Mhm.
Today is Monday, August 3rd, 2026. It's
approximately 1:00 p.m. I'm Mayor Eric
Enriquez. Before we start, I want to
mention that we have the ASL, American
Sign Language, up in the front for
interpreters. Thank you for being here.
And we will start with a moment of
silence for the brave men and women of
the United States Armed Forces as they
protect our interests around the globe
as well as the courageous men and women
of the Los Cruces Police and Fire
Department that protect our city
24/7/365.
Councilor McClure, if you'll lead us in
the pledge.
I pledge allegiance
to the flag
of the United States of America
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God, indivisible, with
liberty and justice for all.
Okay, so there are no presentations or
proclamations today.
We'll start with departmental
highlights, utilities.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Counselors.
My name [clears throat] is Dominique
Rodriguez, Assistant Utilities Director.
I'm here to do a department highlight
for utilities and also to talk about
some misinformation and to provide some
facts.
Doña Ana Mutual Domestic Water Consumers
Association received a drinking water
violation.
A media story inadvertently showed a
picture of the City of Las Cruces' City
Hall, which has since been removed.
Doña Ana Water and the Las Cruces
Utilities water system are not the same
and therefore the violation does not
affect Las Cruces Utility customers.
This map shows the different water
systems in and around the City of Las
Cruces
city limits.
Additionally, regarding the lead and
copper ruling and inventory accuracy,
this is a living data set that is being
reviewed and updated internally. The
deadline to update the inventory data
to the public is November 2027.
And finally, the timelines for
notification. In 2024, customers were
notified that that had unknown service
line material.
During this time, there were no
galvanized requiring replacement service
lines and as such no notifications were
required.
Per NMED, annual notices were completed
by the deadline of December 31st, 2025.
Fair Acres Elementary It initially
reported that the service line was
galvanized. The service line was
re-inspected to be sure of this and was
actually found to be steel.
And that is the end of my presentation.
All right, thank you, Monique.
Appreciate it.
Thank you.
Next we have pets of the week.
Good afternoon, Mayor,
members of council and city city
leadership. My name is Tonya Conway. I
am the management analyst for the Animal
Services Center of the Mesilla Valley.
Appreciate your time and your continued
support for our shelter programs and
community initiatives.
Today I'm excited to share an update on
our participation
of Clear the Shelters 2026.
It's a nationwide effort dedicated to
helping shelter animals find loving
permanent homes.
Throughout the whole month of August, we
are offering free adoptions for families
to welcome pets into their homes.
Clear the Shelters is more than a month
of free adoptions. It's a community-wide
commitment to creating second chances
for animals in need. It raises awareness
about responsible pet ownership,
highlights the life-saving work done
every day in our shelter,
and brings residents together around a
compassionate cause.
Together our community can help more
pets find forever homes.
I'd like to highlight a few of our
wonderful animals that are looking for
homes.
We have dogs like Stormy, Lily, Cookies
and Cream, and Luca. Each have their own
personalities and their own stories.
And then for our cats, we have Percy,
Baby Spice, Peter, and Nola. They're all
waiting for someone to give them a
loving place to call home.
We are focusing on our long-term
residents. We have Francesca with 360
days,
Ebony 347,
Playa for 346,
and last Buddy who's been there for 293
days.
In addition to the free adoptions at the
shelter, these are our community events
that we will do for the month of August.
We'll be at Petco on August 8th. We will
have a blood drive on August 15th.
We'll be at PetSmart August 22nd,
Tractor Supply on the 29th, and every
Wednesday we will be at the farmers
market.
For anyone interested in adopting,
fostering, or learning more,
our website is ascv.org,
and all our social media platforms there
are listed.
Um you could go to any of these to
provide up-to-date information and
profiles of our adoptable pets.
Thank you.
Next is a conflict of interest. Does any
member of city council, city manager, or
any member of the city staff have any
known conflict of interest with any item
on the agenda?
No.
None.
No.
So next we go into public participation.
Katrina will
uh escort you to the
podium. Uh we'll allow up to 3 minutes,
no pending litigation or items on the
non-consent.
Mayor, city council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. There's no safe level of lead
in a human body. The Mayo Clinic says
even small amounts of lead can cause
serious health problems. Children
younger than age six are especially
vulnerable to lead poisoning, which can
severely affect how a child's body grows
and brain develops. According to EPA's
Office of Water, lead in drinking water
irreparably harms the health of children
and adults and disproportionately
impacts lower-income communities and
communities of color.
When lead enters your body, it
accumulates over time, resulting in
damage to the brain, nervous system,
kidneys, and red blood cells, leading to
anemia. Once in the body, lead is
distributed to organs, including the
brain, kidney, liver, and bones. Lead
stored in bone may be released in into
the blood during pregnancy and expose
the fetus. Lead poisoning can be hard to
detect. Even people who seem healthy can
have high blood levels of lead. Symptoms
usually don't appear until the amount of
lead detected in the blood has climbed
to a dangerous level.
Symptoms of lead poisoning children
include developmental delay,
learning difficulties, irritability,
loss of appetite, weight loss,
sluggishness and fatigue, abdominal
pain, vomiting, constipation, hearing
loss, and seizures.
Low levels of exposure to lead can
interfere with our processes and lower
children's IQ and cause attention and
behavioral problems including
hyperactivity, all of which affect
lifetime learning.
Children with serious lead-related
neurological impacts are less likely to
graduate from high school and are more
prone to delinquency, teen pregnancy,
violent crime, and incarceration.
Pregnant women are at special risk. The
The lead they absorb crosses the
placenta and enters the fetus. Babies
exposed to lead before birth might be
born early, have lower birth weight, and
are slow to growth. Lead can also be
transmitted through breast milk.
Although children are primarily at risk,
lead poisoning is also dangerous for
adults. Symptoms in adults include high
blood pressure, cardiovascular
kidney impairment, immune and nervous
system dysfunction, joint and muscle
pain, difficulties with memory or
concentration, headaches, abdominal
pain, mood disorders, reduced sperm
count, and abnormal sperm, miscarriages,
stillbirth, or premature birth.
Researchers who analyzed EPA data
reported a correlation between a
community's racial composition, bad
water, and inadequate response to
violations. Wealthier white communities,
which can afford to pay for pipe
removal, are more likely to benefit from
lead pipe removal programs than are
low-income
communities of color. These are the
facts.
It's also an appalling fact that we
don't have a utilities department in Las
Cruces that's doing an even halfway
halfway decent job of protecting us from
lead in our drinking water.
Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, folks here today,
those watching online, I'm Lynn Moore.
Experts agree that the only way to know
if lead is in your drinking water is to
have the water tested. As I reported to
you last meeting, lab reports for
properties that have been tested in the
University Estates water system say
plainly that several properties have
lead that is above EPA's action level.
The evidence is clear. If you question
the reliability of the lab reports, take
it up with the New Mexico State Lab
which ran the samples. It's your choice
if you ask to be lied to and ask for
assurance that the lab reports don't say
what they clearly do say. But you're
doing a serious disservice to your
constituents when you choose to be in
denial. You're betraying the trust trust
of anyone who voted for you if you
choose to turn a blind eye to the
indisputable evidence that lead levels
are higher than EPA's action level. The
point of sampling drinking water is to
find out what contaminants, if any, are
present in the water and if so, whether
there are levels that EPA designates as
dangerous to public health. If they are,
EPA prescribes steps that must be taken
to address the high lead levels. Things
can be done to address the problem if
it's acknowledged. Simply because the
city hasn't yet been named as defendant
in a massive lawsuit for millions of
dollars of damages for its knowingly
allowing the city's drinking water to
become and remain contaminated with lead
does not mean that everything's fine.
The Mayor's statement on the record at
the last meeting that there's no problem
with lead in our drinking water because
no one has been hospitalized or died in
the past 18 months is incredibly
revealing about what kind of person
occupies the Mayor's seat. It's
unspeakably callous and colossally
ignorant. This statement could be very
useful for plaintiffs in any lawsuit
against the city. This statement would
not paint a favorable picture of Las
Cruces city government, regardless of
other evidence on the record. It will
discourage the judge or jury from
finding in the city's favor in the
multi-million dollar lawsuit brought
against it for damages for knowingly
harming the water drinkers in Las
Cruces. How does the mayor know that no
one has been hospitalized or died in the
past 18 months from drinking city water?
Does he receive a daily report? Who
would have enough information to
complete a credible report? Medical
studies show that lead poisoning and the
negative effects of lead tend to build
up over time.
It is rare that a cause of death is
unequivocally tied to lead poisoning.
The fact is the mayor doesn't actually
know the extent to which Las Cruces
water drinkers are suffering negative
health effects because of drinking lead,
and the fact that he made that assertion
is thoroughly disingenuous and beneath
contempt. I've heard from many, many
folks since last meeting who agree. We
all think Las Cruces water drinkers
deserve much better from city
government. We especially need a
competent director of utilities with
integrity, unlike the one we currently
have. Thank you for this opportunity to
speak.
Mayor and councilors, I'm Charlotte
Lipson.
Ma'am,
could you speak directly into the
microphone? Thank you.
Okay.
Charlotte Lipson.
I was surprised that the uh deputy
utilities director did not mention this
public notice that I received in the
mail this morning.
It says
it's headlined important information
about your drinking water. Monitor
monitoring requirements not met for Las
Cruces municipal water system.
Our water system violated drinking water
requirements over the past year.
Even though this was not an emergency
as our customers you have a right to
know what happened and what we did to
correct these
situations.
During
during November
we failed to conduct required source
water monitoring within the designated
time frame following a total coliform
positive sample and therefore cannot be
sure of the quality of our drinking
water during that time.
Hopefully everybody will be receiving
this in their mail in the next few days
and can study it.
Um, I'd like to congratulate
and commend Lynn Moore and Liz Rodriguez
Johnson for calling attention to water
issues. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Michael
Mesquita.
Uh, last month this Republic celebrated
its 250th year of independence as a
nation under God.
So, I thought it fitting to take this
opportunity to refute the claims of a
gentleman who spoke on the wall of
separation between church and state in
April
to celebrate the so-called National Day
of Reason wherein he said our founders
identified religion as a threat to
liberty.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
At least 50 of the 55 men who attended
the Constitutional Convention in 1787
were men of Christian faith.
This doesn't even include Benjamin
Franklin, who was a deist.
However, I'll need to save this this
discussion for another time.
I'd like to focus on the
misinterpretation of the meaning of the
wall of separation
between church and state. Most Americans
think that this clause is in the US
Constitution or the Declaration of
Independence. It is not.
And I Let me just read it.
Congress shall make no law respecting an
establishment of religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof
or abridging the freedom of speech or
the press or the right of people
peacefully to assemble and to petition
the government for any redress of
grievances.
Um
let me first say I don't believe it's by
any coincidence that the first clause of
the First Amendment of Bill of Rights
pertains to religion of freedom.
It's not about free freedom from
religion.
So often context is in everything, such
as it is in this case.
This term or phrase was first used by
our one of our Founding Fathers, Thomas
Jefferson, in a personal letter
written on January 1st in 1802, in which
he was replying to a group of Baptists
from this Danbury Danbury, Connecticut.
By the way, Thomas Jefferson was not
involved in writing the US Constitution,
although he was the author of the
Declaration of Independence.
