Heath Haussamen
A union president in Albuquerque is apparently the latest public employee who needs to be scolded for improperly using public resources to campaign.
Regular readers of this site know I call out public officials all the time for doing this sort of thing. The newest example involves Diego Arencon, Albuquerque’s fire union president, and it comes from a report in the Albuquerque Journal.
From the newspaper:
“(An affidavit filed in court) says a series of e-mails, including the request for $6,000 to aid the campaign of then-Mayor Martin Chávez, was sent through the city’s electronic mail box.
“According to the… affidavit, Arencon also ordered 110 T-shirts in support of Alan Armijo’s City Council campaign; ordered four 5- by 3-foot banners for the Chávez campaign and engaged in other political communications.
“The city contends in its filing that Arencon has ‘run afoul of virtually every applicable written rule regarding political activities on city time.’”
The city has e-mails to back up its allegations. Its court filing, which was obtained by NMPolitics.net, states that Arencon was “actively campaigning, seeking contributions and involved in other illegal political activities… using city time and resources.”
The court filing is the city’s attempt to get a judge to void a ruling that lets Arencon do union work while on city time. But the point needs to be stated – even if Arencon is allowed to do union work, campaigning on city time is never OK.
There’s no excuse for such actions
The situation makes me wonder if Arencon was campaigning for any other candidates on the city’s dime. It also raises all sorts of other questions about compliance with the city’s public financing law and what Chávez and Armijo knew about what was going on, but for now I’ll focus on Arencon.
“I find it unusual that the administration takes this action for issues in 2008 as we enter into negotiations this year. We need to work together in preserving a contract that facilitates and preserves public safety and protects the citizens of Albuquerque.”
That’s called dodging the question.
So let me put it bluntly, Mr. Arencon: If you’re not guilty of the actions alleged by the city, immediately show proof. But if you used public resources to campaign, you should be ashamed of yourself. There’s no excuse for doing that, ever.
Conduct like this is at the core of the public’s mistrust of its government. If the city’s allegations are accurate, you are a big part of the problem. In fact, instead of helping your union, in the end what do is give unions a bad name.
In the words of the city’s affidavit: “Public tax dollars were misused to support certain candidacies before the electors made their choice. The public was paying a union president to work against the public right to freely elect public officials.”
Disgraceful. Inexcusable. Absolutely infuriating.