Funding issues could have canceled rodeo
The Best of the Best rodeo is set to take place June 21-24. But at the beginning of April, there was some uncertainty about whether or not the event would even happen.
Gallup’s Interim City Manager J.M. DeYoung spoke in front of the city council during their April 9 meeting, voicing his concerns about the finances behind the rodeo event. It is a city event, meaning that in the past, the city saw revenue come in from it.
However, McKinley County took over the park management of Red Rock State Park from the City of Gallup in August 2022, and last year’s Best of the Best rodeo was the first time the event was under the county’s control. And now, city staff are wondering if they’ll see any revenue this year.
Despite last year’s change, the county and city worked out an agreement in which the city still received the revenue from the horse stalls and RVs rented by the people who competed in the rodeo.
During the April 9 meeting, the event’s manager Walt Eddy called out DeYoung, saying he should have reached out to County Manager Anthony Dimas regarding an agreement earlier this year.
“So, I think what it boils down to is [can] our city manager and our city attorney negotiate with the county for something that the county willingly did last year, or not,” Eddy said.
Eddy argued that the city staff should’ve spoken to Dimas about their revenue concerns before Eddy was allowed to send in a request for proposal. Eddy requested over $200,000 from the city for the event. In an interview with the Sun, Eddy explained that the money is used for advertising and hiring a crew to help run the event, among other things.
He also said that the city’s Lodger’s Tax committee decided not to give him any funding this year.
After hearing DeYoung’s concerns about whether or not the event would bring in any revenue for the city, Eddy considered not even having the event.
“I mean, it’s no big deal,” he told the councilors. “Say you guys don’t want to do it, you don’t want to promote Gallup….”
Councilor Sarah Piano, Dist. 3, spoke up, assuring Eddy that the city did want the Best of the Best rodeo to happen.
“You know that’s not true Walt [that we don’t want to do the rodeo],” she said. “We want to, but we also want to find the income.”
Eddy suggested that the issue may be one of incompetence.
“Well, it’s either incompetence or not wanting to do it, because this should’ve been a very, very simple procedure from the get-go,” he argued.
Councilor Linda Garcia, Dist. 1, voiced her opinion, saying that she would like to see the rodeo happen.
“I’m in agreement that we will have the Best of the Best, not only because it’s a quality of life decision ….,” she said.
The city’s Chief Financial Officer Patty Holland told the council that in the past years, the city has usually broken even when it comes to the Best of the Best event, but in recent years, they have sometimes seen a small profit.
The council ultimately decided to table the issue until the city manager and city attorney speak to Dimas.
The RFP was discussed again during the April 24 meeting. DeYoung told the council that he had called Dimas and that they would work out the details of the agreement once the council approved the RFP.
The council approved the RFP for just over $200,000, leaving Eddy to begin his advertising efforts and get ready for the rodeo.
DeYoung was unavailable for further comment.
By Molly Ann Howell
Managing Editor
