[Music]
mayor you're
on you're
on good afternoon good afternoon ladies
and gentlemen welcome to the city
council today is January 2nd
2024 it's approximately 1: p.m. and I'll
call this meeting to
order if we could please stand I'd like
to continue with giving a moment of
silence for our men and women as have
served in the military our police and
fire that protect our city and I'd also
like uh a moment of Silent for our
leadership in this community to do good
work
now if you joined me in the pledge of
allegiance to the flag United States of
America and to the rep it stands one
nation under God indivisible with liy
and justice for
all
which is this one is a so there's no
Proclamation so you can move on to
Dr okay seeing that we have no
proclamations today we'll go ahead and
start with uh jobs of the week uh Sarah
Rainey good afternoon everyone happy New
Year as
well we have a show
are they going to pull up this
SL if not I have my notes
too
okay all righty we'll get this
up okay for jobs of the week for January
2nd for
2024 we have for the city of Las cruus a
street light electrician on the posting
starts at 2195 an hour and that is a
continuous
posting whoops for the also for the city
of Las cruus we have a spay and Ne
neuter
coordinator um that position starts at
1807 per hour and that one is a
continuous posting at this time as well
for wh Sands Missile Range we have an
HVAC technician one that one begins at
2754 an hour and that position is open
until
filled for American beverages we have a
merchandiser position open it's 15.95 an
hour they actually have two positions
open um and that position those
positions are open until the 22nd of
this month for American Red Cross
there's a multicultural marketing
program manager um the position starts
at $86,000 a year um the qualifications
are listed on the website as well that
position is open until the 21st of the
month um finally the Crescent Electric
Supply company has a warehouse manager
for $112 an hour that position closes at
or closes on the 20th
sorry as always feel free to come by and
see us at sou 226 South Alam Boulevard
you guys can reach us on any of our
social medias we now have Facebook
Instagram LinkedIn hot jobs are listed
on our YouTube channel and then we have
Tik Tok as well you can always reach out
to us on employee andm with the contact
us link and then we have our our app as
well that's on the Apple Store and the
Google Play so if anybody has any
questions I stand for
questions okay thank you sir thank you
so
much next we have pets of the week by
Amy def
Felix hello everyone I'm am Felix I'm
one of the rescue coordinators for the
Animal Services Center let me go ahead
and putp this
up and we always start out with our cat
of the week his name is George his
number is
70242 and he says I came to the Animal
Services Center through no fault of my
own I'm a little sh and like to hide in
cozy Cubbies but once you give me pets
and affection I'm so sweet and politely
ask you for attention I have a sister
who has already found her forever home
so now I'm hoping it's my turn I promise
I'll be a loving quiet companion for you
and then we have our dog of the week his
name is Gustavo his number is
6497 and he says I was picked up as a
very friendly stray I'm just a young dog
actively looking for my forever home I
love spending time with humans whether
it's just hanging out playing with toys
or even going on walks I promise that
I'd be the best fur friend you could
ever have I'm just waiting for the right
people to just give me a chance um and
then we only have one event uh one
adoption event this week will be at the
Pizza Hut off of North M so 1492 North M
will be there this Saturday January 6th
from 10:00 a.m. to 1:
p.m.
that's can I just leave this I don't
know good thank
you thank you
Amy next we have the conflict of
interest does any member of the city
council city manager or any member of
the city staff have any know known
conflict of interests with any item on
the agenda none none Graham none Corin
none M none City M uh thank you saying
none city
clerk we're
good okay so next we have our
organizational ceremony
uh this will be the selection of Mayor
protm and with that I would like to
actually make a nomination and uh it's
it's not normal for the chair to make
the nomination so we'll need a motion in
a second but I would like to nominate
councelor Beno as a mayor
protm move to approve that nomination
second
coren okay so we have a first and second
uh nomination for councelor
bomo this is on the motion to nominate
mayor um sorry councelor Momo's mayor
protm um councelor mclair hi councelor
matis councelor Graham yes councelor
bomo yes councelor cran yes councelor
flus is absent and mayor
yes
[Applause]
congratulations we'll let mayor protm
comoo get adjusted and then we'll move
on
uh next we'll go to public participation
um I'd like to also uh keep some of the
things uh in order with uh public
participation allowing 3 minutes uh for
members of the public to come up and
speak on non-agenda items and I'll start
on the left so anybody in the front row
I believe Mr
binda yes my name is Paul barunda I've
been a resident of Las Cruses for 79
years I'm quite familiar with what has
been happening before I left to for
service in Vietnam and when I came back
the drastic changes that had occurred
and continue to
occur uh had the displeasure of
approaching the city council for many
years with many of my colleagues who are
no longer living to try to make changes
for the betterment of L crues and its
people but this city is so political
entwined and protecting its own
behinds that nothing is ever done I
remember when matis was mayor and he
belittled me because I was having
conflict with my family members over
property that my parents left me when
they
died he belittle me by saying that my
issue was like the Hatfield and McCoy
War you may not remember that I
do and I'm sorry to see that you won
reelection for this position as city
councilman because you are nothing you
were nothing then and nothing now
Mr
Mr Mr berunda I'll have to interrupt you
if you're not going to be respectful
there's you don't need you don't need to
point fingers and call anybody fingers
that's just sir that's that's that his
final gesture of speaking sir I'm going
to ask you to just be respectful you
have your time be respectful with it
okay so mayor anyway anyway thing is May
I have a word the thing is this may I
have a word can I when I'm when I'm done
you can it's very it's very important
for me right now
Mr the reason I came also was to to let
you know that Sunday I called the L
Police Department to report that someone
had broken into my home and removed the
window completely from the structure of
the home I called 911 it took them a
while to answer then when they did I
told them what was going on they said
they were going to dispatch a police
officer to go and investigate no police
officer ever showed up and at best I was
hoping at least to get a uh to get a
police uh report court so that I can
file with my insurance
company all of these things have been
happening just like what happened on
August the 28th of this past year when I
came and I approached here on issues
that involved the iOS police
report at that time mayor protm
Cassandra Gand violated the city Charter
and ordering two police detectives to
escort me out of the building
off the
property the the city manager never said
never open one word on that issue and he
has not been admonished on any of it
this is what is happening to our
community is that we elect you and you
become dictators and only concerned on
protecting yourselves and the police
departments and the whole city staff the
whole city your three minutes are up and
I do sympathize with you and I told you
that I would meet with you personally no
you won't you won't you don't sympathize
with me because if you did if you did
things would change and nothing is going
to ever change as long as we continue to
have a Democrat established government
here your three minutes are up thank
you we have anybody in the second
row Okay the third row
sir oh we're on the left side
yes oh it's
working Mr Mayor and fellow council
members uh I'm relatively new at this
but uh on the betterment of a new year
I'm here to hopefully give some
Enlightenment to better our
community um sir could you state your
name oh I'm sorry my name is Anthony Ray
Danes I go by AR uh I'm affiliated with
the area churches um if any of you are
churched I don't know if you've heard of
me yet but uh I'm doing an Outreach and
I'm trying to help with the homeless
situation as well as a lot of the drug
problems in our area uh through um
creating a u um celebrate recovery
program and what I'm asking in return
with the oppressions that I've seen in
the last month or so from other states I
don't know if any of the panel are
church people but I'm asking in return
respectfully I want to help the
community to better so we don't have
situations like our past uh speaker but
at the same time I want to reach out and
try to help this community um I'm
affiliated with uh The Community of
Christ Church on uh 1210 Montana as well
