Following the landmark investigative piece by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Eileen Welsome two months ago about problems at the Albuquerque Balloon Museum (featured right here at clearlynewmexico.com), more has come out on this story.
The Journal recently reported about skyrocketing utility costs at the Museum due to Schiff's grandiose and shortsighted architectural design -- a story that totally contradicts the highly publicized "Green City" posturings of Schiff's sponsor, Mayor Martin Chavez. (Journal, subscription required)
Then former Mayor Jim Baca blogged with his take on the whole affair, commenting on the implications of a recent federal court ruling in the Courthouse Kickback Scandal while disclosing still more Schiffian shenanigans.
Here's Jim's take at onlyinnewmexico.com:
Bad Acts
A Federal District Judge has said that prior 'bad acts' can be considered in the trial of Senator Manny Aragon etal. in the Metro Court Scandal. One of the key players in that affair was Mayor Martin Chavez' friend, Architect Marc Schiff. If those bad acts are considered, one of them should be the whole process around the design and execution of the construction of the Albuquerque Balloon Museum. I got a rather long letter from a long time employee of the city who laid out some incredible actions that were taken on that project. Here is an excerpt:
"When Marty came back after Jim Baca's term, it was open humor around City Hall that Marc(Schiff) got back his key to City Hall. Here's how it works, if you have an unethical architect. It's best to start with an architecturally naïve client. (This describes the majority of clients and the Balloon Museum board was certainly that in spades.) Pay little attention to program. This, many experienced clients and good architects will argue, is perhaps the most important part of any successful project. (The Balloon Museum board had no experience here, and largely rejected or ignored things I and others suggested. They were ripe for the pickings."
What else is going to come out of the Balloon Museum? Did Mayor Marty and indicted architect Marc Schiff, one of Mayor Marty's closest allies, put this Museum on the fast money track? And if so, why?
Following the story
As this Balloon Mueseum story continues to unfold, we're rooting for the Albuquerque Journal to give us in-depth coverage. For our part at Clearly New Mexico, we're proud of the fact that our lowly little website provided the vehicle for Eileen Welsome's investigative piece that raised the first real questions about the Balloon Museum scam. Competition in the public interest is a good thing.
It's worth recalling that Eileen came to national prominence with her Pulitzer Prize winning story for the Albuquerque Tribune in 1993 on the human radiation experiments at Los Alamos. On that particular occasion, the Trib happened to scoop the Journal. Curious indeed, however, was the manner in which the Journal flat out ignored her story after it broke. It should be noted that the national media was slow to react as well. Hat tip to LP at FBIHOP for finding this:
The morning Albuquerque Journal, the Tribune's 123,000-circulation JOA partner, ignored the story initially, picking it up weeks later. On the second day of the series, the local AP bureau sent out a 400-word piece, while Scripps-Howard, which owns the Tribune, carried a 1,300-word piece on its wire service. The New York Times ran the AP story - on page 30. USA Today ran a one-paragraph blurb. The Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal and Washington Post didn't report it at all.
see NM FBIHOP
It's worth noting that this same committee issued the exact same type of letter - the "Public Letter of Qualified Admonition" -- to Senator Larry Craig of Idaho, for his misconduct in a public restroom last summer.
I wonder - can a legislative body police itself effectively? It's an honest question, and one that is in play as the New Mexico legislature struggles with the question of whether to constitute an independent ethics commission to handle alleged ethics violations of its members. So far, the Legislature has failed to pass this ethics proposal.
The US Senate's issuance of these two letters proves that at minimum, the body is capable of raising strong questions about the actions of its members. On the other hand, there is a legitimate argument to be made that the "Admonition" letters do not do justice to the actions they attempted to address.
The New Mexico Legislature actually has a similar, in-house ethics body. It's called the "Interim Legislative Ethics Committee" and it "convenes only upon the receipt of a complaint or a request for an advisory opinion." A quick check of the state's website reveals no previous agendas or previous minutes posted for this committee. I've only been in New Mexico for 13 years but I talked to a lot of folks during the past two legislative sessions about this Interim Ethics Committee. No one could recall this committee taking up a serious ethics issue in recent history.
However, those with really long memories remember the case of State Representative Ron Olguin. Read More »
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