He He at the time he was chilling on a
beach in the Bahamas.
Just kidding.
Okay, actually during that time he was
serving as a US Minister to France from
1785 to 1780 89.
And uh
[clears throat]
I'm running out of time, so let me just
get this part at least. In 18
01, 9 years after ratification of the
First Amendment, some states had
state-sponsored churches that were
supported by tax taxes. In Connecticut,
the state-sponsored denomination was the
Congressional Church of Danbury Baptist
Association. They didn't want their tax
dollars going to the Congressional
Church, so every year they petitioned
redirect their taxes as to support the
Baptist Church. Eventually, they got
tired of the hassle and they asked the
newly president Jefferson for support.
I'd like to ask for a few more seconds
if I may.
Thank you. On January 1st, 1802,
Jefferson replied to the Danbury Baptist
in part, "I contemplate with sovereign
reverence the act of the whole American
people which declared that their
legislature should make no law
respecting establishment of religion or
prohibiting prohibiting the free
exercise thereof, thus building a wall
of separation between church and state."
And since then, many
um well, it was not until 1947 that the
Supreme Court invoked this clause and
which in series of US Supreme Court
decisions
uh basically removed prayer and uh the
Ten Commandments from our public schools
and we've seen what that has resulted
in.
I wish I had more time, but uh save it
for another time. Thank you.
One moment while I set up my props here.
Thank you, Mayor.
Unlike the county where
the chair started the clock right away.
Thank you. This is Derek Pacheco for the
record.
I realized something that has been
stewing for a minute, and that is that
Councilor Bencomo is the most dangerous
person in Las Cruces.
She's an oppressor.
She absolutely will not give the time of
day to important conversation.
Um she
avoids it.
So, let me start off with some props.
These are 3 and 1/2 inch floppy
diskettes, okay?
This is how long I've been into tech.
Council Harris,
this one here is a Polaroid Polaview LCD
panel
disk for Macintosh. I got this from the
Mesquite School District where I was
brought in to the elementary school as a
teenager to help train
the teachers there
because they got mounds of technology
including these touchscreen adapters for
their Apple products that they were
never trained on.
Sound familiar? Sounds like Project
Jupiter.
Let's give all these kids a bunch of
tech,
satisfy the news and then move on cuz we
don't really care about the kids.
[clears throat and cough]
Here's a piece of software I wrote. It's
called Simple Mac.
I wrote it when I was a teenager.
Council Ben Kalman, I would appreciate
your eye contact actually instead of
looking at your phone. Thanks.
And Ms. Crandall, if you'd stop shaking
your head that'd be
a little bit more respectful.
I wrote a new software cuz I've been a
developer for a while.
I'll just address the public instead.
You can all go to my newest project.
It's called borderlandmail.com.
borderlandmail.com.
It's a government transparency tool that
I built
um over the course of 3 days.
Using Claude code,
using the latest Soul build of ChatGPT
that's on limited release.
And uh I'm porting it each and every one
of your mailboxes and phone records and
all your conversations that you try to
keep secret.
Your secret select meeting stuff, it's
all in there.
So, government transparency starts
today.
And I'm a proud advocate of it.
Moving right along, I brought some
rainwater that I collected personally,
not off my roof, but
without interruption.
And I use this.
This is a pH meter.
The rainwater here is close to 10 pH.
That is too alkaline for plants and for
fish.
We have a big problem in our hands. It
starts with community conversation.
Starts with conversation about mass
surveillance in Flock. Starts with
conversation about water.
And everything else will fall
into place.
But I urge you to do better,
Councilmember Como.
And because you're not fooling anyone.
You've already heard from the audience.
You're hearing it from me now. Do
better. Thank you.
Good morning.
Councilmember Como, Becky.
Mr. Mayor,
um
wow, I get to talk about separation of
church and state again.
Uh
contrary to the uh
previous remarks,
the phrase separation of church and
state was common in the American
political dialogue.
It was started by a man named Roger
Williams.
Roger Williams thought that the state
corrupted the church, and I don't know
why I'm getting that echo.
Roger Williams thought that the state
corrupted the church and the church
corrupted the state.
And that they should be separate.
And if you bother read Roger Williams'
sermons, and he gave many of them.
Um
Roger Williams referred to a hedge
around the vineyard. The vineyard was
the church.
The hedge was a wall.
And so, Roger Williams thought that God
put a wall,
a hedge,
around the vineyard, the church.
And that when the state or the church
violated that wall,
it was violating the will of God and
damaging the church.
Roger Williams was also unique in that
he um bought land from the Indians,
or the Native Americans, excuse me.
Uh
and he advocated dealing with them
justly and like Christians.
Most Americans didn't have that point of
view.
Nonetheless,
uh Jefferson
and Monroe
and many other of our founders, and
they're called our founders because like
any movement, we had leaders.
And our leaders were the radicals. They
were the Jeffersons and the Franklins
and the Monroes.
They didn't think like everybody else.
Everybody else was going to build an
England in in America.
Jefferson
was going to build America in America.
He was led his his close friend, Thomas
Paine, talked about starting the world
anew, and that's what we did in America.
And part of that starting the world anew
was putting religion in its place,
giving it no political power, no office,
no recognition by by government. That's
what separation of church means. You
cannot establish religion in America by
the government.
That's what separation of church and
state state and church means, and we're
the first country to do it.
It's what's unique about us.
Keep it that way.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council,
Chief of Police, Tim Jenkins here.
Today, I'm not here to criticize or ask
for change. Today, I'm here simply to
express my sincere gratitude.
Last week's town hall meeting was a
reminder of what good government should
look like.
Every one of you took time out of your
busy schedule to come together,
listen to the concerns of your
constituents, answer difficult
questions, and engage in meaningful
conversation with the people you were
elected to serve.
Whether everyone agreed or disagreed on
every issue is not what mattered most.
What mattered was your willingness to
show up, to listen, and to be present
for this community.
Public service is often a thankless job.
It requires long hours, difficult
decisions, and the willingness to stand
in the middle of passionate
disagreements.
So, today, I simply want to say thank
you for your time, your dedication, and
your continued commitment to the people
of Las Cruces.
I would like to extend my deepest
appreciation to the men and women of the
Las Cruces Police Department.
Every day, they put on the uniform,
knowing they be may be called into
dangerous and unprecedented situations.
Yet, they continue to answer the call
with professionalism, courage, and
compassion.
While most of us are heading away from
danger, they are running towards it to
protect complete strangers.
This week, our police department reached
an incredible milestone by earning CALEA
accreditation
after more than 3 years of tireless work
and dedication. This is not simply
another certificate to hang on a wall.
It represents thousands of hours of
training,
public improvements, accountability, and
a commitment to meeting the highest
professional standards in law
enforcement.
It reflects a department that
continually strives to improve and
better serve the people of our
community.
To Chief Jeremy Story, the command
staff, every officer, dispatcher,
civilian employee, and support staff,
please know that your hard work has not
gone unnoticed. This accreditation is
something our entire community can be
proud of. And each of you has earned our
respect and appreciation.
In a world where criticism often speaks
louder than gratitude, I believe it is
equally important to recognize
excellence when we see it. So, today I
simply say thank you to our city council
for your service to this community, and
to the Las Cruces Police Department for
your unwavering dedication, sacrifice,
and commitment to keeping our city safe.
May we continue working together to make
Las Cruces safer for all. Thank you and
God bless.
Mr. Mayor, with your
with your permission, this is brother
Eddie Lucero, and uh he's going to yield
his 3 minutes, if you would. Uh I have
under 5 minutes to say what I have to
say uh with your permission, sir.
I was said he was I could take his time.
Yeah, if he can speak as well, you can
Well, it's all right here. Go ahead.
Yes, sir. I would love to yield my time
to my brother Tom to uh say what he has
to say.
Sorry, we can't do that.
Yeah, unfortunately, we can't do that,
but you can speak. You can both share
your 3 minutes.
No, go ahead and sit down.
You're all right.
Oh, thank you.
This is under 4 minutes.
You know, with all the everything going
on
Sorry, but can you you state your name?
My name's Thomas Stevens.
Thank you.
Brother Tommy hermano in the
Me llamo de Jesucristo. Gloria al Señor
Jesucristo.
Andele. Yo es un bueno en la frontera.
I was born in Philly
and I was raised in the southern
borderland.
And my German ancestry assimilated in
World War
and World War
to the American liberty that I'm going
to speak about today.
Revelation chapter 1 verse 3. Blessed is
he that readeth and he that heareth the
words of this prophecy and keep those
things which are written therein, for
the time is at hand.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor, city council, for
your oath of office of the United States
Constitution and the Bill of Rights. I
thank the supreme judge of the world for
our founding principles and his
inalienable rights to every person on
the planet, but especially to my
country, the United States of America.
Thank you, Las Cruces Police Department,
for laying down your lives for the
protection of the citizens of our city,
even though many hate you for it. You
are just like my Lord Jesus Christ.
Greater love hath no man than this, that
a man lay down his life for his friends.
I love my city, Las Cruces. We are at
the crossroads. I love the symbol of the
three crosses. I love the cross in the
center the best. The word of God
speaking through the Isaiah prophet,
Isaiah 53:12, "Because he hath poured
out his soul unto death, and he was
numbered with the transgressors, and he
bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors." The
powers that be in the city have removed
the center cross of Jesus Christ.
Without the cross of the Christ in the
center, all that is left are the
transgressors lost in darkness and the
condemnation of their sin waiting on
judgment. The current symbol of the sun
of Egypt surrounding the two crosses of
the transgressors is blatant rebellion
and apostasy of the blood of Christ and
the power of his resurrection. Without
the center cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ in the middle, there is no
blessed hope. The current symbol on the
outside of the city defies Christ Jesus
of my Bible. On the mountain side in
Watrous are these words, "La Biblia es
verdad." Meaning, "Leela." Meaning, "The
Bible is truth. Read it." I took that
Mexican's advice and encourage you to do
the same. From 2008 to 2013, I worked at
the city. This is when our city patch
said character counts on the patch and
still had the cross of Christ in the
center of the two crosses. Solidarity is
defined as having the same cause and
purpose. Finally, in conclusion to all
that have ears to hear in this room,
uh
let me say that the Apostle Peter, the
Saint Peter, in
uh Peter chapter 2, brother Peter
referred to Noah as a preacher of
righteousness. To the center cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, Noah preached
with liberty to those on the other
outside of the ark of salvation. Noah
preached, "We're not judging you.
Judgment's coming. It's going to rain.
The door of faith in Christ Jesus, the
ark of God's salvation, is still open to
all men, not just some. Until it's not.
Come, get on board. The invitation is
the same as it ever was. Revelation
22:17, and the spirit and the bride say,
"Come. And let him that hears say,
'Come.' And he that thirst, come. And
whosoever will, let him take of the
water of life freely." Just like Eddie
did. November 25th, he trusted the same
Jesus in that November
2025. He trusted the same Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ I did in 1979, and
it showed up on the doorstep.
Hallelujah. The powers must be true to
the founding principles of liberty
provided by our Constitution and Bill of
Rights. They are given by the supreme
judge of the world in our Declaration of
Independence in 1776 and ratified in our
Constitution and Bill of Rights in the
year of our Lord, amen, 1787.
