sa国际传媒官网网页入口

Former President Donald Trump will be in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 for the fourth time in eight years but not at the venue he wanted, which has ignited a rift between City Council President Dan Lewis and Mayor Tim Keller.

The Trump campaign was denied use of the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Convention Center by ASM Global, which manages the building through a contract with the city.

ASM Global General Manager for the Convention Center Ray Roa told the Journal the campaign can鈥檛 use the center because of a water line repair scheduled from Wednesday through Friday.

Trump鈥檚 visit is scheduled for Thursday.

The Journal obtained text messages from Friday and Saturday between Lewis and Keller through an Inspection of Public Records Act request.

Both accuse the other of partisanship 鈥� despite their positions both being technically nonpartisan 鈥� in the texts without mentioning the maintenance issue.

The messages show that Lewis reached out first, asking Keller on Friday evening if the mayor can talk to the Trump campaign directly about renting the Convention Center.

Keller didn鈥檛 respond immediately and Lewis followed up by mentioning that the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, Douglas Emhoff, visited in April and used city resources such as the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Police Department.

Keller spokeswoman Staci Drangmeister told the Journal on Wednesday that there was 鈥渘o bill for Doug Emhoff鈥檚 recent official visit to the Sunport鈥� because the city 鈥渢ypically鈥� does not 鈥渂ill dignitaries or elected leaders who are visiting in an official capacity.鈥�

Lewis then told Keller that he 鈥渂et(s) the city gets sued and all this will come out,鈥� according to the messages. Keller told Lewis the next morning that the Trump campaign is welcome to call his administration about paying the nearly $500,000 bill from a 2019 visit.

Trump鈥檚 outstanding bill, posted on the city鈥檚 financial portal, was updated Monday night to reflect the compounded interest over the past five years, which more than doubled.

Drangmeister said the update was done because Trump is returning to town.

During Trump鈥檚 last visit to sa国际传媒官网网页入口 as president in 2019, when campaigning for reelection, he racked up $211,175 in unpaid fees, mainly related to APD overtime and barricades. His rally took place at the events center in neighboring Rio Rancho, which did not seek reimbursement for the event.

During a Wednesday virtual news conference, Keller said the Convention Center was 鈥渘ot available,鈥� an apparent reference to the planned maintenance work.

But Keller also raised the issue of the $444,986 the city maintains Trump owes for expenditures related to his 2019 rally in Rio Rancho. The city says the amount has more than doubled with interest from five years ago.

That initial $211,175 includes expenditures for police services and employee pay after Trump鈥檚 stay at an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 hotel prompted the temporary closure of City Hall.

鈥淚f you pay your bills, we can have a political discussion,鈥� Keller said in response to a question during the virtual news conference. 鈥淏ut if you鈥檙e not going to pay your bills, we鈥檙e just not going to entertain you using city facilities, and that鈥檚 the way it should be.鈥�

In the text messages between Keller and Lewis, the mayor concluded by telling Lewis to 鈥渞efrain from using (yo)ur position to pressure staff that does not report to you for yo(ur) personal, partisan or political efforts.鈥�

Lewis replied by calling it 鈥淏S鈥� and said that Keller is 鈥渨ay out of line.鈥�

In a statement to the Journal, Drangmeister said Lewis 鈥渞epeatedly called multiple city staff and the Chief of Police, who he does not supervise, demanding they interfere with Convention Center operations and halt needed construction work. He went so far as to call the contractor, telling them the sewer work was canceled.鈥�

Lewis denied this and called it a lie.

Dale Armstrong, TLC鈥檚 owner and founder, said that Lewis never attempted to cancel the project. Armstrong also said the work being done could have been delayed and that TLC has been in conversation with the Convention Center about the project for several months.

However, Kelley Gibson, department manager for TLC鈥檚 sewer and drain department, said she would advise against delaying the maintenance.

鈥淧ersonally demanding that law enforcement, staff and a construction firm do his partisan bidding for Trump is not just unethical, it鈥檚 a blatant abuse of power. He may not like it, but I will rightly demand that anyone who owes our city half a million dollars pay up,鈥� Keller said in a statement to the Journal Wednesday.

But Lewis doesn鈥檛 believe the city would have charged another candidate campaigning in the city.

Drangmeister said the city has 鈥渉as billed campaigns that require extra time and equipment in the past,鈥� but did not provide any examples of billed campaigns.

鈥淚n my capacity as an sa国际传媒官网网页入口 City Councilor, I asked the administration some reasonable questions and helped provide an opportunity for the Mayor to bring a resolution,鈥� Lewis said in a statement Wednesday. 鈥淯nfortunately, the Mayor took a political position. There鈥檚 no doubt the outcome would have been different if we were dealing with a different presidential candidate.鈥�

In an email Wednesday to Lewis obtained by the Journal, Kevin Sourisseau, the chief financial officer for the Keller administration, said the city has never billed a president.

鈥淲e have reviewed our records and have not found instances of overnight presidential visits that required the closure of city hall, the overnight barricading of roads and police presence. As such, we have no billing records for campaign visits except for the 2019 campaign visit by President Trump which was unprecedented and costly to taxpayers,鈥� Sourisseau said.