y all would stand um and honor our fire
and police for all the wonderful work
that they do to keep us safe um we
really appreciate you all and we will be
saying the Pledge of
Allegiance i al to of the United States
of America
I also want to welcome Booker T
Washington we're so happy one of our
community in the schools happy to see
you here hi um would you believe that
this is my son and daughters alma mater
meaning they went to Booker T Washington
years and years ago so so welcome happy
to have you next up is pets of the week
Amy defix Amy you
on hello yes I'm
here um hello everyone um my name is Amy
De Felix I am one of the adoption and
rescue coordinators for the Animal
Services Center of the missio valley I'm
also the one that picks and presents the
pets of the week every week so we'll go
ahead and start let me share my screen
for our
PowerPoint
all righty and here we are we will start
off as always um with our cat of the
week his name is Fluffy Boy his number
is
66693 and he says I'm one of the
brothers to the
previous of my forever home I get scared
of sudden movements or loud noises but I
love getting pets and being a laugh cuy
I get so happy that I even started
drooling sometimes I've lived with my
brothers for likely my whole life you
can adopt us all together or I might be
able to make new cat friends um and then
we also have our dog of the week I
realized my camera
is cutting off
the text so let me see if I can take my
video off really
quick there we go awesome and our dog of
the week his name is wilver and his
number is
60283 and he says I'm an excellent
companion who gets along with dogs cats
and well behaved children I absolutely
love affection my weekend Foster said
that it gave the best hugs I walk nicely
in the leash and I'm pretty food
motivated so use that to fa advantage on
training me I'm the sweetest boy ever
it's such a surprise that I haven't met
my forever family yet could that be
you and then regarding adoption events
we will be at the B breing tore public
house this Saturday the 23rd we'll be
there from 11:00 a.m. to 2 p.m. we'll
have adoptable dogs for you guys to meet
I'm usually stationed kind of right by
the front entrance so you you can't miss
us you can't miss the dogs we hope you
come out and maybe you'll find your next
fair friend um and now the topic I'd
like to present on today uh regards
enrichment um so you adopted a dog or a
cat from a shelter or anywhere um but
what's next you kind of notice that
they're a little after the adjustment
period and they might get a little
anxious ANS see they might start if
especially if it's a younger dog chewing
on things he's not supposed to be
chewing your cats might be kind of
scratching up on the furniture um so
what is the solution the solution one of
the solutions would definitely be to
turn towards enrichment so what is
enrichment um they are exercises that
allow your pet to engage in their innate
behaviors so that's like sniffing
scratching um chewing tasting um kind of
engaging all of the senses that they
would normally use if they happen to be
like stay out in the wild um enrichment
is both physical and mental and of
course without enrichment provided in
your home pets are more more likely to
exhibit unwanted behaviors and that's
like the destructive behaviors like
chewing up couches Furnitures doors even
um barking or yelling um inappropriate
play interactions so if they play a
little bit too rough with you um that is
a sign of uh low enrichment as well as
anxious
behaviors and so some examples of canine
enrichment specifically um there's food
enrichment there's like pz puzzle
feeders they have little knobs and
twisty things that you stick the Kibbles
in um and you close it all up you
present it to your dog and they have to
use their brain and their nose in
conjunction um to open everything and
get the food as like a little reward it
helps obviously get them fed and it kind
of uh works out their mind a little bit
more um same with snuffle mats um if you
Google snuffle mats they're a little
like a bath mats or well they look like
bath mats but they have like a very long
like felt kind of a tabs everywhere so
you hide the Kibbles underneath the tabs
and they have to use their nose to move
everything around and try and pick out
every piece of kibble um and like mats
that's um just a very smooth like a
textured mat um that you can smooth like
Smooth peanut butter yogurt um any sort
of kind of like semi like some semi
soft treat onto it um a lot of people
love using lick mats as distractions for
like bathing or nail trimming um it kind
of gets the the licking um the active
licking helps uh decrease like anxieties
in dogs it kind of helps them feel uh it
releases a hormone it helps them feel a
little bit more calm so that's
definitely it helps in especially those
situations um and there are also
enrichment activities so like scavenger
hunts so you can like hide treats around
your home and have your help your dog
kind of sniff around and find them and
engages them and gets them moving and it
kind of it's a fun time for both of you
um as well as the snif fari walks as
some people like to call them um and
snares are walks that are dedicated to
allowing your dog um to take in the
scense and explore the environment
it's uh less structured than like a
regular walk if you're just kind of
going down the street run you got the
dog sfari are dog Le um usually kind of
in
a not as like a neighborhood area maybe
like in a park where you can kind have a
long lead and let your dog kind of sniff
around taking the scense and kind of
just uh have his own time kind of taking
in the environment and helps them feel
really kind of like mentally
stimulated and now for heline in M um a
lot of professionals suggest especially
Jackson Galaxy is kind of like my
favorite kind of cat professional and he
likes to call it catifying your
household I like to use that as well um
what is catifying your household that's
having cat furniture and Cat kind of um
making your sorry cat furniture excuse
me that gives them a like a selection of
platforms High platforms that they can
jump and climb to or cubby holes that
they can hang out and hide in um CU cats
like love having having kind of like
that vertical space to kind of move
around in kind of basically three
dimensions it makes them feel more
comfortable makes them feel a lot more
kind of like how they would in the wild
essentially also plenty of scratching
posts a lot of people like to suggest
putting scratching posts wherever you
see your cat um might have an inkling of
scratching like I have a scratching post
on either side of my couch um and
encourage my cats and praise them when
they scratch the post instead of my
couch um and they also usually like the
text picture of like the twine Scrappy
post a lot better than a couch anyways I
would assume at least my cats do um
having those around giving them plenty
of access to scratch without them
getting in trouble um there's also a
variety of cat toys that fulfill
different sensory kind of needs so like
the crinkle toys um the bells um toys
that you can also Snick uh stick treats
in the little teaser toys that you kind
of Dingle around and they chase um of
course participate in playtime with your
cat it's a great bonding experience for
you both um the the good feelings that
the cat will feel when he's having a
good time playing he will also associate
with you so of course it strengthens
your bond um and there's also food
enrichment in cats as well you can also
have puzzle feeders or lick mats um I
actually I pet set so I have a couple of
my clients have a couple nice little
like like dispensers um one is shaped
like a mouse when you put the kibble in
it and the cats kind of knock it around
and knock it around enough the food
comes out and they love to do that and
there's also like a little
that if the cat rolls it around enough
the food will come out they they love
doing that they love chasing it around
it's a great way to have them exercise
as well as eat um and there's also lick
mats for cats as well um cats also love
licking they Grim themselves as well um
you can also use lick mats as like kind
of a distraction if you need to maybe
also trim your cat's nails if you need
to brush them and if they're not like
super fond of it a lick mat's a great
distraction um instead of lickmats
there's also like they look like Gogurt
too tubes I call them keny yurt but
they're like liquid treats that you can
dispense slowly at a time to kind of
distract your cat and make it enjoyable
for them as well um it kind of brings
the whole experience a lot a better
connotation now with all this enrichment
um for both K9 and Vine we'd like to
remind you um that healthy pets in
general have both healthy minds and
bodies keep in mind their mental health
um and enrichment of course as well as
their physical health and exercise and
nutrition um never forget the mentality
of the enrichment as well so thank
you thanks Amy lots of good information
always I will um encourage we have a
full house so I'm hoping that one of you
will go home with a new pet maybe kids
tell your
parents good um next up we have jobs of
the week s rainy from New Mexico
workforce connections you there Sarah
there you are good afterno Hi how are
you
doing thank you for having me again my
name is Sarah rainy I am the southwest
region um OneStop coordinator and I work
with jelle patas she is actually the
onstop operator um let me share my
screen and I'm GNA turn off my video to
all righty for the jobs of the week we
have um Police Department Records
technician that's for the city of Las
Cruses um the pay is 1667 an hour that
one closes on
102 as well for the city of Los Cruses
we have the new services coordinator um
that one begins at 1877 and that
position is closes on the on the 2nd of
October um for the White Sand Missile
Range we have a s sensor systems
engineer that position starts at $60,000
a year um and it looks like the posting
closes on
121 we have a history instructor for
NMSU that position begins at 44,000 up
to about 56,000 that posting closes on
10:15 for for the Coca-Cola Southwest
beverages we have an order replenishment
merchandiser pays from 16004 to 226 and
that position closes um October
