Well, good afternoon everyone. Welcome
to the city council meeting today. Today
is Monday, September 15, 2025. It's
approximately 100 p.m. I am Mayor Eric
Enriquez. Before we start, I want to
mention that we have the ASL, American
Sign Language over here in the front. Uh
they're here at every one of our regular
council meetings and if anyone requires
interpretation, services are available.
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 Cruus Police and Los Cus's
Fire Department as they keep our city
safe 247 365.
Councelor Graham, if you lead us in the
pledge.
To the flag of the United States of
America and to the
stands nation,
indivisible
and justice for all.
[Applause]
Thank you students for being here today
and joining us in the pledge of
allegiance. It really made it great.
That was awesome. Can you be here in two
weeks?
Okay, we'll we'll start out with uh some
presentations
uh certif certificates and
proclamations.
So, the first thing we have today is a
recognition of the mayor's top teens.
So, it's it's a privilege and it's an
honor to keep this going and continuing
for our students, those that will be
graduating from our local high schools
that have overcome adversity and and um
still maintain their grades and excel in
activities throughout the community and
the school that they participate in and
everything that they do. I'd like to
call up uh Ronnie Veronica Ronnie Medina
to to come up. She's a sponsor and she
can talk a little bit more of the
mayor's top team. Again, I'm very proud
of these students and I'm honored to
have it called the mayor's top team.
Thank you.
Good afternoon everybody. My name is
Veronica Ardina. I am the president of
the mayor's top teams. The mayor's top
team was started in 2007
2008 by Bill Matise.
He was
he was our mayor at that time and he
brought in this uh thing and we've been
going on for 18 years uh with these
children. Uh they were little little
guys uh when it started. Some were just
barely born I think.
Yeah. Yeah. And uh but uh it's been a
good program. Uh I'd like to thank uh
Bill Matis for starting this. I'd like
to thank the mayor, the president, mayor
here who continued with it and the mayor
before he
got it and continued. So it's been going
on for a lot of years. Uh these are
students that have
if if I may, um we had a great council.
It was all seven of us. I mean, we
worked hard. And then the Optimus Club,
it was is quite a joint venture. So,
thanks for the honors and and thank you
for the applause.
And thank you again, Mr. Matis.
Uh uh anyway, these kids have had uh
hardships in life, have had struggles in
life at such a young life. uh they've
come through and they're staying in
their in school having their uh 3 point
G uh PS on uh and they're doing great.
Uh want to say you're very proud of them
and uh like I say this is your 18th year
of this group of children. Uh the each
one of them will come up here say their
name and what school they are at right
now. These are our seniors, our future
people of the city of Los Cusus. Okay,
guys, you can stand up and start coming
up.
[Applause]
My name is Sophia Amato and I'm from Las
Cruises High School.
[Applause]
My name is Anna Armenta and I am from
Mayfield High School.
[Applause]
My name is Mia Burkson and I'm from
Oregon Mountain High School.
My name is Isan Baka. I am from
Centennial High School.
My name is Samuel Bay and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
My name is Samantha Brasher and I'm from
Los Cusus High School.
My name is Kinley Cartrite and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
[Applause]
My name is Ella Clemens and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
[Applause]
My name is Edin Deleon and I'm from
Morgan Mountain High School.
My name is Charlotte Dennis and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
My name is Alexa Edmonson and I'm from
Oregon Mountain High School.
My name is Josiah Strada and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
My name is Maisie Japel and I'm from
Oregon Mountain High School.
My name is Lacy Knight and I am from Los
Cusus High School.
My name is Riley Cutnak and I'm from
Centennial High School.
My name is Luke Mley and I'm from
Centennial High School.
My name is Miles Odum and I'm from
Mayfield High School.
My name is Arabella Richardson and I'm
from Mayfield High School.
My name is Archer Scott. I'm from Organ
Mountain High School.
My name is Amy Sheen and I'm from
Centennial High School.
My name is Eleanor Warden and I'm from
Oregon Mountain High School.
My name is Addison Wells and I'm from
Oregon Mountain High School.
My name is Lena Zamoya and I am from
Centennial High School.
[Applause]
Uh before we close and the kids go back
to school,
I'd like to uh introduce my committee.
Uh they're stand right here in the
front. Would you guys stand up?
I kind of mess up their names a lot of
times. We have Chula
Holstein from uh well she used to be a
teacher so you so a lot of you probably
know her. And then
say it.
Helen
and he's a part of this school too. And
then we have Bertha Rodriguez
and uh she's a part of the committee.
Then there's Aliz.
She she's from the university. Will take
uh pictures and interview the children.
And then uh this is Ralden Beck. He's
been with me a long time. He's He's our
money man, our treasurer.
Yeah. Yeah. So, thank you. And then
here's Rudy has been he's our
photographer. He's been our picture man
for all these years. And uh they have we
have a little book that we give out and
there's some out there. And uh this is
Rudy Torres.
Thank you guys.
Yeah. Yeah.
Go ahead.
Try to line up in front of the backdrop.
Backdrop.
The backdrop.
We need to form two lines. Two lines.
Two lines.
Again, everyone who's following
That is
really tight.
You're going to say something. you gonna
say something else?
No, I was just going to say uh thank you
for coming and uh kids are going back to
school.
[Applause]
You're done.
Thank you. Thanks. You should.
All right.
Thank you.
Keep me in the good
Okay. Again, thank you. Thank you,
mayor's top team. Thanks for being here,
students. Uh, we're really proud of you
and appreciate you. Next, I'd like to
call up the Los Cusus Area Marine Corps
League Pero Diablo Detachment 478. If
you guys would please come up.
Just
So on Sunday, October 24th, 2025, the
Los Cusus Area Marine Corps League, El
Pero Diablo Detachment 478 took first
place in all three events of the
statewide honor guard competition held
in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The
detachment honor guard competed in the
three categories. Small honor guard,
medium honor guard, and large honor
guard. The Marine Corps League El Pero
Diablo Detachment 478 took first place
in all three events for the state of New
Mexico. These accomplishments reflect
great credit, dedication, and sacrifice
upon the members of the honor guard of
the Marine Corps League, El Pero Diablo
Detachment 478. Congratulations.
[Applause]
So, as mayor of Los Cruus, I wanted to
present them with a certificate of
excellence for their accomplishments and
tell them how greatly they are
appreciated in our community. These
individuals not only compete and display
their abilities to perform and bring
back the hardware and first place in all
categories, but they're here to serve
the community. They they serve their
country. They serve proudly and they
continue to serve this community. They
perform at celebrations, at events, at
opening ceremonies, but of all they they
attend and they perform at at funerals,
putting closure to a veteran who is
served proudly. And we thank you for
what you do and everything in this
community. So the certificate of
excellence as to certify is proudly
presented to Eberto Diablo in honor of
their outstanding performance and
recognition for their high standards of
excellence. This certificate is issued
in recognition of civic interest and an
expression of appreciation by the mayor
on behalf of the citizens of the city of
Los Cusus dated this 15th day of
September 2025. Congratulations
[Applause]
My name is Jeffrey Ecman. I am the
comedant of the 478th Marine Corps
League. At this time, the main reason
why we won is because of one man, Mr.
Andreas Rivera.
As has been said, we do funerals for
those who have served their time in this
life to move on to the next life. We
have also done parades as well as other
color guards. We appreciate this award
for everything that we have done, but
also for the city of Los Cruises to
allow us to have this certificate. I
from the Marine Corps League number 478
humbly accept this certificate. And I
hope everyone else has a wonderful and
happy day.
[Applause]
Next, I will turn it over to Councelor
Graham. for proclamations.
Okay. Do we have any Booker T.
Washington Elementary Wildcats in the
house? Come on down.
And this will be a proclamation for
international walk to school days.
Okay. And the proclamation reads,
"Whereas International Walk to School
Day is celebrated globally to encourage
children and families to embrace walking
and bicycling as a way to promote
physical activity, reduce traffic
congestion, and enhance community
connections. And whereas walking and
bicycling to school can improve the
health and well-being of students,
offering them an opportunity to
incorporate physical activity into their
daily routines, thereby helping to
combat childhood obesity and health
related issues. And whereas
International Walk to School Day
provides an opportunity for parents,
teachers, and community leaders to work
together to create safer routes for
walking and bicycling, addressing safety
concerns and promoting an active
lifestyle. And whereas the city of Los
Cusus is committed to ensuring the
safety and security of all children and
recognizes the importance of safe
accessible walking and bicycling routes
to school as a priority for the
community. And whereas participation in
International Walk to School Day
encourages a sense of community and
shared purpose, fostering relationships
among students, families, and neighbors.
And whereas the events align with the
county's goals of promoting sustainable
transportation, reducing traffic
congestion, and improving air quality,
thereby contributing to a healthier and
more environmentally friendly community.
Now therefore, we, the mayor and city
council of Los Cusus, New Mexico, do
hereby proclaim September 30th through
October 3rd as International Walk to
School Days in the city of Los Cusus and
encourage all citizens to consider the
benefits of walking and bicycling to
participate in the events and to support
efforts to create safer and more
accessible routes for our children to
travel to and from school.
Thank you. Thank you, Councelor Grim,
um, Mayor Enriquez, council members,
members of the public, and our fabulous
community from Booker, Washington. Um,
we just wanted to say thank you so much,
not only for the proclamation today, but
for all you have done. And there's so
many people up here and in the in the
community who have done so much to make
it possible for our kids to walk and
bike safely to school. For example, we
just walked here on one of our city's
multi-use trails so that we didn't have
to walk along the busy road of um
Picatra. So we are just so grateful for
your continued work. I know it takes a
team, it takes a village. Um just as
they said for the mayor's teens, we've
been doing this since 2006. Um I think
we are coming up to international walk
to school there. 2007 was our first
celebration of it at Missie Elementary
and Hillrise Elementary. So, we've been
doing it for many, many years and we
hope these future students here will be
sitting up on council and be mayor's
teens one day as well. Um, and it is
through the encouragement of the members
of our community for making this
possible. So, I wanted just to thank our
team. I wanted to thank um our our Miss
Avalos, our teacher at Bookat
Washington, who makes this possible
every week. And um
[Applause]
and I just wanted to invite you if you
are a member of the audience or council
who's ever done a walk to school with
the kids, could you please raise your
hand? Look at that. That's amazing.
That's amazing. Thank you so much. Um we
wanted to invite you to participate in
our events. Ti has handouts for you with
all of the dates. We are adding an
additional school this year. We're going
to be adding Colombia Elementary since
they are in their new facility. So we
would love you to join us for any a walk
this week or please take the example of
our amazing mayor who walks often with
um Hamosa Heights Elementary. So adopter
school, come join us and please um just
continue your amazing support of our
future right here. Thank you.
