Mike Powers| News-Bulletin photo
Disagreements over money and the quality of the facility are reasons the Casper Baca Rodeo Series is leaving Belen after decades.
Belen
It is the end of the trail for the Casper Baca Rodeo Series at the Valencia County Sheriff’s Posse arena in Belen.
A simmering disagreement over money and a clear personality clash between CJ Baca, who operates the rodeo, and Phillip Baca, the chief of the Valencia County Sheriff’s Posse, has the longtime series leaving Belen after more than 40 years.
In separate interviews, CJ and Phillip, who are not related, traded barbs about how the other does business.
CJ refers to the Posse as “a little bit of a dictatorship,” adding, he’s “disheartened that they couldn’t change the administration there to some people who want to come to the table and make the event work.”
Phillip counters that CJ “kind of pitches a fit” when Posse members don’t give him what he wants.
As for a change at the top of the organization, “I still put the Posse first. It’s not what benefits me or you, but what benefits the Posse,” Phillip said, adding that decisions related to rentals are now handled by a committee.
Ultimately, money appears to be at the heart of the dispute.
“Any producer who goes and rents any arena, you expect to have a water truck, a tractor, nice usable restrooms for spectators,” CJ said. “They don’t have any of that, so I’ve got to outsource that myself.”
In addition to the rent for three weekends in early spring, $2,200 last year, CJ says the rodeo company turned over concessions to the Posse for extra income.
However, Phillip says the series has not been a money-maker for the Posse.
Barrel racing is among the events held at the Casper Baca Rodeo Series in Belen.
“We ended up losing money by the time it’s all said and done,” he said.
Other concerns brought up by CJ include what he sees as a lack of quality at the facility.
Phillip counters that during the Valencia County Fair Rodeo in August, he didn’t get any complaints.
“We had plenty of bleacher space, plenty of bathrooms,” the chief of the Posse states.
What’s next for the Casper Baca Rodeo Series? CJ says there are other places that want the series, and he will do his best to keep it in Valencia County.
“Maybe somebody will come to the table and want to invest, and we can get started on a new facility that works for everybody,” he said. “It seems like the Posse isn’t the place anymore.”
“They’ve left before. They always come back here,” Phillip says. “We never say never.
“If it only works one way, we can’t do it.”
According to CJ, whenever he “gets the door slammed” on him after meeting with the Posse, “I have to cool my jets a little bit and make it work. My family has done that for so many years. It’s just to the point where it ain’t worth it.”
Mike Powers spent more than 40 years as a television news and sports anchor, mostly in the Albuquerque market. He has won numerous awards including New Mexico Sportscaster of the Year. He covers a wide range of sports, including the Valencia County prep scene.
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April 25, 2024
