Santa Fe advances plan to save college

SANTA FE (KRQE) - A plan to save the state's oldest college from imminent closure through a takeover by the city of Santa Fe won its first approval from a city council committee Monday.

Mayor David Coss had proposed using city revenue bonds to buy the financially troubled College of Santa Fe and then repay the bonds by leasing the school to an entity which would run it. The four-year college is $35 million in debt and plans to close next month.

On Monday the Santa Fe City Council Finance Committee passed a proposal unanimously sending it to the full council for a vote as early as next week.

Coss said the loss of the college would be a “huge mistake.”

Last month state legislators tried but couldn’t find the money to help save the college. Gov. Bill Richardson has also stepped in by creating a task force that would brainstorm solutions.

But Coss hopes his solution works although taking on the debt is not a done deal.

"That will be the subject of negotiations and developing a business plan to make sure that it works," Coss told KRQE News 13. "This city can’t do this alone.”

The city would need to negotiate a deal with the school, its creditors and the state to come up with a plan that would work for everyone including the community, he added.

“I think it’s great," CSF freshman Michael Cohen said. "We needed a bailout like the rest of the country needed a bailout."

If the plan doesn’t pass, however, the school will close at the end of the current term.

“Save our school," freshman Jeselyn Templin said. "We like it. We want to stay.”