as the uh um Diana County Cowboy Church
at 1600 South Valley and um I'm reaching
out to many of the other churches I want
to create a program of out
Outreach several of the
states Minnesota being one of them has
kind of put a thumb on churches doing
anything outside their church building
well if you know anything about uh
scripture Our purpose in life is to go
out amongst the Gentile and and spread
the word to every living creature and if
we're oppressed in that manner uh we
won't be able to help those people who
are in need of help we ask ask them and
invite them in all the time uh the our
last few Community uh socials that we've
had we've fed many uh no bigger than we
are but I again want to say I'm here to
help with the community not just me it's
all him but uh I'm these churches are
all trying to help step out into this
community and be a part of it we're
asking you to just allow us to do so
without oppression without uh um
ordinances that restrict us from doing
that sort of thing it we are we're not
going to beat people over the head like
Jesus Freaks and demand to change their
ways but they have to willingly come to
us if they will we're there to
help and that's basically basically all
I have to say but you'll see more of me
from now on uh and I hope it's in good
sense I'm very Pro blue I've had some
situations since I've moved to this area
but I've had representation very good uh
so uh with that I'll sit down but please
I'd like to hear some of your
opinions about your faith thank you okay
um he well thank you if you could leave
your information with the clerk
um we we we truly Embrace and we would
support any kind of Outreach and support
from the community so we'll definitely
look at that and uh get back to you with
some of the ways that we can organize
that properly so thank you for your time
thank you for being
here next row yes sir on
the
hello congratulations to the new members
of the
council my name is j
air and like many immigrants I'm a
resident of the city and like many
immigrants I'm a small business owner
and employer and like many of my
neighbors I am very concerned about the
migrant and homeless population in the
city
as you probably know migrants are less
likely to commit crime than native born
Americans but are more likely to start a
business on and create
jobs though they are uh demonized for
political
reasons um as you also may know crime is
an effect of poverty and in order to
deal with crime effectively we have to
reduce or eliminate poverty not
criminalize criminalize poor people
we've seen it happen before like with
this gentleman just said A desperate
person may break through $3,000 worth of
property to access a $2,000 object and
maybe get a couple hundred dollars from
it everybody loses especially the
insurance company don't find a
claim um it's not just the money loss
though it's the trust in our community
in our ability to feel safe as we go to
work and on our daily errands of our
daily
life it's the stress of going getting
off our parking lot of our brand new car
and seeing a dispossessed neighbor our
fellow American in desperate need for
just food I gave her $20 bill to
somebody the other day you should have
seen the million dollars mile they gave
me
back but I cannot help every single
person I don't have a $20 for every
person that needs it no organization
nobody on their own can do it only
Collective action
can and the thing is that we have done
this the wrong way we have bought more
cops in order to deal with this problem
we sent two or three multiple $60,000
cops with their $100,000 vehicles
$220,000 in equipment best case scenario
they end up in prison costing us an
additional $50,000 a year to house to
feed we could have done that in the
first
place so anyway just to end I just want
to say that to be cruel to the
vulnerable is a sign of weakness what we
need is
strength someone with the courage to
protect our most vulnerable
citizens just because they're part of
this
tribe even if there's nothing to gain
for them or from them other than the
credit for building a strong Community
thank
you thank you
sir
good afternoon my name is Dolores lucet
and Mr city manager Mr Mayor and Council
I was here in July when some of you were
not at the Das and I asked for some help
on getting a project finished that was
designed 20 years ago and that is the
street from telshore to sonar Ranch Lan
Avenue the reason that those medians are
so large and unfinished is because 20
years ago they were developed and we
bought the land to pay for three lanes
each way the backup on that street right
now is not tolerable for all times of
the day not just at 8 or 4 in the
afternoon the bigger problem is when
ambulances are going to Mountain View
Hospital and it's slowing down traffic
it is not a safe section of Road and I
know that this Community is not a
walking Community especially from that
part of the of our city we need to
complete what was designed 20 years ago
which was approved by the Metropolitan
planning organization and now all it
needs is the funding to add the
additional Lanes finish the landscaping
or actually put in the landscaping
that's not there and relieve some of the
pressure the reason it wasn't done done
20 years ago is because the growth in
the community was not there yet the
growth is there now and has been for
several years when I presented in J July
I heard from none of
you no one responded and I know you
can't respond here but afterwards not
even my own
counselor and we are struggling in that
area for traffic flow when the high
school lets out in Centennial they're
coming um um which direction is that
North and on to lman it's a bottleneck
it's dangerous and I pulled over for an
ambulance the other day but no one else
did and I'm sorry we cannot wait any
longer on this part of the road just the
additional planning at today's standards
is another 6 months to finish planning
it and probably a year to actually build
it a year and a half from now we will be
able to alleviate that traffic problem
if we wait any longer now we're waiting
two years or two and a half years so I
really implore the city manager and this
Council to give direction to City staff
to start reviewing how this roadway can
be finished and completed with the
taxpayer dollars that were used to
purchase that land in the first place
thank you for your
time thank you
um I'm sorry sir we can't uh play a
video until it's uh been reviewed or
vetted uh by staff in the clerk's office
it's just flashing lights yeah no we
can't we can't do the video but we give
you the three minutes it doesn't do it
well without the video it doesn't do any
good okay well if you want to leave it
and then at the next meeting you're
you're available to come up and and
present okay who do I give this to uh
city
clerk she's G look at
no
uh who was next yes
sir
all right uh hello everyone and welcome
to the new arrivals I'm uh really
looking forward to seeing what this body
can achieve on behalf of the Las Cruis
Community uh my name is William Gilman
been a resident of Las cruus for 3 years
uh my wife and I just had our first baby
and we're going to be raising are here
super excited it's been really fun I've
been self-employed for the last 2 years
and uh just this month I'm going to be
renting this beginning renting some
office space on Main Street so I'm
pretty invested in the future of our
community um so as we all know Las cruus
is facing a lot of uh challenges and we
are not the only city that is facing
those problems we have high numbers of
homeless people in our community there's
an increase in property crime vandalism
and uh substance abuse and overdose and
uh it's really sad to
see uh and these issues are often
interrelated and there are no easy
answers
um historically at City Council meetings
and uh uh County meetings there's a lot
of voices demanding that our politicians
hurry up and arrest more people and
incarcerate them for longer and have
stronger penalties um but these like as
understandable as that might be you know
these issues have been going on for
decades in our country and we have
compassion fatigue uh this is just a
Band-Aid and we can't afford to just
keep band-aiding the situation and
kicking the can down the
road there are real solutions out there
and Las Cruses has already made progress
on some of them and so rather than
kicking the can down the road we should
be investing these tax dollars in
supporting people to get back on their
feet and get rehabilitated we can look
at evidence from other cities we can
look at evidence from the Veterans
Administration on what they're doing
about homelessness there are lots and
lots of resources out there that this
body should be drawing on and pursuing
those
Solutions as I said Las crusis has
already made a lot of progress in this
regard the effort to revitalize the Main
Street Corridor and have events there is
an evidence-based solution to get more
people there have the community feel
like they own that space more makes it
safer makes it more inviting and works
well for
businesses uh things like that we need
to double down and invest more on that
so if we merely arrest and incarcerate a
