Friday, June 15, 2007

June 15, 2007 Newsletter


May-June 2007

(Publication date: June 15, 2007)

What’s Political and What’s Not. Our approved bylaws provide:

“While the Coalition may be involved in the discussion of issues that may be political in nature, the Coalition shall not participate or intervene in any partisan political campaign, including the publication or distribution of candidate materials, or endorse any candidate for public office. The Coalition may publish nonpartisan materials for the information and education of member neighborhood associations.

“In the implementation of these purposes, the Coalition shall address matters within and beyond the boundaries of the Coalition that affect or could affect its member organizations or their individual members’ collective common interests (e.g., land use policies, tax proposals, water-use rules, acquisition of property, development proposals, city-wide legislative initiatives, governmental rules of procedure, City and County Legislative priorities, City and County Capital Improvement Programs).”

Having reminded recipients of those self-imposed constraints, there have been several things going on during (and before) the last month that are noteworthy but “not our business.”

Revitalization of East Central has shown little progress since last month’s newsletter. There have been two public meetings, with concerned citizens voicing concerns about the area to be designated as “blighter” and commercial building moratorium and potential rezoning. Recall that the Coalition voted to:

  • Recommend that the sector plan be done before the Metropolitan Redevelopment plan to evaluate a wider area and to more fully understand how to improve the area.
  • Defer the Metropolitan Redevelopment Area designation, but have it include only commercial properties on or near Central, excluding the Four Hills Shopping Center and the Smith’s [grocery] store and property, but including the I-40/Tramway/Central interchange.
  • Eliminate the restrictive [interim] design regulations (e.g., two story requirement, 50% lot coverage, storefronts on Central) and eliminate the moratorium.
  • Request clarity as to when a ‘redevelopment area’ designation ends.

A message was sent to all City Councilors, Mayor Chávez, and Richard Dineen (bcc: to Coalition addressees) noting the complicated legislative history and many-times modified map of the area involved. The message reiterated support of revitalization with the emphasis on longer-range objectives (to be developed in the Sector Plan process). At the May 22 public MRA meeting, it became obvious that the Metropolitan Redevelopment Manager had not been provided with our recommendations; Councilor Harris evidently declined to forward our message.

As recently as June 14, it was apparent that the Metropolitan Redevelopment area would, despite our recommendations, include many residential areas and apartment complexes near East Central Avenue.

Fiscal Advisory Committee was approved by e-motion and member association representative vote. Jim Alsup is the Chairman tasked to collect candidate projects for consideration by our elected officials. Approximately 15 capital investment proposals were gathered, and the committee plans to gather ideas from all Coalition member associations as input to (particularly) the State budget process. If you have suggestions, please forward those to Jim. It is intended that the list should be inclusive—without screening or prioritizing the projects.

Great American Cleanup was conducted citywide. Several neighborhoods participated, including Singing Arrow, Piñon Creek, Four Hills Village, and (I think) Supper Rock—I didn’t tour the entire area, so I undoubtedly missed other noteworthy activities. There were a bunch of people cleaning up the Tijeras Arroyo west of Hidden Valley in the area of the Juan Tabo bridge.

Homeowner Association legislation was converted to a memorandum informing the Council that a task force would be formed, with Scott Varner as Chairman. Their general charter is to examine city records regarding neighborhood and homeowner associations and to assess the missions and functions of the Office of Neighborhood Coordination.

Juan Tabo West Annexation progressed, with the revised application to annex the 85-acre planned residential area south and east of the Tijeras Arroyo, deferring the potential future annexation of 70 acres in the Tijeras Arroyo and the 45-acre probable commercial area north and west of the arroyo. The commitment to create/donate a 3-acre area for a community park has been reaffirmed.

Political Flurry. The Coalition should take no position regarding these activities, but we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge “the elephant in the room.”

  • The City Council revised and passed the operating budget on May 21. There were several changes incorporated including deferral of the 1/8 cent gross receipts tax reduction for six months and granting $9,000,000 to Bernalillo County—primarily to fund the Metropolitan Detention Center.
  • An ad campaign criticized Councilors that voted for the deferral of the tax reduction.
  • A Measure Finance Committee has been formed with the intent to recall Councilor Don Harris.
  • Councilor Harris distributed a “constituent report” to a selected neighborhood, followed later by a similar letter to additional District 9 neighborhoods.
  • An ethics complaint was filed against Councilor Harris concerning the initial constituent report.

Again, the Coalition is prohibited by the bylaws from addressing or getting involved as an organization in these events.

Next Coalition meeting is scheduled for July 26, 2007, at the Manzano Mesa Multigenerational Center at 7:30 pm.

Roger Mickelson 323-9273 fhvhaRoger@aol.com