Damon Scott, Managing Editor for Albuquerque Business First:

Area developers, real estate professionals and business owners in Rio Rancho are gathering this week to hear the views of City Council candidates.

The Rio Rancho Roundtable — part of NAIOP-New Mexico, the commercial real estate development association — will host candidates running for City Council during the March 1 election.

One of the event’s organizers, developer Jeanie Springer-Knight of Springer5 Investments, said all 10 candidates were invited and eight are scheduled to attend. She’s expecting a sellout of 200 attendees, which is one reason the venue for the forum is the Premiere Cinema 14, located at 1000 Premiere Parkway SE, near Southern and Unser boulevards.

The Rio Rancho general election includes three open City Council seats for Districts 1, 4 and 6.

Springer-Knight said attendees can expect to hear the candidate’s views and positions on issues that impact development and business opportunities in Rio Rancho.

Candidates running in their respective districts are JoAnne C. Dudley, Joshua Hernandez and Jim Own (District 1); Marlene Feuer, Ron E. Hensley and Ryan Parra (District 4); and Cris Balzano, David L. Bency, Lonnie F. Clayton and Chris J. Vanden-Heuvel (District 6). Dudley and Vanden-Havel are not expected to attend.

The Feb. 4 event runs from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. Registration is available through Feb. 3 and can be done online.

505.348.8315 | damonscott@bizjournals.com