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ROLL CALL. Godspeed, Rick

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It’s a tough job, serving as Gallup’s general services director.

The resignation of Rick Snider, the city’s general services director until April 8, is a big loss for the city. Love him or hate him, Snider leaves behind some big shoes to fill.

The Chicago native came to the city five years ago initially to manage Gallup’s customer care center as the deputy director of information technology. Duties within the purchasing department and operations at the municipal warehouse soon became part of Snider’s domain. Lately, though, most know Snider as the guy who oversees operations at the historic El Morro Theatre and the Downtown Events Center.

Snider deserves credit for doing yeoman’s work to increase the potential of bringing people to downtown Gallup, whether it be to shop, to browse the trading stores or art galleries or to simply take in whatever was going on at the Events Center.

Affable, smart and very capable, Snider grew to oversee seven city divisions as general services director and assisted city manager Mary Ann Ustick with organizational concerns and special projects. He helped with the often challenging re-organization of the Gallup Detox Center back when Dan Dible was city manager and now.

Those weren’t easy tasks, as the city went through big changes with NCI and the financial fallout that came from it. And who can forget Snider’s expertise with respect to computer technology?

Snider was a major player when the city adopted its logo, the same logo that now adorns the city flag. He was the go-to guy when it came to getting delinquent utility customers into payment plans.

Snider is now moving on to the bigger confines of Champaign, Ill., which is the home of the University of Illinois where Snider graduated from. His graduate degree that he earned last December in public administration from the University of New Mexico paved the way for the County Administrator job in Champaign. We know he’ll do well, because he did very well here.

Whatever the future holds for Snider, and we know that it’s all going to be good, particularly in Champaign, he’ll be missed by friends and foes alike in Gallup.

Godspeed, Rick.

By Bernie Dotson