e
e e
[Music]
you're
on good afternoon everyone welcome to
city council today's Monday October 7th
2024 it's
approximately 1 p.m. and uh we'll go
head and get started if you please stand
and join me in a moment of silence
for all our military
personnel and our veterans as well that
have served and those active that are
serving and for our police and fire that
protect our city 247 365 days a year
have you joined me in the Pledge of
Allegiance I pledge allegiance to the
flag of the United States of America and
to the Republic for which it stands one
nation God indivisible with liy and
Justice okay we'll start out with some
presentations and proclamations and uh
joining me for the proclamations will be
mayor protim benom
yeah so the first presentation we have
is the recognition of the veterans
parade uh poster contest winner so for
the past several years the veterans
parade committee have partnered with the
Los cruus public schools to host a
poster contest uh winner and uh they do
a tremendous job like I said it's been
going on for several years I'd like to
ask Bill Hawkins to come up and and do
the
presentation uh Jr are you going to Jr
Turner come on
up yes and Dolores
arula can I get there get there yes so
I'll let him get started with that go
all
right mayor enri City Council Members
Las Cruses Public Schools
Representatives ladies and gentlemen
good afternoon I'm Bill Hawkins the
committee chair for the Veterans Day
Parade which will take place on Saturday
November 9th at 11:00
a.m. throughout the years with the
support of the city of Las cruus we have
published a poster to announce the date
time and location of the parade after
years of utilizing the artwork provided
by the Department of Veterans Affairs we
decided to hold a contest with the
middle school students of Los
cruus to produce a more personalized
announcement for our parade as well as
to encourage our local youth to learn
about the role of our local veterans in
the history of our country our first
contest was in
2015 the response was so positive that
we decided to make this an annual event
this year our theme is honoring veteran
First
Responders today's presentation is to
announce the top five local artists and
reward them for their efforts we judged
approximately 82 submissions from Mesa
Lynn Picacho White Sands and Zia Middle
Schools
I'd like to have the uh artist please
come
forward after careful consideration the
top five artists are in alphabetical
order samanta CIO Jasline Horvath Eli
Ooa Emma r
and enzen who is not present at the
moment could we please give them a round
of applause for the outstanding
efforts thank you now for the
awards there are two honorable mention
artists who will receive a $20 prize for
their efforts the first is Eli Ooa from
Zia Middle School
[Applause]
good get
picture okay you can ask superintendent
OS Ruiz to come join us okay school all
right Mr Ruiz if you don't mind please
come up and join
us the
second honorable mention is en Zing from
Mesa Middle School who is currently not
present third place third place
receiving a $30 prize is Samantha CIO
from Lynn Middle
School second place who's receiving a
$40 prize is Mesa Middle School's Emma
Ramos and the winner of the 2024
veterans parade poster contest is
Jasline horbath who is an eighth grade
who is an eighth grader in Mr valdez's
art class from Mesa Middle School she is
receiving a $50 prize a framed copy of
the veterans parade poster and she will
also have the opportunity to be in the
parade and recognition for her
contribution to the parade let's give
them all one more round of applause
I would like to thank the administrators
and teachers from the middle schools
that participated in this year's event
superintendent Ruiz Joseph Flores
director of Fine Arts for Los chus
Public Schools Dolores archeleta Jr
Turner Mike cono Tim chapel and ran Maro
who are members of the veterans parade
committee and mayor Enriquez and the L
Cru the city council for allowing us to
recognize these local students ladies
and gentlemen thank you for your time
and please join us on November 9th for
the 2024 Veterans Day Parade it promises
to be a great event honoring our local
veterans thank you and will parents if
you want to get some pictures I think
Now's the
Time if we can get you all in
front
congratulations youo yeah you
too yeah you want to get in
she come
on
[Applause]
TR
yes
again I just want to say thank you to
Bill Hawkins and the committee thank you
for all that you do you said November
9th will be the parade and uh please
join in it's a great healing opportunity
for our veterans it's a great event and
encourage you all to come out to the
veterans parade and also just want to
say thank you to our superintendent Osio
Reese for showing up today and showing
his participation for our students thank
you very much
all right everyone welcome we have
several other proclamations today so
we're going to keep
going the next one is for National 4H
week presented to Teresa Dean and your
students if you want to come on down
is is Thea Dean
here is she being
shy you can come down
yeah all right while you make your way
down I'm going to read the
proclamation whereas this year's
National for AG week theme beyond ready
reminds us that every child has valuable
strengths and real influence to improve
the world around us and whereas for 120
years for AG has served America's young
people to make the best better and is
now the nation's largest Youth
Development organization and whereas 4
programs are delivered by Cooperative
Extension a community of more than 100
public universities Across the Nation
that provide experience for young people
to learn by doing and whereas 4 AG
connects young people and adults to
their communities preparing them for
work and life through experiential and
inquiry based learning while providing
emerging research for positive Youth
Development and whereas expanding from
its strong agricultural Roots 4AGE helps
young people explore the world around
them and grow into productive adults and
whereas supporting Future Leaders in
science Agriculture and Community
leadership is important for the US
Department of Agriculture and the
National Institute of food and
agriculture 4 AG program now therefore
we the mayor and City Council of Las
Cruses New Mexico do hereby proclaim the
week of October 6 through the 12th 2024
as National for H week in donana county
and the people of this community to
learn more about 4 and to become more
involved in 4 as members Club leaders or
volunteers signed Eric Enriquez mayor
and attested by our city clerk Christine
CLA you can
clap here we go
you yes please come on before we picture
um just to introduce ourselves my name
is joah Owens I am a donana county
forage Council
Ambassador hello my name is Naji n Parco
and I am the doniana county for each
council president and I have brief
little note here mayor Enriquez council
members and honored guests on behalf of
the doniana county 4 program and my
fellow team members thank you for the
opportunity to join you today and for
your 4 week Proclamation
from livestock to quilting to baking to
stem projects there are over 350 youth
members enrolled in donian and County 4
who depend on innumerable parents and
adult volunteers for
encouragement in this year alone we had
over 900 exhibits at the 4 Red Barn at
the southern New Mexico State Fair as
for each members we would not be able to
achieve our goals without the dedication
of our County Extension agents Eva
Madrid and Teresa Dean and the support
of our leaders like you as a token of
our appreciation we have a small gift
for each of you thank you again
[Applause]
okay next up is public art month
presented to Chantel yazzy Martin and
any other members of the public art
board yes all of you come on down
[Applause]
hi everyone is this the whole
board almost I love it okay
wonderful whereas the month of October
has been recognized as National Arts and
Humanities month by thousands of Arts
and Cultural organizations communities
and States across the country as well as
by the White House and Congress for more
than two decades and whereas the Arts
and Humanities embody much of the
accumulated wisdom intellect and
Imagination of humankind which enhances
and enriches the lives of every American
including those of us living in Lo in
the city of Las Cruses and whereas the
city of Las Cruses actively supports the
Arts and Humanities through the work of
the City Art board including the funding
development commissioning and curation
of public art throughout the city to
make it available for everyone to view
and enjoy and whereas the City Art board
has accomplished the following launched
the art stop bus shelter rotating
exhibit presented Ask Alice creative
Industries workshops coordinated the
chalk the plaza at the MAA Festival
purchas purchased I AI artwork for City
Hall commissioned original art projects
and participated in Outreach events and
whereas public art enhances our shared
environment playing a unique role in the
quality of life for our families and our
community by bolstering civic pride
growing the creative economy and making
Las Cruses a cultural destination now
therefore we the mayor and city of City
Council of Las Cruses New Mexico do
hereby proclaim the month of October
2024 as public art month in L crues and
call upon our citizens to celebrate and
promote public art in L crues and
encourage our citizens in advancing the
broader Arts and Humanities within our
[Applause]
community um shant yai Martin y i just
introduced myself in avajo my name is
Shantel yai Martin I'm the chair of the
uh City Art board um and I just wanted
to let me pull up my notes really quick
um say thank you to our leaders um and
mayor Enriquez for this Proclamation um
and councelor Yan bomo that was a lot of
words so thank you so much um and we
just wanted to say that we have um in
the past year approved many projects
we've approved uh three projects for the
fire stations um in collaboration with
uh Chief Smith um who's very
enthusiastic and I love that um his
collaboration so um and as well as the
East Mesa Recreation Complex we have a
new artwork in the art and public places
category here in City Hall actually um
and we actually have a full board and so
I'm really eager to say that now we're
almost all here but I'm really glad we
all made it here as well um and if you
would like to attend our board meetings
we do a the second Thursday of every
month uh at 4:30 and we're always
looking for Community input um as well
well to select your own art for our own
City so uh thank you so
[Applause]
much thank you oh do you want me to
do okay next we will
have um a proclamation for domestic
violence Awareness Month presented to
Gloria careras Colleen Poland and
Chantel yai
Martin for
laasa
hello whereas it is vital to recognize
that that domestic violence does not
discriminate to acknowledge to this is
also to understand that it is our
Collective responsibility as a community
to break the silence challenge societal
norms and promote a culture of respect
love and Justice let us be motivated and
inspired to take action and whereas
lacasa inc's Mission since 1981 has been
to promote individuals impacted by
domestic violence by providing shelter
advocacy and comprehensive Services
throughout southern New Mexico their
commitment Fosters healing and
empowerment for those in need and
whereas we recognize the tireless
efforts of Advocates volunteers and
organizations like laasa Inc who stand
as pillars of our organization safe of
of our community safety their Relentless
pursuit to create a safer and more just
environment for all along with their
dedicated their dedication to educating
empowering and supporting victims and
survivors instills reassurance and
confidence in us all and whereas this
year's annual Candlelight visual theme
light lighting the way stories that
honor and guide and emphasizes the
importance of sharing Survivor stories
Illuminating the path toward healing and
offering guidance to those still in the
shadows of abuse laasa inc's annual
Candlelight vigil also serves as a p
poignant reminder to honor our friends
families and neighbors who have
tragically lost their lives due to
domestic violence and whereas the
community is called upon to unite laasa
in's commitment to support domestic
violence prevention initiatives by
promoting awareness and providing
essential resources we can significantly
impact the lives of those affected by
violence as the as the needs of those
who whom laasa in serves continue to
expand we must enhance our Outreach and
resources the support and commitment of
the community are crucial in fostering
an inclusive Network that offers
assistance and hope to all who seek it
thereby significantly enhancing the
effective effectiveness of lacasa inks
work now therefore we the mayor and City
Council of Las Cruses New Mexico do
hereby proclaim the month of of October
2024 as domestic violence awareness
month we encourage all residents and our
elected officials to participate in the
candle light vigil and other initiatives
organized by laasa Inc to honor
survivors and Advocate and advocate for
a community free from violence and abuse
let us join together to light the way
for those in need and Foster a society
rooted in compassion Justice and safety
for all
[Applause]
first I'd like you to thank you for this
Proclamation and for allowing us to be
here and to speak I think it's very
important that our community gets
involved in our organization and our
initiatives we've grown so much over the
past decade and we want to show you what
we're able to do at laas in we don't say
no if you're affected by domestic
violence we're here to help you so we're
encouraging the community to not only
remember and honor those who tragically
lost their lives due to domestic
violence but to also support and uplift
those who are still being being impacted
who have broken their cycle those who
have survived those who have Thrive
despite everything they have gone
through their stories are not just Tales
of tragedy or survival they are stories
of courage and of a cycle that can and
must be broken so I welcome the
community to come join us um we have
three vigils coming up the first one is
an Anthony this coming Thursday at 6 PM
the next one will be in Los crues at
enem missu at the Corbit Center in the
doniana room and then we also have one
in deeming on the 24th please check out
our website and our Facebook for more
details thank you guys
okay just just two
more and this one is for Fire Prevention
Week presented to Fire Marshall BC Mike
landavazo and the
lcfd and of course our
chief just you
Chief oh not that you're not enough
you're plenty
but thank you do you want to read
it I can read it if you want okay
whereas the national Nation Fire
Protection Association has designated
October 6 through the 12th 2024 as fire
prevention week with the theme smoke
alarms make them work for you and
whereas this year's Focus underscores
the critical importance of working smoke
alarms and reducing the risk of fire
related deaths as data reveals that the
majority of such tragedies occur in
homes either without smoke alarms or
with no functional ones and whereas
having operational smoke alarms in the
home can cut the risk of dying in a fire
by more than half half 54% yet
approximately three out of five fire
deaths occur in homes with either no
smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms
and whereas onethird or 38% of Home Fire
deaths result from fires in homes with
no smoke alarms under scoring the urgent
need for every household to prioritize
fire safety and whereas this year's Fire
Prevention Week theme emphasizes the
importance of installing smoke alarms in
every bedroom outside each separate
sleeping area and on each level of the
home including the basement and whereas
it is crucial to ensure that smoke
alarms are accessible and functional for
all family members including those with
sensory and physical disabilities and
weas testing smoke alarms at least once
a month by pushing the test button and
replacing them every 10 years or when
they do not respond to testing are vital
steps in maintaining home fire safety
and whereas by adhering to these
guidelines residents of Las Cruses can
significantly enhance their safety and
protect their loveed ones from danger
the dangers of fire now therefore we the
mayor and City Council of Las Cruses New
