Base hosts New Mexico community leaders for luncheon

  • Published
  • By Sheila Rupp
  • Nucleus Journalist
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  Eleven community leaders met with Col. Robert E. Suminsby Jr., 377th Air Base Wing commander, for a monthly meeting to share information about common issues and networking April 4.

The Mayor's/Governor's Caucus Luncheon has been around since about 2003 and was created to help build a steady relationship among civic leaders from around the Rio Grande Valley, as well as base leadership. Colonel Suminsby is the fourth 377th wing commander to participate in the monthly luncheons.

The group of leaders took a tour of the Starfire Optical Range here and ate lunch together.

Colonel Suminsby said the purpose of the luncheons is to keep the lines of communication open among civic leaders with the intention that communities tend to have similar concerns and leaders can discuss them in an informal and nonpartisan method.

"The Mayor's Luncheon is a great opportunity to have outreach with leadership of communities where our people live and show them what we do here," Colonel Suminsby said.

The monthly meetings also help to keep the relationships between the base and the outlaying communities strong.

"We're very blessed to live in an area that is really supportive of the base and our people here," Colonel Suminsby said.

In attendance were: Gov. Robert Montoya and Lt. Gov. William Gallegos of the Pueblo of Santa Ana, Lt. Gov. Scott Paisano of the Pueblo of Sandia, Mayor Larry Abraham of the Village of Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, Mayor Wayne Ake of the Village of Bosque Farms, Mayor Patricia Chavez of the Town of Bernalillo, Mayor Phillip Gasteyer of the Village of Corrales, Mayor Velta Gilley of Mountainair, Mayor Louis F. Huning of the Village of Los Lunas, Mayor Ronnie Torres of Belen and Mayor Howard Calkins of the Town of Edgewood.

The group of civic leaders meets monthly, rotating the location from one community to the next. There are nearly 20 civic leaders that participate in the luncheons, including 11 mayors and 6 pueblo governors.

The luncheon was last held here January 2006.