[Music]
You're live.
Hi everyone. Good afternoon.
Good afternoon. Welcome to the work
session today, Monday, September 8th. It
is 100 pm. I, as you can tell, am Mayor
Prom Bencomo. We will start with a brief
moment of silence for the brave women
and men of the Los Cusus Police
Department and the Los Cusus Fire
Department as they keep our city safe
247 365.
Please join me in the pledge.
Thank you everyone.
Uh we will start off with jobs of the
week. Sarah Remy.
Good afternoon.
My name is Sarah Rainey. I'm the onestop
coordinator for the Southwest region of
America's Job Center New Mexico. For the
jobs of the week, we have a public
health coordinator for the city of Los
Cusus starting at $69,000
and it is a continuous posting at this
time. We also have an engineer for the
city. That one also starts at the same
amount and is a continuous posting at
this time. They are needing needing
individuals in those positions. So they
will stay open until they find the right
person. For Doniana County, we have a
planner designer for community
development starting at 52,000 a year
and that posting closes on the 17th of
September. We have an administrative
assistant in economic development for
the county starting at 1824 an hour and
the posting closes on the 12th. So
really, really soon.
For Stampede Meet, there's multiple
positions. This is just a portion of
what they have out there. Um everything
from wastewater trimmers, state cutter,
packer, maintenance tech, food quality
control tech, there was administrative,
all sorts of positions are open out
there. And then for Linica de Familia,
we have an ACT case manager for 2222 an
hour and that position closes um October
2nd.
And then just as a reminder, this week
we have the career essentials in
Anthony. That's um one-on-one employment
help where they can you can go and get
program referrals, assistance, anything
you're needing for your job and career
path. We have H&R Block recruitment in
our office on 226 Alama. You can come
ready for an interview. Bring your
resume so you can apply for those
positions. We also have upcoming this
month the community of hope job
readiness mock interview event. We are
looking for volunteers that want to come
and help with the mock interviews, give
feedback to those that are doing the
having their interviews done and we can
show you all of that in between. But if
anybody's interested in volunteering,
come see me.
And then that's all we have. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Sarah.
Next up is
um Carol with
our pets of the week.
Good afternoon. I am Carol Nelson,
digital content specialist with the
Animal Services Center of the Messia
Valley. Uh to start our uh presentation
off, our dog of the week, Ruby, has been
adopted. So, we're super excited for her
and hoping she'll have success as she
was paired up with a young couple, so
they should have energy for her.
Uh our cat of the week, Mrs. issippi
97552 to look her up on the website. I'm
still fairly new to the center and have
been feeling a bit shy since arriving,
but my sweet nature still shines
through. Once I shake off my initial
shyness, you'll find me rubbing up
against the glass and making adorable
biscuits, eager to connect with the
world around me. I I might feel
uncertain around people at times, but
I'm already beginning to open up and
embrace affection. A gentle and patient
approach really helps me come out of my
shell. in a loving home I can continue
to blossom into my sweet and confident
self.
And as always, we like to highlight our
long-term residents to adopt. And some
other really good news, both um our two
longestterm residents um currently at
the center, Boxer and Pickle, are
actually going to rescue today. So after
253 days, they get to go on. Uh but we
do have Cassette, who has been with us
245 days, Cookies and Cream 235 days.
both really good options for adoption.
We'd love to see them get into a home
sooner rather than later so they can
continue to thrive. And then this coming
weekend, we are going to be at the
farmers market here downtown uh from 9
to 12. So definitely come out and bark
and browse with us. And for more
information, feel free to visit our
website or you can also follow us on
social media. Thank you for the time.
Thank you so much, Carol, for today was
a good news day. Thank you.
Okay, now on to our agenda items. Item
3.1 is the Community of Hope Alliance
Agency updates, and I'll pass it over to
Natalie.
Good afternoon, Mr. Mayor, members of
council. Natalie Green for the record.
Um so today, uh I will be giving a brief
introduction and then we'll have each of
our agencies come up and give a a brief
presentation. Um today all the alliance
agencies are here and that includes
Casad Perigrinos, Hardin Deos Ninños,
Messia Valley Hope, Amador Health
Center, and El Calito Soup Kitchen. Just
a little background on the community of
hope campus. Uh the city actually
acquired the land in 1994 and built
phase one
um in 1998 that housed the original
Hienda del Soul Emergency Family
Shelter, the Messia Valley Community of
Hope Day Shelter, St. Luke's Healthc
Care Clinic, and then El Calito.
Phase two was added in 2000 and that
created the Hardin Deos Nino's building.
And then in 2005 we created phase three
which uh transitioned messia valley hope
day shelter into their current location
and house the former kasa deerino's
facility. In 2010 uh we uh added the
child crisis center that took over the
old hassiend deloul uh family shelter
and then it closed in 2013 and became uh
part of Amador Health C Center's uh
facility. In 2011, we incorporated uh
camp hope, which is uh the safe outdoor
space encampment. And then that was
formalized through a PUD in 2013. And
then in 2022, we adopted the master plan
for all of the patterned growth that
occurs at the campus. And then in 20 uh
2023, we opened the new Kasa the
Perigrino facility. And then just
recently we acquired uh the Manoim Mano
warehouse and then some additional
parking area to support the overall
campus.
Um it's about 17 acres. So this is the
the campus. Um you it's uh two separate
parcels. So we have the main campus
99999 West Aador and then we have 1101
West Amadore which is the future home of
Amodore Crossing Housing Complex. And
then on the campus but not a part of the
campus is 12th Avenue or El Grusero
which is owned and operated by FYI plus.
Uh the campus is is quite a busy campus.
So it sees um about a thousand people a
day accessing services whether that's
health care, meal services, pantry
services, uh residing at camp hope or or
utilizing some of the day shelter
services like laundry, showers. So we
just wanted to give you an aerial shot
of the campus.
Um in terms of uh of the campus, I just
wanted to show this graphic. So the
community of hope campus is the
cityowned facility. So the city owns all
17 acres. We own the buildings. We lease
that to the Messia Valley Community of
Hope, the organization.
So, Community Hope the campus, Msia
Valley Community, the organization as
the master leasey and then they sublease
uh to the other alliance agencies again
which includes Amadore, Casa, Kalito and
Hardin. Each or organization is
independently operated. They have their
own directors which you'll get to meet
today and they have their own boards.
So, I will let Missia Valley Community
Hope come up first and then uh all the
agencies will present and then we can
answer questions at the end. Thanks,
Natalie. I love you all sitting right
here perfectly in this section. Um,
don't forget to state your name.
Okay. My name is Carol Apadaka. I am the
deputy director for Miss Valley
Community of Hope. Uh, Nicole was kind
enough to land herself in a hospital bed
today. Um, just so I could come check in
with the people with whom and for I used
to work. So, um, thanks to Nicole. Uh,
we'll get started here. Okay. Um since
1998, Community of Hope has provided
services for people in need of shelter,
case management, income support. Um we
did start as a day shelter. We have
expanded services based on community
needs. Um last year we served 10,894
people. Um of that, just a quick
breakdown, uh we did serve 582 vets. Uh
average time to housing for vets was 26
days. So it's a statistic we're pretty
proud of. Um
that number also includes people who are
at camp, so Camp Hope, it includes Seuss
House, Abode, it includes our scattered
site vouchers, our outreach team, the
Mono Mano day labor program, um our
assisted outpatient treatment
partnerships. Um so it's made up by, you
know, a ton of different programs that
we offer.
Um last year, Camp Hope sheltered 194
people. Um generally speaking, on
average, we have about 75 people sign in
at the front desk each day. So that
would be for showers, laundry, rental
assistance. Um they're checking in maybe
their status for camp or they are
campers. Um and we served 1,118 new
people with housing. That was in large
part thanks to the grow money and fresh
start. Um overall we served 1,857
people and 1,4 children for housing
assistance specifically last year. Um so
just a note that that includes kind of
the entire housing continuum. So that
could be one month of rent that they're
behind um or other aarages uh including
utility aarages. Um it includes
homelessness or sorry h homeless
prevention. Um so while we served that
entire continuum it's important to note
that the mo the biggest solution to
ending homelessness is housing. And so
um we'll talk a little bit about access
issues. Um and uh quick note on the grow
money that was primarily geared for
homeless prevention. We do anticipate
that there will be federal cuts coming
um unfortunately and if so that just
kind of want to put it out there that
that will be primarily where we're
asking for assistance in the future.
Um mono the outreach team and housing
services have demonstrated impactful
solutions during the postcoid period. So
people are struggling in the community.
Um it's important to note that outside
corporations bought out hundreds of
units in Los Cusus and really really
impacted access to housing. Um so we are
always looking for opportunities for
housing and services with both the
county and the city of Los Cusus. Uh so
these are things like Amodore Crossing.
Um we work with the county to do uh
services for people who are exiting
incarceration. Uh we're looking also at
expanding those services particularly.
Um, we did serve 1,339
unique people just in Mono Mano last
year. Um, we are still operating camp
hope. It's related really to the
improvements. So, we're working right
now on the expansion renovation. Uh, new
flooring, new showers. We did do the
Mono Mano warehouse project. Um, we got
money for solar. Uh, so we're working
really hard to protect the assets that
that have been entrusted to us by the
city of Los Cusus. Um, Camp Hope was
designed by city by the city staff
planning department. Uh, has stamped
engine engineer designs improved by the
community improve, excuse me, community
improvement department. The goal of camp
hope is really a very brief shelter stay
while they're working on transitioning
to other housing opportunities. Um, and
just a note that congressional dollars
did help us with these improvements
here. Um, we work really hard to improve
the campus to the best of our ability.
Um we do have a few outstanding work
orders, but we're trying hard to be very
communicative if there are issues that
pop up and that we that need the city's
attention.
Uh this is a slide that really talks
about kind of the housing continuum. Um
so we have prevention solutions. These
are things like uh diverting people from
from exiting into homelessness. Uh
working with clients and landlords to do
um or to prevent an eviction. Um then
you move into the crisis response
portion that is things like emergency
shelters. We have a safe outdoor space
that's camp hope that allows clients to
u maintain their eligibility for some of
the more permanent stable stable housing
options while being in a safe place.