Mexico do hereby proclaim the week of
October 6 through the 12th 2024 as fire
prevention week in the city of Las
Cruses and urge all residents to
participate in this vital awareness
effort to to ensure their smoke alarms
are properly installed maintained and
tested thank
you thank you mayor protm and and thank
you mayor and members of
council uh so just a few words on on
fire prevention and safety uh smoke
alarms and smoke detectors are the first
step in protecting your family there's
many things that we can do from the
construction of our homes and the safety
features that are now available and
affordable that will protect our
community when we look at the changes
that happened across the United States
when it comes to our Wildland Urban
interface possible insurance rates major
catastrophes like the hurricane that
just went through the Florida Panhandle
area there's another one that's uh
coming in the next few days our
environment is changing our insurance
rates are going to change and we have to
look at ways of keeping our community
safe and that means adopting the latest
codes and the latest habits and
behaviors that will protect your family
so please this time change go change
those 9volt batteries in your smoke
detectors test them make sure they work
those things will save your family's
life if you do experience a fire so
thank you
[Applause]
and thank you Chief um Smith and the
lcfd for all you do so remember don't be
annoyed by your fire alarm be friends
with your fire
alarm okay last one we now have a
proclamation for dyslexia Awareness
Month presented to Ellen sage and and
Dale
yo
hello whereas dyslexia affects at least
one out of every five children in the
United States is the most prevalent of
all known learning disabilities is the
leading cause of reading failure and
school dropouts in our nation and is
identifiable with 92% accuracy at ages 5
A2 to 6 and a half and whereas dyslexia
is not outgrown but is treatable with
proven multisensory teaching methods and
reading failure is the most commonly
shared characteristic of Juvenile
Justice offenders and whereas children
with both dyslexia and add are are at a
dramatically increased risk for
substance use and felony conviction if
they do not receive appr riate
intervention and whereas dyslexia faces
continual limitations and frustration in
their work school and en reaching their
intellectual potential resulting in a
tremendous loss of creativity and
productivity in our Workforce now
therefore we the mayor City Council of
Las Cruses New Mexico do hereby proclaim
the month of October 2024 as dyslexia
awareness month and urge all citizens to
become aware of the challenges needs and
potential associated with dyslexia thank
you
thank you Mary Mary mayor protm Ben
comoo um mayor enriz and Council um we
really appreciate the opportunity to
focus this month on dyslexia and the
need for better treatment and better uh
opportunities for people who suffer from
dyslexia uh the Los cruus public schools
has taken a tremendous step forward uh
in accordance with New Mexico law past I
think just last year uh all first
graders are being screened for
dyslexia uh the follow up now is what
requires work uh we'd like to mention
our website for dislexia Institute of
southern New Mexico it's
DNM org so you can educate yourself
further on dyslexia and the things that
can be done I need to mentioned that uh
the president of Dyslexia
Institute Dale yo was not able to attend
today uh and I'd like to introduce you
to one of our wonderful board members
who also does our Facebook so please go
to our Facebook and like us we really
like likes
so uh this is
Lara uh oh my
[Laughter]
gosh elmquist
yes sometimes I get a brain freeze when
I'm up here uh so thank you very very
much
[Applause]
that's
it okay thank you next on the agenda is
jobs of the week Sarah rainy
[Music]
thank you very much mayor hold on one
second there we go all right for jobs of
the week for October 7th we have for the
city of Las crusis a new services
coordinator a position starts at 1877
and the posting closes next week um we
also have an engagement coordinator for
the city and that one starts at 2121 an
hour and the posting closes next week as
well Whit Sands Missile Range has a
human resource Clerk and the posting
closes on the
26th we have a seasonal CDL driver for
Nutrition a solutions that starts at
27,000 to and goes up to 42,000 a year
the posting closes at the end of the
month for MSU we have Student Success
coach coordinator that one starts at
$42,000 a year and the posting closes at
the end of the month we have multiple
openings for the B BW gas convenience
alub Corporation um as everyone knows
there's a new location here in town
they're hosting several open positions
from store manager assistant store
manager sales associates and general
laborers I also wanted to um let the
City know that we are of course having
our monthly job Readiness event at the
community of hope this is the one that
we host there for the members just
helping everything from resume writing
to interview skills to actual job
placements we have had several um
employers join us in the last couple of
events which is great because we've had
on the spot interviews and jobs that
were gotten that day so that's been
excellent we would encourage more
employers to come join us also on the
day on the very same day on October 16th
The Community of Hope is hosting their
own resource Fair which will include
Mental Health Services uh job our job
fair as well addiction treatment
services haircuts and more so their
event will be from 12: to 3 ours will be
from 2: to 4:30 so we're kind of
overlapping and joining in together so
we'd encourage everyone to come out to
that and then in support of the Veterans
as well we wanted to bring light to the
veteran services in our in our New
Mexico Workforce Connection the
employment related services are
available to Veterans and their family
members including matching mil military
skills and experience to civilian
careers searching for jobs in your local
area across the US and accessing other
benefits so they they'll hook them up
with other things that they know about
other services outside of just job
Readiness and job search at our local
career fair and other events we
typically hold the first hour as veteran
priority where veterans can come in
first serve first serve first Ser first
come first serve and benefit from the
specific events the local devop team are
also veterans and they understand
firsthand um the needs of these veterans
and what they're wanting and their job
skills so it's a lot easier for them to
place them with that experience so if
anyone is interested in the veteran
services please come check us out at our
address at 226 South Alam or you can go
online to employee mm.com any one of our
social medias as well and as well as to
find out all of the local events that we
have the the social medios are hosting
those as
well and I would encourage you all as a
council come join us at The Community of
Hope event on the
16th um as this one will be a big one
this month thank
you thank you Sarah thank you for that
information uh next on the agenda is p
of the week uh Carol
neelson good afternoon I'm Carol Nelson
with the Animal Services Center of the
missia valley I am the digital content
specialist uh this week for our cat of
the week we have Syble her number is
8088 if you would like to look her up on
our
website she says I'm a friendly girl
who's ready to still your heart at just
2 years old I'm at the perfect age to be
your loyal companion and best friend I'm
up for trying a cuddle session or some
gentle play time if you're looking for a
loving and affectionate companion to
brighten your days I'm here waiting for
you uh the dog of the week is love uh
her number is 7289 4 if you would like
to look her up on our website I'm a
spirited pup who just celebrated my
first birthday I'm bursting with energy
and always ready for an adventure I
could use a little help with some basic
training to become the best dog I can be
if you're looking for a playful
companion who will fill your days with
joy and laughter I'm your
girl uh this week this well I should say
coming weekend we're going to be at the
lame Mesa Fall Festival uh which is at
the lame Mesa Community Center so come
check us out along with the other
vendors um and then we are going to be
having a drive-through vaccination
clinic coming up on the 20th uh so
definitely come on out encourage uh
people who don't have their pets
microchipped or are unvaccinated need to
get updated on their vaccines um because
we provide uh free and lowcost services
at the event so um definitely plan on
coming a little bit earlier because it
those events can get pretty busy so um
and then of course if you would like to
see more day-to-day stuff you can check
us out on social media um and also visit
our website at ascmv ororgani
next is a conflict of interest does any
member of the city council city manager
or any member of the city staff have any
known conflict interest uh with any item
on the agenda none V is none none none
Graham
none next is public participation will
allow up to 3 minutes no pending
litigation or items on the non-consent
agenda Katrina will assist
on individuals coming up to
speak good afternoon my name is Donna
Striker um the legislative session in
Santa Fe in January of 2025 is going to
be another opportunity important
opportunity for the city of lausus and
know that this year we had new council
members a new mayor and we weren't quite
as maybe um prepared um as we could be
and I'd like to ask the council now if
they could make a commitment to be
committed to this coming legislative
session in January of 2025 it's super
important um thank you to Mayor bomo co
uh mayor protim bomo I understand we
have billions of dollars at the state
level which is a little scary that they
have all that money and they're not
helping us in many many different ways
I'm asking for the help from the council
to have a plan of action for the
legislative session um I know we all
have our pet projects and our passions
and our stuff that um makes our heart
sing but if we could just be open to all
of
them businesses have continued to suffer
business losses due to vandalism and yet
there's a program but myself and oh I
touched something I'm sorry I touched
button I'm so sorry
um we have asked for the money we have
submitted it and we have not had that
money forthcoming it's only $2,000 but
that money is important to small
businesses and if we could find a way to
either get additional funding or an
easier way to recoup the thousands of
dollars that we've lost to repair our
businesses our buildings We are
continuing to suffer we do collect the
GRT for the state and the city and small
businesses are the backbone of not only
America but the city and the
county it still feels that somehow
though we're the Bad guy and I believe
that that needs to change people are
leaving New Mexico due to Crime our
education system not being happy with
local and state government we need our
businesses to be respected and be
partners in the future of Las cusis
mental health it's the big uh white
elephant in the room that we don't want
to talk about we continue to not receive
enough funding to provide facilities and
Staffing in New Mexico what's the plan
for southern New Mexico to look at this
we need more police in Las cusis there's
a current recruitment endeavor right now
for the upcoming Academy but we have no
per permanent sight for our Academy in
order to attract candidates it would be
very helpful to have a safe and
appropriate place for them to train
instead of using existing office space
and the catch catch can workarounds a
city of our size needs an academy all of
us suffer if we do not have adequate
police that are trained and educated
competency is a Paramount to addressing
the current situation in our state on
the release in some cases of violent
offenders there's going going to be a
pilot program addressed this week here
in lusus at the Court's Corrections and
Justice committee this week I assuming
and I'm hoping that some of our
counselors are able to be in attendance
this
week and will any of you guys speak in
January in Santa Fe and last but not
least is bail reform it continues to be
a roadblock to law enforcement judges in
the process to help those in need with
mental illness or drug addition it needs
to be discussed at the state level let
us know what we can do to help you for a
change I would like to know tell me call
me email me think everybody has my
number thank
you uh good afternoon my name is Gage
Bernett uh I've been a resident here and
Los crues for roughly the past 3 years
and today is October 7th 2024 marking
the 1-year anniversary of the ongoing
genocide taking place in Gaza I want to
remind this Council that there is no
crime for which the punishment is the
death of your children there is no crime
for which the punishment is the death of
your neighbor's children there is no
crime for which the punishment ought to
be
genocide 154 days ago on May 6th this
Council chose not to hear resolution
condemning the genocide in Gaza and so
today I come here to speak once again
and remind you that we live in New
Mexico home of Al mordo or home of the
Whit s Missile Range where the weapons
being used to murder children across the
world right now are being manufactured
where they are being tested where drone
Pilots are being trained to kill
children and to kill journalists who
have nothing to do with any of this
conflict I I want to remind this group
that as we hear proclamations about
domestic violence about fire safety
about dyslexia and education that there
is no recourse for the dyslexic children
for the people experiencing fire brought
down from the skies upon their own homes
across the world in Gaza and I want to
remind us all that we are living through
a genocide and that we as New Mexicans
are a part of that we as Americans are a
part of that and it is our
responsibility to honor those who have
been murdered for reasons that are
entirely beyond their control thank you
[Applause]
hello Council uh my name is Trent
scribing uh I'm a resident here for 23
years I lived here my whole life um I'm
here today to remind you and to remind
the rest of the good people here that
the issue of genocide is not beyond the
scope of this Council as many people
like to say it is not beyond the scope
of the people of this
city um in this little folder here I've
got 600 pages of the names of
Palestinian Martyrs most of them
children elderly people women um the
people killed and this doesn't make up
the totality of the casualties what I've
got here the people listed here who were
killed were killed by American bombs
paid for with American
money uh what's going on in Gaza is not
beyond their scope because it happens
only with American consent it only
continues with the consent of the
American people uh and as such silence
is complicity I'd like to take some time
to read the names some of the people
killed
um naar Muhammad abua who is Zer years
old a
female abin ala who's Z years old young
boy Amal Muhammad mu AB Z years
old Yas Salah Yas Alo 0 years
old carel Allah hamdan 0 years
old Misa diab mmud alafa 0 years
old Muhammad Nasser aad 0 years
old Kanan Shadi Hashim Musta 0 years
old anir Ahmed
Muhammad Z years
old abin elham Ahmed hammad kab zero
years
old ah hammed kab 0 years old Muhammed K
sha 0 years old Muhammad Ahmed Sami
alamari two months
old shahad Omar Alita Z years
old nidal Jalal Alana 0 years
old Muhammad Jamal Hassan Nisan Z years
old
NAD Al 53 years
old Ali s Allah aaro 46 years
old faral Hassan Ahmed 51 years old a
female Ahmed abdal rahun Ahmed shahab 42
years
old
um excuse me um uh n Ali
km 64 years
[Applause]
old good afternoon mayor and City
councilors my name is Vio I'm a resident
of Las Cruses and I will be continuing
with this um list of Martyrs killed with
us weapons us diplomatic cover um our
tax dollars our complicit our silence
are in
action namua Ali Kasam OB D yanis hammad
Abu Kasa
72 Abed Muhammad Abed
91 Imad yakob
Ramadan s
58 Ismael Muhammad Abdul Kadar
alut 88 years
old Aya Namar
Muhammad shanir 53 years
old Abed SOI Muhammad Abu kab 48 years
old
samiha Ramadan
Ali 51 years old
ficaria Saad Jamara 52 years
old Thea Abdul Jawad Muhammad Abu Ras 48
years
old ABD is abdal alati 50 years
old Jihad Muhammad jamua alabi 56 years
