[Music]
thank you
[Music]
good afternoon everybody I'm Cassandra
Gandara mayor Pro tem I will be
presiding over the meeting this
afternoon while mayor is away at the
sister cities function
and so what I would like to do is first
extend our gratitude to the men and
women of our fire department and police
for all that they do to keep us safe 24
7.
and now let's stand for the Pledge of
Allegiance councilor corn
ER
thank you Council Corin and all
I just want to give a warm welcome back
to counselor Flores
we are very excited that you're with us
thank you yes thank you thank you
and next up we will have pet of the week
Amy De Felix are you on Zoom Amy
hello yes I'm here there you are
comma do you want to mention
um most of them are sleeping in case you
hear any background noise I have a mama
and 11 puppies in my office so sometimes
they will they might get a little Barky
but just in case but hello um I am one
of the adoption rescue coordinators for
the Animal Services Center the Messiah
Valley my name is Amy De Felix and every
week I pick and present the pets of the
week so let's go ahead and start by
sharing my screen
right here
turn my video off so you can see
alrighty
and we'll start off as always with our
cat of the week his name is Shiloh his
number is 65276 and he says like my name
suggests I'm quite shy but underneath my
exterior I'm truly a sweet boy I came
from a hoarding situation so I didn't
get much socialization when it was
needed most since being at the AC ascmv
I've learned that I love chin scratches
and we'll even start drooling a little
bit if I get some I just need a family
dedicated to giving me the time and
space to flourish
and then for our dog of the week we have
Angel her number is 53736 and she says
much like my brother blue who was last
week's dog of the week I came to the
asmb it's a teeny puppy I came back
several months later and I'm spending my
young at dohood hoping I'll find my
forever home soon I can be a little shy
at first but all it takes is some
reassurance and pets and I open up
quickly I'm walking nicely on the leash
and know how to sit for Treats but I'm
just missing my family though help me
blossom
and regarding adoption events we are
still in the middle of doing the
shelters every single adoption is only
25 it's definitely a huge discount it
covers everything spay and odor
vaccinations microchips everything only
25 so you definitely encourage all the
stuff by
um we have an offset adoption event at
Petco uh this Saturday the 26th from
11AM to 3 P.M so I also encourage you
guys to stop by
and now next up on my disease prevention
series I'd like to talk about distemper
and I know it's particularly canine
distemper
um is one of the ones that are part of
the the combo core vaccine that we all
let you get your puppies
um some people may be vaccinate but
don't really know what's in it or why or
what really happens if they're not
vaccinated so this is what it's about
distemper is a viral infection it's
multi-systemic that means it affects
multiple organ systems um it's spread by
direct contact between a susceptible dog
and an infected dog the incubation
period can last or can range between one
week to over one month which is
um terrible and frustrating because
without an incubation period that long
it's hard to pinpoint exactly where a
dog might have gotten it from it's um
it's always um
quite a struggle for disease tracing
purposes especially here at the shelter
the duration of the disease typically
ranges from one week to six weeks and
now just December symptoms
um initial symptoms mimic common like
kennel cough or upper respiratory
symptoms so that's like ocular discharge
a watery tip that's like like a little
more opaque ocular discharge from the
eyes of course fever coughing lethargy
um reduced appetite and vomiting are all
kind of symptoms that
are also present in kennel cough or
upper respiratory infection
um so it's in these initial stages uh
it's kind of hard to distinguish between
the two but Progressive symptoms as the
virus keeps reproducing it will
eventually attack the nervous system and
of course this is where it starts to
distinguish itself and make itself known
as distemper and that's a neurological
symptoms like circling Behavior a head
tilt muscle twitches convulsions with a
jaw chewing and salivation so like they
can't stop like chattering or chewing
like uh punching their jaw
um it can even progress to seizures
partial or complete paralysis
um distemper itself is often more often
than not uh fatal
um and survivors when they do survive
have permanent neurological damage so
it's never
a great outcome to come out of distemper
and I'll just upper diagnosis and
treatment veterinarians diagnosed
through like clinical presentation like
their symptoms when they're being
observed and also Laboratory Testing we
run like a I believe an antibody test
um or a PCR test
um treatment consists mostly of
supportive care and management of
symptoms because there is no cure for
distemper it's mostly controlling the
vomiting diarrhea and combating the
dehydration through fluid administration
the support of care to keep their body
at least stable at least as stable as
possible while it tries to fight off the
virus itself diagnosed with this
diagnosed dogs must be quarantined to
prevent spread obviously and that can
take of course the range of
