I was sandbagged at the commission meeting yesterday, but it turned out that my recommendations were approved as a whole. The president of the chamber of commerce loaded the gallery with supporters that talked of the unfairness of the award compared to past years. This was during the public comment segment of the meeting. Four agenda items later I get my turn to talk. I made my recommendations to the commission and then addressed the comments. I dismissed all of them based on the fact that NM Lodger’s Tax Law details what is allowed in awards specifically prohibits the demanded uses.

The chair then ripped into the chamber president and tried to kill her award, but the other commissioners gave her what we awarded the chamber. What should have been a 5 minute presentation took 50 minutes.