Say his name. Say Jesus Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ, our Lord. He is the cross
in the center. My prayer. Our Father,
which art in heaven, I thank thee that I
can only call you my father.
The blood of Jesus and the power of his
resurrection, in one mediator between
God and man, I pray your born-again,
blood-washed remnant church in this
world today that would be salt and light
and shine for the honor and glory, the
cross in the center, in the mighty
[snorts] name of the Lord Jesus Christ,
the King of kings. We praise you in
Jesus name. Be lifted up. Amen.
Praise the Lord.
[snorts]
THANK YOU.
MAY I approach?
May I approach?
Yeah, if you can give it to the city
clerk.
[sighs]
God bless you all. I am praying for you.
Next, I will read a closed statement. Um
closed meeting statement. The Las Cruces
City Council met in closed meeting
today, August 3rd,
2026 at approximately 10:01 a.m.
We had four items.
Uh present for all four items were
myself, Mayor Enriquez, Councilor
Bencomo, Councilor McClure, Councilor
Muñoz, Mayor Pro Tem Muñoz,
Councilor [snorts] Harris, Councilor
Curran, City Manager Ikani Talamante,
City Attorney Brad Douglass,
City Clerk Christine Rivera.
Item number one was to discuss pending
or threatening litigation regarding
regarding Brandon Barron uh versus the
City of Las Cruces.
Also present were Chief Story,
uh Chris DeFillippo, and Allan Doll.
Item number two to discuss pending or
threatened litigation regarding
Francesca Clifton versus City of Las
Cruces.
Also present for that were outside
counsel
Caitlin Gonzales.
Item number three to discuss pending or
threatening litigation regarding Gabriel
Padilla versus City of Las Cruces
was outside counsel Brad Springer.
Item number four was to discuss pending
or threatened litigation regarding City
of Las Cruces and Doña Ana County versus
the lawsuit Alameda LLC American Linen
Supply of New Mexico Ross and Leasing
Limited Liability and Chisholm's Village
Plaza LLC.
Outside counsel
and members of Doña Ana County were
present for that one. Jessica Ferrell,
Brian Baleso, David Weymers
also from the city were Dominique
Rodriguez Utilities, Stephen Perez from
Utilities, Utilities Director Adrian
Wimmer, Assistant City Manager Sonia
Delgado, from [snorts] the county James
Van Cleave,
Darwin Harris,
Alonso Mayestous and then
interim county attorney
also outside counsel was Damien Winter.
And from Doña Ana County Stephen Lopez,
Lucio
Utrell and Stephen Lopez.
Now have acceptance of agenda.
Move to accept the agenda.
Second.
This is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented. Counselor McClare?
Yes.
Counselor Matisse?
Yes.
Counselor Harris?
Yes.
Counselor Bencomo?
Yes.
Counselor Cran?
Yes.
Counselor Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
What you want to have me do now, sir?
So, first on the agenda is item 8.1,
resolution number 27-020.
Move to approve.
Second.
Good afternoon, Mayor, councilor, city
staff. Virginia Barillo, buyer two,
financial services department. And
before you today is a resolution
authorizing the city to enter into a
lease agreement for property located at
1670 South Valley Drive.
The city of Las Cruces Fire Department
had a need for a training facility to
increase training effectiveness and
allow personnel the resources and
environment to learn and train for
real-life situations.
Through coordination with the real
estate services program, a facility at
1670 South 1670
South Valley Drive was identified and
was determined to meet the needs of the
Fire Department. Uh the Las Cruces
Municipal Code does allow the city to
enter into agreement without competition
uh for rental of real property.
In July of 2021, the city entered into a
lease agreement for 5 years. Uh the
initial term of for the first year of
the agreement was $120,000
annually and it increased incrementally
to $180,000
for the last 2 years of the agreement.
Uh this lease renewal did allow us two
5-year options to renew.
The city of Las Cruces does wish to
execute a new renewal lease agreement
for a 5-year term. Um the first year of
the agreement beginning July 1st, 2026
through June 30th, 2027 will be for
$192,000
annually. Years 2 and 3 will be for
$216,000
annually. And then years
4 and 5 will be for $240,000
annually.
Before your options, and I will stand
for any questions.
Thank you, Virginia. Any questions,
Council?
Councilor Harris.
Um thanks. I just have a couple quick
questions. Um one is what's the
approximate square footage of that
facility? Just to remind everyone.
Mayor, Councilor Harris, the square
footage is 20 approximately 22,000
square feet, and it is on an
approximately 5 acres of land.
All right. Um and
um so I guess for that for that price,
that size,
that seems like a reasonable rate
compared to the rest of the market.
Um
so for like improvements-wise, are there
any improvements that need to be done
for to the facility to
for the next 5 years? Is the landlord
going to take care of those? Are we
going to take care of those?
Um Mayor, Councilor, I will need to
defer to the fire department on any
potential uh improvements for the
facility.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council.
Tibor Coaches, Deputy Chief of Las
Cruces Fire. Uh so between the two
leases, there were some improvements
done by the landlord
um
including one of the bay areas and
providing us a little bit more square
footage with the warehouse or the the
shop.
Outside of that, there are some other
things that we'd like to do, but in
being mindful of the budget and
everything, we didn't want to increase
the rent to that, so
yeah.
Some of that is temperature control,
increased temperature control in the
shop area.
Okay, so what's the I mean, is that
there's something we're going to forego
or
We're dealing with it in a temporary
situation.
Understanding this is a lease and
limiting some of the funds that we can
use to improve the building,
we're going to be utilizing some
temporary measures.
Okay, sounds good. That's understood.
And then, so this is the first of the
two five-year extension options.
This is our first renewal option,
correct.
And I guess the general hope is that
maybe in five years we might be out of
there into a new training facility.
Maybe.
That is correct. There are some options
kicking around
trying to
explore different avenues. Yes, sir.
All right, thanks. That's all for me,
Mayor.
Councilor Matice.
Thanks. I'm optimistic like Chief
Daniels. Let's say you get a new
facility
our own. I just what's the
the end of the lease provision? I mean,
let's say you go out in three years or
four years if some
big money comes down and we start our
own training facility. Is there a
a
end of lease? I mean, do we have to pay
the whole five years if we leave early?
Mayor, Councilor Matice,
we there is a termination clause that is
in the lease. I would have to go back
into the lease to pull up the actual
termination clause to see if there are
any
end like early end of lease penalties to
be able to answer that questions, but we
can provide that at a later time once
we're able to pull up that specific
clause.
Yeah, you you could just share it with
us on an email. Thank you.
Yes, sir.
Okay, so I know that it has plenty of
acreage, you know, the the size, the
area, but as far as the facility itself,
is it adequate for the academies and for
the continuing tread training and
education for the firefighters?
Mayor, city council, Tuber Coaches.
Uh
adequate's kind of a subjective term. Uh
there's ideal situations. Um
having the academy located in one spot,
providing them with showers and uh
facilities so that after PT, they can go
and get ready for the day.
Uh and then being able to PT and then
drill in the central location, limiting
the back and forth from the training
facility out of the training tower uh
located by the the airport would be an
ideal situation for the fire department.
All right, cuz I know at one time there
was maybe an option to purchase that
site. Is is that still part of the
negotiating with the owners or are we
looking at just a 5-year uh leasing?
Uh Mayor, there has been discussion
about purchasing the property,
not necessarily for the training
facility aspect. Uh
locating the training facility out by
the airport would be an ideal situation,
but for a logistics component, a hub,
and then possibly running an ambulance
uh
company out of that location is what
we're looking at. So, as far as the
facility goes, having an
uh a location in the city makes it
better for logistics, uh, being able to
to bring the apparatus there for regular
PMs or any kind of work the fleet needs
to do.
Uh, our location of the medication
supplies, our medications, um,
and all of the EMS equipment, our bunker
gear, our
our uniforms are all located in a
central location that makes it more
feasible and better location, uh,
logistically.
Uh, so actually we're looking at
separating the two, moving the training
facility out
uh, by the training tower and keeping
that facility, if possible, as a
logistic station.
Okay, thanks. And remind me, how is this
all funded?
Uh, Mayor, the everything is funded
through the general fund.
Okay.
Thanks.
Christine?
The motion is on the mission to approve
resolution 27-020.
Counselor Aguilar?
Yes.
Counselor Matiz?
Yes.
Counselor Harris?
Yes.
Counselor Bencomo?
Yes.
Counselor Duran?
Yes.
Counselor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Next is item 8.2, resolution number
27-021.
Move to approve.
Second.
Good afternoon, Mayor City Council. My
name is Cynthia Lamillo, Capital
Improvements Program. And today we only
have a handful of CAP amendments to
bring in additional funding for some
projects, but we're going to be
highlighting the two main projects
today.
We first have Apodaca Park Aquatic
Playground and Recreation Trail.
Uh this is a significant project. Right
now, the amendment for CAP will be
reflecting 5.2 million for this specific
project. But to talk about the details
of it, I would like to pass it on to
Katherine Harrison Rogers from Parks and
Rec so we can learn more about this
project.
Good afternoon, Mayor, members of City
Council. Katherine Harrison Rogers, for
the record. Uh this particular project
we've been designing uh and we've been
collecting funding uh for years. We're
really excited about the opportunity to
be able to start construction on this
this fall. We're currently under
negotiations uh with a contractor to
revise um the the scope of this
particular project so that uh we can uh
start building a portion of it until we
collect our capital outlay funds um that
were approved by the legislature this
year. We're getting an additional $3
million
hopefully sometime this fall. Um and
this particular amendment uh to the CIP
is to allow us to to start construction
essentially.
Um
it will include both that walking trail
as well as the aquatic playground, some
improvements in showers um to the
bathrooms. Uh we are also uh proposing
some improvements to the parking lot as
well as uh some really nice playgrounds
at two separate locations, one for
smaller children, one for older
children, um as well as some gathering
spaces including a really lovely
pavilion, um and uh some other areas. Uh
so if you have any other questions, I'd
be happy to answer those.
Oh.
Pictures. Yeah. Sorry.
Um
sorry about that. I was just talking
away and not not moving these. So of
course here's Apodaca Park. The area in
question is is here. That's where the
aquatic playground will be and then of
course that lovely trail will go all the
way around and we've been negotiating
with the developer of the Royal Crossing
subdivision to ultimately have a
connection that will ultimately lead to
the outflow channel. So it'll be really
nice trail system. Here's some
renderings just generally showing you
the location
of that aquatic playground, those
improvements of course
to the existing parking
and again just some really lovely
renderings so you can see the type of
aquatic play that we're talking about.
It's not exactly a splash pad. It's more
naturalistic than that. It'll be It'll
be really beautiful and a lot of fun for
both adults and kids.
And again some natural play for some of
the older playground
and I'll go ahead and turn it over to
Cynthia.
Thank you Catherine. Cynthia Lamiyo our
second project that we want to highlight
today is for the Mesilla Valley
Community of Hope. This is for the day
shelter re-roofing. So recently a new
grant was approved for 500,000 and I
will like to pass it on to Natalie Green
to give us details on this specific
project.