one to six weeks the
lifespan of the disease as well as maybe
possibly any kind of time slightly after
if there's a possible disease spread
um after symptoms resolve if they do
um December prevention of course like I
said there is no cure for distemper like
most viral infections there's no
um you can't just take like a medicine
and have it go away quicker so
prevention is definitely the most
effective route so vaccination
um underlined exclamation point
um highlighted vaccination is the most
important way to prevent your dog from
Contracting the stepper then it starts
in puppyhood it's part of their dhpv
their distemper part of combo vaccine
vaccinate them
it's it's up to your personal vet and a
wee we vaccinate puppies and kittens
until they're I believe about five
months old
um and then we're vaccinating adults
every year as soon as vaccines are due I
know I think there might be some like
three year vaccine so it's whenever the
vaccine itself expires or loses efficacy
um definitely revaccinate as soon as
possible to maintain their immunization
and make sure that they're not
susceptible in any sort of time frame in
their life of course avoiding contact
with suspected infected animals and
Wildlife if a dog looks sick don't bring
your dog near them wildlife
in general it's definitely something to
be wary of with your animals just if not
just a stemper other random diseases
that Wildlife can carry want to keep
your dog away from that don't let your
dogs interact with other dogs unless
they're fully vaccinated so that's like
taking them to the dog parks dog eat
daycare or boarding and I know like
doggie daycare and boarding you usually
require your dogs to be fully vaccinated
anyways that's kind of a measure that we
absolutely
um started to implement just to
minimize disease outbreaks in their
facilities in general but dog parks it's
kind of unregulated so that's a
definitely a drug discretion but highly
encouraged for you to not bring your dog
to a dog park until they're fully
vaccinated just in case
definitely keep your dogs healthy and
safe um that is the ultimate goal
um and thank you thank you so much
thank you so much Amy very important
information appreciate that next up we
have jobs of the week Sarah Rainey are
you there hi Sarah there you are hi good
afternoon everyone thank you for having
me I'm going to stop my video and share
my screen with you all
okay can we see that
we can yes okay great
all righty oops
there we go
all right for the jobs of the week
we have an industrial waste programs
inspector for the city of Las Cruces
that one pays 24.78 an hour well it
starts there it closes next week on 8
28th also for the city of Las Cruces we
have a transport officer
um that one starts at 15 an hour and
that closes next week as well
we also have a commissary officer at the
White Sands Missile Range that one
ranges from 57 000 to 89 000 a year
depending on experience that one closes
this week on the 24th
we have a line cook for Jim Bob's
Barbecue that one ranges from twelve
dollars to Fifteen dollars an hour and
closes in September
an administrative assistant at NMSU for
1605 an hour that one closes on 8 31. an
order replenishment manager for the
Coca-Cola Southwest Beverages and that
one ranges from 16 to 22 dollars an hour
depending on experience that one closes
in September as well
and just to let everybody know we're
located over on 226 South out of Alameda
Boulevard here in Las Cruces you can
reach us at
524-6250 or online always at employ
nm.com or on our new app and you can get
that on Google Play or the App Store so
thank you very much guys you have a
wonderful week
thank you so much Sarah
now we have a mayor's certificate of
achievement presented to Natalia Costa
Briones is she here
hi Natalia I'm Cassandra nice to meet
you yeah a little embarrassed you'll be
okay listen this is a marriage
certificate of achievement that's
presented to Natalia Acosta Briones in
recognition of your commitment and
dedication in helping to make Las Cruces
A Better Community it's signed by our
mayor Ken mihagashima dated 21st of this
year 2023. can you tell us a little bit
about what you were doing
um yeah come on I competed in a national
Spanish spelling bee and uh I won first
place
can you tell me the word that you won
with do you remember
no okay that's all right all that
matters is that you won good job we're
very proud of you and keep it up okay
and in Espanol
wow I'm I'm impressed good for you
you're welcome thank you
oh
she goes to Mesa thank you how are you
uh proud parents I'm assuming back there
yes uh yes you're doing good keep it up
next up is a presentation a mayor's
certificate of achievements presented to
the Las Cruces utilities Solace waste
employees
I see you over here to my right you want
to come on down
please
Hi how are you good good
so we have not just certificates but
these beautiful plaques and they're
Award of outstanding service Carino in
recognition of your work extinguishing
the clean Landfill fire thank you very
much we and
this one is before I do that
you want to go okay Carlos are you here
Carlos
did I butchered I'm so sorry okay very
good
um Ted
lotterner La Turner sorry
Hector lassoya
[Applause]
thank you
Ricardo Sanchez
Michael apobelka
Edward Lopez
Dennis lavazzo
Cody Murillo
Max Gonzalez
thank you
Anthony Luna