This is also street outreach coordinated
assessment which is um if somebody comes
in and they're homeless it's how we
prioritize and determine eligibility for
programming. So unfortunately, as you
I'm sure know, um dollars are limited
and need is high. So, uh we have to have
a way of determining who enters into
which program. And this is a federal
program that we use. Um there are also
opportunities like safe parking, motel
vouchers, and then you move into stable
housing, which is things like rapid
rehousing, which is geared to get
clients into housing within 30 days. Um
permanent supportive housing,
transitional housing. These are things
like rental assistance. So, this is not
like a one-time rental assistance. This
is like TBR monies that are intended to
be for slightly longer term. Um, motel
conversions are also also an option
here. And then you move into things like
being able to maintain your own
affordable rental housing uh or home
ownership. So, just to quick highlight,
um the darker blue are things that are
offered by Community of Hope. Sorry,
because that key is a little hard to
read. Um the pink are offered by other
nonprofits in Los Cusus. And then the
light blue are the ones where we're
potentially um there's an opportunity or
that we just don't have access to that
here. So, uh we do always work with
landlords to try to divert um evictions
as much as possible. We also work with
landlords to pay like I said onetime
assistance and a rear to um prevent
people exiting to homelessness.
In terms of crisis response, we do have
that camp hope that's the safe outdoor
space. There are other agencies in town
that will do some emergency shelters.
Uh, as you guys know, we partner with
you on street outreach. Uh, the
coordinated assessment is run by us.
Again, that's the VIP spit out that I
just spoke about. Um, safe parking is
probably, I would say, underutilized. We
don't have we allow it sometimes in
specific instances, but we don't have a
specific program for that. So, it's
marked as still a um a missing potential
opportunity here.
Motel vouchers we offer, but they are in
extremely limited circumstances. like I
want to highlight how limited those
circumstances are. Um, and there are
other nonprofits who also offer them,
but it would be like we're opening them
up for a day and they fill them the same
day. So, those are those get really used
really very quickly. So, we left it open
to note that it is a potential
opportunity. Um, in the future, this may
be something that we bring uh to council
as a potential option if we start
looking at at places where there's high
need. That potentially will be one that
we come forward with.
Uh in terms of stable housing, we do
rapid rehousing and we do permanent
supportive housing. Those are um there's
a couple of different programs, but they
do receive federal monies. Uh
transitional housing,
we do again in super super specific
instances. Uh I will just note federal
dollars have pulled away from
transitional housing and have invested
very heavily into the rapid rehousing
portion. Um, other agencies also will do
some transitional housing, but these
would be things like, uh, temporary
housing during your recovery, for
example.
Uh, rental assistance is something that
we offer again with the TBR would be an
example and other agencies in town do as
well. Motel conversions, we have not
done, I will note that we are monitoring
motel conversions in other places. Uh we
are not at this time coming forward with
any kind of proposals to do that, but it
is something that we're watching very
very closely seeing how it's handled in
other areas.
Uh affordable rental housing, we uh
partner with agencies as often as we can
to make that a reality um for the
missing middle as well. Um and then home
ownership is something that's done by
other agencies in town. It is not
something that we uh that we partner
with at this time. So uh thank you.
Thank you, Cariel. And I would just say
write down your questions and then we'll
come back to questions at the end for
everybody.
Good afternoon everyone. My name is U.
Michelle Adams and um I'm so happy to be
here. Uh Mayor Prom, thank you for um
inviting us to be able to share and city
councilors. I think it's important for
us to be able to share. I always love
when you come visit us at Hardin because
we're able to give you a tour and it
just looks so different when you're able
to actually see everything that's going
on. Um so even after this I welcome
everyone to come to our center so that
you can actually visit and see what's
going on in daily at Hardin. Um, so I
like I mentioned I'm Michelle Adamus and
I'm the CEO at Hardin de los Ninos and
I've actually been at Hardin for seven
years now and in the seven years we've
seen quite a bit of growth. Uh, a lot
has happened just in the last three
years. So I'll start by just um sharing
that Hardine still remains a five-star
early childhood education center. We've
been operating at this level since 2016.
Within our um early childhood education
department, we have our children's
services. Um and those services uh are
strictly for um supporting the children
on site. And so we serve children from
the ages of six weeks to 10 years. And
within our children's therapeutic
services program, these are the children
who are um often referred to us for um
many are because of CPS. CPS will refer
children to us, many because of
developmental delays, many because um
they might be transitioning in foster
care. Um the public schools might have
families that they um receive and then
they refer the younger siblings to us.
And then we may also just have um
families who come to us by way of other
nonprofit organizations. I will say that
when families land on our campus, the
most wonderful thing about us working
and operating as a campus is that
regardless of where they land, whichever
organization they first walk into, they
are immediately referred to to us so
that we can help support. And that's
really important because the families um
are able to
adjust and they're able to um get the
support they need immediately without
having to go anywhere off campus.
We do um benefit we have benefited from
CDBG funding to help support a portion
of our children's therapeutic services
program. And this program also looks at
supporting children's developmental
milestones. So when a child is
experiencing developmental delays, we
want to make sure that we can address
those early on so that they can actually
u micriculate into kindergarten at the
same level at their as their peers. So
we do focus on those developmental
milestones and social emotional
learning. We also provide an early prek
and prek program. These uh programs
serve three and four-year-old children
and it the goal is to provide early uh
quality early childhood education
services um to prepare them for
kindergarten.
And then our school age program serves
children who are in kindergarten through
fifth grade. We serve them in an
afterchool setting throughout this
academic year and then we it turns into
a summer program and that's a full 5
days from 7:30 a.m. to about 5:00 p.m.
So, I do want to share that um on an
average we've um we have served uh about
350 families annually
and at our Los Cusus site, you know,
we're able to adjust accordingly based
on our five-star ratios, our families
might actually be um they might actually
range between three to 10 family
members. So when you think about how
many families, how many individuals
we're serving, you know, the number just
it grows exponentially. Um, but as far
as families, we have to we look at
enrolling families as a whole so that we
can stabilize the whole family, not
just, you know, our infants and toddlers
and then try to figure out where all the
older kiddos go. We don't want the
families to have to be chasing the
children around Los Cru's public
schools. So that's the biggest reason
why we look at the whole family makeup.
So one of the things that I I always
like to share is that when a family um
is unable to be served in our child care
or early childhood um services, it's
because we've reached capacity and we
have remained at capacity for about
three three to four years now. And in
our es especially in our zero to3
program so our um infants mobile infants
toddlers there's a huge need. So one
example I can share with you and this
this need has been addressed as we
looked at the master plan.
We have 31 children on our weight list
right now. So when you think about what
that looks like, these children
unfortunately cannot receive the child
care services, but we do have them on
our wait list where we're still serving
them with all the wraparound family
services. And so Hardin is actually um
the first and only designated
trauma-informed care center in the state
of New Mexico. We take a lot of pride in
this designation because there's a lot
that goes into becoming a designated
center. The training, the ongoing
professional development, and all of the
services that that we provide are
trauma-informed
with that. Um, when we have a family who
cannot be um served in the child on the
child care side, we still keep them on
our weight list. We provide case
management, mentoring, connections to
community resources, referrals to
community partners, employment and
career coaching, support to access
services.
So, for example, um one of the things
that we do a lot we we share a lot of
our expertise in is our family services
team will often help support a family
to be able to um access child care
subsidies.
We receive them as though we are going
to serve them, which we are through our
wraparound services. And as soon as we
can help them find a spot at another
child care center, then we help to
transition them so that parents can
start working or going to school. And
this is a service that isn't available
anywhere else, you know, but we do do a
lot of that outreach because we want to
make sure that families can stabilize.
And we know that without child care,
parents cannot go to work or they
cannot, you know, go to school. We
provide transportation. So we'll pick up
the children to and we'll take them
wherever they need to go at the end of
the day. We pick them up wherever they
are. Um in our anti-hunger and wellness
program, we do address food insecurity.
We um provide dental vision and hearing
screenings, wellness checks,
immunizations, and parent education
workshops.
We utilize our community partners that
are on the community of hope campus.
Amodore Health Center has sent over
their providers. They do screenings.
They do the wellness checks. Everything
can be done on site, which is so good
for us because parents sometimes say,
"Well, maybe I'll take them to the
doctor, right?" And we want to make sure
that they follow up with have those
follow-up visits. We also have our
flourishing families parent mentoring
program. We've graduated four cohorts at
this point. We're getting ready to
launch our fifth cohort. And this one is
the program where we know families have
stabilized and they're ready to
graduate. They're ready to move on and
they're ready to um essentially do all
the things that they need to do so that
their family can be stable. Um I want to
share that uh
about 20% of our families are designated
as homeless. They're either living at
the shelter. They might be living out of
the hotels. They might be living out of
their vehicles at times. They might be
transitioning
throughout from Dona throughout Donana
County really because we do have our
hatch site that we expanded to in 2024.
And often our families might go to both
seek services from both sites. The other
80% are near homeless.
And the biggest challenge is that, you
know, when we're looking at breaking the
cycle of generational poverty, they're
living in multi-generation homes or
there isn't access to housing for them.
So, they're maybe just living with
friends and and and other families.
In 2025, Hardin grew even further and we
became a designated behavioral health
agency.
This is really important because we can
actually now provide all of the
outpatient services, the comprehensive
community support services, and of
course, we're providing all of the
social emotional learning in the
classroom setting. This has been
something that, you know, for us, we've
worked so hard over the last couple of
years, and now we we have the ability to
not only serve our families that are
enrolled, but we can serve other
community partners and and their
families as well.
And then our community outreach and
voucher program.
So we have
approximately 45 partners that we can
say we work closely with very closely
with in Donana County and across New
Mexico annually and these are partners
that we have many collaborations with.
We have collaborations um projects that
are researchbased projects. We have
projects that provide, you know, support
to families, whether it's resources, um
we we have collaborations where we're
looking for additional funding.
Our voucher program at Latienda, it
serves uh clients and community partners
to provide business attire to prepare
for job interviews, education,
presentations,
court hearings, etc. And so the way that
program works is that we often get um
referrals from community partners and we
probably average about 30 referrals a
month.
So when you look at these referrals,
they're coming from about 50% of those
referrals are received from local
nonprofits.
20% are received from LCPS, NMSU, DACC.
Then we have approximately 20 per um 5%
are civic religious organizations.
We also have the DA's office. We have a
great partnership with the DA's office.
So when a family is needing to
gain um business attire so that they can
attend a court hearing, they'll come to
Latienda so they can receive th um those
services. And then the other 20% are are
our our clients. Our
adopt a family and back to school
campaigns really focus around the
onboarding of families and the
maintenance of families throughout the
year because we enroll families monthly.
We disenroll families monthly and the
snapshot. You know, we have periods
throughout the year that you know we
follow an academic year but you know it
just depending on the situation.
Sometimes when we get a referral, say
from the DA's office, it may just be for
four weeks that we're supporting that
family and then they have to to leave so
that they are they're placed into foster
care or whatever it is that's happening
with that family.
And that's all I have for now. Thank
you.
Thank you, Michelle.
Mayor Prom counselors, good afternoon.
My name is Ron Fitz Herbert. I am the
CEO of Amodore Health Center.
