There are four incumbents running for City Council: Alejandra Chavez of District 1, Ivan Nino of District 5, Art Fierro of District 6, and Chris Canales of District 8.
Of these four, Chavez, Nino, and Fierro are 100% in support of the Debt Plaza no matter what it costs and no matter how much disruption it causes to downtown traffic and commerce.
It could cost a half-billion dollars or more but their major campaign contributors want it, so they are going to support it no matter what.
But isn’t it bizarre that the Debt Plaza is mysteriously absent from their campaign platforms and professional social media accounts?
That is because it is about as popular as the Black Death was in 1348.
Alejandra Chavez has omitted any mention of the Debt Plaza on her campaign webpage, and if one searches for the word “Deck” on her official District 1 Facebook page, the project does not appear anywhere. But for her opponent Sam Armijo, killing the Debt Plaza is his second priority after working to lower the property tax burden, as we read on the homepage of his campaign website.
Ivan Nino’s campaign webpage does not even mention his reelection effort, much less his position on the Debt Plaza, and his professional Facebook page turns up nothing on the project.
Art Fierro has no campaign webpage and his professional Facebook page displays only a single post on the Debt Plaza Feasibility Study, dated July 31, 2024. In the post, he takes no position on the project.
Ironically, Chris Canales, who is the only City Council incumbent that is wary of the Debt Plaza (though he voted to support it with TIRZ 5 funds), has the most to say about it. On his professional Facebook page he is generally critical of the project and concerned about whether it is practical.