person they are going to be just as
homeless as they were whether they're
released in two days or two years or 5
years obviously there are a lot of other
crimes that go along with that or rather
there's a as I said a lot of overlap
between homelessness drug abuse crime
vandalism Etc but the point is that we
can't really afford to keep Band-Aid in
the situation we really need real
solutions and real solutions take time
they take money and they don't always
work perfectly so they are not easy to
implement it takes real leadership to
implement real solutions and that's what
I expect to see from this body that's
assembled here thank
you thank you and congratulations on
your baby thank
you okay who was next
row six
yeah mayor council city manager am Juan
Garcia the following are concerns shared
by citizens for 2024 that affect this
community and I quote two Saturdays ago
on December 9th a homeless man entered
our property via the burn Lake Park and
got up on our roof he had come in
through the unmaintained fans at the
East End of the park midday he attempted
entry to the house via the upper story
window I confronted him on the roof and
had the trigger half pulled but stopped
and had my wife call the police when the
officer arrived he let the Intruder
Escape I this is a 70-year-old
confronting a vagrant That Could Have
Ended tragically for him his family or
the vagrant going forward the citizen
were reserved to quote interactive
security to safeguard his family with a
liability risk I receive almost daily
reports of this illegal activities in
the Klein Park area maybe Council MCL
we'll focus on this area and help clean
it up in the meantime Petco Dollar
General Dollar Store and others are now
displaying their quote Les Cruz's badge
of honor boarded Windows this morning
Albuquerque Journal headlines lawmakers
and Governor I gun control in 2024 not a
surprise and I quote it seems odd that a
measure that's supposed to fight gun
crime appears to affect the very people
who are at the least likely to commit
such acts that is law abiding citizens
who are concealed carry holders this is
referring to the push by the governor's
Health mandate or more appropriately the
crime epidemic which she helped create
by pushing her obedient followers
representatives and Senators to enact
legislation to turn law-abiding citizens
into criminals
Senator Hamlin so Cervantes and
steinborn will pick up again where they
left off in
2023 Senator Hinrich with support from
board member Patrick Nolan and Sheriff
Stewart Peres cus son will team up with
the governor to attempt imposition of
gun control in New Mexico similar to
that established by Governor
Nim from a meeting between the governor
and US attorney ubas I quote I guess
following the law supporting law
enforcement and incarcerating criminals
didn't appli during her first term now
she wants to handcuff law abiding
citizens a large number of bills were
proposed in 2023 that could have
impacted criminals but most were left it
never left committee our donana County
political didn't lift a finger to
support this anti crime the irony and
political hypocrisy from CNN and I quote
abortion providers in recent months have
closed up their clinics in order for
States and moved to New Mexico
whereas the governor and Senator Hinrich
and others weep for the kids killed by
the tools used by criminal she pushes
full steam ahead with increasing
capacity in New Mexico for houses of
pain or abortion clinics thank
you thank
you
see hello my name is Julia Ruiz
greetings Council mayor city manager my
day started out no different than
everyone else's getting ready to
celebrate the new year with family and
friends I had to pick up a few things at
the grocery store so I stopped by
Albertson's on tailore where I was
immediately approached by a multi-mask
male knocking on my window before I even
turned off the ignition I parked right
in front of the store the first parking
spot and I didn't have and I didn't have
bar to walk typically one is approached
by an unknown person asking for money at
the outskirts of the parking lots where
they're somewhat hidden from others
views however this time I parked right
in front of the store and as I got ready
to get into to get in the store I turned
to grab my purse and head and heard and
someone's heard and someone knocking
right in my front door window knocking
on my window in the middle of the day in
front of the security and other Shoppers
I couldn't see the his face I looked for
his eyes nothing I searched for his
mouth nothing he was completely covered
up in masks hats and gloves and several
layers of jackets with the last one with
the last layer put on backwards there
was no way for me to tell what this
person looked like and no way to give a
description to the police as I exited my
V vehicle I dropped my phone and my
wallet went flying I immediately picked
up picked it up and so did he I grabbed
my wallet and he reached for my phone at
the same time I did have a choice to not
turn off the ignition and not to exit my
vehicle and to leave to another store as
this Mass mail continued to block my
door I decided to continue on my path
and enter the store enter the store even
though I was frightened the following
questions have come up why is it
necessary for me to tailor or anybody to
tailor our actions and choices around
individuals that have chosen this path
what will the council do to empower Law
Enforcement Officers against panhandlers
coming up to and scaring unsuspecting
people how long before something is done
before someone is accustom
and seriously hurt by one of these
individuals that may be mentally ill and
or on drugs how long will businesses
continue to be vandalized and patrons
made to feel unsafe when parking when
parking and entering their
storefront what will my liability be to
protect myself until now I've not had to
concern myself with a Criminal suing me
for protecting or defending myself or my
loved ones and my property will I need
counsel to defend me defending myself
these questions don't typically occupy
one's mind but now they do a man in
Albuquerque is now behind Mar bars after
allegedly taking matters into his own
hands he's in jail while the alleged
male who stole his vehicle was released
thank you for your time and
attention thank
you oh roll
s
thank you City councilors and mayor I'm
Sarah Smith from the New Mexico freedoms
Alliance welcome me Enriquez councelor
matis and councelor McClure at your last
meeting you approved a list of
legislative priorities for the upcoming
session in Santa I was glad to see that
you are asking for funds to expand
Behavioral Health Services in Southern
New Mexico hopefully this will help with
the increased drug abuse and mental
health problems that we are all seeing
however I was surprised to see that
there was no item requesting that the
legislature help with the crime
situation all across the city we are
seeing signs that more needs to be done
to stop the crime we are seeing
businesses and homes being vandalized
Windows being broken people's property
being taken and vehicles being stolen
including my neighbor we are seeing more
homeless people camping out at
businesses and homes approaching people
asking for money scaring children
threatening people and leaving trash and
feces all around we are seeing drugged
out people wandering the streets
harassing people and leaving dangerous
needles lying around where children can
find them and we're seeing people being
harmed while trying to live peacefully
and responsibly such as Patricia from
the little shop on Maine who has been
stalked and sexually harassed by
homeless men another example is Carlos
who asked you for help after suffering
repeated attacks on his business and
being threatened with physical harm by a
homeless man trying to hit him with a
belt buckle there is also Rosa Ortega
who was brutally attacked by a homeless
person in broad daylight while trying to
walk to the grocery store in last year's
legislative session there were several
bills proposed that were aimed at
reducing crime yet they all failed will
you please ask the legislature to help
us with this issue this session this
year additionally I continue to be
concerned about the huge amount of
funding going towards housing first
initiatives in Los cruus such as the $7
million line item for Community of Hope
we have already seen with the desert
hope homeless housing project that
giving homeless people housing with no
requirements for sobriety or
accountability creates many problems the
desert Hope housing project has
devastated the nearby neighborhood with
increased crime and drugs at least two
drug dealers have been housed there
people living near desert hope no longer
feel safe and they have suffered under
increased break-ins harassment and
property damage housing first doesn't
meet the needs of the homeless who are
trying to actually reform their Liv
lives and change their life paths either
will you invest in other approaches
instead of putting all of our resources
toward towards housing first one example
is the work first model being used at
Boulder Bridge House in Colorado they
utilize a drug and alcohol free shelter
