Rio Rancho celebrates its 45th birthday

RIO RANCHO — Do the midlife stereotypes apply to Rio Rancho? Because it just turned 45 on March 18.

A celebration for Rio Rancho Day at The Neighborhood in Loma Colorado Wednesday showed the city’s businesses, legislators and officials are ensuring Rio Rancho continues to maintain progress. The day marked the anniversary of the city’s incorporation, though families have been in Rio Rancho long before that point.

Jerry Schalow, president and CEO of the Rio Rancho Regional Chamber of Commerce,  thanked everyone for believing in business and the community.

“I love to tell this story. The Rio Rancho Chamber is a year older than the city of Rio Rancho. How that happened was, back in incorporation of the city Rio Rancho, it failed twice and business leaders got together, they took a trip to Durango, (Colorado) and they were walking down the strip in Durango, and there was a chamber of commerce. So they went down there and asked, ‘What does the Chamber of Commerce do?’ They described it, and they said, ‘We need one of those,’” Schalow said. “Within a year, the business community got together, and they went door to door to every resident in Rio Rancho and put on a campaign to get the city incorporated. Hence, 45 years later, you're living in the best city in the Southwest.”

He recognized the number of accolades that the city has garnered over the years, including its place on the Top 100 Cities in the Southwest for three consecutive years.

However, Schalow joked about one accolade that marks Rio Rancho, New Mexico, as the sixth-best place to retire on realtor.com. 

“The challenge is when you look at the map, it's in Arizona. As I've been telling businesses and other leaders throughout the community, the bottom line is we have conquered New Mexico. We're on to Arizona,” he said.

He also recognized it as one of the safest cities, pointing out Fire Chief James Wenzel and Police Chief Stewart Steele.

“My favorite thing to tell (residents) is ‘two officers in three minutes.’ Because let me tell you, when you have an emergency and you get two officers in three minutes, could be in the same car, it could be in different cars, could be a motorcycle, but they are there. And that's what makes this community special. You don't have to worry about who's showing up at a time in need,” he said.

Schalow also commended Rio Rancho Public Schools, recognizing that incoming Superintendent Dr. Robbie Dodd “will tell you he has big shoes to fill.”

After complimenting the city one last time, he brought figures from the community up to speak, including Harold Ermshar,  CEO for The Neighborhood of Rio Rancho, and Lindsay Jones, vice president and chief operations officer for event sponsor State Employees Credit Union.

Next the group heard from City Councilors Nicole List, Karissa Culbreath, Deb Dapson and Paul Wymer. Mayor Gregg Hull was not present due to being in Washington, D.C.

“I don't know exactly what to say other than it is an honor and a privilege to get to serve Rio Rancho. I live here. I work in the school district as a social worker, I have a child here, and so this is my community. It's an amazing opportunity to get to serve as one of your leaders,” List said.

Wymer, who is also in the runoff for the mayoral election in Rio Rancho, spoke about consistency in moving the city forward.

“We've done a great job on the council who worked well with Mayor Hull. We work well as a council together. Let's keep the city moving in the right direction,” he said.

Culbreath recognized the city as a great place to live.

“I love to continue to support Rio Rancho and continue to move the city forward. We need your support as a city. We need your support in the business community. Thank you for all that you're doing to create new jobs to keep the city vibrant and exciting,” she said.

Dapson stated she is privileged and grateful for people voting her into office.

“I love serving the city. I love serving the constituents in this city. Rio Rancho is a fabulous place to live. It's where I feel at home, and I know a lot of you do as well,” she said.

Sandoval County Commissioners also showed up to support Rio Rancho Day.

“I moved here in the city was 9 years old and there was 22,000 people here,” Commissioner Mike Meek said.

He appreciated the theme of Rio Rancho Day — “Better Together.”

“Because truly, we are better off together,” he said.

Meek said that he can stay in Rio Rancho to retire since it was recognized as best place to retire.

State Sen. Craig Brandt, whose district covers Rio Rancho, said he is the only senator who only has Rio Rancho in his district. 

“The Neighborhood is also in my district,” he said.

State Sen. Jay Block talked more about the legislative session.

“What a great day this is because we had the Rio Rancho Days up at the 60-day session. We didn't have it in the 30,” he said.

He said he and Brandt, being the only two senators from Rio Rancho, are proud of the city.

“We want to bring the model of Rio Rancho to New Mexico,” he added.

He recognized all of the officials of the city and his fellow legislators.

“We have our state reps, Democrats and Republicans working together. By the way, we come together when it comes to capital outlay and all this other stuff that we do. We work together as Republicans and Democrats. We sit down and we might not agree, but you know what? We agree that this is the best damn city to live in in New Mexico,” he said.

Additionally, state Reps. Alan Martinez, Catherine Cullen, Kathleen Cates and Josh Hernandez spoke.

Martinez said he appreciates the sense of “teamwork and togetherness” of Rio Rancho Day.

“Your motto for this perfect because when we start working together, when we start sitting down together and talking with each other, we can do amazing things. Rio Rancho is a perfect example of that,” he said.

Hernandez remarked that the session was “crazy.”

“But let's look at everybody in this room. It's what makes Rio Rancho great. We all come together. We all work towards the same goals, and we get things done so much better than down the hill or so many other cities here,” he said.

Cullen said her family loves Rio Rancho.

“We came here in 2002 with only planning to stay for two years, and we all know how New Mexico is … I served eight years on the Rio Rancho school board, and I will — I'm totally biased — say it's the best school district in the state,” she said.

She also recognized the school district’s RioTech, stating that she is proud that Rio Rancho has a career-technical education program. 

Cates joined the “Better Together” bandwagon, stating she believes in that cause. Her kids attended graduated school locally, she said.

“And just like any obnoxious teenagers, they all wanted to move away. And as soon as they moved away, they were like, ‘We're going back to Rio Rancho. That is just a much better life to live. We're not worrying about our cars in the driveway,’” she said.

She also complimented Rio Rancho’s ability to let businesses run.

Cates ended by sharing the local legislators’ slogan: “Team Sandoval.”

During his speech, Schalow described how Rio Rancho has changed in the last 10 years.

“When I came to the chamber 10 years ago, if you told someone that you lived in Rio Rancho, they go, ‘Oh, Rio Rancho, why do you live there?’ Ten years later? People are like, ‘Wow, Rio Rancho. That's a great place to be,’” Schalow said.