Posts with the tag State Land Office
The New Mexico Independent launched this week and not a moment too soon for a hard news hungry public. Digging for the story behind the story, the Indie's Majorie Childress looked into how the controversy about how the N.M. State Land Office handles its development leases.
Land Office explains why it enters into no-bid deals that benefit developers
When Childress inquired how one might go about inspecting the eighteen short-term planning development leases mentioned in a recent Albuquerque Journal article, the following extraordinary exchange took place:
So much for transparency. But that's not all. Consider this choice nugget from Majorie's story: Read More »
Land Office explains why it enters into no-bid deals that benefit developers
When Childress inquired how one might go about inspecting the eighteen short-term planning development leases mentioned in a recent Albuquerque Journal article, the following extraordinary exchange took place:
I was told by the two offices that in order to see the leases I'd have to send a written public request including the lease number and the name of the lessee. When I asked how I could get that information in order to make the request, I was told there was no way to isolate them from the almost 900 current Land Office leases. Stranahan couldn't tell me who they were either, other than just a few developers that came to mind.
When I suggested to Stranahan that the method of selecting the developer for these cases lacks transparency and could lead to an appearance of impropriety given the campaign contributions made by many of these developers to Commissioner Lyons, he replied, "Most of these developers are successful, they all contribute to everybody, not just Pat Lyons. Here, the only issue that comes into play, the only issue that matters to us is who can make us the most money."
So much for transparency. But that's not all. Consider this choice nugget from Majorie's story: Read More »
O.K. folks, bear with me for a bit on the history review because I think we have to look more closely at the actions of the State Land Office.
The conditions under which New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912 are rather interesting. Land was the currency of the day and New Mexico had plenty of it.
The 1899 Ferguson Act and subsequent 1910 Enabling Act created the state land office and the position of Land Commissioner (first territorial land commissioner then state land commissioner). Due to the strict and highly specified provisions of the Enabling Act, the mission of the State Land Office could be distilled down to a simple matter of generating revenue for the state (mostly for education) from trust lands. Read More »
The conditions under which New Mexico became the 47th state on January 6, 1912 are rather interesting. Land was the currency of the day and New Mexico had plenty of it.
The 1899 Ferguson Act and subsequent 1910 Enabling Act created the state land office and the position of Land Commissioner (first territorial land commissioner then state land commissioner). Due to the strict and highly specified provisions of the Enabling Act, the mission of the State Land Office could be distilled down to a simple matter of generating revenue for the state (mostly for education) from trust lands. Read More »
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