Cocoposts

Blaming Smart Growth

In a mighty leap of logic and misdirection, not unusual for the Heritage Foundation, author Wendell Cox blames smart growth for the housing bubble, economic downturn and alopecia.       

These policies, often referred to as "smart growth," create a scarcity of land, artificially raise the price of housing, and, again, have increased the exposure of the market to risky mortgage debt. When more liberal loan policies were implemented, metropolitan areas that had adopted these more restrictive policies lacked the resilient land markets that would have allowed the greater demand to be accommodated without inordinate increases in house prices.

This is simultaneously ridiculous and boring - other typifying traits of  HF material.

There is a glut of housing tied directly to those  liberal loan policies, not a shortage of land caused by excessive land use regulation.  And we should be so lucky.  The sprawl pattern paradigm of the last twenty-five years was constrained by very little and the least of these was "smart growth" regulation.   The term itself was only more recently popularized to describe the largely ineffective and pathetic attempts to rein in the juggernaut - like Albuquerque's Planned Growth Strategy in 1996 - the potential of which was nipped in the bud by sprawlmeisters.   

Albuquerque's most obvious development constraint is land ownership, not regulation.  The edges of our ubiquitous suburbia are defined by federal, Indian or old land grant boundaries, not smart growth boundaries.  The entire idea of effective growth boundaries was kneecapped by the very developer friendly Legislature early in the decade.

Blaming planning or local government regulation seems popular with those who made record breaking profits in the housing boom and on the way down they are grasping at straws. 

TIDD Hugs and Understanding

The vote to amend the City of Albuquerque's ordinance regarding tax increment financing failed 5-4 last night.    Proponents for the changes were clear.   In short they said, you should understand consequences before you embrace something wholeheartedly. 

Councilor Cadigan spoke of baseball, failed promises of the railroad builders and the meaning of the  anti-donation clause in the New Mexico Constitution.  Councilor O'Malley described life, planning and TIDDs in all their fractal animal-print complexity.  Along with Benton and Garduno, they demonstrated understanding of the risks and rewards of  TIDD financing.

Opponents didn't say anything that even registered on the common-sense o-meter.  They have unquestioningly embraced the whole idea.  Curiously, Councilor Sally Mayer talked about her intelligence getting insulted and  Councilor Trudy Jones picked up this.  Ken Sanchez talked about how the City might get sued.   Chamber of Commerce, Homebuilders and NAIOP spoke against the bill and evoked the magic word -  jobs. 

A great piece from Planning and Environmental Law by Greg LeRoy about TIF is here.  New Mexico Voices for Children has good stuff here. 

From the LeRoy article:

How much is enough?  The U.S. is arguably well overbuilt in retail space, some of it subsidized by TIF.  The National Trust for Historic Preservation estimates the nation has 38 square feet of store space per capita, compared to other industrialized nations with between 1.5 and eight square feet (and eight square feet in the U.S. 30 years ago).

A 2001 study by the Congress for the New Urbanism and PriceWaterhouseCoopers about "grayfields"--the euphemism for dead malls--found that 7 percent of regional malls were already grayfields and another 12 percent were "potentially moving towards grayfield status in the next five years"; that would be 389 dead malls.

   

Water Rules Repealed

Albuquerque Journal says the Water Authority repealed the new water conservation rules.   

Cadigan linked the ordinance's repeal to one "special interest group"— builders— complaining about costs.  "They are not entitled to a special process because they are home building lobbyists," he said.

Oh, but they do so believe they are entitled.

(Bernalillo County Commissioner) Cummins stressed at the meeting that the board and builders believe in conservation, but the changes were not passed in the "traditional" way, with builders giving comment before the bill was drafted.  "I think the tenor of compromise is different than the tenor of starting with a clean slate," Cummins said of the repeal.

Tenor of compromise and the traditional way? 

I'm picturing a tradition of grandfathering -  exempting entire subdivisions from new requirements and calling it compromise. 

Fragmenting resource and land use regulation, in this case through multiple agencies with overlapping jurisdictions, maximizes short term real estate market and builder profits and hinders true community building.   Some tradition.      