old
badar
Muhammad Jaa 73 years
old Hanan n niab Al 61 years
old RAB Ash Mustafa H 75 years
old
abdah Abdul Rahman Abdul Raba Abu samyar
74 years old
Waid khed Atman
abuzar 57 years old W Mustafa Omar
shazah 78 years
oldin Abdul gafar abdulhassan 71 years
old YF Faria Hanan an 56 years
old Muhammad Farish Hassan alari 56
years
old Ali Muhammad Ali Abdul Abdul Kamil
60 years
old Muhammad tuik Hassan abaka 48 years
old Amil YF
Muhammad Adam 50 years old
hello my name is Alexander burning I'll
be continuing reading the list of some
of the estimated hundreds of thousands
of Palestinians killed in the past year
to a council that voted to take a
ceasefire resolution off the agenda on
May
Thea Hussein Hali albar 52 years old ik
arat Ibraham ala 53 years old Hanan ahed
YF da 50 years old Muhammad sadik
muhamad Nasir 50 years old Yad Adib
Muhammad J 61 years
old mmud shahim 52 years old abdal rahan
Muhammad Ahmed Ali 50 um 24 years old
akam ham hamdan ha haasi 51 years old
khed Ali Ibraham AAS 53 years old Samir
Jihad hammad alahar 51 years old nor
abdal maid s Abul Kuman 42 years
old YF zaa abok 60 years old
Muslim toik alod muhana 51 years 71
years old Muhammad mustfa Abdullah
albana 65 years old duai Isel ARA ala 66
years old khed atulah Zak ARA aloa 70
years old salua Salim salua Abu xiri 61
years old Isam Muhammad Muhammad tanor
71 years old RAF Nora Muhammad tenora 71
years old Naja SOI R ala 61 years
old kamis S alus 5 42 years old Muhammad
Ahmed darash alah 43 years old sha
sh Al AAL 54 years old Muhammad Muhammad
gai jabal 45 years old hi Raa ARA
ARA 59 years old Adel Jad Adel Arafat 44
years old Amal Abdullah husin Isa 64
years old AA abdal fat Ahmad abush
shamala 63 years old zaka mmud Abed
abdal Hadi 63 years old Ali Mamu Ahmed
abdal Hadi 71 years old Naser isma khil
Alf 59 years old nabii Isel khil dboa 64
years old nah Ahmed Muhammed shoa 72
years old mesah Muhammed MIT alhaji 68
years old zadan Abdul Akisha 60 years
old thank you
hello mayor city council my name is
yovani sasan
ernandez mar
Enriquez councelor
McClair councelor matis councelor Graham
councelor Flores on May 6 you all voted
to remove a ceasefire resolution from
Las crus City council's agenda
with your vote you very clearly cided
with Zionism with the genocidal state of
Israel and their ongoing ethnic
cleansing of Palestinians in
Gaza the West Bank and now an escalating
war in Lebanon today I will take time to
read some of the 40,000 names of the men
women and children who have been
martyred over the past year of
genocide bear witness and understand
that your hands your titles and your
hearts are stained with the blood of our
siblings in
[Music]
Palestine gah alamim Eunice Al
kilot sahil Hassan Ahmad Al kilot 65
khil AB Khalil aladun 62 Abdul Muhammed
ibraim arok 68 harib ahamed Salam Alo 73
mahed Jamal ahammed almusa 64 Saud
Muhammad Muhammad ham 75 Sahel alz
Muhammed melah 55 massar AB ahammed
Abdul Dam 76 Sal Hussein Muhammad Alin
62 atalah Muhammad Khali abuad 59 ashor
Abad Abad ashar 64 jamat abdal had ABD
alfana 55 Muhammad Abdul mati Muhammad
Kasam 65 Mahi yaha Hussein Al 58 abdal
fatal Mitri Muhammad radwan 78 Muhammed
risk ahammed radan
61 risk ahammed Salah radwan 91 years
old killed by the state of Israel in
genocide mu husan KH KH 57 killed by
Israel in genocide fatim M abdali alwan
72 killed by Israel in genocide basma
abdin Muhammad abush 51 years old killed
by Israel in
genocide Naser melah madin aluh 65 years
old killed in genocide Hassan Ali Hassan
bin s 70 years old killed by Israel in
genocide musas abadis Miz alasi 72 years
old killed in genocide yah Muhammed alar
82 years old killed in genocide Fatima
Muhammed ham J 66 years old killed in
genocide May these May these names echo
in your memories may you see them when
you sleep at night long live Palestine
Viva Palestina
mayor council Juan Garcia in a stunning
display of disrespect for the Democratic
process the Democratic party of donana
in my opinion thed the will of the
people of the 53rd house district after
Hill's primary Victory with 58% of the
vote leaving Madrid with 42%
Hill's tragic passing on August 16th
should have automatically elevated
Madrid as the rightful successor this is
what respect for the voters and Common
Sense would dictate in a true
democracy but that's not what happened
instead a secretive Group of Seven
unidentified party insiders orchestrated
a back room deal driven by ideological
bias they rejected the Centrist Democrat
chosen by the people and handpicked a
person who never ran in the primary this
handpicked candidate who received zero
zero votes from the community failed to
submit Financial disclosure Forums on
time yet in the eyes of these party
Elites this glaring lack of
accountability means nothing what
matters most to them is ramming their
own preferred candidate down the throats
of the voters and now they have the
audacity to suggest that this subversion
of democ ocracy represents the quote
will of the people this is a shameful
affront to the principles of
transparency accountability and respect
for the voters
voice the people of the 53rd District
deserve better than to have their
choices callously disregarded in this
manner early voting begins on October
8th the stakes this year could be higher
and the choice is Crystal Clear if you
want to protect your family your
property and your values you must act do
you feel safe with the surging violent
crime are you comfortable with your son
or daughter making a life-altering
decision at one of the life terminating
SL gender reassignment centers better
known as abortion clinics where babies
with no names are
terminated does the idea of your
hard-earned wealth being redistributed
sit well with you or taking your
lawfully owned defensive weapon
these are the consequences of the policy
supported by the incumbents we didn't
get here by accident we got here by
citizens ignoring what this politicos
represent this election is your chance
to make
change vote for the candidates who will
uphold the rule of law defend your
rights and preserve parental rights
that's secure a safer more prosperous
future for ourselves and generations to
come the time to act is starting
tomorrow thank
you my name is Lori English I love Nana
County and in Los cruus for 24 years and
I distinctly resent what just happened
about the reading of the names I am
offended as a United States Marine and
as a citizen of the United States of
having any person or people accused of
having blood on their hands for things
that are totally out of our
control that statement being
made
Integrity this is uh my statement to the
council um Integrity leads to lack of
Integrity leads to hypocracy
lack of Truth leads
to disrespect and
dishonesty lack of rules leads to chaos
law lack of laws leads to
lawlessness lack of Standards leads to
double standards and what I'm getting at
is very clearly written in the state
concerning placement of political
signs no individual political sign shall
exceed 32 square fet in sign area
political signs may be erected no sooner
than 90 days prior to an election and
this is from the city council page um uh
political signs must be removed within
10 days after the election which it
doesn't always happen political signs
are prohibited uh to be placed in Clear
Sight of triangulars tra in other words
OB obstructing traffic patterns there's
a candidate maybe even more in this
County or that is putting up in fact
they're in the state putting up signs in
front of other candidates opposing signs
they're putting them up on city property
political signs are permitted only on
private property with the permission of
the private property owner I've had
removed two signs from a uh politician
from my personal property that were uh
opposition to what I my candidates I
support and signs are prohibited this is
the important thing signs are prohibited
from City go uh from government property
facility roadway median sidewalks
telephone or electrical poles or on
roadway
signs uh period basically the city needs
to take a little stuffer tougher stand
on this and just not let it go
willy-nilly that oh well it it's just
happened these signs need to be enforced
this close to an election which is a
very very impactful
election none of this if it's good for
the goose it's good for the gander I
don't care what party you are if you are
violating the city ordinances then you
need to be called on it your signs need
to be removed you need to stop putting
signs up in front of your opposing
candidates because you just don't like
what they stand for any decent Poli
politicians should go by these rules
that the city has imposed let's get back
to Integrity in in elections thank
[Applause]
you good afternoon Council city council
and mayor my name is Lucas hearnen um a
resident of District 2 um
I've lived in Los cruus my whole life
which is longer than 24 years so if
we're comparing notes I don't know if
that gives us more standing or not but
um I want to thank uh the folks who read
names to remind us of our compcc um in
the genocide happening in Gaza um I am
here today though uh and I wish I could
stay to speak but um like many lost
crusin I have worked during the day so I
can't usually come to these things um
but uh I wanted to speak in in uh
support of the MS Valley Community of
Hope and encourage the city council to
um continue supporting that amazing
organization very brief story uh one
time I was coming back from Hobs from
work and just outside of Aria is a small
town called hope and there was a man
with his thumb out right underneath the
city sign that said hope and I thought
well you can't you can't pass up a man
standing under a sign that's says hope
uh as it was he was a uh he works in
carnivals and Alan mordo is home to one
of the carnivals that works here in
Southern New Mexico and he uh is a
migrant worker he based more or less in
Colorado but he was coming down to work
for the season but it was still early he
didn't have anywhere to go um we wound
up having a really wonderful
conversation he was a very nice
gentleman um and he wound up uh asking
if I wouldn't mind bringing him all the
way to Los Cruses because he had heard
that there was a really amazing facility
here in Los cruus that uh he could
potentially get help in until he could
get to El mordo when his job was going
to start start um that was The Community
of Hope and um from beginning to end
that story is about Hope and um I I've
heard a lot of of messaging from folks
in this community recently that I would
say is about
despair people have despair at having to
see other people experiencing being
unhoused people despair at broken
windows um or or uh stolen items as if
those things have more value than what a
person's life is or what they are
experiencing um and and those are those
are principles and attitudes that are
rooted in
fear and when we have a resource
literally called The Community of Hope
that does everything in its power to
bring hope to people to get people homes
and food and
services that's what we should focused
on and we have
it and you know I don't know the will of
the of the of the city of the council
today I just wanted to speak in support
of that because as a resident of the
city it's one of the things I'm the most
proud of that we do for our community
and I'm proud of that and uh and I have
been critical of of this Council and I
have things that I would want us to do
better but we're doing a good one here
so please support it
[Applause]
mayor uh City councilors my name is
Frank Lopez um I want to first thank you
all for the work that you do for serving
uh as city council and and mayor mayor
protm I think your work is not easy it's
very difficult the sessions that I've
attended I've heard harsh comments
critical comments insults at
times um but what I want to talk about
just very briefly today is um democracy
and political
violence a few weeks ago I learned that
one of our own elected officials
received a death threat
I don't know all the circumstances but I
think this is very very
serious but all of us need to ask
ourselves if this is happening in our
community what are we doing about it
research says that elected officials
experience all kinds of abuse including
insults threats and physical attacks and
I've seen some in this
room here are a few statistics regarding
threats to elected officials since a
presidential election in 2016 violence
and threats to elected officials has
increased
exponentially on a national level 43% of
state legislators experienced some form
of threat 18% of local elected officials
experienced some form of threat women
office holders were three to four times
more likely than men to experience abuse
targeting their
gender these statistics do not have to
be our
statistics when it comes to our
community and our city the minute one
person receives a death threat we should
all be concerned regardless of our
political
affiliation and that threat is an
affront to all of us and to our
democracy as a former law professor I
often held deep conversations about the
US Constitution and what it means the
Constitution is not just a document in
Washington DC it is something we live
one thing is certain threats and
violence towards our elected officials
tears away at our
democracy and that includes the little
town of Las Cruses we cannot let that
happen we all need to ask ourselves what
type of community do we want for our
children I offer three
suggestions and I specifically call on
elected officials law enforcement and
the general public to consider these
three things
first create a plan of action to prevent
and respond to election and politically
related violence that's one two Monitor
and address
misinformation it is well established
that misinformation contributes to
political
violence and third promote a decorum of
Peace integrity and
respect uh I know you have a message up
on the
screen I feel we need to do more thank
you for allowing me to
[Applause]
speak good afternoon mayor City
councilors uh I have three things that I
want to say the first is uh I had the
chance to look at the new sidewalks on
North Maine and they're very wide and
they make the city look very serious and
like we take ourselves seriously so
thank you very much for that some more
of that
please
uh uh number two thank you to the people
who came and talked about gasa and I'm
sorry you got to state your name my name
is and I'm a local resident sorry thank
you about that um and thank thank the
people who came and talked about Gaza
and remind us of this important topic
that we're being complicit in and um I'm
here to request the third thing is I
came to request that with invest from C
Centric infrastructure and prioritize
instead a networkers protected
pedestrian and bicycle ways in
conjunction with efficient public
transportation people hate cars and once
you notice it you cannot unsee it
everything's better with cars when cars
aren't around even car makers only show
their new cars on empty roads on ads or
the mountains or the desert but not in
Daily traffic the speed the danger and
the noise of car traffic are always
among the top concerns of our citizens
and cited among the top reasons why they
oppose economic and population growth
for the city for everyone else yes we
need more housing yes we need more
higher density multi-use spaces yes we
need a more efficient public
transportation system we need better
Parks we need better roads for the
people who do drive but we also need tax
revenue to pay for it and we're not
going to do it with
GRT and we have we can do it though if
we stop subsidizing the automobile
industry many citizens still think that
driving is the most effective efficient
form of transportation but that's only
because drivers don't pay for the full
cost of driving which includes the use
of space to park a vehicle in the ma for
the majority of the day when drivers
don't pay to park their cars the cost of
that parking lot doesn't go away but it
gets built into the cost of everything
else including unused parking spaces do
you know that a parking spice cost
between 15 and $25,000
each that increases the cost of housing
development retail everything so
everyone pays more so that drivers can
have a free parking space everywhere
they go at any time in the US it is a
estimated that we have about eight
parking spaces per vehicle that's seven
empty parking spaces that we put full of
concrete or or asphalt just to uh have