Excuse me. Um, Amodore Health Center was
originally known as St. Luke's
Healthcare Clinic and from 1990 to 2017
operated under that name. and as an
original uh resident of the community of
hope campus since 1998
and we have been providing services to
the underserved in our community in
conjunction with the other agencies on
the campus since the campus started. Um
our mission is to promote dignity and
provide access to vital health and
wellness services and we do that without
discrimination. We provide to anyone in
need irregardless of their race,
religion, origin, gender, identity,
whether they have insurance or not,
their income. It's whoever walks in our
door that needs a service, we will
provide those to them. In 2015, we
became designated as a fairly qualified
health center, the third in Los Cusus,
with a specific purpose, a large part of
our purpose to support those who are
unhoused and underserved.
Thank you.
I'm sorry, I've been fighting an allergy
all week. Um,
so our primary focus is the underserved,
but we serve anyone in need. Our core
services are primary medical care,
behavioral health care, substance use
disorder treatment services, and an
on-site pharmacy. Um,
so far this year or the first six months
of this year, we have served 1,59
patients. Um, in total, 277 of those had
addresses on or adjacent to the
community of hope uh campus.
um 340 of the patients received
behavioral health care services and of
those, 159 patients, there was almost
4,000 total visits that we have done in
the first six months of the year. And
600 of those visits had a substance use
disorder treatment component. We also
have mobile people, uh, mobile units,
sometimes providers, sometimes nurses,
sometimes case managers that do street
outreach and go through the community,
um, to different encampment locations
and try to find people who need services
and direct them to our camp or to our
clinic on the campus.
In the first six months of this year, we
have provided care totaling nearly
250,000
of uncomp that we were not rec
compensated for directly by insurance to
uninsured patients.
Yes. And I I don't like talking to PD or
screens. Um sorry. So um we have are
HERSA funded. So we are compensated in
that way through our care for the people
without insurance but we do not receive
insurance reimbursements for the
uninsured obviously. Um, we also
currently have a congressionally
directed spending um, grant for
renovating suite D of building three on
the campus that will allow us to expand
the that building, add additional
counseling offices, which will allow us
to provide service to more clients.
And one of the things we really like
about being on the campus, as has been
mentioned previously, is the integration
with the other agencies on campus.
Everyone is right there. They're right
next door to each other. You know, you
don't have to send someone on a bus or
figure out how to get them across town.
You just walk them across the parking
lot and take them to the other services
they need. Um, which provides, you know,
benefit to the patients. It provides
benefit to the agencies. It saves, you
know, time, energy. It gets people to
where they need to go. And it's much
better if you walk them there and, you
know, do a warm handoff. You know, they
made it. You know, they've been, you
know, connected to that service.
And what we do for the community also is
by providing these services and the
medical and behavioral health and etc.
is hopefully intervene on people who
don't have insurance not ending up in
the emergency room, not ending up sick
on the street, not ending up infecting
other people because we provide the
vaccinations and, you know, so we are
there to, you know, be that, you know,
provider of last resort to make sure
people receive what they need when they
need where they need it, you know, and
looking forward. um which I will push
the button this time or if it will
actually go. Um
we did actually restart dental services
last week in or dental hygiene services
last week in conjunction with Donetta
Community College. Uh we had started
them up with them right before COVID and
then COVID happened and we got out of
doing dental. Um, we did do a renovation
last year to add to the facility which
included a dedicated dental suite. This
partnership with DAC is the first step
to providing full dental at our
location. Hopefully by the end of the
year we will be doing still with DACC
doing that part but doing dental on our
own the other days. Um, we have also
been expanding our substance use and
behavioral health services through
expansion grants from HERSA and like I
mentioned the CDS grant that is
expanding the facility. This year
starting July 1st, we've also received a
number of state grants um specifically
housing linked um particularly crisis
housing for people with severe mental
illness or substance use disorder
issues. So, we're working on getting
people in crisis housing, emergency
housing, or permanently housed as we can
as part of their treatment plan. And,
you know, as so far this year with
nearly 4,000 visits in the first six
months, we're, you know, definitely
seeing a lot of patients. So, that's all
I have and I will be here for questions
at the end.
Thank you.
Mr. Tribute.
Good afternoon, Madame Mayor Prom,
members of the council, Mr. City
Manager. Thank you very much for giving
us this opportunity to be here today. Uh
it is an honor for me to get together
with my group, our brethren here from
the campus, from the community of hope
because um we all believe that what we
do is certainly vital work for our
community and it's an honor to be able
to serve our community every single day
in providing this work. We are Elcalito
Soup Kitchen. Um we are uh as the
mission states, we continue every day to
uh follow our mission by feeding people.
Um the ongoing support enables us to
expand our reach and impact ensuring
knowing that no one in our community um
goes hungry. We have been open since
1984. That's 41 years. In that time we
have served in excess of 3.5 million
meals. Um we have a an extremely dynamic
board of directors and an army of
volunteers along with a very dedicated u
but small uh regular staff every day
that does all the work. Everything that
we do as as you'll hear today, all that
that goes on in this campus, our basic
mission is just feeding people. We bring
in food. We cultivate volunteers. We
make sure that our clients um come
through the doors and walk out the doors
with a full valley and enough to sustain
themselves and get them ready for the
next day. Um and with all the services
that go on on our campus, we know that
there's there's plenty of opportunity
for them to make sure they're getting
what they need. Um we really appreciate
our arrangement that we have with the
city of Las Cruus and all that we've
done. Um in the time with our
arrangement um looking at the last
fiscal year um our investment from the
city of Las Cusus uh basically was
$32,000. On that arrangement and that
service agreement we were uh projected
units to be served was 95,000. We
actually served $159,490
meals during that course of that year.
um you know basic basic basic as I said
um
our expenditures according to budget um
were $546,734
um and the cost per meal served based on
the projections was $5.75
per meal. Uh actually uh our actual unit
uh cost per ser per meal is $343.
Um,
in 2026, we look forward to um, uh, our
budget projects $519,000
and a $33,250
um, contribution from the city of Los
Cusus with those projected units served
according to agreement of 75,000. Um,
and we expect to hit at least $145,000.
Um, but definitely more than that as we
expect. I've been there for about a year
now. Um, shall I say I've been here for
53 weeks and it's been an honor to be
here during that time. During that time,
uh, it's been an eyeopening experience
for me to learn what we are, what we do,
how we do it, who helps us do it, and,
um, what we need to do to get more. Um,
my goal has been really just uh for
those people that don't know um what
Elcalito is to put us on their map. For
those people that have an idea of what
Elcalito is, to help us clarify exactly
what that means, and to put ourselves in
a position as we move forward um to put
ourselves in in an even better position
to increase our reach um and to be able
to help and serve more people than we
currently serve. Um, I'm honored to say
that uh the board with the support of
the board and our strategic plan and the
dynamic staff that we have, we are on
track to get a lot of good things done.
Um, in the end of this year, we will be
launching our first uh uh one of our
first fundraising events. It's the Super
Dash 5K. It's a 5K onem fun run. Um, and
it's going to be happening at December
6th at the Messia Plaza. And um I'm
honored to say that we've already gotten
uh GECU Foundation as our title sponsor
for that. Um cultivating sponsorship and
volunteers and things for that event. We
are excited. That's going to be a great
day. Um we also uh as you know, I
apologize that it's not on the list, but
our annual uh empty bowls event will be
happening in October, October 17th. Um
and I look forward to see you all down
there as I I have did last year for my
first time with the agency. Um but Empty
Bowls certainly is uh already gearing up
to be a nice uh strong event. Um we've
increased the number of restaurants who
are going to be providing uh food and
and uh services for that day. Um
increased the number of volunteers who
are going to be helping us execute and
uh through the potter's guild um they've
increased the number of ceramic bowls
that are going to be available for sale
that day. There's a lot of good things
that'll be happening on that day at St.
Paul's United Methodist Church. We are
projecting a or planning a uh a tote bag
project that we are putting together
with Alma Dearte um to get the schools
to provide some some artwork uh food
related artwork for some bags that we'll
be getting out there will help make
money um for us and for for the students
as well in a big way. Um we also uh I
want to introduce to you a program that
we've put together um which is called
Operation Giving Apron. Now I can tell
you uh how much food we we get. I can
tell you how much how many uh clients
we're going to serve. I can tell you um
a lot of the things that go through our
process um sort of pre-planned. The
thing I cannot tell you is exactly how
many volunteers I'm going to have every
single day. And that's the that's the
challenge that we have. So, I've
launched a program called Operation
Giving Apron, which is a program that
allows us to provide corporate
partnership with the local business
community where uh in your particular
business when you have your community
service guidelines that you need to meet
in the community over the course of a
year, uh all of your employees uh
through a staggered period of time can
come in and volunteer with the kitchen.
We get five employees on uh Monday, five
employees on Wednesday, eight employees
on the third Tuesday of the month. You
name it, whatever. will work within your
guidelines, but um it's a prescribed
pre-planned uh volunteerism effort which
allows us to be able to be able to tell
I've got eight extra volunteers on that
day. I've got uh XYZ business that is
that is coming in uh and it's being very
well received by the business community
in town and I look forward to having you
see more. Um our first um real
participant that we have will be coming
this Wednesday. Molina Healthcare will
have people coming in from all over the
state to see um what we do, not just
what, you know, how they can volunteer,
but how they can take projects like this
and take them into their own communities
and thereby serve the most vulner
vulnerable people in the community. Uh
again, I thank you for the opportunity
to speak to you. I look forward to
standing for questions at the
appropriate time. Um but I encourage
every single one of you to come visit us
at Elcalito Soup Kitchen. Lunch is on
me.
Thank you so much. Congrats on almost
one year.
Thank you.
And last but certainly not least is
Casad Perinos,
Mr. Alva.
Good afternoon, Mayor Prom, City
Council, and our wonderful city manager,
Econ.
It's great to be with you guys
and with these folks here. Obviously,
I want to start off first by letting you
know that our motto at CDP has always
been food for today, hope for tomorrow.
One because uh we feel very good about
giving people nutritious food and I
think what it does is it elevates the
idea of hope in their lives and helps
them to get the rest of their life going
just by having food on their table.
The growth that we have seen over the
last few years has just been
exponential.
We've served 28,000 unique,
underprivileged individuals through the
food security programs in 2025.
That's an 18% increase over the previous
years.
We never turn anyone away.
We are seeing the number of baskets
increase at the same rate and are
providing more food to each client every
day.
The amount of food we put out increased
from 4.1 in 2023, 4.1 million in 2023 to
7.4 million this past year.
It's not only an increase in the need,
but it's the fact that we have a
state-of-the-art facility that we can
distribute food out of.
We also believe that the timing of this
presentation is absolutely impeccable.
