Los Alamos Community Group Again Needs New Executive Director

August 7, 2020

By Wayne Barber

A regional organization to promote communities around the Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in New Mexico will soon need a new executive director for the second time in a little more than two years.

The Regional Coalition of LANL Communities (RCLC) Board of Directors voted on July 30 to end its working relationship with Chicanos Por La Causa (CPLC New Mexico), a community development corporation. Through CPLC, Eric Vasquez had managed day-to-day operations for the Regional Coalition.

The two-year contract was to expire July 31, and Vasquez informed the board recently that CPLC was ready to wrap up its relationship with the RCLC rather than seeking another two-year agreement, according to a July 21 article in the Los Alamos Reporter. The CPLC sought a shorter-term extension, of six months, while RCLC prepared a request for proposals for a new executive director.

During the nearly three-hour open meeting, held via Zoom, – RCLC Chairman Henry Roybal and other board members considered the pros and cons of keeping CPLC on by up to six months or exercising an option to terminate its relationship with 10-days’ notice.

Ultimately, the RCLC board vote to end the relationship with CPLC within four weeks, during which time Vasquez will close out some ongoing tasks.

Financial problems at the Regional Coalition complicate its position. The RCLC is facing the loss of a $100,000 annual Energy Department grant, without which the Los Alamos group could run out of cash within two years, the Los Alamos newspaper recently reported. The Energy Department is suspending the grant as an outgrowth of financial recordkeeping problems during the tenure of the prior director, Andrea Romero, now a member of the New Mexico House of Representatives.

The board did not renew Romero’s contract in February 2018 after she led the RCLC for four years. Romero was forced out after a controversy involving more than $2,600 in questionable expense reimbursements for meals and entertainment.

Founded in 2011, the RCLC represents counties, cities, and towns near the Los Alamos National Laboratory. The organization is devoted in part to seeking maximum federal funding for DOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and Office of Environmental Management operations at Los Alamos. It also advocates for jobs and economic development opportunities for locals around the nuclear-weapon lab.