{"id":24792,"date":"2011-01-06T08:19:30","date_gmt":"2011-01-06T15:19:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=24792"},"modified":"2011-01-07T07:51:49","modified_gmt":"2011-01-07T14:51:49","slug":"spaceport-needs-martinez%e2%80%99s-support-homans-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/01\/spaceport-needs-martinez%e2%80%99s-support-homans-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Spaceport needs Martinez\u2019s support, Homans says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

A conceptual drawing of Spaceport America. (Courtesy photo)<\/p><\/div>\n

Suborbital flights from Spaceport America<\/a> are expected to begin this year or next, but the current upheaval could cause the project to \u201cslow down or fall apart pretty quickly\u201d if Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> doesn\u2019t \u201cclearly and unequivocally\u201d declare her support, the outgoing spaceport director says.<\/p>\n

Rick Homans resigned from his job as the spaceport\u2019s executive director on Wednesday during an emergency meeting of the Spaceport Authority, but not before reading pointed remarks<\/a> about the Martinez administration\u2019s demand that he resign.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile I have embraced this project, it is clear that Governor Martinez is not embracing me,\u201d Homans said during the meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026My hope is that Governor Martinez can quickly move beyond viewing Spaceport America as the legacy project of Bill Richardson,\u201d he said. \u201cThe very best thing that can happen is for Governor Martinez to embrace this project as her own legacy. She will be the governor who opens the first purpose-built commercial spaceport in the world \u2013 and the world will be watching.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was Homans who sold former Gov. Richardson on the vision of building the $210 million spaceport in the remote desert northeast of Las Cruces. Richardson and Homans worked hard to convince the Legislature and local counties to provide funding.<\/p>\n

Detractors view the spaceport as a taxpayer-funded platform for Virgin Galactic<\/a> to fly rich people into space. Supporters say it\u2019s much more than that, and talk about making Southern New Mexico the center of the commercial space industry in North America. With that has come a comprehensive effort to attract jobs and focus educational programs at the high school and college level on the space industry.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Homans campaigning for a tax increase to help fund the spaceport in 2007. (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

The spaceport has no bigger cheerleader than Homans, who said in an interview that he is concerned about the future of the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, the spaceport authority is without a chairman, an executive director and a general counsel, and the tenure of the existing board members is up in the air,\u201d he said. \u201cFor a $210 million project that\u2019s in full swing, where decisions have to be made every day, that\u2019s not a good position, and it needs to be firmed up very quickly with credible leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n

Homans called on Martinez to \u201cstep up very clearly and unequivocally, and declare her support for this project and bring her entire administration behind it 100 percent, because there are huge challenges to be faced.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout the support from Santa Fe that this project has enjoyed over the last five years, things can slow down or fall apart pretty quickly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Martinez\u2019s views on the spaceport<\/h3>\n

Personnel issues aren\u2019t the only reason people like Homans are concerned about the project. Earlier this week, Martinez was quoted by the Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a> as saying her administration plans to audit spaceport funding. She was also quoted by the L.A. Times<\/a> as saying she is looking to privatize operations at the spaceport.<\/p>\n

Asked about Martinez\u2019s views on the spaceport, spokesman Scott Darnell pointed to a prior statement<\/a> from Martinez published by NMPolitics.net in August:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThe spaceport has an impressive potential to bring development opportunities to southern New Mexico, with high-tech, good-paying jobs leading the way. We might also anticipate benefits to our educational system as the workforce required to support this industry will be highly educated and highly trained.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe state has already contributed a substantial initial investment to the project\u00a0\u2013 more than half of the project construction costs to date. Given our budget realities, additional large investments would be a misguided use of our taxpayer funds. In addition, higher local taxes have been implemented on surrounding counties to help fund the construction of the project. Along with our tax increases levied by the state government, we are placing an undue burden on local residents during these very difficult economic times.<\/p>\n

\u201cState government can continue to be a partner in the spaceport project, although no longer its major financier. We must attract more industry and private business to the spaceport facility to assist with future development costs. We need to look at further expanding the scope of the spaceport beyond personal space flights at a cost of $200,000 per flight and attract other private industries willing to venture as a partner in this endeavor.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs with all major state investments, as governor, I would order a review of spaceport financing and operations to make sure we are seeing the most equitable return on taxpayer dollars and look to continue to be a partner in the project by drawing more private industry and economic development opportunities to the area to support ongoing efforts.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Darnell said the governor sought the resignations of all Richardson political appointees, not just Homans. He said the administration is reviewing the \u201cactivities and membership\u201d of the Spaceport Authority and \u201cassessing what changes need to be made.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Dealt with as a special issue\u2019<\/h3>\n

Homans said he understands that these are tough times financially, but he said the spaceport needs to be treated differently than the rest of state government.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis project is really an anomaly in state government, because this project is ramping up in a big way and the rest of state government is ramping down in a big way,\u201d he said. \u201cSo this needs to be put on the side and dealt with as a special issue with special attention, and that leadership has to come from the governor.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Current upheaval at Spaceport America could cause the project to \u201cslow down or fall apart pretty quickly\u201d if Gov. Susana Martinez doesn\u2019t \u201cclearly and unequivocally\u201d declare her support, the outgoing spaceport director says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,1],"tags":[107,141],"class_list":["post-24792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-roundhouse","tag-spaceport-america"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24792","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=24792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24792\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}