Sitting empty most of the time I lost my
give
SEC um my request to you is that you
introduce parking meters with variable
pricing based on demand get rid of
parking requirements so that lasus
entrepreneurs can expand their
restaurants or their businesses without
the cap for parking and turn those empty
parking lots into tax producing job
centers and housing
developments keeping parking lot
subsidies represent a large opportunity
cost for the city and for the citizens
to bring in additional tax revenue
through profitable new developments on
primeland businesses housing
developments apartment complexes even
retail sales tax that could allow us to
have the money to pay for better
roadways for the people who do drive
thank you
uh good afternoon Council my name is uh
William Gilman this is geneveve Gilman
um a Los cruus resident small
businessman in town
uh what did I come here for
today I don't know oh oh oh I came to
talk about the uh realiz Los crus zoning
changes that are under proposal if
people haven't heard about them you
should take a look and I understand
there's a lot of like fear and anxiety
about it so I wanted to talk about that
but the bullet point is this proposal uh
the changes to the zoning are going to
increase property values across the city
people are afraid oh my property values
uh but don't worry it's going to be a
good thing for all of us uh let me give
you an example in a roundabout sort of
way so I live in the Copperstone
Apartments unfortunately unfortunately
because of the rampid price gouging and
rents that are happening all across the
nation in our city but um I digress
anytime I want to go anywhere if I need
to get groceries if I need to go to a
pharmacy but I need to do anything go
hang out with friends go do anything I
have to get into a car and I have to put
this baby me and my wife have to stick
this baby in a car seat and she doesn't
like it uh and God help you if you have
to go to like two or three places if you
want to go to Target and Home Depot game
over you got to put the baby in the car
to drive around the fence that's there
for some reason unless you want to walk
which I have done um people look at you
funny but that's okay uh so that is a
problem we like there are no services
that I can walk to in my neighborhood
and so people look at this proposal and
say oh my God if businesses can open up
just down the street what if a cannabis
shop opens up next to me or a brothel or
a heroin dispensary now it's a little
tongue and- cheek cuz two of those
things are not legal and the herd of
cannabis shops that showed up is
thinning out due to Natural Selection
but there's a tendency to think about
what could go wrong right that's like a
human nature what could go wrong the
worst case scenario but let's talk about
what could go right right what if down
the street there was a coffee shop so
you walk down the street to the coffee
shop and as you're walking you see your
neighbor neighbors doing the same thing
or just being out and about you stop and
you talk to them it's very lovely but it
also promotes a sense of community and a
sense of neighborliness that makes s
neighborhoods safer and more valuable uh
Zillow if you look on Zillow ever has a
thing called walkability rating and
bikeability rating and lo and behold
properties that have higher numbers on
there are generally more
valuable so I think that's what we
should do is think about what goes right
with this proposal What If instead of
every time you get out of your car you
thought to yourself boy what if I could
just walk there what if I could just put
this baby in a stroller and have a nice
leisurely walk instead of having to
circumnavigate the globe instead of
Super Walmart to get a few groceries and
a light bulb you could just walk there
that would be lovely so I encourage
people to look into that and think about
what could go right with this proposal
uh I have a little time left which is
uncommon so let me say thank you to the
people who came to talk about Gaza uh I
hear people talking about the babies
being babies without names being
murdered in abortion clinics but what
about the babies with names and like
this baby is not yet one and I shouldn't
have to ask people to imagine a bomb
going off but the bombs don't care how
cute the baby is
[Applause]
good afternoon my name is Dana Hopkins
I'm a resident of District 4 I want to
thank our remarkable young folks who
spoke out about the genocide in Gaza and
support everything that they had to say
but I came here in support and
appreciation of Community of Hope and to
ask our city council to continue to do
as much as we can to support community
of Hope um these are our
neighbors and there is so much work to
be done Community of Hope is doing a
remarkable job I am a client a
healthcare CL client at Amador so I am
around there relatively frequently I can
see how busy they are I can see how much
good work they're doing it can be seen
all over our community why anybody would
not support this I I find it hard to
comprehend but I just want to be be here
to speak out to say thank you and please
continue to support Community of Hope
[Applause]
all right U my name is uh Rick Renault
lifelong Los cus resident I'm here to
talk about NMSU there was an article in
the newsbreak entitled Los C's parents
called call for end to NMSU president
search 19th September 2024 18 days ago
it's still valid because they selected
president FY and now this is his
problem there's a curious and uny dance
ongoing today between NMSU and the Los
cus parents group who fought the Los cus
Public School Equity policy JBC in
2021 NMSU has continuously refused to
apologize to the parents for their own
professors racist tinged email character
characterizations discovered during this
time frame it was an attack on Los C's
parents a racial attack on whites and
Hispanics who wouldn't go along with
cultural Prof proficiency and the
anti-white
nonsense background in the spring of
2021 lasus parents fought the eventual
passage of lcps policy JBC Equity we had
successfully stopped policy JB JBC after
it was initially signed in April
2021 the board had to un ceremoniously
unsign it and start over what we did
find in 2021 was pretty much an active
civil rights violation
Factory urgently needed help the lcps
administration called in NMSU Equity
professors Department Personnel for
backup as they restarted the policy
process it was during this time frame in
2021 that we requested email
Communications of key NMSU Personnel
including the president Provost and
Regents startling emails dripping with
disdained toward Los Gus's parents were
found we were called racists both
Hispanic and Anglo because we wouldn't
go along with the cultural proficiency
and anti-white
nonsense we sent NMSU region in
leadership and acknowledge email on
September 30th 2023 a year ago and again
on July 30th 2024 about about two months
ago no reaction no
answer we're asking nem ASU for written
apology to the Lost Cruz's parents and
specific correct corrective actions
actions include the best Institute must
reverse back revert back to an unbiased
history Institute instead of a finding
offenses in history
Institute back to the Borderlands instit
Institute no more
best no Dei No Agenda 25 no office of
institutional
equity and all actions done by that
office since July
2019 to be
relitigated we have a letter to be sent
to lcps to be sent soon asking them to
resin policy J resin policy JBC and all
race identity talk forever thank you
afternoon my name's Jim Hurst um lots of
things have been said
today uh that I feel I need to address
first off
Palestine and
Israel uh as far as I can tell if
there's a God he gave the same piece
land to two different people
groups uh it hasn't worked out
well and I don't know how if it ever
will apparently God was trying to teach
them how to live together in peace and
the whole lesson failed as far that's
best I can tell and I don't know how to
solve it uh they're going to have to
figure it out or they're going to have
to go on doing whatever they're
doing and I don't know when they'll stop
um as far as the uh election hearing
talk we heard from the
ccia uh Ive tried not to do an
electioneering talk here but the
Democrats are free to choose their own
candidate we had a primary process the
candidate
died the party selected the person or
the persons who would make a decision
like that in an emergency this was an
emergency we couldn't plan on the death
of our
candidate so we
chose and I wasn't one of those who
chose but we chose the person we
felt John would want and we knew who
John would want CU John said who he
would want and that's our candidate and
that's who we're running and we're going
to win thank you very much
good afternoon mayor council and staff
my name is George Pearson I'm vice
president of vusus a local bike ped
adequacy organization I'm also chair of
the Moo's bicycle and pedestrian
facilities advisory committee nmdot has
told us that they will be opening Grant
applications for the transportation
Alternative Program and recreational
Trails program in November the tap and
RTP grants have a less than 15% match
requirement making this almost free
money grant applications are open on a
two-year cycle to the best of my
knowledge the city has not applied for
tap or RTP monies since before the
pandemic tap has previously helped fund
bicycle facilities on Madrid and walnut
and RTP was awarded to create a trail
between about the convention center and
the main Idaho IND inter section however
with the huge increase in construction
costs after the pandemic this Trail was
cut back by about half a November call
for projects means that the city must
move quickly to make Grant
applications I'm here today to ask that
the city take advantage of these almost
free Monies to help improve active
transportation in Los crues and a couple
of other people had already spoken about
the need for active
Transportation um maybe an RTP
application to complete the original
Trail idea from the convention center to
Main in Idaho maybe even a big idea like
solving the railway Crossing at the
outfall channel solve some connecting
problems like extending the msia drain
Trail through burn lake so you can
safely get to Lakeside Drive I'd like to
leave it to council and staff to select
the projects but please don't let this
grant cycle pass by without making an
application uh these are competitive
grants so it's not assured that you the
city would receive these fundings but
without making an application failure is
guaranteed um other speakers are talking
about the need for this um just the
general idea ownership of a car is
recognized as costing about $10,000 a
year imagine if you have a two-car
family if you can remove one of those
cars and that money can go to to the
family instead of supporting that car
and everything involved with that mode
of transportation thank you
[Applause]
good afternoon city council Mr Mayor my
name is veteran Chavez and I am going to
talk about what's happening in Gaza it's
unfortunate uh what's happening there
and as I've told you all before war is
hell and I've been in that part of the
part of the world serving
this great country and I will continue
to serve this great country and I will
continue to defend the citizens of
Israel and the IDF now let's talk about
what happened who invaded Israel uh on
October 7th why did they invade them
what did Israel do to them it was Hamas
a terrorist
organization they don't talk about the
101 hostages that are still in Gaza
right
now they don't talk about the 26 a
thousand missiles drones and Rockets
that have been fired at Israel from
Hamas from Hezbollah and from
Iran so they talk about the US funding
rockets for Israel and and Munitions but
they don't talk about who's
funding Hamas Hezbollah the houthis Iraq
it's
Iran so that's where the that's where
the buck needs to stop is with Iran
2500 innocent Israelis were killed on
October 7th let's not let's not forget
that 6 billion Jews were killed in the
Holocaust I mean 6 million Jews were
killed in the Holocaust let's not forget
that that was a
genocide my uncle who died serving in
World War II and I had two other uncles
that served in World War II one served
in Korea not to mention other Rel
his unit was one of three
units that Liber liberated the cow which
was an Israeli concentration camp in
Munich in
1945 so my family has a long history of
serving our country and serving in the
military they read the names of
innocent uh apparently innocent uh
Palestinians that were killed but they
don't read the names of the terrorists
that attack the Israelis
why don't they read those
names and there is no such place as
Palestine it is called Judea Samaria and
it's called
Gaza as it says in Genesis those who
bless Israel will be blessed those who
curse Israel will be cursed thank
you hi Council thank you I'm my name is
Steven Khan I'm a 40-year resident of
Los cruus on and off so I've been here a
while uh just three local points I just
like to make um one and I address this
to the council and to all attendees here
uh burglaries are up in the city um my
old family house in Los Al tourus was
hit in Late July the deputy who took my
report said they get calls out there all
the time please I urge you I I put this
on Facebook Community Watch
leave lights on at at night uh leave a
ve even when you're on vacation leave a
vehicle in front of your homes until we
get Police recruitment up around here we
really have to look out for each other
tell your neighbors your kids eyes open
for strange vehicles I don't know what
the causes the Cannabis increase who who
knows you know but it's it's serious so
uh point two um I I like that I see a
sign out there for the the youth YMCA
where the old video 4 used to be I'm
just wondering I'm glad it's finally
going to happen I I hope I'm just
wondering what other businesses can we
get out there to turn Elis around I uh
you know like a dozen years ago it was
it was kind of a nice main drag and now
it's it's mostly kind of a rundown
closing cannabis slum you know really
homeless it's kind of dark and dangerous
at night are is anyone uh in touch with
the Tatsu family I mean they put up fine
restaurants I don't know they used to
have restaurants there is there any way
we could just get more anchor businesses
there especially on upper elao towards
downtown it just looks kind of
awful and uh third point is uh sort of
speaking to the gentleman who talked
about walkability in the city if
anyone's interested in approaching me
I'm really interested in getting kind of
a a a tree growing initiative in Los
crues because anyone knows these last
these Summers around here it's not like
10 years ago we're getting 103 degree
four four months straight Summers it's
really hard if we had more trees to eat
some carbon we'd be in really good shape
I'd love to there's a like a lot
seriously by uh by Foster near the
Family Clinic could put up plenty of
trees there if anyone like would like to
speak to me interested in just a
planting a trees initiative we could get
something together that would be great
so that's that's all I wanted to say
guys thank you very much thank you
okay well thank you this concludes our
public participation next I have a
couple of uh Clos meeting statements
that I need to
read one was for September 30th city
council met in Clos session at 10:04
a.m. on September 30th uh 2024 the
following members were in
attendance uh myself mayor and RZ
councelor
McLure councelor Graham joined us at
1117 councelor mayor protm bomo
councelor Karan and councelor Flores
staff was Eon tamop Paya JC bgo Sonia
Delgado Barbara bomo Brad
Douglas Adrian Whitmer Chief story
Christine Retta we had outside
counselors uh outside Council Taylor Ron
Jessica Fel Brian
deliso and David
midor the purpose of the closed meeting
was to discuss pending litigation Lopez
Eric versus city of Los Cruses
d-37 cv-20
23-00 780 which is closed pursuant to
New Mexico State statue 1978
uh to discuss pending litigation
regarding city of Los Cruses versus
United States of America American linen
case 2-1 17- CV
0089 D J
c-b I'm sorry
gbw which is closed pursuant also to
nmsa
1978 and to discuss the pending
litigation regarding the estate of
Teresa Gomez versus the city of CR crues
23 CV 952 which is also closed pursuant
to New Mexico State Statute
1978 we had another closed session
meeting this morning at 11:04 a.m.
