Gov. Bill Richardson has appointed Ted A. Garcia, general manager and chief executive officer of public television station KNME to the New Mexico Tourism Commission. Deidre A. Lujan of Albuquerque and Pueblo of Santa Ana, and Garcia, replace Skip Drinkard of Corrales and Julian Garza of Rio Rancho, respectively, on the seven-member commission.
Photo: Ted Garcia
Richardson has also named Al Lucero, owner/operator of Maria’s New Mexican Kitchen with his wife, Laurie, since 1985, chairman of the New Mexico Tourism Commission.
“Ted, Deidre and Al bring worlds of expertise and hard work to the business of New Mexico tourism,” Tourism Department Secretary Michael Cerletti said. “Deidre and Ted are welcome additions to the board, and I look forward to working with them, Al and all board members as we chart the future of our industry.”
Garcia sits on the board of directors for the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in Arlington, Va.; the station services committee, which encompasses content policy, technology and distribution (interconnection) and education and chairs the interconnection committee. Garcia also sits on the nominating and corporate governance committee. He was elected to the National Datacasting, Inc. board of directors, and also serves on the board of the Mid-Rio Grande chapter of the American Red Cross and the Albuquerque Museum Foundation board.
Lucero, first appointed to the board in January 2006, is also founder, past president and current board member of the Santa Fe Wine and Chile Fiesta, and serves on the Santa Fe Chamber of Commerce board.
Other commission members include Chris Stagg, Taos Ski Valley; Randy Randall, Santa Fe; Selena Chino, Mescalero; and Bill Hirschfeld, Ruidoso.
The first quarterly meeting of the new commission - created by state statute as an advisory board to the New Mexico Tourism Department on policy matters – was held to coincide with Tourism Day at the State Legislature.
For more information, contact Evy Todd, KNME (505) 277-1218, or etodd@knme.org; or Mike Stauffer, New Mexico Tourism Department (505) 827-7379, mike.stauffer@state.nm.us.