{"id":1172,"date":"2007-01-29T18:53:00","date_gmt":"2007-01-30T00:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-increase\/"},"modified":"2007-01-29T18:53:00","modified_gmt":"2007-01-30T00:53:00","slug":"richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-increase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/01\/richardson-promotes-spaceport-tax-increase\/","title":{"rendered":"Richardson promotes spaceport tax increase"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Gov. Bill Richardson was one of a number of high-profile public officials who urged residents of Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename> to approve a 1\/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America<\/a> during a pep rally today at Vista<\/st1:placename> Middle School<\/st1:placetype> in Las Cruces<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>. <\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m here to ask all Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename> residents, voters, to support this spaceport initiative,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cThe spaceport is about creating opportunity, research, creating jobs, creating a reason for our young people to graduate from high school and college and find good paying jobs and exciting jobs here in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> said the project will also help create a better future for America<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> through the commercialization of space.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s America<\/st1:country-region>\u2019s future, and it\u2019s going to be here in Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re making history here in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

The event was sponsored by People for Aerospace<\/a>, the group formed to promote approval of the tax increase on April 3, when the question will be asked of voters. Richardson and other leaders spoke to dozens of dignitaries, members of the media and hundreds of middle school students.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Do\u00f1a Ana County Commissioner Kent Evans, making his first public appearance since having a cancerous tumor removed from his colon last week, said he believes Spaceport America<\/st1:country-region><\/st1:place> will be the birthplace of an industry that sends mankind into the \u201cfinal frontier.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cIts birthplace will reap untold economic benefits for the people of Southern New Mexico<\/st1:place>,\u201d Evans said. \u201cLet there be no mistake. I support this 100 percent.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Commissioner Bill McCamley, co-chair of People for Aerospace, asked the students in attendance to urge their parents to vote for the tax increase.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are very few times in the history of a community when a decision will so affect its future,\u201d he said. \u201cVoting yes means voting for jobs, voting for education, and voting for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Las Cruces Mayor Bill Mattiace agreed.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a \u2018yes\u2019 vote on this spaceport initiative,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Opponents protest outside rally<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

As the pep rally went on inside the school\u2019s gymnasium, about a dozen protesters stood on the shoulder of nearby Elks Drive<\/st1:address><\/st1:street> urging passers-by to vote against the tax increase.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cNo new taxes,\u201d Vado resident Mitch Boyer yelled at passing motorists.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Arturo Uribe, a resident of Mesquite<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> and community organizer, said a tax increase would be better spent on improving infrastructure.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got people for aerospace. We\u2019re people for a safer place,\u201d he said. \u201cWe support a spaceport. What we don\u2019t support is a 1\/4 percent for it when we have communities with no basic services.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

McCamley and other supporters cite two studies that predict the spaceport will create thousands of jobs, bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the local economy and increase the tax base in Do\u00f1a<\/st1:placename> Ana<\/st1:placename> County<\/st1:placename><\/st1:place>, which would allow it to spend more money on infrastructure. They also argue that the spaceport will create high-paying jobs that will allow students to stay in the area after they graduate from college.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Richardson<\/st1:city> made such arguments during Monday\u2019s speech, citing a study done by New Mexico<\/st1:placename> State<\/st1:placetype> University<\/st1:placetype><\/st1:place>.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is going to be 5,000 new jobs, and up to $1 billion in new revenue from this new industry, and this is good news because Southern New Mexico, many times, many years, has been neglected, and now the anchor of the space age is going to be right here,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city> said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to transform our economy and improve our quality of life.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Uribe doesn\u2019t buy it, and told that to passing motorists.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

\u201cYou ain\u2019t going to space. I ain\u2019t going to space,\u201d he shouted at a group of students leaving the school on a bus following Richardson<\/st1:city><\/st1:place>\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n

<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s video of Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:city>\u2019s speech. It\u2019s about 8.5 minutes long.
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Gov. Bill Richardson was one of a number of high-profile public officials who urged residents of Do\u00f1a Ana County to approve a 1\/4 percent gross receipts tax increase to help fund Spaceport America during a pep rally today at Vista Middle School in Las Cruces. \u201cI\u2019m here to ask all Do\u00f1a Ana County residents, voters, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}