APS lobbyist accuses Gardner of assault

Keith Gardner

An Albuquerque Public Schools lobbyist alleged in a letter to Gov. Susana Martinez that Chief of Staff Keith Gardner painfully gripped her arm and yelled at her in “in an extremely threatening manner,” during the legislative session in February. 

Gardner told the ABQ Journal on Monday he never grabbed Carrie Menapace’s arm or treated her aggressively, and points to surveillance video from the Roundhouse as proof. 

Menapace, a policy analyst and government liaison for APS, wrote that Gardner approached her during a recess of the House Judiciary Committee on Feb. 12 as it was considering a bill to retain third-graders who cannot pass a grade-level reading test. That bill has been championed by Martinez and opposed by APS.

APS lobbyist accuses Gardner of assault