County, state at odds over future of State Fair grounds

A contentious meeting about the future of Expo New Mexico — and with it the State Fair — took place Wednesday evening as more than 100 people crowded into the African American Pavilion on the fairgrounds in Albuquerque.

The meeting came a few hours after the state canceled a bidding process for a master plan aimed at transforming the fairgrounds, according to Bernalillo County Executive Development Officer Marcos Gonzales.

“I just found out this evening,” Gonzales told the Journal following the meeting. “Ultimately, if we wanted to be more prepared, we would need more information from the state on their master plan process and what they want to actually have at the site.”

In December, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the state would put out a $500,000 request for proposal, or RFP, to bidders willing to create a master plan to flip the fairgrounds into a mixed-use development.

The state planned to finalize the original RFP contract by Feb. 20 and award it Friday. They instead canceled it Wednesday.

Another RFP will be sent out next week, according to Anna Silva, acting secretary of New Mexico’s General Services Department.

Michael Coleman, spokesperson for the governor’s office, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

And Martin J. Chávez, the former three-term mayor of Albuquerque, who was tapped by the governor to help on the project, said he didn’t know why the RFP was canceled.

“This was my decision to hold this meeting. The state wasn’t necessarily wanting to,” Bernalillo County Commissioner Adriann Barboa told the Journal. “I asked them to come to be transparent.”

Barboa, who represents the district that includes the fairgrounds, said she hasn’t spoken directly with the governor about plans for the site and instead receives updates from Chávez.

He defended the project Wednesday.

“About six months ago, the governor approached me and said, ‘Look, what’s going on right now in the southeast part of Albuquerque is not sustainable,’” Chávez recalled. “You see it every day: the homicides, the unhoused run over, left dead on the street.”

The room erupted moments later in opposition to the project after Chávez mentioned the possibility of moving the fair. Barboa tried to calm the room by telling them that officials had not yet decided on moving the fair. It yielded mild success. Chávez eventually regained control of the crowd.

“Everyone will be heard,” he told them, noting he was speaking on Lujan Grisham’s behalf.

The crowd still cast skepticism on their ability to sway the state to not move the fair.

“They will have already decided the main framework, so all we can do is decide, do we want high-rise buildings? Or do we want low-rise buildings? We have already lost the ability to have input as to what the RFP was for,” Paul Losinski said during his turn to speak.

Another Albuquerque resident, René Horvath, said moving the fair won’t solve the problems on East Central.

“Leave the fair alone, it’s not a problem,” Horvath said. “I’m going to be heartbroken if they move the fair.”

The public concern about the future of the fair had an impact on Bernalillo County Commission Chairman Eric Olivas.

“We needed to present a better menu of options, a vision for the future and better address the serious and legitimate concerns raised,” Olivas wrote to the Journal on Thursday. “I heard loud and clear two messages: community does not want to move the fair, and we must better address crime and rampant drug use on Central.”

He also pinned blame on the state for canceling the RFP, saying it “set us back tremendously.”

County commissioners are set to vote March 11 on whether to establish a financial tool known as a Tax Increment Development District, or TIDD, at the fairgrounds.

In January, commissioners voted unanimously to take a vote on establishing a TIDD, at the state’s request.