County Government officials to meet in Ruidoso

Lincoln County Manager Tom Stewart is elated by the opportunity to play host this week to the 71st Annual Conference of the New Mexico Association of Counties. Stewart said the conference was last held in Lincoln County in 1978 and is expected to bring in more than 800 county and state leaders and employees June 5-8, 2007.

To be held at the Ruidoso Convention Center with alternate space taken at Ruidoso High School, the business and educational conference will allow attendees an opportunity to develop and adopt policy for the coming year, work on legislative issues for the upcoming session, and to undergo educational programs. Most hotels in Ruidoso are sold out for the occasion, Deanna Cheney, sales manager with The Lodge at Ruidoso, said, while local dining and entertainment venues also are likely to feel the impact of conventioneers “moving in, albeit briefly.”

Lynn Holty, sales manager for the Ruidoso Convention Center, is calling on all people in the private and commercial sectors to do their part to help make conventioneers feel welcome while in Lincoln County.
“This conference represents one of the more sizeable events Ruidoso will hold this year,” she said. “The economic impact, the prestige, and the exposure it will give our community as a destination for meetings and travel cannot be underestimated.”

While here to meet on important issues, state and county executives will enjoy a night out at the Hubbard Museum of the American West and at the Flying J. Early registrants may also sign up for a golf tournament planned at The Links at Sierra Blanca.

Attendees began arriving Tuesday while the opening session begins today at 1 p.m. The closing session of the conference is scheduled for 10 a.m., Friday, June 8. Educational topics to be covered during the event include: Media Relations, Harassment in the Workplace; Diversity, and Leadership. Meanwhile, legislative issues to be discussed are: Defining and funding state prisoners; strengthening the fund for local DWI programs; mid-term salary inequity of county elected officials; distribution and --- of the fire fund, and; the creation and funding of state GIS coordinator. County managers also will discuss adding local government representatives to the State Information Technology Commission.

County governments began meeting annually in 1936 to address concerns and to collaborate on initiatives. It wasn’t until 1968, however, that the New Mexico Association of Counties was officially incorporated.