For all the many successes that Tracey Master has had in her 20 years as the Torrance County DWI and Suicide Prevention Coordinator, it is tragedy not of her making that continues to haunt her years later.
“There are a lot of great things and I would like to say the great things are what stand out in my mind,” she said. “But that wouldn’t be true. The thing that stands out in my mind the most in all of these years would be April 23, 2016.”
That was the night that Caesar Chavez of Moriarty drove the wrong way on a Moriarty street, colliding with an SUV and killing Pablo Caldera-Quezada, 44, his daughter 22-year-old Jusalet Caldera and her 18-month-old daughter Citlaly Alverez Caldera. It was the third DWI-related offense for Chavez
It just happened the accident occurred on same night that Master presided over a DWI prevention promotional event with a dance in Estancia.
“We had the Smart Choice van (a designated driving program) running,” she recalled, her voice choking in remembrance. “We had DWI patrols looking for drunk drivers. In spite of all our efforts, a man decided he needed to drive drunk. …He killed a man and his daughter and his grandchild. That is the one thing that stands out the most to me, is what we couldn’t do.”
Master, who recently retired from her position, understands that it’s not reasonable to feel responsible for other people’s choices, but it is a measure of what the program means and the toll DWI takes that she still feels regret.
“It will haunt me for the rest of my life that we couldn’t do enough,” she said. “Logically, I know I can’t hold your hand. I can tell you all the the information I need to tell you and I can deliver the message. But I can’t force you to hear the message and I can’t force you to live by the message.”
Master steps away from her position for a job in the private sector as a certified, peer-support worker providing direct services to clients.
And she leaves county government with a bad taste in her mouth.
“I am most certainly done with county government,” she said. “There is some support, and there has been wonderful support in the past, as I stated in the (Dec. 13) commission meeting, I have not felt support from the sitting commission.”
Earlier this year, while recovering from some health issues, a contracted employee stepped up, invested quite a bit of his time to help keep the program moving forward. When Master tried to get the commission to approve a pay bump for the employee, her request was denied under the claim that it was made too late, even though the matter didn’t show up on the commission agenda until more than a month after the request had been made.
It was just one of several issues, Master said, that left her with a sour taste in her mouth with the county.
Still, as she bows out of the public spotlight — with a retirement planned for tonight (Jan. 5) from 6-9 p.m. at the Moriarty Lions Club — Master said there are things to recall that bring a smile to her face.
“The hugs from the children in the elementary schools, the ones who would get excited that they would come up and we would talk to them,” she said. “The phone calls at midnight from people who just wanted to say thank you so much for offering them rides home.”
Master would conduct community classes and classes in schools for both DWI and suicide prevention, mental health and first aid classes. The program also funded different alternative activities in the communities. It would rent out the Estancia aquatic center for group swims, host dances and annually sponsored the Suicide Prevention 5K and Race for Life Celebration in Estancia.
Master spearheaded the development of a designated driving program that has been in place for about 15 years.
And through the program, Master worked in partnership with the local law enforcement agencies to development community programs and the Torrance County Teen Court program.
“We just tried to figure out how can we serve the community, what can we give people to do so they have positive activities to participate instead of going out and drinking and driving,” she said. “It’s not 100-percent effective, but we try.”