Another View

Civic Leaders Using Smoke and Mirrors on CNM 

It appears that most of metro Albuquerque’s “in-crowd,” namely its educational, political, business and media leaders, have joined hands to support financing a new Central New Mexico campus in Rio Rancho by increasing the debt load of that city’s taxpayers.
 
This alliance makes for strange bedfellows, since three years ago Rio Rancho political leaders were all but ready to take CNM to court to remove Rio Rancho from their district entirely.

Comment and quotes by CNM officials in various media all but prove that CNM and these other interested parties are using smoke and mirrors to create the illusion that Rio Rancho must have a CNM campus.
 
First, to publicize the election, CNM entered into a $300,000 contract with Albuquerque advertising firm Rick Johnson and Co. All but $50,000 of that is from is from the college’s general fund, paid by taxpayers. Wouldn't $300,000 have been better spent on teaching students?  Is CNM so flush with money that they can afford to spend $300,000 on advertising?

Second, is a CNM campus in Rio Rancho to better the city or is it needed for CNM’s survival?  CNM President Katharine Winograd estimates a CNM Rio Rancho campus would draw an additional 3,000 students. True, more students might translate into more dollars, if the campus could add an additional 3,000 students to its enrollment; an attractive prospect for CNM officials who for the last few years have worried about a cut in their state appropriation due to a waning enrollment. 

But how realistic is it that a CNM campus in Rio Rancho will boost CNM's enrollment by 3,000 students?  If not, will their state appropriation at some future date be cut, and will that translate into significant future property tax increases for Rio Rancho residents?  
 
Why is CNM’s enrollment waning?  Could the real reason be a major increase in the "drop out" rate in all the metro area secondary schools?  A recent report from Johns Hopkins University said Albuquerque Public Schools were "dropout factories," the fifth worst in the country.  If that is true, neither CNM nor UNM will have much chance of increasing enrollment at any of their campuses until that drop out rate is curtailed. 

If the CNM Rio Rancho campus is approved, my guess is that the school will not see any real increase in their overall enrollment. Instead, the Rio Rancho campus will draw students from other CNM campuses, thereby lowering those campuses' enrollments and further reducing their facility utilization rates. This, in turn, would increase CNM's per-student cost to operate those campuses, which could force the school to seek a tax increase from taxpayers in their district.

We who live in Rio Rancho were told by our political leaders that once the  city built its arena, it would draw from all over the metro area and would be self-supporting. That has not yet happened. Public monies to the tune of $1.2 million dollars a year are needed to support that venue, and probably will be needed for some time to come. Could the same be said for building a CNM Rio Rancho campus? 

Third, CNM college spokeswoman Samantha Bousliman recently said the proposed tax increase (to northern Rio Rancho taxpayers) would take in about $1 million more in annual tax revenue. She added that this amount would increase as Rio Rancho continues to grow. Ms. Bousliman also stated that the campus site is unimproved, so CNM will need to put in roads and utilities. She concluded: "...the college has no estimate how much it will cost to develop the entire Rio Rancho campus.”
 
I recently requested from CNM, under New Mexico's Inspection of Public Records Act, that I be allowed to inspect all preliminary and final design layouts, site plan(s) and cost estimates for construction of the proposed Rio Rancho campus, to include estimated yearly facility operational costs for the first five years of operations. The documents the college president sent me had no preliminary or final design layouts, site plan(s), cost estimates for construction or estimated yearly facility operational costs for years 1-5.  Why?  Because those document don't exist.

In her response to me, CNM President Katharine Winograd states, "CNM's formal planning process for a campus in Rio Rancho will not commence until the district expansion election is complete, thus many of the items requested do not yet exist."

No idea how much the project will cost! Does this make sense? Is this smart business? The reality is CNM has yet to undertake a planning process, formal or otherwise, for this project, but they want the taxpayers to pay the bills.  What CNM is asking Rio Rancho taxpayers to agree to is comparable to someone asking a home builder to build them a new home and the builder saying, "OK, give me $50,000 down, but I cannot and will not tell you what the final home will look like or what the final cost will be until after the project is completed.  Who in their right mind would agree to such a deal?
  
Finally, why has CNM ruled out developing a joint venture with UNM to share a new campus in Rio Rancho? A CNM/UNM jointly-operated campus would save the taxpayers million of dollars in construction and yearly operating costs through the use of common infrastructure, parking facilities, power plants, student unions, classrooms, grounds and facilities maintenance, and more. Development of a joint use campus must be examined by both institutions before a single shovel of dirt is turned. 

UNM President Davis Schmidly has already stated publicly that when the university builds its own new campus in Rio Rancho, UNM will lobby the state Legislature to raise Rio Rancho's gross receipts tax to support their campus. Academia, like any other business, must learn to economize in today's uncertain economic environment, since the taxpayer is being asked to pay the bill? 

By their own words, the educational, political, business and media leaders who support a CNM campus in Rio Rancho have been using smoke and mirrors to convince Rio Rancho taxpayers to fund their empire building ambitions when other more cost-effective options need to be explored. 

Harry Gordon
Rio Rancho