BY KIMBERLY THOMAS
Los Alamos

Los Alamos County Councilors:

I strongly oppose the proposed purchase of the Diamond Drive property to be discussed at the Dec. 3 Council meeting.  My reasoning is fairly simple.  Any deal that is presented as “You Must Act Now or Forever Lose Your Chance” is a standard practice of almost every scam artist!  But, I’m not accusing the private owner of an attempted scam. S/he is exercising their business right to determine what the market will bear.

However I am worried that you, our Council, may fall for the pressure tactics.  The fact that other private entities haven’t come forward to purchase this property (or many other vacant properties in our county) indicates that it is not in imminent danger of being scooped up.  I also completely disagree with the County manager who claimed at the most recent Council meeting that “The County has a very good track record of using land and trying to put it back out into the private sector as well” (quoted by the Los Alamos Reporter).  Perhaps the operative word is “trying” but the fiasco of the Marriott Hotel and Conference center agreement and the County paying $17k so we could terminate the contract early even though Marriott was planning on defaulting is but one example of why the County should NOT jump into this purchase even if the asking price was within reason.  Which it clearly is NOT!

Despite the real estate experience of some councilors, paying millions over the appraised value is gross mismanagement of our taxes and resources and cannot be justified by any means.  While the property has potential use as an educational and social services hub, there is no written plan for its use.  There’s only “a concept of a plan” which is in the ether and left to the imagination of each individual Councilor and County official as to what that really means—ie, there’s no clear consensus on the property’s future.

Again, any deal that claims “Today Only; Buy Now or Lose Out” should be dismissed on those grounds alone.  And to consider paying excessively over the appraised value, especially with no competing bids, is simply unacceptable.