Are there any students who would like to
say something about walking to school?
Would anybody like to say something?
Okay, come on up. Na. Yeah, come on up.
You want to sit? I'll be with you.
I'm scared.
You That's okay. Just say Just pretend
they're not even there.
I like walking to school.
[Applause]
I love walking to school cuz um when we
walk it, we get to want to to go inside.
[Applause]
I love walking to school cuz it keeps us
safe and and
that's it.
Anybody else? Anybody else? You want to
say something? Can I lift you up?
I love walking to school and it's fun.
Anybody else?
I like walks to school because we get to
ride our bring our bikes and our
scooter.
I like walk to school because it's a
really good exercise.
[Applause]
I like walk I like walk to school
because I I get to be with my friends.
want to say something.
I like walking to school because it's
really fun.
I like walking to school because it's my
favorite thing to do.
I like walking to school because we get
to play on the playground.
I like walking I like walking to school
because it helps us clear our brain
before school.
[Applause]
something.
I like walk to school because we get to
we get to play before we go to school.
[Applause]
Anybody else? Everybody had a turn.
Wonderful. Thank you all so much. We
hope to see you for our
absolutely. Somebody needs that. Yeah.
So, we're going to have to
One
Come on, guys. You just might have to
scoot.
[Applause]
And our next proclamation will be for
Constitution Week. Deborah Hail or
anyone else who might be here to
to try to follow this very tough act to
follow. But I think the Constitution is
up for the challenge.
Whereas September 17th, 2025 marks the
238th anniversary of the drafting of the
Constitution of the United States of
America by the Constitutional
Convention. And whereas it is filling
and proper to accord official
recognition to this magnificent document
and its memorable anniversary and to the
patriotic celebrations which will
commemorate the occasion. And whereas
public law 915 guarantees the issuing of
a proclamation each year by the
president of the United States of
America designating September 17th
through 23rd as Constitution Week. Now
therefore, we, the mayor and city
council of Las Cusus, New Mexico, do
here pro hereby proclaim the week of
September 17th through 23rd as
Constitution Week and ask our citizens
to reaffirm the ideals that the framers
of the Constitution had in 1787 by
vigilantly protecting the freedoms
guaranteed to us through this guardian
of our liberties, remembering that lost
rights may never be regained.
[Applause]
I want to thank the mayor and council
women and all the uh council for this uh
honor. Uh I thank you on behalf of the
Dona chapter of the Daughters of
American Revolution and the citizens of
Los Cusus. Uh it's an important document
and we need to look up some things that
we might have a question about. Uh it's
on the internet, you can find it. Uh
there's a lot of stuff that said it's
constitutional and it's not. So you need
to be I really want you to be aware of
that. And I want to close with the
preamble. Oh, I want to introduce our
regent Rachel. And if there are any
other VR members out there, I don't
know, but uh it's I want to uh close
with the preamble to the Constitution of
the United States of America. We the
people of the United States in order to
form a more perfect union, establish
justice, ensure domestic tranquility,
provide for the common defense, promote
the general welfare, and secure
blessings of liberty to ourselves and
our posterity. Do ordain and establish
this Constitution of the United States
of America.
Thank you.
[Applause]
Next up, we have a proclamation for
Civic Health Month presented to Jasper
McCormack
or anyone come on down.
Whereas civic health describes the
capacity of a community to address
issues that impact the well-being of
community members through voter
registration, active participation in
local, state, and federal elections, and
other forms of civic engagement. And
whereas health outcomes may be
determined by non-medical factors
including access to food,
transportation, affordable housing, and
community engagement. And whereas voting
and civic engagement can lead to greater
social cohesion, a sense of belonging,
and improved community conditions.
Hundreds of health care, public health,
and civic engagement organizations
across the United States unite to
celebrate civic health each civic health
month each August. And whereas our
communities are healthier when we all
have a voice in the issues that matter
to us. Celebrating Civic Health Month
inspires us to promote voter
registration, voter participation, and
other forms of civic engagement, not
only today, but all year long. And
whereas given that civic health
strengthens democracy and improves
community health outcomes, we are proud
to stand with the many people and
organizations locally and across the
country that promote civic health. Now
therefore, we, the mayor and city
council of Los Cusus, New Mexico, do
hereby proclaim August as civic health
month.
Thank you. I'm Jasper McCormack and uh
even though it's not August, we wanted
to keep our momentum going. We recently
got a proclamation for civic health
month with Dona County and previously as
well county. And it works out perfectly
because tomorrow is n national
registration day. And
interestingly enough, we there's a study
that showed or that found that people
who have not registered to vote but are
eligible, twothirds said that they just
had never been asked. So we want to
promote everybody, you know, just having
that conversation and asking if people
are registered. Um, and we have local
elections coming up, so it's super
important right now. So, we just wanted
to keep that momentum going. So, I want
to specifically thank Councilwoman uh
Mccclure for getting us the um the ball
going with us. So, thank you and we
appreciate all of you. So,
[Applause]
Oops.
Next, uh, we have a proclamation for New
Mexico Press Women's Day
presented to Denise Chavez,
please. Yeah, absolutely.
Whereas New Mexico Press Women, NMPPW,
an affiliate of the National Federation
of Press Women, which organized in 1949,
will be meeting in Los Cusus on
Saturday, September 20th, and hosting a
salon in celebration of their ties and
connections to southern New Mexico. And
whereas New Mexico Press Women is an
organization of professional journalists
and communicators that promotes the
highest ethical standards while looking
to the future in professional
development, networking, and protecting
First Amendment rights. And whereas New
Mexico Press women's objectives are to
keep members at the top of their
abilities through dynamic seminars,
exceptional networking opportunities,
and publications. And whereas New Mexico
Press Women recognizes members
achievements and their service through
its professional communications contest
and the communicator of achievement
award. And whereas New Mexico Press
Women provides a a space for networking,
mentoring, shared advice, experience,
encouragement, and guidance, offering
special workshops, how-to sessions, and
refresher seminars. And whereas New
Mexico Press Women is celebrating
Southern New Mexico communicators and
expanding its membership throughout New
Mexico. Now therefore, we, the mayor and
city council of Los Cusus, New Mexico,
do hereby proclaim that Saturday,
September 20th, be a celebration of New
Mexico press women, as it celebrates the
work of all communicators, reminding us
of their powerful responsibility and
gift, whether it be through various
media, including radio, television, the
written word, through education, all
media, and myriad professional forms.
honoring those who seek truth and who
continue to create a world of mutual
respect, understanding, and the common
good. And be it further proclaimed that
all citizens of Los Cusus, the state of
New Mexico, the greater Southwest, and
the US strive for communication for all
people, proclaim Saturday, September
20th as New Mexico Press Women's Day.
[Applause]
Thank you so much, mayor and city
council. I'd like to invite everyone to
our salon this coming Saturday from 3:00
to 5:00 at the Hilton Garden Inn at
Ariada for those of us that are local.
Uh we're going to have readers. I will
be reading Denise Chavez. We'll also
have Cassie Mccclure, one of our
counselors, past president, Regina
Grigo, who has a powerful book, The Sins
of the System, a gun control activists
on a national level. We hope to bring
her to Lasuses mayor to talk about gun
control. And we also have Damian Willis.
We have artists, Rosa Am, iconic Chana
artist, many artists. It's a salon free
and open for all. So if you want more
information, go to my Facebook page. But
also, thank you so much for the honor of
being a communicator. These are a group
of professional women and men who
understand that the word is sacred.
Thank you so much.
Thank you very
[Applause]
Okay. Next, a proclamation for the 30th
anniversary of the Paso Del Norte Help
Foundation. We have Audrey Garcia and
Sandra Day. Anyone else?
Oh, yeah. And you got like hype
materials.
Whereas the Paso Del Norte Health
Foundation was established in 1995 with
$130 million from the sale of Providence
Memorial to Tenate Healthcare Cooperate
Corporation, creating a lasting
commitment in the bational tri-state
region. And whereas for three decades,
the Health Foundation has been a
catalyst for positive change, empowering
residents of Los Cusus and Southern New
Mexico, El Paso and Hudsmith counties in
Texas and Sead Huarees Chihuahua to lead
healthier lives through knowledge,
resources, and advocacy. And whereas the
Health Foundation has invested over $266
million in grants and programs with more
than 300 nonprofit, academic, and
governmental partners to advance health
and prevent disease. And whereas in Los
Cusus and southern New Mexico, the
Health Foundation has supported
transformative initiatives including
promoting physical activity by
partnering with the city of Los Cusus to
complete one mile of city walking trail
and working with Friends of the Oregon
Mountains to engage youth and outdoor
activities, encouraging healthy eating
through school gardens, cooking
demonstrations, and nutrition education
in partnership with organizations like
Lasia Food Center and New Mexico State
University. expanding health education
and literacy in schools and communities
in partnerships with organizations like
Los Cusus Public Schools. Improving
mental health by reducing stigma and
increasing access to care in partnership
with Donena County Health and Human
Services, Family and Youth Innovations
Plus, NMSU, and other local nonprofit
organizations.
approving out of school time programs
through the Boys and Girls Club of Los
Cusus, offering hundreds of teens ages
11 through 17 safe, supportive spaces,
and funding the teen center in the
club's future facility. Promoting
smoke-free and vapefree living through
policy, education, and community action.
Advancing diabetes management with
partners such as NMSU Extension and the
Southern New Mexico Diabetes Outreach.
delivering programs like on the road to
living well with diabetes and
strengthening the Southern New Mexico
Diabetes Alliance, developing nonprofit
and health leadership in the Los Cusus
area through Realize Executive and
Realized Board, growing the health
workforce by expanding career pathways
like dietitionian educators and
community health workers in partnership
with NMSU and strengthening community
resilience, notably in response to the
wildfires in southern New Mexico, COD 19
and the August 3rd mass shooting. And
whereas these achievements reflect the
vision of the Health Foundation's board,
the dedication of its staff, and the
collaboration of its partners. Now,
therefore, we, the mayor and city
council of Los Cusus, New Mexico,
proudly honor the 30th anniversary of
the Paso del Norte Health Foundation for
its extraordinary service to the health
and well-being of our residents and
region.
[Applause]
Well, that's a lot, right? Um, I don't
have to say too much because, uh, I
think the work speaks for itself. Uh, my
name is Audrey Garcia. I'm a program
officer at the foundation and I'm here
with Miss Sandra Day who's also a
program officer and we may be a small
group of individuals and our station is
in El Paso. Um, but we really work to
advance all of our communities that we
work with and surround. So, we're very
grateful for this proclamation. Um, and
thank you. And hopefully if you want to
learn more about our work, you can visit
our website and get a little bit more
involved in the initiatives that we are
focused in right now. So thank you
Okay, last one. Promise. Um, but can I
please have any representatives we have
available from Las Cru's Fire, Los Cruus
Police Department, our communications
team, housing, no one's moving. I see
you. um housing, parks and recreation
and quality of life.
