Michael Morris - In Focus

In a stunning reversal of the longstanding Alamogordo Daily News practice of client side journalism in favor of government and related entities Michael Becker has come out measured, but strong concerning the history of Sunbaked Biscuits in light of some recent events tied to the proposed sale. After 6 months of parroting Ed Carr and his minions Becker is now calling for prosecutors to do what I and others have been calling for all along - investigate. Becker's call for some motion from the DA and AG comes after reports have surfaced in Mike's editorial that indicate that the list of assets for sale may be somewhat inflated. I do recall someone mentioning that there might be some discrepancies when the tally was finally taken. Unfortunately that advice was dismissed. Now the deal is up in the air as a result with the proposed buyers explaining clearly why they were the choice of the scamming Roberts.

On Tuesday we heard from representatives of the newly formed Marietta Biscuit Company that the plant equipment at the defunct Sunbaked Biscuits plant had been appraised at $6 million and the overall value of the company assets stood at $12 million. There were also claims that the equipment would serve the needs of the fledgling venture with regular maintenance. Now we are learning that the deal is up in the air because some of the equipment on the list may be moved/fantasy/hidden... Remember my earlier story about the Sunbaked tractor unit hiding at the truck stop? At this point the concern most pressing for the taxpayers may be the candor of the Marietta representatives making the claims. Is the contention that there is equipment missing simply an excuse for the deal to fall through due to other factors or is this a case of misleading statements in order to get the city to sign off on the deal or is this simply a matter of the Roberts expecting to play a sucker?

I am a little behind the curve on this one since I have been getting our new shop open, so it may be a few days before the specifics are in place here, but I am thinking this is not a matter of a couple of pallet jacks missing given the purported value of the deal. Some people called me a lunatic when I told you over the last couple of months that there would be a problem of this type. Well? The real issue is the fact that the Marietta people were spitting out numbers at the special Commission meeting where they obtained the blessing of the city and our tax dollars. While the carefully crafted "appraised" was used to qualify what was said the truth of the matter is that now we know that number is unreliable for at least the reason that the list from which it was "appraised" appears not to coincide with the reality of existence. Who did this appraisal? Did they do an actual on-site appraisal and now equipment is gone missing? That would probably be the proof of intent Mr. Becker conjectures is needed to make this criminal. Was this "appraisal" just a paper read "appraisal" from a list provided by Roberts? Either way the numbers underlying the statements made by Marietta representatives in order to induce the City to ink the deal are now questionable.

The irony running through this would be Abbot and Costello funny if this were not a matter of fast and loose with millions of taxpayer dollars. You may remember that when the City filed a motion to appoint a receiver to secure the facility and count the beans both Roberts and reputed Marietta principal Lou Misterly vehemently opposing the measure. In papers filed with the court Sunbaked Biscuits contended this could kill the deal. In the same filing Misterly submitted an affidavit stating his opposition to a receiver to inventory the equipment. Now it is Misterly's people crying that some of the parts are missing. The difference is that the City Commission is now on the hook for the fallout of the deal they just made. Why did Misterly so oppose an inventory of the equipment prior to inducing the City to toss its security down the sewer? Why did his representatives make statements about the value of the assets apparently without counting them? Why did the City sign away its security without an actual accounting?

In a normal business transaction none of this would be news for the community. In this case the whole matter is news because the community is heavily invested in the deal. The City of Alamogordo is acting as a financier not only in the original scam deal, but in the new venture as well. In fact it is fair to say that the City is a key player. Without the $2 million currently invested by the City this deal would likely not go down any more than the original smoke purchase would have. Giving that responsibility to this Commission is foolish. Not only has this entire handling of your money been directed solely based on the politics of re-election it is being handled by people unable or unwilling to do the most basic tasks of verification. This is why the City of Alamogordo should not be in the banking business and certainly not using our tax dollars to do it.

So here is what we should be considering. What reliance can we place on the numbers used to induce the City to do this deal? How are these numbers any more credible than the ones foisted on the Commission by the Roberts in 2005? Why would these folks be buying at these top dollar prices when, after foreclosure, the price of this purchase would go down? Why did the group now claiming an inflated inventory oppose an inventory being taken when the City proposed one last month? Did we just purchase more smoke? What will this cost us? Should we continue to finance the municipal banking operation that has been so poorly handled? Finally we have to ask whether we have elected trustworthy people to handle the affairs of the City. Is it possible for the current status quo in this town to bring about real economic development? Are shady politically motivated deals based on fantasy figures and projections all that these people are capable of producing?

I have been critical of ADN Editor Michael Becker on more than a few occasions. I would like to thank him for having the stones to raise the issue of possible criminality in the Sunbaked Biscuits affair and for calling on prosecutors to actually investigate and bring some transparency to this process. As much as doubt this outcome it feels good to have someone else out there publishing the need of it.

In a related matter Thursday Becker was apparently told that all of the Sunbaked lien holders had signed off on this deal. This is not exactly the case though carefully crafted wording could lead some to believe this to be the case. The lone holdout was Dave Winberg of Uptown Rentals. On Wednesday Sunbaked attorney Randy Burroughs got an order from District Judge James W. Counts cancelling Winberg's lien. This process is commonly referred to as "bonding off" the lien. The process is supposed to require that the amount claimed as well as court costs and anticipated legal fees be deposited with the court. The public policy underlying this is to allow the property so encumbered by the lien to be sold while litigation is pending while guaranteeing the funds are available to pay the creditor should he prevail. Obviously this differs from "signing off" somewhat. On Thursday Winberg filed a motion to set aside the ex-parte order and for an emergency hearing on the matter. I don't have the details on Winberg's filing, but will try to on Monday.

It is fair to say that this "bribes for jobs" program has cost the community more than it could ever recover with a handful of jobs. The money is secondary to the increasing mistrust of this kind of leadership spreading throughout the community. With recent attempts at reporting something other than press releases as news by the ADN it is possible the corner has been turned. All it takes is a little light to send the roaches scurrying. It really does not matter whether the Marietta folks are lying or not. The fact of the matter is they have shown conclusively by opposing the receivership and securing the facility that they are not responsible enough to be given the $2 million in taxpayer funds that comes with this deal off the bat. Do you have any doubts why experienced operating manufacturers refused to deal with the Roberts? Does it make any sense whatsoever to deal with the hand picked successor of these con men in order to stop a foreclosure when you have been contacted by real operations that refuse to deal with these people, but still want the plant? The reasons for rushing into this ridiculous deal is where the real story lies.