16th and then the American Red Cross we
have a lead rotational program associate
um that one pays up to 2206 an hour that
posting closes on October
1st as always if you see any of these
posts you're interested in and not sure
how to connect with us you can feel free
to come in and meet with any of us at
226 South Alama Boulevard you can call
us at 524
6250 or always um log on to employ
nm.com we have all of the postings for
the Southwest New Mexico all over New
Mexico actually um but southw our
southwestern region jobs are listed
there on employee andm but feel free to
give us a call and we can help you find
your job
thank you all thanks so much
Sarah next up we have our proclamations
and certificates and I will call up
Ashley Curry and Booker T Washington
students come on
down Hi how are you good to see you
thank you for
surv
hi okay whereas walking or bicycling to
school affords opportunities to build
activity into daily routine and whereas
lack of physical activity contributes to
Rising rates of obesity diabetes and
other health problems among children and
whereas parents caregivers Community
leaders and others are well positioned
to teach children about pedestrian
safety health risk related to seditary
Lifestyles and environmental
consequences of fossil fuel use and
whereas the lives of hundreds of
children could be saved each year if
communities take steps to make
pedestrian safety a priority and whereas
driving students to school by private
vehicle contributes to traffic
congestion and air pollution and whereas
identifying shortcomings and
transportation systems is the first step
towards enhancing bicycle pedestrian
safety and whereas community members and
leaders should make a plan to make
immediate changes to enable children to
safely walk and bicycle in our
communities and develop a list of
suggestions for improvements that can be
implemented over time and whereas
children parents and Community leaders
around the world are joining together to
walk to school now therefore we the
mayor and city council of Las Cruses New
Mexico do hereby proclaim the week of
September 19th through 22nd 2023 as
International walk to school days in the
city of Las Cruses New Mexico and
encourage everyone to consider the
safety and health of children today and
every day signed by our mayor Ken D
mosima and assisted by Christine Rivera
our city
clerk
thank you so much mayor PRM gondara city
council members and members of the
public my name is Ashley Curry I am the
safe roots to school coordinator for Los
crues public schools and I have the
honor to be here today with the walking
School Bus students and the staff
leaders from Booker Washington and so
these students walk to school every week
although we're celebrating International
walk to school days this week every
single week throughout our district we
have students walking to school we have
19 walking school buses at different
schools every single week rain or shine
over the entire school year and so these
students are out there every single week
except if there's lightning right so
they can tell you all kinds of things
about being safe when they walk to
school and all kinds of ways of why they
enjoy the walk and maybe even some
suggestions for improving the walk to
school so I invite you members of the
public and our city council and City
staff to join us this week for any of
our walks to schools and if you are not
able to join this week that's an open
invitation for the whole year to join us
and before I hand it over to the
students I also just wanted to thank our
city council for the city council bike
ride that they put on this Saturday it
was really really wonderful and super
fun so and thank you to our um to our
Lieutenant um Chief sorry Chief story
for leading us out there as well so
thank you so much for to everybody for
being out there um students would
anybody like to say
anything all the things that you were
telling me on the walk over
here okay I will go ahead would you like
to say something come on
out I like to walk what's your name
Aubrey and why do you like to
walk cuz it's
fun thank
you I like doing walk to school because
it it makes me have exercise and I
really like it a bunch
good I like doing the walk to school day
because I get to spend time with my
friends I like to walk to school because
I like to play a
lot I like I like the walk to school
because I can explore the
world and these students walked along
the multi-use trail that goes behind the
fire department and they had a lot of
fun seeing the little Marsh and the
sunflowers and the wildlife that was
down there so thank you to the city for
providing those opportunities and spaces
for our kids to walk safely so that they
don't have to walk along the busy
streets thank you you
everybody
isn't it wonderful seeing young people
here I love it councelor
Flores good afternoon uh next is a
proclamation
of a proclamation proclamation in
support of the ex ension and expansion
of the radiation exposure compensation
act which will be presented to Jasmine
era and jonette harkley would you please
step up
here oh thank
you
okay
whereas the world's first atomic bomb
was tested in New Mexico on July 16 1945
and the US
conducted
1,38 Atomic tests in the Nevada Test
Site 215 of which were above ground
tests and whereas in 1990 the US passed
the radiation exposure compensation act
ra to pay restitution and medical care
to people people that were exposed to
radiation from these nuclear tests and
whereas the US government has been
compensating the downsiders in other
states but the
downsiders in New Mexico have never been
included although they were the first to
be exposed to nuclear radioactivity via
the Trinity Atomic test and
whereas there were
some five 00,000 families that lived
within 150 mile radius and as close as
12 miles from the Trinity test and the
radioactive bot caused cancerous
diseases such as leukemia multiple
Myoma and lymphomas and whereas the r is
scheduled to expire on June 10
2024 so current Congressional bills to
extend and expand ra have been
introduced including Senate bill Bill
1751 and house resolution
4426 that would include the downsiders
of New Mexico for the first
time and whereas the US has
approved 50 billion dollar budget per
year for the last 33 years a total of
one can't even read this 1 comma
650 billion
I I I don't know how to read that um to
maintain its current nuclear arsenals
but in the same period less than 1% of
that amount has been paid to those
adversely affected by radioactive atomis
Atomic tests now therefore we the mayor
and City Council of Las crusis New
Mexico do hereby support the health
welfare and safety of the residents of
the city of Las Cruses
by proclaiming the month of September as
proclamation in support of the extension
and expansion of the radiation exposure
compensation act signed by mayor Ken D
May
gima and our city clerk Christine Riva I
would also like to add that the people
two of the key people who sit on the
board of directors and others who have
been affected
by um the atomic bomb testing on July 16
1945 are in Washington DC trying to meet
the deadline and uh Ben Ray Luhan has
been um instrumental as has Martin
Senators US senators Ben Ray U Luhan
and and Martin uh I was going to say
Martin Sheen no yeah
Hinrich uh Martin Hinrich as well you
see you were listening I did that on
purpose I used to be a teacher um and um
as well as uh Gabe Vasquez are our
representative from this part of New
Mexico they're all in support of that
and there's a deadline coming up so um
and I now present to you um uh two
Representatives um well Janette
um
Janette oh Janette J jonette goodwi but
you go by another
name I'm sorry uh Jasmine erera and
jonette
harkley johy harkley hyen good
Goodwin and you don't want to hear my
full name okay so and um Jasmine will
say a few
words hello my name is uh Jasmine
Herrera and I'm here today with jnet
hary Goodwin uh we've been selected by
the torosa Bas Downwinders Consortium uh
to receive this Proclamation on their
behalf they are unable to be present uh
today as she mentioned because they are
currently in Washington DC to make the
final lobbying push to get New Mexico
funded under the radiation exposure
compensation act uh jonette and I are
both from communities that were
adversely affected by Fallout from the
Trinity atomic bomb jonette was four
years old at the time of the explosion
and she vividly remembers the incredible
bright light from the bomb coming in her
window where she lived in k New Mexico
the test happened approximately 26 miles
from Jet's home uh jonet has survived a
a very aggressive breast cancer and also
suffers from a thyroid disease her
mother had thyroid disease and underwent
the surgical removal of her thyroid in
her late 30s her father developed lung
cancer in his late 50s and died at 62
jette's daughter and Grandson also have
thyroid disease uh Jet's story is All
Too common for members of communities
affected by the Fallout we are proud to
accept this Proclamation and we are
hopeful that the lobbying efforts by the
tbdc will see real results and finally
get compensation for the many people who
continue to suffer to this day lastly I
want to encourage you all to view the
current exhibit at the brand branagan
Cultural Center titled Trinity legacies
of nuclear testing a people's
perspective this exhibit is on display
until September 23rd uh to learn more
please visit the Trinity Downwinders
decom website thank you
thank you for
being let me stand over
here
okay next up is our conflict of interest
does anybody um on the Das um that
includes staff have a any conflict of
interest with um any known
itemsa none
okay next up is our public participation
I will give you three minutes
um I'll start on my left anybody
okay is the timer work yes EO and just
as a reminder if you're a candidate
that's running for office please re
um re thank you refrain um from speaking
about your candidacy thank you hi Miss
DS good afternoon mayor Pam City Council
city manager staff and public my name is
Yoli Diaz with care today I want to
present a scenario for the sake of this
scenario I can be anyone and you can be
anyone I have been experiencing some
hardships including my television going
out my income is limited you see my life