Good afternoon Mr. Mayor Natalie Green
for the record. So this is funding from
Housing New Mexico as part of their
Housing Innovation Fund. They are
funding a re-roof of the day shelter
that is the main facility where we
operate Community of Hope out of. The
project is currently at 95% design.
They have been experiencing some leak
issues especially with monsoon season
and this is the newly renovated portion
of the building. So we want to make sure
that we repair the roof so we're
protecting our renovation investment
both on the city side and legislators
side.
The roof is about uh just under 20 years
old. Um and it's was designed in such a
way that um it's not draining like it
should and there's some debris.
Uh there's also some uh changes to the
windows. The windows are leaking. This
is the resource room.
Uh future project will need to be some
of the stucco repair. I don't think
we'll have the budget to do that this
time.
Um and they'll also be getting a new
ladder access and new skylights.
Um and then
uh we did go to Housing New Mexico. We
requested more funding. Um they gave us
the max of their current award until we
get actual bids. And then once we get
actual bids, we can go back to the board
uh for Housing New Mexico and they'll
evaluate whether they'll fund the
remaining portion.
Um with that, I'll turn it over to uh
Cynthia for your final council options.
Thank you, Natalie. So, yes, for with
that, you have your council options for
the um CAP amendments.
Thank you, Cynthia. Counselor Harris.
Um
Thank you. So,
uh first off, I would like to say that I
appreciate the inclusion of the
pictures. Um I think when we're looking
at these capital improvement projects,
it's very helpful for us to actually be
able to like see what's going on.
Um
and uh and and kind of see what we're up
against that we need to fix. Um
I think this is a good thing. I think
we, you know, all all these projects
sound great.
Um
I would ask because I brought up an
over so overspending on another roof
project before.
Um
so the $800,000 to fix this roof is is a
lot of money to fix a roof.
Um
so about how big is it?
For curiosity.
How big is it?
And number
Mr. Mayor, Councillor Harris, it's about
13,000 square feet.
Okay.
Um
So
It still feels like a lot. But I I guess
my my question is more maybe this is a
city manager question, other departments
question. Is when we actually go out to
bid are we expecting people to bid that
amount? Are we expecting them to bid
more?
And how do those bids compare to similar
like commercial jobs? If I were just
If Community of Hope were on their own,
like they had raised some money and they
had their own purchasing and everything
to go out and fix their own roof.
Would it be I I know I understand it's
our building. This is a hypothetical
question. Um
But you know, are we paying a a
government premium is what I'm trying to
get at.
Jimmy Moreno with the public works. Uh
Mayor, Councillor Harris, so typically
when we have
beginning estimates at this time, uh it
includes there is a premium for it being
government work because of the
prevailing wages, all the additional
items, the standards and everything
else, codes that that we put on on um
on these buildings.
Uh but these costs also include um
contingency costs. They're always on the
higher estimate because we don't want to
have to come back. Or if we're applying
for grant money, we don't want to have
be short on that grant. So it typically
includes everything on the higher end.
Um and especially unknowns as well. So a
lot of times we the the cost for the
roof is usually typically a lot less
because once we get in there
we determine that a lot of the
the base doesn't need to be replaced.
And so we'll go ahead and do that at the
time of of uh construction. So typically
they're they're always on the high end,
but we always try to get the the best
bang for our buck for with the city
dollars.
Yeah, noted. That's all I have. Thanks.
Mayor pro tem.
Uh thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, uh Cynthia, for putting this
together. Natalie, um
question,
how old is the roof you said? Was that
20 years or
I just wanted to make sure I got that
correctly.
It's under 20 years.
Uh don't hold me to it. I want to say it
was built in 2002, but I'll have to go
back and double-check.
Gotcha. Okay.
Um
and then, um
what is the markup for the contingency
cost? Is that a 10%? 5%? Or
till
Mr. Mayor, Mayor pro tem, it depends on
the project type. It's typically 10%. Um
although I've seen in roadway projects
that are a little more volatile, it's
closer to 20, but if I got it wrong,
Jimmy will correct me.
Um but I believe the contingency
requirements are live within our
procurement code, and the maximum
contingency is 20%.
Okay.
Jimmy Moreno again with public works.
Mayor, uh uh Councilman Muñoz, yes, it
can range from either up to 0 to 20%.
Our procurement code limits at 20%, and
that's usually for a higher risk at the
20%, and typically [snorts]
most projects is 5 to 10%.
Okay, thank you, Jimmy. Appreciate that.
I mean, it it does seem high. Um I do
also want with that
talking, um out of
you I also think that it's important to
take care of uh our equipment and our
facilities within a timely manner. I'm
not a fan of of uh deferred maintenance.
I think you pay now, or you really pay a
whole lot more later if um you don't
take care and and properly maintain a
building. so appreciate the work that's
going into this and uh curious to see
what the final numbers are with the
repair with the repair of the roof.
Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Natalie.
Okay, thanks. Uh Christine.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-021.
Council McClaire.
Yes.
Councilor Matias.
Yes.
Councilor Harris.
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councilor Curran.
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Next is item 8.3, resolution number
27-022.
We have to do 8.3 first.
Move to approve.
Second.
And now we'll take a motion and a second
to vote to suspend the rules to listen
to items 8.3 through 8.7 concurrently.
So moved.
Second.
This is on the motion to suspend the
rules to listen to items 8.3 to 8.7
concurrently.
Councilor McClaire.
Yes.
Councilor Matias.
Yes.
Councilor Harris.
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councilor Curran.
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Good.
Good afternoon, Mayor, councilors, city
staff. My name is Caitlin Beasley. I'm
the historic preservation specialist
with the city of Las Cruces in the
Community Development Department. And
I'm bringing before you today um the
five nominations we have for the city's
register of cultural properties.
Um
These properties were all nominated
earlier this year and were recommended
by the historic preservation committee
at their May 20th, 2026 meeting. They're
coming before you to finalize that
process.
I'll also note that this is the first
instance that the city council is being
asked to vote on the cultural properties
register, so
Thank you for inviting me here and
hearing these nominations.
Um
The nominations this year are the Rio
Grande Theatre, the Branigan Cultural
Center, the Railroad Museum, the
Clarabel Williams property, and the
Phillips Chapel CME Church.
Most of this information is information
you're already familiar with. It's old
information.
And I'm not just saying that because
they're old buildings.
Uh
the first one that will address is the
Rio Grande Theatre.
Most of you know where this is. Um it's
at 211 North Main Street. Again, it was
recommended by the historic preservation
committee.
Most of these buildings are already
listed on some national on some historic
register, either the national or the
state register. We can go over that in
detail if there are any questions.
This building also retains sufficient
historic integrity for it to be listed
on our city register.
The nomination, I'll also add, was
completed by Jordan Gladstone, who was
our community development intern last
year.
So, the Rio Grande Theatre turns 100
this year. Um it was built in July Well,
it was built in 1926, opening in July
um from a design by Otto H. Thorman of
the architecture firm Thorman and
Frazier out of El Paso. The building has
a Italian Renaissance Revival facade. Um
it is primarily adobe and concrete.
There was a significant restoration
project between 1998 and 2007 that led
to the building being utilized today. It
is of course owned and operated by the
city of Las Cruces.
It's also one of the only operating
adobe theaters in the US and it is a
rare example of a two-story adobe
building.
The property owners at the time were uh
businessman CT Seal and BJ Dine. Um,
they purchased a building and demolished
it in order to make the adobe theater.
So, I think that represents the sort of
cycle that comes with building
construction,
that sort of thing that we're wanting to
capture with our historic um
documentation.
Um, also interestingly Thorman and
Fraser, the architecture firm dissolved
shortly after the project was finalized
and there's a really funny letter from
Thorman requesting that the building
owners uh
pay their full debts to close [snorts]
out. Um, that was from 1927, I believe.
The building was donated to um the Doña
Ana Arts Council in 1998 by the
granddaughters of CT Seal, the original
owners.
The building of course did not look the
way it does today or the way it did
historically. There was a significant um
restoration project that involved
removing a false aluminum front,
removing a non-historic marcade marquee,
and um the installation of a couple of
different character defining features of
the building.
Um, that project again was between 1998
and 2007. The building opened in 2005
while work was continuing on the
exterior. A lot of that work um that
continued between 2005 and 2007 was the
restoration of the historic ceramic
tiles that were undertaken by a local
ceramicist and educator Glenn Schwager
who was formerly with the Doña Ana
Community College.
Um, 75% of the tiles had to be replaced.
So, this was a significant process for
him. Again, the project um the building
opened in 2005.
Um,
as part of their celebration, the Doña
Ana Arts Council wrote in their
celebration booklet, "In 1998, it was
just going to be a weekend project.
Please don't fault us for our slightly
inflated optimism. The glow of this
wonderful gift and the dreams of what
could be blinded us temporarily."
And um thanks to them and their efforts,
we have this wonderful building. Um, and
I just like to let everybody know that
they are showing Top Gun
um I believe next week on the 11th. So,
everyone go see Top Gun.
The second building that we're going to
be nominating is the Branigan Cultural
Center.
Uh its location is 501 North Main
Street. Um it is listed on the national
state registers. It retains sufficient
integrity and this nomination was uh
produced by another community
development intern, Kenneth Poteet
Jacky.
The building opened in 1935. It was
designed by another El Paso architect,
Percy McGee.
Uh the style is Pueblo Revival.
It was also the first dedicated library
in Las Cruces and the only privately
funded library constructed in New Mexico
during the Great Depression.
The library itself moved later and the
city operated or opened the cultural
center, which is now the city's uh it
was the city's first municipally run
museum that opened in 1981.
And I just wanted to include this map
from 1927. This is the Sanborn Map
Company. Um they produced fire insurance
maps at the time.
Um
I am guilty frequently of spelling
Brannigan with two N's, but I have never
um called it the Barnegan Memorial
Library or community. So, [laughter]
I wanted [snorts] to include that.
A little bit about the building's
history um that I think most people may
not be aware of.
Uh
it was um it was it won an award from
the American Library Association in
1939,
shortly after it opened. Um it's been
receiving some recognition for a while
just for its unique architecture and its
unique um place-based history.
Um
an unaired TV pilot was filmed at the
Brannigan. The Brannigan was transformed
into the county um office building um
for a made-up county named Calhoun for
the TV pilot, which was Calhoun County
Agent, and that starred Jackie Cooper.
Who some of you may be familiar with
him. He was a little kid in the Our Gang
or Little Rascals
TV show.
Um
the other person that I want to
highlight as part of this is James E.
Richardson or Jr. He was the first
director of the Brannigan Cultural
Center from 1981 when it opened until
his death in 1986.
Um his collections, he's a local artist.
Some of his collections are still in the
museum's um collections um today.
The next nominated property is the
Railroad Museum.
Uh this is located at 351 North Mesquite
Street. Uh it is listed in the national
and state registers. However, I will
note that it is not listed individually.
It is captured as part of the Alameda
Depot Historic District. And so, writing
the nomination had to be done completely
from scratch. Um the nomination was
written by former HPC and current
subcommittee member Judy Berryman.
And the building retains sufficient
historic integrity to be nominated.
The building was built in 1910. It
replaced an earlier
um railroad depot that I I have a photo
of that we'll see on the next slides.
