After several efforts requesting documentation regarding the investigation of Gallup-McKinley County Schools Superintendent Frank Chiapetti, and the cost of such an investigation, Custodian of Records and Superintendent Secretary Joan Nez, disclosed some financial information to the Gallup Sun in a response letter dated Jan. 4.

According to the letter, Chiapetti was paid $42,690.87 while on leave; Acting Superintendent Carmen Moffett was paid $12,058.48; and legal fees added up to $45,248.09. A grand total of $99,997.44.

The response letter also states that, “On November 12th Central Office received confidential documentation from the GMCS School Boards lawyer regarding the investigation of Mr. Chiapetti. These documents are sealed and are in Mr. Chiapetti’s personnel file and are not considered public information. Central Office is not aware of the allegations or results of the investigation. We are only aware that the Board of Education reinstated Mr. Chiapetti into his position as Superintendent on November 13th, 2015.”

The Gallup Sun turned to the watchdog group, New Mexico Foundation for Open Government for input on the letter, and Executive Director, Susan Boe, said the reason the district gives for denying public access to the investigative report lacks detail.

“The school district and the school board need to explain why the documents have been withheld,” Boe said. “They can’t make a statement that it is a sealed confidential document.”

On Aug.17, Chiapetti was placed on administrative leave; however, the details of his absence and investigation have yet to surface. On Nov.12, after a lengthy three-hour executive session, the Board voted 3-2 to retain Chiapetti as superintendent. Special Education Director, Carmen Moffett, had taken his place for nearly three months.

A fter feedback from the Gallup community based off of a  steering committee that met six times over a six month span, a Metropolitan Redevelopment Area plan, or MRA, is entering its final planning stages.

The MRA was designed to retain the historical aspects of the city and at the same time provide for new and improved projects within downtown Gallup.

The final plans for the MRA, and “Gallup’s Arts and Cultural District” is one step closer to fruition as it was approved by the City Council on Dec.15 with a vote of 5-0.

The span of the Metropolitan Redevelopment Area does not stretch the entire length of Coal Avenue, only from Woodrow to Seventh Street.

However, the ultimate target within the bull’s eye is much smaller, from First to Fourth Street on Coal, though this mark is not isolated from the proximity of other businesses that inhabit the adjoining blocks.

Implementation of the top 27 projects, ranked by the community members at a November Open House meeting, were categorized by a timeline matrix that would give an idea as to when the projects would be completed such as short term (1-3 years), midterm (4-6 years) and long term (7-10 years).

For instance, at the top of the list of projects, a new state-of-art library is considered short term and therefore, completion could take up to one to three years and would merge the main branch with the Children’s Branch.

More projects include improvements to Coal Avenue and making it into an event street, pedestrian and signage improvements, and alleyway upgrades from First to Third Streets between Highway 66 and Aztec Avenue. An “event street” closes off the street to vehicles during special events.

With the thought in mind to cover this small area as a representation of the entire MRA, two Gallup Sun reporters covered opposite sides of Coal Ave. for the approximate two and a half block area on Dec. 28, asking questions about what the completion of these projects could mean for the businesses in this area.

North Side of Street

Some of the businesses did not know a lot about the MRA, although it has been highlighted in the print media for several months. Other owners knew more than the average citizen, especially Louie Bonaguidi, who is the president of Business Improvement District, and owner of Electric City Shoe Shop and other downtown shops. He also re-introduced Main Street back to Gallup after an absence of several years.

“Working in this area, day after day, sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees,” Bonaguidi said. “Change is good for some things, but not everything needs to be changed.

“This plan will allow the city more accessible funding through Community Development Block Grants,” he said.

He went on to discuss several individual projects: thumbs totally up for a new library; cautious approval of redesigned alleyways; and a disagreement with walkways under the railroad tracks.

“They talked about making this bicycle/pedestrian tunnel much longer than it needs to be, by several blocks. Don’t know what they plan on to keep water out of it when we get our heavy rains or big snows. Maybe the Corps of Engineers will come in and use the same pumps that didn’t work on Ninth and Maloney,” Bonaguidi laughed.

The Bonaguidi family has been in business downtown since 1924 and has a vast amount of experience with changes and the good or bad each carries with them.

But a negative remark or two aside, Bonaguidi did think that the sessions headed by Charlie Deans, created some good ideas.

Deans, a Land Planner from CommunityByDesign, who has over 25 years of experience in urban design, community planning and landscape analysis, said that he was hired by the City and based on the communities preferences, there was a total of 27 projects; however, it was narrowed down to six top projects that they would like to see the city implement.

“One of the steps in the process was really looking at opportunity sites,” Deans said. “We look at public ownership because those are usually the assets that are easiest to develop and revitalize whether it is a partnership, whether the city does it as public facilities, or whether it is a partnership with private developers.”

Theresa Guillen, with her husband Jerry, operates Maria’s Restaurant and has been there since 1982. Although neither knew a lot about the plans, Guillen was excited that the city might clean up the alleyway behind the small building.

