Golf course contract extended

MANAGING EDITOR

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Clovis city commissioners approved extending the Colonial Park Golf Course contract another year with an added $160,000 subsidy Thursday during a contentious debate and 4-3 vote.

Commissioners Sandra Taylor-Sawyer, Juan Garza and Gary Elliott voted against the contract after a lively debate led by Taylor-Sawyer, who questioned the logic of investing more money into the golf course while parks in poorer neighborhoods linger without repairs.

The subsidy from the city is a $100,000 increase from 2014-15. A projection by city officials noted the city taking over the course would be an even more expensive option.

Taylor-Sawyer wasn’t convinced. She said many of the numbers used for cost comparison were misleading. She questioned extending the contract with Real Golf, operated by Charlie Maciel, when there are other parks with needs. She cited neglected bathrooms at Potter Park and conditions in need of upgrading at Roy Walker Recreational Center, both on the city’s west side.

“When I sit in this chair,” said Taylor-Sawyer, “I have to look out for everybody in this community.”

Commissioner Bobby Sandoval and Fidel Madrid said it was Taylor-Sawyer who was comparing apples to oranges.

Madrid said there are plans to install a parking lot and fix the bathrooms at Potter Park.

“The golf course has nothing to do with the other parks because they are a separate (budgeting) entity,” Madrid said.

Sandoval said there is a legislative bill headed for Gov. Susana Martinez’s signature that would give the city the extra money needed to upgrade other parks.

“If we’re going to sit here and do a step-by-step comparison of every one of these (parks), we’re not going to get anything done,” Sandoval said.

Commissioner Tom Martin jumped in, noting, “The contract is coming up and I think we need to make a decision now. We could argue all day about whether the $100,000 could be better spent somewhere else.”

Mayor David Lansford then opened the debate up to audience members. Clovis businessman Jack Muse questioned costs of the golf course. He said there are outstanding bond issues to finance purchase of the golf course and for renovations to parks.

Sandoval cut Muse off, saying he’d heard the same litany from Muse — a political enemy — many times before and called for the question, sparking a debate between Lansford, Sandoval and Martin.

Lansford said a call for the question under Robert’s Rules was only an informal request. He said he wouldn’t stop debate without a motion and a vote. When Sandoval and Martin questioned Lansford’s interpretation, the mayor appealed to City Attorney David Richards.

Richards ruled Lansford correct.

“Go right ahead,” Sandoval said to Muse. “We’ll listen to it all again.”

Muse said he wasn’t opposed to the golf course, adding “My question is how much is enough?”

Others from the audience began lining up for a turn at the microphone. Among them, Gayla Brumfield, who led the charge to purchase the golf course when she was mayor.

Brumfield never got a chance to speak. As the debate lingered on for about 30 minutes, Martin offered a motion to end the debate. It passed on the same 4-3 vote that immediately followed to approve the contract extension.

Commissioners then spent another 25 minutes in a back-and-forth about the need to attend a class on Robert’s Rules to, as Martin said, “Make sure we’re all on the same page.” Then they adjourned for a 90-minute executive session to talk behind closed doors about the selection of a new city manager, emerging without making a decision.