I know already.
Yeah.
And this is a proclamation for National
Good Neighbor Day presented to community
engagement, which as you see is a broad
range of city team members. Whereas
National Good Neighbor Day is celebrated
annually on September 28th to recognize
and honor the importance of being a good
neighbor and fostering strong,
supportive communities. And whereas the
strength of a community is built on the
foundation of trust, respect, and mutual
support among neighbors. And the city of
Los Cusus affirms its commitment to
expanding housing opportunities and
supporting home rehabilitation programs.
And whereas the Los Cusus Police
Department and Los Cruus Fire Department
are essential to fostering safe and
healthy neighborhoods, and the parks and
recreation department plays a key role
in bringing neighbors together by
creating welcoming and inclusive public
spaces. and offering enriching
recreation programs. And whereas the
quality of life department enhances
community connectedness by promoting
cultural and artistic enrichment, senior
services, youth engagement, and access
to educational,formational,
and wellness resources. And whereas the
city of Los Cruus is dedicated to
fostering community engagement, ensuring
that residents have a voice in shaping
the policies, programs, and services
that impact their lives, and building
partnerships that uplift every
neighborhood. And whereas National Good
Neighbor Day serves as a reminder of the
collective responsibility we share in
building a more connected and
compassionate community where neighbors
support one another, collaborate to
address challenges, and celebrate each
other's successes. And whereas as a city
dedicated to inclusive governance,
neighborhood vitality, and public
service, the city of Los Cusus proudly
leads by example in advancing the
principles of neighborliness, civic
partnership, and interdep departmental
collaboration for the benefit of all who
call Los Cusus home. And whereas the
city of Los Cusus affirms its dedication
to strengthening neighborhoods through
investments in housing, public safety,
its parks and recreational programs, its
quality of life, and its community
engagement, and encourages all residents
to take pride in their neighborhoods,
extend kindness to one another, and work
together to build a more vibrant and
united city. Now, therefore, we, the
mayor and city council of Los Cusus, New
Mexico, encourages all residents to take
time to engage with their neighbors,
foster meaningful connections, and
contribute to building a stronger,
safer, and more united community. Do
hereby proclaim September 28th, 2025 as
National Good Neighbor Day.
[Applause]
Good afternoon. I'm Katrina Godz,
community engagement manager. I want to
speak a little bit to how we came upon
this idea of the National Good Neighbor
Day. Uh a few years ago, Grace Dez,
Isaac Huggin, and I attended a
neighborhood USA conference where we had
the opportunity to showcase the city's
lift up uh program. uh with support from
our housing department uh we entered the
program uh for an award and we took home
third place uh in the category of best
neighborhood program by a government
entity. Uh Isaac Kulgin delivered the
presentation on behalf of our city team
and he highlighted the um work we done
to support and uplift our neighborhoods.
While at the conference we also
connected with this hopeful neighborhood
project. They shared valuable
neighborhood resources including
information about the National Good
Neighbor Day which is celebrated every
September 28th. Inspired by that
interaction, Grace Dez proposed idea for
the proclamation uh to recognize and
celebrate the many ways a city supports
and strengthens our neighborhood our
neighborhoods. Every city department
plays a vital role in building strong
connected communities. This proclamation
is a reminder of that shared
responsibility and celebration of what
we accomplish together. Uh I want to
thank Grace Deas for her vision and her
leadership uh bringing this idea
forward. Uh Grace lives and breathes
community. She constantly is advocating
for people and working to celebrate
meaningful connections in neighborh
neighborhoods. uh she's a um police
advocate and um I also would like to
thank all of our departments that aren't
mentioned. Every single one of our
departments plays a vital role in our
community and we all interact with our
residents and we thank you.
[Applause]
Sorry.
Which one?
[Applause]
All right. Thank you, Councelor Graham.
Uh, next on the agenda is jobs of the
week, and we have none. So, next we move
to pets of the week. Carol, you want to
come up?
Good afternoon. I'm Carol Nelson,
digital content specialist for the
Animal Services Center of the Messia
Valley. This week, our dog of the week,
Dexter 89119 to look him up on our
website. I'm an adorable boy who's a
bundle of joy. I might be a little shy
when I first come out of my kennel, but
once I get the chance to explore, my
vibrant personality really shines
through. I absolutely love giving
affection and I'm still learning what
playtime is all about. I might even
sneak in some kisses when we're
together. I know the word treat and you
can definitely get me to sit for one. If
you're looking for a playful,
affectionate companion who will fill
your life with joy. I might just be the
perfect fit for you.
And this week, our cat of the week,
Angel, has already been adopted. So,
we're super happy about that. Uh
congratulations to her. Uh, and as
always, we like to highlight our
long-term residents who we really want
to encourage the public to come out and
visit and consider adopting. The longer
they stay in shelter, the harder it is
for them to thrive. Cassette has been
with us 252 days now. Cookies and Cream
242 days. Coral 239 days. Adventureful
227 days. All really good options to
adopt.
Uh this coming Saturday we will be at
Petco for our shelter sweethearts event.
Uh we'll be there from 9:00 to 12. So
come on out. As always I say if you're
not looking to adopt bring someone who's
looking to adopt or you can also come
socialize. The dogs need socialization
as well. So uh for more information
visit our website at asmv.org or follow
us on social media. Thank you for the
time today.
All right. Thank you Carol. Next is a
conflict of interest. Does any member of
the city council, city manager, any
member of city staff have any known
conflict of interest with any item on
the agenda?
None. Notice
none.
Mayor,
can I make a motion to remove from the
consent agenda 7.4, council bill number
260004.
Yes, councelor, but we'll wait till the
acceptance of agenda. When that comes
up, then you can
you can bring it up.
So, next we move to public
participation. We allow up to three
minutes, no pending litigation or items
on the non-consent. Uh, since it is
election season, please refrain from
using this time as a political platform
and Katrina will come forward and usher
you to the podium. You have three
minutes. State your name. Speak clearly.
Thank you.
Mayor, council folks here today, those
watching online, I'm Lynn Moore. How
many of you noticed last meeting the
utilities director's clear falsehood
regarding the notices required under the
lead and copper rule notifying new
customers of their pipe material? I
provided the relevant documents. Then
they were provided again today. I'll
walk you through them. If you look at
handout one in the bolded material above
the line, you can see the exact language
of my request. I requested all notices
notifying new customers of their pipe
material. If you look at handout two on
page two in the middle, the rule says
for new customers, water systems must
also provide the notice at the time of
service initiation. So the language of
my request tracks exactly what the rule
requires. It did not ask for a list or
require creation of a new document. It
asked for the notices at the last
meeting. The utilities director falsely
claimed my request asked for a list and
therefore no information need be
provided. If the city has sent out
notices to all the new customers, the
city must in fact produce them. If they
haven't, it's a violation. It's
confounding that the city fails to carry
out relatively simple tasks related to
compliance with the lead and copper
rule. More examples include entering
correct information into the inventory,
like accurately matching a street
address to the location on the map,
distinguishing whether an installation
year is before or after 1986, notifying
owners of galvanized requiring
replacement piping, if incorrect
information is found, correcting, not
disappearing the whole category, reading
EPA documents. If I can understand them,
someone on city staff should be able to.
This water rule is not very complex.
When a taxpayer looks at Las Cusus's
utilities online inventory and wonders
whether the information about piping on
her property can be believed, she's
confronted with significant problems.
She has only a 50% chance of finding her
property on the map because half the
city has been left out. If she finds her
property, there is a 33% chance it will
declare piping non-LED without providing
any basis. It can't be believed. If it
says non-LED based on installation after
the lead ban, it's unreliable. Las Cusus
Utilities has difficulty distinguishing
before and after 1986. Worse, the
inventory shows that installation after
the lead ban can also result in a
classification of unknown or unknown
unlikely lead. This renders the whole
basis of installation after the lead ban
a nullity. If it says basis is water
sampling only with no records or field
inspection only with no records, both
bases are untrustworthy.
Without records, nothing can be proven
as EPA requires.
The only possibly reliable basis the
city uses might be an installation
record, eg tap card. But many records
say even after consultation of an
installation record, the material is
still unknown. It's amazing that when it
was installed, they didn't know what the
material was. An honest, independent
engineer needs to be brought in to
evaluate the city's compliance. Thank
you for this opportunity to speak.
Your time's up.
I can see that. Great.
Mayor Pro Tim, I as I said, thank you
for this opportunity to speak.
Thank you.
The word is sacred according to our
chavez.
Thank you.
Okay. Please come forward and state your
name.
Mayor Council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. Showing a video at the last
meeting that won an award for production
qualities, not substance, I believe was
so superficial it made a mockery of the
Las Cruz's employees who strive to do
the right thing. I also believe it made
a mockery of people who depend on the
city of Las Cusus to protect their
health. Why don't you present
well-grounded facts instead of trying to
use PR to cover up Las Cruz's utilities
numerous failures to comply with the
lead and copper rule? Even though the
video about checking your meter box
might make you feel good, the essence of
what the video presents is completely
inadequate. This is not a technique
that's highly accurate in identifying
the true nature of piping. The utilities
director said at the last meeting that
New Mexico Environment Department has
approved the city's customer notice
process. So there are no worries. As
explained at previous meetings, what the
state says regarding the lead and copper
rule is completely irrelevant. EPA has
primacy with respect to enforcement of
the rule, not the state. At the last
meeting, the utilities director also
asserted that a real time map that shows
up-to-date information is not required
and that the map has to be updated only
annually. That statement reveals a
shocking indifference about whether all
Lascus's taxpayers can access correct
information about their property or any
property they're considering buying.
Regardless when updating is done, EPA
guidance does not allow false
information to be included in the
inventory at any time. Disturbingly,
Lasus's utilities inventory is littered
with false and misleading statements. We
have encountered dozens of educated
people whose first language is English
and who have said they received a letter
from Las's utilities regarding the rule.
Problem is, they don't understand what
it means and what they're supposed to do
about it. Almost a year after the city
sent out some letters and put up its
website, the city hasn't put out
accurate information
understandable to English and Spanish
speakers. It's pretty clear that Lasus's
utilities doesn't want to have to deal
with property owners. It doesn't really
care whether the public and in
particular Spanishonly speakers
understand all the facts about the
rules. It can't be bothered to make sure
all the links to the information on the
website are in Spanish as well as
English. It is also clear that Lasus's
Utilities doesn't want to deal with
folks who need financial assistance. I'd
like to receive specific accurate
answers to these questions. What has the
city done to obtain funding for folks
who don't have the funds to replace
their lead or galvanized pipes? Where
has the city applied for funding? When
did the city apply and for how much?
