The Ute Mountain High School Rodeo Club has every right to demand that their reservation for use of the fairgrounds over Labor Day Weekend, 2002, be honored. So it makes sense, at least on paper, that the Montezuma County Commission should defer to the rodeo club before proceeding with negotiations to bring the Iron Horse Motorcycle Rally to Cortez.

Unfortunately, the commissioners’ deference to the rodeo club also shifted pressure to a group of people — youth and their supporters — who should never have been placed in such a position. It would hardly be fair to blame the rodeo club for driving a decision on the Iron Horse, because that’s not members’ agenda. They simply want to hold a competition on a weekend that has traditionally been reserved for them.

That point is an important one to remember: The Ute Mountain High School Rodeo Club is not, by any stretch of the imagination, responsible for economic development in Montezuma County. Its purpose is to teach the skills and values of the traditional, agricultural, West. Setting that goal in opposition to a motorcycle rally, no matter how lucrative that rally might be, is simply a false construct. The larger choice isn’t between the Iron Horse and a high-school rodeo.

The rally promoter’s offer to pay $1,000 for each rodeo-club member, and offer the club a concession opportunity at the fairgrounds during the rally, is an unfair temptation. Money can buy opportunity, and that’s a fine thing, especially for young people. At some point everyone has to decide between money and principles, and high-school students can be extremely idealistic. No one doubts the ability of the rodeo athletes and their sponsors to carefully assess the options open to them and make a responsible decision.

That would be fair if the only ramification of the choice offered to them was whether to hold the rodeo or take the money. That’s not the way it would have worked out, though. Instead, they could hold the rodeo and be blamed for turning much-needed economic opportunity away from Cortez, or they could negotiate a financially lucrative deal (better than $1,000 per participant) that might finance better equipment or further education, and be blamed for opening the door to an event some locals — with good reason — were not eager to welcome. The potential for pressure is enormous.

The rodeo club should be allowed to focus on rodeo, and the county commission should focus on making sound decisions for Montezuma County, even when those decisions are tough ones. That’s what leadership is all about: gathering information, discussing the matter with constituents, and then taking a strong stand about what’s best for this area.