Las Cruces City Council to vote tonight on East Mesa development; meeting will be long, could get testy

The Las Cruces City Council is set to vote tonight on The Vistas at Presidio, a 6,000-acre development on the East Mesa that could double or triple the city’s population and has been the subject of controversy for weeks. It’s going to be a marathon meeting.

The meeting, which begins at 5 p.m. at City Hall, will be televised on Comcast Cable channel 20. Check out the meeting agenda by clicking here.

It could go into the early hours of Wednesday. The last time the council discussed the proposed annexation and master plan of the development, the meeting went seven hours.

I’m planning to bring you updates throughout the evening. Check back here tonight.

The controversy has been well-covered here and in other media. Click here to read past articles on this site, here to read a weekend article summarizing the issue from the Las Cruces Sun-News, and here to read the Albuquerque Journal’s weekend article profiling the developer of the project, Philip Philippou.

There was one significant development this weekend: Former state Land Commissioner Ray Powell is trying to rearrange his schedule so he can travel to Las Cruces and attend the meeting.

He sent me a letter stating that he worked hard during his tenure, from 1993-2002, to “ensure that the community’s vision for the future of Las Cruces was a critical part of any project,” and said the council “needs to hold out for a mater plan that’s good.” Though Philippou’s plan includes some land set aside for schools, parks, open space and other infrastructure, the public wasn’t involved in discussions about the placement of such land and the amount set aside.

Powell wrote that an “honest and appropriate developer isn’t going to walk away from this project,” and said the council “needs to do its duty in negotiating the master plan and zoning so that it is of mutual benefit.”

Powell also expressed concern that the project “gives the perception that it is based on pay-to-play,” which he wrote “will severely compromise the ability of Las Cruces to attract high-quality developers and businesses in the future.”

Before last year’s election, Philippou gave $20,500 to a political action committee run by lobbyists he employs. The PAC gave most of it to current Land Commissioner Pat Lyons’ re-election campaign, and the lobbyists gave another $3,600. Then Lyons bypassed his own bidding process and leased the land to Philippou before the announced deadline for developers to submit proposals.

Since then, Philippou has given another $6,000 to Lyons, who also flew at Philippou’s expense in March to a New Mexico State Aggies’ basketball game in Washington state.

Lyons says he didn’t know until afterward that Philippou paid for the flight and contributed the money the PAC gave him.

Expect that controversy to be discussed tonight. Expect also that Councilor Ken Miyagishima will ask Councilor Gil Jones to recuse himself because Philippou and Jones’ brother are married to sisters. The pro-growth Jones has disclosed the relationship publicly but said it doesn’t hinder his ability to be objective. Still, opponents of the development discussed the Jones situation via e-mail this weekend, and may try to pressure him to abstain from voting.

The controversy and the potential length of the meeting could make the situation testy. Let’s hope councilors can stay professional and have an honest discussion. Whether they approve or deny Philippou’s development plan, the council is setting a future course for Las Cruces tonight.

Update, 11:45 a.m.

If you live outside the Las Cruces area or don’t have cable television, you can also watch the meeting on the Internet by clicking here or listen to it by clicking here.