Given the current situation on SNAP
cuts, Medicaid cuts that are happening
because of uh the federal budget is
absolutely these services are going to
be essential for families in our
community.
The food security program generates a
return on investment of over 12 to1.
This is one of the wisest investments
you've ever made as a city.
Absolutely
crucial for the families here in Las
Cruus.
It costs $20 to put a basket of food
together for a family.
It's a value of about $240
according to the USDA's
uh data that that they have us use. You
know, they they have us they have this
data. They haven't changed over the
years, but when we have our partners
from like Walmart or Albertson's talk to
us, they're telling us that every
basket's worth is probably about $500
because they haven't taken into account,
you know, the fact that we're still got
a lot of economic issues that are going
on here in in our in our community. So,
the return on investment for the food
rescue program, which is funded by the
CDBG
grant, is even higher. Every dollar
invested at in food rescue, CDP is able
to generate over $20 worth of food.
It's a great return on investment on
that one for sure.
The human return,
this is the part that you want to hear
because this is that human element that
my colleagues were talking about.
Consistent, reliable access to
supplemental nutritious groceries
provides financial stability, health
benefits, and peace of mind to the
families that we serve.
A recent client survey conducted under
the supervision of UNM School of Public
Policy showed that a result of receiving
a card of food from CDP each month, 58%
of the families report that they have
more financial security and are more
able to save money and pay their bills.
60% of the families report that they are
missing fewer meals.
Families have more peace of mind. Over
99% of the clients indicated that they
were worried about food, but 89%
indicated that having a cart of food
from CDP each month allowed them to
worry less.
There's some peace of mind when you have
food on the table for your family. When
you're able to feed your kids, feed the
viitos that are there at home with you
and take care of them, it changes
everything. This is where basic need
really begins. It begins with a meal.
We don't receive any federal funding for
our operations whatsoever.
But these cuts are going to have a
massive implication on the people that
we serve.
One in four families in Donana County
receive SNAP.
Medicaid cuts will also be something
more for them to worry about.
That's almost all of our clients.
It's going to make it a little difficult
for them when they got to choose between
paying their medical bills or going to
buy food, going to pick up their meds,
paying their electric bill, paying their
city bill. It's going to be a little bit
tougher as time goes by with it with
these cuts.
We've already seen it happen already. I
don't know if it's out of fear that
people are coming to see us or they're
planning for the future, but the lines
are longer every day. Just come by. Or
if you don't want to stop by, just drive
by early in the morning and see what's
happening.
It's getting more and more difficult for
all of us.
Our missions are moving forward, but
it's more difficult to operate them.
One of our clients recently told me,
"If we lose our SNAP and Medicaid
benefits,
I will not know what to do. I have an
adult disabled son in our home and I'm
the only one working.
What will we do? We need to keep our
doors open.
We need to make sure that we are serving
these people and moving forward and not
taking any steps backwards.
That's my biggest fear is to take a step
backward when we've been moving forward
for the last 15, 20 years.
And we can't do this without you. You've
always been there for us. This facility,
this campus, the things that we do
collectively on the campus is all the
fruits of what the city um shares with
us and responsibility as we serve this
community.
I would like to formally ask today
for you
to fund us an additional $100,000
so that we can keep our doors open and
keep moving forward with this mission.
As you saw in some of the slides before,
the city is funding about 6% of our
missions
and in the programs that they serve.
There was one year in 2023 when we were
operating out of two facilities that you
did give us $100,000 and that upped to
about 20% of that budget for that
program. It would do something similar.
It would be 22% if you did add that
$100,000.
I think this would help our mission and
I'm going to keep pushing. One of these
days I'm going to get you guys to make
us a line item because I think that's an
important thing to do. It could happen
under you, sir.
That would be an incredible thing.
Our mission is pretty simple. It's how
we do it that's difficult. It's how we
get there that's difficult. We've been
doing this collectively with this
community for many, many years. This is
our 46th year in operation.
You've been helping us since 1985.
I think that I don't think you were the
mayor back then, councelor Matis, but
but that's how long you've been helping
us. And I think that's such an
incredible thing. This campus is the
fruits of what this city has. We align
perfectly with what's going on with your
programs for quality of life.
Lift up Las Cruises.
Realize it's all happening. We align
perfectly. I think everybody on this
campus really tries to do that. We
strive to do that. We have those
conversations at our board meetings.
Does this align with what they're doing?
Does this align with the things that
we're trying to accomplish within the
community?
I can tell you that collectively we do.
And I think that this campus deserves
one, a good lease. Let's get that lease
going so that we can all rest easy on
that. And I do want to thank you because
I know that you put some money in the
budget this year for the campus,
including a maintenance person. We'd
like to see that maintenance person
sooner than later. Uh I think those are
important things uh for all of us
collectively. And now we stand for
questions. All of us were very excited
about this. But this building that you
see in this picture, it's working. and
everything that we told you it was going
to do. It's doing that and more. We're
getting food into the community, not
just by people standing in line coming
to our lobby or to our state-of-the-art
drive-up pantry, but also to delivery
programs that some of your teams help us
get food out. The fire department,
emergency services, the police
department, CYFD, APS, and other
agencies in the community that help us
get food out there. The 7.4 4 million is
not us by ourselves. It is a collective
effort between everybody that's had
that's in this fight for hunger.
So, thank you so much on behalf of us at
Cas Perinos. We're grateful for
everything that you do for us. Our board
of directors thanks you. Our staff
thanks you, our volunteers, thank you,
and especially those people that we
serve. We thank you dearly. Thank you so
much.
Thank you, Lorenzo.
Good afternoon again, Natalie Green for
the record. Uh Lorenzo gave me a great
segue into the next slide, which is uh
to talk about the lease a little bit.
The current lease for the Messia Valley
Community Hope campus ends at the end of
the year. A new lease is currently under
development. Um there is a rent amount
assigned to the lease. The current rent
value is about 568,000.
Um the new value is still under review
by our economic development department.
They should be getting uh getting that
to us um within the next couple weeks.
As part of um the lease agreement in
exchange um for not charging the
agency's rent, they do have to provide
services in lie and those services must
exceed meet or exceed that rent value,
that 568. As you can see, last year they
provided over $3.4 million worth of
services. Um, and then for the first uh
two quarters of 2025, they're at $2.3
million. Um, so they're going to far
exceed uh any rent expectations. Um, the
lease, new lease will require that any
um services or programming on the campus
conform with the master plan. uh major
changes that you'll see in that lease is
there is a request to in uh to start
anticipating some of those annual
maintenance budgets especially now that
we have a maintenance person that will
be starting full-time at the campus.
That way they can um address some of
those issues timely. Um we are asking
that the release uh the lease uh be five
term fiveyear terms with up to four
renewals. Um that's really mostly for
grants uh purposes. So a lot of times
when they get congressional directed
spend spending or capital outlay um the
state or the feds need to see that
long-term investment in the campus. So
having that um option for 20 plus years
lets them get those major capital
grants.
This is just an aerial of the master
plan. Um
so uh they're numbered one, two, three,
four, but it's the phases that they were
built. So this current facility again
houses Amodore Health and Elcadito is
sandwiched in between um Amodore Health
on both sides. Hardin de los Nos, the
Messia Valley Community of Hope, which
is now expanding into the former Casad
Perinos, the current Casad Perinos, and
then soon to come is the kitchens, um,
which our hope is to transition Elcalito
out of their current building. That'll
give opportunity for expansion in both
behavioral uh, services and substance
use services through Amadore Health. um
Amador Crossing will be coming on board
and then after El Calito and the
kitchens are done um our our goal is to
create some sort of um daycare housing
model. So um
Hardene Crossing number two or something
I don't know I'll have to think of a
good name for that future site. Um and
then uh in terms of projects in on in
progress at the campus, uh Hardin is
getting their new roof, so it's almost
complete. Um design for the kitchens is
underway and they're working to demolish
the older building. Um the renovations
at the former CDP are under construction
and moving forward. Uh solar panels are
about to be installed in Kasa the
Peragrinos. And then uh this year we
received uh capital outlay for a
potential hawk system. I'm also short
$100,000, but uh I'll ask for that
later. Um and so that'll help some of
those pedestrian safety improvements uh
on the campus.
Um just general campus needs, I'm not
saying they're today, but long-term
needs that we're sort of planning for is
um mainly in the master plan. Uh there
are uh a need for restroom repairs as
you can imagine. Um those restrooms get
heavily used by members of the public
every day. Um and so some of those uh uh
buildings need some replacements. There
is a roof that's needed for phase three,
which is the current community of hope
building. Um, we did identify as part of
uh uh the fire inspection this year some
some fire and safety improvements to uh
phase two which is HBIN's building. Um
it's been you know 20 plus years since
it been constructed and so some of those
uh could use some improvement. Uh the
heating and cooling systems they
received some partial replacements um
but there are some improvements to be
made there. Uh the parking lot also
needs some work. So some paving,
striping, um general beautifification,
but again we'll continue to ask um for
that as part of our master plan CIP and
capital outlay requests. Um we are
exploring an emergency exit driveway
just to have that third. We have two
driveways now, but we do need a third
one um should emergencies occur on the
Amador side that there's ways uh staff
can get in and out of the campus off of
Valley. And then uh future down way down
the line is a potential renovation and
acquisition of the 12th Avenue or
Crusetto transitional housing. I'm
trying to figure out how that facility
can integrate with um the new daycare
and the new hopefully family housing
that can go on that campus.
Um with that, myself and all the
agencies will stand for questions. Um
whether it's about agency operations,
the campus, or the lease.
Thank you, Natalie. And thank to all of
you. I know you're incredibly busy
people, so we appreciate you being here
to present and um to just talk to us.
So, thank you. I'll open it up for
questions now.
Well, no one has questions.
Yes. Now, question.
Oh, no. Now.
Wow. Okay.
That's wild. That's never happens. I
have questions which always happens. But
if you Yes, please go.
I mean, not so much of a I guess it's a
question to all and obviously not one
that needs to be raised today or
addressed today, but as we face these
devastating federal cuts and as our
community is going to find itself in
more need than ever, um obviously I'm
hoping that state is going to step in.
Um but that's, you know, again, that's
just a hope. So, um, we've had some
illusions to upcoming needs or gap
needs. Um, I guess I'm just want to be
sure that we're going to be in
communication
um, consistently for how we best keep
everyone afloat during a really an
unprecedentedly
terrible time for federal funding. Um,
Natalie, if you want to speak to that in
general, that would be great.
Um, Mr. or Mayor Prom, Council Graham,
we are we will be working closely with
our um staff person Christine assigned
to legislative priorities. We did see
the announcement for the special session
which will address some of those um
cuts. Of course, we'll continue to um be
advocates at the state level for some of
those fundings and meeting the need. Um
so uh we'll we'll just monitor and then
uh be as proactive with as we can
through our lobbying and um efforts in
Santa Fe. So
thank you. Great question. Thank you.