Um this is a stock um design, a stock
floor plan um from the Atchison, Topeka
and Santa Fe Railroad Company. They
chose to design it in the Spanish
Mission Revival style um that they
believed was more practical and more
spoke more to the history of New Mexico.
The building operated as a railroad
depot until 1988. Passenger service
operated until 1968.
The city purchased the building in 1992
and turned it into a museum in 2004.
On the left you can see a photo of the
original um depot. This was constructed
in 1881
and it was replaced by our new depot
after President Taft came through town
and community members were very um
distressed at how um
old their depot looked. So, they built a
new building.
Um the next year Teddy Roosevelt um came
through and visited and that photo of is
of him standing on the caboose of one of
the trains that he came through town
talking about statehood. This was a year
before New Mexico was added to the
Union.
Um I want to highlight that while there
are notable people who of course are
involved with all of these buildings, um
David Lundy and Kyle McRogan, different
individuals with the railroad museum
currently um have shared an important
fact that this was also the community's
depot. This was where people left for
trips. A lot of people um this was where
they left for to go serve their time or
serve
serve their country during wartime,
during World War II, during World War
I. Um we have a notable instance of um
people in the community today
remembering when their parents um bodies
were brought back to the depot um after
dying during wartime.
This is a photo um then and now of what
is now Las Cruces Avenue but was
originally Depot Street. Um this kind of
um represents how influential the depot
was and its construction was to the
community. This was the first street
that was paved in Las Cruces.
Um it's also very wide to accommodate
all of the traffic that was coming from
to and from the depot from downtown.
Um and it's interesting you can see a
lot of the same buildings today. Um the
building on the the two-story building
on the right in both photos, that's the
Branigan house that is standing today.
Sorry, Dr. Beasley. Can I interrupt
really quick? Can you go back to that
picture? Is that mistletoe in that same
tree?
Yes.
Oh, wow.
Yeah.
Fascinating.
I I pointed that out in the last in the
historic preservation committee meeting
but I wasn't sure anyone would pick up
on that.
Nope. I I thank you for sharing it.
Super interesting and glad the tree
survived that. Uh I guess. So, thank
you.
Yeah.
No.
Thank you for mentioning it.
The next uh property to be nominated is
the Clara Belle Williams property. This
comprises of two buildings.
Um the original house where Clara Belle
Williams and her family lived and then
the duplex that they owned and rented
out um next door. Um these properties
are still together. They are part of one
property.
Um they are currently listed in the
state register um not in the national
register and integrity for both
properties depends on what historic
building sorry, historic period we are
discussing. We'll get into that in a
minute
when we talk about the history.
Of course, the building is most notably
known for being the home of Clara Belle
the renowned educator in Las Cruces.
Um it was built between 1925 and 1930
for the Williams family by a local um
construct a local um contractor, Ignacio
Ogaz. I don't know that much about him.
Um where some of these things are still
kind of a mystery. But that's one
resource that we have is that Ignacio
Ogaz built their built their house.
Their house the main house is a
craftsman with vernacular influences. It
was owned by Williams until she sold it
and moved to Chicago in 1974.
It was later the home of Arturo and
Marcelina Chavez. Arturo has passed
away. His wife is still living in the
property.
Now a little bit about the
buildings. Um again, they are still
there. That's why they're being
nominated.
Um the craftsman house is the one in the
upper left-hand corner. Um the house is
still there. There have been a few
changes since the period when Clara Bow
Williams lived there. Um the duplex
still looks remarkably similar. Um these
photos were recreated earlier this year.
Um and uh the duplex again, one of the
notable things about the property is
that the retaining wall is is different.
I think most people know about Clara Bow
Williams, but I'm going to give you a
little bit of a refresher.
Um she was originally from Texas. She
graduated from uh Prairie View A&M
University with a teaching certificate.
When she moved to Las Cruces when she
moved to New Mexico, later Las Cruces,
um she taught um at the segregated
schools here in Las Cruces. We'll get to
the Lincoln High School in the next
nomination.
Um many of these children were people
who she knew. Um she finished her
teaching degree at NMSU, um
taking almost a decade to complete it
because she took exclusively summer
courses. Um what's most known about
Clara Belle Williams' time at NMSU is
that she was forced to sit outside of
the classrooms while the classes were
being taught.
Um,
she eventually graduated. Um, she was
not allowed to walk during graduation
because, reportedly, because some white
students threatened to boycott
graduation. And so, she was given her
diploma afterwards.
This is just a little bit about the
current property owners, um, Arturo and
Marcelina Chavez, um, who are notable in
their own right. Arturo Chavez, um,
helped influenced the, um, sort of
traditional New Mexican cultural culture
way of, um, roasting chili. Um, he was
not a chili grower, but he bought chili,
um, what uh, people in Hatch call a
chili broker. He was a chili broker. He
bought chili, roasted it, and then sold
it for consumption here in Las Cruces
and other communities around Southern
New Mexico. Um, this was at a time
period before restaurants, um,
grocery stores were roasting their own
chili. So, he provided that service. And
that
people like him are the reason why we
have chili roasting today.
Um, Arturo passed away on November 12th,
2021. Again, his wife still lives in the
property. Um, their daughter, Alice
Chavez, was, um,
the primary person who wrote this
nomination with assistance from the HPC
vice chair, Norma Torres Hartell.
Our final nomination is the Phillips
Chapel. Um, this is located at 638 North
Tornillo Street. Again, it was
recommended by HPC. It is currently
listed in the national and the state
registers, and it retains sufficient
historic integrity.
This nomination was produced, um, by a
former
by a former commissioner, um, by by a
former historic preservation committee
member, um, Faith Hudson.
So, this building was built in 1911.
It's a vernacular style built out of
adobe.
It's one of the oldest black churches in
New Mexico.
Um, and it was also used during
segregation as the first African
American school in Las Cruces. It was
known as Liberty, sorry, Lincoln High
School.
Um, there was a significant restoration
project between 2010 and 2014 that was
led by students, um, at the Doña Ana
Community College and members of the
community.
Now, getting into some of the history
about this property, it's primarily, of
course, associated with the African
American community in Las Cruces, um,
specifically the Hibler family who not
only purchased the land that the church
would later be built on, but they also
brought the first pastor to the
community.
Um, it is also associated, of course,
with the history of, um, school
segregation in southern New Mexico.
The photo on the left is of a black
drama class, um, that that
um, put on a production in the church in
the 1940s.
The next photo is of the Hibler
brothers, um, Daniel and Cortez.
Uh, this is them in front of their
restaurant here in Las Cruces, the
Jitney Cafe.
The next, uh, photo is, uh, of Henry
Fielder. Um, Henry was a,
um, mechanic at Rio Grande Motors here
in town. And, um, he was
so successful that he got his photo put
in an advertisement in the 1940s. So, I
wanted to share that. There were so many
great photos, um, associated with this
building that the family and other
members of the African American
community have shared for this
nomination that it was difficult
choosing just a few of them, but these
were the ones that I chose to highlight.
And then the last photo is of members of
the Hibler family. Daniel Hibler, who
moved to Las Cruces in 1909, he's
sitting at the far right. Um, behind him
are his two grandsons, Alfred and
Clarence Fielder. And then his daughter,
Gertrude Fielder, is sitting in the
middle. She was the first
African-American child to be born in Las
Cruces.
The restoration project that happened
between 2010 and 2014 was uh
a significant one. Um, they did adobe
stabilization, they re-stuccoed the
entire exterior. Um, and then the photo
at the bottom, um,
right is of them installing the National
Register plaque, which they purchased,
um, and installed in the building in
2014. So, this was really
representative, um, and it's a good one
to end on for this reason. It's
representative of how these buildings,
um,
have a place in the community and a
place in people's hearts.
That concludes my presentation. Um,
before you are your options, and I stand
for questions.
Thank you, Kaitlyn.
Councilor Harris.
Uh
Thanks for that presentation. These are
all extremely cool places and a lot of
cool history. Um
I have a probably relatively simple
question. So,
when I was at the Railroad Museum
earlier this year,
um,
we were talking about preventative
maintenance and and things of that
nature. And so, I guess the question is,
does does this historic designation make
it more challenging to do things like
replace the door, or, um,
replace the roof, um,
any comments toward that?
Mayor Councilor Harris, that's an
excellent question, and it's one I get
asked quite frequently. Um, for the
city-owned buildings, it does not impact
them at all. Um, they're already
required to go through design review
with the Historic Preservation
Committee. Um, there are requirements as
to what types of materials can be used
when we do work like replacing roofs or
doing interior work, but again, that's
part of why um, my position exists and
uh, why the Historic Preservation
Committee exists as well. Um, so I the
process for the city-owned properties,
it does not impact them at all. Um,
city-owned buildings, all
the two city-owned buildings that were
nominated this year are already under an
overlay ordinance that requires them to
go through design review. So, they are
not impacted as well. However, that may
change in the future. We may nominate
privately-owned buildings that would
require their owners to go through
design review. And that is part of
why we're acknowledging this building's
history. Part of designating them is is
stating to the public that we view these
buildings as important and worthy of
preservation. And so, it's important to
maintain some of those material
connections that make the building's
story apparent to everybody.
Great.
Thanks.
Councilor Matias.
Caitlin, would you be willing you know,
the History Club does does presentations
at Good Samaritan and I think they're
starting it up in late August or
September. Would you be willing to give
this presentation if I get a hold of you
and set it up?
Mayor, Councilor Matias, um, I am giving
a presentation on local register uh, or
local sorry, not local register, local
historic buildings, um, to the to the
Historic Preservation, sorry, to the
Doña Ana County Historical Society.
I believe that's in November, but I will
get back to you and uh, yeah, I'd love
to talk more about these buildings.
Yeah, maybe we can pitch you other play
I mean, it's really great stuff, you
know. I'm sure somebody's going to be
say to me, "Were you there when Teddy
Roosevelt showed up?" But,
um
it really is good stuff, and I really
appreciate your presentation today. Very
meaningful. Thank you.
Councilor McClear.
Just a quick thank you. I know that you
guys have worked really hard, you
Caitlin, but also the Historic
Preservation Committee that has kind of
moved a lot of this forward to kind of
show what how the city wants to value
its its history. And I think a lot of
people kind of glossed that over, but it
is something very fundamental to the
core of who we are and where we're
going. What does it look like to
to save these buildings? What does it
look like to take care of them? And I
really appreciate the hard work that you
and the committee have done over the
past year. Thank you.
Mayor Pro Tem.
Thank you, Mayor. Uh I can confirm that
I've seen pictures of Councilor Matice
and Teddy Roosevelt, or at least
somebody who looked like him.
[laughter]
Um
Dr. Beasley,
what's the process, and again, thank you
again. I think
cuz you know, I just want to say thank
you for preserving our our history and
our culture. But, what what is the
process? Is this a yearly process or
quarterly process?
Um how do you go about uh nominating or
looking at a a specific property?
Mayor Councilor Buñuelos, um thank you
for the question.
Uh
for now, we're trying to make it more of
an annual thing. Part of it is bringing
attention um in one big uh
historic preservation committee meeting
and then at City Council as opposed to
individually throughout the year. Um so,
that's one one thing that we're aiming
to do moving forward. Um the process
has been very time-consuming. Um I've uh
participated with
um nominations to the National Register,
and I know that it is a very
time-consuming process regardless of
what historic register a nomination is
going towards. Um for the local level I
would say especially for these
properties um
the information the amount of
information that we have for most of
them is is staggering and so part of it
is just writing it and putting it
together into one document. Um and of of
course we we left out things, right?