opportunities they did not provide me to
go to college get a degree get a great
job and my employer isn't able to
provide benefits including health
insurance my income is considered low
income and I fit in with about 20% of my
community I want to buy a television I
go to Best Buy in Los cruus I found find
the television I like it's a 50in TCL
it's on sale for
$249.99 discounted from the regular
price of
$299.99 I'm happy it's a smart TV I go
to the counter and pay I see you at the
counter and you choose to buy their best
television that cost
$5,999 I'm thinking wow good for you I
don't pay
$249.99 I pay more because I have to pay
sales tax cashier tells me that my total
is $270 46 I heard the cashier say to
you it will be
$6,499 124 sir will this be cash or
charge so I know Best Buy is in the city
of limits of Los Cruses and that the
location code of the tax I will pay with
be loss Cru is
07-15 and the tax rate is
8.875 I paid a tax that I know will be
passed on to the New Mexico Taxation and
Revenue Department and I come back to
the city of Los crusis and will come
back and when I make purchase in the
county we'll come back to doniana County
so both can provide services that
benefit the public I pay taxes and you
pay taxes I leave Best Buy get in my car
my phone is ringing I see that it's my
doctor with what could be a dreaded call
he tells me quote your test results are
in you have cancer
I referred you to an ecologist at
Memorial Medical Cancer Center I called
them to schedule you an appointment as
soon as possible but I was told that
they cannot give you an appointment
because you don't have health insurance
coverage what do I do where do I turn
although the only insurance that I that
I will qualify for will give me a 75%
reduction and I won't have to pay
1,610 but I would pay a monthly premium
of
$43 plus out of it costs I simply can't
afford it can I be without my food not
pay my rent not pay my utilities or car
payment oh and I was counted in the
sensus just like you and our state
receives $8,699 a year for me and you
and all the residents count it since the
70s I contributed to our economy paid
taxes to our city county and state
healthc care is a human need a life is a
life does my life not matter do I not
deserve Healthcare protection of my life
and safety why have I been denied an
appointment at our city county least
Hospital thank
you thank
you anybody else on the first row second
row
third
fourth please make your way down and
state your name for the record thank
you yeah my name is Richard PA and I'm
uh
you can raise the you can raise it yes
please and the actual Podium down the
podium you can raise as well it's a side
button there can you hear me now okay
okay my name is Richard F and I'm here
in response to krwg news item that
popped up on my uh cell phone the other
day disturbing an otherwise quiet
afternoon the uh title of this news
article was that L Los cruus rolls out
the first publicly funded basic income
program I was shocked and
dismayed as I read
further the intent is to pay $500 per
month for 18
months to a number of recipients
basically we're paying $99,000 of other
people's money to certain selected
recipients there's uh no requirement for
any work no requirement no expectations
at all in return
there's 150 families are supposed to
participate in this and that works out
to
$1,350,000
of taxpayer money for basically what's a
social
experiment now miss
Beno I had uh an email dialogue with you
many months ago and I'll have to say
that I appreciate your response because
frankly I did not uh expect one but you
uh stated your position clearly and this
is before the last last election and
again I appreciated that and I express
my appreciation to you in inum I was
hoping that clear heads would Prevail
and that this scheme would die a natural
death and obviously I was wrong so here
we are so I wondering how are these
recipients of public larest to be
identified what are the
criteria who determines those
criteria how will those results be uh
meaning L analyzed interpreted and
reported if at
all to me this is basically a social
cronyism the scheme is basically uh
fiscally
irresponsible it's clearly
unsustainable and I would say it's even
immoral it is an insult to me as a
taxpayer it is an insult to every other
taxpayer in this room and Beyond and I
also argue it's an insult to the
intended recipients because in return
for some other people's money they'll be
giving up a little bit more of their
dignity thank
you thank
[Applause]
you four row four row
five
hello go ahead and put the mic down and
state your name please for the record
Patricia heenez owner of the little shop
on Main I've been a victim of ongoing
crime and violence since March of 23 and
I have voiced my concerns to public
officials politicians and Advocates I
have numerous police reports with the
Los Cruses Police Department furthermore
cases and trials were dismissed by the
city judges and the da I've called 911
numerous times and either the police
showed up late or never showed up at all
numerous times they would give me blank
cards with no case number after I
demanded that they give me one they
would say what's the point one incident
I was revictimized by an officer bullied
and interrogated heer was reported along
with another two Internal Affairs and
the case was later closed with no
explanation there had been at least 30
plus incidents at my store including
theft vandalism stalking harassment and
I currently have a 5-year order of
protection from from a stalker one
incident I had to deter a male covered
in blood from entering my store I'm
demanding that there be a Thor
investigation of the Las Cruses Police
Department regarding possible corruption
intimidation bullly bullying harassment
tampering of cases including factual
errors omissions conclusionary
statements possible felony cases being
manipulated downgraded to misdemeanors
providing little if any body camera
footage when requested willful
negligence and not providing service
prodection to the community needed
during 911 calls Cassandra you come to
my store with your husband Bill Soul's
legislator senator in New Mexico and
again after the Airing of my situation
on the news you offered to help but
denied any knowledge of my incidence
over the past seven months although you
were clearly made aware of my situation
as a victim and ignored it you told me
twice in my store it's not my fault
however the welfare of the community in
district one is your responsibility and
you are accountable you insulted me and
asked why in a condescending and
insensitive manner as to why I didn't
contact you and disregarded my
well-being you made it personal and you
threw it in my face that you bought
Furniture in my store giving me the
inclination that you would retaliate and
never shop for me again if I didn't
remain silent although I made it clear I
didn't want to talk to you you kept
pressuring me to meet with you again
before the public city hall meeting I'm
demanding that there be a thorough
investigation of the entire city council
regarding misconduct intimidation
retaliation manipulation and willful
negligence it is critical that the city
of Los Cruses provide acceptable full
security protection for the downtown
businesses effective immediately in
addition restitution of Damages and lost
income must be provided to affected
business owners who lost significant
income and continue to lose it as a
result under your watch you have the
power to do something and you did
nothing our tax dollars pay your salary
if nothing is done this will be
escalated to state and federal agencies
including the media for further
investigation we have a civil right
to be protected and we have a human
right in our community as civilians and
business owners change starts
now thank
you I'm going to ask everybody to calm
down five row five row
[Applause]
five are you row five please make it to
the podium state your
name
good afternoon my name is Kelly stimer
and I am a business owner
downtown my husband and I moved here
from St Louis about two years ago in the
last month I would say I have either
witnessed or experienced crime in my
little
area uh my neighbor whose building was
attached to mine her her business had a
brick thr through the window I had to
call the police last Wednesday because
of a very violent altercation outside my
door with seven very large men it was
extremely scary and it was scary for all
the customers that were
there I know that there was a car
vandalized behind our parking
lot during the the Farmers
Market and my husband and I are moving
our shop down the street because we need
more space
and there was a person who I assume was
homeless sleeping right in front of our
shop on the sidewalk
now we have spent a lot of money to open
a business here and we are really
concerned about the amount of crime I
had a woman come into my shop last week
she was a representative for you uh Miss
mayor protemp I think she's working on
your campaign and I thought well this is
a great time for me to share a concern
and I said well could you please ask her
what is she going to do about crime the
response I got was well there's crime
everywhere crime is bad
everywhere so I told her I said I was a
school teacher in St Louis we had middle
school and high school students that had
drug addiction problems School phobia
violent behaviors and mental illness we
had we were tasked with helping these
kids overcome their addiction helping
their parents help the kids helping them
get an education and a diploma and
helping deal with their mental
illness if I were to say to a parent or
to my
boss there's drug abuse everywhere a lot
of kids don't graduate from high school
mental illness is a problem I would have
lost my
job
and I didn't do it so that I didn't lose
my job I did it because the task that I
was given was very important so as a
business owner I have a question for
every one of you as a person
representing the city what advice would
you give to someone wanting to open a
business down here knowing that I have
to have bars on my windows I have to
have a security system I have to walk
over people sleeping on the sidewalk in
front of my shop and hope that my
customers will do that as well and I
have to hope that people don't stop
