Swisstack, Owen swap charges of misrepresentation

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Owen said Swisstack was attempting to take credit for a $3 billion investment by Sandoval County in creating industrial revenue bonds for Intel, which is not a part of the city but an island of land owned by Sandoval County. Swisstack did sit on the county commission before becoming mayor, but the literature specifically states, as one of five items under he heading of “An Exceptional Record of Community Service,” that Swisstack “secured over $3 billion in new investment as Mayor.”

Owen, who worked at Intel at the time, said, “The fact that I was part and parcel in making that happen, I’m curious as to how Tom Swisstack had anything to do with it at all. It’s an intentional misrepresentation, and Tom is famous for such things.

“A classic example: He stood right in front of Intel pointing his finger at the big (Intel) sign and taking credit for having brought this wonderful industry to the state of New Mexico, of which Intel turned around and told him to cease and desist because he had nothing to do with it.

“He would much rather ask for forgiveness than permission.”

Swisstack said the $3 billion figure “ comes from the Rio Rancho Economic Development Corporation and represents a $2.4 billion dollar expansion at Intel, along with $600 million of new investment from over a dozen other companies, including Bank of America, Fulcrum Direct, Intuit, Victoria’s Secret and Sprint PCS.  According to the RREDC, almost 7,000 new jobs were created during that same period.

“I was intimately involved with Sandoval County in the Intel expansion, as part of the city council that approved the necessary industrial revenue bonds - bonds which not only provided Rio Rancho with its first high school, but which ultimately led INTEL to invest $10 billion in Sandoval County. These are facts and part of the public record.”

Owen cited construction done during his tenure as mayor, including “a brand new events center that cost $43 million, plus or minus $1 million and a $16 to $19 million city hall” in contrast.

“I don’t see a university. I don’t see a TVI or CNM (campus during Swisstack’s term as mayor),” Owen said. “The high school, which was built by Intel, cost a grand total of $30 million when it was built, which was back in a similar time frame. But that was done by Intel entirely.”

“I’m just confused in the sense of what he has provided us, and I think it is an intentional misrepresentation. You can’t tell me that this is a typo, because I don’t buy that.”

“Well, $3 billion is half of today’s state budget. Three billion dollars is more than he can imagine. Three billion dollars would buy Rio Rancho. It would pave every street and would fix all the flooding problems. So my question is: A $3 billion investment into what? All I’m saying is it doesn’t tell you.

“What it does is gives the inference that he provided the mechanism, somehow or another, to make the investment of $3 billion. I don’t see it anywhere in Rio Rancho. So he should detail for the public how the $3 billion was invested, how it was received or distributed, where it’s being used – how can we go see it?”

In response, Swisstack said, “There were numerous other distortions and odd assertions in Mr. Owen’s ramblings, including his somehow forgetting the branch of Highlands University that was established during the period I was mayor, and his claim that ‘three billion dollars would buy Rio Rancho.’  I could never have imagined a public official implying, as Mr. Owens does, that the people and city of Rio Rancho are for sale for any amount.”

Owen said the wording in Swisstack’s “palm card,” so-called because the design of the literature is meant to fit in the palm of a voter’s hand, implies that the candidate is solely responsible for the accomplishments, something Swisstack denied in his statement.

“It isn’t that he’s spending money printing up world class stuff. It isn’t that he’s paying people to go door-to-door to pass it out,” Owen said. “What really is painful here is if you read this – if you have a third-grade education and are able to read – it says very clearly one of the things he has done is secured over $3 billion in new investment as mayor.

 “So that means if you read his article that somewhere between 1994 and 1998 he brought $3 billion into Rio Rancho. And if you read it correctly it means ‘I secured …’ or ‘I alone secured.’

“If he had said something like ‘I was part of a team’ or ‘I participated with the county’ it may have had some legitimacy. The fact is he’s trying to send the message that is the carrier and provider of these funds.”

Said Swisstack: “I have never claimed, nor have I ever given the impression, that the many achievements during my term as mayor were mine alone. Everyone who knows me knows that I am a team player, and that I have always depended on the hard work, cooperation, and good will of others. 

“Mr. Owen may prefer misrepresentation and name-calling, but that is not my style, and it will not be a part of any campaign that I am involved with, nor will it be a part of Rio Rancho city government if I am elected mayor.”

Said Owen: “It occurs to me if he wants to claim the $3 billion, then I’ll claim the $16 billion” (industrial revenue bond passed by the Sandoval County Commission in 2004, while Owen was mayor.)

Owen and Swisstack are the only two candidates in the field of seven who have been elected to office. The other five candidates on the ballot for the March 4 election are
former Navy veteran and small businessman Tim Crum; retired Air Force veteran Bill White; small business owners John McKinney and Kim Rytter, and call center manager Stephen W. Meyer.