‘Compromise Would be the Best Way to Go’

Published January 27th, 2024 at 11:26 am, Last Updated February 9th, 2024 at 1:48 pm

There are still two meetings of the Village’s Multi-Use Facility Committee scheduled before the panel is due to give its final report to the mayor and Village Council in March. But, after several meetings last year and two public forums this month, committee chair Johnny Martinez says he’s already formed some opinions about the proposed facility.

“Compromise would be the best way to go,” he said. “We’re not finished with the findings, but I think most of the committee has realized a facility that accommodates more people may not ultimately be what the village wants or needs. I think it would do us well to have something that’s a compromise and something everyone can utilize.”

Martinez said he sees his role as chair as opening up the discussion so all voices can be heard. But the conversation has borne out a clear division.

“I know the mayor really wants this,” he said of the facility. “I believe (the Village is) trying to get legislation to fund this right now, but I think it would polarize the community if they did a big performing arts center.”

Martinez is chairing the second ad hoc committee appointed by Mayor Jim Fahey to study the prospect of building that was first proposed to be a performing arts and education center. The first committee produced a design for a building that included a 240 fixed-seat auditorium that would cost about $8 million. 

But many in the community – primarily longtime Corraleños whose families have lived here for generations – pushed back on the proposal, saying it was too much geared to a theater and wasn’t tailored to meet the needs of the community at large. Some questioned whether such a facility was needed at all.

What a compromise might look like, Martinez said, is a scaled down facility that was less a performance venue than it was a community center. “It behooves the village to downsize,” he said.

Others on the committee may disagree, he said. But it was formed to represent the community and, even as chair, he is just one of nine members offering their perspective.

The ‘G’ word

The elephant in the room at public hearings on Jan. 11 and 14 at the Old San Ysidro Church was gentrification. Martinez didn’t use the word during a more than half-hour interview with the Comment, but he did say that he sees a dichotomy between the views of people who have lived here a long time, and those who haven’t.

“Most of the people that want this facility are not from here,” he said, adding that their voice is amplified by their being well connected and adept at social media. “But the people that are from here, they are more emotional because they think that, they feel that, something is being taken away from them.”

Martinez admits to being biased. He was born and raised in the Village and his family was among its early settlers. So he understands the perspective of longtime Corraleños, some of whom broke down in tears as they gave their testimony during the public forums at the Old Church – the only available venue that could accommodate the more than 100 people attending each day.

They grew up here, spent their lives here, and want to retire here in peace and quiet, Martinez said. But others want to retire here, too, spurring a population growth that has nearly tripled the Village’s population in 40 years.

Martinez said he’s heard comments from people on the more affluent west side that, to him, signal a disconnect – comments about what constitutes bad traffic and that Corrales isn’t an agricultural community, for example.

“They don’t have the same life experiences,” he said. “We still have a farming community. We stil have growers, but more than that we still have open spaces.”

Martinez boiled down the community division this way: “You know what it is? It’s the differnce between having the amenities you’d like to see, as opposed to taking away a way of life people have understood for generations.”

Other concerns

Increased traffic on Corrales Road has been a concern brought up frequently during the debate. Martinez is worried about that too and thinks it might be best to pause the project. 

He cited the opening of the new gymnasium at the recreation center, planned enrollment increases at Corrales Elementary, the progressing remodeling of the old Sandia Bar, and a recently approved development plan for the Priest House, which would serve as an events center for weddings and the like.

“That’s four things within a half mile between Montoya Road and San Ysidro Church,” he said. “I would like to wait and see how those things impact traffic before we decide on a community center.”

He also thinks it would be wise to put the project out to bid.

“I think it would be beneficial for the village to do a needs assessment and put it out to bid and turn it over to the subject-matter experts. It might come back a lot cheaper,” he said.

The committee has two more meetings in February – both at 10 a.m. at the Village Council chamber of the 15th and 29th – to hash it all out before its presentation to the Village Council on March 12.