October 7th the following members were
myself mayor Eric Enriquez councelor
McLure councelor matis was absent
councelor Graham present uh mayor protim
bomo present Becky Karan present and and
Ivon Flores was present staff we had
city manager Eon tamop payao Sonia
dogado JC bgo Barbara bomo Brad Douglas
Joe Richards Chief uh story and
Christine rivetta a meeting adjourned at
1142 we discussed the bargaining
strategy
preliminary prelim preliminary to
collective bargaining negotiations
between the policymaking body and a
bargaining unit which is closed pursu
into New Mexico go uh State Statute 1978
section
10155 next is the AC acceptance of
agenda like to i' like to pull 7.1 oh
sorry for a question and then you can do
good we can do
it Christine
I I second it what mayor proen Beno said
to pull 7.1 from the consent
agenda this is on the motion to approve
the agenda as presented with removal of
item 7.1 for discussion councelor
McClair yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councel flutes yes councelor
bomo yes mayor
yes so we'll begin with our uh
resolutions ordinance for discussion
we'll start with
7.1 uh resolution number
25-39 a resolution approving a Community
Development block grant uh cdbg
agreement between the city of Los Cruses
and Hardin de los Ninos for the Hardin
de los Ninos roof replacement project
and admin
amend the physical 25 Capital
Improvements program CIP uh mayor protm
did you need a full presentation or no I
honestly would just like a clarifying
question though I did see you have four
slides really quick May Pro time we need
a motion in a second oh my bad motion
thank you to approve
second thank you
Christine um I just have a question
honestly um I was as I was reading
through this I saw that the total for
the project is
$800,000 right and correct me if I'm
wrong from what I read it seems like the
project right now has 528,000
mayor counselor members of the city
council Raymond Birchfield for the
record housing and neighborhood services
at that time when I did the initial
PowerPoint the estimate that I had was
800,000 and we have since got an updated
estimate of 650,000 000 that I got
that's a rough estimate at this point um
with the this resolution we'll provide
$278,500 in Community Development block
grant money in conjunction with 250,000
of state capital outlay that they have
already procured and they have requests
in for further state capital outlay it
is a city- owned building um and and
that's where we are right now so the for
the remainder of the cost then what's
the
plan other than
requesting further State funding um I
mean so far the city has not thrown any
money in it is a city owned building
that is at your discretion um but past
that I do not know where yeah thank you
I appreciate you saying that I think
that that's really important honestly
Hardin deos is an organization that um
provides really critical and important
work in our community um and as you said
they are currently in a city-owned
building I would hate to put any of that
responsibility on their tight budget
already so I hope that that's not the
plan and so um I don't know eani or city
manager what the plan is for that but I
think because it's a city- owned
building I mean you know if hard de
losos ever left that's still our
building and so um what's the care that
we're putting towards it especially at a
place that cares for children um I know
that you know obviously things are tight
but I I would like to us to take some
responsibility for for the remainder of
that I don't know um if we need to do
that today but I just at least wanted to
to name
that that's it that was my whole
question okay anyone else uh questions
comments
anything for re I I have a question I
don't know if it's for thank you mayor
I'm sorry um I don't know if it's for
eonnie or for you
um uh but um the the amount that's
remaining what this resolution what is
it this resolution would do if it if it
were if it had remained on the consent
agenda um councelor mayor this
resolution is just to approve the
Community Development blocker an
agreement to approve the cdbg money for
the pro for this partic particular
project and that amount is how much
$278,500
I'm sorry and how much is needed to do
the uh to complete the project right now
the estimate is 650,000
total and so what would you do with that
250 almost 250,000 would you invest it
or would it just sit there and collect
dust I mean what would you start on the
project Mr Mayor Natalie Green for the
record councelor Flores um we will work
with Hardin to help find the additional
resources cdbg does have a long
expenditure period you uh you can our
our agreement is for up to two years we
are working with uh public works right
now so the project is in design so we
can finalize that that total cost and so
once we know that we can start to look
at at some Gap financing um I will note
that under the lease agreement the
maintenance and replacement of the roof
is the responsibility of the city um
Hardin has done uh their piece right
they've secured almost 81% of the
funding um so we'll we'll continue to
work with them to either design to the
existing budget or look for additional
resources uh should we need to reprogram
funds we would come back for an action
plan um but we don't like to reprog
program money but that is a potential um
should we not be able to expend These
funds in the compliance period required
by Hud Miss um uh I'm sorry green gonna
say Miss blue no green um so how long
will it take it's over $300,000 that
would have to be found somewhere under
some
rock um Mr Mayor councilor Flores uh
depending if the additional source is
capital outlay it could take anywhere
from 1 to two years one to two years but
we would defer to Public Works on their
timeline if they're
available okay yeah I I uh I think card
de los noos is something that we really
have to uh protect and and make sure
that uh that it continues with its
services I would hate to see it close
down because there's a you know a flaw
in the building uh which could be um you
know a safety issue
um it's uh I think it's the only yes in
fact I think it's the only either in
this no it's in the country it's a first
uh Child Care Center that provides um
Services um holistic services for the
entire family and um and it's absolutely
fabulous if other child care centers who
you know for profit would
institutionalize that we'd have very
happy children and probably a happy
world but you know that's you know
reaching for the stars but thank you
very much thank you
mayor okay thank you uh councelor
matis
uh when was this roof to be done are we
behind on maintenance on this
building um counselor I know that we've
been patching it for the building is
over 20 years old thing was built late
in the 1990s as far as the schedule and
a scheduled replacement we' I'd have to
defer to public works for that yeah and
my point is you know I've I've come back
into the government and I see a lot of
things not maintained I see our Parks
not maintained the recreational Fields
not maintained I see buildings not
maintained and now another building not
maintained
um I don't as a city uh I don't know
where we're throwing all the money but
we really should maintain what we have
and we should take care of this program
in this
building somehow
maybe a Cony the city manager the mayor
and the councils could just fast track
this and get the roof
fixed thank you thank you
counselor thank you anyone
else okay
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution
25-39 councelor McClair yes councelor
matis yes and we need to fix it thank
you councelor Graham yes councelor cran
yes councelor flotes yes councel benl
yes
mayor yes
next is 8.1 resolution
25-40 resolution approving Amendment
Service amended service agreement
between the city of Las Cruses and Ms
Valley Community of Hope for the
expansion of the homeless outreach
program and authorizing the city manager
to sign set agreement on City's
behalf move to approve Graham second
Corin thank you go ahead right good
afternoon May Mr Mayor members of city
council my name is is kin with the
housing and Neighborhood Services for
the record and the resolution before you
today is an approval of amended service
agreement between the city and Ms
Community of Hope for the homeless
outreach program and authorizing the
city manager to sign on the city's
behalf here's some background to provide
context about the homeless outreach
program the homeless outreach program
was funded in fy21 to support City
residents who face Financial hardships
due to the pandemic since covid-19 we've
seen significant reduction in aail
ailable affordable housing stock M
Valley Community of Hope has been
pivotal in addressing homelessness and
has success in administering the
homeless outreach program the program
aims to reach out to unhoused
individuals who may not be aware or do
not have adequate transportation to the
access services at M Valley Community
hope campus homeless outre Services
include but are not limited to
transportation to Services day shelter
assistance and referrals to other social
service agencies employment related
activities and acquisition of personal
identification Additionally the homeless
outreach program works closely with the
Los cruus Police Department fire and the
co enforcement it also educates local
businesses and schools on the services
provided by the homeless outreach
program to ensure a more connected and
informed
Community the resolution before you is
the approval of an amended service
agreement in the amount of 164,000 for
the homeless outreach program and
through resolution
24-12 the city council did approve
additional funding for the homeless
outreach
program so far in fy2 the homeless out
outreach program has assist assisted 128
people in FY 24 the homeless outreach
program has assisted 279 residents and
out of the 279 residents 32 were
absorbed into Camp hope and 34 were
housed and uh here are your uh with that
being said here are your standard
Council options and I believe Nicole
Martinez from M valy Community hope and
the homeless outreach program staff is
here and as well as our community
engagement unit uh with the police if
you guys have any questions for them as
well thank you Isaac any questions uh
councilor
Mur yeah I had a couple questions for
Nicole if she'd be willing
to I had a question um more about um can
we kind of get a detail of sort of
long-term outcomes for some of the
people that are going to be engaged by
these services and kind of also what the
team was going to look like when this
kind of comes into
fruition it's a lot I'm sorry okay um
Nicole Martinez director msia Valley
Community of Hope Mr Mayor councelor
McClure um the outcomes in the city
Grant uh started I we're already doing
this the program and we already have
have the team so it's four people
they're all
here that's our Outreach team and the
the goals that we have for this program
our basic Street Outreach like if you
look it up uh in terms of wherever it's
being practiced throughout the US is to
provide referrals um options for shelter
uh ties to housing hygiene safety um
education and so that's what the the
goal is is that our team is going out
and engaging with at least 100 people
you tell just in this first quarter
we've already engaged with
um last year was you know 200 and
something I think as we were we had two
people going out um partnering with law
enforcement continuing to do that a lot
of that was this really was spurred um
collaboratively between the city of Los
cruus and Community of Hope We would
often get calls from City counselors
saying hey there's somebody up off of
telshore can you please go up and
Outreach them do they know about
Community of Hope do they know how to
get food um and we said you know well
our the people that are working at
community hope aren't just Expendable
like that like if somebody's tied to a
certain program like are they a veteran
or are they enrolled in this housing
program so we really said you know we
would love to be able to just respond
with a flexible service provider um and
so it it was built in in tandem with
mono Mano as well so to go out and do
Outreach with people so also part of the
goals is to offer those referrals and
education and and hopefully like
tendency at Camp hope until they can get
into housing um as we're trying to uh
you know go to un sanctioned encampments
around the community um so we feel like
those outcomes are still to just provide
well serve a certain number of people um
and then make sure we're letting people
know about uh the resources at Community
of Hope many of them we we do bring over
to Community of Hope um some may not be
appropriate during that particular time
but uh we continue to provide Outreach
in terms of like staff is doing
coordinated assessments there getting
them enrolled and onto that housing
waiting list out in the field as well
right now during the summer it was also
even just you know some basic safety um
life and death things where we're
handing out Waters and things like that
so you know in in really inclement
weather and we'll continue to do that
during the winter as
well thank you kind of to continue with
that in terms of the day shelter looks
like is there in a way if somebody comes
to you and there's an emergency need
what what flexibility do you have in
being able to offer something for that
evening or something that needs that
kind of our immediate
uh Mr Mayor councilor McClure if
somebody shows up at the shelter they
can access the basic Services there like
if they need to take a shower you know
use the restroom get water do laundry
they can do those immediately um
accessing housing takes quite some time
our housing list is really long um also
there is a waiting list for Camp hope so
it just depends on what the tendency at
Camp hope looks like at the time but it
can be it can be quite some time till
they can get overnight shelter in those
cases we're also referring to you know
our partner across the street in the
mission to see if they have uh vacancies
there um but it can be in terms of
overnight that can take some time um
again sometimes it depends on the grant
so certain grants allow us to do certain
things for certain populations um so it
it kind of depends but overall like the
emergency overnight is is
limited and primarily when you have to
address sort of detox situations what
where do you kind of send them right
now um Mr Mayor counselor McLure uh if
somebody is asking for detox in fact um
we had that happen recently um somebody
on the day labor team approached the
supervisor and asked for help wanted to
get some assistance um I can't remember
the name of the referral that we made
but got him in there
remember so we'll immediately start
calling around and figure out where we
can place somebody looking at things
like um do they need to go to the are
first can they go straight into Services
is Amador Health Center an appropriate
place for them um and their recovery
team um so we'll start to just call
around and access any of those resources
and I I just heard the after of that
like where he was so proud like I got
somebody into detox today and that was
that was great so you know making sure
that that's like also an extension of
that referral
process thank you and I appreciate all
that you guys do that um to get that
help out there to the people that need
it so thank you thank you
councilor martiz Mr Martinez I have a
few questions Rolling In My Head um how
much of the funding will will go to Mono
imano that that you're receiving today
Mr Mayor uh councelor matis is my
understanding this is just for the
Outreach team so it doesn't go to Manu
manoo you had mentioned it but it uh it
it will not help the Manu Mani program
this this particular F financially no
but they do go out together so Manu Mano
has its own funding budget from the city
of Los Cruses so they do receive their
own funding this is just for the
Outreach team so if mono Mano is picking
up an encampment then we have Outreach
team working with the people there and
then I hear you parti participating I
guess collaborating with the light
program with the fire
department is may they I know they have
Outreach now
Advocates yeah U Mr Mayor councelor
matis uh when necessary we do that um
often times you know the light team is
ini app if if it's through you know 911
call so sometimes our our staff is just
responding to people maybe it hasn't
escalated to that point if it does then
yes we're actually we're definitely
relying on our our partners uh at the
fire department and the light team um so
they they do a lot of times we work with
the LCPD community outreach uh safety
officers um and and the codes officers
as well as we're going around town to
provide Outreach to people um maybe you
could share with me the I noticed the
numbers
they seem to be increasing that there's
an increase in the unhoused are you
finding that to be true or is it
decreasing uh Mr Mayor councilor matis
we have seen an increase in numbers uh I
think that there are quite a few things
happening I mean data shows that when
you have places where rents are rising
you have low vacancy rates which city of
Las crusis does you're going to have
more unhoused people also we have been
providing a lot more services than we
did before so we've had some uh funding
boosts you know like we didn't have an
Outreach team before now we have an
Outreach team uh we didn't have certain
grants that were part of opioid
settlement funding so more rental
assistance uh and we also you know
really expanded our mono mono Outreach
team and so we have way more people
coming to Community of Hope asking for
help before we were saying no way more
times than we're able to say yes now
helping people with income helping
people get housing helping people get
shelter and so we are absorbing those
numbers or before we weren't because we
just didn't have the services necessary
or not NE we needed the services but we
didn't have them to the capacity that we
needed have I I know I requested that
you would uh have a full day with me on
on a tour to go through everything you
do Camp hope and and I hope that comes
up pretty soon I'm waiting for your call
uh but are you happy and satisfied with
Camp
hope Mr Mayor I know that's a tough
question but it's not tough at all
absolutely I mean its condition and
everything would Camp hope I mean you
know there's acreage right next to
community hope I think city owns it five
or six
acres why don't we jump to a a better
idea you know what with private
Enterprise um I've seen it in different
cities to where they have uh half of
Mobile you know not tents but they have
mobile units small little 800 1,000 foot
homes have we even put that out there
that we could just make it look better
Kinder and and have uh better control
over it I mean or we are we just going
to continue year after year after year
of just being satisfied with with Camp
hope Mr Mayor councelor matis uh I wish
we didn't have to have Camp hope uh I
wish everybody had housing um but I
think that it's been uh successful in
Sheltering people keeping people safe
keeping people close to infrastructure
to bathrooms to trash cans to housing to
all the services that they need and
we've done it in a way that's been
compassionate and affordable it's also
been a model I don't know if you've
picked up a paper lately and also you
know um orderly and cleanliness again I
would really like for you to come visit
Camp hope because I'm just waiting for
your waiting for your call I you know I
I spend a lot of time then there CU my
daughter works at at the clinic Lauren