Everybody has a story with all of these
buildings I think and and unfortunately
we couldn't capture everything. Um but I
I hope that we did a good enough job.
Thank you. Thank you, Mayor.
Okay, Lynn. Thank you. Thank you very
much for acknowledging and preserving
our history here in Las Cruces. This
wonderful presentation.
[snorts]
Now I think we vote on each one
individually. Christine, we'll need a
on 8.3.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-022.
Council McClare?
Yes.
Council Matias?
Yes.
Council Harris?
Yes.
Council Bencomo?
Yes.
Council Curran?
Yes.
Council Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Now we need a motion and a second for
each of them and vote on each of them
individually.
Move to approve 8.4 27-023.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-023.
Council McClare?
I got you.
I Too many people might have their mics
on.
Yes.
Okay.
Council Matias?
Yes.
Council Harris?
Yes.
Council Bencomo?
Yes.
Council Curran?
Yes.
Council Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Point of clarification,
did we need to move we had suspended the
rules earlier
or we can move forward. Okay, thank you.
And now we need a motion for and a
second for 8.5.
So moved.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-024.
Councilor Maclear?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councilor Curran?
Yes.
Councilor Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Uh resolution just to approve number 27
025.
Need a motion.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-025.
Councilor Maclear?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councilor Curran?
Yes.
Councilor Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Item 8.7, need a motion.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 27-026.
Councilor Maclear?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councilor Curran?
Yes.
Councilor Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
So next we'll move into board
appointments.
[clears throat]
The first one I'll read into the record,
counselor Mayor Pro Tem Muñoz appoint to
the Metro Narcotics Board.
On the next one I'll need a motion and a
second and a vote is required for Tanner
Gusky, uh new appointment to the
Historic Preservation Committee.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Tanner
Gusky to the Historic Preservation
Committee.
Councilor McClare?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Ben Como?
Yes.
Councilor Currin?
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
The next one is Santo Hernandez, a new
appointment to the ADA Advisory
Committee.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Santos
Hernandez to the ADA Advisory Committee.
Councilor McClare?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Ben Como?
Yes.
Councilor Currin?
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Next is Jennifer Gates reappointment to
the ASCMV.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to reappoint
Jennifer Gates to the ASCMV.
Councilor McClare?
Yes.
Councilor Matice?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Ben Como?
Yes.
Councilor Currin?
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Next we'll move to the notice of
proposed ordinances. We have one, it's
Council Bill number 27-005,
Ordinance number 3121, an ordinance
approving a zoning map amendment from
neighborhood one suburb
suburban to commercial real
retail
suburban for [snorts] a property
encompassing approximately 0.987 acres
located at 1240 South Valley Drive.
Bring forward.
Now we'll go to a City Council
member board reports and comments.
Councilor McLerk.
Thank you, Mayor. I have a couple of
things that I wanted to bring up.
Um
I want to give my thanks to the Garrison
Commander at White Sands Missile Range.
Councilor Matice, Councilor Harris, and
myself went out there to kind of talk
about what collaboration might look like
going forward. There was used to be a
very strong sort of bond between the
city and White Sands Missile Range.
Um in particular, help for their Bataan
Memorial Death March.
That's kind of they they need
volunteers. This is going to be my first
plug for this, but definitely something
that they want to do.
Um there might be other opportunities as
well, but that's going to be more of a
city-led thing than perhaps even a
council-led thing.
Um I also wanted to talk about just
briefly um
my fifth police ride-along. It's been my
fourth one that I did with Las Cruces
Police. Um and in particular, going
along to witness the Nuisance Abatement
Team um as they kind of checked out a
house to see what was happening there.
And just recognizing that it's just such
a difficult job to kind of
um make things are sure up to code, but
also give a lot of grace to the people
who are trying to.
And that's not an easy job, and I just
very much thank them for doing what they
do.
Um we saw also a lot of other different
things. This was Councilman
Harris and Mayor Pro Tem Munoz and I
went in separate vehicles to different
locations here in town just to kind of
get a sense of it. Um, which has been
different than what I've done in the
past where you know, you ride along with
somebody for a couple hours and just
encounter what happens. This was a
little bit more dedicated to seeing what
happens all over town, what they see,
especially from a community engagement
perspective.
Um, it was a police heavy week because
we also had the town hall as well. And I
thought that was an interesting um
chance to kind of listen to a wide
variety of requests. Like I just sent
off an email saying, you know, the dog
park lighting is one thing that we're
you know, worried about. But then sort
of a more philosophical conversation
happened about um
someone who had just moved here and they
had their car broken into and this was a
couple years ago. And they couldn't
leave and they didn't know anybody in
town. So, they couldn't leave their car,
they couldn't get anywhere. And as much
as I always hear, we are very friendly
town, but it takes a long time to
establish a network of people that you
can trust and rely on.
And I think we can be that. So, I I I'd
like to kind of I know send that email
to Chief Story at some point later this
week to kind of what does that look
like? Can the community advocates reach
out if they know, hey, we have a couple
bunch of different other calls. Can we
have community community advocates
basically say, hey,
is there anything you need right now
because it's going to take our officers
a little bit longer to get to you. So,
things like that made that pretty
valuable. Um, I I also want to give
kudos to I think Lieutenant Bradley who
next next table next to us was working
with someone who you know, was very in
his feels and then you know, at the very
end he said, you know, I usually walk
away from this very agitated, a very
angry and I felt better today. And I
just thought that was a that was a win
even if we couldn't solve it in that
moment.
Um
lastly, I I just want to give a short
kudos to utilities. Partially because I
work more from home in general. Um and I
just want to say that there's a lot of
work that happens that we don't see. And
the one that I got reminded of is that
we had a big I have a 70-year-old palm
tree and we have fronds that come off
all the time. I put them in a little
stack and they came and they took it all
away. And better than that, they pulled
the whole thing up and they said, "You
know what? Oh, there's a couple more
fronds. I'll pick them up."
They didn't have to. They could have
said, "Well, that's that's one per go."
No, they they do that extra effort. And
I think there's a lot of conversation
about utilities where we don't recognize
if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen
for us and it makes our city less. And
it makes it our quality life less. So, I
want to thank utilities and send my
thanks back to you for doing the things
that people just don't see. So,
that's all I have for today. Thank you.
Thank you, Counselor Matias.
Thank you, Mayor. I have a few things.
I'd like to comment on that town hall
meeting as well. Um it it was very
informative. It was good for me to hear
from constituents. There's still a lot
of uh
uh crap and crime going on. We have had
people complaining about their mailboxes
and
getting ripped off and some vandalism
and
some aggressive behavior at at different
places in the city of Las Cruces, but
you know, we're addressing it.
But I think what they all what was
common in their comments
was the the repeat offenders.
You know, whereas all these folks uh
were very
they they they knew these people had
just
done it before,
come back out and they do it again.
They'd done it and they do it again.
They they just keep coming back
committing the same vandalism,
committing the same problems.
Um and maybe Chief Story can get with
with the council. Maybe we can have a
work session on on this, but these
repeat offenders have to be arrested.
Somehow it it just has to stop. They
they just can't keep going out to the
city and
and and and vandalizing and stealing
people's mail and things like that. So,
that that was an eye-opener getting
comments really from
uh the people that have been victimized.
Uh
and and and they are victims and and
their property is getting damaged, their
trucks are getting stolen.
And and maybe we could address the the
repeat offender system. Maybe somebody
Connie or
uh Brad or somebody could sit with me
and tell me what's happening in the in
the courts, you know, what why are these
people have 15, 20, 30 arrests?
That that
that's
or they don't get arrested. They they
just get slapped on the hand and they're
put back out on the street. So,
maybe we maybe we could address that.
Um, I like to thank some people. Jimmy
Moreno, David Sedillo, Sonia Delgado.
You know, there's a lot of I'm sorry I
email you so often about fixing this and
pothole there and broken that and trees
taken down some wires and all, but every
time I call
I just want to say thank you for for
really quick response and and and these
neighbors have called me
and they're really impressed with how
how quick that
that you all are fixing things. So, I I
just want to say appreciate you and I'll
just keep emailing you.
Um, on on the third item it it's kind of
a sensitive item. Um,
you know, I've been getting calls about
these uh
uh violations that we had open meeting
violations and of course they were kind
of um
okayed by the justice department that
they weren't violations, but when I when
I went through all these uh
public safety this this secret select
committee meetings um
and I want to thank Christine for being
so
honest and and and and and get me as
much as I can. I couldn't get any
discussion by the way, but when you look
at when you look at the topics that were
discussed
by people like Gabe Vasquez,
Yagashima,
Giles Ortega, you know, we've had some
attendees. I believe my
my and they were attending because of
course the mayor put it together
and said let's let's get together and
you know, it's not a quorum
because it's just two of you.
And they discussed things like the
liability fund,
the DWI and cannabis, the strategic plan
for the future, future budget of the
city of Las Cruces,
body cam changes and civil rights act.
They even had Larry Horan come in and
speak. They talked about homelessness.
I mean citizen police oversight board. I
think even one of the former
uh police chiefs attended it. I I
believe Dominguez.
And none of this was done in a work
session and I just want to say
I want to thank uh
I just really want to thank our mayor
now.
Eric that
you know, we got to repeal this this
kind of nonsense.
And Chad and everyone and now we're
transparent. And now we're doing
everything in work session. So, if
there's any people out there, you you
don't have to keep emailing me or coming
up to me saying what are you going to do
about those private meetings?
Uh they they were handled.
They
they they got a decision from from from
state of New Mexico that they they
weren't totally uh an April violation.
Christine cleaned it up.
Got it to where it's
legal, transparent, and it's all good.
And I think with this particular council
as Corrine said uh
some of us didn't most of us did not
attend any of these meetings. We're
We're new to this system of transparency
and we'll stay that way.
Thank you, mayor.
Thank you, Councillor Harris.
Thanks, mayor. I have a variety of
things in maybe no particular order.
First thing I want to remind people
about is that we're ongoing in the
strategic plan public input meetings.
The one for District 3 is tomorrow
evening at Lynn Middle School. So, I
hope to see you there.
Um
Also want to it's it's been a busy
couple of weeks for meetings and tours
and stuff. So, I also want to thank the
staff at Wismer for inviting us down.
Also for taking us through the museum
and seeing what they're doing there.
That was we just had a history
presentation. That was all quite
interesting.
Um LCBD community outreach officers for
our ride-along.
That was also very eye-opening and
and good to see
some of the stuff that we're dealing
with.
Um and then also
I went with Councillor Corrine to South
Central Solid Waste which speaking of
invisible tasks that get done every day
and if they don't get done the city
would completely fall apart. That's
right up there with them.
So, it was it was great to see, you
know, the staff was all extremely proud
of the things that they do, extremely
knowledgeable.
That operation is very professionally
run and
you know, it was just just very very
interesting and and great to see what
we're doing there. So, as a reminder, uh
please keep recyclables in the recycling
bin and pay attention to the little sign
on top. Um it causes everybody great
strife when there is contamination in
those bins.
