More on Open Space--Can we count on Ryan?

A sidebar to the open space election is the request, by state sen John Ryan (R-dist 10) for around $4 million to enable Los Ranchos to acquire the Anderson fields open space. This, together with the $3.5 million that might come from the bond, should be enough to buy around half of the property (its about 50 acres, and goes for around $300k per acre).

The question is, how likely is it that we will get even a portion of that money? Answer: not very. 4 mill is a big capital outlay request, and LR is only one part of Ryan's district. In fact, Ryan LOST the village precincts in the last election to John Hooker. He won due to overwhelming support on the other side of the river. What is more, Ryan is a freshman senator who is a member of the minority party. There is no way his colleagues will let him have that kind of money to throw around, so you can bet on the amount being slashed or even eliminated entirely. And Ryan, having lost the village to Hooker, probably will not be motivated much to fight for the money. He needs to service his west-side supporters. When the cash gets yanked from his capital outlay request, he can still claim that he "tried" to help Los Ranchos and can blame the democrats for taking the money away, leaving him with cash to throw at the west side. He'll then have a good chuckle over martinis with John Dendal about how he made himself to look like a hero in the village, while actually screwing them and delivering nothing.

El Picador's prediction: Almost nothing from Ryan's capital outlay request for open space. Maybe we get the paltry amount Dede Feldman has asked for (a small corner of the village off of RGB is in her district, gerrymandered by the republican to keep Janice Paster from running against Ramsey Gorham. The area includes Paster's house). Feldman cannot be blamed for the small sum. We're lucky she put in anything at all, as she has most of the rest of her district to the south to consider.