combined with job Readiness training
after one year people graduate from
their program ready for employment and
permanent housing this program has a 74%
success rate in having people maintain
employment and Independence we should be
aiming for improved rehabilitated lives
for the homeless people so they can
become responsible members of our
community will you please take a more
balanced approach instead of investing
only in housing first our community is
counting on you to make Los cruus a safe
place to live work and Thrive thank you
thank
you anyone else on row
seven uh next row
eight next
row last
row okay moving over to my right yes sir
come on
up Mr Mayor counselors honored guests
I'm Jeffrey field
I'm here again to speak about Gaza but
before I start I would like to uh say
that uh you folks have your work cut out
for you and I I sympathize with everyone
here before I speak about Gaza I'd like
everyone here to consider your
enemies and now I'd like you to consider
your enemy wives and
children our inclination to extend a
helping hand to others is a testament to
our inherent
goodness this is a fundamental truth
about human nature it is also important
to recognize our cognitive limitations
in truly perceiving the vast tapestry of
humanity that surrounds
us restricted by Nature our mental scope
often limits our ability to see more
than to select few as fully human
beings centuries ago Hill the Elder a
revered Jewish scholar tackled this very
issue he succinctly captured the essence
of moral conduct in this noteworthy
Maxim that which is hateful to you do
not do unto your fellow that is the
whole Torah the rest is explanation go
and
learn in a similar vein Jesus offered a
compelling perspective to his followers
his message was clear and
profound truly as you treat the least
among you so so you treat me in essence
Jesus was challenging his followers to
expand their circle of empathy he urged
them to understand that every person
regardless of their status or proximity
to us is as human as those we hold
dear these teachings bring us to a vital
realization to truly grasp the reality
that every individual is a person just
like ourselves requires a powerful
imagination
it is through this imaginative empathy
that we can begin to understand the
lessons imparted by Hill and
Jesus as we reflect on the events in
Gaza it's imperative that we challenge
ourselves to see beyond our cognitive
limitations let us strive to recognize
that Humanity in every person regardless
of the distance or differences that
separate us only by doing so can we hope
to foster a world where peace and
understanding prevail over conflict and
division consider these words from Rabbi
Hill if I am not for myself who will be
if I am only for myself what am I if not
now
when I again urge our city council to
pass a resolution in support of a
general ceasefire in the ongoing
hostilities between Israel Palestine and
the Palestinian people thank
you thank you
sir so third fourth
row
fifth
sixth
seventh anyone on the right side all
right okay thank
you Now we move to the acceptance of the
agenda move to approve Graham second
Corin yes this is on the motion to
accept the agenda as presented councelor
mcer I councelor
matis councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes yes councelor flotes is absent
councelor bomo yes and
mayor
yes so with the approval of the agenda
that includes the city council minutes
and the consent agenda we'll move to
resolutions and or ordinances for
discussion that would be 8.1 resolution
number 24 Point or
072 move to approve gram
second all right good afternoon uh mayor
counselors my name is Abner Gomez I'm
the rate and economic analysis manager
with the utilities department I have a
resolution today uh for you for Nas
management plan development to give you
some background on this the Los Cruses
utilities department has been making um
several efforts to look for low interest
interest loans or grants or a mixture of
funding uh for Capital Improvement
projects and we recently submitted an
application to the water trust board the
application is requesting $3 million to
rehabilitate what we call tailore tank
which is a water tank um just off
Imperial Ridge close to Centennial High
School it's 58 years old and has a 2
million gallon uh
capacity as part of the application
process the water trust board requires
that any applicant looking for any
funding on their behalf provide an asset
management plan any applicant who does
not have an existing Asset Management
plan must present a resolution from the
governing body stating that we commit to
deel one this is one of the requirements
um so that it pre preserves all of the
resources that there are potentially
investing by lending US money either
through low interest interest loans or a
grant or a mixture of
both um I will say that the Las crus
utilities department does have several
existing plans in place such as the
operations and maintenance and also a
utility specific master plan but the
water trust board does require that the
asset management management plan be
prepared because it is in a specific
format it covers specific um roles or
specific fields that the other plants
just don't cover so lcu will work with
staff and also with any Consultants that
are needed to develop a plant for all
our water tanks because we do intend to
apply on an annual basis and we also see
a great benefit by uh developing a plan
for all our storage tanks uh for present
and future projects this will also help
us you know meet some of our Elevate
goals such as supporting efforts to
improve and maintain water quality and
with that I will stand for any questions
that you may
have are there any questions councelor
Karin thank you mayor thank you for your
presentation I just have a couple
questions in terms of um what this looks
like because I understand the idea of
concrete assets and what we have in
existence but this the the idea of
planning for this to include does this
include sort of I don't want to say
abstract assets but assets that are kind
of in flux and and I guess to me I think
about the bigger climate plan and the
access our access to water and the water
that exists in our aquafers and I wonder
if that's also part of this this sort of
assessment or if this is more physical
assets that we that we have in place so
mayor counselor um Grant this is this
specific asset management plan is
specific to a type of asset so the water
trust board most of their projects are
for storage and conveyance so water tank
is one of those perfect examples so this
Asset Management plan will look only at
water storage tanks that we have right
now um it looks at certain things such
as a level of service fin um financing
it and providing budget for maintenance
for for the current and the future it it
looks at very specific key roles but it
will only be for water storage tanks at
this time okay and and you also
mentioned conveyance does that include
the
infrastructure all of that
infrastructure as well so mayor
counselor yes it does it can include but
however we're not requesting any for any
conveyance at this time uh being that
most of the water storage tanks are the
ones that because of cost we do require
some assistance when possible uh so for
now we are only focusing on storage
tanks okay and then I just have one
third question and I apologize to my
colleagues for belaboring this but uh I
will this also be useful for potential
other types of capital planning that we
might do that utilities might be doing
and and could that be integrated into a
bigger sort of conversation about bonds
and capital Improvement projects related
to utilities mayor councelor yes and and
that's part of the reason why we've
broaden the scope to include all storage
tanks we could have just done one tank
but we do see a benefit regardless if we
move forward with their loan terms we do
see a big benefit by looking at all our
all our storage tanks what their life is
and condition is and whether it's
through um CIP our regular CP process or
through some bonds or other loans we do
see a great benefit by having this in
place already or at least committing to
develop one okay thank you very much I
appreciate that and I appreciate you all
sort of helping me understand what the
scope of this is so thank you
any other uh counselor
mlar councelor Kanan asked pretty much
kind of what I wanted to ask but I also
wanted to ask what's the sort of
timeline that you're aiming to get this
done is this something we're going to be
able to see that's kind of what she
already had asked but just what's the
timeline on it mayor counselor clor the
timeline for this will be a couple
months we're not quite sure it'll be the
first one that we develop so it's a bit
of Uncharted Territory
um we're hoping that depending on the
consultants and uh how many consultants
are available uh with within you know
for sure by this next fiscal year we'll
already have some money budgeted for
this plan um so rough ballpark maybe 3
to six months from start to finish once
we get this going thank you thank
you any questions from the
public seeing none good goe ready for a