Okay. Um I will go if no one else.
Counc. Okay. Um
I first of all I just I want to say that
it's um you know the entire campus
community of hope uh is in the heart of
district 4 but of course it's citywide
right like you provide services not just
citywide but countywide. Um, but I do
have to say that anyone who is lucky
enough to represent the area where you
all are, this campus, um, it should be a
requirement that they be an advocate and
an extension of your PR team. Um, and I
tried to do that as much as possible and
just talk you up wherever possible. And
frankly, I think all of us should be
doing that because you make magic happen
every single day with the resources that
you have. when I think about people
truly doing salt of the earth work, it
is all of you on that campus. So, it
just um I know often the the burden and
the criticisms are heavy and so I just
want to take a brief moment to say um
that we see you and that we need you and
thank you.
Um, I do have a question and I hate to
do this because it's kind of for each of
you and maybe I don't know maybe Natalie
you can answer it so that they don't
each individually have to come up but
the reason I asked this question is
because I think there is often really
big misconceptions about um the
organizations on the community of hope
campus um being sort of an extension of
the city that their budgets are all city
of Los Cuses and I think that's not true
right I know that all Each of you have
incredibly diverse budgets and I am
wondering um about what percentage of
your budgets um come from um the city of
Los Cusus. If you have that information
if you don't that's okay. Um but I do I
think Lorenzo maybe Lorenzo said 22%
unless I
um generally it's less than 10% for each
of them
for each of them. So each of the four
organizations their entire budgets
individually less than 10% you rely on
any city funding.
The most consistent funding source we
have for them is our health related um
public service program and that's about
30,000 sometimes less sometimes more. Um
one year it was 28 one year it's 27 this
year it's 33.
Um we do have another funding source
that we do work with some of the
agencies. It's our community development
block grant um program but only um it ha
it can't be for any duplication of
existing programming. So it has to fund
a
a very separate um project and so u even
adding that in it's still below the 10%.
Okay. Thank you for Yes, Lorenzo. Come
on up.
Yes, please come on up here.
like for this year and we're slated to
receive about 42
43,000 maybe 45,000 from you and our
budget is $1.9 million. So that should
put some perspective on everybody's
respective budgets on how we operate.
Yeah,
we do do a lot of grant writing. We have
a grant team and we write hundreds of
grants every year to try to see how we
can try to make ends meet. And
individual donors for us are our biggest
asset.
There's families that have been donating
to Kasai Ped, you know, since its
inception. We have some donors that have
been generationally donating. Families
just they just keep up. You know, mom
and dad started donating in the 1970s
and all of a sudden they're still
donating. The the grandkids are still
donating to us. So that's the majority
of where the funding comes from. Uh and
yeah, there is a big misconception about
even the people that we serve. Our
campus serves everybody. It's not uh you
know, it's it's in a very specific area
of town and I think everybody has that
misconception. But for casinos, most of
the people that we serve are low-income
families.
It's not just the unhoused. The unhoused
are part of the people we serve.
You know, everybody, we're here for
everybody. As as my colleague Steve
Chvidita said, we're here for everybody.
Thank you, Lorenzo. I just wanted to
underscore that uh piece that I do that
I do think it's important for us to
publicly talk about um given the uh
sometimes the stories that get spun. And
so, thank you all for being incredibly
healthy organizations um and nonprofits.
I just have one more question and then
um Natalie on the lease
the
I'm curious if um you're evaluating the
rent value if the rent value increases
will then the the services in loo amount
also increase.
Uh, mayor prom. Yes. So, if the rent
value increases, the agencies are
responsible for ensuring their services
in lie are at least that dollar amount.
Okay. Thank you. And that's to comply
with the anti-donation right clause of
the constitution. So,
thank you Natalie. Okay. That was my
last question. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you all for uh
presenting and um I appreciate all the
work you do. I particularly have a soft
heart for um Harin
Des. But um my question I'm almost
afraid to ask um should there be cuts in
federal cuts which are have been uh
definitely
they're underway. Um,
do you have any um alternative funding
or
are you anticipating any cuts from the
federal government?
Mayor Prom, uh, councelor Fllois, many
of the agencies do receive federal
funds. Um, and so, uh, I'm sure they're
monitoring those as closely as we are.
We do have our uh federal impact
committee here at the city and we're
we're tracking those. Um this last
session for FY26, we did think that much
of the housing program which was going
to get cut which would have immediately
made well over a thousand families
homeless. Um so we are tracking that
very closely. FY26 thankfully um the
Senate was able to fund most of the
housing programs. There's still some
back and forth on reconciliation.
Um, Amador Health does get uh Medicaid
reimbursement. Um, they do have some
HERSA funding which is federally funded.
Still have SAMA?
No SAMA, but they have HERSA. Um, CASA
the Pedigrinos is definitely impacted by
some of the federal cuts as uh we see
people in our community where their
benefits get cut. They they pursue other
avenues to get food. Um there we've seen
a lot of cuts to like Feeding America
which trickles down to a lot of our
lower pantries. And then who did I miss?
El Calito.
No federal funds but um what they rely a
lot is through donations of food and
gleaning from some of our grocery
stores. So when we see less uh food in
our grocery stores, then they have less
to work with when they're trying to feed
um some of our community members. Is
there any funding from uh foundations
such as Gates, the Gates Foundation? Um
because I I think a lot of uh wonderful
organizations
uh that we have here uh represented here
today are going to be impacted. Uh
that's you know I I you know just
preparing for that final you know slap
in the face to humanity. Um, so is there
any any funding from private
organizations or
I'll I'll defer to our nonprofits. I do
believe some of them do get foundation
funding from different um areas and it
funds um other pieces of their
operations. Um but the I will give a
shout out to the city. Our funding is
some of the most flexible funding and
covers um some of the things that other
grants typically wouldn't. Um, and that
lets them uh be able to broaden their
service profile.
Thank you.
Michelle screen.
I think Michelle wants to add to you.
Okay.
To that.
Michelle Ladam is for the record. Um, so
in 2020, fiscal year 25
had approximately
15% of our um funding was federal uh
federal funds. In this current fiscal
year, we are only relying on maybe 5%
because we know we cannot
well, we really can't rely on federal
funds. But what I do know is about 100%
of our families are going to be impacted
by SNAP, their SNAP benefits, Medicaid.
Um, as a behavioral health agency, the
biggest perk to becoming a behavioral
health agency is being able to bill
Medicaid. as an organization, we're
still moving forward with our current
model, which is going after funding to
support the services through
foundations.
And so, um, that's one of the other
things about, I think, the agencies on
the campus is that we are very
resourceful. We go after funding. Um,
even just our roof project. Um, going
after the funding just to to fund that
project was was important. And we did
have all the support from Natalie and
her team and all of you supported us.
But um writing those grants, you know,
to be able to get some of that funding
that takes, you know, the time and
effort from our organizations. And the
other challenge is that we are all
relying on foundations right now. So
foundations are having to get really
creative and trying to figure out how
they can make the biggest impact. And so
something that they might have funded
about a year ago that was like a startup
project or you know some seed money they
may not be as interested in doing
because right now we're all in crisis
just trying to fill the gaps where where
that federal funding is being cut. But
um you know a meeting with one of my uh
leadership team members and seeing the
numbers 100% of our families will be
impacted will see the SNAP and the
Medicaid hit them. So, if that gives a a
good representation, I think it's hard
to it's hard to plan at this point. Um
because we don't know what we're able to
plan for. There's really no um
I don't think any of us are planning
further than a month out, maybe three
months at best.
So, it's a case of u hope for the best
and expect the worst.
But um
and then leveraging our funds, trying to
work um in collaboration with other
organizations and with all of our
partners to see how we can access
funding together because we're more
likely to be able to receive that
funding if we go in as a as a
collaborative.
Great. Thank you so much, Miss Adonis,
for everything you do.
Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Miss Green. Thank
you, um Mayor Protown.
Thank you,
Mayor Protown.
Yes. Councelor Matise,
if I may. Um, I I just want to ask um
maybe I can get some type of report
because I know we have two powerful
senators and I know Martin Heinrich,
what can we do as a collaborative effort
as a city council to have our senators I
because I remember you brought up about
being a mayor and I can remember asking
Pete Dominiche and and Bingamin
quite a lot of money for community hope
in 2003, four, five, six and they came
through with millions of dollars. It
would be it would be good to see what
kind of report the the senators have
been earmarking for the community hope
in the last 10 years because you know we
we have this new thing about the
administration but both of them have
been there very long
and so maybe as a collaborative effort
we could get together with both senators
and tell them the need that we have
because it's quite obvious you're all
doing a great job and I support you all,
but the city of Los Cusus can come up
with hundreds of thousands, but only
those senators can come up with
millions. So maybe we could work
together as a team and and go after the
millions and buy a lot of lotto tickets
as well.
But thank you if if that could be done.
Thanks, Councelor Matise. I'm I I can
answer a little bit of that as well. Um
the city of Los Cusus has two federal
lobbyists and they were here last month.
Um hopefully everyone got a chance to
meet with them and express the needs
that we have for our city. I think just
to be honest and to have a a real clear
picture of the federal landscape, our
two senators are two Democratic senators
which are in the minority of both the
Senate and Congress. And so um I think
they can do as much as they can and not
always um can go very far. So, I think
our federal lobbyist will be here again
if you uh want to meet with them.
Thank you, Mayor Prom. Our federal
lobbyist does have a standing meeting
with the alliance agencies together as a
group. So, they do um share those
priorities with those legislators. I'm
also happy to report that Senator Ben
Ray Luhan was here
three weeks ago. Um and so he was able
to tour Casa de Peragrinos, see the
construction of Amodore Crossing and
then have a roundt with uh food
providers. Um and then I'll see if
Florenzo wants to add everything. We
have also had um Senator Heinrich, he's
done roundts at Messia Valley Community.
So they're very active um with the
organizations and they did fund quite a
bit of congressional directed spending.
The challenge is that the um continuing
resolutions swiped almost all of those
funding requests. And so there's a
couple that moved forward that we're
watching in FY26, but the big ones um
were not did not pass Senate
appropriations. Um so there's some
additional advocacy and work that we
could be doing collaboratively.
