GRANTS, N.M. — After years of stagnation and months of internal turmoil, the Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation (CCEDF) has finally approved a new set of bylaws which removes all elected officials from voting positions and shrinks the board to have less members.
For years CCEDF had become synonymous with bureaucratic inertia. With a board long dominated by the same small group of leaders and an organizational structure mired in stagnation, critics, including its own members, argued that the foundation had lost sight of its mission to foster growth and opportunity across Cibola County.
Now, after months of turmoil, public scrutiny, and a dramatic legal confrontation between two of the county’s most recognizable figures, the foundation is undergoing its most dramatic transformation in decades.
At the center of this shake-up is Kori Cash, the newly elected board president, who says he’s determined to restore credibility and relevance to the once-stalled organization.
A New Board with a New Vision
Cash is a local business owner, owner and proprietor of Delta Tire. But in just a few months, he’s helped lead a sweeping overhaul.
“Economic development has just been kind of a mess,” Cash told the Cibola Citizen. “It felt like nothing moved. We had an executive director who left within weeks because the board couldn’t get anything done.'
The dysfunction, Cash said, wasn’t due to lack of resources — it was about leadership.
“In the past, it always seemed like if a project didn’t directly benefit a particular board member, they wouldn’t support it. That changes now. We want this to be about the community, not personal gain,” Cash said.
Under his leadership, the board has shrunk from 10 to 7 voting members, elected officials have been removed from decisionmaking roles, and new officers have been installed.
The current officers include: President Kori Cash (local business owner), Vice President Marlene Toivanen (President of NMSU-Grants), Treasurer Cooper Jones (Chief Financial Officer, Grants-Cibola County Schools), Secretary Heather Porter (local business owner).
Board members now represent local institutions and business-minded interests, a move Cash says is intentional: “We need people who can get things done, who know how to make real change happen.”
City officials, including Mayor Erik Garcia and Councilor Rosanne Lopez, were removed from the board after a new bylaw prohibited voting seats for elected officials. They can still participate in an ex officio capacity, providing input without casting votes.
Ending the Era of Stagnation
The need for change had become undeniable. In recent years, the CCEDF had drawn increasing criticism for its lack of measurable impact.
Public meetings often devolved into confusion and scrutiny. Bylaws had not been properly ratified in more than a decade. An executive director hired in 2024 resigned quickly after encountering what they called 'an unworkable structure.' Meanwhile, Cibola County remained near the bottom in state-level economic indicators, with youth poverty rates above 40 percent and little sustained private investment.
In an interview with the Citizen, Cash acknowledged this history and urged the public to be patient with the new board. “The foundation wasn’t clean in the past,” he said. “But we’re going to get it cleaned up. That’s our job now.'
Cash said the board has committed to transparency and communitydriven development. He cited the potential for recreational tourism, outdoor infrastructure, and collaboration with local nonprofits and organizations like Grants Main-Street and Cibola Outdoors as top priorities.
“We’re not going to overlook the simple wins anymore,” Cash said. “We want projects that benefit everybody.”
Bylaw Reforms Finally Take Hold
At the board's May 21 meeting, the new board formally adopted sweeping changes to the CCEDF bylaws, marking the first official update since 2012. The revised bylaws had been in limbo for years due to procedural missteps, failed votes, and internal disputes. They were a symbol of the board's paralysis.
The new bylaws clarify officer responsibilities, establish term limits, and require regular financial reporting.
The bylaws stipulate that only financially contributing entities may vote on official matters.
Cash said this change aligns CCEDF’s influence with its investments and encourages institutional accountability.
Additional reforms define how meetings are called, how quorum is determined, and how board members may be suspended or removed. Critically, the board now formally bars elected officials from voting roles, a change intended to reduce political tension and limit personal conflicts from derailing the foundation's work.
One of the biggest shifts is the requirement for active financial oversight.
Cash said the board is committed to avoiding past mistakes, including failure to file taxes and lack of public-facing budgets. “We’re not just changing the rules,” he said. “We’re changing the culture.”
A Lawsuit That Rocked the Foundation
Amid these structural changes, a dramatic and personal legal conflict emerged between two central figures in CCEDF’s leadership: Robert E. Castillo, thenpresident of the foundation and CEO of Continental Divide Electric Cooperative (CDEC), and Grants Mayor Erik Garcia.
On May 8, 2025, Castillo filed a civil complaint and request for a restraining order against Garcia, stemming from a heated confrontation at the April 26 CDEC annual meeting. Castillo claimed that Garcia “verbally assaulted” him, waved a finger in his face, and said, “I’m going to get you.” The complaint was handwritten and filed using Castillo’s CDEC email. He listed the Cooperative’s Grants headquarters as the property from which Garcia should be barred.
A temporary restraining order (TRO) was granted that same day by Judge Amanda Sanchez Villalobos. The case was later reassigned to Judge Cindy Mercer after Villalobos recused herself. A hearing was scheduled for May 21, but observers— including Cibola Citizen staff—were denied access to the virtual courtroom.
Earlier that same day, the CCEDF board met for a critical vote on its new bylaws. Although Garcia attempted to join the meeting via telephone, board president Castillo directed a member to hang up on him, citing the TRO as justification.
The meeting proceeded without Garcia’s participation. Meanwhile, the TRO hearing was delayed and referred to mediation.
A Mixed Decision
Court records show that on June 6, 2025, the matter was resolved through a stipulated order. While the exact terms remain private, the court record reflects a “mixed decision” — the TRO remains in effect unless modified by the court, but no preliminary injunction was issued.
In a closing statement to the Cibola Citizen, Garcia said: “The restraining order filed by Robert Castillo was lifted because it held no real weight — there was no threat of harm. When I told Robert Castillo I was ‘going to get him,’ as quoted, I meant it in the sense of holding him accountable for years of stagnant leadership, not violence. And I followed through.”
Garcia’s remarks also framed the legal action as politically motivated, tied directly to the shakeup within CCEDF’s board.
“For over two decades, Robert Castillo and Clemente Sanchez have held leadership roles on the Cibola Communities Economic Development Foundation. But during that time, economic progress in Grants and Cibola County has barely moved... So yes, I said I was going to get him. And I did — by helping push forward change that Grants has needed for a long time.”
A Foundation Resets
Though Castillo’s dual roles as head of both CCEDF and CDEC once placed him at the center of economic development in Cibola County, he has now been formally removed from the foundation’s governance.
The foundation now has a new president, a smaller, business-focused board, and a fresh commitment to transparency.