vote this is on the motion to approve
resolution
24-72 councelor mler hi councelor matis
councelor Graham yes councelor Karan yes
councelor flotes is absent councelor
bomo yes and mayor
yes next item is Council bill number
24-1 3 ordinance number
3055 an ordinance approving a zone
change from E equestrian estate and
agriculture to C3 commercial high
intensity for property located at 780
Stern Avenue and we have Mr Adam
moo move to approve Graham second
coren
go all
righty
good good afternoon mayor uh Council
Adam oo Community Development for the
record uh K before you is a proposed
zone change for a property located at
780 Stern Drive uh property currently
encompasses roughly 1.78 acres in size
and is currently vac and or undeveloped
its existing zoning is e which means a
question EST State and agriculture
District of the 2001 zoning code
property is located in what is know
called out as by Elevate Las crues as
the Suburban Neighborhood Place type but
do want to point out that this is
immediately adjacent to right next to
what we consider our uh Regional
commercial Place type so as we all know
this area shown here uh Stern right next
right over here is Av the msia so it's
right next to what we consider a
regional commercial area as you can see
this is kind of a little out of place
especially for a road designated like
Stern Drive being an equestri State
zoning which is more of a rural type of
zoning designation for resident
large lot residential uh this is kind of
like one of the last remaining pieces
along Stern Drive uh that that they're
trying to get a zone change from uh just
kind of get your bearings here I 10 here
to the Northeast uh bouts along here got
residential running along bouts and then
nothing but commercial essentially right
adjacent to high 25 toys Avenue the
msia Jo here this is the USDA building
to give you a bit idea where it is some
Office Buildings RV park and this is
that vacant piece of property
so the proposal that that has come
forward for this propos for this
property is a proposed zone change to C3
which is commercial high intensity uh C3
being required because of the size of
the property it has to be Zone C3 in
order to meet uh our 2001 zoning code
requirements uh there's no actual
specific uh development proposal at this
time uh but uh staff did see that this
proposed zoning is in accordance with
Elevate loss
crues when we took a look at this
further through our analysis we staff
did see that there's no health safety or
welfare issues identified uh proposed
zoning is compatible as you can see with
nothing but C3 along Stern Drive
property is located in a Suburban Place
type where you want that kind of
supporting commercial node adjacent to
its residential which is everything more
to the South um there is still uh
questions were brought up about a buffer
requirement between this question say or
soon hopefully soon to be c3's on
property and the adjacent residential
property there are buffer requirements
are required if this property gets
developed at anytime in the future which
would include landscape uh distance
requirements from the buildings to the
residential area uh opaque screening
possible walls and fences and so forth
like that additionally Stern Drive is a
designated minerial roadway where C3
zoning and uses are encouraged uh uh by
the not only Elevate L crues by the
Metropolitan planning organization as
well public notice was sent out to
surrounded Property Owners within 500 ft
of the subject property meeting code
staff received a few phone calls just
general inquiries of what was being
proposed uh additionally on top of that
staff did um require that the applicant
and their representatives mail out uh
what we call Early notifications uh
essentially letting people know way
before we come before public hearings
that they're proposing this zone change
staff received no uh public input when
those letters were sent out by the
applicant at the September 26 2023
planning zone Commission meeting uh plan
and Zone commission did go ahead and
recommend approval for the proposed zone
change by a voted 6 to nothing with one
commissioner absent findings being that
again this is in a Suburban Place type
immediately adjacent to a regional
commercial Place type or C3 is
encouraged it is supported by the goals
policies and actions of elevate L
cruises as well as it this request does
meet the intent of the 2001 zoning code
and Los crues Municipal Code section 2
382 uh which is the criteria decisions
for zone
changes with that ladies and gentlemen
your options tonight I want to vote Yes
and approve the proposed zone change as
recommended by the plan zoning
commission two to vote no and deny uh
three to vote to amend uh or four to
vote and table postpone direct staff and
the applicant accordingly uh that is the
conclusion of my presentation I stand
for
questions thank you Adam any questions
by Council Council
Ms as a today there's not been one
complaint not one
protest mayor uh Council matis no sir we
have not received as of today we not
received any phone calls mail anything
from public uh uh from the public in the
area sir thank you yes
sir no other questions by Council any uh
questions by the public
yes four minutes
keep George Pearson this is near the
intersection with bouts and Stern which
currently is a two-way stop um they made
kind of a mess there I think after they
put in that development what should have
been done probably is a
roundabout um I wonder if there's any
possibility if there's any consideration
of the impact of this zone change on
that intersection and how we can make
sure that we keep that intersection safe
for a large number of Bic
that use the uh
intersection thank you
sir I was just gonna sorry follow up
with a follow-up question actually to
George's thing I would assume that uh a
traffic impact study would have to be
done if there were going to be something
built there mayor mayor council Moma
that is correct uh whenever this I'm
sorry change names Quan my apologies no
worries I'm just I'm I'm I'm unlabeling
you there um essentially what it is is
whenever any type of development does
come into the property it does go for
review throughout staff including the
traffic engineering section and
transportation department so let's take
a look at that look at the impact that
the property might bring into that that
area and if any improvements are
required to the to rideway they'll be
required to do so during during
development essentially
okay thank you I don't know if that
really answer I mean I understand the
spirit of George's comment but I just
wanted to get to the idea that it won't
be developed without that conversation
happening that cor okay thank
you thank you Council Kar any what else
we're good we're ready for
vote this is on the motion to approve
ordinance
3055 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis
I thank you councelor Graham yes
councelor Karan yes councelor fles is
absent councelor bomo yes and mayor
yes next one is Council bill number 24
014 ordinance number
3056 an ordinance approving a zone
change from r
2/
c-2 uh multi-dwelling low density
commercial medium intensity to C2
commercial medium intensity for property
located at 806 East Bowman
Avenue get a motion move to approve
Graham second
Gan thank
you righty next zone change we have here
is for again Adam M for Community
Development property located 806 East
Bowman Avenue property is currently uh
Zone r2/ C2 multi-dwelling low density
and Commercial medium intensity it is
currently encompasses roughly about 4.02
acres in size property is actually made
up of a couple of lots if uh if you will
that are actually in the process of
being replatted into one so the
applicant for the zone change is also
the applicant doing the repat trying to
create one piece one clean piece of
property essentially property was
previously used in violation of our
current zoning code uh it's kind of been
existing like that for a while now
unfortunately uh it is located in the
South mosqu overlay District our
historical overlay district and in what
is called the urban Neighborhood Place
type um property is vacant uh has been
vacant for over a year so because of
that essentially the property now needs
to be brought into compliance with our
current code which is why we're here
reviewing this zone change
essentially as you can see here just a
small portion of that Pro property is
zone two the vast majority of it is Zone
R4 just give you a bearing there's
Bowman here uh South alendra and uh to
the South you got South uh you got East
Amadore just give you an idea of the
area we have the religious institutions
uh single family homes multif family
homes in the area and just a corridor of
nothing but commercial along Amador uh
including used car dealerships offices
and so on and so
forth and again looking at the
properties you can see it it is made up
of essentially two buildings with a
commercial parking lot uh just to keep
in mind when we go a little further the
commercial portion of this is what is
the southeast or the Eastern portion of
the property where there is a metal
building and an actually improved pave
parking lot and to the west and the
