{"id":25666,"date":"2011-02-02T10:30:01","date_gmt":"2011-02-02T17:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=25666"},"modified":"2011-02-03T08:22:11","modified_gmt":"2011-02-03T15:22:11","slug":"martinez-isn%e2%80%99t-shutting-door-on-anthony-casino","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2011\/02\/martinez-isn%e2%80%99t-shutting-door-on-anthony-casino\/","title":{"rendered":"Martinez isn\u2019t shutting door on Anthony casino"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

Gov. Susana Martinez<\/p><\/div>\n

Gov. Susana Martinez<\/a> says she\u2019s skeptical of a proposal to build an off-reservation casino in Anthony, but that doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s decided to oppose it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not convinced that it\u2019s the best thing to do right now, but that doesn\u2019t mean I can\u2019t be convinced,\u201d Martinez told NMPolitics.net on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

NMPolitics.net requested the interview to seek clarification on Martinez\u2019s stance. That\u2019s because she was quoted by the Las Cruces Sun-News<\/a> as saying she doesn\u2019t support the casino proposal but is hoping the federal government will make the decision on whether to allow it.<\/p>\n

The Anthony proposal comes from Northern New Mexico\u2019s Jemez Pueblo and Santa Fe art dealer and developer Gerald Peters.<\/p>\n

Federal law allows off-reservation casinos only when the U.S. Interior Department agrees to place land in federal trust for that purpose. Before that happens, the department has to be convinced that the proposal is in the best interest of the tribe and has the support of the local community where the casino would be built.<\/p>\n

When the department approves such a proposal \u2013 which is rare \u2013 it\u2019s then up to the state\u2019s governor to decide whether the casino can be built. So even if the federal government approved the proposal, all that would do is place the decision in Martinez\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

Martinez pointed out to NMPolitics.net that the Interior Department rejected the Jemez Pueblo\u2019s application in 2008, saying she assumes that decision will stand. But that was during the Bush Administration, and the department under the Obama Administration is taking a second look<\/a> at the proposal.<\/p>\n

So there\u2019s a chance Martinez will have to decide.<\/p>\n

Guv wants \u2018a diversity of economic development\u2019<\/h3>\n

<\/p>\n

Martinez told NMPolitics.net she\u2019s concerned about the precedent that would be set in allowing an off-reservation casino. That mirrors criticism from opponents of the Jemez proposal, who have said allowing it could lead to a number of casinos being built off-reservation in Southern New Mexico.<\/p>\n

Some of that criticism, however, comes from people tied to the Sunland Park Racetrack and Casino, a racino that\u2019s the only gambling establishment near El Paso and Las Cruces. The racino\u2019s owner, Stan Fulton, has admitted he wants to kill the Jemez proposal for business reasons.<\/p>\n

Martinez said she wants Southern Do\u00f1a Ana County to grow economically, but not just through the building of casinos. She mentioned the proposal to move a Union Pacific rail hub to Santa Teresa as a form of positive economic development.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a diversity of economic development is more important to me,\u201d Martinez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gov. Susana Martinez says she\u2019s skeptical of a proposal to build an off-reservation casino in Anthony, but that doesn\u2019t mean she\u2019s decided to oppose it.<\/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":[115,138,107],"class_list":["post-25666","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","category-uncategorized","tag-dona-ana-county","tag-growth-and-development","tag-roundhouse"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25666","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=25666"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25666\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}