Commentary: Mayor McDonald Looks Beyond City Hall's Turmoil Toward a Bigger Vision for Alamogordo

Last weekend, the world came to southern New Mexico. For four days in October, the 30th XTERRA World Championship filled Ruidoso with elite athletes, young racers and their families from across the globe. They swam in Grindstone Lake, raced over mountain trails beneath Sierra Blanca, and crowned world champions in a village of about 7,000 people that has spent recent years recovering from wildfire and flooding.

Alamogordo Mayor Sharon McDonald was there. She didn't go to race or make speeches. She went to observe and to learn. She met athletes from around the world, talked with families and organizers, and paid close attention to what it takes for a small mountain community to host an international event.

It was a telling choice of where to spend her time.

Above the noise

Anyone following Alamogordo city government knows it has been a difficult stretch. City hall has moved from one controversy to the next, bogged down by personnel disputes and the threat of lawsuits, millions in payouts with more eminent. A recent employee firing resulting in yet another potential FMLA violation and a new EEOC investigation. Those issues are real, a direct reflection of the city managers office and must be resolved.

But a city cannot be defined by its internal disputes, and its political leaders cannot spend all their energy on them.

Mayor McDonald has chosen to step above that day-to-day dysfunction and focus on something bigger: a vision for what Alamogordo could become.

That distinction matters, because local government has two jobs that are often confused. Roads, water lines and infrastructure are essential priorities, and implementing them is the responsibility of the city manager and staff

Elected leaders and more importantly the mayors as outlined in the city charter have a different role: to set direction, learn from others, build relationships and inspire the community about its future. Mayor McDonald is doing exactly that.

The lesson from up the mountain

Ruidoso offers a clear example of what vision can accomplish. A village a fraction of Alamogordo's size convinced a global sports brand to bring its world championship there for three straight years, through 2028. It did so by selling what it already had: landscape, trails, hospitality and a community willing to show up.

It also did not happen overnight. Ruidoso hosted a test event in 2025, proved it could deliver, and earned the world's attention. Opportunities are built step by step, through relationships and a willingness to try.

What Alamogordo already has

Alamogordo does not need to invent an identity. It already has assets many communities would envy.

White Sands National Park sits at our doorstep, one of the most striking landscapes in the country. The Sacramento Mountains and Lincoln National Forest rise just to the east. Within the city, plentiful parks offer space for races, festivals and family gatherings. A downtown business corridor in the middle of revitalization gives visitors somewhere to eat, shop and linger.

Put together, those assets describe a destination: desert and mountains, national park and small-town main street, all within a short drive.

Building relationships across the region

Ruidoso was only one stop. Mayor McDonald plans to attend the state's outdoor recreation conference to continue learning. She is also meeting with state legislators, legislative candidates, mayors of neighboring cities and state leaders, making the case that Alamogordo is eager to host events and grow tourism.

Closer to home, she works closely with the leadership of the Sacramento Mountain Foundation and the Alamogordo Chamber of Commerce, connecting city hall with the people who know our mountains, our businesses and our visitors best.

That regional approach may be the most important lesson of all. Ruidoso did not land a world championship alone. Alamogordo and its neighbors in the Tularosa Basin and Sacramento Mountains are not competitors for a single prize. Each strengthens the case for the others, and a visitor drawn to one is likely to discover the rest. Collaboration breeds ideas, and ideas breed success.

A vision for tourism and small business

The goal is to have event organizers, travelers and entrepreneurs see Alamogordo not as a place to pass through, but as a place to come to. Trail runs on the edge of the dunes, cycling events climbing into the mountains, and festivals in our parks and downtown are all within reach if we pursue them deliberately.

Tourism and events bring more than weekend crowds. They fill restaurants and hotels, support the small businesses that make up our downtown, create jobs and give residents reasons to take pride in where they live. They also draw the attention that leads to broader economic development.

Time to step into the spotlight

City hall's disputes will eventually be settled, and the roads will be repaired. But a city also needs someone looking past the next agenda item to ask what it could become.

Mayor McDonald is asking that question. She is seeking ideas, meeting with leaders across the region and the state, and building a vision of Alamogordo as more than it is today: a destination worthy of visitors, tourism and investment. That vision deserves the community's attention, and its support. That is leadership above the fold and that is exactly what Alamogordo needs now to grow and thrive. Stay tuned as a visionary leader establishes goals and objectives for the region. 

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