Las Cruces Mayor Race (Dona Ana: real estate, rental, work)

[6 FOOT 3]

I see that Las Cruces mayor Bill Mattice was defeated by councilman Ken Miyagishima. I know that Mattice was very pro growth and the developers wanted him to win and those wanting to see Las Cruces grow in population and stature. Myagishima wants to slow growth and concentrate on fixing the Older areas and Infrustructure around the city.

For you guys living there whats your thoughts about the election one way or the other. Good or Bad for Las Cruces.......

[mike0421]

I voted proudly for Miyagishima. In three years of living here, I've seen this place strive to duplicate Los Angeles County or Phoenix. If I wanted that, I'd have stayed on the East Coast. Miyagishima was the only council member to vote 'no' on the Phillipou East Mesa development and the associated annexation, and that vote earned him my vote for Mayor.

I kept the computer on the city website watching those precinct totals come in. The leader kept swinging back and forth, and I thought for a while Mattiace would pull it out. Thankfully he didn't.

[ibarrio]

Las Cruces is a growing city but it needs to be done right. It will never see Phoenix or L.A. type or problems...but Tuscon type of issues will occur if the growth isn't done right.

[KimK]

It was a great victory for slow, measured and reasonable development. To let the likes of Phillipou run wild here is simply nuts. I asked someone recently where Phillipou's money comes from? Do you know that nobody here in county or city government seems to even care where his money is from. The response I did receive is its from Syria. Now, I don't know if that is true but for this government not to ever look into where developers are getting their money to develop here is not only naive but very outdated. Why you may ask should we care? Do you want to aid and abet criminal enterprise? Money laundering anyone?

[TKO]

Phillipou is a Greek immigrant and the story goes he worked his way up from flipping burgers when he first came to Cruces to where he's at now through first minor real estate transactions to these huge deals. He's the second largest private property owner in the county behind the Verde Group down south. There is some discussion as to just where he sits financially with some now thinking he's bet the farm on continued sales. With the slowdown, he's apparently working with somewhat of a negative cash flow and he's land poor. I know some of his people have been looking for work elsewhere.

All the rest is conjecture at it's finest. I have no inside knowledge of this, just what I hear around the halls of local government.

As for the election...let's see if this batch is different and actually take their stand. I suspect they won't. Cynical? Maybe but I've seen a lot of talk over the years and not much action that didn't revolve around money.

[funkymonkey]

I voted for Mattiace. Miyagishima is only focused on one issue and from what I can tell doesn't really have much of a vision beyond that. Besides, he lives in a subdivision that is 4 years old, now he wants to restrict other subdivisions? That doesn't make much sense. Where was his concern about growth over the past 8 years on the city council and 8 before that on the county commission? What did he do then to promote so-called "quality" growth? He voted in favor of numerous annexations in 2005 (oldest info I could find on the city's web site).

If you just go voting against annexations without procedures in place to prevent the developer from simply developing according to county standards, I guarantee your problems will be far worse than any in Phoenix or Tucson.

[funkymonkey]

Originally Posted by KimK

Why you may ask should we care? Do you want to aid and abet criminal enterprise? Money laundering anyone?

His companies own quite a few rental properties. Over 30 years and the real estate appreciation of the last few years, it's not a miracle that he would have a lot of money. Of course if you have any evidence for claims like that, go ahead and provide it.

[KimK]

I am not making any claims and have no evidence. All I have ever heard is he is very, very wealthy. The Syria thing is the only thing I had ever heard about the source of his funds other than what he has made in real estate here. I just pose the question of where money comes from in general that is used in Dona Ana to develop. It would be interesting to examine some of the sources. It doesn't seem to be done here by any county agency. It is something that California counties do and have done for several years now. Its not a huge stretch to imagine a developer in Phoenix bilking a number of people in some type of real estate scheme and then using the funds in a different state. That in effect is aiding in money laundering. I know some people might just call that good business!

[funkymonkey]

I have no idea what you're talking about with Syria.

Perhaps his company borrows some of the money, or just makes it off of their business.

[domino]

KimK,
So now it's suspicious or a crime to invest outside money in New Mexico? Get real. This happens all the time. Capital flows to where there is opportunity for it to grow. It's called free enterprise capitalism. Phillipou sound foreign, looks foreign . . . hmmmm, must be a terrorist, investing all this money and developing all this land in an attempt to make us dependent on affordable housing in order to undermine our economy.
I would rather have the development proposed by Phillipou (his proposed development is all in accordance with city regulations) than the unplanned alternative. Thousands of 1/2 acre plots with individual septic tanks, dirt roads scratched in the desert sand, no sidewalks, no infrastructure already dot the East Mesa. Do we really want more of that?