and then last but certainly not least
Philip glassson
supervisor here that would like to say a
few words
hi my name is Carl Pierce I'm the deputy
director for solaways and uh
this group of men I'm very proud of and
what they did we got the call to uh to
extinguish this fire for the greater for
the greater uh safety of the public and
uh some of these guys were taking shifts
all night to make sure the fire didn't
spread some weren't really really
positions and and conditions of uh
turning of turning the dirt to put that
fire out
and uh and some of them were out here to
keep our equipment going so we could do
it I'm really proud they did it within
the time limit that we we needed to get
done for the for Public Safety and uh
yeah thank you
thank you
okay that concludes our presentations
and proclamations thank you
okay
next is do we have any of us on Council
and on staff have any conflict of
interest
thank you
next up is our public participation we
will give you three minutes I'll start
on my left anybody on the first row
second
hi
please make sure you state your name
please for the record
Council
my name is Kathy start and I'm with
Animal Advocates for change
many years ago a wise man told me that I
needed to understand that people will
never fail to disappoint me
and the city continues to disappoint on
issues of animal care and control most
recently
on July 27th a letter was signed by the
city's Animal Control supervisor in the
county animal control manager on City
letterhead and it was sent to the local
veterinarians posing four questions
about spay and neuter Services the
letter was also sent to snap
snap doesn't provide Veterinary Services
which I think most of us know
the letter was deeply concerning and
we're aware that a response and
responses were sent expressing concerns
by our veterinarians
for those of us with pets are caring for
Community cats our vets are extremely
important and precious to us and last
thing we would like to see is anything
that could alienate them from the work
and the services they're providing for
us
the letter requests information about
the ability of our veterinarians to
offer low-cost spay and neuter but it
never defines what is low cost
so there's no way for them to answer
that but even more concerning is the
second question
and that question was would you be
willing to assist with free spay neuter
clinics via the doniana county mobile
clinic
are we really asking these professionals
to perform their work for free
they're already overwhelmed
they're already working extensively long
hours
they regularly provide services for free
or at discounted rates but their costs
are not discounted or free to them
what other profession would we be asking
whether they would perform their
services for free
I believe Mr peely gets a car allowance
should he work for free are police
officers many have cards should we ask
them to work for free I don't think so
we have veterinarians that are willing
to help with spay and neuter we have
veterinarians that are willing to devote
full days to this effort
but they should never be asked to do
this work for free or at a cost that
doesn't recognize they too have costs
we have a work session planned for
October 10th I believe it is
and typically the purpose of a work
session is to bring forward
a document prior to coming before the
council but a document on which
consensus has been reached
over the past year we have reached
consensus with local rescues with the
ascmv but our efforts to meet with City
Animal Control have either gone
unanswered or have been politely
declined
this is very concerning since the intent
of a work session would be to brief you
on what is being proposed in the new
ordinance
it's very disappointing members of the
community and members of aafc regularly
asked me why is the city not engaging
why are they not at the table and I
don't have an answer for them except
people will never fail to disappoint
thank you
thank you Miss dark
anybody on this second
the beep's not working you'll let me
know
okay that was second row third row yes
please come on down
give you three minutes state your name
please for the record
uh good afternoon my name is Stan Engel
that's e-n-g-l-e for the record
hopefully I will keep this short
um but who knows
I'm here to thank the city
for their work on South malindra Street
installing the traffic calming it's been
a few months and I apologize for not
showing up earlier and entering my
comments into the record but I am very
appreciative of it I still believe that
the city can do more though not just in
my neighborhood for example adding a
stop sign on Brown and melindras but
also to
um
in other neighborhoods to slow traffic
calm traffic so that our neighbors our
kids can actually enjoy their
neighborhoods once again
without the threat of
um
multi-thousand pound Vehicles bearing
down on them constantly
um so I encourage this uh this body to
continue to find ways to help encourage
our community members and our kids to be
able to be outside in their own
neighborhoods and be able to safely get
to school or get to our local businesses
and I appreciate the time thank you
thank you Mr Engel
okay anybody else on that third row
a mayor Pro Town counselor my name is
Laura Lai English or Lori English
on June 7 2023 an item was on the agenda
regarding a monument to be erected in
Veterans Park