Mayor Pro Tim, councelor Matise, I just
want to add also that they especially
Ben Ray Luhan, he's really made a
concerted effort
uh to stay in touch with us about
everything that's going on on the campus
and uh with Kasa Peraginos. Senator
Hinrich's office on a local level is
always in communication with us about
what's going on. We do make visits out
there to Washington also and ask him and
let them know what's going on not only
within our organizations but also on the
campus and in our community so that they
know what the basic need is and what the
needs of our community is via whether
it's operational dollars or
infrastructure dollars what we're
working with the city on and what we're
working with the county on. We inform
them very well. This is an annual trip
for some of us and this year we're very
blessed. We had a couple of folks from
economic development in the city go and
it did pay dividends because we were
able to get Ben Ray Luhan to commit $8
million for the kitchens and as mayor
prom stated it didn't make it across the
finish line. As Natalie stated, it also
didn't make it across the finish line
but that's the second year that he's
tried to do that. I also serve on the
farm bill committee for Senator Ben Ray
Luhan and for Congressman Gabe Vosquez.
So just try to also keep him also from
the grassroots level knowing what's
going on here. Uh we do make those
efforts and um we're not going to give
up asking them for money because you're
right, the city can only do so much and
as I told Ben Luhan in his visit here,
the only way to get anything done is
going to be on a federal level. Um the
city can help us as much as it can, the
county can help us as much as it can.
The state might be able to help for a
few years, but for it to be an ongoing
thing, it has to be done on a federal
level. And I think both of our both of
our current senators are willing to work
across the aisle. And that's something
that they've been trying to do and and
I've been staying in touch with them
about that. Uh, and it's worked to some
to some points, but not in all of them.
But I think the fact that they're making
the efforts is really important for us
to all note. So, I'm pretty pretty happy
about that that they're actually making
those efforts. So, thank you.
Thanks. Thanks, Lorenzo. Um, yes, the
July report that our federal lobbyist
provided has a a great graph on the
earmarks, the millions of dollars in
earmark requests we've made for fire
department, police department, Missy
Valley Community of Hope, many things.
So, yeah, come on up
and state your name for the record,
please. Thank you. You used to work
here. You know how it goes.
You should know. Carrie Ladaka, for the
record. Um, I just want to just want to
add that we do uh write our own grants
to the senators every year. Um, and and
both senators Hinrich and Luhan have
given us millions of dollars. Um,
they've they've committed those to our
renovation. Um, they helped us with the
solar panels. We also got some battery
banks for those solar panels uh from the
senators. Um, additionally, they have
given a substantial amount of money to
Omador Crossing, which is a obviously a
partnership. So, just wanted to add um
from our perspective that they they have
given pretty generously in the past and
we do write to them. Thank you.
Good afternoon once again. Steve Chida
for the record and uh about Mayor Prom.
Councelor Matise, I liked your question
and that was a that was a great
question. Um and Lorenzo talked about
the advocacy trip that we went to DC on
and yeah, we got in front of some great
people, got got some great conversations
that happened. Um, and the the key
though, um, as we talk about our
supporters, as we talk about the people
who advocate for us, uh, at the
grassroots level, um, there's a lot of
things that have to happen from the top
on down, but the key also is that
advocacy that you can do. Um, you all
speak glowingly about the community of
hope and things that go on and that and
we love that. But you all know people
that we don't know. You all know people
who are um have the influence that um
through your efforts can you can help
take that message out. Remember that
hunger does not recognize a single
holiday. Hunger does not recognize a
political party. Um but hunger is
prevalent everywhere you go. Um not all
of my clients have mental issues or drug
issues. Um but every single one of my
clients is hungry. So, when we're
talking about um the the issues that
that are at hand, um we need to be all
advocate advocates for um this community
and for our our efforts that we're
trying to put out there. Um because and
I'll use ourselves as an example and I I
praise the work that um Lorenzo and Dr.
Adamus have done by extending their
reach out there. I can only serve the
people who come to my campus.
But if there's if I get more money, if I
get more advocacy, if I get more um
capacity to increase, I can take food to
people. I can do I can serve more
people. The people that I there are many
people in this community who don't come
to the community to hope that are
hungry, that are that need help. And
we've got to get to them. So, it's all
about advocacy and it's all about you
all using your influence with the people
you know who will take your cell phone
call but not for answer their cell phone
call when I call but we work together to
meet the demand. So, thank you for that
question sir.
Thank you. Um I think as we wrap up I do
just want to note that um the Lorenzo
said it best it is this is a timely
conversation to be having. Um, the New
Mexico State Legislature will be meeting
for a special session on October 1st to
discuss many of these things and we sort
of keep skirting around uh around it and
I know our nonprofits will not say
anything political ever because they
follow the law. Um, but me as an elected
official can and so I will I do want to
note that the big betrayal bill passed
by Republican held Congress and Trump
will have a serious impact on New
Mexicans. Um, Medicaid currently
provides healthc care coverage in New
Mexico to 350,453
children, 70,790
older adults and 11,346
disabled individuals. In um New Mexico
alone, 88,530
residents are estimated to lose Medicaid
coverage, which will impact the rest of
the choices that they have to make. The
impossible choices they already have to
make will become even harder.
um SNAP cuts roughly eight roughly
58,180
New Mexicans may lose or see reduced
SNAP benefits
um in Donana County that is 15,78
households and so the urgency of the
moment could not be more serious and um
more than ever we have to work together
with the community of hope folks. Um, so
thank you again for being here and for
the work that you do. Um, and thank you
Natalie for um, leading this
conversation and for reminding us that
we do have a federal internal federal
impact team um, uh, really taking stock
of everything that's happening. So,
thank you so much.
Okay, we will move forward. And on that
note, the very depressing note, um we
will move on to item 3.2
um and we will have our eighth semianual
police audit report presented by the OIR
group and we will have Viola introduce
our two guests.
Good afternoon, Mayor Prom counselors.
My name is Viola Pere, city auditor, and
today we have the OIR group with us to
present, as you mentioned, the eighth
semianual audit report for Las Cusus
Police Department. I'd like to introduce
our presenters today. It's going to be
Terresa Maggula and Steven Connelly.
Welcome back.
Good afternoon, Mayor Prom and and
council members. I'm Stephen Connelly of
of OR Group. I'm here with my colleague,
Teresa Magula, as Miss Perea was telling
you. Um Teresa is really the the brains
of the operation and the and our lead
here in in Las Cusus, but she lets me do
a few slides at the beginning just to
make sure my my edges stay sharp. So, uh
we will be hearing from her soon, I
promise. So we have been uh here in Los
Cusus for for five plus years now. Um so
obviously we have a a a larger span of
time and and a larger sample size for
some of the the things that we've looked
at and the trends that we talk about. Um
just to take a big step back, OIR Group
is a a independent police practices um
team. We operate out of Southern
California and we do a lot of our work
in in California, but we actually have
uh jurisdictions in in several other
states that we work with and have worked
with over the years. And we try to bring
our our familiarity with best practices
and some of the ways different places do
things uh to see if there's any
applicability in any ways that we can
enhance uh the the the internal review
systems for the the different agencies
that we work with. So this is our fifth
year of coming uh to the the uh coming
to the council to give these semiannual
presentations and and as the mayor prom
said it's our our eighth report. So in
terms of the the content area that we're
going to be talking about today uh
consistent with our scope of work. We're
going to be discussing cases in internal
affairs cases, allegations of misconduct
cases that were investigated and closed
by the department and reviewed by us in
the period starting on January 1st and
running through the midyear po part
point of the year. And our job is
simple. The cases are completed by the
time they come to us. Um, but our our
role is to review them in in in a very
thorough way. We get access to all of
the investigative materials, the bodywn
camera, the reports, the investigative
interviews. We get access to everything
that the the department has put together
in order to make its decisions. And our
job is to to evaluate all those
materials to make sure that the cases as
the slide says are were were
investigated in a complete objective and
thorough way and that the department's
responses in terms of the outcomes of
the case and any consequences were
appropriate to the circumstances. And we
also provide a report again consistent
with the scope of work on some of the
demographics both the officers who are
involved in the cases that we're looking
at and also if that information is
available some of the the demographic
information for the complaintants.
In terms of the cases that we looked at
this time around we we had eight uh
internal investigations and and I that
distinction is actually an important
one. Obviously, the the there are a
couple different ways that an internal
affair, excuse me, an internal affairs
investigation can get open. One is when
it's a complaint from a member of the
public and those are the external cases
and we'll talk about those in just a
minute. But the the vast majority of the
cases that we looked at this time were
generated by the department itself. So,
one of the key issues when it comes to
public skepticism, public concern about
uh police misconduct is whether police
uh agencies are are genuinely interested
in holding their people accountable. And
certainly one way to do to look at that
is through how how are external
complaints handled. And obviously, if
you're a complainant, uh you you get a a
a particular perspective on the
legitimacy of that process. But it's
important to point out that a lot of the
cases, a lot of the misconduct
allegations that we reviewed, and as you
can see, 80% of the cases that we looked
at this time were started by the
department management itself. They were
the ones who said, "Look, we based on
our review and and and our internal
process for for monitoring and
supervising our folks, we have eight
different situations where we feel like
we're concerned enough about potential
policy violations that we're going to
take the initiative and and open the
cases ourselves." Significantly, two of
them involved officer involved
shootings. Those are routinely going to
be evaluated by us in terms of the
department's in administrative
investigation process. Uh Teresa will be
talking about those in just a minute.
Another use of force case that that
became uh an internal affairs
investigation. And this one was kind of
significant in so far as the force
itself was actually not very um extreme.
There were no injuries involved in it at
all. But during the department's review
process for every use of force,
there were some concerns that were
identified to the point where it was
sent over to the force review cadre,
which is a relatively new development
that Chief Story has has sort of
championed and that we're big supporters
of and Teresa will be talking about that
a little bit as well. That force review
cadre is made up of experts in the
department, policy, training, defensive
tactics, all of the relevant things
related to force. They flagged some
concerns based on their review again of
this relatively low-level force
incident, brought it to internal affairs
and and an investigation was was
conducted. So to us that was a a a a
example of of the system working
actually very well to make sure again
that people are held appropriately
accountable and that department
standards are being met. A couple of
internal administrative issues. These
were ones that didn't involve members of
the public, contact with members of the
public, but allegations of misconduct by
people in in a workrelated setting. And
and again, those became subjects of
investigation. And there was one case
involving uh shortcomings in an
investigation, a criminal case that that
u first the complainant raised some
concerns and then the department looked
into it and realized that the scope of
the concerns was even larger. And so
they went ahead and expanded it and made
it into an internal uh they opened an
internal investigation about the whole
thing. As for the two external cases
this time around, these were citizen
complaints that rose to the level of
seriousness that they were sent to us as
part of our scope of work. Both of them
also involved uh issues that the that
the complaintants had with the way their
investigations. They reported to the
police concerns and didn't feel like the
department members uh had handled them
as effectively or appropriately as they
had wished. So, the department looked at
those and identified certainly
investigated the the substance of the
complaints that were made, but also
looked at the ancillary issues that they
identified. Once they start in on
something, they're going to look at
every aspect of the officer's handling
of it. And if there are additional
issues that the complainant hasn't even
raised, but that are concerns to the
department for policy or performance
related issues, they will go ahead and
include that as part of the
investigation as well.