What is the largest progress regarding
these funding requests? What has the
city done to communicate this to the
public? Thank you.
Hello. Um my name is Michael Clark. I'm
from a nonprofit organization Cross Town
Boxing. Um, I just want to bring up to
the uh committee is that
the youth crime has grown in this city
and we have simply ignored it. You might
not think you're ignoring it, but you
are because there has been no community
centers in this town for any of these
kids. Any districts can show me where
you have a brand new community center
built for kids. Not an outdoor park, but
a community center. Our crime is
continuing to grow. And every time our
crime is growing is because we keep
taking things away from our community,
the programs. We have no more bante
football for these kids. First time
Sierra Middle School doesn't have an
eighth grade football team. We allow the
city just to keep continuing to take and
I want to know what stands we're doing
to stop it.
It's getting ridiculous. I've already
lost two young the 16 and a 19 year old
kids that are family members of mine to
gun violence.
What are we doing? We're losing our kids
here. And all I see is we're talking
about homeless shelters and lowincome
housing. Well, as long as you have
lowincome housing, you have low-income
families. When you have low-income
families, you have low-income kids. that
has become breeding grounds for gangs
and violence unless we put something in
those communities for those kids to do.
We cannot just keep sitting there and
putting money at things we don't need.
Our kids got to be first. Our children
have to be first. We have kids walking
up and down Pacho through druginfested
areas and we're worried about all the
drug addicts. What about our kids? We're
losing them. I had on Hadley when I had
my team running there. I had another
14-year-old kid pull a gun on my boxers.
And it's sad that being a coach that I
have to carry a firearm to protect my
kids and I might have to shoot a
14-year-old to protect my kids who are
doing something.
And when we do call for the officers,
sometimes it's a very poor response. And
sometimes us being the ones calling, we
become the bad guy.
They start treating us as the criminal
act like if I'm bothering them
and then we have nowhere to go file a
complaint. We can't go down a city right
here and make a complaint because you
can sit there for two hours cuz all day
is a shift change.
I just want to reach out to everybody
this coming Saturday. We are putting a
rally together at Brandan and stop the
violence in Los Cruus. And I hope some
of you can attend. We're going to march
from Mad Door to Brandon and I hope some
of your city council who are really
concerned about this show up and give
support. Stop the violence in Los Cusus
and let's start taking care of our
children of our community. Thank you.
Yeah.
Hello, mayor of city council. Uh, I
thought I'd reintroduce myself to some
of you and introduce myself to the first
time for others. Uh, my name is Lance
Renfro. I'm the district legislative aid
for Representative Jennifer Jones. I'm
happy to get started in this position.
I've been following your work in city
council for a long time. I used to be a
Door Dash driver and I would listen to
your meetings while I was driving. So,
I'm very happy to be here, very happy to
help. She has an office in Deming if you
need anything. Uh, this is our standard
procedure. She wants me to come in and
address you and address the public. So,
if you guys have any questions or
concerns, feel free to reach out to our
office. Thank you.
Mayor Council Juan Garcia, we support
project Jupiter's move to Santa Teresa.
We have been working with Jim Hurst and
others on common ground to advocate for
this new initiative. This community is
struggling with poverty and depends
heavily on taxpayer subsidies. Bringing
in this new business could could be a
turning point, giving people a real shot
at self-sufficiency and a chance to
shape their own futures. Maybe you've
read that information shared or attended
at one of the county public meetings. If
not, now is the time to get informed.
No one's pretending Project Jupiter will
fix every economic issue overnight, but
it's a real concrete step towards
progress. Are there challenges?
Absolutely. That's why we expect our
county leaders to keep a close watch and
make sure risks are managed and
mitigated responsibly. Is there risk in
every new venture? Just like there's
risk in anything worth doing. Of course,
every day comes with a share of risks.
Whether it's getting out of bed, taking
your kids to one of the parks and not
worrying about getting shot, or driving
down Solano and hoping you're not a
victim of road rage, or maybe sending
your kids to school and trusting they'll
come home safe. There's always something
out there that could go wrong. All we
can do is try to mitigate those risks
and lower the chances that something bad
will happen. Over the last few weeks, we
have heard a shout for answers to
legitimate questions by our population
on Project Jupiter.
That's the role of the citizenry.
However, it's sad when people stir up
drama to shut down the citizens who were
trying to understand the issues. Using
intimidation or aggressive tactics to
block real conversation is wrong.
Period. This irresponsible behavior, as
seen in some of the county sponsored
meetings, is unfortunate because
citizens who genuinely want to hear and
learn were denied that opportunity by
agitators.
In closing, the latest wave of
politically motivated assassinations has
left a real bad taste in everyone's
mouth. Minnesota State Representative
Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark
gunned down in their own home.
Then came the assassination of Charlie
Kirk for promoting dialogue from both
sides to college campuses. Each murder
drags us closer to the edge. It's not a
matter of whether things will spiral
even more. It's about how far we'll
crash before we can fix it. And here in
Las Cruz is how close are we to lighting
the fuse ourselves.
And then another comment, I'm glad Mike
spoke a few minutes ago because we've
been talking and talking to the council,
the mayor for years about the rising
crime, particularly with juveniles, and
it's still rising. Thank you.
[Applause]
One, two, three. Howdy. I'm Lonnie
Montgomery and uh I love you guys like I
told you before and God loves you
whether you like him or not. So I want
to pray for you. Dear Lord, please send
understanding and wisdom for these
people that they may uh
become the public servants that they
were elected to be. And now for the riff
raff report. Last week, last time on the
national, we agreed that the people up
there, not mention any names, uh don't
like women because they want transgender
to play their women's sports and that uh
they don't like our kids and grandkids
because they're putting them into debt,
which they'll never be able to pay. And
as far as the state goes, uh I won't
mention any names, but I'm going to call
somebody Little Caesar up there during
the CO got rid of 20% of the small
businesses in the state of New Mexico.
And she also did away with the three
people that were in charge of the
utilities in northern New Mexico, turned
it over somebody in Maryland or Maine or
someplace up there, and they in turn
turned it over to somebody in Spain.
And as far as uh what we're doing in the
schools, we're spending billions and
billions of dollars with the uh
teachers unions, NEA and AFT. And what
do we get? We're still 51. Thank God for
Mississippi.
Sometimes we're 50 because of them. But
it's uh not getting any better. We need
to learn
to have the kids learn how to read and
write and reason. And we teach the CRT.
Martin Luther King Jr. said we couldn't
judge people by the color of their skin.
CRT says, "No, if your skin is this
color, then you're
you're a slave, and if not, you're a
slave driver or whatever." And then they
as far as uh reading in the in the
schools here, we allow kids to read
books
in in Los Cusus that encourage teenage
boys to to use younger boys and girls as
their sex objects. And according to the
new the New Mexico state law, they uh
can uh encourage in the schools people
to become what they are not according to
God. Male and female boys should be boys
and girls, but they're encouraging them
not to. And they're giving them the
hormones to help them along the way. And
then they can take them out and they can
get them cut off their genitals or
breast and uh to have them become
something that doesn't even exist. But
anyway, God bless America and God bless
uh you guys. Appreciate
Good afternoon, Mayor Council. My name
is Lucas Hearnen. I live in District 2.
And um I'm here just once again to um in
this sort of final hour ask for in
whatever capacity you have um reach out
uh with with a with that influence to
convince our county commission that this
is a boondoggle of astronomical
proportions $165 billion IRB. Um, I see
on the agenda that the city is looking
at an its own IRB today for a uh company
to come here and reuse a an existing
unused site. And that is something that
I'm in support of. Um, that is a good
use of uh us, the city, our collective
resources encouraging an a smart
economic decision and I applaud the city
council for taking that step. Um, on the
other side of that is is this issue with
a multi-billion hypers scale data center
being planned in in our community in the
desert that will utilize more water than
our current industries do and more power
to drive those industries than is
currently available from our El Paso
electric energy provider. Um,
I after the last time I spoke, I've I've
continued to do do research on this. And
one of the things that I think is is
something that the city should be
concerned about is that if project
Jupiter goes forward and they build
likely a gas plant on their micro grid
that then El Paso Electric interconnects
to at some point in the next 10 years
that will become a stranded asset for El
Paso Electric which will then drive up
energy costs for all El Paso Electric
users on their grid. Who is the largest
user of El Paso Electric other than in
the Texas side? It's the city of Los
Cruus.
So, for our common interest,
um I I'm pleading that you use whatever
power you have um in that official
capacity to help us, the community who
has largely pushed back against this. um
let alone, you know, the the lack of
transparency, the the what we have found
out that county officials have signed
non-disclosure agreements with some of
these people. Um the the interpersonal
relationships between the executives and
some of our elected officials. These are
all reasons to not support this thing.
But at the end of the day, if if all I
can appeal to is the economics, um think
about the rateayers of this city in 10
years and where we'll be with another
stranded asset on our grid and what that
means for our overall plans as we move
forward with electrification and the
overall quality of health of our
community. Thank you.
Good afternoon, mayor and city council.
My name is Frankie Lawrence. Um, I'm
here as a representative of the senior
citizens who use the aquatic center. We
all afternoon we've talked about the
health and wellness and and
of of everybody in our community and the
pool that we have been using has been
out of service now for for four weeks. I
got a phone call from Mr. Gutierrez on
Tuesday which was very glad to get and
he gave me an abbreviated version of
what happened but still the pool is not
open and we're just wanting it to to be
in service. We need something to do. Uh
we try to stay active and we do but we
and it's also community for us. Thank
you.
I'm Pam Smith and I've also I've been
using the aquatic center for over 12
years. I I had a mishap physically and I
just used the pool to learn to walk
again. I'd been to rehab, but I decided
to use the pool walking to learn how to
walk again without a limp and I did. So,
I've watched the whole drill at the
aquatic center for over 12 years and we
get numerous things go wrong during the
year. Some are large, some are small,
and they it closes down from either one
day or six months. Two years ago, we had
a sixmonth
shutdown. There was a a part and I I
don't know if it was the wrong part or
but there were a lot of tentacles and it
delayed it delayed getting the parts.
So, I guess my my drill is what I see is
a circle of chaos. It's it's a
neverending circle. They don't seem to
learn from what shuts down. I don't know
where the parts are ordered or any of
that, but I would like to see some kind
of planning ahead because we pay a high
price when that pool shuts down. The
senior community is large. It's getting
larger. It helps physical rehab, mental
rehab, and it's socialization. And so,
this is a real disservice. But I'd
really like to see some kind of break
with this cycle. Maybe they can plan
ahead and get a spare part or wherever
it because now it's it's over 12 years
old. It's probably 15 years old.