John Matajcich of Gallup Service Mart, was less positive about this plan except for one minor problem he has experienced. Seems the city workers used dirt in the current alley and it has built up in certain areas, causing any excess water to run into his basement.

“It’s the transients and the visitors that cause the most problems,” said Matajcich, whose store is the headquarters for a number of local ladies that spend their free time ripping, stitching, and stripping as they create beautiful quilts.

“They dump their trash in the dumpsters and it is a total mess every Monday morning,” Matajcich said. “The city needs to have workers keeping it clean, just like they do the sidewalks around City Hall.”

South Side of the Street

Owner of Coal Street Pub, Ramon Chavez, has owned and operated his business for 10 years, and he is in support of the new MRA plan because he says anything that can beautify and make downtown Gallup better, should be done.

“If you could pull people off the interstate because out of all the thousands of people that passes by, to most of them, we are just a blink of an eye,” he said. “If we can say we have a downtown development or arts and cultural district and pull people off the interstate that would benefit everybody.”

He says signs should be put up on the interstate that advertise the new Gallup Arts and Cultural District once it is built so that people passing through can see what Gallup is all about.

“We have the best art and the most diversified art, for the last 100 years,” he said. “Sand paintings, jewelry, rugs, I mean everything. Everybody knows about the Indian Market in Santa Fe, where do you think they come from? Right here. Eighty percent of Santa Fe’s Indian Market comes from right here. Nobody knows about Gallup. Advertise us!”

Others were not so optimistic, such as business owner Bill Keeler of Gallup Jewelry and Pawn. Thirty years ago he opened up his business during the time that 75 percent of downtown Gallup was boarded up. He admits that there have been some vast improvements, like the bus station.

“I see things happening and not happening,” he said. “They (the city and civic groups like B.I.D., Main Street, and Chamber of Commerce) start but they do not finish. Another group of elected officials come in and they have new people come in, they don’t even own property downtown.”

What about parking issues that could arise from the anticipated influx of tourists that come strolling through Gallup once the MRA is complete?

Tiffany and Justin Benson, owners of the Gallup Coffee Company, have been open for seven months now, and both said they do not see parking as an issue.

“What I think would be a great idea, would be to put in angled parking,” Tiffany said. “It would alleviate the parallel parking issues, especially in a community that has big trucks. It is hard to fit in your standard parallel spot.”

The couple came out to visit Tiffany’s grandmother one year and they decided that they liked the area and wanted to open up a coffee shop.

When asked about the upcoming MRA plan being implemented, Justin replied that cleaning up Gallup and making it visually appealing would be a good place to start.

“I think the people themselves have to want to change things to change,” he said. “But I think that it is a useful tool and I think it is a good thing. But, I wouldn’t just count on people just sitting in city positions to change all of Gallup. I think that people need to change Gallup.”

As I reflect back on the stories that I’ve covered in the year of 2015, I chose the top five that stood out to me as important stories of 2015.

Recycling and reusing jamboree event

It was nice to see many friendly faces once I walked into the doors of Gallup’s Community Center on Oct.31 as I was about to embark on covering an annual event called the “Recycling and Reusing Jamboree Event.”

Those friendly faces were Gerald O’Hara, vice president of the McKinley Citizens Recycling Council, Board Secretary Shafiq Chaudhary and Board member Betsy Windisch.

As an avid recycler myself, I thought it would be kind of cool to check it out and I am glad that I did. Put together by the MCRC, a non-profit organization that for the last five years, has organized the event to allow thrift savvy residents to showcase their recycled-goods-turned-into-treasured-goods for sale.

I instantly fell in love with former English teacher, Elizabeth Foutenot’s, cute and crafty projects that included an array of gift boxes, found at various thrift  and Micheal’s craft stores, covered with words from the Bible or dictionary. I learned she practically found all her crafting tools at nearby thrift stores and off the shelves of clearance racks. I was immediately inspired once I got home to cut up all my old recycled books and paste on the words of my favorite author onto an old shoe box!

I just remember how unique and fun this event, and it was for a great cause for the whole community of Gallup to learn how to repurpose their recycled materials.

Alcatraz occupation and an unjust sterilization

With many historical events that took place during the 1960’s, the Alcatraz Island takeover is one event that has always intrigued me. So, when I heard about the Nov. 7
event hosted by Octavia Fellin’s Public Library, as part of the Native American Heritage Month, and two Native American guest speakers by the names of Jean Whitehorse and Lenny Foster would be presenting about their own Alcatraz experience, I knew I would be taking part in a moment in history.

To many, the Alcatraz Island occupation, is a true and defining moment in Native American history, which gave Native Americans the opportunity to address issues that were ignored for so long by the United States government. It was also a political movement that demonstrated Indian self-determination.

However, one thing that stuck out to me about Whitehorse’s experience is a bit of information that had nothing to do with Alcatraz. I would never forget as she explained in detail, upon returning to Gallup in 1973, how she was a victim of sterilization.

“The federal government targeted the unborn of Native babies through the federal health clinic. We didn’t have a choice,” she said. “We were labeled unfit, poor, and uneducated. I became a victim of this after I had one daughter.”

