Governor in Gallup to discuss Ceremonial

Copyright © 2009
Gallup Independent
By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — Gov. Bill Richardson was in Gallup briefly Thursday to explain how he was going to save the Inter-Tribal Indian Ceremonial.

But to do this, the Ceremonial Association is going to have to meet certain conditions.

Things have been chaotic at the Ceremonial in recent months as the association and the event’s director, Jeri Poletto, have barely been speaking to each other because of a disagreement that flared up at this past’s year event.

Richardson brought this up at the meeting with a number of county and city leaders Thursday as he outlined what he will do to continue state funding to the Ceremonial after June 30.

The event has state funding until then, but because of the controversy between the association and Poletto, no funding was provided by the state Legislature for the next fiscal year.

The state provides funding to pay some of the office expenses as well as the salaries for the director and a staff assistant.

Richardson said he will support continued funding for the association through a supplemental appropriation, but he wants to end the problems that have caused friction within the organization.

The event will no longer be under the state tourism office, which Richardson admitted hasn’t worked, even though the Ceremonial Association was the one that first suggested it.
Instead, fiscal responsibility will rest with the McKinley County Commission.

“This will provide local control over the event,” Richardson said.

Poletto is no longer director. She apparently will stay with the state tourism office but will be transferred to another position, possibly with the state fair office.

The biggest condition that Richardson placed on all of this was the requirement that the association become more financially stable and stop operating in the red.

“We cannot continue to support it if it continues to have deficits each year,” he said.

To help get the association back to financial stability, he has asked Patty Lundstrom, director of the Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments, to have her staff draw up a business plan that the association can follow to improve its financial picture.

Lundstrom said her agency has no problem with this request and will have it done by June 30.

Louis Bonaguidi, chairman of the Ceremonial Association, said he supported Richardson’s proposal, adding that the association had suggested taking this approach instead of staying under the tourism department and having to deal with Poletto.

As for the association’s finances, Bonaguidi said the association should have no problems coming up with a business plan that would allow it to stay out of the red, as long as the state continued providing support to pay for administration costs.

He pointed out that association was $140,000 in debt this time last year and has now been able to bring that debt down to $35,000.

As for a director, Bonaguidi said there are no immediate plans to choose a new one. Until a new one is named, the association will run the office.

Richardson also took an opportunity at the close of Thursday’s meeting to try once again to get support to return Red Rock Park to the state.

During the Rosebrough administration, the city and the state were in discussions to do this but this was stopped when Harry Mendoza took over as mayor. Richardson said he was willing to continue these discussions because he believes the park can be a major asset, not only to events like the Ceremonial and the Red Rock Balloon rally, but to the state as well because of its potential of attracting tourists to the state.