Everything's breaking down now more more
rapidly. So, we need some kind of system
to have the parts in stock, maybe order
a separate part waiting instead of
addressing the crisis that day and then
we pay for it with the amount of time
that it shut down. So, that that's just
a suggestion to some kind of a plan
ahead to to to take care of this. Let's
learn from our mistakes because there's
been plenty of them in the last 12
years. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Hello and thank you for your time. My
name is Jacob Painter. I'm here today
with a group of my community members
from the University Mesa neighborhood.
We are deeply troubled by the increase
in crime at our neighborhood park, which
is the Calipac stole park. As you all
know, crime has increased drastically in
our city, specifically in our city
parks. On the evening of September 4th,
I arrived home from work and immediately
heard 15 gunshots from the area of the
park. My wife and I lived directly
behind the park
and were the first two on scene. Um, we
immediately began rendering uh
life-saving aid to the two gunshot
victims. This experience was deeply
saddening for me and my wife. Um, and
sadly, a young woman lost her life over
this senseless incident.
That is just the first in a long string
of recent crime seen in Los Cruus public
parks. We have seen a troubling uptick
of crime at Southpake Park because of
the lower police presence in our area
being a generally low crime
neighborhood. We hear gunshots coming
from the park connecting the from the
park and the connecting aoyo on at least
a monthly basis and see drug deals and
the uses of usage of drug in our park on
a near daily basis. As city council, we
feel it's the responsibility of every
member sitting in front of us to ensure
that our public park stays safe. We
fully understand that there's a shortage
shortage of staffing at the Los Cusus
Police Department and thus think it's
important that we provide alternative
crime deterrence options. We have
high-tech crime systems being used in
grocery store parking lots to deter
shoplifting.
When do we as a city decide to focus our
efforts on the deterrence of violent
crime and install similar can camera
systems in all of our public parks to
prevent this violent crime? We as the
citizens of the University of Mason
neighborhood call on you to do your
elected duties and get the violent crime
epidemic sweeping our public parks under
control. What do you as city council
members and representatives of all Los
Cruus citizens plan to do to fix this
issue? Thank you.
[Applause]
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council,
Chief of Police. Tim Jenkins here. As I
look back and reflect on the things that
took place this last week, it is still
crystal clear in my mind the profound
impact that 911 had on me.
There were no Republicans. There were no
Democrats. There were no progressives.
There were no whites. There were no
blacks. There were no Hispanics.
We all came together as one nation and
one family and one people to support and
to comfort and to help and to heal.
What happened to that America?
What happened to those values?
What happened to those beliefs?
The division in this country is the
worst I have ever seen it and it breaks
my heart. Let's please all take a step
back and remember that we are all humans
and we all make mistakes and deserve
forgiveness and compassion. and that we
all need each other and we need help and
support and can and can do none of this
alone.
A house divided against itself cannot
and will not ever stand. We need each
other. Thank you.
[Applause]
Good afternoon. My name is Jim Hurst.
Um, and I want to talk about the Jupiter
project.
Yes, Juan and I are working together on
this.
Um, a lot of citizens are upset because
the process in their mind doesn't allow
enough time to learn all the facts and
participate in the democratic process.
What my fellow citizens do not seem to
realize is that the process for economic
development is designed to expedite
economic development. We're trying to
attract investments. The process is
designed to encourage businesses to
invest here, build here, hire here, and
stimulate commerce here. The timeline is
set by the marketplace.
Investors want fairly quick decisions on
their proposals, not because they're
trying to cheat us, but because they
have options and they want to evaluate
them and act on them as quickly as they
can.
Do not reject the project because you
don't like the process. They are two
different things.
The other concern I hear is over AI and
its negative impact on privacy. I share
your concerns, but I don't think
opposing the construction of AI
facilities is a good way to protect
privacy rights. AI has many uh
applications that do not violate
privacy. One day your kid won't need
your help with math homework.
In education alone, the horizon is
infinite. One day your kids may be using
AI to write a symphony, argue with
Aristotle, or produce their very own
featurelength movie. Instead of
imagining only what the computer can do
to us, imagine what we can do with it.
We have only begun to exploit to exploit
the computer and what it can do for
humanity.
If you want to protect privacy, then
advocate for privacy rights. Don't try
to throttle technology.
Most likely, you will fail. Europe has
laws to protect privacy rights. We
should too. As long as privacy is not
protected by law, the people will devise
technologies to violate it.
The Jupiter project is a marvelous
opportunity for Los Cusus in this
region. Please don't reject it because
you don't like economic de the economic
development process. Please focus your
effort efforts on privacy protection
rather than technology restrictions.
Thank you very much.
[Applause]
Next, I'll go to the closed meeting
statement.
Lasusa City Council met in close session
at 10:01 a.m. on September 15th. The
following were in attendance. uh
councilors Flores Karan Beno Graham
Mccclure myself mayor Brad Douglas city
attorney chief story he left at 11:09
city manager Econi Tamopiao uh city
clerk Christine Rietta utilities
director Adrien Whitmer uh assistant
city manager Sonia Delgado
and also um
utilities assistant director deputy
assistant director Carl Clark Outside
council Chris Deilipino
Filipio, Haley Grant, James Brockman, J
Stein, John Stump.
Yeah.
Items that were discussed was pending
litigation regarding Danny Marta versus
the city of Los Cusus. Officer Miselle
Ibara.
We also discussed the pending litigation
regarding Ruby Via
uh versus the city of Los Cusus.
We discussed the pending litigation
regarding Eric Lopez versus city of Los
Cusus. The discussion pending litigation
regarding state of Texas versus state of
New Mexico and state of Colorado number
141 original which is closed pursuant to
New Mexico State Statute 1978.
We also were there to discuss the
purchase of real property and/or water
rights by the city of Los Cusus.
The meeting adjourned at 11:53 a.m.
Next is the acceptance of agenda.
So moved by Florus.
Yes, this is where councelor
Thank you, mayor. Thank you, council.
It's been too many years that I've not
followed Robert's rules. I'd like to uh
remove 7.4 item and that is uh council
bill number 260004
ordinance number 3096.
Second.
This is on a motion to accept the agenda
as presented with the removal of item
7.4 for discussion.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
absent.
Councelor Flores,
abstain.
I cannot abstain on the agenda. Then
maybe no. No.
Councelor Beno.
Yes.
Mayor,
yes. Thank you.
Motion carries.
So, this is to bring 7.4 4
uh council bill number 26-004,
ordinance number 3096 and ordinance
repealing ordinance 2964 closing the
local economic development act lita
project between the city of Los Cusus
and Sabutoo cheese.
Move to approve Graham
second.
Okay, Elizabeth.
Okay. Good afternoon, mayor and city
council. My name is Elizabeth Teters,
economic development director, and I'm
here to talk about closing out Saputo's
Lita. Um, so just real quick, the Local
Economic Development Act, the objectives
are assisting BIS, uh, expanding and
relocating businesses that stimulate
economic growth, have significant
community impact and support, increase
wages, and provide job creation, and
promote significant new private uh,
capital investment.
Uh the use of LETA funds is to purchase,
lease, construct, improve or acquire
land, buildings or infrastructure. Can
also be used to city improvements
essential essential to the location of
expansion and um all lita funds are on a
reimbursements reimbursement basis.
Uh some background on the business.
Saputoo Cheese USA um used to be FNA
Dairy. They uh purchased the facility in
2018. They are loca located located at
the Los Cusus's Innovation and
Industrial Park and they produce around4
million pounds of cheese monthly.
Uh per the Lita agreement, the state
economic development department
contributed $2.5 million, the city
contributed $300,000 and we were the
fiscal agents which mean we we held all
the funds for the project.
Um so this is the agreement what it
stated to the actuals um to close out
the agreement. They were expected to get
uh 150 new jobs with an average wage of
almost $34,000 with a capital investment
of $30 million. Uh what they actually
did is create 216 new jobs at an average
wage of $44,000 and $62 million in
capital investment.
Uh so even though the agreement goes
until December 31st of 2026, there is a
clause within the project participation
agreement that if a com if the company
maintains 150 full-time employees for
six consecutive months prior to that
date, they may request the following
which is the release of the security and
early project closeout. So that is why
we are here today. All alas are put in
place via ordinance. So they have to be
closed out via ordinance as well. And
with that, I stand for questions.
Thank you, Elizabeth. Uh, councelor
Matise,
thank you. This is the reason for
discussion. If you go to page six, I
believe on your slides. Um, you know,
this this is good news and and this is
really a a good solution to why IRB
Yeah, they work.
Know this company's uh releasing its
debt even before its time. We've
increased jobs out there. So when
there's companies coming, whether it's
uh Project Jupiter or others, I think we
need to be real positive to create those
jobs and get those companies here. And
thank you for the presentation. I just I
just thought I'd like some good news.
Well, you're welcome.
Thank you.
Thank you, Council Fis.
Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Miss
Teders, for the presentation. I'm still
um wondering what it all means. It looks
like uh they they've done a great job,
but
You're saying that LITA requires a close
out on this
to close it.
Yeah, Mayor uh councelor Flores. So, the
way that the Lita state statute is
written that every Lita has to be
created via ordinance and so when
everything is done, we have to close it
out via ordinance as well to basically
cancel it out.
Um that doesn't mean the business will
go away.
No, they're still here. They're actually
planning another expansion right now as
well. So,
they've been planning an expansion for
several years now. If I recall, during
co
Yes, they did. The leader that we did
was for a a string cheese expansion.
Yes.
Um, and so that's was in place and right
now they are they are expanding their
lines for string cheese as well. And I'm
I'm pretty sure there's an employee from
Saputo here, but I so I hope I'm not
speaking.
Yep, there he is. Yep.
Yay.
Please tell us more.
The way I read it, I thought we were we
I'm calling off all you know any so
thank you Elizabeth
uh good afternoon major counselors uh my
name is Sam Roman I'm the human
resources manager from Sapuro cheese and
when I'm seeing that information yes it
was possible it was it took a lot of
effort uh for not only me but the whole
company on on getting those jobs during
COVID years on the first expansion and
yes you're correct there was a previous
expansion of string cheese but now we're
going to a second expansion in there so
uh more more jobs is it is grateful to
bring to the community and and also
great benefits for to work for this
company. I'm proud to work for this
company and thank you for the support
with this project from the state of New
Mexico
and thank you very much. Thank you.
Okay, Christine,
this is on the motion to approve
ordinance 3096.
Councelor Mccclure. Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Cran.
Yes.
Councelor Flores.
Yes.
Councelor Beno.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Next is resolution number 26038.
A resolution in support of public lands.
Move to approve. Second.
