During the Feb. 10 city council meeting, Gallup Mayor Marc DePauli and the city councilors, along with Gallup Police Chief Erin Toadlena-Pablo and Police Captain Billy Padavich discussed the possibility of asking Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham to call in the National Guard to the city.
GallupARTS Executive Director Rose Eason responded to the discussion by writing a letter to the mayor and city councilors. The letter can be found below:
Dear Mr. Mayor and Councilors,
I am writing this letter on behalf of my children, who are 5 and 7 years old.
Gallup is their town. They are lifelong Gallup residents. And this is their ancestral home. Their Diné clans are Táchii’nii (Red Running into Water) and Tł’aáshchí’i (Red Bottom People). This place inherently belongs to them and forever will.
This letter is a fight for their future here.
Gallup is where my husband and I have chosen to raise our children not only because it is where they come from but because it is where:
- They come home after school, run across the street to the neighbor’s, ring their doorbell, and play and explore outside until dinner time.
- They are looked after everywhere they go by friends, neighbors, and the community at large. The librarians know their names. The lifeguards at the Aquatic Center are familiar faces. Family members work at local businesses. Restaurant servers don’t have to take their orders-they already know their favorite menu items.
- They have role models in the high school students who mentor my daughter’s Girl Scout troop, put on “kiddie” dance camps, and teach summer swimming lessons.
- They always run into friends and make new ones at parks and playgrounds, at the Flea Market, and at community events like the Levitt AMP Summer Concert Series, ArtsCrawl, and the Red Rock Balloon Rally.
My family not only feels but is safe here. (My only complaint is that my kids cannot safely walk or bike ride to their friends’ houses because we have a severe shortage of sidewalks and those we do have are in disrepair and/or are impeded by poorly placed mailboxes and light poles.)
Why are our civic leaders not uplifting the profound beauty of our community? Why insist that Gallup is at peak levels of dangerousness?
Declaring a state of emergency and calling in the National Guard will not make Gallup safer. Quite the opposite: it will make our wonderful town much less safe, and put mine and other kids in real danger.
Right now, by my estimate, Gallup has five to seven resident pediatricians, two-thirds of whom only provide care for Indian Health Service beneficiaries. How will declaring a state of emergency help recruit more pediatricians so that kids can receive the care they need and not have to be hospitalized an hour away should they require that level of medical attention?
Right now, we have a severe teacher shortage. How will declaring a state of emergency help recruit teachers here so kids can have access to the high quality education they deserve?
Right now, we are facing a housing crisis, meaning that many kids and families do not have the housing that they need. What developers will want to risk investing in a town that has been officially declared a public safety disaster?
I am at a loss as to how City officials think we will benefit as a community from publicly broadcasting — contrary to the truth — that Gallup is an extraordinarily dangerous place to live, visit, or work. In fact, continuing down this path is sure to cause irreparable harm to our community.
My kids and I spend a lot of time in Downtown Gallup — where I work — at the library, movies, dance class, concerts, and special events. With the Coal Avenue Commons project, multiple public art projects, Children & Youth Library, musical playground, Farmer’s Market, ArtsCrawl, Levitt AMP Summer Concert Series, and Friday Night Rides (to name a few community-led efforts), downtown is proof that investment in people and places — in community programs and events, placemaking projects, and inclusive urban design — are what strengthen communities, not draconian measures such as that being pursued.
My husband’s uncle served on the Gallup police force in the 1980/90s before moving to Albuquerque. He speaks of how improved Gallup’s community safety is and shares his joy that his nephew and I can make a good life here with our kids. The public safety advancements made over the last 30 years are the result of policing the alcohol abuse industry, not the disease of addiction, and creating systemic change through policy measures, while bringing in not the National Guard, but new behavioral health resources and community support services. My husband is a U.S. Army Veteran who served two deployments to Afghanistan and my brother-in-law is a Navajo Nation Police Officer. They will both be the first to tell you that complex issues require complex solutions, not just more police and military involvement.
I urge the mayor and city councilors to think broadly and strategically about community safety, to focus on building up our community, and to work for the next generation of Gallupians. Focus on building a new regional library and imaginarium to function as a community center and collaborative social space and educational hub and resource access point. Focus on building a museum dedicated to our cultural heritage and history for the purposes of community and economic development. Focus on improving the walkability and connectivity of our neighborhoods. Focus on filling all of the vacant buildings downtown. Update the Aquatic Center. Bring back city-sponsored summer camps and classes for kids and teens. Add an artificial turf kids’ putting green to the golf course.
Thank you for your dedication to Gallup and for working hard for the common good.
Sincerely,
Rose Eason, Executive Director of gallupARTS