Another Authority

From the Albuquerque Journal - an idea for a city-county redevelopment authority to which my gut reaction is so negative that I struggle to read the entire story as I was shaking my head so hard.  Can we please call it something else?   I'm so wary of authority.

O'Malley has introduced legislation to organize a "work group" to study the issue and report on the viability of creating an authority.  If the idea proves to be sound, the same group would offer recommendations on how the authority should be set up, who would be involved and how much autonomy it should have.  O'Malley said the city's redevelopment office was not efficient enough to ensure continuous progress on larger redevelopments and that it is vulnerable to political pressures. ...

A new board is no less vulnerable to political pressure, IMHO.    

 

Mayor Martin Chávez said he would take a look at the idea but won't take a position until there's more information.  He said he would not support "anything that circumscribes the authority of those that are accountable to the public."

That's an interesting comment.  More likely, a new board circumscribes accountability, while the authority of the individual who sits on such a board may actually increase.  His accountability to the public is generally reduced by new decision-making machinations and another set of poorly attended meetings.  New boards are less transparent to public scrutiny,  and certainly no less vulnerable to politics. 

Here's a link to Denver's redevelopment authority.  Not too exciting but apparently functional. 

 

Flat Tires on Economy

From a Denver Post story yesterday came news about jet manufacturing entitled "All the Air Taken Out"  in which they mention Eclipse Aviation's challenges:

The very-light-jet industry, which just recently seemed a promising economic-development niche for Colorado, has nearly fizzled out in the state. Within the past 3 1/2 months, Adam Aircraft and Aviation Technology Group, both based at Centennial Airport, have gone from up-and-comers in a potentially lucrative new business to shells of their former selves.

Even Eclipse was challenged   Even the most successful startup in the VLJ market, Eclipse Aviation in Albuquerque, has run into challenges.  ...

This morning the Albuquerque Journal's Sean Olson gives us the news about a defaulting developer  who insists this doesn't mean a thing for 57,000 acres in Albuquerque.   

California-based SunCal, developer of Albuquerque's massive Westland project, has had a rough year with some of its California and Nevada ventures— but insists that will have no bearing on its plans here. 

SunCal Companies defaulted on $184 million in loans— losing five properties in foreclosure.  At least nine lawsuits are pending in those states.

Moody's last month removed a bond rating on one SunCal company responsible for four developments in Southern California.  About $17.5 million in liens have been filed in two of its California projects.

But SunCal, which bought 57,000 acres from the heirs of the Atrisco Land Grant on the West Side last year for $250 million, insists none of its struggles to the west will affect the Westland project here.

KKOB and Republicans

The Albuquerque Journal tells only parts of the story.  They tell about Republicans complaining to KKOB and a news anchor quitting.   

Laura MacCallum, afternoon drive-time news anchor for KKOB (770-AM) radio, abruptly quit last week after station management pulled a story she produced concerning the Republican Party delegate nominating convention in Bernalillo County.    The story was broadcast three times last Wednesday, prompting complaints from the state Republican Party and one of its campaigns.

The end - thus illustrating the point of who calls the shots in our little town.      

::Stares at empty lawn where afternoon daily once rested.  Heaves huge sigh::.

Dennis Domrzalski's blog coverage is complete.  Sometimes completely over the top, but complete.   

By the week’s end, Wilson’s campaign admitted that it had paid the convention entrance fees for five people. But it was too late. They had already shot themselves in the head.  The would-be empire and Wilson’s campaign behaved like the power-obsessed elitists they are, and it backfired. The blogosphere hit back. The gatekeepers in the traditional media were blown away.

It isn’t all bad, though, for the non-answering Cheshire and the GOP smear-job operatives. With their abusive, sleazy and self-destructive tactics they’ve proven themselves worthy.  Worthy of jobs in Hillary Clinton’s campaign.

Blogger-on-fire but his misogyny wafts through to my monitor like strong cheese.    

