Posted on 06/24/2005 4:50:26 PM PDT by CedarDave
The Richardson administration's plan to buy a new jet means students at New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Alamogordo will have to find a new way to fly home on weekends.
Superintendent Diana Jennings said state aircraft have been flying students home most every weekend during the school year for the past 10 years to communities such as Farmington, Raton and Taos.
She said the school received notice May 3 that the state General Services Department can no longer commit state aircraft for student travel.
"What was communicated to us was they were trading in one of their planes in order to get this newer plane, so that would limit their fleet and that's why they could not commit to a specific flight schedule for us," Jennings said.
The state plans to reduce its fleet from four to three aircraft in order to afford the purchase of the eight-seat corporate jet, a Cessna Citation Bravo.
The Legislature appropriated $5 million for another state plane earlier this year. After putting out a request for proposals, the state settled on the Cessna and negotiated the price at about $5.45 million.
To make up the $450,000 difference, GSD officials said they planned to sell one of the existing fleet.
Administration officials say the jet purchase was "purely a business decision" and that a new jet wouldn't be for the sole use of New Mexico's well-traveled governor.
Last year, in defending the proposed purchase of a new plane, the administration cited the "significant" use of state aircraft by students at the School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
State aviation director Tom Baca said earlier this month the state didn't need four airplanes. "Three aircraft is more than adequate,..." Baca [said].
(Excerpt) Read more at abqjournal.com ...
Follow-up here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1430162/posts
more plutocrat compassion by liberals, as the Souter-Ginsberg-Breyer wing demonstrated ably yesterday
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