Richardson’s presidential campaign donated to help get spaceport tax passed
Jose L. Medina
Las Cruces Sun-News
Gov. Bill Richardson’s unsuccessful presidential campaign was the largest contributor to a political action committee that pushed for passage of a spaceport tax referendum in Sierra County last April…The Richardson for President campaign gave $10,000 to People for Aerospace of Sierra County on April 8, two weeks before the April 22 vote in which Sierra residents overwhelmingly approved the tax, clearing the way for a spaceport taxation district.
April Schmidlapp, who worked to defeat Sierra’s tax, said she feels the vote was bought. She said a loosely organized group of tax opponents at most spent “a couple thousand dollars.”
“It’s all part of a group in (Truth or Consequences) that just bullies its way through decision-making and gets what they want done,” she said.
What Spaceport doesn’t mean
Saturn Noriega
Alamogordo Daily News
Steve Landeene, executive director of the N.M. Spaceport Authority, says the port will create 2,500 jobs generating more than $1 billion in economic growth. If each job represents a new family (Mom/Dad/Child) you get 7,500 new people. Add some 3,500 more to supply that growth with services and consumables, and the total jumps to 11,000 (all estimates, of course).
I do not feel one-third of those jobs will come to Otero. Maybe not even one will, unless it’s a local who is lucky enough to land a SP job and is willing to drive over the St. Augustin Pass then 50 miles north of Las Cruces on a four-hour daily trek, rather than move nearer the SP.
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