Mayor Tim Keller faces a whistleblower lawsuit filed by former Albuquerque Police Chief, Michael Geier, in which he accused the official of violating open-record laws and defunding important crime-reduction programs, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
"@MayorKeller loves filing ethics violations; now, he's facing a few of his own issues,” Brett Kokinadis, 2nd Vice-Chair of the Santa Fe Republican Party, tweeted. “We keep hearing progressive leaders talk about open, honest, & transparent government, but they appear to deliver the exact opposite.”
The complaint was submitted to the City of Albuquerque in the state district court by Geier along with his former assistant, Paulette Diaz, both making specific references toward Keller and Chief Administrative Officer Sarita Nair, accusing them of violating open records laws.
The accusations include a reduction of various city programs established to reduce the city’s crime rate as well as advancements with federal monitoring and sweeping reforms, ABQ Journal reports.
“The fruits of Keller and Nair’s actions are echoed upon the city of Albuquerque with unprecedented violent crime rates and a police department on the verge of actual collapse,” the lawsuit states.
Other allegations claim the mayor’s involvement relating to “police department positions, tactical operations, crowd control measures and social media posts published in Geier’s name without his consent.”
The mayor responded with a statement insisting that previous internal investigations never found any issues, calling the claims listed on the lawsuit “wild,” the Albuquerque Journal reported.