All right, I'm going to turn it over to
Teresa and and certainly uh we we look
forward as always to any questions that
you folks might have.
Hello, Mayor Prom and Council. Terresa
Maggula.
I am the numbers lady as you all know. I
love my numbers. Um so I'll throw a few
at you. We had 40 total allegations um
in this uh 10 case span. Why more
allegations than number of cases?
Because cases can have more than one
allegation. Um so it depends on the
policy line item that the department
feels may have been violated. they can
frame the allegation accordingly. Um, in
the past we mentioned that there was
some struggle internally with either
overframing allegations, too many, too
much detail and then missing some. And
so we really found in this period that
the department has balanced that out.
They've done a great job um in
correcting that and finding kind of the
right balance uh as far as allegation,
excuse me, allegations are concerned.
Um, 32 of those were sustained. That's a
big percentage and one might raise an
eyebrow as to well why are so many
sustained in part it's what Steve was
speaking to earlier the large percentage
of cases were initiated internally right
so the department almost has a head
start in knowing that this thing is
going to be an issue this is a matter
that has risen to the level of us
identifying and investigating at an
internal affairs level and so most
likely those things will be sustained in
the course of the investigation. It
doesn't necessarily indicate that there
is more problematic behavior than before
if these are sustained uh versus
exonerated or not sustained. Um it's
simply the nature of the types of cases
that are being opened by the department.
We looked at 20 employees of the Las
Cruis Police Department. 14 of those
were officers. Two were detectives. And
I have that asterisk there. Two cases
involve the same detective. Steve is
going to talk a little bit about um why
that's significant in the course of
progressive discipline later. Two of
them were sergeants and two were
nonsworn employees.
And we had of course our disciplinary
outcomes. They ranged from verbal
reprimand to suspension to termination.
We did have one officer who resigned
prior to completion of the
investigation. Um and the department
followed through, finished the
investigation, made findings um and
provided um kind of the completion of
that case, which is something that not
all departments choose to do. Um some is
as the individual resigns um will cease
the investigation in lie of uh
resignation or in lie of findings. Um
and Los Cusus has decided it it is
important to follow through and and make
those um findings and ultimately come to
an outcome in those cases.
And all of these cases except for that
one resulted in debrief or a training
irrespective of the finding. So even if
there was a finding that no misconduct
occurred, uh the department is taking
that extra step to say, "Hey, here's
what happened. Here's how it was
perceived. Here is the investigation and
providing that debrief to the personnel
who are involved."
The complaint demographics has been a
bit of a sticking point for us since the
start of our engagement. The complaints
themselves, it's important to note, make
up a very, very small percentage of the
total activity of your police department
here. So, in this same period, January
to June, there was 68,045 calls for
service. And of that, we had
two maybe three that involved members of
the public um that were complaining
about the behavior of a particular
officer on those calls for service. So
it's it's too small a percentage to even
put up here on the board.
And the sample size that we're talking
about remains fairly limited for us. Um
and so across the five years that we've
been doing this, we have the demographic
information for 62 complaintants.
Even with that sample size, which some
might go, well, that's that's fairly
significant. it's not enough to come to
any kind of pattern or um
finding related to disperate policing in
your city. Um so we still have not to
this date found any kind of implication
that there is a disproportionate amount
of policing occurring um or a
disproportionate amount of misconduct
occurring in the police department um
along the lines of race or zip code
which are the two areas that we've been
tasked to look at.
And we can understand that that
statement, hearing that statement over
and over again, can feel very
unsatisfactory. Um, are we doing enough?
Are we digging deep enough? Are we doing
sufficient statistical analysis? Why
aren't we coming up with some sort of
answer for you all? Um, in particular,
something that was raised in our
community listening sessions. And
really, it's important to to acknowledge
here that quantifying the bias of a
police department is extremely
difficult. Um, it's something that we
are bumping up against in California in
particular. Um there's a specific um
legislation that requires police
departments to collect information on
every single contact that they have with
an individual. That's become kind of a
basis for police departments um trying
to identify any bias or
disproportionality. And even in places
where the numbers themselves
statistically speaking show a
disproportionate amount of contact with
a specific um race or ethnicity.
the explanations around those are are
varied and unsatisfactory. So, we're
bumping up against this um in California
regularly and we're really trying to
find kind of the right balance to get to
some form of answer that's that's
satisfying. Um but as we stand now here
in your city in Los Cusus, we just
simply don't have enough of a pool of a
sample um to be able to come to any
conclusion there.
One thing we always like to report on is
how LCPD is implementing our
recommendations. They have reduced
investigative timelines. Um, Chief Story
has hired now I believe for two years
he's been with you legal adviser, a
legal adviser that's helping to support
in some of these um more critical
matters, provide guidance to the
department. There is, as Steve
mentioned, that referral of cases to the
force review cadre, something that's
become a lot more robust since that has
started, and I'll talk a little bit more
about that. And generally, we're seeing
that there are timely and appropriate
outcomes to each of these cases. I say
generally because we saw a few
discrepancies um which Steve will dive
into uh with respect to the disciplinary
outcomes and how that's happening over
time.
One area that we have not previously
reported to you on simply because of the
nature of the timeline have been
critical incidents. And I want to
preface both of these slides with saying
that these critical incidents cannot be
reduced to a slide. So these critical
incidents are extraordinarily large.
They are complex matters. They involve
real human beings both on the police and
the community side. These are real
families who are being impacted. And so
I hesitated even to put a summary on
each of the slides because these are big
deal. Um but given the nature of our
presentation, I wanted to refresh
memories on what these each were um
involving. Um but with the understanding
that our memos related to each of these
have the detail, they have thea, excuse
me, the case summaries. Um and so I urge
anyone who's feeling unsatisfied with me
reducing it to a sentence to please take
a look at those full case memos.
We had 2022 III00006.
You'll note the date on that is 2022 and
we are currently in 2025. So what is one
of the major challenges? It is that it
took three years to complete this
investigation.
In this particular case, LCPD chose to
defer their administrative
investigation. That's the side of the
house that is inside the police
department until all the related matters
including litigation were complete and
then they began the admin. That process
obviously took quite some time in
particular the settling of civil
litigation. And so what we have urged
and the department has uh turned to do
now is to run those concurrently and to
not have that long delay. And you'll see
that in the next case.
What was positive about this is that
almost immediately after the incident
occurred, the department had an internal
debrief. These are non-disciplinary in
nature and what they're looking for are
any training, equipment, tactical
concerns, things that they can identify
on kind of the global scale, systemic
scale that don't involve the individual
officer's performance or conduct.
And it's important to note too that we
reviewed that closed litigation even
before the IIA was closed and we
presented that to you in a prior period.
The second critical incident is 2023
III07. This was an October 2023 fatal
officer involved shooting that was
associated with an encounter near a
public housing complex.
What we noted in this case was that
there was a need for an immediate
administrative presence. Um the
department responds in tandem with the
officer involved task force and the um
officer involved task force deals with
the criminal side of the investigation.
Whereas the department looks at the
administrative side of the
investigation. And in this case um while
LCPD personnel responded there was some
delay in having that administrative side
of the house start to address um some of
the challenges.
We also noted there were challenges with
the onseene management. Most notably, um
the officer who was involved moved key
pieces of evidence um from one spot to
the next, had a rationale for doing so
in his mindset. Um a supervisor
intervened rather quickly. Um but
certainly it's an opportunity to remind
uh LCPD um personnel of the need for
crime scene preservation, especially in
a critical incident. and they fairly
short order issued a training bulletin
related to that concept.
Um here in this particular case, LCPD
took a very proactive approach. So
unlike the first in which they waited
for um kind of the the findings from the
criminal side, uh the department
proceeded with charges before the
criminal side was completed or the DA
letter was issued and they completed the
administrative investigation in July of
2024.
Why are you hearing about it today and
not in July of 24? The protocol that we
have with the city and that we've
established through our contract
requires that we wait for litigation to
close before we report out on cases. And
so that is the delay uh is that the
civil litigation related to that just
recently closed.
So, as I mentioned with critical
incidents, the department has agreed um
to the extent possible and practicable
to conduct those concurrent
investigations. That's reducing the time
that's taking from one incident uh from
the completion of one case to the
beginning of a next. They're going to
happen in parallel. That's a practice
that's happening um in departments
nationwide as we're seeing these wanting
to be streamlined, public wanting more
information quickly, departments wanting
this to be handled and managed in a more
efficient manner. And we'll see that in
the next period. We'll bring a case to
you in which that happened and you'll
see how quickly that investigative
timeline um occurs.
We also noted that IIA um personnel
should be responding to the scenes and
that's part of the department's protocol
and again that the department is doing
those non-disciplinary debriefs within
weeks to identify training equipment and
tactical needs. The process can work
perfectly. It can work smoothly. The
timeline can be shorter than anyone ever
dreamed it could be and it still can
have unsatisfactory results for members
of the public. And so my uh I have I
have great empathy for that as people
are waiting to hear what is happening,
what's going on. And it feels like it's
a very opaque process. Um to his credit,
Chief Story has town hall meetings on a
quarterly basis, more press conferences
than I think I've seen in chief's uh in
any of the jurisdictions where I work um
to be able to provide that information
as much as possible to members of the
public. So we give kudos to that even
though that timeline feels very
protracted.
And I will end with talking about the
force review cadre. Um this is as Steve
mentioned a team of subject matter
experts that reviews force. It is
something that we have seen develop over
the course of our tenure. When we
started they were looking really at like
the moment of force and the use of force
almost exclusively. That was
appropriate. Um but we uh worked with
the department and and chief story has
expanded that scope um to look at some
early issue spotting referrals to IIA to
look at incidents more holistically as
well. What about deescalation? What was
attempted? What about the duty to
intercede if there were other officers
on the scene? What about supervision?
How did they do there? And so that force
review is expanded to become a much more
holistic view of an incident from start
to finish. Um it's something that we are
really gratified to see. One thing that
we recommended was that the force review
cadre look at more instances, more
incidents. Um and unfortunately, as you
could expect, the individuals who staff
this cadre are very high level. Um they
are in very high demand. They have a lot
of ancillary duties and kind of
operational commit, excuse me,
commitments. Um and so we see that the
department is trying to use them
judiciously. Um and so we're trying to
come up with some kind of framework that
would work um so that their involvement
becomes more predictable um and we see
their work kind of flourish in in the
department.
Back to Steve.