Um
on the uh on the police town hall, um
one of the one of the big issues that
actually came up in the District 3 table
was uh traffic. And
um there's, you know, we have several
very high-speed roads in there.
And, you know, everyone kind of comes to
these things with with different
perspectives and different concerns. Um
but that was that was a common theme at
the District 3 table. Um
you know, people are concerned about
kids waiting for school buses, crossing
Roadrunner to get to the school. Um
And
um you know, the officers were very
up-front that
enforcement doesn't really solve the
problem.
And, you know, that's that's what people
were there at the police department town
hall to ask for is more traffic
enforcement. And they're like, "Hey,
like we can do that and it affects the
people who get tickets and the people
who see other people getting tickets.
And anyone who wasn't in that area at
the time
doesn't get affected. And and so
fundamentally, you know, I think we we
need to continue to look beyond that. Um
and at the structural issues that are in
our roads and our built environments.
When public works is considering new
roads or extending roads, um
you know, maybe we don't need the third
lane or maybe that third lane should be
a dedicated bus lane. Um
and and just really trying to get on top
of this issue, you know, at the root. Um
likewise, uh there's things that can be
done like within neighborhoods.
Um one of the neighborhoods in in
District 3 where there's almost
people have almost certainly run into a
bunch of walls all the time. Those walls
are now brightly painted with lovely
murals from that the neighborhood put
together to maybe remind you to stop at
the stop sign.
Um there's other interesting things that
we can do um
you know, instead of just putting this
whole burden on the police department.
Um cuz we have 587 miles of roads. That
was a very specific number, don't quote
me on that. 500 and some odd.
Um and and and officers can't be
everywhere all the time.
Um
and uh finally, I just this came up um
in the last work session and it also
came up a little bit at the town hall.
Um but the use of surveillance
technologies by the police um by other
places within the city.
Um I think we have some policies, our
department has been thinking about it.
Uh they're working on some transparency
measures to make sure that people know
um you know, what these technologies
are,
what the cameras really are looking at,
what they can and cannot do. Um and I
appreciate those efforts and I also
think that we should be looking forward
to
comprehensive
you know, city level policies on just
how how the city's going to navigate
these new technologies. Every department
um not just police,
you know, everyone who uses these
things. It's building services, it's
economic development, it's parks and
rec. Um
it's traffic.
So
um yeah, it's it's a big it's a big
thing. That's all I got. Thanks, mayor.
Thank you. Counselor Rincón.
Thank you, mayor. Yes, I'm excited to
hear a couple of uh trends come out of
the LCPD town hall meeting, which again
I also want to express my gratitude for
the invitation. I especially want to
thank Lieutenant Austin and sergeant
Sergeant Rogers. I think we made a
pretty good team. Um, I actually wanted
to go through my list of a couple of
things folks brought up because I
thought it was, you know, a great
uh
uh set up to be able to have
conversations with folks and um for
community members to get to know each
other. There's faces there that come to
everything and there was people there
that are like, "This is my first one of
these ever." Right and so it was very
um like community building. But folks
brought up
um someone who um
is at the senior programs who talks said
that often seniors
um are complaining about the lack of
response from the non-emergency number,
which I think is very good kind of
feedback to receive. Um I know that
we've had issues with that in the past
with 911 and the non-emergency numbers,
but wanted to lift that up as it
continues to happen.
A neighbor from the Casalena
um
neighborhood who is requesting more
drainage support from all the all the
waters and so David, I think if that we
just Yeah, thank you. I think we just
put some of those neighborhoods in on a
priority list to often check back in
after heavy rains.
Um folks brought up issues of safety at
parks for example and it's really
interesting when I have conversations
with people face-to- more in a
one-to-one or face-to-face type of
conversation.
Um even though someone might
automatically want to go to
criminalization the moment they are sort
of provided with alternatives like um
increased outreach and peer-to-peer
support programs, people are really open
to that. And so I I I found that um
really encouraging um a way to have
conversations with people that move away
from just solely criminalization. We had
someone there who is a behavioral health
expert and she was there with Soterria
House, um, who provide mental health
services for community. Um, a woman who
asked about ICE enforcement and the kind
of, um, you know, LCPD's role. And so,
um, Lieutenant Austin was able to
reiterate our city policy. Um, issues of
traffic safety and, um, pedestrian
safety came up. And, I think to your
point, Counselor Harris, this is one of
the things that, you know, a lot
multiple folks brought up as being
issues in their neighborhood and their
community.
Um, and just general beautification and
more traffic safety, and um, there was
also a conversa- a pretty good
conversation about surveillance
technology, which I want to get into.
But, before that, I did want to provide
just one piece of feedback for LCPD, or
really all staff. There were folks in my
group that were hard of hearing, and so
that sort of setup was difficult for
people. And so, for us to just be aware
of people's,
um, that people have different abilities
when coming into a space like that. And
so, it was hard for folks who were hard
of hearing to fully engage in the
conversation. So, just a little piece of
feedback for future, um, the organizing
of those meetings.
Um, yeah, the surveillance conversation,
um, did have a bit of a moment there.
And honestly, I think beyond what we
hear hear hear sometimes, I I do hear
from folks in the community about
concerns they have regarding
surveillance and Flock. And so, you
know, just to, um, really go off and
ditto what Counselor Harris is saying
that I think Las Cruces could really
have some model legislation that can,
um, be holding this conversation
responsibly. I understand that even if I
advocated for us to remove Flock, that I
would probably be in the minority. And
so, if that is not the correct pathway,
then we must we absolutely must adopt
model legislation that helps
um
with people's concerns regarding
surveillance. And I think often we can
come at it from a point of safety, like
what happened at Young Park and those
kinds of things. I also hope that we can
come to this conversation with the
concern that a lot of historically
targeted communities might have.
Immigrants,
um people seeking reproductive justice,
I don't know, people on the far left
terrorist list that now exist. Whatever
the case may be, I think there are very
legitimate concerns for people to have
um around this. And so I do want to
encourage us to and I'm glad Counselor
Harris is working on it on model
legislation. Um Chief Story and
Lieutenant Bradley were able to tell me
that they the LCPD is working on
launching a public transparency portal
for Flock, which I think is very
important. I've spoken with the city
clerk about
our internal audits. I know that our
welcoming city resolution that we
improved in October had a piece about
it, uh had a piece of audits in it. And
I've asked for us to really look at that
and and see if there have been requests
by either federal law enforcement
agencies or out of state law enforcement
agencies that have asked for um
surveillance and data from Las Cruces
Police Department or the or the city of
Las Cruces as a whole. And so I think
those audits are important and that we
are transparent with them. So those
things are really important to me and I
do think that that conversation we had
with IUR last week about if these are
here to stay, then we need to be
responsible stewards of these
technologies. And I do think there are
ways
that many cities are taking on to to be
responsible stewards.
The last thing I wanted to lift up was
that this weekend I attended the Alameda
Neighborhood Association meeting. And
one of the things that I promised them I
would bring up today was
um
they're requesting
four-way stops around the J. Paul Taylor
Academy schools. And
the reason I wanted to bring this up
during comments today was because I know
we're Excuse me, we're headed into a
work session on traffic safety.
But this is I had brought this issue up
before where it feels like sometimes
there's a disconnect between what
neighborhoods residents in neighborhoods
are experiencing with traffic versus
potentially what the data is that is
driving public works to make certain
decisions. I feel like there's a
disconnect and we have to figure out a
way to better address some of those
concerns, but I did want to lift up the
issues around J. Paul Taylor Academy and
the the pedestrian safety issues that
they they are raising now given the
different um in configuration of the
stop signs there. So, thank you very
much and that is it for me.
Thank you, Counselor Carrillo.
Thank you. Um
I think I'll go backwards from Well,
I'll go in some order related to this. I
uh also want to thank LCPD and the the
team of officers that joined in my group
My group also sort of
um broke off because it was very hard a
little bit hard to hear in the in the
big room because everyone was so
enthusiastically participating, which
was a really great dynamic. So, so
um
uh
the the biggest things that came up in
my group again were tra- number one
thing was related to traffic and I think
speaking to this idea of one of the
things was Sonoma Ranch Boulevard, the
most
one of the top three most discussed
um roads in my district as far as speed
and
enforcement and engineering and the ways
that we're thinking about this. Um
but I do think I I know I think that
that's coming up in a few weeks and and
hopefully you all can can give us a
reminder of when the work session is
related to traffic calming and and the
conversations that we have with
communities, but I do know that that's a
big topic. That was a huge topic in the
conversation. Um and thank you to the
officers for really talking about the
types of enforcement that they've
experienced and the a similar
perspective that that we could help with
different kinds of interventions as
well. So, um thank you to all the
residents that participated as in that
in those conversations.
I also want to thank the residents and
the consultants and the city staff who
worked to put on what we uh
Mayor Pro Tem Muñoz and I shared a
uh
strategic planning workshop on Thursday
night that was really well attended and
people had really interesting and
enthusiastic inputs both um in the big
picture and they a lot of them did write
a lot of reflective notes that that I I
know the consultants are going to work
on compiling and and coming back to. And
so, participants, just to encourage
other people to come to these meetings
if you have an opportunity. Participants
are both asked to sort of think on your
feet to if you have money, how will you
spend it? What are your big priorities?
But then also reflect on what you wish
for in Las Cruces, what you hope for.
And there are opportunities to talk to
your neighbors, to quietly reflect
yourself, to sort of
get together with a gang of people if
you feel so possessed. And those spaces
are really cool to think about talking
how about how the city can grow in the
next two to five years and what we
really need to prioritize. And so, I
hope uh those of you who didn't
who whose district meetings haven't
occurred yet, I hope that you'll
consider going to one of the upcoming
ones that I know are happening this
week. Um
it was really powerful and and the
residents were really excited to be
participating and I was happy just to be
observing and and
eavesdropping occasionally, but not not
uh bringing my full boss
energy, dangerous boss energy, whatever
that is.
Um
So, thank you to everyone who was
involved in both of those town hall
meetings and the engagement process that
happened. I
um
also do want to
I I'm I'm here with
uh
Councilor Harris and Councilor Bencomo
on the flock question that that did come
up in our conversation and it's coming
up in
many letters from constituents, folks
asking what are we doing and I do
I would like for us to be able to have a
I I am confident that we are
reflecting on this and thinking about
how to balance people's privacy and
boundaries and safety and addressing new
technology. I think we can do this in a
way that that serves the most people in
our city and I think um I I hear folks
who who have been making their voices
heard in those all of those forums and
in other forums that we've been hearing.
So, I support that ongoing conversation
and and however we we might be able to
develop legislation that can help with
that.
