By Charles D. Brunt

May 30, 2008 (McClatchy-Tribune Regional News delivered by Newstex) -- Judith Espinosa's first days as general manager of Expo New Mexico -- home of the State Fair -- weren't quite what she expected.

The former nurse and Cabinet secretary who ran two state agencies was scrambling to find a shutoff valve for a ruptured 6-inch water line that was flooding the fairgrounds' flea market.

"I thought, 'This is great, the first thing I'm doing is dealing with a huge water main leak that's flowing down Central Avenue on a freezing night,' " Espinosa said. "Finally, about 9 that night, they found this one guy who had been helping with repairs on it, and we finally got it shut off."

Several months into the job, Espinosa found herself at the center of a controversy much bigger than a water leak.

One of Expo New Mexico's legacy events, the Professional Bull Riders Ty Murray Invitational at Tingley Coliseum, threatened to move to a new venue.

PBR officials claimed this year's event, which concluded March 30, experienced lighting and ticket problems severe enough to make them think twice about returning to Expo.

They also were unhappy with Espinosa's response to their complaints.

The guv gets involved

The mess attracted the personal attention of Gov. Bill Richardson, and Espinosa said she hopes the dispute can be resolved.

"We'd love to have them stay here," Espinosa said recently. "This is a great event for them, and a great event for us."

The PBR and the State Fair Commission, which oversees Expo and the State Fairgrounds, agreed recently to try to negotiate the contract for the return of the Ty Murray event to Tingley in 2009.

Espinosa's appointment by Richardson was another in a line of politically connected picks for the job. It bucked a recommendation by a task force the governor appointed.

The 20-member task force concluded the fairgrounds should remain where it is -- an island of state land in the middle of Albuquerque.

It also recommended the fair be run by a professional manager hired by a sevenmember Expo New Mexico Authority that would replace the current State Fair Commission.

Neither recommendation was adopted.

"The governor appreciated the task force's recommendations, and in fact, considered people with broad, private experience for the job," Richardson spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said.

"However, the governor must consider a number of factors when appointing managers in state government. Judy Espinosa has extensive experience managing large bureaucracies and making needed changes to improve services to the public."

Negotiating with bullriding promoters and plugging water leaks are a far cry from what Espinosa was doing when Richardson tapped her for the job last November: She was chief of staff for Lt. Gov. Diane Denish.

Though she readily admits it was "an unusual" appointment for someone whose background is in health care, transportation and government, Espinosa said she's a good fit for Expo.

"Just about everything I've done in the past has had something to do with management, so this is like an extension of that," she said.

Duke City history

An Albuquerque native, Espinosa graduated from St. Pius X High School in 1966 and received a degree in nursing from the University of New Mexico.

She earned a master's degree in public health administration at UCLA.

While in California, Espinosa was co-owner of a company that did contract research for community health care agencies in California and New Mexico.

She moved back to New Mexico in the mid-1970s and earned a law degree from UNM in 1980.

In 1983, she was appointed Cabinet secretary for the state Transportation Department by then-Gov. Toney Anaya. She was the first woman to hold that post.

Espinosa worked as a transportation and intergovernmental specialist with the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant's primary contractor, Westinghouse. That was followed by a stint as manager of the city of Albuquerque's Vehicle Management Division in 1991.

In March 1991, then-Gov. Bruce King appointed Espinosa to her second Cabinet post -- secretary of the newly created Environment Department.

From 1995 to 2006, she was director of the Alliance for Transportation Research Institute at UNM.

Espinosa jumped into Albuquerque's mayoral campaign as a candidate in 2005, but dropped out after a short-lived campaign.

Making improvements

Meanwhile, Espinosa is out to improve the State Fair, which turns 70 this year.

"I'm really happy and excited to be here," Espinosa said. "I've been coming here since I was a little girl, and I've always loved the fair and the fairgrounds."

Espinosa said she was in the audience when Roy Rogers and Dale Evans headlined Tingley's inaugural State Fair Rodeo in 1957, and said tradition is important to rodeo fans and the fairgrounds.

"We know how to put on rodeos," she said. "We've been doing them for 70 years now, including 50 years in Tingley."

Besides continuing efforts to revamp the fairgrounds' water, electrical and lighting systems, she hopes to book more events year-round, using newly renovated venues like Villa Hispana and Indian Village.

She said she has talked with the Albuquerque Convention and Visitors Bureau to help "make the fairgrounds more a part of the community" by including Expo New Mexico events in marketing campaigns.

"This is a wonderful cultural property, and we need to market that," Espinosa said, citing Expo's art gallery as an example of an under-marketed asset.

At the Downs

Another looming challenge is the potential loss of $2 million in yearly income from the Downs at Albuquerque.

Downs president Paul Blanchard has won state Racing Commission approval to abandon the cramped and aging racetrack/casino and move to a planned $65 million racino in Moriarty.

"Right now we're kind of biding our time, but we also know that we need to be prepared if our current contractor (Blanchard) is going to leave," Espinosa said in an interview before approval of the move. "That means looking at how we get someone in to run the track."

The State Fair, which holds the oldest racing license in the state, used to be among the most popular horse racing spots in the state, she said.

Espinosa said the state's horsemen and the state Racing Commission both would like to continue the tradition of having horse racing at the fairgrounds.

"We'd really like to see it become the premier event it used to be," Espinosa said.

Newstex ID: KRTB-0010-25652315