{"id":2172,"date":"2007-08-29T16:45:00","date_gmt":"2007-08-29T22:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/dot-project-negotiations-on-hold-pending-reviews\/"},"modified":"2007-08-29T16:45:00","modified_gmt":"2007-08-29T22:45:00","slug":"dot-project-negotiations-on-hold-pending-reviews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2007\/08\/dot-project-negotiations-on-hold-pending-reviews\/","title":{"rendered":"DOT project negotiations on hold pending reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

The state has halted negotiations on a contract for redevelopment of the Department of Transportation\u2019s headquarters in Santa Fe<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> until reviews of the project\u2019s integrity are complete.<\/p>\n

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

The decision came after Gerald Peters, whose company SCS Development is negotiating a contract with the state for the project, made the request, according to a news release from Peters\u2019 company. Peters also requested that the state lift confidentiality restrictions it has cited in refusing to comment on or release documents about the project.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cA transparent and open process and the conclusion of the governor\u2019s investigation are needed steps to reconcile reality and perception regarding this project,\u201d Peters said in the release.<\/p>\n

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

Gov. Bill Richardson<\/a> has asked DOT to review the headquarters project and another DOT project that was recently cancelled, and is also in the process of hiring independent council to review both projects.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cWhile I believe this is a worthy project that can and should move forward in the future, it is prudent to put negotiations on hold while we take an in-depth look at every facet of it,\u201d Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City> said in a release. \u201cI don\u2019t want this project to be tainted in any way. If it moves forward, taxpayers should be confident that they are getting the best deal possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

According to a news release from Richardson<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>\u2019s office, the state will also \u201cwork with the developer, as well as another developer that bid on the headquarters project, to come to an agreement on releasing as many documents as possible about the project without divulging confidential or proprietary information.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

A number of circumstances surrounding both projects have raised suspicion in recent weeks. Two men indicted in the Bernalillo County Metro Courthouse scandal<\/a> had ties to the early stages of both projects, and prosecutors allege the men planned to expand their scheme to steal money from taxpayers to the second of the DOT projects.<\/p>\n

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

It\u2019s not alleged at this point that they were successful, and that project has since been cancelled. But there are other situations that raise questions about the DOT headquarters project:<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 The state claimed in its original request for proposals that the project was not subject to the state procurement code, but has repeatedly cited the code in refusing to release documents or discuss negotiations.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 The scope of work in the RFP listed the DOT headquarters size at a minimum of 300,000 square feet, which the developer would be responsible for building in exchange for the right to develop the rest of the land. The state later cut the building\u2019s size in half. Though both bidders were given an opportunity to respond to the change, it was apparently made after the deadline had passed for other prospective contractors to submit bids. Consequently, the change would cut the developers\u2019 cost to build the public facility and increase the land available for private development.<\/p>\n

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

\u2022 Peters donated to and held a fundraiser for the governor\u2019s presidential campaign while the negotiations were ongoing.<\/p>\n

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

Peters said the secrecy surrounding the project \u201cjust feeds the rumor mill and leads to inaccurate conjecture that has ended up in the local newspapers.\u201d He said no one has made any inappropriate requests of him related to the project, adding that he would have withdrawn the bid if that had happened. Peters also pointed out in the release that no one associated with his team \u201cis believed to have anything to do\u201d with those indicted in the metro court case.<\/p>\n

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

Peters said he looks forward to the reviews the governor has ordered.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cThis should serve as a good housekeeping seal of ethical conduct on behalf of the team of consultants that are part of the selected bid,\u201d he said. \u201cThis should be an important verification that everyone involved in the NMDOT headquarters project is ethical and that this bid was selected on the merits.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The state has halted negotiations on a contract for redevelopment of the Department of Transportation\u2019s headquarters in Santa Fe until reviews of the project\u2019s integrity are complete. The decision came after Gerald Peters, whose company SCS Development is negotiating a contract with the state for the project, made the request, according to a news release […]<\/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-2172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2172","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=2172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2172\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}