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Dear Fellow Westland Shareholder, Did you receive that sugar-coated letter from SunCal of Irvine, California? Why are they sweet-talking us? And why did the current board of our company, who are supposed to look out for our long-term interests, provide this company of outsiders a confidential mailing list? Why are we getting phone calls from them urging us to vote yes? |
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Are the current board members of Westland Development Company already on the payroll of SunCal of Irvine, California? If not, then why are they working in SunCal’s interests? What is the real truth behind SunCal’s sweet talk?
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Let’s |
They say: Vote yes and get $315 per share. They claim it is a great price. But for whom? That’s just a little over $4,300 an acre.
The truth is:
Comparable undeveloped land on the west side of Albuquerque is selling for
$40,000 to $60,000 per lot. Other buyers are buying undeveloped land just
west of the Rio Puerco for $16,000 to $20,000 an acre. |
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WHY SHOULD WE
BE THE ONES WHO SELL FOR LESS? |
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They say: Vote yes to keep your oil, gas and mineral revenues. The truth is: First, in the future, water rights will likely be even more valuable than oil & gas. After the sale of our company, shareholders would trade their current shares for "units" in Atrisco Oil and Gas LLC (historically "units" can be monetarily worthless; we have been warned by an oil exploration expert). |
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Oil and Gas Exploration Site on Westland Property |
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| This company would be run by existing Westland board members and executives from SunCal and would be responsible for managing the profits from our existing oil leases (which expire in 2008) and 50% of whatever else may be discovered in the future. | |||
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They say: Vote
yes and SunCal of California will preserve our heritage forever.
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After SunCal of Irvine, California buys our company, including all of our land and assets, shopping centers and other properties, our campos santos and moradas, our mineral and water rights; these outsiders will appoint a board of directors who will govern an “Atrisco Heritage Foundation.” They claim that Atrisco heirs would hold a majority of the seats and that SunCal will provide $1,000,000 per year for 100 years to fund it all. |
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This may sound good at the moment, but what
is the guarantee? |
A
common sight at the Campo Santo de Santa Clara Cemetery. This is how the current Westland Board cares for our heritage now. |
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The truth is: This
‘charitable’ foundation will end up with a board consisting of outsiders
and the same
crowd who run Westland right now. Their track record clearly shows that
they don’t care much about preserving our heritage. |
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What will happen when the foundation’s board squanders away the $1 million a year like they’ve been doing with the $7 million a year our company makes right now? Who will preserve our heritage then? $1 million dollars a year won’t go much beyond paying their salaries, including the salaries of the SunCal outsiders sitting on the 'Atrisco Heritage Foundation' board. That money may seem like a lot to most of us now, but when it comes to building museums and schools, and establishing scholarships and programs for our youth and elderly; SunCal’s promises won’t go very far. Let us develop our own real Atrisco Heritage Foundation and use our wisdom and expertise to design our own museums, genuine cultural and academic programs and scholarships for our youth. Let us nurture our own heritage. Why should we think strangers can do this better than we can? No one will take care of OUR HERITAGE like we ourselves. It is ours, not theirs.
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They say: Vote
yes and get smart growth for Albuquerque’s west side. |
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The truth is: What is the record of the big developers? Look at the unplanned growth of Rio Rancho. Look at the recent flooding and undermining of public infrastructure on our Westside right now. Look at how they have failed to build adequate public schools and failed to provide public parks |
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and adequate civil
services for the populations they have cleared the way for. Look at the
cutting of roads through the Petroglyphs. The track
record of the big developers is not a pretty one. |
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Rather than selling out everything, why can’t our company, with forward looking, open, and honest leadership, develop OUR OWN LAND to OUR specifications? Don’t be fooled by SunCal’s sweet talk! OWNERSHIP IS EVERYTHING. Why should we sell the land cheaply only to have our children and grandchildren paying retail prices for it down the road? Why sell our land at a fire sale price only to buy it later at inflated market value? We, the shareholders of Westland and heirs of the Atrisco Land Grant, with over three centuries of history and connection to this land, should make the rules and set the terms to benefit OUR people first. It’s nice that their company was founded by a Bulgarian immigrant. It's a nice immigrant in America, rags to riches story, but let them play out their story somewhere else. We have our own much older story, and we have the right and obligation to finish our own historia, that of our timeless heritage in the Merced de Atrisco. Why should we sell out our inheritance at a cut-rate price to the largest private land owner in California? We are the owners of our land and destiny. Ownership is everything!
Please vote against the sale of
Westland Development Company and
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