Mayor Chavez sends wish list to Obama

BARACK OBAMA HAS TALKED ABOUT SPENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON PUBLIC PROJECTS TO GET THE ECO...  More »

BARACK OBAMA HAS TALKED ABOUT SPENDING BILLIONS OF DOLLARS ON PUBLIC PROJECTS TO GET THE ECONOMY GOING -- MUCH LIKE F-D-R DID BACK IN THE 30'S. OBAMA HAS EVEN ASKED CITIES TO GIVE HIM THEIR WISH LISTS. TODAY ALBUQUERQUE MAYOR MARTIN CHAVEZ UNVEILED 'HIS' WISH LIST. IT COMES WITH A PRICE TAG OF MORE THAN ONE AND HALF BILLION DOLLARS. JEFF MAHER IS HERE WITH WHAT THE MAYOR SAYS HE'D DO WITH THE MONEY. AS PART OF PRESIDENT-ELECT BARACK OBAMA'S UPCOMING ECONOMIC STIMULUS PACKAGE, HE TOLD ALL OF THE BIG CITIES ACROSS THE COUNTRY TO CREATE A WISH LIST OF PROJECTS THAT ARE READY TO BREAK GROUND, AND CAN BE FINISHED IN TWO YEARS. ALBUQUERQUE HAS A LONG LIST -- NOW, WHETHER WE GET THE MONEY TO FINISH THE PROJECTS REMAINS TO BE SEEN. 'well I'm going to work to make it all stick, if Detroit is going to get 30 million, and if these finance houses who have been incredibly irresponsible in their practices are getting hundreds of billions of dollars, why not 1.6 billion for the city of Albuquerque?' MAYOR CHAVEZ SAYS IF CONGRESS CAN GIVE THE CITY ONE-POINT-SIX BILLION DOLLARS -- THE CITY CAN FINISH 95 PROJECTS IT HAS SITTING ON THE SHELF. CHAVEZ SAYS THOSE PROJECTS WOULD CREATE CLOSE TO FIVE- THOUSAND NEW JOBS, MAINLY FOR CONTRACTORS AND BUILDERS. IT'S A LONG LIST, BUT HERE ARE THE BIG ONES. MORE THAN HALF- A-BILLION DOLLARS WOULD PAY FOR A SOLAR PLANT NEAR DOUBLE EAGLE AIRPORT -- AND WOULD BRING 200 JOBS. 250-MILLION TO START USING ALTERNATIVE ENERGY IN NEW HOMES. 213-MILLION FOR A SOLAR PLANT AT THE CERRO COLORADO LANDFILL. 140-MILLION DOLLARS FOR THE DOUBLE EAGLE WIND FARM. 90-MILLION FOR THE FIRST PHASE OF THE STREETCAR PROJECT ON CENTRAL. AND 60-MILLION TO UPGRADE THE TRANSIT FACILITY AND REPLACE OUT- OF-DATE FLEETS. MONEY WOULD ALSO GO TO MAKE MAJOR IMPROVEMENTS AT THE SUNPORT, UNIVERSITY BOULEVARD WOULD BE IMPROVED ALONG WITH CLOSE TO A DOZEN OTHER STREETS, THE TINGLEY BEACH WATER CONSERVATION PROJECT WOULD BE FINISHED, ?A DREAM LIST? -- MANY WOULD SAY YES, BUT NOT CITY LEADERS. THEY SAY THIS IS WHAT OBAMA AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NEED TO DO TO GET THE NATION'S ECONOMY BACK ON TRACK. 'it makes sense for them to provide resources to communities to improve main-street, give it to the cities and the states so we can actually create infrastructure and jobs at the local level''I don't have any doubt that they're going to have to address the problems in Detroit, they're going to have to address the problems on wall street, this is main street, and we have issues' OBAMA'S TRANSITION TEAM RECEIVED ALBUQUERQUE'S LIST ALONG WITH ALL THE OTHERS YESTERDAY. CITY LEADERS SAY THEY'LL HAVE A BETTER IDEA AS TO WHAT FEDERAL DOLLARS THE CITY WILL GET AND WHEN AFTER OBAMA TAKES OFFICE IN JANUARY. BACK TO YOU.  « Less