats the demand that de'Pascal communicate plans and strategy only through First Mate Richardson to Captain Greg, "the ONLY person to whom [sic] you seek political advice ... THE strategist ... He's 'gold' for this campaign." Payne, who has managed dozens of political campaigns, denies involvement.
None of this is illegal, unless Chavez and Payne are campaigning on city time. In fact, it seems the usual political circus, except the candidates sing in unison regarding the issue of growth, according to a July 6 New Mexico Business Weekly article.
Griffin characterizes the current Council as anti-growth, although she puts in a plug for "smart growth" as opposed to Phoenix-style sprawl. Martinez says it's time for a change in the City Council and wants to see more collaboration between city government and the development industry. Jones says Albuquerque is "a very anti-business city right now" and thinks the Council "should be more proactive, rather than fighting growth." de'Pascal expressed concern that the Council is in a "stalemate" with the mayor. Certainly, no growth equals stagnation. However, the city's political fracture line has long run between protecting current residents' quality of life versus boosting profits by attracting new residents.
A 2003 effort by the development community to elect four councilors failed in all contested races, so this year's campaign may only be Mayor Marty's pipe dream. The outlines of that dream are pretty clear: All four administration candidates win. Councilor Don Harris loses his District 9 recall election and Marty appoints a replacement. Those five, combined with current, mayorally loyal councilors Sally Mayer and Ken Sanchez, give Marty a 7-2 lock on almost every Council vote.

Rey is going strong on Campaign Trail

Candidates canvass for public funding

By Peter Rice (Contact)
Wednesday, May 16, 2007

Signing up to be among the first publicly financed City Council candidates in the history of Albuquerque comes with a time-consuming chore: explaining just what the new system is all about.

That's what Rey Garduño discovered Monday as he took a break from ringing doorbells.

"It's not a matter of selling it. It's a matter of explaining what it is," he said.

Garduño, who is running for the District 6 seat now occupied by Martin Heinrich, is one of eight candidates trying to prove to voters they're worthy of a publicly funded campaign war chest.

Under the financing system that debuts this year, candidates are charged with gathering $5 contributions from 1 percent of the registered voters in their respective districts. That works out to about 300 contributions, depending on the district.

If candidates can pull it off, the city will give them campaign funding equal to $1 for every registered voter in their respective districts, or about $30,000.

And the clock is ticking. Candidates have a month - May 1-31 - to gather the donations, but some filed the initial paperwork as late as May 10.

Garduño is going door to door soliciting the donations and estimates that five minutes elapse by the time he introduces himself, gives a thumbnail sketch of the brand-new financing system, records the donation, and hands over a receipt.

"Seven minutes, if they need a little bit of background talk," he said. "It's still a process of people having some trepidation."

And while Garduño seems happy to spend the time explaining the city's new system, fellow District 6 candidate Joan Griffin wishes something could be done to help the education along.

"Somehow, we need to educate the public about how this works," she said. "People have no clue what this is, and people think it's a fund-raiser."

The donations go into a special city election fund, and not to the candidates themselves. The city also chips in to the fund. From there, the campaign money is disbursed to whomever qualifies.

Griffin estimated that she's halfway to the 271 signatures she needs. Garduño said he would turn in between 110 and 120 to the Office of the City Clerk today.

While the candidates report that people are receptive to the idea once they know the facts, coming up with the $5 can sometimes prove a big hurdle.

"I'm finding that in the poorer neighborhoods - like mine - it's actually a great disadvantage," said Feroza Jussawalla, who is also running for the District 6 seat, that represents the Southeast Heights.

When asking one potential constituent for a donation, "they said look at my roof," Jussawalla said. It was starting to cave in.

Other voters seem to be distracted by the other bits of political news swirling around the nation.

"Everyone is preoccupied with the presidentials," said Paulette déPascal, who is running for a seat held by incumbent Councilor Brad Winter.

Overall, the process of collecting signatures is proving to be a difficult and time-consuming affair. Joseph García, who was running in District 6, said it was a factor in his recent decision to drop out of the race.

"The process looks really tedious in terms of the public finance situation," he said. "The way this is set up is not fostering greater participation."