So we have just a few more slides to
kind of sum up some of the the broader
themes that we looked at in this uh
particular review period. There were a
few different cases uh involving
allegations of investigative or
enforcement errors. Uh we had three in
this in this cycle and then we've
already taken a look at two or three uh
from the current cycle that we're in
reporting on now. It was a little
concerning to us. Again, the cases were
different in a lot of ways, but the the
issue of crime victims or reporting
parties being concerned or dissatisfied
with the effectiveness of the of the
department's handling of something,
that's it's obviously a pretty sensitive
thing. So, we have looked at it
carefully. The department's assessment
of each case individually, we we
considered to be very appropriate. We'll
talk a little bit more about that in
terms of of progressive discipline and
and monitoring it. certainly taking
these concerns seriously. And we've also
kind of again taken a step back to say
collectively is this reflective of a of
a larger concern that that deserves some
some additional attention outside of the
the context of these individual matters.
And at this point, the answer to that
question is no. We haven't found any
kind of unifying theme or trend. So,
it's something that we'll continue to
keep an eye on and we'll report out
again in in our next um in our next
visit early next year. And again, as the
slide says, we certainly were satisfied
with the the extent to which uh
department management took these matters
seriously and addressed them
appropriately.
Um, in terms of of corrective action,
training and counseling accompany each
case. Uh, I think that's a an important
thing to mention and it's something that
we have pushed for and I think the
department has done a better job with
it. There's the result of the case and
any obviously specific consequence in
terms of possibly discipline for the
officer, but then there's the larger
issue of if this is a performance
shortcoming of some kind, is is there
anything other than the discipline
process that that would be beneficial to
the officer? Because obviously unless
the person is being separated from the
agency, which is very very rare, the the
object of the process in a lot of ways
is to correct behavior, make sure that
the the same mistakes aren't going to be
happening again. So we always like to
see it that the department uh will add a
training component address the specific
issue that that uh the way that the
officer fell short in a given case and I
think that is a a constructive trend
that has become more prevalent as as
time has gone by. Uh we look at at
tracking on the individual case basis
but again also holistically comparing
case results to each other. that concept
of progressive discipline. The second
bullet uh near the bottom there, it's a
I think a really important part of the
discipline process, which is to say if
this is a repeat offense, if you will,
if the if an officer is has been uh
found to have engaged in the same
problem for the a second time or a third
time, is the department adjusting its
dials in terms of a an appropriate
response and obviously a more
significant response would potentially
be warranted? And I think the answer to
that question we have found to be yes.
Uh one of the things we've criticized
the department a little bit about in the
past is you got the outcome of the case
right. We would have liked to have seen
a more significant consequence. Some of
that is is uh you know very subtle
differences of of of opinion as opposed
to major u major divergences. But we do
think that the progressive discipline
concept is important. and and if you
read uh the individual case reports
closely, which I hope that you do,
although I recognize that they're long
reports by the time it all gets put
together, one of the things that the
city has asked us to do is to report out
on that that the discipline history of
any officer who was found to have
sustained policy. And that speaks to
this exact concept and the importance of
saying, okay, if this is a repeated
issue, are we doing something
appropriate to to address it and kind of
ramp up the level of response?
A couple of the cases that we looked at
involved significant allegations of
offduty misconduct, as I'm sure all of
you know. Uh, but just as a reminder to
the public, the police officers, law
enforcement officers are are responsible
for their behavior 24 hours a day in a
in a way that other professions are
obviously not. So, there are some
offduty issues, offduty misconduct that
can absolutely have implications for
employment. In this case, the two the
two cases that involved offduty
misconduct resulted in the th those
individual officers being separated from
the department. So again, the individual
uh the individual case reports talk
about that in more detail. Domestic
incidents would uh obviously be a a
significant category of of offduty
misconduct. These are handled through
internal affairs and the department
again does a very appropriate job of
addressing any of the internal aspects.
But not only that, but making sure that
any potential criminal implications of
the officer conduct are also being
addressed appropriately. And then one of
the last things that we want to talk
about today is is a new trend in
reporting. Uh Teresa and I were talking
earlier today about how artificial
intelligence is is absolutely um taking
over the world in a lot of ways and
certainly we're seeing more in uh
implications for it in law enforcement.
Law enforcement has used AI in a lot of
different ways o over the years, you
know, for as long as there's been
artificial intelligence. But one of the
new newest trends that we've seen is is
the use of AI software to assist
officers in the preparation of police
reports. And it can be a very useful
tool. And those of you who have have
worked with AI and do writing yourselves
and have have kind of played around with
it, you can see how very capable these
systems are in a lot of ways. But we
certainly have concerns. Police reports
are obviously a special category of
writing and the authenticity of it and
the the the individuality of the
officer's own perceptions and
observations and state of mind in a
particular case all those things matter
a lot and so uh we don't have a blanket
uh concern or a blanket disapproval of
the department's use of of this new
software. There are a lot of agencies
that are experimenting with it and as
the slide says, there are important
checks and balances that are built into
the software to make sure it's not just
the officers are pressing a button and
then walking away and not really taking
any ownership of it. But it's something
that we're going to continue to keep an
eye on and we've talked about it with
the chief and he certainly is is aware
of the potential issues and trying to
balance the the efficiency and
effectiveness of it versus some of the
the concerns about individuality and
legitimacy. So, it's something to keep
an eye on.
Community outreach is the last part of
our presentation today. Just to give
people a reminder, we've done a couple
of sessions again at the request of your
council to reach out to the community.
The first one was about a year ago, and
the the second one was in February of
2025. Both of them were were very well
attended. I will say we do this in a few
different places and and we've gotten a
better turnout and a more engaged uh
public than than we have in some other
places. and and that is certainly
gratifying and a lot of what we're there
to do certainly to to answer specific
questions about our work uh but also and
maybe more importantly to get feedback
from community members in a direct way
about their experiences of of policing
the concerns that they have about about
policing priorities or the way
enforcement is being handled here in Los
Cusus. Uh and it's it's again an
opportunity to put our finger on the
pulse of the of the neighborhoods and
the people who actually live here in a
way that that obviously given our own
geography we're not always able to do as
much as we'd like. And along those
lines, uh, we are going to be meeting
right here in council chambers from 6:00
to 8:00 PM. The public is very cordially
invited and we hope to to get a good
turnout to that and we'll certainly be
be sharing um the the results of that
session uh at a future engagement with
you folks. So that's all that we have by
way of presentation, but again, as
always, we welcome your questions and
thank you for having us here.
Thank you both for that thorough
presentation. Um, any questions?
Wow, quiet group today. I actually only
have one question that I was prepared uh
to talk to you about and I'm glad you
noted it about the use of AI. Um, it's
so interesting because after I read your
report on it, um, I don't know few weeks
later there was a time um, article about
this very specific thing on police and
courts. It's called police and courts
are turning to AI is a system ready for
it and it actually specifically names
the system that LCPD uses as a concern I
a concerning thing and I sent it to both
Chief and Econi and I guess I am
wondering though um given that it's here
like AI is here um people are using it
the article even talks about how it
could be helpful in many instances I am
wondering if you all have any sort of
standards or oversight mechanisms that
we can begin considering that you could
present and you don't have to present
today but I guess I am wondering if
that's something that you can get us
certainly our city manager um as the use
of AI grows.
Yeah, thank you Mayor Prom for that
question. Um
the the evolution of it is moving almost
faster than we can keep up with it. Um
there are absolutely groups that are
taking a look at the types of controls
and guard rails that should and can be
put into place um to ensure that the AI
is being used in an effective manner. Um
and one that still uh aligns with the
kind of with the basics and the basic
needs of of the police documents that
are being um generated by AI. Um and so
we can certainly report out on that in
our next semianual.
Um a lot of them are fluid, right? We're
kind of building the plane mid-flight
and so we're really working for that. I
think with respect to draft one in
specific um some of the things that are
coming out um both the manufacturer Axon
is looking um to see how it can
implement internal checks and balances
um more effectively. Um, for example,
one of the very basic functions is that
it will throw little Easter eggs into
the report that it has generated and it
is expecting an officer to capture those
in his or her review of the report. So,
it'll put something that's just
completely nonsensical and that officer
should find it um and delete it and that
indicates to some level that that
officer is reviewing kind of the the
line level of that report. Um, another
place that the checks and balances
happen is at the supervisor level. So,
most often supervisors are reviewing
those police reports. If that supervisor
is seeing kind of a little too much
consistency across these reports, AI has
a tendency to do that. Um, keep in mind
that it is transcribing off of bodywn
camera footage and so it's going to give
you the same narrative if it sees the
same thing because it's going to use the
path of least resistance. So if that
supervisor is seeing that there's a
little much little bit too much
consistency, a little too much looking
and like cutting and pasting on AI's
point of view, um perhaps that
supervisor can kick those back to give
it a little more authenticity of the
super of the individual officer's um
experience in that incident. But yes,
absolutely, we can report back on that.
It's an issue that we are very mindful
of. Um and there is a lot of software
coming out kind of overnight. We're
seeing new things coming out uh that law
enforcement can use to its benefit, I'd
say.
And the only thing I would add to that
is I I feel like I have to um speak up
as the old guy in in the group. Um I've
been doing this a long time. I started
in this in this profession in 2001. And
back then we absolutely were focused on
reportwriting issues when we had the
sense that officers were using a lot of
boilerplate language and describing
things in exactly the same way and
talking about the subjects they were
encountering justifying force with
particular phrases that didn't
necessarily seem uh reflective of their
specific and individual experience of an
event but really literally could have
been cut and paste if cut and paste was
even invented way back then I don't even
know it but but the I guess that's a
long way of saying report writing issues
are not new. this is fancy new
technology firm but the the the
responsibility is always with the
supervisors and the review process and
to make sure that the the objectives of
the report are being satisfied whether
it's through catching people you aren't
re you know reading the drafts carefully
enough or looking for boiler boilerplate
language or cut and paste language or
things that don't seem to be reflective
of of officers actual experience of a a
specific event
thank you so much I would appreciate
that I that's really helpful. Um, as we
look into all of this, I guess the
earliest AI that I remember was a little
paperclip on Microsoft Word. So, I don't
much more advanced, I guess. Um, if
there are no other further questions, I
will open it up to public comment since
I recognize I failed to do that in the
last um agenda item. So, are there any
members of the public that wish to
speak?
Okay, doesn't look like it. Thank you um
all so much for um coming and good luck
this evening's meeting. Um if that is it
I it's not if that is it that is it I
will request a motion to adjourn.
So moved.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
work session. Councelor Mccclure.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Graham.
Yes.
Councelor Karan.
Yes.
Councelor Flores.
Yes.
Mayor Prom.
Yes.
And the mayor is absent.