Gov. vows support for Ceremonial

New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson begins filling out an application Thursday at the Northside Senior Center in Gallup with Edward Baraza for money to help Baraza pay for winter utilities. The money is from a new Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program. The governor also made stops in Grants and Thoreau to promote the program to senior citizens. [Photo by Jeff Jones/Independent]

By Bill Donovan
Staff writer

GALLUP — New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Thursday he is still committed to helping out the Inter-tribal Indian Ceremonial and is working to get the organization state funding.

Richardson made these comments Thursday during an interview here in Gallup. He also visited Grants and Thoreau during the day.

While in Gallup and Grants, he met with area senior citizens to encourage them to sign up for new state programs to provide heating subsidies for senior citizens and those with low incomes. In each location, forms were provided and state officials were on hand to help fill them out.

Later in the day he went to Thoreau High School where he taught a civics class.

In the interview about the Ceremonial, Richardson said he wants to provide the agency $100,000 to help them out, adding that he knows that the organization is still having financial troubles.

"The state should be helping them out," he said.

Louis Bonaguidi, chairman of the Ceremonial Board, said the organization can use the funds.

Although the state legislature agreed to make the Ceremonial part of the state tourism office in its session this year, no funds were allocated in that bill so the Ceremonial had to put on this past August's event without a director.

Today, the Ceremonial only has one staff member on salary and Bonaguidi said they need that in order to keep the office manned on a daily basis.

"We get between five and 10 calls a day," he said.

But putting on a full-time director would require more funds than the organization has at this time. Bonaguidi estimated that with benefits, a full-time director would cost the Ceremonial at least $50,000 a year.

Ironically, that's the amount that the legislature approved in another bill but was never turned over to the agency because of contradictions within the bill.

Bonaguidi said he is hoping that this can be cleared up in the upcoming session, but since it lasts only 30 days, items that are allowed to be brought up are those that are on the governor's agenda.

While $100,000 would go a long way to clearing up the agency's debt, Bonaguidi said that what the Ceremonial needs is a guarantee of state funding of between $150,000 to $250,000 a year.

An extra $250,000 annually would clear the way for the Ceremonial to pay off all of its debts and have an operating staff year-round so that the Ceremonial board, which had to step in to run the show last August, could spend its time on expansion and future planning.

As for his main reason for being in Gallup, Richardson said that he's happy that the legislature followed through with its plans to help out senior citizens and those with low incomes deal with the rising gasoline prices and the expected sharp increase in heating bills this winter.

He said how much families get to help with their heating bills this winter will depend on their income but the maximum allowed under the program will be $700.

"The good thing is that the checks will be issued within the next two weeks," Richardson said.

The gasoline rebate, which again is based on income, will provide families with between $69 and $250.

"This is a one-time payment," Richardson said, "and is just the state's way to give a little help to state residents."

He said he plans to continue fighting to get the legislature to pass a price-gouging bill, which will set limits on how much and how fast gasoline prices can go.

"The problem is that the prices have been getting too high too fast," he said, pointing to the increases that hit the United States in the past two months.