Questa  •  Red River  •  Cerro  •  Costilla  •  Amalia  •  Lama  •  San Cristobal

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Photo by Dylan Crabb Embattled former Questa Fire Chief/ EMS Director Raynelle Sanchez Cordova (in light blue) sits emotionally listening to public comment at Tuesday's (Jan. 14) Village Council Meeting

Community Members and First Responders Implore Questa Leadership to Reinstate Raynelle Sanchez Cordova to her EMS Director Seat

Photo by Dylan Crabb Many people showed up to the Village of Questa meeting on Jan. 14 to voice support for former Fire Chief Raynelle Cordova

It was an emotional night at Questa Village Council meeting on Tuesday evening (Jan. 14). Members of the community and first responders packed the room, in anticipation for public comment, where many implored Village leadership to reinstate Raynelle Sanchez Cordova to her former position as EMS Director for the village, which she resigned from in early Jan.. Sanchez Cordova is still the active volunteer Fire Chief for the Village of Questa.


Chase Ingram with the Red River Fire Department started a Change.org petition. He spoke publicly at Tuesday night’s meeting on behalf of the 387 verified signatures on record in the petition. “We would be remiss if we did not voice our concerns about the gravity of the situation. We ask that every attempt be made to retain her and repair the necessary relationships to continue the growth and success of this EMS service,” he said.


Area EMS and fire department members in attendance included Latir, Costilla, Amalia, Cerro, San Cristobal, Lama, Red River, and Taos County. A consistent theme in the concerns raised in public comment included the lack of coverage, response time challenges, and concerns of lack of expertise similar to Sanchez Cordova.


Max Ortega, Questa Mayor John Ortega’s father, also spoke publicly on the record citing his experience as a former fire department member and leader. He spoke to the traumatic calls first responders have to encounter working in the field. “Those bad calls, they don’t go away. You still see people that you’ve seen die.” He continued “we as a community need to get over whatever issues, we’re having here so we can work together and support each other. I am here for all of you to listen to you.” Max Ortega continued to reiterate the importance of mental health support for first responders.


Leadership was unable to respond to the timed public comments from the community as per standard policy for council meetings, however, we followed up with Village leadership in the days following, asking them about several statements made during the public comment, which caused confusion and concerns amongst residents who contacted us to share their worries with our publication.


A notable and consistent thread and one of the biggest concerns of many people who spoke was about wait times for EMS response. The Village says, “We’re doing our best to fill the gaps left in the schedule when she resigned. So far we’ve only had to reach out to Taos County to cover Tuesday, Jan. 14 from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m. the next day—they had a staffed ambulance stationed at our EMS base in Questa. If everyone already on the schedule shows up and we can get the rest of the gaps filled, there should be no delayed response times.”


When asked if the Village of Questa intends to have a community meeting or mediation with Raynelle and the Village, they responded with, “No community meetings will be held.”


We asked who staff report to, and the response was “The staff should report to Administrator Karen Quintana Shannon, if they need anything or have questions; however, Clerk Valerie Vigil is handling the schedule.”


When asked if there is a timeframe the Village anticipates for the department to have clear leadership in place, they said they are doing the best they can to fill the position with a quality replacement as soon as possible.


As of Jan. 16, the Village reports they have two paramedics, eight EMT intermediate, and seven EMT basic staffers on board. Additionally, the Village of Questa says two staff members have resigned in response to Cordova Sanchez’s resignation.

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