I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The development community is targeting two of its most vocal opponents on the city council in hopes of gaining a development-friendly board, two Albuquerque city councilors charged Wednesday.
“Absolutely they are trying to shift the council,” Councilor Debbie O’Malley said, referring to California-based SunCal, a major developer, and others, whom she believes are targeting City Council President Isaac Benton and Councilor Michael Cadigan in the lead-up to Tuesday’s election.
Benton and Cadigan are part of a faction of the Albuquerque City Council that has so far resisted creating a Tax Increment Development District (TIDD) for SunCal within city boundaries. The district would allow SunCal to use bonds based on future tax proceeds to pay for roads, water lines and other infrastructure for its massive mixed-use development on undeveloped land on the west side.
Others point to the donors of Benton’s city council opponent, Bernalillo County Commission Chairman Alan Armijo, as evidence of an organized effort to unseat the two councilors, whom their critics say, are anti-growth.
Armijo is a registered lobbyist for the National Association of Industry and Office Parks. City records show he has received numerous contributions from the development and commercial real estate industries, including $100 from SunCal executive Will Steadman.
Armijo is term-limited on the Bernalillo County Commission, where he voted with two other commissioners to create special tax districts for SunCal in the county’s unincorporated areas.
“If Cadigan and Benton lose we’ll have a tremendous fight on our hands,” said Councilor Rey Garduno. “We could see efforts to get rid of impact fees entirely and free reign for SunCal for their greenfield TIDD.”
“Nobody Got Me to Run”
Armijo said in a telephone interview that he wasn’t anyone’s pawn and that he isn’t a rubber stamp for a special tax district for SunCal within the city.
“Nobody got me to run, except the people in my district who have been calling for the past two or three years saying they are not getting any responses [from Benton],” Armijo said.
Armijo acknowledged the local development community views him more favorably than Benton.
“I’m hearing from the development community that you cannot … even bring ideas to Mr. Benton,” Armijo said. “What I hear is he won’t even talk. He usually makes up his mind. There’s no room for discussion.”
Benton responded by saying that “calling me anti-growth is laughable,” but added, “SunCal would love it if I wasn’t there” on the council.
This year’s city council elections could result in a city council more friendly to SunCal, which could be a big help to the company. In 2007 the city council passed a moratorium on locating the special tax incremental development districts on undeveloped land within city boundaries, but Mayor Martin Chavez vetoed it.
SunCal did not respond to Cadigan’s and Benton’s allegations when contacted Wednesday. The company instead issued a general statement that said, in part, “We support government that delivers quality services to residents, including smart, well-planned growth.”
O’Malley and Garduno mentioned the mailers, underwritten in part by SunCal, that target Cadigan and that were sent to District 5 voters this week as evidence of an organized effort.
Cadigan is a longtime vocal critic of TIDDs.
A measure finance committee named Moving Albuquerque Forward sent out one Cadigan mailer earlier in the week, and another one hit mailboxes Wednesday.
The single largest contributor to Moving Albuquerque Forward was Westland Development Co. LP, a subsidiary of SunCal, city campaign finance records show. Westland gave $10,000 through Sept. 25, 2009.
“It’s egregious that they’d put $10,000 into a measure finance committee, as though that would cloak their intentions,” Garduño said. “That’s a lot of money to spend on a city council seat.”
The organization had raised $26,000 through Sept. 25, city records show. The Westland contribution is twice as large as the next biggest contribution—$5,000 from Caballero Farms.
A call to the committee was not returned.
Cadigan’s opponent is Dan Lewis, who, like Benton, has opted to take public financing for his campaign. Cadigan opted out of the public financing system.
Beyond the municipal election politics, what is at stake in next week’s races, some say, is how Albuquerque grows – whether it will be with a focus on developing open, unused spaces for large mixed-use housing developments on the edge of the city or through prioritizing re-development of sites within the city core.
Opponents of a TIDD for SunCal have argued that the state would be gambling hundreds of millions of dollars in future tax proceeds on the proposal, which might not live up to its billing. From their perspective, SunCal’s development would increase sprawl at a time when New Mexico has to think carefully how to manage growth. A large, mixed-use development so far from Albuquerque’s core would also increase traffic, pollution and demand for water.
Supporters have countered that the SunCal proposal could mean thousands of jobs created by industrial and commercial employers who would be attracted to the development. That’s especially important now, as the state struggles through the recession.
SunCal already has several Tax Increment Development Districts beyond the city’s boundaries in Bernalillo County. The goal is to create the special tax district for the land within the city.
State Approval Needed, Too
SunCal also must appeal to the Legislature. While Bernalillo County has created the special tax districts for SunCal, the state has not given those districts the authority to issue bonds based on the future tax proceeds.
State lawmakers debated legislation earlier this year that would have given bonding authority to several TIDDs that would have then issued $400 million in bonds based on future tax proceeds. But the legislation failed on the floor of the state House on the final night of the session, shocking the political class as well as the media.
The firm revealed its deep financial pockets leading up to and during this year’s legislative session.
SunCal spent at least $232,000 in a marketing campaign to bolster the legislative effort that included billboards, radio and television ads, and direct mail that encouraged people to go to the company’s Web site, which encouraged readers to call, write or e-mail their legislators in support of the TIDD legislation.
The company, through Westland Development Co. had eight professional lobbyists working on its behalf during the session, including Mark Fleischer, Mayor Chavez’s campaign manager.
