What's going on, Albuquerque?

Rough Riding

The Albuquerque Journal's Rory MacClannahan noted Monday that it's been twenty-years since Paseo del Norte was built. Yikes. His in depth history leaves out the mushy remembrances of the valley before the "new" bridges.

Like how it felt to race down the ditchbanks on big horses - braided bells in tails at this time of year. Gangs of girls flew through the bosque - making the woods thunder, shake and jingle. Sometimes by moonlight.

Or remembrances of places like Yonomoto’s on Fourth Street where they sold teapots and bonsai. Or the Sheriff’s Posse Grounds on El Pueblo that sat about where the railrunner station is now. That arena was booked a year in advance for all the Sunday shows and rodeos. Twenty years! The hip aches just thinking about it.

The Journal also noted Monday that Mayor Marty Chavez has ties to SunCal - the developer seeking tax increment financing (TIDDs). The financing diverts tax revenue to help this developer (over that developer) move our cool volcanoes much closer to town.

Developer Touchdown

But the excitement about the Mayor was a kind of fake pass and developers did a quiet end-run. They got the Bernalillo County Commission (and yes, City people pay for County government too) to approve 9 separate TIDD districts Tuesday. The meeting amounted to a mere formality and gave proponents the opportunity for hearty chest-thumping about economic development and quality jobs and how there is no sprawl.

Weirdness

Wednesday’s issue of the Albuquerque Tribune will be one I save. (So far I haven’t thrown any out since the announcement of the paper’s sale so the stack is impressive.) The front page featured headlines about prominent local women in politics: the persnickety City Councilor and real estate industrialist, Sally Mayer, who we hear works at K-Mart; and Mayor Marty’s ex-wife, Margaret Aragon de Chavez, who is considering a mayoral run of her own – potentially against her ex. Double yikes.

All this raises some obvious questions: When's that blogger's free lunch, Maggie? Do you carry that French salt crystal antiperspirant, Councilor?

0 members like this

Comment by Dr Dan on December 15, 2007 at 8:34pm: What I remember is the Olympia bar that sold to minors in the 70's, very cool then, now in these different times-not so cool

Comment by jim on December 16, 2007 at 3:36pm: Let’s see if I have this straight. Developers of new subdivisions have always paid to install roads, sidewalks and utilities to new subdivisions. These improvements significantly increase the value of the lots and experienced developers are generally rewarded with a profit upon the sale of the lots. The market value of the individual lots does not change based upon who pays the development costs. Now with these TIDDs the developers not only make a profit on the sale of the lots but also are further rewarded by having their development costs returned to them when they receive their portion of future property taxes!

The current “impact fees” are to provide other infrastructure beyond roads and utilities such as parks, schools, police and fire protection. This new proposal will return all the subdivision development cost to Sun Cal over time. This is a blatant scam and is almost beyond belief.

Comment by jim on December 16, 2007 at 7:42pm: This scam is more blatant than most. And what is the position of the state Taxation & Revenue department? They would surely want their share of the property taxes. I'll know more tomorrow.

Comment