Alamogordo NM
10-13-2026 6:31am

Tonight's LEDA Vote: Leadership or Politics?

Tonight at 6:30, City Manager Robert Stockwell faces his first real test, and so does the four-member commission majority that hired him.

Alamogordo has watched this before. Three city managers in a row brought professional recommendations to this commission. Three times, the majority decided insider politics mattered more. Tonight's LEDA vote will show whether this commission lets its new manager manage, or whether it overrides him the way it overrode the last three.

The last $1 million

The commission will decide what to do with roughly $1 million in LEDA money. It is the last the city expects to see, because the gross receipts tax that funded the program has been rededicated.

Stockwell's recommendation is clear. Pass over all five business applications and put the money into cleaning up and demolishing dilapidated buildings. White Sands Boulevard comes first, then East Tenth Street, East First Street and residential properties next to commercial zones.

He would do it with the Chamber of Commerce and the Sacramento Mountains Foundation, which has committed its own money to the effort. His fallback option is to award the full balance to one applicant: Pymo Bistro & Hotel, downtown in the historic Avis Building.

Why we agree with the city manager

Fix the front door. Anyone who drives into town on White Sands Boulevard knows what investors see. Stockwell's report says every conversation about Alamogordo's economic future comes back to its image. One-time money should fix a problem that is holding back every future deal, not prop up one business.

Stretch every dollar. Pairing city money with foundation money means more buildings cleaned up and torn down than public money could manage alone. Foundation dollars also carry fewer restrictions on private property, which frees city funds for code enforcement. Stockwell's report states the use is allowed under LEDA.

Look at the track record. Stockwell concluded that LEDA projects here have produced little sustained job creation or revenue growth. That is the same standard Dr. Stephanie Hernandez applied as acting city manager: LEDA is about jobs and return, not favors. Last year staff recommended about $475,000 for a local gym. Commissioners pushed for far more, the fight turned ugly, and the applicant withdrew. That same gym is back this year asking for $1 million.

If it must be a business, it should be Pymo. Of the five applicants, Stockwell found only Pymo would meaningfully move gross receipts tax revenue. We agree wholeheartedly. Its owner has already invested heavily in restoring a historic downtown building. But the commission should demand complete financials first: Pymo's packet says those will be "provided in person," and its $1.3 million request is larger than the money available. Do it right, or don't do it.

The bigger test: where are the projects?

LEDA is $1 million. The real money is $160 million. In 2024 the city approved water and sewer rate increases that climb every year through 2032 to pay for $160.4 million in critical repairs. Residents are paying that bill right now, every month.

Stockwell did not inherit an empty pipeline. When Dr. Hernandez left, she said several projects were ready to go with funding already identified, and simply needed to be put out. The city had about $28 million in approved water and sewer funding and roughly $12 million in financing for the aquatic center.

Area contractors were told bidding would pick up once the new city manager arrived. He started July 1. Three and a half months later, the one major new bid on the street is the aquatic center, posted September 25 and closing December 15. Meanwhile roads and water lines keep crumbling, and water bills keep rising.

Stockwell was hired on the strength of decades of experience, at a $180,000 base salary. He was not presented as someone who needed months to learn Alamogordo. The public, the ratepayers and the contractors waiting to bid are owed a schedule.

Two tests, one night

Tonight tests the commission. Will the four-member majority back the professional recommendation of the manager it hired 5-2, or override him for insiders again?

Tonight also tests Stockwell. Will he stand behind his own recommendation if the majority pushes back? And will he give residents a public bid calendar for the funded water, sewer and road projects, with dates, within 30 days?

Politics or leadership. We'll be watching. Join us at the 6:30 p.m. meeting in the Commission Chambers at City Hall, 1376 E. Ninth St. Sign up with the City Clerk before the meeting to speak; you'll get about three minutes.

Sources

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