Rosario "Chayo" Garcia

Businessperson and City Councilor in Espanola

Garcia wears many hats.

Rosario "Chayo" Garcia is involved in several aspects of the Espanola community: business, government and education.

Describe your life and work.

"First of all, I'm a wife and a mom, those are the two most important things. I run Anthony's at the Delta Flower shop, the Delta Bar and Grill, and the Inn at the Delta. I'm also a Regent at Northern New Mexico Community College and a City Councilor. You don't really realize how much the government has to do! I didn't know what it takes to run a city. It's amazing what you have to know about water and sewers and lighting and traffic. Espanola wants to grow and I need to know all these things. We have to work with all the smaller communities here to do a regional plan to help each other.

"I'm originally from Las Cruces and I met my husband 24 years ago at New Mexico State. He brought me here and at the time, I didn't even know where Espanola was. I raised my boys here and fell in love with the community. Espanola has a bad rap. The first couple years my friends and family in Las Cruces would ask my what I'm doing here and tell me that I really need to come back home and that it was scary here. But it's the Espanola people -- that's what sells me, it's the people. If I move back home, it's beautiful there also, but all my friends are here, my life is here now."

How would you describe the sense of community in this area?

"It's family. If something happens to someone, everybody is there to help. Whether you're family or not, they'll take care of each other. I love it here and I'm going to stay here.

"Old families have been here for centuries. It's hard to change, it's hard to get the thinking that we're going to have to grow and change. There used to a certain comfort zone and it's hard to get out of that and change."

How do you feel about population, economic and other growth here?

"Our growth is challenged due to the fact that we are land locked by the pueblos and BLM [Bureau of Land Management] land here. It's hard for us to grow. We're a diamond in the rough. But it's a positive in that we can't grow too much. And it's okay that we stay small."

What makes the local economy tick?

"I have mixed feelings on the economy here. We are a bedroom community for Los Alamos. The wages aren't as high here and the work force is hard to get. We are just like a suburb of everything else. We need to separate ourselves from Los Alamos and grow ourselves just in case something happens to it we'll have something to back ourselves up on."

What types of arts and culture will people find here?

"Espanola art and culture is something we need to tap into. You go to museums in Santa Fe and Taos or Phoenix and you'll find our local artists in there! I really believe we need to capitalize on that, it's our people who are the artists. Everybody else has tapped into our resources and we need to keep that here."