prior to Healing hearing public comment
you people and it's kind of ironic that
the mayor's not here because he's not
included in my complaint
you ladies heard
or came out spoke on the issue about the
monument
pretty much told us what you were
thinking even before it even came up for
public comment
decisions were made
off the podium so to speak
the names on the walls in Veterans Park
are honorable names of veterans that
enlisted in the state of New Mexico not
just veterans in general
um
just because a father
is in the military does not qualify him
to have a space or a private Monument
for his child in Veterans Park
the city council
went against established rules and
disregarded the board charged with
making these decisions and all the
veterans that spoke on that day against
this Monument
you stated before the public comment
events were even allowed
that you had made up your minds it was
clear it was a general consensus through
all all of utilities that this was done
um you ignored everybody that had input
in fact you actually put down
some of the veterans that spoke
and insulted them
you never gave the parents any insults
you never cut the parents off they got
to speak for their whole time
basically transparency does not apply to
the city council
who by the way you are elected by the
people of the city of Las Cruces
in essence you decided before the
council was called to order I strongly
request that the videos
pre-public comment be reviewed
many veterans feel as I do that this was
wrong
you women just didn't don't you just
don't get it you are not veterans I
don't care if you have fathers that are
veterans or brothers or sisters that are
veterans you don't understand honor
again I would like to offer my deepest
sincere condolences to the family that
the Gonzalez family for the loss of
their child but what you people did on
July on June 7th was wrong I'm asking to
have it reviewed and to have it be
re-addressed in the form of an agenda
item on the city council when cooler
heads can Prevail and emotions and
sympathy don't come into play thank you
foreign
thank you Miss English
fourth row
mayor Pro tem council members my name is
Tim Baker and I'm with the Chelsea
Investment corporation and my colleague
Amy Bennett is also with me and she is a
longtime resident of Las Cruces
I'm speaking regarding our upcoming the
three sisters family development and I
just want to compliment State sir I'm
sorry can you wait till it comes up I
was directed to speak now I'm happy you
were I'm happy okay I'm happy to come up
at another time I don't want to
um I just want I'd like to compliment
the entire city staff
city manager your team the development
services department Natalie and Jan and
specifically for the efforts on this
project we're
we've committed the city has committed
2.4 million dollars to this development
and we are looking forward to breaking
ground closing on the funding and then
September and breaking ground in October
and we're so excited and honored to be
in the city of Las Cruces and to be good
stewards of the community's funds and to
be Future Good stewards of this
development thank you so much for your
positive contributions and your comments
and obviously if anything comes up now
over the many years that we'll be
managing this property in the city you
know where to find us
very much thank you very much thank you
Mr Baker appreciate it anybody else on
the fourth row vitthro
sixth row
mayor portam council
this morning I received various irate
comments on the deplorable conditions of
the U.S flag in front of the city hall
yes City Hall our City Hall Las Cruces
City Hall and as you can see how
shredded it is it is split in half and
in shreds this didn't happen overnight I
can't believe we have thousands of
dollars to spend on renaming
Valley but we can't replace the U.S flag
for thirty dollars maybe less in a
timely manner there is no excuse for
their slabs
I have been listening to and working
with Yoli Diaz for the last couple of
months on a call for action and
responsibility for Health Care access to
improve health outcomes and reduce
suffering in donana county for tax
payment residents that have been denied
and delayed catastrophic Health Care to
include residents who were Indigent and
uninsured
as you know doniana is an extreme
disadvantaged region in the state of New
Mexico
with the with the social determination
of Health eye cancer mortality rates its
large Hispanic population lower income
levels but you know all this as their
Community we need immediate action and
long-term solutions to be considered and
implemented we have a governor who is
planning to spend 10 million dollars in
another abortion clinic
in the community I don't think we need
three so why not a catastrophic Care
Center or a mental health
or drug rehabilitation center that could
help in resolving crime
you will say that serve different funds
so why not Lobby through our Senators
and representatives to convince the
governor of the importance of a
catastrophic care for some illnesses and
in my opinion instead of another
abortion clinic that is only needed to
support the growing abortion industry in
New Mexico
catastrophic Health Care saves lives
abortion clinics take lives thank you
and I will introduce this better picture
in for the record thank you Mr Garcia
anybody else on the sixth row
