Master planner opens conversation about fairgrounds future in first public meeting - Gillian Barkhurst, Albuquerque Journal
Dozens of people gathered for a contentious meeting Monday to consider what should be done with the 236-acre tract of land that houses the annual New Mexico State Fair.
The meeting, held by Stantec Consulting Services Inc., the company tasked with creating a master plan for the site that’s been slotted for redevelopment, drew both support and criticism from local residents and advocates.
Stantec representatives said the master plan would not include options of where the fair would be hosted if it is moved.
“I know that there’s some controversy around the topic, we hear you,” said Nancy Locke, the project lead for Stantec.
Some residents saw the proposal as an opportunity to start fresh and uplift Albuquerque’s economically disadvantaged International District through new development. Others feared gentrification, wasted taxpayer dollars and a stalled project leaving residents in limbo.
“I’ll probably be dead before the first shovel hits dirt,” local resident Charlie Bennett said Monday.
Bennett recalled the two previous attempts to redevelop the fairgrounds and clutched to his chest a white binder filled with the neighborhood’s suggestions for Gov. Bill Richardson, who attempted the revitalization in 2008. He asked, “What makes Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s attempt any different?”
“The difference is dramatic,” said Martin Chavez, former Albuquerque mayor and adviser to Lujan Grisham, wrote in a statement Tuesday. “For the first time, there are real dollars and serious representation regarding the initiative.”
In December, Lujan Grisham announced plans to put mixed-use development and affordable housing on the state-owned land between San Pedro and Louisiana. In March, the Legislature passed Senate Bill 481 to raise funds, an estimated $12 million, to cover initial costs.
In June, the state announced a $850,000 contract with Stantec to develop a master plan by February 2026 that will make suggestions for the land’s use.
Monday’s meeting was the first of three events held to allow the public to comment on the master plan, Stantec speakers said. The second meeting will be held sometime in late October to early November and is yet to be announced.
Master planner Locke said food deserts, excessive heat and lack of green spaces are all problems in the surrounding neighborhoods. The new development could be a remedy, Locke said, bringing parks and commerce, as well as affordable housing.
Stantec speakers presented a wide variety of development plans in addition to new housing, including a new multi-use arena for concerts and sports, medical facilities, offices, retail and public parks. Stantec planners also suggested that the State Fair might not have to move but may be able to continue operating on a smaller area within the plot of land.
Stantec speakers, like Locke, were frequently interrupted by residents who voiced concerns about everything from crime to homelessness to nostalgia for the State Fair’s historic home.
During a question-and-answer period, community members passed around the microphone, primarily to criticize the project.
“You want to further take the economics from this part of the community, but not put anything back into the community — it’s a failure,” said former resident Willie Williamson. “... You want to address the optics of this neighborhood but not address the actual problems.”
To Williamson, the redevelopment would end major events held at Expo New Mexico, beyond just the annual fair, and plunge the neighborhood into greater economic disparity at a time when major retailers like Walmart and Walgreens have already fled.
Williamson grew up in the International District, became entangled with drugs and gangs as a teen, he said, and years later made the decision to raise his kids elsewhere to save them from a similar fate.
Williamson worries that without solving the surrounding area’s issues with drug use and crime first, any affordable housing project will fail.
“You’re talking 10 to 15 years of adverse childhood experiences for these people that you are not addressing,” Williamson said.
Panelists chosen by Stantec — a collection of local residents, nonprofit organizers and law enforcement — tried to rally the crowd to think about the future, though even their opinions about the project were split.
Natalie Vargas, from the Southside Neighborhood Association, said she’d like to see the fairgrounds stay, though she recognized how development could improve the neighborhood she grew up in and where she now raises her kids.
“It’s where rural and urban kids come together and learn from each other and dream big,” she said. “We need to protect spaces that educate, connect and inspire. The fair is one of them.”
Albuquerque Police Department Cmdr. Josh Richards, who runs the Southeast Area Command, raised questions about what jurisdiction the development would fall under, given that it’s within city boundaries but owned by the state.
Adding more population density to an area command that is already overworked and understaffed could drain resources and make policing the area more difficult, he said.
“Adding 240-some acres of housing is a big pull for us,” Richards said.
Meanwhile, Ahdohny Routheni, a panelist and founder of numerous local nonprofits, implored the audience to be forward-thinking and not let nostalgia for the fairgrounds prevent positive change for future generations.
“I really would love if the community thought long and hard — is it really for y’all or is it for them?” Routheni said. “Are we going to be people that tear down trees, or are we going to plant a tree so that next generation can eat off that fruit?”
NM delegation wants Trump administration to exempt state from proposed rollback of Roadless Rule - Leah Romero, Source New Mexico
All five members of New Mexico’s all-Democratic Congressional delegation have signed on to a letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins that requests the state be excluded from the Trump administration’s proposed repeal of the so-called Roadless Rule.
The 24-year-old Roadless Area Conservation Rule was implemented to restrict road construction and timber harvesting on over 58 million acres of federal Forest Service land across 38 states. This includes about 1.6 million acres of land in New Mexico, which impacts all five of the state’s national forests. However, the Gila National Forest has the most protected acreage.
Rollins announced the proposal to rescind the rule in June during the Western Governors’ Association meeting held in Santa Fe, and contends the rule change will give state and local experts the freedom to make decisions about forest management and allow the logging industry to grow.