north uh that is what is the residential
portion of the property uh with a single
family home on
it essentially like I said the proposal
is for uh the property just to be
completely Zone seat to commercial
medium intensity uh the propos uh the
applicant is proposing uh to use utilize
a property for the residents itself so
it'll be living there as well as
utilizing for cottage industry uses
which would include uh uh woodworking uh
retail of natural uh Health Products and
HomeGoods uh services on on site as well
all uses that do go on this property
will have to follow all requirements of
the South mosqu overlay and the C2
regulations as well and really this zone
change will clean up if you will
uh the zoning issue with the property by
bringing it into compliance and still
allowing the uses of the residents and
the commercial uses that is being uh
proposed for the property and a leg
legitimize uh commercial uses and
anything forthcoming in the future as
well here's the site plan of that
property as stated before this is kind
of like the commercial area to the east
residential to the
west and this is a little confusing but
this is the the Western portion where
the single family home stuckle home is
and yes you can see a very commercial
property located here to the east
improved parking and the metal building
in the
back when staff did their analysis of
this we did uh notice or identify that
there's no health safety or welfare
issues uh the proposed zone change
provides compatibility uh for the
proposed land uses not only for the
property but for the surrounding area as
well uh it is located in an urban place
type uh as par Elevate Las crues are
comprehensive to plan which encourages a
variety of residential developments and
areas of support your neighborhood
commercial development which this is
kind of allinone not only residential
but also supporting commercial
development as
well uh the proposal will also follow uh
all the requirements of the South
Michigan overlay and the applicable 2001
zone1 uh code
Provisions for this proposed zone change
staff did recommend or request that the
applicant send out a early notification
for the proposed zone change no input
was received uh City last Cru staff did
went ahead went ahead and did their uh
required public notifications to
surrounding area staff re received no
input as well for this proposed zone
change during the September 26 2023
planning the zoning commission meeting
uh at this one as well the plan and
Zoning commission did recommend approval
by a vote of six to nothing one
commissioner absent findings being that
the property being within the South
mosquito overlay just follow those
requirements of the South mosquito
overlay uh the fact that now the
previously in violation property will
not be brought in compliance uh as well
as staff did receive a a letter of
support from the historic preservation
commission chair on behalf of the
historic preservation committee who kind
of oversees the historical neighborhoods
in the in the city of Las
Cruses additional uh additional findings
behind the prop proposals is supported
by Elevate Las crues meets the purpose
and intent of the 2001 zoning code and
the proposed zoning change is compatible
with the surrounding area uh that that
that it is being uh
proposed with that your options uh again
is one to vote Yes and appr vote to
approve the proposed zone change as
recommended by the plan and Zoning
commission two to vote no and deny three
to vote to amend or four table postpone
and direct staff and the applicant
accordingly that is the conclusion of my
presentation I stand for
questions any questions from
Council
any questions or input from the
public seeing none we'll go ahead and
vote this is on the motion to approve
ordinance
3056 councelor McClure yes Council matis
yes councelor Graham yes councelor Karan
yes councelor flotes is absent councelor
Beno yes and mayor
yes
the next one is Council Bill
2415 ordinance number
357 an ordinance approving a zone change
from C1 commercial low intensity and R3
multi-dwelling uh medium density to C3
commercial high intensity on a property
encompassing
1.4 uh 36 plus or minus Acres uh this
subject property is located on 246
Missouri Avenue move to
approve
second good okay Adam right you're up
again one more time for the road uh 2460
Missouri Avenue another proposed zone
change for this uh property uh it is
located on the southwest corner what is
Missouri Avenue and Travis Drive uh it
is partially developed the portion of
the property that's closer to the actual
intersection is with the commercially
developed property and parts part of
this property is vacant or undeveloped
and that's one located further away kind
of south of the more Southern of the
intersection there currently the
property is Zone C1 commercial low
intensity and R3 multi-dwelling medium
intensity the existing C1 zoning aspect
of the property is non-conforming
considering our C1 uh commercial low
intensity zoning designation has
limitations on lot size as well as
building sizes for commercial
development so eventally the property is
non-conforming as it exists now due to
size of the buildings and the property
itself it is located along a commercial
corridors we all know Missouri Avenue
and Travis as well and fronts what are
designated two arterial roadways uh both
are designated that not only by levate
Los cruus comprehensive plan by by the
Metropolitan planning organization as
well shown here the property as you can
see this is the portion of the Zone C1
the bottom portion near Zone R3 uh
Missouri Avenue on the North north east
of uh South TR north of what is John
Street uh somewhat of a residential area
here to the South uh but definitely
along what is a major commercial
Corridor as we kind of call them out
here uh per per our zoning code
uh variety of land uses in the area
single family to the South uh religious
institutions multif family office uses
uh commercial uses all along Missouri
Avenue so just a a a plethora if you
will of es along uh along Missouri
Avenue there so the proposal for the uh
for this property is a reone to C3
commercial high intensity again C3 uh
being required because of the sheer size
of the property being over an acre in
size uh essentially what this proposed
zone change will realign the existing
uses for the subject property as per the
2001 zoning code and it will eliminate
those non-conformities of that C1 Zone
area on the property that'll basically
now be fing our current
code additional analysis that we saw
again no Public Safety health or welfare
issues with the proposed zone change uh
C3 Zone uh designation is most
compatible not only for the sub property
again because of its size but also with
the Sani neighborhood C3 is located all
along Missouri and Travis as well uh
with the proposed only change there is
an increased ability for future
development not only uh to be developed
on the vacant undeveloped portion but
possible additional development on the
uh C1 uh portion of the proder because
essentially since they're non-conforming
they can no longer expand they can no
longer do additions or anything like
that that have to stay as is being
non-conforming so what the zone change
that'll allow them to do further
additions if if if desired additionally
we did see that they are as stated
before they are located along two minor
interor roadways where C3 zoning and
uses are
encouraged here's kind of a just a legal
sight plan on that property you can see
kind of that's that C1 area and the and
the the current C1 area and the R3
property there to the
South notice was sent out to all
surrounding property owners are within
500 feet of the subject property staff
received uh two phone calls regarding
just general questions of the proposed
zone change uh at the plan is own
commission we had one person to uh just
uh request just asking questions of
Staff of what it is that's going to
happen and how it's going to affect
their property which it wouldn't because
it's some other property that's being
zoned not there reson not
theirs the October 24th 2023 planning
zoning Commission meeting uh during this
meeting planning zoning uh commission
did recommend approval for this proposed
zone change as well by a vote of 6 to0
one commissioner SE vacant uh findings
being that the proposed zone change
excuse me could potentially uh not only
attract further or retain uh uh
additional businesses as as uh something
that's a a pushing point of the 2001
zoning code additionally uh the expanded
uses
Allowed by the zone change uh is
consistent with the surrounding area uh
subject property is located along minor
roadways where commercial zoning
designations are encouraged and the
proposed zone change request is
supported by Elevate L Cruz's
comprehensive plan and meets the purpose
and intent of the 2001 zoning code with
that ladies and gentlemen your options
tonight one today is one to vote Yes uh
and approve the proposed zone change as
recommended by the plan and Zoning
commission two vote no and deny three to
amend or for table postpone and direct
staff accordingly that is the conclusion
