The Journal Actually Published My Letter About A Corrupt Development-Maybe There's Hope

The Journal and most other media have done a poor job of educating the public about the most important local issue of the year. A giant corporation, SunCal, is seeking a huge tax gift that will last 25 years. Councilor Michael Cadigan calls it a "ripoff" of future tax dollars that could easily top a BILLION dollars--Tax Increment Development Districts (TIDDs).

The City Council -- at least the five members who decided to show up for work and vote on the public's interests--also agreed, voting 4-1 to limit TIDDs to developed areas or places where there is already a TIDD. Too bad the other four councilors were too busy having a hissy fit to do their part in voting on this important matter.

Last week's Westside Coalition of Neighborhood Association’s meeting explored this issue in great detail, listening to supporters like WSCONA Prsident Dan Serrano, Councilor Ken Sanchez as well as Cadigan. It then voted 9-3 to abolish TIDD tax incentives for the outlying 1,400 acres of the Albuquerque portion of SunCal's holdings.

1,400 acres is a HUGE development! BUT it is inconceivable that the County, led by Alan Armijo, has already paved the way for SunCal to gain TIDDS for 53,000 acres of land. 53,000 acres! That is bigger than Las Cruces and Santa Fe COMBINED!

This is a complicated issue, so one wonders why the local media have been so lax in running stories. There are many reasons for opposing this corporate welfare, so the WSCONA rejected giving this CA corporation hundreds of millions of dollars or our tax money to further stimulate development on 55,000 acres of the Westside (land that will be developed anyway), especially since other parts of Albuquerque desperately need such stimulus.

SunCal says is will pay for everything and be a great business partner, but some City Councilors have testified about SunCal's "take it or leave it" attitude. I suggest we look at recent corporate malfeasance; can you say Enron, Tycho or the savings and loans crisis of the 1980s (over 2000 crooked S&Ls)? Even if SunCal is pure, what if they are bought by a hedge fund. Fully 50% of U.S. corporations are now owned by global hedge funds who often turn out to be bad stewards of the public interest.

No matter what SunCal says, costs for police, water, environment, jails, I-40 interchanges, pollution, etc., will be bourne by YOU AND I! SunCal has already said that not a penny will go to Wesgate or east/west traffic abatement (which SunCal will worsen dramatically).

We are at a crucial crossroads.

Thirty years ago, Albuquerque developers and politicians promised a lake beneath the city that would be endless. For years, many educated people repeated this myth.

Fifteen years ago, we learned how small the 'lake' was and how fast we were pumping it down--eight feet per year!

Now, developers and politicians (and the front page of monday's Journal) say, “Have no fear. We will take plenty of San Juan/Chama water from the Rio Grande.”

The San Juan/Chama myth is now being repeated by those who want to double the size of Albuquerque in a few decades, but it would only take a few years of drought to dry up that source.

Common sense demands that we ask:

1. How much longer can we draw down our aquifer?
2. What if the drought continues? We are growing at a rapid rate right now.
3. The city has already granted a huge TIDD to Mesa del Sol. What about its thousands more homes and their future demand upon our water?
What about Black Ranch (tens of thousands more homes)
What about other developments?
What about Rio Rancho, other communities and Native Americans’ future demands upon the Rio Grande aquifer?

Water (not oil) is the most important scarce resource.

We must look at Georgia, turning brown, fighting lawsuits with Florida as drought dries up the river systems that also feed into Florida. Florida is losing industries, jobs and whole ecosystems RIGHT NOW because of overdevelopment in Atlanta. Those developers said that their crisis would never happen, but just one more year of drought wil put Atlanta flat out of water!

If the city and county throw gas on the fire of our insane level of development by offering hundreds of millions of dollars in tax incentives to make California developers richer, we are courting similar disaster.

It makes no sense, and, if the Journal can run a series of front page stories about beautifying the I-40 interchange, they sure should run a series about this key issue.

Bob McCannon
President,
Ladera West Neighborhood Association