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 company that purchased the 55,000 acre former Atrisco Land Grant on Albuquerque’s west side is brand spanking new. It incorporated in Delaware on September 15, just a few days before buying the massive property at an auction on…
A piece of land on Albuquerque’s west side that’s large enough to hold a mid-sized city was sold yesterday on the Bernalillo County Courthouse steps for $148 million. The land was purchased by SunCal Corporation in 2007 for $250 million from…
SunCal Corporation’s New Mexico subsidiary, Westland DevCo, has filed for Chapter 11 protection in a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware. SunCal bought the 57,000 acre Atrisco land grant on the western fringe of Albuquerque in 2006, for about $250…
Gov. Bill Richardson
As 2009 staggers into the history books, exhausted and a bit lighter in the pockets than when it first appeared on the scene, let’s acknowledge this: the year gave us plenty to write about.
Accusations of pay-to-play, former elected officials getting indicted, electoral surprises and an occasional David toppling a Goliath — 2009 produced it all, giving the year a healthy luster of newsworthiness despite its threadbare look.
The year showed incredible stamina, in fact, with a steady drumbeat of scoops, gotchas and revelations, exhausting many a political junkie and news professional. And 2009 didn’t take long to demonstrate its capacity to shock.
On the fourth day of 2009, an announcement in Washington landed in New Mexico with all the percussive power of a bombshell: Gov. Bill Richardson was withdrawing as President Obama’s commerce secretary, citing a federal corruption investigation into how his administration conducted business.
And the news kept coming.
Some 360 later, the year is ending the way it began — scrutiny, including from federal prosecutors, on how the state invested its money over the past half decade.
In between those two bookends, the state of New Mexico also came to the disturbing realization that it was broke, Albuquerque’s longtime mayor fell short of winning a third four-year term — knocked off by a long-shot two-term GOP state lawmaker — and two former elected officials found themselves on the business end of a criminal indictment.
It’s unclear whether what transpired this year will change the political dynamic here in New Mexico, or lead to more government transparency. But before The New Mexico Independent gets back into the daily grind, let’s take a deep breath and reflect on the busy year that was.
The big story Tuesday night was R.J. Berry. The two-term Republican state Representative did well in Democratic strongholds. He won with independents. In fact, Berry walked away with what had been viewed as a close race, besting Mayor Martin Chavez and Richard Romero and avoiding a two-man runoff by capturing nearly 44 percent of the vote.
The development community appears to be 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. Westland Development Co., a subsidiary of SunCal, has spent at least $10,000 on the race.
A large developer hoping to finance a huge mixed-used development on the Albuquerque’s West Side—with bonds based on future tax proceeds—is targeting its most vocal opponent on the City Council. A mailer sent to District 5 voters this week criticizes City Councilor Michael Cadigan, who is seeking re-election. Cadigan is a longtime, vocal opponent of the tax-proceeds scheme — called TIDDs for short — by which SunCal, the developer, hopes to pay for roads, water lines and other infrastructure for the development.
In a statement today, ABQ mayoral candidate Richard Romero called on incumbent Mayor Martin Chavez to “stop fighting for his misguided SunCal soccer park.”
Veteran state lawmaker Rep. Mimi Stewart told Clearly New Mexico that the full extent of the campaign by Westland Development to pass the SunCal tax-increment development district, or TIDD, may never be known. Westland reported spending more than…
Gov. Bill Richardson is saying he is “seriously considering” making two failed proposals to leverage future taxes against future development a part of his agenda for a proposed special session this fall.
SunCal Corp. has filed a “lobbying advertising campaign” report with the New Mexico secretary of state, detailing $232,540 in advertising costs the company incurred to promote its legislative priorities during the session.
As was widely reported during the session, the…
The New Mexico House of Representatives has not taken a break since going onto the floor a little after 10 a.m. Friday.
And it’s looking right like its members could go several more hours before taking a break.
There are…
Reporters and guests live blogged from the House Friday, lasting until after 3 a.m. Saturday. A stem cell research bill and the SunCal tax increment development districts (TIDDS) failed, while a TIDD for Winrock and campaign contribution limits passed. Read the details in the transcript by clicking on the headline.
The state Senate just passed a bill by a vote of 29 to 9 to allow Westland Dev. Co. to issue tax-exempt bonds secured by 50 percent of state gross receipts tax revenue, 30.77 percent of Bernalillo County GRT, and…
Getting something for nothing is always an attractive notion. But if the housing bubble and the Bernie Madoff scandal have taught us anything, it is that there are hidden costs to “free” money.
Two new development districts have been created to subsidize developments at Albuquerque’s Winrock mall location and in downtown Las Cruces — the first such districts created in city centers. But how much the move will cost the state remains unclear.
There are 15 to 20 people who’ve told Diane Denish they’re interested in the lieutenant governor job if/when Richardson is confirmed as Secretary of Commerce and Denish moves into the governor’s office, Kate Nash writes on her Green Chile…
I got a second mailer from SunCal Corporation promoting TIDDs this week, and it seems that just about everyone I know in Albuquerque and Bernalillo County did as well. This direct-mail promotional effort must have cost SunCal a bundle.…
We’ve decided to do a daily blog roundup here at the Independent, much like the “Today’s Top Stories” we do every day to highlight particularly interesting news from around the state.
Blogging, of course, isn’t like “the…
Downtown arena could raise $344 million in financing with an increase in the gross receipts tax, but the city would have to figure out another way to come up with the money for things like a proposed canopy over the…
