There’s quite a dispute brewing over how much money Gov. Bill Richardson promised in 2006 to help fund the planned aquatic and recreation center in
Las Cruces City Manager Terrence Moore wrote in his Friday information letter to city councilors that, despite “seemingly universal understanding by all involved, including state legislators, city administration and (city) lobbyist Ray Davenport” that the governor would give the city $10 million for the project, Richardson’s office now says he is only going to give $5 million.
The governor’s office says
Here’s what I know, starting from the beginning:
This was a project initiated by state Rep. Joseph Cervantes, not the city or the governor. Cervantes worked hard to get legislators and the governor on board, and they jointly announced, publicly, on Jan. 30, 2006 that they would provide $20 million for the project – $10 million from
Making the $20-million pledge a reality became difficult, as is so often the case in
My recollection is that, at the time, Richardson, who chairs the state finance authority, promised a low-interest loan to provide another $5 million and bring the total funding to $18 million.
But the city disagrees.
The Las Cruces Sun-News reported Sunday that the first time
But Cervantes said in an interview on Sunday that
“The governor is right. I was the one who put together the deal,” Cervantes said. “It’s been pretty clear all along that that’s the way it was. It was supposed to be a very favorable, low-interest-rate loan.”
Like I said, though it’s absolutely true that Richardson originally pledged $10 million and the lawmakers pledged another $10 million, my recollection is that the final deal from the 2006 session – a deal that’s been in place for about two years – provided $13 million in state capitol-outlay funding and another $5 million in the form of a low-interest loan. That’s exactly what Richardson and Cervantes now say is correct.
Whatever the case, the city is now facing the possibility of having to scale back the project. It had no plans to take out a loan, and, as I wrote earlier, didn’t even initiate this project, which was conceived by Cervantes’ daughters after they visited the