matis you know she's at the Amador
clinic so I do I'm very familiar with
and so um you know her opinion is
important to me being a nerk
practitioner she thinks she thinks it
could be better and so uh maybe maybe we
can make it better and I'm willing to
make things to where there's results I
think uh councilor Cassie had a good
point in other words just we're missing
some things like Emergency Shelters
maybe the tree
Center uh maybe we need shelters to be
open to take care of the ones that have
mental issues it seems we just keep
doing things half
fast um and I would just like to do it
fully so uh Mr May counc Marti if I
could just finish the housing piece so
we we are uh doing 50 units of
Supportive Housing so we do feel like
Camp hope is is one piece of the
Continuum of of caring for people who
are living outside housing is our goal
so UNS are and I would sure love to
finish my sentences so if we could get
Amador Crossing built it's 50 units that
will go right there there's still room
to even add more uh maybe mobile units
would be something applicable in the
future but we know that it won't house
as many people as an apartment complex
will and right now we have a a real
shortage as as we all know so we would
love to get the biggest bang for our
buck um and so we we do have plans to do
more um but again Camp hope uh has been
a shiny star I think and it's like I
said kept people really safe and that's
what we will continue to do until we
have enough housing to absorb
everyone um I know you serve on on a
board correct you were in Dallas Texas
with I believe Mr Curry um Mr Mayor
councelor matis I do I serve on the
federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas
affordable housing advisory committee
and the New Mexico housing uh trust fund
committee which I just missed my meeting
today okay and and I was just thinking
if we could spend some time with with
private Enterprise people like Steve
lman that is building some shelters for
the muscal Aros at the reservation and
it seems he got 40 or 50 units done at a
cost of a million dollars I think a
million point4 and then 4 million I
think was the total
amount um it's not correct are there any
opportunities that we could get more
bang for the bucks Mr Mayor councelor
mati I think there's always opportunity
and we'll continue to look for that
okay thank you thank
you thank you anyone
else
yes okay go ahead thanks Nicole and
thank you for the presentation just want
to say thank you for being here and for
your team for being here I seen them in
action um at one of the events we had
with LCPD and um I just it's really hard
work and I just want to say you know
express my deep gratitude to your team I
call IET and text Evette a lot sorry bet
thank you for always being so responsive
I appreciate you all more than I could
say I um I just wanted to read a little
bit something from the Santa Fe New
Mexican which I'm happy to send you some
links to everybody but um you know it's
important to get news from lots of
places not
just Facebook Community Watch and so um
I wanted to just read this from the
Santa Fe New
Mexican um this says Becky Gutierrez
lived on the streets for several months
before a spa opened up at Camp hope more
than a year ago she said she became
homeless when quote everything went
wrong with my f my finances all at once
end quote she appre she appreciates the
camp for the sense of security it gives
her she's one of several residents who
said who said they prefer being in the
camp to being on the streets it's safer
it's safer here than out there Gutierrez
said it can get scary said Di toino you
don't want to be on the street at all
toino 77 and her dog Tisha were at Camp
hope for the second time after she left
the rental property amid disputes with
her landlord she didn't mind being back
however it's Pleasant she said it's a
good stepping stone to moving forward
again they don't they get they got rules
and that's fine follow the rules and
everything's okay I just wanted to read
that because I think it's so important
to sort of zoom out from the
misinformation and the disinformation
that often exists on social media and
sometimes we get emails and we oh this
must be true um some of the real data
comes from asking people who get
services at Community of Hope and who
live at Camp hope that's that kind of um
qualitative data also matters it matters
deeply actually for um how then we come
here and and invest in these kinds of
resources like Cardin de los NS who also
support
um nearly homeless and homeless children
and families and so I just want to
express deep gratitude to all of you I'm
proud to um continue to support programs
like Outreach um the Outreach team so
thank
you good okay um
CHR yeah if uh there's any member of the
public that would like to come and
speak just go ahead come on up
again uh city council uh Mr Mayor uh
city manager um you know veteran Chavez
here once again so as Mr martiz was
saying um I mean he makes a good point
about these mobile units and we had
plenty of those units in in Iraq and we
lived in those units and they were
actually pretty good the only problem
with that was is that they weren't good
for when missiles and Rockets came in
and and uh and it affected us but we had
Community showers and so it worked
pretty good in Afghanistan we had
conicas we had two story conexes so you
had the bottom floor we had two people
per conx and you had a and then up up up
on the second level we had two people we
had like I don't know 30 conexes so that
was 60 people and we used uh AC units
Heating and and and cooling units that
we used on top and they worked good so I
mean if there's a issue with space here
with 5 Acres you can put some good
mobile units and stuff there it's going
to cost I don't know it's better to use
permanent housing versus this but for
temporary you would work pretty good I
don't know much those mob un cost but I
mean you go to Costco and they think
they sell these little homes for like
four or 5,000 bucks so that you know
that's something to think about thank
you thank you yes come on
up good afternoon again my name is Gage
ber I live here in Las Cruses um and I
want to speak in support of uh of
Community of Hope in the work that they
do and I think the outreach program is
is one of the most important things that
this organization does um and I think
the more staff they have on it the
better and the reason for that is that
Los Cruz is being here in Southern New
Mexico we have incredibly unpredictable
weather we have incredibly strong heat
waves it's a dangerous place to not have
access to shelter and what the Outreach
team does is they go to places where
people may not have access to those
Services otherwise and they can bring
them in they can get them water they can
get them those showers um I moved here
when about 3 years ago in the fall of
2021 and when I first moved here I was
coming in as a student and I had a hard
time securing housing right I was a
young person I didn't have much of a
credit history I ended up spending my
first week in New Mexico living in a
tent with everything I owned in the back
of my car um up at lebook Dam State Park
and that was terrifying and like I had a
pretty good tent right I was a I was a
camper I I was an avid Outdoorsman at
the time you know I I knew my way around
navigating the environment um and I
still really struggled and that was just
for a week and that was just for a week
knowing that I would have a place to go
at the end of it and so what the
Outreach team does is they they take
people who don't have access to that
kind of hope and they they give them
that security they bring them in they
get them the resources that they need um
I volunteer for an overdose Prevention
Hotline and one of the things that we
really struggle with when we communicate
with people is that they
want to get services and and they can't
because you know they don't know where
they are they don't know where those
services are they don't have access to
Internet Los cruus is a place that
doesn't have a lot of 247 facilities
that are open to the public right you
can't if you are are stuck in the middle
of the night and you don't have a place
to go you don't have a way to get access
to Wi-Fi you don't have a way to get
access to a place to charge your phone
last cusis is a place where you need to
have these services and I think what
Community of Hope is doing is they are
providing exactly that they providing
that hope for people they are bringing
people in they are helping them do the
things they need get access to the
services that they need that they want
that you know
no the the most important thing that we
as a community can do for our unhoused
folks whether no matter no matter what
the circumstances are that led them to
to the position that they're in it is
our responsibility to bring them back to
to let them know that they are part of
our family no matter what their
situation is no matter what their story
is um and Community of Hope is doing
that and this increase in funding will
help us bring our community back
together will help us bring those folks
who who need to we we need to wrap our
arms around them um and and it it breaks
my heart to to know that there are
people who don't have access to these
Services when they're right there and it
breaks my heart to know that there are
services that we know how to provide but
we don't have the funding for them so um
I strongly support this resolution
because it will help our community and
it will help the people that we love
thank you
yes come on
up hello again Council Mary long time no
see uh I I came here in part to support
the resolution for the Community of Hope
uh as someone who works with uh elderly
people I'm a caregiver now I work with a
lot of older people how can you state
your name again Trent scrier I was
hoping you guys would remember but it's
all right
um uh I work with a lot of elderly
people uh VA clients especially who are
bordering homeless uh Los cruus has had
the rise the highest rise percentage
wise in the country of rent in
2023 uh and so a lot of people are going
to be removed from their homes uh and so
it's important the the Outreach
especially is important because older
people don't know where to go for these
services and so I think it's a really
good place to put the money um because a
lot of the time with my older clients
I'll spend time trying to help them find
services that I know are available
because I have the benefit of being out
here and talking to people but they
don't uh and so giving them the funds
that they need to meet people where
they're at and tell them what's good is
is critical I
think um that's about all I got thank
you
okay thank you anyone
else yes come on
up hello my name is I
gutieres um I've been working at The
Community of Hope for about almost the
full three years now doing Outreach um I
think the work we do is really important
and I you know I I love that I get to
advocate for a lot of the clients and I
kind of wanted to share one of my
clients stories who I haven't talked
about in a while but he was experiencing
homelessness and really all he needed
was an advocate he had Social Security
he was able to you know get a place but
he just didn't have the money cuz he
needed an advocate to go with them to
the Social Security Office all that's
really all he needed and then once we
figured out all of his financial
situation we were able to then get him
housed and he passed away shortly
because he had a lot of health problems
so I definitely believe in the work that
we do because
cuz he he's the number he's the first
client I had lost and he was in a very
vulnerable state and had that not
happened before he passed away where we
can get him housed it would have broke
my heart way more and knowing that this
is just one person it's kind of a lot of
all of our clients whether they have
money or income or not you know I think
it's important work that we get to do
and I really love this job so that's all
thank you
[Applause]
okay thank
you see no one else go ahead
Christin this is on the motion to
approve resolution
25-40 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor flutes yes councelor
bomo yes mayor
yes next is item 8.2 resolution 25-0 41
a resolution
approving the East Mesa Public
Recreation Complex uh public art project
and Sessy move to approve
second oh my gosh I can't see
good
afternoon my name is cessie vasconcelos
I'm the public art coordinator with the
quality of life department and I'm here
today to present the City Art board's
recommendation from public art at the
East Mesa Public Recreation Complex and
this is Melanie Brown she is our City
Art board Vice chair
she's had a lot of different
titles the new Recreation Complex is
located off of Sona Springs Avenue at
Sona Ranch Boulevard the overhead
photo um shows where the art Sculpture
Park is planned and the landscape site
plan shows where the artwork will be
approximately located which is here in
that yellow
dot the public art program released a
call for artart for a freestanding
public art sculpture for the Recreation
complex with a budget of $100,000 in May
2024 a designated art selection
committee reviewed the 155 submissions
that were received five top finalists
were chosen including two local artists
and invited to present their proposals
to the committee the presentations were
held at a public meeting at City Hall on
September 10th
2024 selection committee members members
were landscape architect in the Parks
and Recreation Department Kathy Matthews
City Art board members Melanie Brown and
Adam Amador and Community member Bob hum
City Art board member Susan POA
substituted for Adam Amador at the
presentations and Bob Hamry was absent
due to illness staff members of the
public were also present to give input
the presentations are open to the public
the date was posted in print media sent
out as a news release
and uh posted on social
media the artists presenting were James
Moore Suzanne Kane joshu Weiner and Gary
Slater Glenn schwager a local artist was
invited but declined due to being out of
the country the committee scored each
artist based on Project criteria the
call for artist stated that the P should
be sites specific could include elements
such as activity energy light and Shadow
it could enhance or support the view of
the Oregon mountains and it might
include historical archaeological
aspects or could include sustainable
themes we also gave the artist some
items for considerations such as artwork
should not be Sports specific functional
artwork was not a
priority it should add identity to the
rec Recreation Complex serves as a focal
point and is visible from several
Vantage points and it it could possibly
provide a photo opportunity for visitors
preferably with Oregon mountains as a
backdrop this was a really tough
decision for the committee as Melanie
will tell you um after weighing the
criteria and other factors such as
maintenance and safety the committee
selected dance of Life a concept by
James Moore his proposal is for a
three-piece sculpture that explores
themes of balance
which is stretch in Spanish and
flexibility which he says not only apply
to the physical body but also the mental
and spiritual Wellness of
people the stylized figures stand on
columns made of laser cut Corton steel
the figures are made of stainless steel
and each column is lit from within and
the figures can be lit with exterior
spots the proposed columns measure 14 ft
in height by 2 and 1/2 ft in width by 2
and 1/2 ft in depth
here you see each column with the people
figures to show scale James also
proposed a community engagement
opportunity where the public could be
asked what words they would like on the
columns the committee did have some
suggested modifications they are as
follows uh one there were concerns about
the diecut areas um in the columns
collecting trash or sand or um Etc and
they are very tall uh they would like to
see The Columns modified so they so the
stylized figures can be more interactive
but maintain the word concept because
they really like the community
engagement aspect of the project or to
consider placing larger scale figures
directly on the ground to be more
interactive but retain the words and
Community input in a different
way that concludes my presentation and
these are Council options and I will
stand for
questions thank you sesy U councilor F
thank you mayor and thank you cesie um
just uh for the maybe I zoned out what
during I'm sorry during your
presentation I try to look attentive now
but um in terms of the
location um of these of this artwork did
did you um specify exactly where that
would be we will go back to slide number
one no I think it was two
actually so right here oh um so yes um
this is a proposed um art sculpture area
here it's in the 10 acre park that is
part of the complex so it's um Northwest
on the Warth if you're looking at the
complex it's
Northwest I'm so bad at directions North
um yeah it's on the west and North yeah
so this is one of the ball fields right
here so um what is the name of the
street see C
kote coyote Cino
coote Melanie lives up in that area so
she knows it very well thank you
Melanie thank you so much s May
okay anyone
else
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution
25-41 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor flutes yes councelor
bomo yes mayor
yes next is item 8.3 resolution number
25-42 resolution approving the fire
station one and six public art projects
sass move to approve second
Graham hello again and for the record my
name is Jessie vasconcelos public art
coordinator um and I will be presenting
the recommendation for public art at
Fire Station 1 and fire station
6 per the 2% for public art ordinance
the gobon public art allocation
designated for Public Safety provided
$200,000 we distributed the allocation
between three stations fire station 9 6
and one when the selection committee for
fire station 9 met to judge the
proposals from three artist finalists
all three artists presented very good
Design Concepts after choosing the one
that best fit fire station 9 the
committee thought the other artists were
a good fit for one and two's projects
they voted to offer fire station one to
Jason Butler and fire station six to
Trevor tool based not only on their
Concepts but also in the scope of their
work the City Art board agreed and
approved the the recommendation both
artists have agreed to be considered for
the for these
projects the project criteria for the
fire station projects is one reflects
the ethos of the firefighting Community
two activates the exterior public space
and streetcap and three resonates with
the general public neighborhood and the
fire station staff
the first project is Fire Station 1
which is located across the street at
2011 East Picacho Avenue again the
artist chosen for this project is Jason
Butler the committee felt he would be
perfect for creating an art piece for
the wall of the fire department that
currently has the old city logo hanging
on
it Mr Butler prefers collaborating with
clients to design artworks so in this
case we will collaborate with him to
develop the preliminary concept into a
final
design that design is to keep the mtis
cross design intact but make all the
elements 3D and insert LED lights
between each
layer here is a mockup of the concept to
the proposed scale of the artwork again
the design will be developed further in
collaboration with the artist the budget
for this piece is
$255,000 our second project is fire
station 6 uh located at 2786 East
northrise Drive and that's the corner of
northrise and Roadrunner
Parkway the artist chosen for this
