ART critic sees business depicted on buses
It wasn’t long ago that Larry Rainosek was railing against the Albuquerque Rapid Transit project — the local restaurateur was so critical of the idea, he actually helped fund a lawsuit intended to stop it.So Rainosek was surprised to learn that the Frontier, his iconic 48-year-old eatery, was featured on the side of the ART buses soon to begin their designated diesel-powered duty up and down
Central Avenue. Not that he is complaining. “I didn’t know about it, but I don’t have a problem with it,” Rainosek said.
But he also hasn’t changed his mind about ART, for which the city reconfigured Central Avenue to make room for bus-only lanes down the middle.
Though it doesn’t begin service until Saturday, Rainosek said the project already has hurt the Frontier and his other eatery, Golden Pride.
“We really see this project was only beneficial to the construction industry and the architects that
were involved,” he said.
The city’s ART fleet features turquoise buses wrapped with four different designs inspired by Albuquerque scenery. One of them has a Route 66 theme, with cartoonish versions of Old Town’s San Felipe de Neri Church, a State Fair Ferris wheel, zoo animals and the Frontier.
Rick De Reyes, a spokesman for ABQ RIDE, said the city designed the wraps in-house and that Mayor Tim Keller had asked for one featuring Route 66.
And, De Reyes said, the Frontier is “quintessential Albuquerque.”
“You really can’t do Route 66 in Albuquerque without doing the Frontier, and that never entered our minds — the people who designed it never thought to themselves ‘Let’s not put it because of a lawsuit,’” he said.
The Frontier is not identified by name, but there is an unmistakable representation of its yellow-roofed, barn-style digs. Given that companies sometimes pay to get featured on buses,
Rainosek is wondering if there might be a benefit.
“Maybe somebody will come to Frontier because they saw it on ... the bus,” he said.
TRUMP TAB: Albuquerque isn’t the only local public agency billing President Donald Trump for costs associated with his September rally.
Bernalillo County last week sent his campaign an invoice for $139,183.52 — most of it tied to public safety services.
County Manager Julie Morgas Baca said she felt compelled to charge because of the New Mexico Constitution’s anti-donation provision, which prohibits public agencies from donating “to or in aid of any person, association or public or private corporation.”
“This seems to have come directly as a result of his campaign and so if we don’t charge, I believe we would be violating the anti-donation clause,” she said.
Trump came to New Mexico for a rally and not official government business. The county’s bill is directed to his campaign, Donald J. Trump for President Inc.
Trump spoke at the Santa Ana Star Center in Rio Rancho, but his visit had impacts far beyond that. A number of public agencies from around the state helped with public safety, and his overnight stay in Albuquerque forced the closure of multiple government buildings in Downtown.
The Bernalillo County bill includes $38,101.88 to pay employees for hours not worked due to the closures and $101,081.64 for Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office staff overtime.
Sheriff Manuel Gonzales’ spokeswoman had previously said he did not intend to bill Trump, but it was not ultimately Gonzales’ decision to make.
“That comes from the general fund and that’s the public’s money,” Morgas Baca said. “Out of all due respect to the sheriff, I really think because it’s coming from the general fund, I think we have an obligation to bill the campaign.”