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From Santa Fe County Attorney Stephen Ross

On Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Judge Sarah Singleton quashed the writ of mandamus requested by three opponents of the Santa Fe Studios project, ending almost two years of litigation over the County's assistance to the film studio project.

Several years ago, pursuant to the Local Economic Development Act, the County entered into agreements with a local company, Santa Fe Film and Medias Studios, to create a first-rate film studio on land formerly owned by the County on NM 14 near the Public Safety Complex. In the agreements, which were intended to create a permanent home for the film industry in Santa Fe County and provide needed economic development, the County agreed to provide various forms of direct assistance to the project. Santa Fe Film and Media Studios, in turn, agreed to construct a first-class film studio on the property and to provide hundreds of thousands of hours above-minimum wage jobs in a creative and clean industry, with resulting economic benefits to the City and County of Santa Fe. These agreements were challenged in court, but Judge Singleton found that the County's assistance to the project complied with the Local Economic Development Act, and would create jobs as promised.