A last-minute request by the city of Española for assistance from Rio Arriba County in staffing and outfitting a lowrider car show next month has — after some scrambling by County officials — been obliged, albeit somewhat begrudgingly.
“When Española plans something they don’t care what everyone else has going on,” said County Manager Tomas Campos days after learning of the city’s request. “We’re only going to have an ambulance available for them.”
The event — Main Street Showdown de Española Car Show — is being billed as a duel between Española and Los Angeles, which both claim to be the lowrider capitol of America.
Co-sponsored by Lowrider Magazine, the duel is slated for Aug. 4 and 5 on Paseo de Oñate.
The city had initially requested to use the County’s mobile command center, a multi-purpose trailer and several emergency transport ATVs, equipment which had already been committed to the County Fair, scheduled the same weekend.
Campos also had concerns over lending the city equipment without County personnel on-hand to ensure the equipment is handled properly. He said the city in the past has been careless with County property like the command center, returning it with damage, missing items and with the toilet tank still full of human waste.
“They never clean out the toilet tank so its full when they return it and then we have to clean it,” he explained. “We made a rule that we’re not going to let it go without someone there to watch it.”
The County’s emergency services manager Mateo DeVargas agreed with Campos’ assessment, but added many of the problems were with previous city administrations.
From his perspective, the biggest challenge in meeting the city’s last-minute request stemmed from the County’s emergency personnel, most of whom are volunteers, being spread too thing due to the County Fair and Chama Days the following weekend.
DeVargas also explained that his crew needs to be at the ready to address any unexpected emergencies within the County.
“There’s only so many certified volunteers and they’re busy, too,” he said.
For the lowrider duel, DeVargas said he’ll commit an ambulance and the mobile command center, in addition to three medics and two other volunteers.
DeVargas further explained another sticking point is that the city doesn’t always pay its bills on time. For example, he said, it only recently paid $158 the County charged for helping with last year’s Fiesta.
Española’s interim police chief Stephen Branch doesn’t have an estimate for how many people are expected to attend the lowrider showdown, but said it’s expected to draw people from around the nation.
“We have no idea what to expect,” he said. “We plan for the worst, but expect the best.”
He said the city’s full cadre of 29 officers will be on hand, in addition to nine state police officers who’ll be assigned to staff the event.
In addition to the assisting the city with emergency services, the County has also made a $2,500 contribution from the the County Lodgers tax fund.