Uh
I also appreciate the South Central
Solid Waste folks who who
the tour was was amazing to see both um
how
much work it goes into thinking about
our trash every day and then the ways
that they're South Central is really
thinking about um
how to make this better. So, a few
things that came from this. One is that
there will be a new transfer station at
uh on the northeast end of town. So,
they're working on building that as we
it the plans are already in. They're
working on building that out as we speak
and that will make a huge difference for
um
how much trash has to move to certain
places and I think for in particular
um commercial developers, um people who
produce a lot of trash as a matter of
their jobs, this new location will make
a big difference in terms of ease of use
and,
um,
applicability to taking it to wherever
it's end end location is, be that
recycling or or to the landfill, which
we also, um,
got to got to check out, which was
really,
um,
it's super interesting to see and and
hear and see the care that Carlos gives
gives that space, um,
and the way that we've we've developed
the South Central Solid Waste has, I
think is I think the model for the the
state of New Mexico, like many,
um,
sort of
things Las Cruces does well, I think
this is one of them. I heard that folks
from they said that folks from
Albuquerque are frequently coming down
to tour
the the facilities that we have and, um,
uh, so, I appreciate their pride of work
and ownership of of all that goes into
that. And yeah, contamination, the
number one thing we found we heard that
contaminates uh, recycling bins is
actually adult diapers, which is a
really interesting
commentary on on what's happening with
our recycling. I I thought I I I know
that Brandy is thinking a lot about that
and how to reduce that contamination. I
think she might actually be visiting
people who who put those in the trash
bin sometimes. Um,
so, so, uh,
really interesting service that goes
completely un- unnoticed as it as it
functions in such a positive way in our
in our community. So, thank you to those
who made that that, um, tour happen.
And that's that's all I have for today.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.
Thank you, Mayor.
I also want to say thank you to the
police department for the ride-along
that, uh, we took with the councilors.
The police department have a very
difficult job and I appreciate the care
that they took to respect individual
liberties and rights and how they
interact with
um even we saw the interaction with some
of the
neighborhood residents and
the folks were very comfortable in
talking talking to uh police personnel
and very comfortable and um
obviously what they were looking for
solutions as well.
Um we also uh encountered um
some unhoused individuals and there's a
great deal of of work to do there as
well.
Um
so you know I I think that we can all
agree that this is um
one of the you know more significant
issues here in our community and working
together we should be able to find some
good solutions.
I've also um enjoyed the the town hall
uh the
uh it's a it's it's something to see how
different district to district it can
be. You know the uh issues that came up
in in our focus group with uh the police
town hall
um was that were the speedways that we
have on Sonoma.
Uh and at Roadrunner and 70 how fast
cars just you know zip through there
during the day and also in the evening.
So obviously it's very dangerous
um for the folks that are racing their
cars down Roadrunner but also dangerous
uh
for residents who might be walking or
jogging or taking their dogs out at that
time of of the night. So um
I'm sure the the the police officers at
at our table uh obviously had some very
difficult questions and I commend them
because they did a good job of of
working with and and having a good
conversation with the the residents as
well.
Um on the town on the focus groups again
um
Council Curran mentioned that I enjoyed
those as well and
encourage other residents to attend the
ones that are coming. Appreciate the
staff that that have coordinated those
sessions day and night. I know it's
extra work to do that during the
evening.
And I appreciate just the flexibility of
of the staff. The more input
and feedback that we can get is
important. And obviously feedback
sometimes is hard
and but it is important. I've been
married for 25 years now on the 5th of
this month and sometimes I get feedback
hourly. So
it's just helps us
as it should be.
And so that that's just helps us grow.
It helps us grow.
You know, and I also attended the
business
session as as well. Very good good
feedback there also.
Want to highlight um
Chris and his team for some of the work
that they're doing and there was that
was positive. Obviously uh always asking
for more and they would like to see a
you know a continued
speedy permit processes but overall just
excellent in in the progress that you've
made. Also some of the feedback included
more of a presence from economic
development and and other pieces. I'll
share some of that feedback but
that was that was pretty good. I don't
know that we completely have the power
to bring Trader Joe's
into the city.
If if we did, my preference would be to
bring back Sunshine Groceries or the
Mountain View Co-op.
And and also in power no power to bring
or to stop or kill. So um
that that's important that's important
feedback.
The the other
feedback that I'd remember also from um
from the business focus group our focus
groups again all focused in on on the
unhoused but some some areas included
things like um
things for young people to do to recruit
businesses
um for young adults for children
um
ranging from you know what the medians
look like to um
just either nightlife or just uh
amenities for the city. So overall good
good feedback looking forward to to
getting a
a debrief and read out from from the
staff
and then you know taking some action uh
there as well but um again overall very
productive the last couple of weeks and
uh looking forward to more more feedback
from the following sessions that come in
this week. Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you.
I also want to say thank you to Chief
Story and the Las Cruces Police
Department for hosting the public safety
town hall.
But also I want to say thank you to
council.
[snorts]
Everyone was there in attendance. It was
100% attendance.
Uh
I was extremely proud to see you all
there and say that it shows that we care
and we hear we're here to listen to our
uh residents and try to make uh
Las Cruces a safer place and work
alongside with the police department.
And I was pleasantly surprised to see
the state police also in attendance
because uh
I was one that works uh in the fire
service in northern New Mexico Rio
Arriba County and I went to an event in
Chimayo
and I saw like seven or 10 state police
officers there. And I told Captain White
the other night
how is it that I see more presence of
state police in northern New Mexico than
southern New Mexico? And and he shared
it's the same everywhere. It's uh the
recruitment and retention is difficult.
It's It's a difficult throughout our
state and there are limited resources as
well, but he complimented Las Cruces
Police Department, uh Doña Ana County
Sheriff's Department on having such a
strong force in law enforcement here in
this area that more of the resources go
to smaller communities throughout the
state. But recruitment, retention is
difficult and is a challenge for all law
enforcement. So, when we talk about
flock, we talk about drones, we talk
about innovation and technology,
uh it's much needed to fill those gaps
and to find those resources, but we do
have to do it in a respectful way that
uh
ensures the privacy for our residents,
but also that officer safety and
community safety is what we need.
Um as far as the traffic calming, uh we
are bringing a work session. It'll be
August 24th and that's when the traffic
calming uh
work session will take place.
I also wanted to share that this weekend
I was able to speak at the Pinnacle
Institute graduation on Saturday. It was
held at the Rio Grande Theatre.
Uh our city manager, Connie Tammel Piao,
and our public health coordinator,
Anthony Turner, were also in attendance.
Pinnacle Institute is uh
an institute that provides health
care certifications from
programs ranging from the pharmacy,
dental, EKG, coding for billing, but
much more provides opportunities for
members of our community to get a
certification and get a move on maybe a
healthcare career. And this are These
are great opportunities
um that that I applaud Dr. Peterson for
his vision to give individuals an
opportunity, but to make our city
healthier. And that that was great to be
a part of. So, just wanted to share that
with you all. Thank you.
And now uh city manager.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez. City Council,
I'm Tony Tam Ma Piao, city manager. Just
have a few announcements.
Um thank you, Councilmember Becomo, for
bringing to our attention Casa Linda.
There was triage after the last heavy
rains and other areas had to be hit
first, but that is on the streets uh
itinerary and schedule for this
Wednesday to be vacuumed for all
standing water. So, thank you to public
works uh for getting that done to
streets.
Um
Council, we were here about 2 weeks ago
and I appreciate the dialogue that
happened. Uh many of you uh noticed that
the STRAP plan uh community meetings and
listening sessions were planned during
the day and um and you all uh encouraged
staff to look and pivot and change that
so it could happen after work. Uh and
so, thank you for sharing that. Uh I
appreciate staff that was able to pivot.
Thank you to community engagement and to
community development for making that
happen. Uh Mandy Leatherwood and Katrina
Godinez and and Chris Favor, thank you
for pivoting and getting those six
public meetings uh set after hours. Um
we as as mentioned, District 5 and 6 met
um
just this past week, but we have five
more
uh coming up and I'd like to read some
of those. Um I I do want to share when
it if you are the type that is
incentivized by great refreshments, uh
a delicious uh Michelin star meal, this
is the place.
Um it almost seemed like we weren't in
budget cuts when I saw these
refreshments. Um, I literally asked
staff, I asked staff, no joke, um,
"Where's this budget coming from?" And I
think the response was, "You know, this
happens only 5 or 6 years, so residents
residents have to be treated because
they've been waiting 5 or 6 years for
this plan. It doesn't happen every
year." Uh, but to that end, council, you
will not have any
uh, any community outreach budget left
in your,
um, in your budget after this. So,
there's a trade-off on that. So, uh, but
I I I do mean that to, um,
uh, thank you to, um, to those making it
happen. That just speaks to the to, um,
to the testament,
uh, of staff to ensure that everyone
feels comfortable, um,
and making sure that everyone's uh, well
fed, whether it's is through knowledge,
um,
and uh, physically through, uh, through
the meals. So, up upcoming August
on August 3rd at 6:00, which is today,
at 6:00 to 7:30, District 1, uh,
Roadrunner Room at the Brannigan
Library. That is today again at 6:00 to
7:30. August 4th, tomorrow, 6:00 to
7:30, District 3 at Lynn Middle School.
August 5th, 6:00 to 7:30, District 2,
Frank O'Brien Papen Center. And then
August 6th, 6:00 p.m. to 7:30,
District 4, WIA Building. So, expect uh,
great refreshments and beverages, um,
of of all types on that.
In addition to
to that,
we, um,
we also have focus groups. Thank you,
um, many of counselors mentioned that,
and there's three focus groups that are
happening that are niched. Um, we had a
youth group. We had 25 teenagers, so
kudos to, um, to youth coming out to to
speak to the strap plan, also to the
businesses, and then we have a community
impact meeting later this week as well.
Um in addition to on Saturday, we had
farmers market. We had our our strat
team out there along with our public
health um coordinator meeting with the
residents, and it was a great turnout,
too. So, just wanted to report back to
you, council that staff is doing
everything
um that we can to ensure that every
every one hears about this um cuz it's
only every 5 6 years that this occurs.
So, thank you for your understanding and
and the dialogue to pivot, and thank you
to staff on working on that. Um
additionally, we've had heavy rains as
as you know, counts um some of council
have have already shared. I do want to
give kudos to our team of public works
streets um
Lucio Sandoval in traffic uh Sugo,
there's there's um
where you know,
there's always more staff that we need,
but our our our crew, as small as they
are, um we're out there working late
nights, um early mornings to ensure that
traffic lights and and streets are
maintained. If we have to bring out
heavy equipment, so thank you. Your work
um does not go unnoticed. So, thank you
uh for that. Just wanted to say kudos to
the team on that.
And
[clears throat]
just wanted to share um some last parks
and rec items. We have sand volleyball,
great turnout. Had over 70 high school
students participating in our recent
evening tournaments. So, great job to
our rec team. After school program
registration remains open for elementary
students, kindergarten through fifth
grade. At select school sites, parents
can register online at lascruces.gov
/play or by calling our office at
575-541-2550.
Movies in the park,
please head over to Young Park this
Saturday, August 8th at dusk for a free
screening of Goat. Attendees are
encouraged to dress as their favorite
athlete or wear their favorite team
jersey.
Last music in the park, join us this
Sunday, August 9th at Young Park
starting at 7:00 p.m. for live
performance by Pizza Bones Trio and
Retros
Retros with a Z.
Bring a lawn chair or blanket and enjoy
the evening. That is all, Mayor. Thank
you.
Thank you, Connie. With that,
I'll look for a motion to adjourn.
Move to adjourn.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting. Counselor Maclear?
Yes.
Counselor Matice?
Yes.
Counselor Harris?
Yes.
Counselor Bencomo?
Yes.
Counselor Curran?
Yes.
Counselor Munoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.