Go ahead, Sergeant.
Good afternoon, mayor, city council. My
name is Sio Ruiz, policy analyst for the
record.
Today, I bring to you a resolution in
support of public lands.
The transfer, sale, and reduction of
public lands are inconsistent with the
inconsistent with the values and
interests of the residents of Los Cusus
and the New Mexico community. We oppose
legislation that would negative
negatively impact public lands.
The city of Los Cusus is at the center
of the Oregon mountains desert peaks
national monument. These public lands
provide essential resources and
contribute to the local economy. And
this public lands are valued for their
recreational, cultural, and spiritual
significance.
We recognize the multiple uses of public
lands and support policies that ensure
their long-term preservation.
We ask that the federal and state
governments fully fund our public lands
and oppose any attempts to change or
reduce the size of our national
monuments.
That concludes my presentation. These
are your council options. I stand for
questions and we also have uh advocates
here to answer any questions.
Thank you, Serio. Councelor Flores,
thank you, Mayor, and thank you, Sepio,
for your thank you for your
presentation. So, um so we say um we say
yes to this resolution, then what
happens to it? Do we just file it away
or do we send it up to uh Santa Fe and
hope that uh they read it? mayor
or where I mean what happens.
Mayor Council Flores, uh yes, we
actually can uh we have uh letters that
we can put this uh resolution into, the
information of the resolution into and
we can send it up to to the federal
government and the state government as
well.
Right. Right. And hopefully they'll
listen
or maybe they don't know how to read,
but okay.
Mayor Council Fis, that that's the
expectation that they will listen and we
would hear response from them.
Thank you so much for your work. I
appreciate it in your explanation. Thank
you, Mayor
Mayor Pro.
Thanks. Thank you, Sio. Um, for working
on this with uh a couple of us and
advocates that reached out for us to do
something simple. Yep. Powerful to to
really say where we stand. I think there
has been resolutions like this across
the state um in Taos and other parts of
the state that understand the importance
of public lands for um literally
everything that has to do with their
community including tourism and outdoor
recreation and the quality and health of
their their communities but just
generally the right thing to do. So just
no questions. I just wanted to say thank
you and thank you to the advocates who
do this every single day who do this
work every single day in protecting um
our most precious resources. Thank you.
Was there anyone from the audience that
wish to speak to this topic?
We'll give you a couple of minutes.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez. Um, city
council. My name is Kyla Navaro and I
work with the Friends of the Oregon
Mountains Desert Peaks. So, my
organization was tasked with advocating
for the establishment of the national
monument. And now we work really hard to
make sure that everyone h has access to
these lands. And, you know, I saw a few
of the students that were here um
earlier in the afternoon, some of the
folks that we engage with and work with.
So, it was really cool and rewarding.
But um this resolution comes from since
I would say the beginning of this year
that our public lands have been under
threat um whether that's through the
cutting of very important staff from our
national parks and national monuments to
just budgets um across the board. And so
a resolution like this is incredible
just that our city shows support of how
important um these landscapes are to
every individual. um in southern New
Mexico. And also I will highlight um
that we are throwing a community
celebration of national conservation
lands on September 26 which we are
working with um the city or visit Los
Cruises with. So um hope you guys can
attend and those in the audience as
well. So
okay thank you.
Not seeing anyone else. Christine,
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-038.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Flores,
yes.
Councelor Ben Ko,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is item 8.2, 2, resolution number
26-039,
a resolution amending the 2026 2031
capital improvement program.
Move to approve.
Second, Graham.
Good afternoon, mayor, city council. My
name is Cynthia Almo, CIP manager, and
today I have a couple of CIP amendments
for your review.
The CIPA document was adopted May of
this year and from May to now some of
the projects have been adjusted. So I
have two type of amendments for you. One
is funding adjustment. We just want to
make sure that the projects have enough
funding to move forward and one project
that has received a recent notice of
award for a grant.
This first page you will find five
capital improvement programs and their
uh adjustments. The first one is for
Madrid Avenue extension and this has a
an adjustment and reduction but it's
because the project is moving forward.
The end and balance for this project
will be 2.1 ADA compliance, fire station
4 remodel, municipal court
rehabilitation,
and the traffic signal at Batan Memorial
at Rinkonada. All of those projects have
been adjusted and now they reflect
additional funding so the project can
move forward.
This next five projects are the same uh
status adjusting funding so the project
continues. We have neighborhood traffic
calming program, roadway maintenance
program, street lighting and traffic
signal maintenance, the transportation
system modernization which is sometimes
referred to its and the municipal
arterial program match. And all of this
projects on under the public works uh
program.
Lastly, we have a project for
sustainability office the fast charger.
This project just recently received a
notice of award and this is amendment is
to reflect that those fundings so the
project can start as soon as possible.
However, I would like to invite uh Jenny
Ernnandez the sustainability officer to
tell us more details about this project.
Mayor Counselors Jenny Ernnandez,
sustainability officer.
So, we applied for funding from um
NMDOT.
They had an solicitation open to install
specifically fast chargers. And so we
applied and after doing um kind of some
pre-analysis
um and looking at different sites across
the city, we submitted for the animal
shelter off of Batan Memorial. And here
you're looking at a not so pretty
looking but gives you a sense of where
we are um planning on putting the
charger. It is the yellow square that
has the number three on it. So that's
where the fast charger will be. And the
reason we picked this location is
because we were trying to be strategic
to put it on major highways. So when
people are passing through, hopefully
that'll entice them to stop. Um, and
there are a lot of other amenities
around the area. There's Walmart,
there's restaurants. Um, but hopefully
also maybe they'll stop by either the
dog park or the animal shelter and visit
some of the pets and hopefully help with
our pet of the week. Um, so that's what
you're seeing. It is for I can go back
one for about a little over half a
million dollars to install and that's
just because it's a DC fast charger.
Those are much more expensive than a
traditional level two. Um, and I will
pass it back over to Miss Cynthia.
Thank you, Jenny. So with that, we have
your council options, but we do have
staff from the corresponding department
if you have specific questions on the
projects.
Okay. Thank you, Cindy. Uh, Council
Curry,
as as Jenny alluded to, um, this comes
with a free dog. Every charge gets a
free dog, right? Can we can we do that?
I support if if that's if that's
available. I think um anytime someone's
charging there, we just slip slip a dog
in the back seat.
Um I would I would support that as an
amendment to this. It's free. It's free
for everyone. Just put a dog put a dog
there. Free dog with your charge.
See no other questions. Chrissy,
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-039.
Councelor Mccclure.
Yes. Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Craran,
yes.
Councelor Flores,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is item 8.3, resolution number
26-040,
resolution approving a home investment
partnership agreement between the city
and Msia Valley Habit Habitat for
Humanity for the construction of two
single homes in the Dos Sweno
subdivision.
Move to approve. Second,
Jen.
Good afternoon, mayor, members of
council. Jan Larbach, Housing and
Neighborhood Services. The resolution
before you seeks to approve a home
investment partnership program or home
agreement between the city and Msia
Valley Habitat for Humanity.
Habitat desires to use up to 180,000 in
home funding to help in the construction
of two single family homes in Doenos
Estates, specifically located at 4432
Camino Dos Vidas and 4105
Cay de Luna. The home funding has been
previously committed to Habitat for
single family construction via our
annual action plans and we're here today
just to put just to approve the home
agreement.
The homes will be offered for sale to
income qualified households working
through Habitat's home ownership program
processes. These households earn up to
80% of area median income as defined by
HUD and they are required to take home
buyer education classes and put in their
volunteer
um hours housing working for Habitat.
The assistance provided will um the
assistance will provide for reduction in
the sales price of the home offering a
more affordable mortgage to the
households.
have vicinity maps.
This is for the property at Kayed De
Luna. You'll notice um the the main um
art arteries there are Ingler Road and
Horonada.
And then the one on Camino Ros Vas is on
the opposite side of Horinada. So all of
them are very close to Ingler Road with
Horonata being the divided major
arterial in between the two
neighborhoods.
That is my presentation and with that
I'll stand for questions.
Thank you, Jen. Any questions by
council?
Okay, seeing none. Christine,
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-040.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Flores,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is item 8.4, resolution number
26-041,
a resolution declaring the intent of the
city of Los Cusus, New Mexico to issue
the IRB entitled City of Los Cusus, New
Mexico taxable indust industrial revenue
box.
Move to approve, Graham. Second.
Go ahead and
Okay. Um, good afternoon again, mayor
and city council. Elizabeth Teters for
the record. Uh, so I'm back up here to
talk about an a proposed enducement
resolution for an industrial revenue
bond for Endurance Technologies.
Uh, so before I get to the actual um
business itself, I want to walk you
through what an IRB is. So it is an
economic development tool available to
counties and municipalities. It's a tax
abatement with a maximum term of 30
years. Uh this tax abatement can be in
the form of a property tax exemption,
gross receipts tax and or compensating
tax exemption on qualified purchases or
an exemption of bond interest from the
New Mexico income taxation.
Um so what is an IRB? It's only projects
can be financed. So that could be land,
buildings, equipment or improvements.
But it is important to note that per the
IRB state statute, it is prohibited
prohibits municipalities and counties
from using any of their own resources to
pay debt services. Uh the bonds are
payable solely from lease revenues paid
by project companies and the
municipality cannot operate the IRB
project being financed.
Uh so how it works um the real and or
personal property is conveyed from
project company to the IRB issuer which
in this case is the city of Los Cusus.
Uh the issuer leases the project back to
the company for the term of the bonds
under an industri industrial revenue
bond lease. The company acquires and
makes purchases as agents of the city
using non-t taxful transaction
certificates to obtain gross receipts
tax abatement on eligible purchases. and
the issuer transfers the project back to
the company at the bond maturity date.
There are two steps to the adoption
process. Um we're here today for step
one. So the uh project company submits
an application to the economic
development department to review and
then we do the inducement resolution. Uh
it is adopted by city council. It
indicates the intent to issue IRBs for a
project. Uh the city gives notice to
county commission and county assessor at
least 30 days prior to consideration of
the IRB ordinance which is the next step
and it allows project the project
company to begin making purchases using
the non-t taxable transaction
certificates.
Now the second is the ordinance itself.
So a published notice of intention to
consider the ordinance in the newspaper
is uh out at least 14 days prior to the
ordinance consideration. The ordinance
itself is adopted by city council. It
authorizes issuance of the IRB. It
approves primary bond documents and
terms included in the pilot payments so
that the payment in lie of taxes. Uh
notice of adoption of the IRB ordinance
published in newspaper and transactions
can close 30 days after the publication.
Uh so a little bit on the business now.
Uh we have known this business as
project Iron Man for the last 6 to9
months. Um but it is actually Endurance
Technologies. It is a Canadian steel
pipe and manufacturing company. They
service the oil and gas industries and
they have been in business for 30 years.
