Fair Fouls

The Administration of the New Mexico State Fair, the Governor's Office and the Downs at Albuquerque made a grand mistake in the way they agreed to present a request for proposals (RFP) in 2011 for a new 25-year lease to own and operate a Racino at Expo New Mexico.

First, 30 days is just too little time to create a creative, thorough and thoughtful proposal of such complexity and duration. 60 to 90 days would have made much more sense.

Second, the Downs is intimately embedded in the culture of the Fairgrounds, especially the horse business which occupies a significant chunk of the Fairgrounds. Regardless of the change in the Governor's office in 2012 and the concomitant change in the General Manager's office at the State Fair, the culture of the horsemen hasn't changed. But the Downs logically shuffled their management to look much more Republican in the face of the state's Republican leadership and their notoriously highly politicized practices.

Third, the Downs has prepared sophisticated proposals over the past several years of how they would rearrange the Racino to better fit modern gambling with failing horse racing. So they have always been well prepared to deliver a new proposal at a moment's notice.

Where does that leave Laguna Development? They were dealt a weak hand.

This set of circumstances leaves the Interim General Manager who has to put on another Fair in two months in a weak economy and a lean staff, in a highly stressful position. I don't blame him, unless he is a complete political hack. Never met him. Probably never will. Hope he puts on a good Fair in 2012.