The Jan. 30 article "Booking for the Future" gives the impression that the economic recession is the cause of the Santa Fe Community Convention Center's financial problems — the fact that the center lost money in 2009 and is anticipating a bigger loss in 2010.

While the recession has certainly contributed to the size of the loss, it should be noted that the initial convention center report upon which the decision to build the facility was based (a report done by "outside" consultants hired by the city), projected a loss of half a million dollars in the center's first year of operation, with that figure decreasing gradually over the next decade.

The report indicated that the new convention center might be able to cover its expenses by the end of the first decade of operation.

At the same time, it sought to offset the anticipated loss in convention center revenue by projecting increased tax revenues to the city from growth in restaurant and hotel use, based on convention center bookings. It was clear, however, long before the new convention center was built, that it would operate at a loss for many years after opening; the only factor that was not anticipated was the economic recession, and the subsequent increase in the center's deficit.

What also was clear at the time of the convention center report was that there was ample evidence that convention centers around the country were not meeting their financial projections, either in direct revenue from bookings or in increased taxes from hotel and restaurant receipts. The expectation that convention centers would provide a financial windfall for municipalities and other public investors was a myth, and had long been recognized as a myth by those studying the convention center industry.

At the time when Santa Fe city officials were considering building a new multimillion-dollar facility, there was ample evidence (in the form of carefully researched articles and reports) that public investment in convention centers was not "paying off" as anticipated, and that, in some cases, it was actually draining money from the municipalities or counties that had invested in such facilities.

The Santa Fe City Council and other city officials, and downtown business owners, chose to ignore the existing evidence from other parts of the country that indicated that convention centers were not a good investment. They also chose to ignore those sections of the consultant's report that noted the projected loss for a new city facility as well as the competition for meeting dollars owing to substantial investment of area pueblos in large-scale meeting facilities.

They even ignored the testimony, before the City Council, of an expert in the subject, an academic who specializes in tracing the impact of public investment in convention centers and the subsequent disappointment with the financial results.

The attitude on the part of most elected and appointed officials, as well as the downtown business community, was that Santa Fe was a "charming" city, that it would have no difficulty attracting convention center business, and that none of the disappointing financial projections from around the country were relevant, as far as this city was concerned.

City officials, who should have known better, made convention center decisions based on wishful thinking rather than on the facts available to them. It was clear, from studies of existing convention centers around the country, that investment in such facilities was a very risky financial proposition.

The result is that (as was predicted at the time by opponents of the new center, including myself) a "raid" on the city's general fund is being considered to cover convention center losses.

The bottom line is that we deserve, and should have, city officials, both elected and appointed, who will make important decisions on the future of Santa Fe based on the available facts, not on wishful thinking.

Santa Fean Lois Snyderman served on the city's Convention Center Committee.