Um they are seeking a new manufacturing
facility to expand production
capabilities into the US. They have done
a multi-state search um to find this new
production facility.
They are expect to hire 41 um new jobs
with an average wage of about $58,000.
And the capital investment actually now
is around 17 million. Um, and the
potential they're potentially purchasing
ex an existing current vacant building
in the industrial park. It is the only
current vacant building at the
industrial park and it hasn't been on
the market for very long.
Uh, so this proposed resolution, it
expresses the council's intent to issue
the bonds. It induces Endurance
Technologies to move to the industrial
park and it shows the city is supporting
the expansion in the 41 new jobs. It
allows Endurance Technologies to apply
for the tax exempt certificate so they
can begin purchasing equipment while
waiting for the ordinance to be
approved.
And I know there's a lot more to IRBs
than just this. So our our IRB council
is here, Miss Katherine McKenna from
Model. Um the IRB council from uh that's
with uh Endurance is here, Eddie Duffy.
We also have the CEO of Endurance here,
Jeff Pura, and uh Steve Tate, who's the
VP of operations, and Davin Lopez is
here from Nvidita, who has also been
helping with the project. So, we are all
here to answer questions.
All right. Thank you, Elizabeth. Is
there any questions? Council,
shoot. Sorry, my um breeze got stuck. Um
Elizabeth, thank you. You said
potentially
uh looking for a location in the
industrial park. What's can you just say
a little bit more about that?
Yes. Um mayor mayor prom. So they are
currently um since it has been a
competitive process. Uh so we are down
to I believe two to four locations. They
are looking at us primarily but it isn't
like what you say is a sealed deal yet.
um doing this inducement resolution
today is part of an incentive package
that we've been working on that kind of
puts us one step closer to the finish
line.
Okay. And then on the 41
jobs is there what's the expectation on
that being that they are from Los Cruus
that they're from the area that they're
not being brought in from wherever else
they're from? Yes, they I I will see if
um Jeff wants to come up and talk about
the hires.
Amazing. Thank you.
Good afternoon, uh mayor and counselors
and councelor supporters. Uh Jeff Pura,
president and CEO of Endurance
Technologies. So the property that we're
looking at in the industrial park is uh
is vacant. It's about 45,000 square foot
and it sits on 15 acres. 7 acres are
developed, i.e. paved that have the
building and then 8 acres is still raw
land. So it gives us expansion
capabilities.
The uh jobs we listed are 41. We
envision starting with 25 in the first
year of operations. That'll be partway
in 2026.
So there's going to be a lot of
investment in upgrading the property to
allow us to do our process.
So the 41 uh staff, we're looking local.
There could be training in Canada. There
could be Canadians coming here to train
employees,
but we feel we'll start with 25 and
build to 41 in a three-year period.
Thank you. I appreciate you answering my
question. And sorry I couldn't join you
on Friday. Thank you for doing that.
Okay. You're welcome.
Any other questions?
I just also thank you so much for
considering this. I I want to thank you
all for this process and I think weirdly
we just coincidentally have been
learning about industrial revenue bonds
over the last month or so totally apart
from this. So it's a very opportune
moment for us to be having this
conversation and considering it uh as a
council and so thank you for for
considering Las Cruises. We we um
appreciate your your consideration and
I'm sure that you will love uh visiting.
I'm sure that it'll be an easy sell to
get get folks to come down and train
folks, especially during green chili
roasting season. So, please.
Very good. Thank you.
Anyone else? Again, Jeff, thank you. Uh,
great to see you again. And we really
appreciate that you're considering Los
Cusus. And I didn't know at this time if
uh Davin from Avita, if you had anything
that you wanted to to share.
All right. Thank Thank you. Thanks for
giving us time. Cheers. All right. Thank
you.
Mayor, members of the council, thank you
for having me here. Davin Lopez with
Msia Valley Economic Development
Alliance. On behalf of the Mvita board,
of course, we do support this project.
We've been working with Jeff and his
team for since about January of this
year. Uh we think that the investment
that they're making and the job creation
is going to be well, not only great for
the community, but stimulants to uh uh
the Lasus Innovation and Industrial
Park, something we've been trying and
striving to grow for a while now. And I
will say I know you're all learning
about the industrial revenue bond
process through different means right
now. Uh but it has been a tried and
trueue tax abatement mechanism that's
been used around the county around the
state for many many years and it's a
very responsible tool as well. So I I
encourage you to learn more about it and
I think it's a great opportunity that
we're leveraging this tool to entice uh
what would be what would be this
company's first investment in the United
States and we'd like to welcome them to
Los Cusus. So thank you.
All right. Thank you, Deon.
All right, Chrissy.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-041.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Cran,
yes.
Councelor Fletus,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
So, next on the agenda is board
appointments.
Okay. To read into the record, councelor
Matise appoints Jason Ferguson to the
Branigan Library Board.
And on these I'll need a motion and a
second and vote is required for the
following.
Martha Gera new appointment to seniors
program advisory board.
Move to approve.
Second Graham.
This is on a motion to appoint Martha
Gua to the senior programs advisory
board. Councelor Mccclure.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Karan.
Yes.
Councelor Flores.
Yes.
Councelor Bencoml. Yes, mayor.
Yes.
The next one is John Thruhill, a new
appointment to senior programs advisory
board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint John
Trujillo to the senior programs advisory
board. Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Council Flores,
yes. Councelor Ben Como.
Yes. Mayor,
yes. The next one is Adolf Zubia.
Reappoint to the oversight committee.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to reappoint Adolf
Zubia to the oversight committee.
Councelor McClur.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Craran.
Yes.
Councelor Flores.
Yes. Councelor Bencomo.
Yes. Mayor.
Yes.
Next is a notice of proposed ordinances.
There are two. Uh council bill number
26-005,
ordinance number 3097.
Bring it forward.
Beat you.
The next one is council bill number
26-00006,
ordinance number 3098.
Bring us forward.
Next, we'll go into city council member
board reports and comments. Councelor
McCuller.
Thank you, Mayor. I just wanted to
quickly say that at the MO uh board
meeting, we kind of discussed uh if the
city of Las Cruises would sign on to um
target zero for pedestrian deaths and
we're I think we're going to explore
what those options are for the city. Um
I think we want to actually make sure
that much like the kiddos who walked
here today that that future remains for
everybody here. So that's all I wanted
to add. Thank you.
Thank you, Councelor Matise.
Thank you. I just want to share with
Chief Story. I I know we've had
conversations on Salipc Park and if you
have any suggestions, I think they
brought up maybe camera surveillance or
more patrols. I could like to hear from
you on that Salipek Park comment. Thank
you.
Thank you, Mayor Councelor Matise.
I think if we zoom out and look at the
number of parks that we have to cover in
the city, that gives us some
perspective. And so, of course, we just
had a tragedy occur at that particular
park, but the reality is we would like
to do a better job of covering all the
parks. And so, staffing is a matter of
of officers versus calls for service
versus proactive time. So, that's a it's
a formula that we want to improve. We
have 25 graduating from the academy this
week, which they'll be in field training
for a little bit, but once they're out
of field training, that has a potential
to change a lot for us, right? They're
just staffing on patrol. And so by
January of next year, that that will
give us a lot of options to deal with
these things. I've been in discussions
with uh city management and others on
how do we expand the real-time crime
center so that we we cover some of the
gaps, we fill some of the gaps, and
that's one of them is trying to find
places, especially our parks. Um, right
now we already have infrastructure at
all the major parks, Young Park,
Apadaka, Lion, um, even Veterans Park,
but we we have some of the smaller parks
that don't have anything. So, it's
expanding it out to the smaller parks.
Thank you, Chief. Thank you, Mayor.
Councelor Grant,
thank you. And perfect segue. Um, I
wanted to thank Chief Story for inviting
us to a demo of the Realtime Crime
Center. It was amazing to watch. Also
kind of nerve-wracking just to sit there
and see things that are happening and
you just sit there and watch. But it's
um it's amazing to see real time how
this will um
both enable our officers to do better
policing but also offer them protection
that they need so desperately. And it
was also great. Uh I got to attend a
session that had um some participants
from other regional law enforcement
agencies and it made me proud that we
have this because I saw the reaction
from the officers from other agencies
and realizing like I wasn't the only one
who was like this is so cool. So really
appreciated the opportunity to come and
see that. And uh actually it's a PDhe
heavy comment session for me. I'd like
to thank officer David Udto who um had
me uh as I learned his 1012 for a ride
along because he had to report to
dispatch. I have a 1012. I'm like wait
does that mean me? He's like yeah it
just means I have a rider. I'm like oh
okay. So uh I really appreciated his
insight, his willingness to answer my
questions and um to let me get just a
small glimpse of one of his days. Um, so
much appreciation for that and that's
all I have. Thank you.
Thank you. Um,
thank you councelor Kin. I'm sorry.
Uh, I also wanted to um elevate what
councelor Mccclure said about the state
program that's called target zero.
They're run they're initiating that
kind. It's kind of similar to vision
zero, but it's a statewide N and MDOTled
project that provides technical
assistance. So I I would also love for
us to get engaged with that. I think it
involves some cross cutting teams within
the city and I think it seems like a
great opportunity to also represent for
southern New Mexico because it sounds
like they've really been focused on
Santa Fe and Albuquerque mostly in their
in their work so far. So I I also want
to say that I would love for us to get
on board with that. Um, I want to
highlight this Thursday at from 10 to 1,
I think, is the Griggs Walnut annual
open house. Um, I've gone to this every
year. I won't be able to go this year,
but it is one of the coolest things. um
if you're interested in environmental
health and environmental justice and
also making our water drinkable and all
the work that goes into that and all of
the um diligence that utilities has put
into this into this project to make
water that was contaminated with forever
chemicals um portable again. It's a it's
a really great opportunity to see um the
city what what the city utilities really
do and how how committed they are to
thinking about our water. Um, it's at
the Griggs Walnut uh, super fun site
which is at 153 North Cottonwood. And I
highly recommend if if you haven't been
able to go to check it out. It's it's
very fun, very nerdy. Um, typically
great swag as well. So, I wanted to
recommend that to folks. Um, I also
wanted to thank Officer Udo who took me
around um and shared a lot about about
understanding how um he's experiencing
work and and the things that he really
appreciates about LCPD and the things
that we we should make sure that we um
keep keep putting in to make sure that
LCPD remains the best um in Los Cusus
and also uh really thinking about what
what the daily life of an officer is.
So, it was it was a great experience for
me as well. So, thanks to Officer Odero
for that invitation. Um, and I think
that's it for now.
Councelor Flores,
I really don't have anything to share.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor Prom. Welcome back,
Councelor Flores.
