Talk of the proposal to build an off-reservation casino in Anthony has died down significantly in recent months.
The Abramoff scandal has led to several pieces of legislation that would more closely regulate the casino industry and turned the political tide away from more off-reservation casinos. Some federal legislators want to outlaw them altogether.
The Jemez Pueblo from Northern New Mexico and Santa Fe art dealer Gerald Peters are proposing to build the casino in Anthony, located between Las Cruces and El Paso on Interstate 10.
For those looking to jump into the casino business, it’s an ideal location. It’s close to El Paso and Ciudad Juarez.
Many in the Anthony area also view it as an ideal opportunity for them. Peters has promised to pay 100 percent of health insurance costs for workers in an area where such benefits are sorely needed.
But many in the Peters camp are losing hope that the casino will ever be built, one source told me. In addition to the national politics, which might hinder federal approval, the casino must be approved by Gov. Bill Richardson. The closer we get to 2008, the more he is going to want to appear tough on public corruption and Abramoff-type activity.
Sources aren’t suggesting any impropriety involving Peters and Richardson, but the public often assumes the worst. Richardson has close ties to Peters, one of the biggest donors to his first governor campaign. Peters is also co-chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Higher Education.
Peters and the Jemez have worked tirelessly to convince local politicians this is a good deal for the county’s residents, and won over many who originally doubted the project. In addition, thousands of south-county residents have signed petitions supporting the casino proposal.
The Committee to Protect Doña Ana County, a group that formed to oppose the casino, is pleased with the recent developments but wants the final nail in the coffin. The group has ties to Stan Fulton, who owns the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino and who has given millions to New Mexico State University and the Gadsden Independent School District as a way to gain favor in this battle.
Fulton and many with ties to the horse racing industry initially led the charge against the casino proposal but, at this point, they’re just watching as federal lawmakers take up their cause.
If this proposal is on its last legs, we can only hope there’s something else coming Anthony’s way. That community really needs an economic development project of this scale.
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Peters, however, may have already turned his attention to other issues. He has all sorts of development projects going, and is the controlling shareholder of the Santa Fe-based Century Bank.
That’s a role that has earned him some negative press lately. State Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna was placed on leave last week at the request of Attorney General Patricia Madrid, whose office is investigating the awarding to the bank of a lucrative state contract.
The Albuquerque Journal first reported that, following the awarding of the contract by Serna and former Treasurer Robert Vigil, the bank gave more than $124,000 to Con Alma, a non-profit healthcare foundation of which Serna was the president of the board of trustees.
Serna resigned from the board at the behest of Madrid. Then the Public Regulation Commission put Serna on leave on Thursday.
In a year in which Madrid is trying to unseat Rep. Heather Wilson, R-N.M., Republicans have been relentless in their calls for her to get tough on public corruption, and suggested many scandals her office should be investigating. Here’s one they won’t have to complain about. Her investigators were at Serna’s office Friday to interview employees and retrieve records.
Back to Peters. According to the Journal, Century Bank collects about $800,000 per year as the state depository for some $400 million that insurance companies must put down before doing business in the state.
Serna and Peters maintain that the contributions to the non-profit were not related to the contract.
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While we’re on the subject of the PRC, let’s talk about E. Shirley “I-am-not-going-to-admit-that-is-mine” Baca, who just can’t seem to get a break. First there was the alleged little stash found in her bag at the Albuquerque International Sunport. Now the National Association of Insurance Commissioners is accusing her of “rude and unprofessional behavior” in demanding a special badge to wear at a recent meeting of the group.
Baca denied the allegations, then blamed the mix up over whether she should get a regular badge or special badge on everyone’s new scapegoat, Insurance Superintendent Eric Serna. She told the Journal that “I really believe it was Eric that didn’t want me to have acknowledgement.”
I’m not going to take a stance on this issue, but I think the three Republicans and one Democrat seeking to unseat Baca this year would point to these sorts of incidents as a reason they’re in the race against the Las Crucen.
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