coming downtown because of the amount of
violence thank
you thank you anybody else on row
five row
six
if you're if you're going to speak make
your way down and you can sit up here in
the front please thank
you please state your name for the
record my name is W Bond good afternoon
mayor prot tempton city council I'm a
vendor at the farmers market and I've
been there for many many years I'm here
to talk about our concerns as a vendor
of the homeless but also to uh back the
downtown business people also we get
down there at 6 o'clock in the morning
and we see the homeless and the
vandalism that's going on and I can
remember back when downtown was like a
ghost town other than when we showed up
on Saturdays I'm very proud that we have
downtown business people now it looks
wonderful I was there during the rudat
study and how things things have changed
down there but violence and the homeless
is a really big problem downtown I would
hope someday we could get more police
presence down there we all look after
each other down there but it gets pretty
scary I had my life threatened by a a
man who was begging for money from our
customers and I just asked him very
nicely to move on we were told we could
do that I was a block captain at that
time and I wore a badge with my name on
it
and he addressed me by name and said
that if I even called for help he would
come back and kill me so I quit wearing
my
badge but it is a situation downtown to
protect even when city is holding um a
big event which we do a lot the parking
lots aren't safe and um I'd just like
you to consider what can be done for the
safety of the people in the downtown
area thank you thank
you
[Applause]
mayor BM Council ju Garcia I'm a firm
believer in supporting those in our
community in need like those requiring
catastrophic Health Care reported on
krwg our Council approved quote
guaranteed basic income which provides
unconditional and unrestricted
unconditional and unrestricted payments
to help individuals with their basic
needs in essence our Council doled out
taxpayer funds with no accountability
basic needs could be satisfied at Fiesta
Foods or it could be satisfied at the
local pot shop or liquor store we won't
know our Council can show the same
generosity with our personal funds by
standing in front of Alberton giving out
$300 personal checks with no
accountability to anyone that asks and
when their personal savings are depleted
they get a personal loan and start again
same concept that the taxpayers have to
deal with I would like to thank K Fox
for the recent interviews dealing with
crime affecting the community ALU cooker
Journal editorial on
Sunday City Council Members have
sponsored a resolution the focus of this
resolution is on enhancing
Albuquerque's efforts to address Crime
key areas of focus including drug and
mental health issues restructuring pre
trial detention securing funds for the
warant program for the next five years
and supporting law enforcement this
sentiment is echoed by the albquerque
police department indicate indicating
the urgency of holding criminals
accountable you just heard numerous
victims that have come here and spoken
and they have done this for the last
year it is time that you do something to
hold this criminals account accountable
and I continue with the quote there's a
consensus that the present conditions
which prevent families from feeling
secure during outdoor activities are
unacceptable does this sound familiar in
Las cruus you just heard a couple couple
of individuals tell you that we've asked
numerous times for the council to
request our state lawmakers to take
action like those councilors in
Albuquerque in the meantime the
Forgotten victims listed on the L Cruz's
Hall of Shame who don't fit the category
of quote most vulnerable in our
population or
ignored Albuquerque Journal 17th
September last year 10 bills addressing
crime were presented but either didn't
make it into committee or die in
committee the Democratic majority
opposed these bills we're proposing the
following the mayor sent a letter to
state senators and representatives to
come to these Chambers and present a
tangible solutions to to address crime
thank
you thank you Mr
[Applause]
G I'm William Beerman on September 5th
after I left your meeting councelor Ben
Koo said my comment about City Council
defunding of police was a quote
boldfaced Lo why but what I said is true
in a letter from about early 2021 the
Los cruus Police Officers Association
told you the last several years have
seen steady decline in Staffing levels
which have culated culminated in an
all-time low of 140 officers on duty
even though the department is authorized
for 202 officers the letter said quote
this leaves the community largely
unpatrolled and unprotected and is
extremely hazardous to
officers the letter stated the
percentage of the budget allocated to
Public Safety was down almost 5% from
fiscal year
2021 the letter said potential recruits
quickly leave the LCPD recruiting table
when they learn how far behind LCPD has
fallen in comparison to just about every
other agency the city is simply not
competitive so much for the
letter I have here a position control
count from the adopted
fy22 budget it shows Police Department
positions were reduced from
329 in fiscal
2018 to 318 in the adopted 2022 budget a
reduction of 11 positions this is while
the total number of city employees went
up by 80 82 to a total of
1833 which is about 10 times the number
of sworn
police but the budget is not the same as
what actually happens budgeting
positions does not mean actually filling
them officials claim they increased the
budget in terms of money that doesn't
mean they actually spent the money at
one council meeting I heard a reference
to $5 million in unspent salary account
finally councelor
bomo is on video displaying a bar graph
at a council meeting on April 26th
2021 the chart was entitled where our
money goes noting that the bar for the
police department was the highest she
commented quote and you know that for
the police department to have such a
disproportionate chunk of the budget to
me feels like we need to do some serious
reflection on the creation of this
budget
since then defunding of the police has
become politically toxic in elections so
Los crues is doing an AB about face and
sending out news releases of touting how
you're doing new hiring of police but
the damage has already been done as
crime is Raging here that's all I have
to say Thank you Mr
D is there anybody on row seven or eight
anybody on this
side okay
if you want to speak and you're in these
last few rows please make your way
down mayor PM Council my name is Lori
English for over 20 years I have tried
to get the city councilors from both
sides of the aisle to respond to the
lousy conditions of stewards Avenue
between Cay por Pastoria and Midway up
on the East Mesa to physically see the
situation of that street it looks like
it has leprosy and nobody's doing
anything about it I had two previous
counsil counselors from my district come
out and physically see the condition no
action was taken I invited councelor
Karan to come out via email and never
got a response but I got got a response
saying well she thinks the schedule
according to the streets department that
it's scheduled for
2024 first of all right now Midway
Boulevard which is a street that's in
the same area is less heavily used than
stewards by almost 2third the amount of
traffic and it's being totally
resurfaced a street the length of about
five blocks that's not even used that
often and the trucks that are being used
used to carry out the asphalt from the
debris are the heavy heavy heavy asphalt
and concrete trucks that are not only
making a mudbog out of gasline road but
they are destroying and tearing up
Stewarts street again with no
compensation and no
consideration lesser used streets in the
city are being resurfaced almost every
month and STS has been remained as it is
for the 23 years that I have lived here
in fact their potholes are filling the
potholes potholes and now those heavy
trucks are creating nothing but a mass
of
potholes um still looks like it still
looks like it's got
leprosy uh and it's making a bog like I
said out of
Midway uh the city's heavy trucks and
are I already talked about the entire
Street um
should be resurfaced we need all City
councilors to deal more with
infrastructure crime vandalism and
Animal Welfare than disrespecting
veterans and changing street names get
out in your communities and put together
some decent plans don't go out there
just couple months before the campaign
and before the election one or two of
you are running for mayor I find that
laughable
I mean not no insult to any individual
on the city
council um still you owe an apology to
the
city the veterans of the city the county
and the state of New Mexico for your bad
treatment and dishonor and disrespect
concerning the Veterans Park episode
thank you Miss English anybody else on
this
side okay to my right first
row
second
row please make your
way you dropped something on the on the
floor all those are I'll pick those up
way back thank you're welcome just don't
forget it I'm giving you all copies of
these um okay lady there will be
Distributing copies there please for all
of you U your name yeah good afternoon
protim and counselors my name is Charles
Windler and um I've got something that I
think is a dear issue to all of us
should be it's a
unifying issue not a divisive one unlike
so many things that you're presented
with unfortunately so
uh this week just started yesterday is
Constitution week we're talking about US
Constitution of course okay and uh
people don't really know that piece of
information but it's public law so let
me read from you I need a a little bit
of an aid here my vision is slipping on
me so let me see if I can do this to and
it's in the back of this little booklet
you can get and read it for yourself you
can have that that's a gift to you I
shouldn't say gift because maybe that in
violation some of these laws but anyway
to
commemorate uh the September 17
1787 sign of the Constitution United
States Congress has designate September
17th of each year as Constitution Day
and September 17th through the 23rd of
each year is Constitution week in 2004