of my presentation and I stand for
questions all right thank you Adam any
questions by
councel oh councelor Karen thank you um
thank you for the your presentation
again
um I so love the 2001 zoning code I
can't wait for us to get rid of it I I'm
just taking this opportunity since you
referenced it to to ask uh how is our
realize process going and is this the
type of thing that will be fixed because
when I hear about non-conforming I wince
will it be fixed when we pass realize
and when can we look forward to
that mayor council Karan uh this will
essentially because uh it'll take into
effect not only use it's not really more
of a ukian it's more of a a change of
our original zoning code so the uses
would be allowed and there' just be
additional development standards and
design standards that be required it is
still under St sta review I believe as
of now uh we are reviewing the zoning
section which is what we're talking
about today as well as some of the
design standards which include streets
and so forth like that we're hoping well
maybe my director here could give us a
little more timeline of where we're at
with that awesome thank
you good afternoon Larry Nichols for the
record mayor councelor Karan uh the uh
realized Los cruus update from the 2001
we realize that is some 20 years old and
very much in need of an
update the uh consultant Frieza Nichols
has and the TAC committee have completed
the review of all sections it has been
sent back to the consultant to comprise
the draft for review uh it will be
coming forward to the TAC committee for
one more review of all the changes that
were adopted and then we begin to start
our public Outreach notification for the
public and for all agencies in the city
um timeline I'm thinking it will be
probably early to mid spring when we
begin to bring it back to you for your
uh consideration for adoption awesome I
just want to express my enthusiasm and
excitement thank you for maintaining
that project I can't wait to read it and
mark my words I will
thanks see none from Council any
comments or questions from the
public okay then we're ready for a
vote this is on the motion to approve
ordinance
3057 councelor McClure yes councelor
matis yes councelor Graham yes councelor
cran yes councelor fles is absent
councelor bomo yes and
mayor yes and ordinance passes okay
thank you thank you thank you
Adam next on the agenda we have board
appointments
okay and these are the following city
council appointments made by the mayor
uh the mavita uh mayor hriz will serve
uh Mo policy board will will be mayor
hriz and councelor
McLure
scswa mayor hriz as ex official and
councelor Ben
KOMO Juvenile Justice will be mayor hriz
and councelor
Graham oversight committee will be
councelor matis and counselor benom as
the mayor's
designate the ascmv will be councelor
Graham University District committee
councelor
matis Los crusis Utility Board councelor
McLure and mvda will be councelor McLure
and councelor Karan as
alternate okay we're good thank
you
next we have the notice of proposed
ordinance uh the ordinance is Council
bill number
24-16 ordinance number 3058 an ordinance
approving a zone change from M1 M2
industrial standard to C3 commercial
high intensity for a property
encompassing
8.25 plus acres and located at 4201 Del
re Boulevard uh submitted by the new
Republic design company representative
Bring It Forward
please good thank
you so we have next the city council
member board reports and comments uh
what I'd like to do is uh start
backwards from district 6 uh to mayor
protm mayor and then city manager so
since councelor Floris Floris is out uh
District 5 counselor
Cent thank you um I missed the last
meeting and so I'll just give a quick
thank you to Chief and congratulations
to Chief for for your appointment and
inviting us to the graduation for the
new Academy graduates um it was a great
experience and I definitely took your
word I took your words to heart as a
former valedictorian and now I'm getting
to talk more I can't believe that you
signed up for that
um uh I definitely took your words to
heart and I really appreciate being
invited and seeing the new class as
they're coming on um other than that I'm
really excited to work with you all in
the new year thank you for for a great
meeting
thanks thank you so next would be um
councelor
Grim um so pleas start off
congratulations mayor proem um but now
my timing is all off because there's no
city council or District 4 um I don't
really have anything to share just um
welcome new colleagues I'm really
excited to be serving on this body and
looking forward to what 2024 has in
store for all of us and not in an
ominous way thank
you thank you U councelor
MTI
again I'd like to U tell everyone that
I'm glad to be here and I'm happy to
serve with the president councils and
the new councelors I'd like to thank all
the constituents that uh voted in
District 2 but my concerns are about
District 2 and so I'd like to ask the
mayor uh a time frame when we could
address the issues that were very
important to The District Two voters and
that's the public safety issues thank
you
thank you councelor MZ councelor
mccl I'm going to Echo the sentiments of
the mayor and I hope that we do good
work in the next four years I'm really
honored and humbled to be here and look
forward to serving as the voice for
district one um in that effect um for
those who voted for me thank you and for
those who didn't I will work to earn
your trust over the next four years and
I really want you to reach out and
contact me I look forward to talking to
more people because that's the only way
that I'll be able to do the will of the
people so thank you very much and I look
forward to my new colleagues as well
right thank you counselor uh mayor
protm oh my
God just zoning off a bit my apologies
hi everyone um happy New Year I'm very
happy to be here I first want to thank
my colleagues for your trust in me in
this position as mayor proam I I really
appreciate it um and I promised you do
well um Christine in the event that
mayor Enriquez is ever gone I will be
coming to you often so um don't be gone
a lot okay um I of course want to
welcome mayor Enriquez I um it's an
exciting time for L crues I think we've
had one mayor for a really long time and
so this just feels like a door open of
opportunity and so welcome I'm really
excited and of course Welcome to our um
two new coun celor as well looking
forward to working with both of you on
the important issues facing Las crusis
um I also just really quickly want to
wish um counselor Becky Corin happy
birthday everybody it's her birthday so
happy birthday to her um thanks for
being here on your birthday and happy
birthday the meeting ended very quickly
four years ago my first meeting we ended
at 8:00 pm so you're welcome everybody
um um I do have a couple of things on my
list that I wanted to just address
really quickly on um there is a need for
a water conservation plan um Improvement
and update um I don't know Adrien if
you'd allow her to come up uh mayor
Enriquez to briefly give an update on
that I know I thought about doing it
during the earlier um item but I figured
I could wait till comments and it's
really simple I mean I think really just
the um utility board members have asked
for this conversation to happen for that
much bigger piece of um issue that you
you brought up so um I don't know if
Adrian you wanted to add anything else
yeah mayor U mayor protm M well that's
fine if Adrian promises not to keep us
here till 8:00 P.M that's
right mayor counselors yes I promise not
to keep you here till 8m Adrien Whitmer
utilities director so we've got our
40-year water development plan and so
that's getting close to needing updating
which we'll be working on shortly we
also have our water conservation plan
that that one is still in a draft format
that we need to go back and kind of take
a look at we're waiting for a couple of
things to occur first which seems kind
of uh
counterintuitive um but based on what
could potentially be happening hopefully
possibly in April with Texas V New
Mexico and the potential for a consent
decree will have a lot to do with how we
move forward with the planning and
moving forward with water and we work
very closely with our Utility Board and
uh really appreciate all of their
comments coming in so um at this point
everything's fine we're um using those
documents that we currently have those
are still they're still applicable at
this moment so thank you Adrien I
appreciate it and I do just want to say
that I feel really confident in our
water management expertise I think
Adrien that's her whole background um as
our utility director I think we're
really lucky to have her and then our
chair for the utilities committee is um
commissioner auleta and he's also has a
depth of experience in water management
so I think we're in really good hands
thanks Adrian thank you um I did want to
uh for transparency sake I I was invited
to a meeting um last month with um now
municipal judge um filosa um Chief
uh story was there um Smith story Chief
story was there Natalie Green was there
um Brad from legal was there as we were
talking about uh building out an