Thanks, Mayor. Um, yes. Also, just quick
shout out to the Realtime Crime Center
and um, Chief for scheduling that demo.
It definitely helps just see it in
person with the just to reduce my
paranoia really around Big Brother. So,
um, it was definitely um, I mean, I'm
just going to say I'm very glad we
invested in that and I think um, it's
going to help a lot especially with
things like these park situations. So,
um, thank you for scheduling that and
for answering all of our questions.
Um, I just have two things really. Um,
gosh, maybe I'll start with the harder
one first. So, I, um, Councelor Korn and
I have been working together to, uh,
make improvements and update our
welcoming city resolution. Um, just for
some context that I don't think I have
to give, but I want to. Um, in the last
few months, several things have happened
that have made me realize that our
current welcoming city resolution is
wholly inadequate to meet the moment um
that we are in. Um, we and the big
betrayal bill passed in Congress um last
month or I don't know at this point
whenever that was set aside 170 billion
$170 billion for immigration enforcement
and border security. This is new money.
Um, of course we know that Los Cruuses
is in a border community. Um, and we
know that whatever will happen um,
across the country will happen twice as
bad in our community. Um, and I'm I'm
scared about that. I've talked to people
who are scared about that and I want to
make sure that as a city uh, we are
standing strong by our community.
Um, additionally, the Supreme Court of
the United States recently um really set
forth a path uh to allow racial
profiling um by federal immigration
enforcement and in the future really,
who knows? And so um I think the writing
is in the wall um about this
administration's intent to target
immigrant communities and really just
many communities as a whole. as a
naturalized citizen and I can tell you
that I've certainly been nervous about
what that means for people like me um as
well. So like I said, I believe that
currently our welcoming city resolution
is um wholly inadequate to meet that
moment. Um and want to ask for consensus
from this board to bring it forth on for
discussion on on the October 6th agenda.
Um I asked Christine and she said even a
thumbs up will work. So, um I'm asking
for consensus on whether uh from this
board to to bring that forth um so that
we can get it on the agenda. So,
Christine, I don't know what else.
Let me see Christine. So, uh in order to
bring this forward, yeah, we need a four
to three.
[Music]
Okay. if we can show whoever is in
favor.
Okay. Okay.
Thank you. Um and then I just have one
last item. Um I was I happened to be
watching the Emmys last night. I don't
know if any watch the Emmys. I love
award shows. I don't know why. Um and
they had this really great sort of
running joke um to help the celebrities
getting awards cut down on their
speaking time. And the host said, "Uh,
I'm going to give $100,000 to the Boys
and Girls Club, and every time someone
goes over the 45 seconds, I'm going to
take $1,000 off for every second you go
over." Um, it was very funny. And if you
went under 45, they were ad money to it.
All to say is that they ended up with a
negative $27,000.
At the end, of course, the host and
other celebrities ended up giving
$300,000 to the Boys and Girls Club. All
that to say um that I met with the Boys
and Girls Club here locally not too long
ago. Um and so I want to officially make
a pitch that both honestly I I've also
called my colleague at the county
commission uh Commissioner Sanchez for
both the county and the city to support
Boys and Girls Club locally to um help
make their $7.1 million goal by the end
of the year so that they can break
ground. Right now they have 6.1 million
um most of it from um private donors. Um
Nenda was a really big recent donor. Um
of course we know that uh some of our
ARPA dollars went uh to the Boys and
Girls Club so that they could purchase
the facility um on El Paso. And honestly
I'm I'm really hoping that this is
something we can do uh us and the county
um because I think one it's the right
thing to do. We obviously heard um you
know we've heard passionate community
members about um things to do for our
young people and this is a is an
investment we should be making. Number
one, that's period number one. Number
two, the Boys and Girls Club new
facility is in the El Paso MRA and I
really think it could be a catalyst for
what the rest of of this MRA could look
like. And so if we as the city and the
county can pitch in uh some funds to
help them meet that $7.5 million goal,
um I think that that would be really
important and powerful. Thank you,
mayor.
Okay. Thank you.
Again, I just want to echo about the
real time crime center. That's a long
time uh that we've been waiting for
this. Thank you, Chief Story and the
police department. again that thank our
legislators and even members of Congress
that have supported this so that we can
improve our public safety in in our
community with innovation and
technology. So that's something that
we're looking forward to. Uh later this
week uh we'll be uh some of us I know
I'll be attending the New Mexico
Municipal League in Rioso to continue
those talks on on public safety, mental
health, and things that we need for a
quality of life not only in our
community but statewide.
Um, last week we did uh have a a
groundbreaking or ribbon cutting for the
new uh Valley View Park and uh Councelor
Graham, Councelor Mccclure, that's one
of the parks that divides their
district, but it was great to be there
and to see. So, I I I understand when
people the community come up because
there's issues and there's concerns, but
we are working at it. We are doing as
you can see the mayor's top team here
trying to get kids involved in academics
and activities and also uh revitalizing
our parks and looking with the new GRT
at recreation centers that we can get on
our community. It's not that anyone
cares. It just takes time and we're
moving in that direction and we want to
continue. And so the mayor's top team, I
just want to let you know on Saturday at
uh starting 8:30 a.m. at the Walmart off
Walton, uh we'll be walking along Travis
doing a cleanup on that day. So we'll be
doing that Saturday. Anybody that wants
to join us is welcome uh for that for
that cleanup that morning. And then on
Sunday is the mayor's bike ride and
we're going to start here at city hall
at 10:00 a.m. be here before that. I'm
looking at Scott back there. He told me
I had to be here early. So we'll start
at 10:00 and uh we'll ride to University
and South Solano where the other event
that's taking place there is the Reas
Unidas.
Uh that's going to be there on Sunday
from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. uh South
Solano at Wolford to University. So we
got a few things planned this weekend.
Come out and join us and uh we'll
continue to work hard for this community
and we do care about the children and
our youth and our seniors and everyone
else in this community. So with that,
I'll turn it over to our city manager.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez. Mayor Potent
city counselors,
city manager. Just uh few updates and I
will be out of here.
Uh as as some of the counselors and
mayor mentioned, we have GRT um public
meetings coming up and they're going to
happen in in the next two uh two and a
half three weeks. First one, District 1,
September 30th, going to be in at the
Brandan Library, Roadrunner on October
1st, we're going to have it in Messiah
Park, District 2. On October 2nd, we're
going to have it in district three, Mson
Senior Center. On October 7th, we're
going to have it District 4, MacArthur
Elementary School. October 8th, we're
going to have it at district five, Monte
Vista Elementary School. And on October
9th, we are planning to have it at Dona
Anna Community College, East Mesa,
District 6. This is something that our
communications department, we appreciate
our community outreach, Katrina and
Mandy, working together with um Sarah
Gonzalez and Cynthia Almo to make these
uh outreach meetings happen along with
the counselors. Uh we will put this on
social media platforms so all uh will be
updated. Please come out. As we
mentioned, there's um we've heard from
public comments today about more
community centers, more rec centers, uh
more capital projects. Um our elected
officials uh support that. There's so
many needs, but come let your voice be
heard with your families and friends. We
appreciate that. uh talking about
another CIP project, a capital project
that um is near and dear to our heart,
but um hasn't quite um came through
fruition. There's a new skate park that
we uh partnered with uh a contractor
vendor at at Hadley. It's our Hadley
skatepark that um hasn't opened yet. And
so this is something that just hit
social media right now. It's an update
and I'll just share it uh verbatim. The
city of Las Cusus is aware of concerns
regarding the delayed opening of the
Walnut skate park on 165 North Walnut
Street. However, we have encountered
some unexpected issues with the
construction of the project. While we
appreciate the eagerness to make use of
this exciting new facility, the city is
committed to delivering a final product
to the community that is is nothing
short of excellent. We have been in
communication with the contractor
responsible for construction and are
committed to resolving these issues as
soon as possible. We understand your
concern and appreciate your patience.
And we we thank the community for uh
waiting patiently alongside. I know it's
tough, but um we have um we we have
capital projects. We have a new skate
park in um the East Mesa that we're
hoping open in the upcoming weeks with
ribbon cutting. More to come on that,
but thanks to the team uh working to to
resolve the skate skatepark on Walnut.
Just a few more announcements and then
Mayor, it'll be yours. Economic
development. The 2025 New Mexico
economic development excellence awards
have just been announced and MVITA and
the city jointly won the blueprint for
growth award. Can we get a round of
applause for for them?
I appreciate Devon is still here from
Avita and appreciate Elizabeth and
economic development working together.
The award recognizes a community
organization or agency that has
demonstrated exceptional foresight in
planning and advanced long-term economic
goals. Uh they have been working on
pre-spec development as site readiness
strategies and really uh being the front
runners of innovation and creativity on
that front in the state. So thank you uh
David and Elizabeth for working closely
on that.
The awards will be handed out at this
year's Governor's Conference on Economic
Development on September 24th, 25th.
Next, but not least, uh, parks and
wreck. Get ready for fall national
cleanup day this Saturday, September
20th. Keep Las Cruises beautiful is
providing free rolloff dumpsters at
several locations around town to help
you get rid of bulky junk and clean up
your space. The dumpsters will be
available from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 noon
or until they are full. Free dumpsters
locations at Henry Benvitas Community
Center, Young Park, East Mesa Rec
Center, Apadaka Park, and Frank O'Brien
Papen Community Center.
Also, if you want to do more, you can
volunteer for the fall National Cleanup
Day event. Help make our community event
uh event and make our community even
cleaner. To sign up, visit Keep Las
Cruz's beautiful web page. For
questions, please call 575-528-45206.
And last but not least, you are invited
to a free community movie night this
Saturday,
September 20th,
um, at the Amador Live Space for a
special screening of the brand new 2025
liveaction musical Snow White. Bring
your family, friends, blankets, and
chairs for a magical night under the
stars. The gates open at 7 p.m. and
movies will begin at dusk. Can't wait to
see you there. Thank you, Mayor. That's
all.
Thank you, Connie. There was one more
thing I I forgot to mention was uh uh
the the Rotary Club uh had a reception
on Friday. Uh and I was there to read
the proclamation for them at their at
the reception. But I just want to say
kudos to them for their leadership,
their inspiration. they were celebrating
50 years of existence here in Los Cruus.
Thank you, Carol, for the for the invite
and uh for all that you do. But I think
that's huge that that when when a club
has been around for 50 years and
continues to to serve and dedication to
the community is is awesome. So, I just
want to give them a shout out for 50
years of existence. And with that, I'll
have a motion to adjurnn.
So, moved by floers.
Second.
This is a motion to adjourn the meeting.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Graham,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Flores,
yes.
Councelor Bencoml,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.