New Mexico’s Congressional delegation sent a letter to Rollins on Sept. 19, after three weeks of public comment ended. The delegation asked the secretary to exclude New Mexico from the rollback, citing negative impacts to the state’s vulnerability to wildfires, public safety and the outdoor recreation economy.
“New Mexico is particularly vulnerable to wildfire,” the letter reads,” with a risk profile higher than 82% of the United States. Multiple studies, including those conducted by the federal government, have confirmed that wildfires are much less likely to ignite in roadless areas.”
According to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department, about 1,000 wildfires have been reported in 2025 as of September, impacting more than 197,000 acres of land. Communities across the state are still recovering from wildfires in recent years, which exacerbate flooding conditions and landslides, disproportionately affecting rural and lower income residents, the letter states.
The delegation also pointed to the disruption of wildlife movement and habitat conservation by road construction, as well as outdoor recreation, which they said generates “$3.2 billion in New Mexico and supports nearly 30,000 jobs.” Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) recently urged New Mexicans to provide public input on the proposed rule change.
“This is being imposed…by people in the White House, who frankly have never harvested a bull elk or [caught and] released a native trout,” he said on the U.S. Senate floor. “The truth is that the roadless rule protects us from wildfires, it ensures clean drinking water for communities, and it sustains wildlife habitat for wildlife and for sportsmen.”
Last week’s letter noted that road construction in backcountry areas is linked to an increase in dust and runoff and will negatively impact watersheds that provide water to multiple cities in New Mexico and could pose a threat to native aquatic species. The delegation also pointed out that the Roadless Rule already allows for timber harvesting for purposes of “ecological or wildfire mitigation purposes.”
According to the national environmental law nonprofit organization Earthjustice, more than half of the responses received by the USDA opposed the proposed rule change. The organization noted in a statement that other members of Congress have also asked for more time for the public to provide comments.
“Many of the submitted comments centered on how irresponsible this rollback would be considering the trend of hotter and more severe wildfires that have plagued national forests in recent years,” the organization stated.
NM Gov will add vaccine policy to Oct. 1 special session agenda - Danielle Prokopp, Source New Mexico
New Mexico state Democratic leadership plans to bring forward at least four bills for the Oct.1 special legislative session — including one intended to insulate the state from federal changes to vaccination policies.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced the session earlier this month and said it would be geared primarily at addressing impacts from the Congressional Republican spending bill signed into law by Trump this summer. The session start date coincides with a possible shutdown of the federal government. State Republicans have since pushed to expand the agenda to include topics such as interstate medical compacts, but have faced resistance from Senate Democrats.
However, Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe) told Source NM in a call Tuesday that one of the bills that leadership intends to bring will allow the New Mexico Department of Health to “set their own standards.”
That move comes as U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. upends federal health policies.
“The federal standards are being thrown all over the place,” Wirth said. “As we go into COVID season and flu season, we’ve got to make sure vaccines are available based on the recommendations of our health folks, not tied to the federal standards.”
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s Deputy Communications Director Jodi McGinnis Porter confirmed to Source NM in an email that vaccines will be on the agenda for the special session.
“We can confirm that it will be on the call,” she wrote. “But we don’t have the exact language yet.”
Additional bills, Wirth said, will include ones replacing a federal tax credit poised to end at the end of the calendar year; making changes to the state’s rural health care fund; and a general budget bill including money for state agencies and public media stations.
In his first interview with Source NM since Sept. 11 bomb threats to his home and office, Wirth said no additional security measures will be in place for the upcoming session, noting the Roundhouse bans weapons and requires people to enter through metal detectors.
“I certainly feel safer here, and I know the public does as well,” Wirth said. “Having said that, though, this is a challenging time and we’re certainly gonna be vigilant. ”
Wirth also held firm in his opposition to adding medical compacts to the Oct. 1 session.
“I do support the medical compacts — I think that’s priority number one, and we’re going to get that done in January and work hard between now and then to make it happen,” Wirth said. “But it’s just not ready to go at this point in the special session.”
The exact timing for Oct. 1 special session is variable, but he hopes to gavel out “in a couple of days.”
A closer look at the proposalsFor the targeted tax credit, lawmakers would appropriate about $177 million in order to try to prevent rising health insurance costs from a tax credit under the Affordable Care Act, Wirth said, which is also being debated at the federal level.
“We can try and hold New Mexicans harmless, and what I mean by that is keep them in the same place they would be if this tax credit weren’t being rolled back,” Wirth said.
The second bill would make some changes to the state’s Rural Healthcare Delivery Fund, established in 2023, and paying out $80 million between 2024 and 2026 for new services in counties with a population fewer than 100,000.
Wirth said the changes would allow for the fund to support current health care programs and allow for greater participation by removing the population limit.
“There’s lots of rural pockets and larger counties, and we want to make sure that those funds can be used for that rural health care,” he said.
Finally, the budget bill will include at least a $20 million appropriation to the New Mexico Health Care Authority for technology upgrades and to address the new federal requirements.
A variety of other appropriations remain that lack solid figures, Wirth said, including funds to address changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); additional behavioral health work in the courts; and funding for public television and radio stations after the federal cuts.
“What you’re going to see in this special session is us stepping up to make sure that the basic support net stays in place, especially when it comes to food and healthcare,” Wirth said.
The special session is only ”step one” and more priorities will be addressed in the regular January session, he said, such as juvenile justice and the medical compact questions.
“We’re going to be back in January for step two, and I think we’re going to be dealing with this in sessions for the next number of years to come,” he said.