Outreach Corp as an extension of
Municipal Corp I'm really excited about
that process I think obviously I think
we need to give judge filos an
opportunity to set up in and and create
that transition for him and his and his
team there but I'm excited for the
conversation that um we had a few weeks
ago about this really how to begin
addressing a lot of um a lot of the
concerns raised by the community
certainly a lot of concerns that I've
heard in District 4 around folks who
keep getting stuck in in the criminal
justice system with low-level
misdemeanors and don't have a way to
interrupt it and I think Outreach core
I've talked about it many times to you
all
um but I do want to just say that I I
think as soon as judge filosa is ready
that we invite him to work session with
us I think that'd be really important to
hear from him his thoughts and ideas and
while I'm on this topic I did I know
that um the in past Christine and mayor
that uh the mayor gets to appoint a
second judge to Municipal Court I did
however want to ask if he would be open
to a conversation around or and if it
was even possible a conversation around
creating a different process for
appointing that person I think given the
last year and some of the conflicts that
we had in that area with some
appointments and it's it's not just any
appointment it's a paid salary position
right and it's a judge position like
it's a big position that perhaps there
should be a interview committee or
something like that not just a Flatout
appointment and I was wondering if you
were open to that process um and how to
come up with that and of course I think
with judge vas's input in addition to
that
um and then I did want to actually
address the traffic management concerns
brought up here today I think we have um
David since you're up here I don't know
how we could begin having this
conversation and our budget Retreat is
coming up as uh councelor Graham has
lovingly dubbed The Hunger Games but um
I would love to talk about I think
there's a couple of intersections
currently in discussion the one that was
brought up today Elks hogland there's a
couple of big intersections that I have
the people have talked about um traffic
management and I'm wondering if we're
able to do that in a work session or
some way to get a conversation started
about budgetary needs a list of
priorities right like what is lo the
Lowman intersection like what how are we
prioritizing those kinds of projects um
and then again our budgetary needs so I
would love to see that conversation move
forward and then just lastly on
homelessness I think given that it's the
new year and there were several folks
here speaking on this issue you know I
just want to say that I think if if it
was easy we'd be doing it already and
the reality is that it takes an
incredible amount of political will an
incredible amount of investment and time
in order to address these issues and I
think there's a lot of moving pieces
that um that will come into fruition
here it's not just one piece that will
there's not one magic um solution to
this it's it's multiple and I think we
have the expertise in our community and
um I I'm excited to work with uh our new
mayor and our new colleagues and
Community Advocates to to find even more
solutions and figure out how to invest
in them so um with that I will wrap up
my very long list thank you all so much
I'm excited for the new
year uh thank you mayor proam um I'd
like to say happy New Year to everyone I
did get uh a chance to attend the chili
drop it was Green
um that's that's the color I I chose so
yeah yeah I I was there with counselor
uh or I should say Congressman former
city councelor Gabe Vasquez and he he
chose red I chose green so I told him I
won you know this year
2024 uh green but um no I I just want to
say uh Happy New Year to everyone uh
Happy Birthday congratulations to Chief
story and um you know the public the
public comments the input I do take to
heart you know especially when the
gentleman said uh you all have your work
cut out for you he's absolutely right we
do but that's what we signed up for I'm
very proud I'm honored to be the the
mayor of the city of Los juses mayor K
Ken mosima he was here for 16 years so
it's not going to be an overnight change
but it's a lot of work and I look
forward to it I thank all those that
elected me to be here and uh as
councelor McClure mentioned those that
did and I hope that I can earn your
trust and and move forward when when I
campaigned it was it was team Eric
Enriquez uh for mayor and now I can say
as mayor uh with my colleagues here and
the organization and the community it is
now team lost cruus that I look forward
to so again I look forward to a very
productive very hardworking Council that
we can get things done and address the
the petty crime the homelessness the
traffic everything that we got to do for
our community to make it safe and to
help it Thrive so thank you all and now
I'll turn it over to our city manager
for his
comments thank you mayor and councel
just a few items but uh before just also
want to welcome our newly elected uh
officials on behalf of Staff you know I
think we mentioned it earlier um in our
onboarding but we're here for you um
look forward to tours that you want to
take if you any any anything else that
you need from staff but I think we have
a with Community engagement and and uh
Mr Borton Ben comoo Barbara bomo that um
they planned some good onboarding for
you all if if uh if you're interested in
that but uh welcome and look forward to
working with you as well
um oh mayor councelor
matis councelor ba if I may I recommend
the tour to Italy thank
you right
on thank
you just just a couple of items that
I've received from some of our
departments and sections
first uh
our Citizens Academy I'd actually like
to turn some time over to Chief to talk
about that he he texted me about pushing
the the deadline for applications it's
on January 19th so we're accepting
deadline uh accepting applications and
we want to want to get that going but
maybe terms some time were to Chief to
to give a little push little plug for
that thank you sir mayor councel I just
wanted to kind of plug we have a
Citizens Academy scheduled for here in
next month it'll start on February 20th
it'll end on March 14th it's Tuesdays
and Thursdays from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. and
we're taking applications right now so
applications will close on Friday
January 19th those applications can be
dropped off at the East Mesa Public
Safety complex which is 550 North Sonoma
Ranch uh if you go to our Facebook
there's a link there but on the police
department website for the City website
there's a link to the application and
more information about it we look
forward to it we're very excited about
it thank you
um and then I want to mention our
neighborhood Leadership Academy from our
community engagement it begins on
January AR 10th the neighborhood
Leadership Academy aims to develop
Community leaders provide an
understanding of the city services
engage constituents in City decisions
projects future of the city and to
increase Community
Pride neighborhood Leadership Academy
classes will be two hours once a week
for 10 weeks mostly on Wednesdays
graduation for those completing seven of
the 10 classes will be April 1st
2024 participants will meet in ious
locations around the city to to receive
firsthand information directly from City
departments the academy is free
bilingual and has a maximum of 35
participants and it's currently being
held once a year the application
processes uh process closed on December
29th uh anything more to say about that
um any more plug I guess I guess
applications are closed so no nobody can
come just an update to let you know know
that it's it's beginning like to thank
our community engagement uh Trina and
and team for for putting that
together and then just a reminder I I
know we've sent out press releases and
um about our minimum wage increase as of
January 1st in accordance with a
ordinance enacted in
2014 we're um to align our minimum wage
with the CPI index um as of 2020 and so
it goes from $12 to
1236 um and
then I believe tip wages go from 478 to
495 so as of January 1st that's what our
our our minimum wage will
be and then just the just the FYI coming
from our utilities just the kudos to our
utility
uh what do we call it our utility bill
what I'm trying to figure out what
Victor's uh exact title is but kudos to
Victor for bill collection um over P do
bill collection he's up to 2.1 over 2.1
million for uh a year to date for fiscal
year 24 so he's really good at his job
and and his team um but just wanted to
to mention that $2.1 million is what
he's collected uh year-to date believe
that's all I have mayor thank you mayor
and
councel thank you city
manager
that's it oh okay thank you all for
attending uh this was my first meeting I
guess I owe ice
cream so I'll take a motion to adjourn
so moved Graham
second this is on the motion to adjourn
the meeting councelor McLure yes
councelor matis yes councelor Graham yes
councelor Karan yes councelor fles is
absent councelor Beno yes and mayor
yes