Still no decision on racino

ALBUQUERQUE — Advocates for a horse-racing license during the New Mexico Racing Commission’s first regular meeting of the new year Thursday oscillated from expectation to dismay and back to hopefulness.

Racino advocates from Tucumcari, Clovis and Lordsburg anticipated commissioners at last would name an award on the state’s sixth horse-racing and slot-gaming license. That decision was expected last year but delayed by a late-breaking petition from one of the applicant groups, with commissioners stating they wished to resolve the complaint from Hidalgo Downs LLC before proceeding in the interest of keeping the process untainted.

But that petition — which alleges an out-of-state feasibility study comparing proposals from the five groups vying for the license was “flawed” — remains in the courts. A letter Wednesday night from new governor Michelle Lujan Grisham requested more information on the selection process.

Warren Frost, one of the principals of the Coronado Partners group that wants to bring a nearly $80 million track and casino to Tucumcari, stated he didn’t mind Lujan Grisham getting involved in the license process.

“I am pleased the governor is taking an interest to assure the process is fair,” Frost stated in an email Thursday after the meeting.

In response to that request and in what state attorneys hope will come close to resolving the issue raised in Hidalgo Downs’ temporary injunction petition, commission Chairman Ray Willis said an independent review and comparison of the proposals (three in Clovis and one each in Tucumcari and Lordsburg) would be shared publicly on the commission’s website.

Before stating as much, the audience waited in suspense and some agitation through commission’s closed-door executive session. Willis said in the public portion of the meeting that no decision would be announced, but a statement on the process would follow.

In the meantime, Clovis City Commissioner Casaus said she was concerned with how the court proceedings and new administration might delay the process further.

“Clovis is getting tired of this,” she said. “I don’t think Clovis can take it much longer.”

Her tune changed somewhat after Willis’ update, which suggested a possible resolution to outstanding obstacles before the commission.

Moreover, the governor’s communications director, Tripp Stelnicki, said Friday in an email to the Quay County Sun “there are no plans to replace anyone at this time” in the racing commission.

Chief Deputy Attorney General Tania Maestas said after Thursday’s meeting she believed sharing the independent study would go a long way toward resolving the petition from Hidalgo Downs, but she could not guess as to when that would be.

Maestas and Willis said the commission remains “committed” to issuing the sixth license. Maestas said the independent study, completed in November, focuses more on racing over gaming. That report is available online at: http://nmrc.state.nm.us/uploads/PressRelease/a16bd0ed736a4ee699bc2025c1e1dd33/Comparison.pdf

QCS Senior Writer Ron Warnick contributed to this report.