AG looking into Lyons’ contract with developer

At the request of state Rep. Nate Cote, D-Las Cruces, the attorney general’s office is scrutinizing the land commissioner’s agreement to lease thousands of acres on the city’s East Mesa to developer Philip Philippou.

Cote has recently sent two letters to Attorney General Gary King requesting that his office look into a number of issues related to Pat Lyons’ December 2006 agreement to lease 3,200 acres to Philippou. Philippou is to develop the land for the state, which will then sell it to the highest bidder, with Philippou’s plan being that he will purchase the land.

The relationship between Philippou and Lyons has been under scrutiny for several reasons. Philippou gave more than $20,000 last year to a political action committee that gave most of it to Lyons’ re-election campaign. Then, Lyons bypassed his own process for seeking bids to lease the land by giving the contract to Philippou before the announced time to submit proposals had ended.

Phil Sisneros, spokesman for the attorney general’s office, said Cote’s request “is in the process of being reviewed, and a decision will be made as soon as possible on whether there are areas that require further inquiry.”

The Las Cruces City Council is set to vote on Monday on whether to annex the land and approve the master plan for the larger 6,000-acre development of which it’s a part. The massive development has the potential to reshape the city.

In his letters, Cote requested that King’s office look into a number of issues including the terms of the lease, the number of schools planned for the development and other infrastructure issues, the possibility of conflict of interest and secrecy surrounding the deal, a provision in the state Constitution that requires that lands only be sold or leased “at a public auction,” and the fact that Lyons leased the land before his announced bidding period had ended.

You can read Cote’s first letter by clicking here and his second here.

“I am extremely concerned about these issues,” Cote wrote in the first letter. “… The impact of this project on Doña Ana County will be enormous, and the public and its elected officials need to be fully informed.”

Cote told me he wants to know whether Lyons complied with the law.

“There is some suspicion there. I don’t claim to judge at this point, but we do want to clarify it,” he said. “If there’s nothing wrong with what occurred, then probably the public should know about that because there’s been a lot written in the papers about suspicious contributions and so forth.”

Cote also said he’s also looking to see “whether we need any updated legislation,” including amendments to the New Mexico Open Meetings Act, to ensure that the public is better informed about such projects in the future. Many citizens are up in arms and claiming they didn’t know about the project until late in the approval process.

I’ve been unable to reach Lyons for comment.