She explained that it began when she had an infection in her appendix, so she drove herself to a clinic and the doctors told her that they could not operate on her until she signed some papers. At that point, she was in extreme pain so she signed the documents, not knowing it was for sterilization.

Whitehorse knows that this kind of unlawful treatment, sterilization, occurred to other Native American women, but she could not prove it at the time. Documentation at the time was mishandled, misinterpreted or simply lost.  Her private testimony about her unjust sterilization experience should never be forgotten.

The ridiculousness of ‘Ridiculous 6’

As part of Native American Heritage Month, I had a rare chance to see two Native American  actors, Loren Anthony and Goldie Tom, speak about their walk off on the set of Adam Sandler’s controversial movie, “Ridiculous 6” hosted by Gallup’s Octavia Fellin’s Public Library Nov. 9.

I applauded their act of bravery as they both talked in depth about how the evolutionary roles in which Native American stereotypes have been cast in past and present films, and why these particular stereotypical roles are still harmful to the image of Native Americans today.

“It just takes one person to say, ‘enough is enough.’ And if we get enough people on board, then the world will listen and say ‘hey these natives are something, they do have a voice,’” Anthony said.

I believe that for too long movie industries have portrayed Native Americans in an incorrect or negative light. To me, it is still amazing that two young Native Americans stood up for what was right for Native Americans as a whole.

In a world that is still mesmerized by the many romanticized portrayals of Native American roles, these two actors made a monumental leap into changing that for upcoming accurate Native American roles in film.

Japanese-American internment camps

If there was another chapter in U.S. history that was not taught during my high school history courses, this was one subject that I was unfamiliar with. I was very ignorant to the fact that as many as 6,000 Japanese-Americans were rounded up by train and held in imprisonment camps throughout the United States. This came after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on the dreadful day of Dec. 7, 1941.

As part of a project called, “Confinement in the Land of Enchantment,” or CLOE, under the New Mexico Chapter of the Japanese American Citizens League (NM JACL), Victor Yamada, special projects coordinator, spoke to an audience on Nov. 19 at the University of New Mexico’s Gallup campus to educate students about the history of his people.

Three guest speakers spoke about their experiences while they lived in various internment camps. One presenter, Sam Mihara, project director, and former child prisoner of the Heart Mountain, WY prison camp shared his experience during that difficult time as a child before departing from his home in San Francisco. He said buses were loaded and they were only allowed one suitcase per person.

What I remember him mentioning is the time when himself and his people made it to Heart Mountain prison camp, he remembers prison camp life extremely difficult. They had to share 16 toilets in a row that served 500 people. They were given food such as bread, potatoes, powdered milk, and mutton that was shipped from Australia.

“We said to the government, ‘let us grow our own food.’” Mihara said, since they did not eat such foods.

The Japanese-Americans were allowed to clear and irrigate a section of land, and within a year, they had food.  It reminded me how the Navajo people were given similar foods during and after their imprisonment during the Long Walk to Bosque Redondo, which was an Indian removal effort that stemmed from the U.S. government between 1863 to 1864.

UNM-Gallup student Ariana Joe, said of the presentation overall: “I think that it teaches people, later in the future, so that history won’t repeat itself,” she said. “and ultimately, I think this teaches people to try not to make the same mistakes again.”

Frank Chiapetti’s suspension and elusive investigative report

When Superintendent Frank Chiapetti was placed on administrative leave on Aug.17, and interim superintendent Carmen Moffett took his place, the details of his absence have yet to  surfaced.

On Nov. 12, the Board voted 3-2 to retain Chiapetti as superintendent after a lengthy executive meeting that lasted more than 3 hours. However, the district continues to remain tightlipped on the whole Chiapetti investigation even though various New Mexico’s Inspection of Public Record Act letters have been submitted to his Secretary Joan Nez.

It’s clear that they are in violation of IPRA and have put their heads in the sand on the matter, or it’s a case of not being well-versed on the law.

If there is anything more non-transparent and uncertain that I had to partake in, it would have to go to the Gallup McKinley County Schools and its staff.  Since attending their regular Monday school board meetings, I also find it disheartening that they allow “public comments” from the parents and staff; however, board members are not allowed to comment back based on these “public comments.”

If anything, the district should make some of their New Year’s resolutions to have some accountability to their communities and to be more transparent in their school affairs. After all, it’s the taxpayers paying their salaries.

By Joey Peters and Matthew Reichbach

New Mexico Political Report

Police were called to the El Dorado Hotel in Santa Fe this weekend after a loud party. After police were called, someone who identified herself as Governor Susana Martinez demanded to know why the police were called and insisted they were just “eating pizza.”

NM Political Report obtained audio of three calls to police. One was from the front desk of the hotel, saying those in the room had been warned multiple times and asked for police to come and escort those in the room off the property.

To listen to the audio of the call, visit: http://nmpoliticalreport.com/23417/audio-governor-calls-911-after-hotel-asks-her-to-be-escorted-off-property/