Here is Dennis with Nicole in the Eye on New Mexico part two segment  in which Republican Pat Rogers puts on a pathetic display attempting to insult and discredit former Governor Dave Cargo.  Cargo first dared to made noise about Heather Wilson's campaign tactics.  Pat attempts to administer party punishment and Cargo is having none of it. 

Does Pat not remind you of the other "Mr. Rogers" in a weird-scary way?               

Metro Court Scandal News

I bought the Saturday Journal and read this benign headline a couple times.  I was slightly distracted by my delicious breakfast burrito - sitting in take out at Casa Benavides.  Green chile made my eyes water and I blinked through the article again.   Judges Reject Bid to Dismiss Cases.  Buried deep was one mention of the Metro Court scandal.  This link is to the Albuquerque Tribune archive.   The lack of context and depth was in sharp contrast to tasty beans in that fresh warm chewy tortilla.     The paper became a place mat.

It seems to me that Manny Aragon and many others have an interest in putting off this case and challenging its progression every step of the way.  They must think if it takes long enough, no one will remember what they've done - bilked the public.  Public memory is fragile.  To support a call for justice requires repeated presentation of known facts.  The Journal isn't providing that. 

And even with that repetition, some will get away with it.  Just ask Cricket Coogler. 

It is both official and unanimous: Three federal judges have rebuffed a bid to dimiss criminal cases because the new U.S. attorney was appointed by judges instead of by the president.

U.S. District Judge James O. Browning joined Judges M. Christina Armijo and William "Chip" Johnson in finding that the court's appointment of Greg Fouratt as the chief federal prosecutor was not unconstitutional— defense arguments notwithstanding. ...

In challenges launched in some two dozen criminal cases— including the Metro Court scandal— the criminal defense bar has argued that having judges appoint the chief federal prosecutor violated the separation of powers clause of the Constitution. They have argued that the chief prosecutor has essentially become beholden to the judges who gave him the job and that the appointment lacked accountability because they have lifetime appointments.

 And they would know beholden.  Nice try. 

Final Edition

Tribune Editor Phill Casaus  holds up the  final edition in the newsroom Saturday.   

They Don't Understand

From the Albuquerque Journal comes remarkable finger pointing.   

Mayor Martin Chávez said the city needed to step in to help restore public faith in the water supply after KOAT-TV news last month reported that a fungus had contaminated some of the authority's bottled water.      "They (the authority) just seem to not want to take responsibility," Chávez said. "I don't think they understand the gravity of the situation."

Hello?  What is this "they" business?  The Mayor sits on the Water Authority Board and has taken full credit for the vision of the San Juan Chama project for years.  Despicable. 

Cringeworthy Infrastructure

Top news in town for days is this damn road closure - Paseo del Norte.  Actually, the news is only about the traffic - not about the water or the line or even the road.   Traffic as news.  I knew I wasn't going to like reading Sean Olson's Albuquerque Journal story with the headline:  Officials See Paseo Closure as Wake-Up Call.   

Don't expect a new bridge to the West Side anytime soon, but officials do have a few ideas on how to prevent massive traffic jams in the future.

Uh-oh. I hate it when they get a few ideas - suspicious of the motives of officials who act surprised when major infrastructure fails.  More often those aware of the big picture will wonder at how well stuff works half the time.     When the unexpected happens it isn't entirely unexpected.  It either confirms or informs what they knew already. 

Like we knew Paseo del Norte would never "solve the traffic problem" - even with all lanes fully functional.  The old adage is something like, you can't build your way out of traffic congestion.  This was clear from the beginning.  We build roads anyway and they fail.  Traffic backs up. Stuff falls apart. 

Then someone makes pronouncements to appease those stuck in traffic.  Suddenly, something must be done.  Wait for it...   

The closure of Paseo del Norte from Saturday through Monday highlighted the need for something to be done about crosstown traffic, especially when a major road is shut down, said Don Leonard, Mid-Region Council of Governments chairman.

 

"Hopefully, this awakened us to the fact that this isn't the first time and it won't be the last time" for street closures, Leonard said.

Armijo said two more river crossings are needed— one in southern Albuquerque and one in the northern part of the city.

LOL.