Less than two weeks after proposing a bond issue of up to $12 million to pay for soccer field improvements at ·è¿ÍÖ±²¥ Fe’s Municipal Recreation Complex, Councilor Chris Rivera said Monday he is dropping the idea — at least for now.
“If I really thought that we had some leverage here, then I would continue. But it was pretty clear that people still want to see what the results of the 2008 bond are going to be,†he said, referring to an audit of a $30.3 million bond issue for park and trail improvements.
Rivera said “misperceptions†about the 2008 voter-approved bond issue drove his decision to withdraw the proposal.
“It was pretty amazing to me how much of the public out there doesn’t understand that there is not $30 million missing,†he said. “That’s one of the bigger things that I learned about what perceptions were from the public. They just think that the city is missing $30 million dollars, and that’s just not the case.â€
Earlier this year, an accounting firm hired by the city to conduct a limited review of the 2008 bond issue released a scathing assessment of it, saying the program was administered so haphazardly that parts of it were unaccounted for or never implemented. The firm, Albuquerque-based REDW LLC, also said it could not assert in its limited review that all laws were followed. That prompted calls from the public for a deeper review.
Initially, city officials, including Mayor Javier Gonzales, said the problems identified in the REDW report could be fixed and that a full-scale audit was unnecessary. But calls for an independent audit persisted, and State Auditor Tim Keller authorized a special audit. It has yet to begin.
Rivera said “a better time to look†at a bond issue for soccer field improvements is after that audit is completed, as well as a possible audit on a $14 million parks and trails bond that voters approved in 2012.
“Obviously, the economy is going to play into it and the city deficit as well,†he said.
Rivera, who is up for re-election, was unopposed in the race for council District 3, which covers southwest ·è¿ÍÖ±²¥ Fe, until he proposed the bond issue that could have raised property taxes.
Donald Ramon Vigil, a former deputy warden for the state Department of Corrections who works as assistant chief of security at the Bernalillo County jail, said he had been considering running then made up his made after Rivera pitched the idea.
Rivera said his potential challenger in the March municipal election had no bearing on his decision to drop the proposal.
“I’ve never been afraid of bringing up issues,†said Rivera, the city’s former fire chief. “That’s how you create discussions sometimes, and this created some discussion. Obviously, having the courage to back away from it is important as well.â€
Contact Daniel J. Chacón at 986-3089 or dchacon@sfnewmexican.com. Follow him on Twitter @danieljchacon.