Public Law 100- 447 section 111 was
passed requiring the
following each educational institution
that receives federal funds for fiscal
year shall hold an education program on
United States Constitution on September
17th each year for the students served
by the education institution I think
most all of us have kids or grandkids in
the area this really is very germine to
them furthermore it says quote each um
Federal agency or Department shall shall
again no wiggle room in that word
provide Education and Training materials
concerning the United States
Constitution to each employee on
September 7 each year George wor I think
most of you remember that gentleman says
a p quote a primary object should be the
education of our youth in the science of
government in a republic not a democracy
we don't have a democracy very clear in
the Constitution there's no word
democracy in that in a republic uh that
species of knowledge can be equally
important what species of knowledge
should be uh equally important and what
Duty more pressing than communicating it
to those Liberties of the to those
Guardians of the Liberties of our
country uh I have no hesitation I'm a
very proud American Proud that we live
in this exceptional country where we can
have these discussions debates but
fortunately we're losing so much of this
why because we don't study our
constitution okay article six of that
booklet there tells you that that's a
supreme law of the land and it's being
violated constantly every day so I'd
urge everybody let's stay the
Constitution God bless you all thank
you okay anybody on the second or third
row please make your way
down afternoon Council protim everybody
else I just wanted to let everybody know
I noticed something while I walked in
here today I didn't have to move for the
record Troy stagner owner Zia
Comics I did not have to move a sleeping
vagrant from in front of the door to get
inside I did not have to step over human
exent to get inside I was not sexually
or physically assaulted to get inside
this Council chamber so how can you guys
sit up there and tell me that you know
what we're going through downtown when
these are almost daily occurrences with
us the definition of insanity is doing
the same thing over and over and
expecting a different result well I'm
going to tell all you people here if you
keep voting for the same people and
expect change that's
insane that's all I had to
say fourth row fifth row sixth row
seventh eth anybody on this
side okay that concludes our um public
participation next up I will be reading
September 11 2023 closed meeting
statement into the record the Los crus
city council met in closed session at
11:06 a.m September 11 2023 the
following members were in attendance
mayor Ken mosima councelor Cassandra
gandera councelor Tessa was absent
councelor Becky Graham was present
councelor Johanna BEC present councelor
Becky Corin president councelor Ivon
Flores president staff was Linda sample
City attorney
um Barbara bomo Chief um administrative
off officer Sonia Dela um assistant city
manager EOP city manager pamina Hower
outside attorney by zoom and was out at
12:12 p.m. Joe Richards was HR Director
via Zoom Andy Hume airport director via
Zoom Joselyn Garrison Department City
attorney via Zoom the meeting adjourned
at
12:49 um
let's see the purpose of the closed
meeting is to discuss a pending
litigation regarding Tom Reynolds versus
the city of Las Cruses cv
23-22
gjf KRS which is closed perent to nmsa
1978 section
10-15-17 okay I need a motion to accept
the
agenda so moved Graham second ABA motion
made by councelor Graham second by
councelor
ABA all right let's see I need to call
the vote Yes this is on the motion to
accept the the agenda as presented
councila yes councelor Graham yes
councelor bomo yes councelor cran yes
councelor fles yes mayor PM yes and the
mayor is
absent
Okay resolution number
24-30 need a motion move to approved
second gr was that by Council Bingo
councelor AA second by counselor um
Graham hi
Alicia good afternoon be with us for
just a minute uhuh no
worries
good afternoon mayor protim and City
councilors Alisia Hernandez purchasing
manager before you is a resolution to
approve our Microsoft Enterprise
agreement
renewal the IT department has an
Enterprise agreement with Microsoft this
includes our desktop operating systems
our security LIC security licensing and
Microsoft Office
software the agreement provides us with
a cost reduction from both purchasing
and also includes regular updates from
these Microsoft products
the agreement expires and must be
renewed every six years and during that
time the pricing is locked in for those
years annual renewal determines of
additional licensing is
required at this time purchasing
recommends that we contract with
cdwg via a CES contract the contract
number is 2022 d01 d
a01
d and we're asking for indefinite cost
indefinite quantity and it would be
subject to annual renewals and approved
budget
Appropriations and with that these are
your Council options and I stand for
questions councel Corin councelor flutes
I have a question that's 100% injust
thank you for presenting uh if we vote
no will it bring the entire team's
infrastructure down and never make us
attend a team's meeting again is there
any chance of that it will
okay thank you I appreciate your
presentation thank you councelor Corin
counc fles
um why why would we enter into an
agreement
um for an indefinite cost I sure as heck
would why I mean is that a term of art
that's used in such a contract we we
have done that before it we don't know
how many licenses we'll need in the
future going
forward but the but it's like a cart
blanch it's like giving you a blank
check um
so so it's been done in the past so we
continue to do I I'm just curious and I
um we have done it in the indefinite
quantity indefinite cost subject to
annual renewals so this being being
subject to annual renewals does that
mean that we would review the cost and
then um and
then yeah because it it also says uh
resolution approving the annual renewal
the operative word there is annual so
there has to be not just a renewal but a
review and so if we were to vote Yes on
this um this this resolution would be
subject to um well a St I would expect
there'd be strict scrutiny in so far as
uh reviewing the terms and the prices
and all that we do review the terms
every year and the contract that we're
going to use it expires in 2026 so at
that time we would have to either
procure another contract or um take one
of our own and and so what happens if um
the costs become exorbitant and we know
of another vendor who um that would be a
better price for the
same for the same
product my Pro if I may counc is Mr
peely has Mr peely has the floor and I'm
sure it robs up here to to shed some
light
just for this these particular
licenses we we don't know and so we have
to we have to enter into contract
however there is an appropriation
throughout the budget process that's set
that's set these amounts are set we
can't go above beyond that unless we
bring it forward and so there's a
certain amount for these licenses but
this is the contract that's that's
needed in order for us
to to to receive them I don't know if
you have any
additional anything in addition to add
Rob I know you're making up making your
way up here so I guess if your concern
is the blank
check that that cap is at the budget
appropriation for these
licenses Mr peely is that in the
contract in the agreement with the
vendor you know I'd have to look at the
contract but would it be subject to what
our Appropriations are I mean do they
understand that uh yes councelor so we
determine we determine if we can I mean
we don't have to purchase a certain
amount uh we determine how how many
licenses we're going to need and again
it's determined by our budget sets that
cap and so if we are going beyond our
budget line
item we certainly have to come back for
an
amendment for that so does a vendor
understand that like say for example we
went bankrupt would we still be bound by
by the terms of this
contract I mean that just just a you
know extreme but just to just because I
I'm just wondering I
mean yeah I'd have to look at the
contract counc but I'm I'm can ass sure
we we wouldn't be
bound if you have any right robell PL IT
director councelor Flores and mayor for
and Council um if if there were a
particular situation like this that the
city went out of you know went bankrupt
at the at the next year Microsoft
understands that we wouldn't be able to
get approval for that purchase in which
case we would not have to purchase
purchase it so the agreement isn't
binding over the over the course of
several years no only for this
particular course years I don't remember
the exact wording but when you have
multiple years where you're saying
you're going to purchase something but
there's I don't remember the exact term
but there's a term where we don't have
to continue to purchase that if you
remember no the city can opt out every
year uh we're going to pay the first
year and then if we don't have enough
budget next year we choose a different
route oh okay and ultimately the city uh
purchasing section works with the end
user for the best cost for the best item
that we need okay well that definitely
allays my fears thank you very much
thank you thank you Mr
PE thank you um I was hoping that I'd
have a chance to look at the resolution
specifically
um and give me a moment I I read it
earlier but I don't remember one of the
things that I've had it it g it does
give me pause to say that indefinite
with no criteria you know um the
resolution doesn't State at all the
amounts what it's for um even in you
know in the event it's to you know um be
p u additional amounts then we we we
would come back to counil um and so eil
there this is like the second or third
time that it's come like this with that
kind of language and it does give me
pause and I'm hopeful that um staff as
they're um developing these resolutions
that they State the amounts and and and
even if if there's some you know in the
event it it exceeds a certain amount
then it would be brought back um because
we don't know what's happening in
procurement or whatever but this is
probably the third time time that I read
