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Downtown Las Cruces Partnership Hires Interim Director

By KRWG News

Las Cruces – The Downtown Las Cruces Partnership has hired Elmo Baca as Interim Executive Director effective Monday, June 28. Baca replaces Cindi Fargo, who resigned earlier this month to assume a position in El Cajon, California.

Elmo Baca is a native of Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he has been involved in downtown revitalization efforts as a volunteer, board member, and property owner for thirty years. Mr. Baca has also served as the Executive Director of the Gallup Downtown Development Group and was Manager of the Espanola Main Street program in the 1990s.

In 1994, Baca was hired as Director of the New Mexico Main Street Program by the New Mexico Economic Development Department and managed the state's premier program in downtown revitalization for five years. In 2000, Elmo Baca was appointed State Historic Preservation Officer (SHPO) by Governor Gary Johnson and served in that capacity for two years. More recently Baca has consulted with New Mexico Main Street and various other communities in downtown revitalization, arts and cultural district development, economic development and historic preservation.

Mr. Baca has consulted in Las Cruces and the Mesilla Valley on numerous occasions over the years, including intensive planning and development work with the village of Do a Ana. There he has worked with local residents to develop strategies to revitalize the plaza area and original route of El Camino Real.

"The Las Cruces Downtown Partnership and the City have done some really important and difficult work during the past few years to create a new situation where businesses can prosper. Downtown is making a major comeback, and I'm thrilled and proud to be able to contribute in a small way to the progress," Baca said.

When told of Baca's agreeing to head DLCP, Senator Mary Kay Papen responded,"I couldn't be more pleased. To see someone of Elmo's stature coming to Las Cruces gives me great confidence that downtown is really going to be a huge success. We are extremely fortunate to be getting Elmo Baca."

Greg Smith, president of Downtown Las Cruces Partnership, said that DLCP is looking at this as an opportunity to make some course adjustments and "Elmo is the perfect person to help us negotiate through this time of exciting and important change downtown."