project is Trevor otoul his design is
inspired by the service of firefighters
the sculpture is 10 ft with a 10-ft base
it's made of stainless steel in a low
poly faceted
style the artist takes a photo of a real
firefighter from the station or
Department in the desired position and
scans it to make the sculpture more
realistic and organic it will be painted
with color that best represents the
station lighting will be installed near
or on the foundation to create
uplighting this concept was chosen for
its aesthetic that keeps the artwork
from being a monument or Memorial the
budget for this project is $75,000
these areas are up for consideration for
the sculpture and the rendering is not
to scale but this is where they would
stand they might be
giant uh this is my presentation and I
will stand for
questions thank you
Sessy Council
K thank you thanks for your presentation
and I just am really excited I I really
um love the presentations by these
artists and especially Trevor uh the
last one I think we all really liked him
and he was uh super nervous in his
presentation and so um I'm really glad
that he that he got called back for this
and and I'm happy that I'll be driving
by this every day so anyway thank you
for for carrying that that through and
the committee's work and I didn't even
know that that was the plan so that's
fabulous I'm really excited about it
thank you thank
you Council FL thank you mayor um thank
you again CI and M um I don't know if
you mentioned it because I space out a
lot these days it's the age thing
um did you uh mention where this the
money comes from just in case I don't
think you did how the money um how the
money is received by the art board and
all that sort of stuff I don't think you
mentioned that or did you I'm sorry if
you did counselor I mean my and
counselor FLOTUS um I touched on it so
per the 2% ordinance um um anytime we
have a go Bond cycle and um the
community votes for go bonds we do get
an automatic 2% that goes towards that
is allocated to public art for those
projects or the ones that qualify um so
that is how these projects are being
funded um through the um generosity of
of the community really because they
voted on
them thank you I does that answer your
question yes
well um I knew that but um I thought
it'd be good for you to present that
here and hopefully the media will cover
it because I think that um I think that
art is um is very important to our lives
and I you know and I but given the
economic situation our country sees and
especially you know our state our city I
don't want people to think that uh we're
you know spending money on things that
aren't important and frankly I think it
was art that made a lot of people
survive the Holocaust artist Mark shagal
and many others uh were able to sign
kind of rise above it so to speak so um
I want to thank you I want to thank the
City Art board and the uh quality of
life director kale
BR and uh and Rebecca Slaughter back
there who's always hiding
but anyway I want to thank you all for
your work your dedication and your
expertise thank you I appreciate that
and mayor and Council and council
members um we do have one of gobom
projects that that project that will be
coming up and I believe we're doing that
in in councelor matisse's um District so
um stay tuned for
that all right Sessy thank you it looks
wonderful it's uh it's beautiful to see
thank you
chising this on the motion to approve
resolution 25- 042 Council McClair yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor bomo yes mayor
yes next is item 8.4 resolution number
25- 043 a resolution that the city
lausus stands in opposition to the
litigation position of the United States
in the case of Texas versus New Mexico
and Colorado original number
141 move to approve
second
Adrien Mr
Mayor it's the wrong oh oop
oops that's the next
one
go thank you I was going to start
talking about some and you were going to
say
what Mr mayor council Adrien Whitmer
utilities director thank you very much
uh on the opposed l ation position of
the United States for Texas V New
Mexico um as you know the special Master
originally recommended approval of the
consent decree and then the United
States objected to that so then through
the Supreme Court they gave it to the
special master and the special master um
said yes go ahead and um go with the
consent decree that the three states had
agreed
upon well the United States argued know
that they didn't want to go that
direction and the Supreme Court
said okay let's not go that route well
then the United States their particular
uh position is that they want a baseline
of
1938 and that means everybody just uses
the amount of water that they had from
1938 which would be massively
devastating to the city of Los cruus in
in numerous ways which is laid out AC in
the
resolution a meeting was called to have
discussion where AG Tores from the state
of New Mexico
um mayor protim Beno and I had gone to
that meeting and He was discussing and
he was just asking for some help and he
was kind enough to actually give myself
and the
attorne um a meeting with him up in his
office in Albuquerque and we kind of
went through that a little bit further
and came back and wrote this
specifically for you all to take a look
at and to consider I think in the long
run what he would like to do is to take
this resolution and pass that on to the
Department of the Interior secretary
which is Deb haland she's the first
Native American to serve as a Cabinet
secretary and she's from New Mexico so
we're hoping that the r a will will be
able to go to the Department of interior
give this resolution to them and then
you
know try to try to work around this to
try to get this through um because
whether it's through mediation or
through a
trial um 1938 is going to be devastating
to Los Cruses and well all of us
anywhere from elephant but down but it's
going to be even worse for the city of
Los Cruses because we're currently
serving over 115,000 people just in the
city plus numerous commercial industrial
schools so that's pretty much what I
have I'll stand for any additional
questions if you'd
like mayor pro thank you mayor and thank
you Adrian I don't have any questions I
just wanted to say thank you and
honestly just to quite frankly reassure
my colleagues up here and our community
that we have an incredible leader in
Adrien um I she has been a really Fierce
advocate for our water and for the city
of Las Cruses um trying every which way
to schedule a onetoone with the attorney
general until he said yes and um I just
I I really do want everyone to know that
we have a really Fierce Advocate on our
side and um I just wanted to say that
publicly Adrien because um I've just
been in a of you of about how you're
handling this whole situation which
frankly is really scary and um really
thinking about the F like our future I
mean water is everything and um I'm
excited that we are working closely with
the attorney general I'm excited that we
have someone like secretary Deb Holland
in that kind of position to um really
listen to our needs as a state and um so
I just really wanted to say that thank
you Adrian thank you
councelor Flores thank you uh thank you
Adrian so much and thank you for all
your work and this is consistent with uh
our attorneys when they met with us
right this is consistent the information
they provided and all that sort of stuff
Mr Mayor um city council fles correct so
I worked closely with legal to go over
this to make sure that I was capturing
all of the information that we wanted to
make sure that the Attorney General
knows about us so that we can pass that
on to the secretary um for the
Department of interior to to actually
say this this is how this is going to
affect us we're only using 7% of the of
all the groundwater only 7% and we
return
45% of water that we pump back to the
Rio Grand so our effect to the system is
minimal and the proposal is horrible and
that regard not not the opposition the
the thing that was
presented at uh at that
meeting could you please repeat that
well I think I'm being very um weird
here um at the presentation in terms of
what the what the uh Court held uh we um
were definitely shortsighted or we were
we
were we weren't getting our fair share
and that's very
clear um so um to the Supreme Court we
had gone and um New Mexico Texas and
Colorado had agree agreed upon a consent
decree the special Master concurred with
that he took it to the Supreme Court the
Supreme Court took that um the United
States were in opposition of that
because they want to get in the middle
of it and the Supreme Court sided with
the United states to get in the middle
of it so as part of that the United
States is professing that everything
needs to go back to
1938 okay and um what
um what do you think the outcome will
come uh will be given that the US and
you know the United States is a litigant
in this uh Mr Mayor uh councelor Flores
I have no idea idea um but um we are
going to continue to move forward to try
to do the best that we can for the
citizens the businesses and the industry
of lost crues we we will fight to the
end we will fight to the
end okay and um well I want to thank you
for all your work and I I can't recall
exactly um what the problems were
uh how the US got involved because this
is between this is the land the real
grand water that flows and uh provides
water for New Mexico and Texas and and
Mexico I think too so um anyway I want
to thank you for your work and I um I
agree with u mayor protm uh bomo that um
you've done a heck of a job here and I
really really appreciate it really
appreciate it thank you mayor and thank
you thank
you
mayor council mief who else is joining
us in the litigation would and New
Mexico State University donana
county Mr Mayor um councelor matis um
there are other amiki so we have the
state of New Mexico and then the city of
Los Cruses other amiki include the city
of Al tury animus U crua and then um I
think they've changed their name but um
the New Mexico
power there's a um the one that has like
the afon plant I'm sorry I can't
remember the the name of of them but
they're the ones that have the electric
plant down there they use water for
cooling okay thank thank you thank you
sir thank you Adrian go ahead Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution 25- 043 councelor McClair yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flus yes
councelor bomo yes mayor
yes next is item 8.5 resolution number
25-44 a res resolution determining the
condemnation of a portion of the partial
known as 2240 East lman Los Cruses New
Mex Mexico will serve the public
interests authorizing the exercise of
the power of eminent domain to condemn
such property for a public purpose
authorizing City staff to accomplish all
Deeds necessary to carry out the purpose
of this
resolution motion to move uh move to
approve second
Corin okay Adrian
again Mr mayor council Adrian
utilities director uh thank you very
much for discussing this um back in
2019 uh when the Aquatic Center was
getting planned um uh monitoring well
was in the way and so uh the city of L
crues requested the JSP which is the
city and the county uh they have been um
that's the joint super fund project
they've been uh working together for
many years to work on the PE uh the
Petra chloral ethylene um plume that is
near the Griggs and walnut
intersection um through that um we
requested that the monitoring well if we
could go ahead and cap that so that we
could go ahead and put in the newer pool
in the Aquatic Center EPA concurred but
they said okay but if we want another
monitoring well or Wells you're going to
install them and we said okay well lo
and behold in the
report um EPA started looking at that
and they said you know there's kind of a
an area that is missing some information
and if you look at the at the map here
the um this is where well 27
is and this is where well 61 is and then
over on the right hand side this is kind
of like
a little drawing of what the plume looks
like in that area but of course you
don't exactly know because we can't get
in there and look through it like you
would an aquarium um but through that um
they were interested in knowing what is
that southern line of the
plume so they said drew a line a
straight line between well 27 and well
61 and said we need to have another
monitoring well or wells in that area
and so this is kind of like what this
little square area
is that EPA gave us to choose and
through that we determined with the help
of the consultant and negotiations with
EPA that the best place would be there
along lman that um if you will look
right here um this is is um Best Buy and
this is Staples and then over here is um
um an asundry of small
businesses and it's this parcel here
would make the perfect spot because it
completely intersects directly with the
black line that is
straight um there's a temporary
construction easement a small permanent
easement we have made multiple request
to the
owner of of this particular parcel which
um they are a large corporation out of
California um but the attorneys keep
reaching out to them and they have said
no well in order for us to meet
deadlines and meet our requirements as
part of the joint superf fund project we
have no choice but to install monitoring
Wells where EPA has told us to move move
forward so we have no other choice but
to go ahead and at least get ready and
start if we need to condemnation
proceedings so um that's what that is um
the nice thing is is that this will
occur uh before the Christmas season so
it is not going to get in the way of any
kind of um parking issues it's temporary
this work area here is about 50 by
175 the smaller uh permanent area is
about 20x 40 and this is what the two
there's going to be two and that this is
what each one of these look like and so
it's it's like pretty small and this is
the cover that goes on top of it so it's
flat so someone can still Park on it if
they're shopping there so this is not
going to affect them in any way there's
um a multitude of these monitoring Wells
throughout the city um including in the
parking lots that are over by the ball
fields we've got some in there um and
along other um rights of way within the
city so this isn't this isn't going to
affect their businesses um so uh we just
need the okay so that we can move
forward so that um EPA doesn't come back
and say well you have not been able to
um meet the requirements of the consent
decree that you all signed and then um
Hold Us in contempt of the consent
decree and I can stand for any
questions all thank you Adrian thank you
cor I I just wanted to thank you again
for this followup and I I um something
that I learned that we've learned in
this process um through all of these
conversations and other conversations is
about Emin and Main and I just want to
give a quick very brief explainer I know
this isn't super interesting to probably
anyone here um but uh New Mexico heavily
restricts em and domain uh we cannot
take land um unless it's directly
necessary for distribution of utilities
is the only really place I think that we
can that we can claim eminent domain um
with any kind of sort
of reasoning behind it so uh I just this
for the public we we we have never used
eminent domain in any of the times that
I've been here that's something like
extraordinarily unusual um circumstances
and related to something that we have to
remediate in in our city so I just want
to put that out there this isn't
something that any of us take lightly or
or without seriousness and it does sound
like we've made pretty serious efforts
to try to remediate this in any other
way possible so um but just as a note
eminent domain is not something that
we're liberally using in any in any
context I don't think um on city council
or as a as a city so I appreciate the
judiciousness with which you're
approaching this uh thank
you thank you councelor councelor Flores
uh thank you and thank you again Adrien
um so it's your uh the emminent domain
uh issue will be contested in
court or how is this being
Mr Mayor federal district councelor
Flores um if we need to and we will go
to court we're really hoping that if
something gets filed they'll just
finally say okay okay okay pay us and
get in there and do your work obviously
if they do not then um the um the
paperwork will be filed and we have to
do it within a certain time frame so
that we can get right of entry in order
to meet schedules related to the
sampling
schedule okay and then um in terms of um
our attorneys who are representing Us in
this um in this uh case
um they would they
would they would hopefully uh set forth
how the power of em eminent uh domain
would
um would would probably um serve our
purpose I mean would be favorable to us
and hopefully uh we can Adit or skip
going to uh trial on this and there'd be
a
settlement so and but it's a private uh
private privately owned business that
has control over that that uh water we
Mr Mayor councelor Flores that is
correct it is it's privately owned by a
corporation in California yeah yeah so
it sounds good yeah thank you thank
you thank you councelor Ma yeah Adrian I
just wanted to take this time to thank
councelor Karan I I'm not an advocate of
eminent domain either so I really uh
really appreciated that explanation and
I see where you have to go forward and
you said it was a California
owner so I even second that thank you
okay thank you
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution
25-44 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor flotes councelor bomo
yes and mayor yes thank you thank you
Adent
next on the agenda is board appointments
and we have none so the next one is
notice of a proposed ordinance there is
one and that would be Council bill
number 25- 014 ordinance number 3085 in
ordinance repealing and replacing
chapter 38 Article 5 Section 3846 Las
crusis Innovation Industrial Park
overlay Zone District of the city of Las
crus municipal code in its entirety uh
submitted by the city of Los Cruses
bring it
forward next is city council member
board reports and comments I'll start
with Council
McClure thank you mayor um I'm actually
very glad that uh we pulled the Hardin
de los noos off the consent agenda just
wanted to share that that was one of the
best tours I had taken probably a couple
months ago because I had seen my role as
trying to find as much information about
what I feel is our holistic system of
different services that the city
provides nonprofits provide what are we
doing and they graciously took me in
showed me the the kiddos that they're
working with who waved me and it was you
know on one hand broke my heart on the
other hand made me feel like we actually
do a lot for some of the most vulnerable
populations and we can't do it without
the partners we have already
um I thought as twofold too that there
is a lot of things that are hindered
kind of by state regulation there are a
lot of things that we have gaps in and
so looking at some of the things last
week we went to council Grant and I went
to um gospel Rescue Mission and they had
asked you know you know asked them what
what are your challenges because that's
always what I'm curious about and they
said well we have a you know detox when
we have people that are in Act of
substance abuse it's hard for us to work
with them and so I'm hopeful that
there's a Las Cruis Recovery Center
that's starting having an open house
this week Peak is getting back on board
with our um critical care and um I'm I'm
curious too to see how we can do an
emergency shelter uh where can we put
people um especially with some of the