something like that and I want to have
more information but there is an
information now I'm looking through all
the things you're sending right because
there's several attachments there you're
reading hundreds of pages of document it
just makes it really difficult so in the
future if you could add something like
that I think it would satisfy
me thank you mayor P time we will thank
you okay any other public comment yes m'
please make your way to the to the um
podam and state your
name my name is Lori English um I live
in the city and it's been my experience
as a previous business
owner uh in other states that if it's
not stated clearly if the word
indefinite or future shows up we are are
not to accept that word it should be
tied in and you ladies obviously are
aware of that fact that in definite
means ex
Infinity I'm not Buzz Lightyear and I'm
not an attorney by any stretch but if
something is infinite that means it can
go on and go on and go on and they're
saying they're giving us their word that
we have the right to do this and we have
the right to do that if it's not
expressly written in the
document it will not hold up in court I
don't care what court it is whether they
go bankrupt or whether we go bankrupt
the bottom line is we're still
responsible if we accept the word
indefinite thank you for your time and
your consideration thank you Miss
English anybody
else okay yes
Christine please take the role this is
on the motion to approve resolution
24-3 Z councelor beta yes councelor
Graham yes councelor bomo yes councelor
Karan yes counc FLOTUS yes mayor proam
yes and the mayor is
absent next up 8.2 resolution number
24-31 I need a to approve Graham motion
made by councelor
Graham by counselor Corin or a beta I
heard um second um made by Council
Corin hello Miss green hello good
afternoon everyone uh mayor proem uh
members of council Natalie Green for the
record the resolution before you is a
land acquisition it would be a purchase
of property located at 9915 and 921 West
Amador uh the site description it's
approximately a 1 acre parcel or it's
two Parcels that make up about an acre
it also includes a 500t metal industrial
building and again it's addressed off of
Amador it is adjacent to the msia Valley
Community hope campus and it was
identified as a potential acquisition uh
piece during the master plan
adoption this is the vicinity map the
subject Parcels are in pink and then the
community hope campus is labeled in
blue this is just uh a visual of the
property facing west so this would be
from the property facing into to the
msia valley Comm hope driveway and again
you can see that 5,000 ft industrial
building and then this is from the
driveway Facing
East this is the master plan that was
adopted in 2002 um again that parcel is
shown here as a potential acquisition
site and it would um improve the overall
flow of the campus increase parking and
then it would allow um the continued
expansion of the other
buildings
the proposed terms of the purchase we
did do two appraisals the first came
back at 435 and the second came back at
437 the negotiated price with the seller
is 435,000 with us splitting closing
costs and the benefits of this purchase
is that it would align with the city's
master plan and the goals for expansion
of the msia valley commun hope it also
aligns with our strategic goals Elevate
and the city's Consolidated plan uh it
does include a budget adjustment to
cover the cost of the acquisition and
closing um so you'll notice that dollar
amount is a little bit
different and that's because it includes
the closing
costs and then you have your standard
Council options and we'll stand for
questions thank you Miss green any
questions on the dis see none um public
comment seeing none Christine please
take the role this is on the motion to
approve resolution 24- 031 councelor
beta yes councelor Graham yes councelor
bomo yes councelor cran yes councelor
flutes yes mayor proam yes and the mayor
is absent okay motion passes um 8.3
resolution number
24-32 a resolution approving a Community
Development block grant hi good
afternoon mayor protm members of the
city council Raymond Burchfield for the
city Mr Burchfield give me a moment I'm
sorry I'm getting ahead on myself I need
a
motion right move to approve a beta
motion by coun Beta second by counselor
Corin there we go Mr birell now we're
ready okay before you today we have a
Community Development block grant
agreement to approve the community hope
campus solar
project and CAA perigos applied for
Community Development black grant
funding current year funding program
year 23 in the amount of200
,000 um C of of parag
Gros distributes approximately 4 and a.
half million pounds of food a year
they're the largest Food Pantry in
Southern New Mexico and they just
recently moved into the new space at
Horse and Hound those numbers should be
going up
dramatically and this resolution will
approve a block rant agreement between
the city and CA of perigos in the amount
of
$200,000 as approved through action plan
23 last May by city
council and this project will be done in
Community of Hope applied for with the
Department of energy for a $200,000
Grant which they have received so this
will be a $400,000 project and this will
greatly decrease utility bills for the
agencies on
campus and there's I guess that's an
aging overhead picture
but and the new Horse and Hound
and this will be parking lot shade
structures exactly where on campus I
don't know just yet it's still in the
design design
phase and with that I can stand for any
questions thank you Mr burchi any
questions from the Das seeing none from
Council how about from the um public
seeing none
Christine this is on the motion to
approve resolution 24
032 Council
yes councelor Graham yes councelor bomo
yes councelor cran yes councelor FLOTUS
yes mayor proam yes and the mayor is
absent thank
you um next up we have no board
appointments and I'm looking at
Christine she'll tell me if we do um and
um any notice no no notice of proposed
ordinances either wow now we're up um
item 11 city council member board
reports and
comments
um and I will say that I appreciate it
being a part of the city council ride
and I will just leave it at that and let
councelor Graham um give her input
related to that it is really amazing um
what our town has to offer with public
art and um just the uniqueness of each
neighborhood so it was really
appreciative and I thank um Chief story
and officer climi for monitoring traffic
it made me feel very safe and so
appreciate that
um we have
um some work to do in our streets I
think um particularly in the urban in
the inner inner city and um it's
something that we continue to to look at
um with our Public Works and our street
management our pavement Management
program and so so I'm I'm appreciative
of that program um but you know trying
to meet the needs and the demands of the
entire city makes it difficult so um
I'll I'll have some conversations EO
with you about some specific areas that
I think really need um some attention in
district one and other we we kind of
stayed in that area but um I appreciate
the the
opportunity
[Music]
um
I do want to address the issues um that
were brought to our attention about
gbi um I believe wholeheartedly in this
program and there is an
opportunity to um to seek funding um
additional funding through a mayor's gbi
um task force or board nationally that I
think is a great opportunity that the
the money is funnel through Community f
foundation and several of our nonprofits
are working through um the variety of
issues um I do want to say that there
was a pilot project um in Hatch that
just yielded great great outcomes and if
we're serious about reducing poverty
this is one way to do it is it the only
way absolutely not but it's one of the
ways and I stand by my my vote um and um
as a matter of fact Friday evening we um
get to um view um a screening related to
um Family prosperity and I invite the
public um to that to that um screening
it'll be done at um it will be showing
at the farm and ranch and I believe at 6
PM I'm looking at counselor um Beno and
and so I'm looking forward um to hearing
um more about the programming and
nationally what it's it's doing for
particularly people lifting them up and
out of poverty and with that I'll turn
it over to um counselor
Flores uh thank you uh Madame chair um I
um the first of all the the funds that
are being used for that gbi and it's
temporary it's I think 18 limited to 18
months are from the arpa money the money
that was issued to cities to use um uh
at their discretion so long as you know
it fell within certain parameters and
guidelines I personally am against uh
guaranteed basic income um it was tried
uh
in in Fresno California and um it wasn't
s successful and no it was not in fact
the mayor was booted out and was not
reelected it was not
successful well you say it was depending
on how you do your arithmetic it it
didn't and I don't want to get into a
debate all I know is that um the there
was
one this is an 18-month project and I
doubt very much it'll be refunded um
because I don't think we're going to see
outcomes in 18 months if this was an
ongoing if it was maybe um a
multi-billionaire who wanted to try
something out and could you know someone
like Elon Musk the richest billionaire
in the world um and he could see if it
could work somewhere and just throw his
money there fine but um I'm certainly
I'm certainly should the city should it
come before the city this this this
board I would definitely vote against
gbi um it's not
sustainable and I agree with the mayor
um there was uh there was some reporting
on krwg and he was interviewed and uh he
said that uh his colleagues didn't
understand
finances um well excuse
me point of order please can we just
respect each other and opinions thank
you so anyway
um I want to go on to uh things that are
a little bit more pleasant
um the um I was able to attend the fire
firefighters graduation uh a week ago
last Friday I can't even remember when
it was was about a week ago that's
Friday and it was and it was absolutely
wonderful and um and I I think it's the
first time I've attended um and and it
was just amazing to see the training
they get how rigorous it is and um and
and and different um firefighters were
