Lights, Camera, Lawsuit

Looks like the star players over at Albuquerque Studios Dana Arnold and Hal Katersky, are finding themselves in the lawsuit limelight as the owners of The Culver Studios are suing the pair for fraud, misrepresentation, racketeering and more. We told you about the investigative series by The Citizen Media Group's Diane Velasco (www.thecitizen.info) that raised questions about the propriety of one of Mesa del Sol's main attractions, the Albuquerque Studios. (Read about it here.) They continue their series in part 5: Culver Sues! ABQ Studios Owners Face Fraud, Racketeering Charges.

We've long held that a development like Mesa del Sol is a fine idea as long as taxpayers are not left holding the $500 MILLION bag, or the TIDD. The market should dictate whether the live, work, play model proposed by Forest City Covington at Mesa del Sol, is among the many choices available to New Mexicans. The development should not live off of the taxpayer while providing politicians with campaign cash. And we as taxpayers need to be very concerned when the box office draw for Mesa del Sol may be run by hucksters.

Virtual Studio - Questions Raised About Albuquerque Studios

Movies are famous for their special effects. These days some movies would be impossible to produce without extensive use of computer generated imagery (CGI). The movie 300 is a perfect example of a world that only exists inside a computer. During production the actors themselves never saw the spectacular scenic world that audiences are treated to in the finished product.

What does any of that have to do with Mesa del Sol's anchor tenant Albuquerque Studios? According to The Citizen Media Group, the movie 300 may be more real than the studio that is supposed to produce such amazing virtual adventures.

We've told you about how messy lawsuits can become. (In fact, our Eyes tell us that the current Manny-Ken scandal came directly out of a civil lawsuit between business partners.) Albuquerque Studios principals Dana Arnold and Harold Katersky are being sued by their former business partner F. Lee Tomlinson and in the process corporate records are becoming part of the public record.

Those records call into question a whole set of claims used by the pair and by Forrest City Covington to secure the creation of Tax Increment Development Districts that would send between $350 and $500 MILLION tax dollars to Forrest City Covington to be used for Mesa del Sol infrastructure.

The series of four in-depth articles paint a picture that is at the very least alarming. Our concern is that the first major tenant of Mesa del Sol, the tenant that was used to sell the development and its associated tax breaks to the city, county, and state, is nothing but a Virtual Studio or a soon-to-be ghost town.

In addition the series of four articles raises questions about our governments due diligence and their ability to be involved in speculative ventures. You can find the complete series at www.thecitizen.info.

Part 1 - Special Report: ABQ Studios Owners Target of Lawsuit, Culver Audit
Part 2 - "All the World's a Stage": Pacifica Venture's International Claims
Part 3 - Albuquerque Studios Owner's Star Performance Belies Backstory
Part 4 - Forest City's Supporting Role: Developer Has Most to Gain, and Lose, from ABQ Studios

If you only have time to read one of these in-depth articles, we recommend part 4. There's a lot more going on at Mesa del Sol than meets the eye.

In light of the courthouse scandal, it's important to monitor big money developments like Mesa del Sol that involve large amounts of public money. With that much cash being thrown around, it would be easy to siphon off a little here and a little there in order to secure political cooperation. No wonder Forrest City Covington coughed up $85,000 to finish off Marty's MyCentennial Towers (ABQ Journal - Subscription Required).