Due to eight years of Mayor Marty Chavez not caring about the area after its renaissance began, and then following up with the incompetence of the Berry administration, the efforts of the city to have a heartbeat are dwindling.
Surely, there is a viable alternative in keeping county employees downtown and there has to be a bright Commissioner that can find it. Right?
2 comments:
Mayor Berry? Paging Mayor Berry. Anybody seen Mayor Berry? Paging Mayor Berry.
Has the same PR person as the cheshire cat governor--that's why we don't see a Mayor.
Calling Mayor Berry. Paging Mayor Berry?
Is there a Mayor in the City?
I'm always suspicious when a hired executive, like the Bernalillo county manager, is pushing a project like this. Sometimes these people are trying to pad their resumes for their next career move, and then the government they leave behind without notice is left with the consequences of their self aggrandizement.
I'm also suspicious when government land is being sold. Who is to gain? is the first question to ask. We the people, who own the land, are almost sure to lose out.
Speaking of who is to gain, this Todd Clarke, head of the "Downtown Action Team," is also pushing the project. He's quoted in Journal and Biz Journal stories about it, and Downtown Action Team is described by both publications as a "non-profit."
It's anything but. Clarke, CEO of a commercial real estate consultant company, and all board members save someone from the council of governments, are downtown business people, most of whom, if not all, stand to gain from the 'tearing down and rebuilding' type of development. Bankers, more real estate people, lawyers, architects, etc.
http://www.abqdowntown.com/board-of-directors/
This is besides what Jim mentions, which is the real tragedy. It's an exciting time in the field of urban planning. People are doing all kinds of innovative and creative things that are bringing downtowns back. Nashville, TN is one place to look at. You might think they're a bunch of guitar twanging hillbillies, but they're at the forefront of making downtown areas the size of Albuquerque's into livable, high density, environmentally friendly, public transport friendly places.
The people who are in urban planning and architecture now are out in front on these things, but it doesn't take much for a Marty Chavez or Marion Barry, or a Ray Nagan in New Orleans, to turn a town over to their real estate buddies and send it all back to the stone age of urban development.
Post a Comment