Rey Highlighted in Democracy for New Mexico

Rey Garduño Seeks Public Funding for ABQ District 6 City Council Race

Long-time community activist, public information specialist and small businessman Rey Garduño (right) has decided to pursue public funding for his campaign to replace Martin Heinrich on the Albuquerque City Council in District 6 in the Southeast Heights. Heinrich has plans to run for Congress in CD1 against Repub incumbent Heather Wilson and will resign his seat on the Council when his terms ends. City Council elections are set for even numbered districts this coming November.

Garduño currently serves as Vice Chair on the Board of Common Cause NM. He's also a member of the Board of the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP), and operates Rey Garduño Photography. He retired in 2005 from his post as head of marketing for UNM Hospitals, and he was a Public Affairs Representative at Carrie Tingley Hospital for nine years. Click to see his extensive resume detailing 25 years of professional experience in managing staff and resources, as well as his many years of service to the community on various boards and professional organizations. Rey has also worked hard in support of various initiatives including passage of minimum wage and clean elections legislation, the Better New Mexico campaign and ethics reform.

Like Debbie O'Malley, who's running for reelection to her North Valley City Council seat in District 2, Garduño is currently in the process of collecting signatures and $5 donations from registered voters in his district so that he can qualify for public funding. He has to gather more than 250 before the May 31 deadline. If you live in District 6 and would like to sign up, you can contact him at 266-4424 or reygarduno@gmail.com. He's also looking for people to help collect the signatures and donations. You don't need to be a resident of District 6 to help out.

Other reported candidates for the District 6 seat include UNM graduate student Joe Garcia, who is president of the Graduate and Professional Student Association, and Joan Griffin, who owns a local ad agency and operates a dating service franchise. Griffin served as Mayor Marty Chavez's press person during his 2005 reelection campaign.

Read more

The Clean Campaign Begins

City Council hopefuls try public financing
Decreases look of corruption, advocates say

By Peter Rice
Saturday, May 5, 2007

Four City Council candidates are taking on the role of political guinea pigs, pursuing public financing in the debut year of the program.

Public financing of political campaigns requires some extra legwork of candidates, but advocates say it decreases both the perception of and actual corruption, and promotes greater faith in the electoral process.

Incumbent Councilor Debbie O'Malley was the first to sign up in recent weeks, followed late Friday afternoon by Katherine Martinez, who is also running for the District 2 seat that covers the North Valley.

In District 6, which covers the Southeast Heights, Joan Griffin and Rey Garduño are starting the process of landing public funds.

Thus far, the participation only involves two of the four council seats open this fall. Incumbents Brad Winter and Craig Loy (who hasn't committed to running again) said they wouldn't use the program.

But former City Councilor Eric Griego, who originally sponsored the measure, is tickled by the results anyway.

"Even if one candidate uses it, I think it's great," he said, adding that he was especially happy to see O'Malley, who is in a position to raise plenty of private money, on board.

Public-finance candidates must jump through some hoops to get their money. By the end of this month, they have to collect $5 donations from 1 percent of the registered voters in their districts. They also must collect signatures from 2 percent of the registered voters, though the same is required of all candidates.

Advocates of the system say it will help candidates avoid conflicts of interest, either real or perceived. It also works to even things out, said Martinez, who by day works for the Home Builders Association of Central New Mexico. She is going up against a high-profile incumbent, O'Malley, but she will do it with an equal warchest.

"We're already starting off with the exact same amount of money," she said. "I think that's important."

Don't expect the infant program to function without a hitch. It's not clear, for example, just how much the program will cost from year to year. That depends on how many candidates use it. Also, if other candidates raise more than the publicly financed candidates, then the city will try to match it, but only if money is available.

Right now, the city's campaign fund stands at $450,000. If all four candidates qualified, that would cost the fund $117,400.

Assistant City Clerk Kelli Fulgenzi also points to this potentially sticky situation: If a candidate gets the required $5 donations, then he or she will receive the campaign funds. But if they then fail to collect enough signatures, "you have to give the money back," she said.

That puts the city in the awkward position of collecting money that may have already been spent.

"Compared to not having a system I think that's a reasonable price to pay," Griego said. "We should expect that there are things that we have to overcome."

But one person's glad tidings is another's harbinger of a big fat bill.

"It could become very expensive for the taxpayers of Albuquerque," Loy said.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking on council candidates who want public funding. They can sign up for a few more weeks, but they must assemble their $5 contributions by May 31.

"I think you may get a few more," Griego said.