Supreme Court challenges that we are
going to face at some point
um I think I've spoken to a couple other
council members to see what that would
look like for us but I'm also not a big
fan of reworking the wheel and gospel
rescue is working on a kitchen SL cold
weather shelter and I'd like to propose
we look at helping fund that because we
could work on um Reinventing the wheel
but we can also continue to support our
partners as we have today with msia
Valley Community hope um I I agree too
um
that we have to be advocates in larger
ways and um a lot of people can't do it
alone and it's our Partnerships that
make this happen so I'm hoping we can
look at that I have some information
that I passed to the mayor but I'll
shend send it I think I send it to
Christine and I'll see if we can pass it
to the entire board then too so thank
you thank you councilman uh Council mtis
no I I just like to again support
Council Cassie on that support for
gospel rest Mission I think that would
be a great partner to support thank
you thank you Council
gr thank
you as noted a couple of times during
public comment early voting starts
tomorrow so um want to encourage
everyone um I think you're a great first
stop is NM vote.org download your sample
ballot because even if someone who is
perhaps almost too plugged in
politically whenever I look at my sample
ballot something surprises me judicial
retention Constitutional Amendment don't
get surprised when you go to vote um and
as you doing your research um just want
to continue
to uh suggest some of our local
resources um
krwg uh the Las cruus bulletin and the
League of Women Voters of southern New
Mexico are our three great places that
have some in-depth coverage on local
candidates their positions kwg's
candidate forums have started and they
also have a series of recordings on
their election center uh space on their
website uh where it's just kind of a
recorded statements from candidates who
may not um be close enough in the region
to come in for candidate forums but you
can still get some more information and
that's all I
got thank you councel g uh councelor
Karen thank you um I have a couple of
things sorry it's been a few weeks so
I've been building up a list um first I
wanted last week I I uh met someone who
was new to Los crusis and she talked
about going to I think the Museum of
Science I just wanted to give a shout
out to the quality of life in museum
folks but she really talked about um the
bilingual um information cards at at at
our museums and was basically shocked
she said that her mom who is a
monolingual Spanish speaker was coming
to town soon and she couldn't wait to
take her to to um the city of Las cruus
Museum she'd never lived anywhere where
that that was the case so thank you for
that um it is seen and appreciated um by
Community folks um I also wanted to
thank all of the city folks who showed
up for southern New Mexico Pride visit
Las cruus who we had the Lucky Fortune
to walk with the fire department LCPD
giving out popcorn and making it a
really safe uh environment for folks uh
including Lieutenant weeda who I know
has has really worked hard to to make
sure that pride is a great event the
ascmv had dogs I hope they all got
adopted it was a little hot for them uh
and all of us but Pride was a really fun
event it was bigger I think than it's
ever been in the past and I expect it
will it will keep growing so thanks to
all of the city departments and folks
who I I think I've missed some but I
think a lot of folks um some quality of
life folks were there the art art team
was there as well so everyone that was
there it was really a great event um so
thank you for doing that I also wanted
to just give a quick update I went to
Lincoln Nebraska for the EPA local
government advisory Council a few weeks
ago um which I'm appointed to as a
function of my work here and uh
representing southern New Mexico and all
of New Mexico first um New Mexico is
also represented or was represented by
uh secretary of agriculture Jeff witty
who had been the longest serving um
local government advisory council member
um in in their in the committee's
history and he just cycled off this last
time so I wanted to give a little shot
of gratitude for him because he really
helped our state's needs be presented as
part of the conversation about posos um
so gratitude to secretary witty um for
also helping Orient me to the committee
but um and I I'll be sharing all of
these things with the City departments
primarily utilities Adrien gets a lot of
these from me but we gave inputs on um
the epa's Community Action roadmap map
to address cumulative impacts in
overburdened communities basically
environment their environmental justice
framework that helps communities um
engage in a process to understand how
they can remediate uh environmental
injustices of the past we also gave
input to um the water system
restructuring assess M rule which sounds
really bureaucratic but actually it's
what happens when a small Rural Water
System um goes Ary and how bigger Water
Systems might be influenced by that and
might might be engaged in some
restructuring as it relates to that I'm
not saying that that's necessarily a
thing that's happening here but we did
give inputs to um what the hopes would
be if the EPA created rules around that
when the apaa creates rules around that
restructuring um and we also found out
about a whole bunch of different funding
resources loans grants um other
technical support resources for
Brownfield super funds as we have here
um outdoor recreation a whole bunch of
of really cool uh funding resources that
I'll also be sharing with with City
staff as I go through all the materials
that I have and and can share that back
to folks so
um I am really grateful to be able to
participate in those conversations I do
think that the EPA Administration
listens to um I hope they listen to our
to our inputs when we give them into
these upcoming
rules uh I also wanted to just mention
we're having the peach tree Canyon
affordable housing complex
groundbreaking on Thursday morning I'm
really excited 144 units in District 5
um it will be beautiful so I'm really
looking forward to that um happening on
Thursday morning so thank you to Natalie
and the team for for really making that
which is a public private partnership um
a lot of different funding mechanisms
were used as a part of that the county
is chipping in the state is chipping in
um and it's going to be uh 144 units
that will be affordable for 40 years so
something that I think we can all really
be proud of um as it comes to fruition
and then the last part is the big slides
which um everyone is really sad about
I've been hearing a lot about the big
slides which are gone because they were
hazardous and apparently um I I guess
well I'll just say that people my size
apparently were were shooting out the
bottom and being injured I'm not saying
that happened to me but um I'm saying
that they weren't particularly safe so
the Parkson wreck has been working
really hard on on fixing up the the
Pacific Loop Park um and there will be
something to replace those slides that's
probably a little safer um I'm not
saying um I don't know I I just don't
know if anyone will get up to 100 mph
anymore and whatever replaces those
slides but I guess that from the city's
perspective that's good but I do think
it will have a pretty fun value for most
people um who aren't willing to risk
life and limb in a in a very steep uh
Speedy slide but it's it's up and coming
within the next few months you'll see
more things coming in there and I do
want to thank parks and W they did put
up fencing around the pickle ball SL
other things courts and that really
helps for folks who are playing there to
not be constantly losing their balls so
um I said what
I so anyway the the park is a work in
progress and and I hope folks will bear
with me but but it's it's coming along
and I really appreciate parks and wreck
um working on making that Park the best
it can be um including very safe for
everyone that's
it thank you counselor councelor FLOTUS
pass mayor pro thank you um yeah just a
couple things but before I get to my
little list here I do just before we
move forward with any exploring any
conversation around gospel rescue I
think it's important to know for me
anyway that
um I think it's important that we talk
about anti-discriminatory policies that
the city has and believes in um you know
the city does not discriminate against
folks in our community before they re
receive any Services based on
immigration status English Prof
proficiency religious affiliation
disability and gospel Rescue Mission
would have to come to the table around
uh following those policies so um I
think that that's an important note to
make um additionally I think we just
have to we have to remain steady
steadfast that what we truly need is
more permanent Supportive Housing
permanent Supportive Housing key word I
think um if we continue to explore
temporary shelters um the goal is never
to expand temporary Shel shelters really
it's to minimize them and um minimize
them because we have permanent
Supportive Housing and I just you know
want us to remain focused on the the
goal ultimately um just wanted to note
that if um staff begins to explore any
of those um suggestions I also wanted to
thank um everybody who had anything to
do with with organizing the uh Pride
event this last weekend it was a lot of
fun um it was a lot of fun walking with
you councelor Corin um and with the rest
of City staff um I really love that um
event and participating in it and you
know really standing with folks um in
the lgbtq plus Community um for and
everything Pride stands for I also
wanted to thank Katrina and Andres my
intern for the event they helped
organize uh branding in The Branding
Iron Circle neighborhood uh the trash
cleanup and just thank you Katrina I
don't know what I would do without you
and then just lastly I hope I'm not
stealing this from econ but I do think
it's important that I note that the
legislative committee Court Corrections
and Justice committee uh with all of its
legislators is here this week October
9th and 10th at Stan Fulton athletic
center via NOA Victory Club on Wednesday
they will be discussing a lot of
Criminal Justice Reform things our very
own Chief story will be on a panel at
noon on Wednesday and later that
afternoon at 3 there is a housing and
Public Safety Solutions panel with
Nicole Martinez and other folks and then
on Thursday actually um the agenda for
Thursday includes a lot of Health Care
Equity conversations including uh a
closed executive session update on
Memorial Medical Center to the legisl
from the AG staff and then later that
afternoon there's a lot of conversation
around private equity and healthc care
that I think is pertinent to the
conversation we are currently having
around our hospital and that is it
thanks
mayor thank you mayor
proam now also and thank you uh
councelor McLure for bringing that up as
as we heard today from the Outreach it's
evident that there are more needs and
more services and and and issues that we
need to address so we'll explore all
those and look at them in every aspect
uh for the betterment of the community
and um I just wanted to to share and uh
thank U visit Los crues and also uh
senator steinborn they brought the
outdoor economic conference here to Los
cruus it was uh it was a great event a
lot of energy a lot of enthusiasm people
from all over the state and from other
states came to participate at uh with
that also want to thank Parks and Rec a
shout out we just had the whole
enchilada softball tournament this past
weekend 252 teams came in um they're
represented by 17 States and uh even the
umpires from all over the states the
players the teams uh bringing a lot of
GRT into our community so that was that
was a it's actually the largest softball
tournament in the nation so it's great
that we still have that in here here in
Los Cruses and it's still going a shout
out to our home builders uh I also
participated with the uh groundbreaking
of the casa for a cause this is where
homebuilders build a house and then
donate all the proceeds from the sale of
that house to our nonprofit
organizations and with that they're also
uh sponsoring the build my future which
will be this Thursday at Field of Dreams
and that will that will be taking place
from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m.
on what took place this past week with
healthc care uh I was asked to speak at
the Burell college for National Latino
physician day and um it was pretty
impressive to see the future and what
Burell college is doing as a whole but
just uh what it does for our healthc
care in this community and to see such
uh the the youth and the energy and
enthusiasm in in their health care and
what they want to do for this community
it's great to see also Mountain View had
a ribbon cutting for a brand new
MRI uh machine that they just purchased
it was 20 years old and they came up
with a new one so that's great for our
healthc care our community as far as
goes uh early diagnosis and things that
can help with the future of our health
care so that's great that our hospitals
are moving in that direction uh to
better uh our community with
healthcare for me I just got elected
I'll share this news with Council I just
got elected as a chair for the mayor's
caucus uh through the New Mexico
Municipal league so that would be
starting out a lot of conversations with
Mayors throughout New Mexico so that we
can start uh moving that as far as
legislative needs uh whether there's
laws or policy or Capital outlay as a
whole for New Mexico to go to the New
Mexico Municipal league so I think
somebody made a comment earlier on will
we be there at Santa Fe yes and uh I
personally am uh participating by being
elected the new chair for the mayor's
caucus and um yeah thank you
thanks and I think with that I'll turn
it over to city manager eonnie
thank you mayor Enriquez mayor PR Moman
city council Eon city manager and just a
few updates uh from public comments we
um we we had a comment whether we were
being intentional with our legislative
session that's up upcoming and uh I I
just wanted to share with the public
that uh in in in it has always been our
goal as as a city to be as intentional
and strategic as possible for
preparation of legislative sessions last
year and the previous years we've uh had
several meetings with legislators and
representatives and those uh who could
make it similar to this year we had U uh
we we've initiated especially in a very
tough year there's elections happening
for our representatives and Senators uh
but we are grateful for those who have
accepted our meeting this year to meet
with them we had several representatives
and senators make the time to meet with
us and we we actually had one uh just a
few days ago that came here in City Hall
and we've talked about strategy so I
just wanted to share that with the
public and uh make it known that we are
uh being intentional this year to be
strategic with our and build those
relationships um just the timeline for
for you all here at city council um
October 24th we will have a meeting
internally where right now we have our
uh pni group looking at all the projects
right now they will present it to us
internally uh uh before it comes to you
in a work session it'll come to you in a
work session November 12th and there not
only the projects but uh you will also
hear about policy items policy items
that will come to you are uh the septic
system uh septic system they're funded
but it's the connection to the septic
system and there is a tweak that we're
requesting of anti-d donation uh tweak
uh then that's one of the things that
we're requesting and we'll bring forward
to you on November 12th work session uh
additionally IA legislation which is
touches the heart of our city clerk uh
Christine and all the clerks surround
and many of us that's one of the things
that uh we'll be taking and if there's
anything else uh that you wouldd like to
bring up at the work session that's when
you'll receive the projects uh that we
have ranked and prioritized internally
and that's when you could uh also make
tweaks and modify whatever you'd like to
see there and then December 3rd is a
council resolution and legislative
priority that's when it's solidified
there uh so again the dates are October
21th uh October 24th when we see it
internally November 12th as a work
session and December 3rd you'll finalize
uh everything that you see there for
legislative
sessions and then there was a discussion
for the roof project appreciate Council
sharing sentiment on uh for the Hardin
delos n roof project there is a gap
funding of about $15
$150,000 it looks like there's uh uh
consensus here to bring it forward to a
budget adjustment uh just wanted to let
you know we will bring that at the next
uh appropriate budget adjustment to get
that funded so thank you for sharing
that and then you can approve it in the
the next council meeting that that's
presented to
you all right airport the 2024 Los cruus
airon
Expo is October 19th October 20th at the
Los cruus International Airport
activities are 10:00 a.m. to 400 p.m. on
both days there will be AAL Prof Farmers
air racing stem activities food vendors
and more last year we had about 7,000 uh
throughout throughout the event so we
this is a huge event there's a lot so uh
plan on that and again the addition of
air racing that's that's a big one
there's an expansion of aerial events uh
and there's an expansion into air racing
last year for those who don't know there
was just a demonstration for air racing
but there wasn't actual air racing
racing event so this year uh they are
the Air Racers are coming in about 20
Pilots uh or so are coming in for this
multi-day event vielas Cruses is teaming
up with NMSU Latin American programs to
celebrate Latin X Heritage mon with two
events Kumbia lessons on October 10th at
baa Las Cruses on the Plaza and then an
opportunity to show off your new dance
moves on October 16th with sonido kach
live at the Corbit outdoor stage both
events are free and open to everyone
again October 10th at B Las Cruis latinx
and Heritage Month are combining uh
there and at the Corbit on October 16th
Fox and Recreation spooky Splash night
movies at Las cruus Natatorium Friday
October 11th at 700 p.m. 7 p.m. The
Adams Family rated PG the cost of
admission is one non- perishable food
item per person all ages are welcome
proper swim wear is required in the
community development Veterans Day
Parade will be held November 9th 2024
11:00 a.m. beginning at lomman and Main
Street the Veterans Day Parade poster
contest winner was announced we
appreciate uh all the students at lcps
and those that uh that participated this
year's Parade Grand Marshals have been
selected from the city and county First
Responders they are veterans the Grand
Marshal will be presented to the mayor
and City C council at your meeting
October 21st at proclamations and
recognitions there is one Grand Marshal
from each branch of the military service
Army Air Force Navy Marines and Coast
Guard last announcement cities
development has surpassed 2023 last
year's activity level and there are
three months remaining for the
2024 projections are that 2024
development permit valuations will
exceed 2023 permit
valuations by approximately
15% and those are my announcements thank
you thank you city manager and I look
for a motion to adjourn so move by flus
seconded this is on the motion to
adjourn the meeting councelor mlar yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
councelor boml yes mayor
yes
e for