were singled out they were distinguished
in in their
accomplishments um but it was um but it
was really it was very nice it was very
nice to to to participate in that and
there were tons of family and children
and uh we received a a pamphlet and I
just want to read to you um the fire a
firefighter's prayer when I am called to
duty God wherever Flames May rage give
me the strength to S Save a Life
whatever be its age help me embrace a
little child before it is too late or
save an older person from the horror of
that fate enable me to be alert and hear
the weakest shout and quickly and
efficiently to put the fire out I want
to feel my calling and to give the best
in me to guard my every neighbor and
protect their property and if according
to your will I have have to lose my life
please
bless please bless with your protecting
hand my children and my it says wife but
it should say spouse because we have a
lot of female so I'll just edit that and
the author is unknown the the ceremony
was really really moving because um I
don't remember the number but it was
definitely an elite group of of
firefighters and it was really wonderful
um um the other before I forget um happy
New Year to my Jewish Family to my
Jewish friends um this is a very somber
period uh up until yamer I think it's
September 24
25 um is uh yum ker and it's a very it's
like a high holy uh season um the other
um we already presented the um
proclamation to the uh Downwinders but
um a lot of people were talking about
how how awesome the movie Oppenheimer
was but what they failed to talk about
was how the first bomb was landed here
you know not very far from us and
there's 150 mile radius and you know my
family lived in this part of the world
uh less than 150 miles from here um
and I was I guess not born yet but one
of my two of my brothers were already
born but the point though is that it was
a testing ground for What followed um in
August I think it was August
5th of
1945 when uh Hiroshima and Nagasaki were
bombed and those cities were obliterated
and it took several years for things to
start growing again um and sadly the
government failed to make any kind of
reparations um the whole project the
Manhattan Project which took place in
Los
Alamos um really um they just went in
there and took over the that part and
why they selected New Mexico I don't
know all I know is that New Mexico was
left out of the ra the um the uh
radiation exposure act um so hopefully
there'll be some you know uh people will
never get their health back um people
continue to die as a result of that
radiation and I think that you know the
like in my family it was like oh he died
of cancer oh cancer I guess it runs in
the family well cancer isn't
hereditary but um anyway um the other uh
development or another uh
wonderful not wonderful I mean TV yeah
anyway but U on the the upside of what
we do up here um three or four years ago
2019 so it was four years ago um the
city of Las Cruses worked uh together
with um Las crusis public schools and
the League of Women Voters of southern
New Mexico to present a know your
government day and
um and that was wonderful uh mayor proam
and I participated in that and um there
was supposed to be a followup this was
February of 2019 we were supposed to
follow up the following year and um the
the students who were selected were from
all the high schools here in Las
Cruses and it was for students that um
because every human being show has
potential so I have to be careful about
how I I word this um it was for uh
students who um
would be selected by their
teachers um and of course with a parents
permission if they're you know but um it
wasn't like Geared for someone who was
class president or you know president of
the student body because that person's
already engaged and um so we were going
to track the students and then whatever
but those students are now I think their
seniors at some of them are seniors at
NMSU and that's information we got from
lcps we met um a week ago or about two
about two time goes by yeah we met to uh
reinstate this and um our community
outreach person I I don't even think I
don't know if that's her Kina ginz uh
participated and um so we've we're on
the road to get that done it won't be
it'll it takes several months so uh
we'll have it in February
yeah and um with mayor proam um giving
the welcoming um speech to the student
she encouraged them to go on and as and
and the because we have lcps involved
they didn't track the students but they
they've kept in touch with some of the
students and that's how we know that
some of them are at
MSU um but uh mayor poem shared that
that her um children were graduates of
of the lcps schools and um and then went
on to say that her son served in the
military in the Navy and that her
daughter was in med school and now she's
actually done with med school and going
on to other you know whatever because
time has
flown
um anyway um those are the highlights of
of uh my life in conjunction with the
city and uh it's not an easy job but I
love it thank you councelor fles
councelor Corin oh that's very nice
thank you councelor cor thank you um I
think I just wanted to sort of if if
this is part of the conversation to go
back to gbi and really throw my support
behind something that's been
demonstrated in countless peer-reviewed
research studies to show uh that it
improves Public Health reduces poverty
and as poverty is a policy choice I
think we can choose different ly and I
really appreciate that nmsu's Crimson
research will be evaluating this that
Community organizations that are really
trusted in our community are doing it
and there will be a strong evaluation to
show what the outcomes are um for the
folks in our community so I'm really
excited about that project and and I'm
happy to say so and I appreciate
councelor Ben koo's thoughtful interview
um I would I just want to give a few
notes about upcoming things related to
the ascmv the work session
um THS this Wednesday afternoon
at uh 3M at the County Commission
Chambers is addressing the joint Powers
agreement and the conversation about
that that some folks um who are
interested in animal related things
might might want to participate in and
again that's at the County Commission
Chambers from 3: to 5: and then we also
have a schedule change you all and I
don't know that we have it in our
Outlook calendars yet um but the on
October 2nd the work session that was
supposed to be for animal related issues
uh the following week has been
rescheduled the mayor rescheduled it for
the morning of October 2nd um so there
will be that that will be our work
session on animal related issues so just
putting it on you all's calendar and
also changing what was sort of believe I
think the public didn't necessarily know
um that that had changed but that's just
two weeks away so it will be at 10: a.m.
here in the council chambers um and
other than that I really enjoyed the
bike ride thanks to Chief story for
keeping us safe um and thanks for vusus
to um support us and really
show and teach us a lot of things about
our bike related infrastructure here in
the city so I really appreciate um all
that V does George Pearson in particular
in terms of advocacy for um Safe Streets
so thank you George and
uh thanks Chief story for keeping us and
officer climac for keeping us safe uh
with pedal by the way with Pedal Power
no electric bikes needed for the police
unlike for
me thank you coun councelor Corin
councelor big sorry mayor protim thank
you though Chief story did say that they
do have some electric bikes so they're
just he didn't need one on Saturday
that's right um thanks May pm and
everyone I do just want want to add that
um former mayor Michael tubs of Stockton
California is now serving as the special
ADV adviser for economic Mobility to the
governor of California so I say fail
forward um I also wanted to read
this piece of um this article that was
recently in Politico um just a couple of
weeks ago that reads the child poverty
rate more than doubled in 2022 as Co era
programs expired erasing major economic
gains for the poorest Americans much
like the child tax credit that put um
unrestricted cash in the pockets of many
families in the United States um and you
know there's this great quote that says
poverty is a policy choice and I
couldn't agree more um a couple hundred
folks in Congress chose not to um
reinstate this child tax credit and then
the child poverty rate doubled so it is
absolutely a choice um that we have
these high of poverty rates across the
country but certainly in Las Cruses and
working towards uh building something
bold and Innovative that clearly works
um I'm proud to support that and you
don't have to agree with it I also just
you know I don't think things like oh
you don't understand finances is a super
helpful feed back I think it's um it's
interesting because I think even at the
federal level when program when we're
talking about people particularly poor
folks were always like where is the
money going to come from but when we're
talking about funding military spending
when we're talking about funding I don't
know things like the border patrol like
that's never a question of oh I wonder
where the money is coming from um you
know last year uh Chief Dominguez
brought us a budget that said you know
we need 18 new vehicles and none of us
asked where's the money coming coming
from right so it's really interesting to
me always when we pose those questions
about um who we want to invest in and
what we want to invest in and when it
comes to poor folks it's always like
well where's the money going to come
from um when clearly these programs work
and so I'd highly encourage you all to
read this incredible um
political um article that at the very
end
says you
know we now have half of Americans who
do not have $500 in savings and I think
that's pretty tragic
um I want to invite folks to attend our
housing PRC meeting on Wednesday at 2 pm
um on the second floor of City Hall and
um also the 11y year anniversary of the
open of the house oh my gosh of the
Griggs Walnut super fun site if you
haven't been to their open house to um
see how that facility is working to
improve the water in that area you
really should it's really incredible I
