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© 2024 NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICES  5/19/25

Jet as symbol of “greed and excess” hasn’t changed in 20 years 

By Sherry Robinson

All She Wrote

     In August 2011 Gov. Susana Martinez stood before her predecessor’s jet, which was festooned with a big “SOLD” sign. 

     “Last year when I was running for governor, I not only promised taxpayers that I would not use this state jet as a personal air taxi, I promised New Mexicans across the state that I would get rid of this symbol of greed and excess in state government,” she said. “And today, I make good on that promise.”

     Then she hugged the buyers, handed them the keys and waved as the plane taxied down the runway. Sale price: $2.5 million.

     Gov. Bill Richardson’s administration acquired the Cessna Citation Bravo in 2005 for $5.5 million after the state sold his aging turboprop. The new twin-engine business jet, with a top speed upwards of 450 miles per hour, could get Richardson to Hobbs in 45 minutes and to nearly any other airport in the state in 35 minutes. 

     Richardson got his shiny man-toy after leaning on legislators for $5 million. It was the most expensive state aircraft in the region and the only state-owned jet in the Southwest. 

     Republican radio ads said the plane was proof of Richardson’s “lifestyle of the rich and famous.” It didn’t help that Richardson had used the jet to fly to Los Alamos, which took 25 minutes compared with a 45-minute drive.

     Within two years, the jet’s appeal had dulled as political heat increased. Now an aspiring presidential candidate, Richardson announced in 2007 he would give up the Cessna Citation Bravo in favor of five Eclipse 500 very-light jets, manufactured in Albuquerque.

     "The governor feels the time is right to convey a friendlier, folksier, more accessible image," a spokesman told Aero News Network, "A smaller, more personable aircraft ties into this image quite nicely." The spokesman referred to the five small jets as “the Richardson Air Force.”

     But the economy tipped into the Great Recession, and the Eclipse purchase never came off. The jet became political fuel for Susana Martinez and political baggage for the Democrats. During her campaign she even had billboards declaring, “Sell the jet!”

     In early 2011 the newly elected Martinez said: "At a time when New Mexicans are struggling to make ends meet, their governor should not be leading a life of privilege. We will get rid of that ultimate symbol of waste and excess; we will sell the state's luxury jet."

     I wrote in 2011: “The jet has been more useful to Martinez on the ground than it was to Richardson in the air.” It was a simple issue that fit on a billboard, and it resonated with the public. 

     Now the Republicans are about to learn the same lesson. 

     The president wants to accept a gift from the Qatari royal family of a $400 million jumbo jet, dubbed the “flying palace” and “Arab Force One.” Yes, it violates the clause in the Constitution that bars officials from accepting gifts “from any King, Prince, or foreign State” unless Congress approves. Yes, it’s a gift from a nation that supports Hamas and hasn’t always had our best interests at heart. Yes, retrofitting the aircraft to meet security and communications needs could cost taxpayers a bundle, and the government wouldn’t even keep it. And, yes, the optics are really, really bad.

     U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson, R-South Dakota, observed: “I don’t like it. There’s a reason that people can’t even buy me a steak dinner. It’s not necessarily that you can prove I have an ethical problem, it’s that the appearance of it doesn’t look great.”

     Former Republican presidential candidate Nikki Haley summarized it well: “Accepting gifts from foreign nations is never a good practice. It threatens intelligence and national security, especially when that nation supports a terrorist organization and allows those terrorist regimes to live on its soil. Regardless of how beautiful the plane may be, it opens a door and implies the President and U.S. can be bought. If this were Biden, we would be furious.”

     There’s one thing they forgot. Like Richardson’s business jet, this latest man-toy will be a potent symbol that won’t go away. Expect to see it flying in thousands of campaign advertisements during midterm campaigns. 

© 2024 NEW MEXICO NEWS SERVICES  5/5/25

Lawmakers, governor let housing bills wither

By Sherry Robinson

All She Wrote

     For many people the most affordable route to home ownership is to buy a manufactured home, and planned communities of these dwellings appeal to retirees. But they often rent the lot. If the property sells it can throw homeowners into a tailspin.

     “For me and many others, living in a 55-plus manufactured home community is a life choice that provides both affordable housing and a supportive, tight-knit environment,” wrote Joanne DeMichele in an op ed.

     After the owner sold the property to out-of-state investors, “rents jumped, and services declined.” With repeated rent increases, retirees dipped into savings, “wondering what will run out first – their life savings or their life” while others were forced out.

     In Alamogordo, she wrote, more than 100 people living in such a community “suffered for six months without natural gas before the California land investor made the necessary repairs. They are now told to expect another significant rent increase.”

     Mobile homes are the second most prevalent housing in New Mexico after single family homes in all but three counties, according to the Mortgage Finance Authority. We have 380 mobile home communities that make up 17% of the state’s housing inventory (the national average is 5.5%), and 36,000 people live in manufactured housing. 

     Now we’re seeing the same trend in land ownership turnover that has plagued other kinds of rental properties. If the land is sold, residents may have to walk away from their homes because moving them is prohibitive. A manufactured home or mobile home is not a trailer; they can’t just be moved from place to place.

     “It’s a huge problem,” says Rep. Marian Matthews, D-Albuquerque. “I have a senior park in my district with 700 residents. It used to be well maintained. Then a private equity group bought the property, maintenance declined, and rents increased. And property owners are scared that after the investors milk the property for a while they’ll sell it and not for use as a mobile home park. Homeowners could lose their entire investment.”

     Matthews, who has visited the homes to meet with constituents, notes that they’re nice places to live as well as being affordable. “It’s critical housing,” she says.

     She was a co-sponsor with Rep. Cristina Parajón, D-Albuquerque, and others of HB 426, which would have required owners of mobile home parks to notify residents and the Mortgage Finance Authority if they planned to sell the park and give residents a chance to buy the property if they can match price and terms of the third-party offer.

     It passed the House 37-26 and died without being heard by the Senate Judiciary Committee, even though Sen. Moe Maestas, the committee’s vice chair, was a sponsor. 

     Two other housing bills died without being heard by Senate Judiciary: HB 253 would have expunged old eviction records, and HB 339 would have forbidden discrimination based on income source such as vouchers. 

     Scores of housing bills also fell along the way. It was disheartening to housing advocates because the session opened with great promise for housing.

     Two bipartisan bills I liked took aim at housing supply. HB 571 would have incentivized municipalities to reform their zoning codes to encourage construction of affordable housing. It passed both houses unanimously, the Governor’s Office on Housing supported it, but the governor pocket vetoed it.

     HB 554, would have made it easier to build multifamily housing in commercial districts and allowed casitas in residential districts. It passed the House but died in a Senate committee.

     The only housing bill to become law was SB 267, which requires landlords to disclose all fees up front and limits junk fees. 

     Matthews plans to return next year with an improved mobile home park bill, but our cumbersome legislative system all but guarantees that a solution will take years, and people are losing their homes now.