Rio Rancho readying for Obama visit

RIO RANCHO, N.M. (KRQE) - Anticipation is already building in Rio Rancho and at its high school where President Obama will host a town hall meeting Thursday.

City leaders are determined to be ready.

"This is the first time in our history that we have a president visiting Rio Rancho," Mayor Thomas Swisstack told KRQE News 13.

This is the week the 27-year old city will get national, even international, attention.

"What it highlights is that this region is growing," Swisstack said.

At Rio Rancho High School big-time preparations are underway to host president Obama's town hall meeting.

"We're all very excited to have the president come," Kim Vesely of Rio Rancho Public Schools said. "I think the students are excited, the faculty is excited.

"It's a busy time of year for us, but we are very happy to welcome him."

"It's going to be crazy," student Kaleb Boren added. "We have the president of the United States coming to our school."

And while the president will focus Thursday on consumer protection against credit card companies, the immediate focus is the security preparation that goes into a presidential visit.

"They're not letting us take our backpacks on Thursday," student Jett Peterson said. "We're not going have a lot of our stuff to do our finals."

Bystanders and protesters will not be allowed on the high school grounds during the visit.

Tickets to attend the town hall were free but available only through an online lottery. Registration for the lottery already has closed, and anyone selected to receive a ticket "will be contacted directly," according to the White House Web site.

The town hall is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. and will be broadcast live on KRQE News 13. The event also will be streamed on KRQE.com.