swear to you it's almost like magic how
incredible that facility is and what
it's doing to keep our our water safe so
that is this Thursday um from 10: to 1
it's an open house so you can drop in
whenever you'd like but I highly
encourage that folks attend that thanks
May pan thank you counselor B counc gram
thank you Mar proam uh just a couple of
shout outs I'm going to be the fourth
person to say that the city council bike
ride was great thanks to V cruus to
officer climic to Chief story who did
all of the protecting and self-powered
pedaling and I also want to mention on a
bike frame that was at least one but
possibly two sizes too small so yeah I I
wish I'd known I would have brought my
my husband's bike which would have been
a little more appropriate size so way to
do it all with your knees around your
ears on top of
everything um I also want to share thank
you to Patrick peek executive director
of South Central Solid Waste Authority
who forwarded an email chain um about
some really great Community efforts to
clean up I guess this last weekend was
National cleanup day which I wasn't
aware of um so good to learn that
and so many thanks to the compion family
to the staffords and I'm sure there were
other neighbors who maybe didn't get
mentioned who went out to the Sierra
Vista Trail around vad and picked up
among other easier wrangled garbage 48
tires um including some I'm looking at
the photos um which I would think of as
like CrossFit tires because they're like
up to my chest if you stand them up
because and like you flip them for
CrossFit no no one else has flipped
cross CrossFit
tires um but thank you so much um and
also uh of course scswa is such a great
partner in these um you know in these
efforts as well because a lot of times
people are reluctant to pick up things
that big because it can be really costly
to dispose of them once you've cleaned
them up and scswa is waving all of the
fees uh for disposal so that is another
another big help um and finally fin to
Adrien Whitmer and her incredible team
at utilities thank you so much for
addressing the uh water pressure issue
that's been ongoing at low road for uh
technical things that I couldn't
possibly understand I'm going to make
sure that I'm going to forward this
thank you email um Adrien that I got
that I don't deserve and um if you I'll
pass it along to you and if you'll pass
it along to your appropriate team
members thank you so much much for your
customer service for you and your teams
Kino always appreciate you so thank you
so much thank you concr councelor
beta thank you mayor proam first off uh
just a message for our quality of life
meeting we will not have one this month
but we will next month we be reviewing
the library master plan so uh it just
isn't quite ready so we'll be meeting
next month and then as you all may know
I just came back from Washington DC
where I with the the uh local Chamber of
Commerce where we go to uh do advocacy
on behalf of veterans programs and
Affairs especially for Wismer and a
little bit for
fortl um we also visited the US Chamber
of Commerce and got to hear a little bit
about the developments that they're
trying to do within the southern region
and looking at
nearshoring one of the most interesting
things though that I think I was able to
view we attended the veterans
business Outreach Center where we got to
learn about some different programs
which we've already um applied a bit
here in our community everything from
boots to business which is to help um uh
veterans that are just exiting out of
the service um set up their small
business we also have different programs
for empowering veteran
entrepreneurship there seems to be a
little bit of a difference between the
entrepreneurship that we see AC Across
the Nation versus what we have in our
community we were reported that in other
places entrepreneurship is um usually
done by the 60 plus crowd um whereas
here we see a different demographic that
is uh the ones that are trying to open
up new businesses so it was very
interesting um to look at there's also
programs that are starting to reach out
to um the spouses of veterans to make
sure it's easier for them to to um get
either certified or licensed in
different states which is really helpful
especially if they have like uh teaching
certifications um or other types of
technical expertise those are needed um
areas in many different fields here in
our community and there is there was
going to be I believe right in 2020 a um
Symposium about um veterans Outreach and
they were going to host it here in Los
crus
um but then U with everything with Co it
was delayed now it looks like we are
trying to bring that back here again um
and make sure that we can get that full
Symposium here and then um reach out to
the individuals in Wismer and the
southwest region so um ifo if we can
work with Debbie on that to just check
back in because I think that was a great
opportunity for us to still work
with and uh I also want to say I have a
a little girl that does the walk to to
school every week which she's very
excited about she has a little
neighborhood of set of friends they all
walk together um every day but on
Wednesday uh on Fridays they do a
different route to do the walk to school
they love it it's very fun it is all the
things that the little ones were saying
today about it gets them together it
gets community it gets them out and
walking and they they just have a blast
plus sometimes they get little charms
that they can hang off their backpacks
and they certainly love that too so it's
a wonderful program and I'm happy to see
it in schools throughout the the city
thank you mayor Pam thank you councelor
AA e Mr
pey thank you mayor Pro
counselor just wanted to remind everyone
about our town hall meeting with uh LCPD
tomorrow at 5:30 pm that's part of the
quarterly meetings they have and then
also
Wednesday so tomorrow then Wednesday is
also the bridge bridging Bridging the
badge meeting that'll be via Zoom the
link will be on Facebook and again just
more engagement and Outreach appreciate
LCPD um organizing these events and
these uh more more opportunity to
interact with the public
um speaking of which I I just want
to to share some I guess some thoughts
regarding
downtown um as it relates to crime and
and you know um I know you know Council
but just for the Public's sake I mean we
do have out of all this all the areas in
the city we actually hired security
guards because of the tid that allows us
to do that so not only do we have Patrol
there we have community outreach there
we have our um Lieutenant WIA is is the
community Lon that goes there for
meetings um there's typically someone at
the Farmers Market
uh we have a lot of police presence
there I think uh economic development is
looking at um our
downtown um 20 to 32 new downtown
security
cameras U but there's a security service
in addition to our patrolling that's
down there uh from 10 p.m. to 7:00 a.m.
every
night and so there's uh we we do know
that since we've implemented that crime
has gone down especially during that
time so there's a lot of efforts being
done all over the city but specifically
to downtown because of that tid we have
a little bit of Leverage there so just
wanted to make
that make that known um of course
there's some other issues that we were
dealing with Citywide regarding crime
working with the Municipal Court also
with the magistrate uh court and then um
of course the da and there's more more
info to come uh with uh Chief story will
you know him and I will will maybe
present something further about what's
been done but I know you all have had
that uh have been making efforts in that
way to get U get with our our court
system and and our da
to to get these things addressed but
just want to make known specifically in
the downtown there's there's actually
extra extra Patrol there more than we
have in any other part of the city
because of because of the
tip um so I'll I'll just stop there with
that but um another thing with economic
development they've they've uh wanted me
to remind everyone about the
catastrophic business assistance program
it's available through $150,000 of
Junior money uh funds provided by
Senator Hamlin uh we've given out our
first four grants in the amount of
42,000 uh 342 2 AC Replacements over
2,000 equipment stolen in and a
multi-day shutdown due to waterline
issues these funds are recommended to
those businesses not only for
replacement costs but for loss of
Revenue and loss
wages um I
believe that's all I have may Pam
Council thank you EO for mentioning
about the downtown I think it important
we've had a num numerous efforts and un
I spoke as late as last week late Friday
about some other things that I've
requested bringing back the large camera
maybe foot patrol um I know that in
talking with Chris favor there's um the
suggestion and recommendation about
offering security during the day where
there seems to be you know some issues
during the day I've received numerous um
um calls and emails about a big brawl
that happened at Klein Park um over the
weekend on Sunday um I'm not sure um
Chief story if you were aware of that um
I'm I'm sure there's a number of things
that are happening Citywide but I'll be
forwarding that information I'm
wondering if we need to just move into
you know um looking at security for for
our Parks not only that I'm hearing that
at abalaka Park and all over the city so
um
I it it's a it's an issue and I think
people are really concerned about that I
know that you mentioned about working
with our district attorney and um our
court system EO and I are looking at a
resolution specifically um to bring back
to council related to our municipal code
and how we can have maybe some teeth in
um some of these um misdemeanors
possibly felonies and I know that that
um he's having that conversation
specifically with Miss samples so thank
you eil appreciate that okay anything
else okay I need a motion to adjourn so
move DEA second m
motion made by councelor AA second by
councelor Boma um chis Christine please
take the r this is on the motion to
adjourn the meeting councelor AA yes
councelor Graham yes councelor bomo yes
councelor cran yes councelor flutes yes
mayor PRM yes the mayor is
absent motion passes we are
adjourned
I