seventh row
[Music]
good afternoon my name is Beverly Drumm
I'm the senior Vice commander of DAV
chapter 10 Messiah Valley
the veterans within a 25 mile radius
received a postcard recently from
Albuquerque regarding our VA claims and
benefits Workshop that we're having
Tuesday
August 29 the time on that postcard is
incorrect the time on the flyer is
correct it is
nine in the morning until one in the
afternoon this is at Messiah Community
Center I have pliers on the back table
and flyers in the lobby as well so I
just wanted to address all veterans if
they did receive that postcard the time
is correct the time on the flyer is the
correct time for the workshop thank you
so much thank you so much Miss Beverly
you want
you want flyer to our clerk so she can
put on the record and we'll make sure
that we get it
up on maybe one of our bulletin boards
or something of that nature thank you
for being here and and
setting the record straight
um anybody in
the eighth aisle
anybody else on this side
nope okay let's
um anybody first row second row third
row
fourth row
fifth row sixth
seventh anybody on this side okay that
concludes public participation
thank you
um I think the mayor is on yes mayor you
on
yes
okay okay we'll need emotion and a
second to have mayor participate in the
meeting
motion made by conservletus second by
counselor bengoma
Christine
this is on the motion to allow the mayor
to participate telephonically counselor
beta yes councilor Graham yes counselor
Ben Como yes councilor Koran yes
counselor Flores yes councilor Gandara
yes mayor
yeah
and uh Madam chair
yes sir
yeah just a couple things uh I'm not
sure if you mentioned anything but just
for the members of the public I'm
actually here in ninberg Germany uh with
our delegation it's our 30th Anniversary
so I just wanted to welcome everyone
from from Germany although you guys
can't see but nonetheless that
um and I was also going to ask to move
the third item I don't have the
resolution in front of me to to move
that when the time comes for to discuss
and vote for that item if we can move
the agenda item on that and
um excuse me real quickly I just want to
congratulate congratulate Natalia for
her winning the filming B Championship
as well as the solid waste uh
individuals for their hard work and
putting that fire out in the on the
landfill over there on the East Mesa
East Side as well as our firefighters as
well it's a good combination of team
effort to get that thing taken care of
that's it I'll be waiting for the
of the other issue thank you mayor okay
next is to I we have a closed meeting
statement to read the Las Cruces City
Council met in closed session at 1103
a.m August 14 2023 the following members
were in attendance mayor Ken mahigoshima
Council Cassandra Gandara concert Tessa
beta councilor Becky Graham counselor
Joanna binkomo councilor Becky corn and
counselor Flores was absent staff was Mr
peely Miss Linda samples
Haley grant our outside attorney left at
11 19. Brad Douglas Deputy City attorney
Jeremy story interim Chief LCPD ikani
tamoteo assistant city manager Barbara
bencomo
um
our chief of staff Sonia Delgado
assistant city manager the meeting
adjourned at 11 37 statement for the
record the Las Cruces City Council met
in closed session and only discussed
those limited items as stated in the
Post-it notice
and the purpose of was to close meeting
is to discuss pending litigation
regarding e Nunez versus city of Las
Cruces
is an individual and official capacity
and G Sanchez and his individual and
official capacity
which is closed pursuant to nmsa 1978
section
10-151h7 to 10 second to discuss
threatening threatened litigation
regarding Jay Jones which is close
percent to nmsa 1978 section 10-15-187
okay
I need a motion to accept the agenda
with
well we already did that so I don't have
to say that I do with mayor
participating telephonically
I I hope we accept the agenda with eight
point item 8.3 resolution
24-023 moved to the top of the
discussion thank you counselor
we have a second I'll second second by
Flores Okay imagine made by counselor
Corin second by counselor beta
I have no conflict of interest on any
item on agenda thank you for clarifying
that mayor
Christine this is on the motion to
approve the agenda as presented with
um item 8.3 moved to the top of
discussion counselor beta yes Council
Graham yes councilor Ben Como yes
counselor Quran yes counselor Flores yes
mayor Pro tem yes and mayor
yeah
okay
next 8.3 resolution number 24-023
to approve corn second Abita motion made
by Council Corin second by counselor
beta
hello Mr Nichols and Miss Gonzalez
welcome back Sarah thank you
thank you mayor Pro Tem
can I just I don't know if it's your
microphone I was going to ask the mayor
if he could mute himself while he's not
speaking because it's really echoey
yeah I'll disagree with it but um I can
turn off the whole I'm watching uh the
video of showing my colleagues but you
all look like oh hi colleagues for
wanting to say hi to you
[Music]
I'm salivating Christine is there Adrian
or somebody there that could help us
hopefully that helps but so
did that help in
it does Mayor thank you
[Music]
I mean it's been
what is that how does that sound better
right okay
Mr Nichols please proceed thank you
thank you good afternoon mayor Mia
Kashima in Germany mayor Pro tem city
council city manager and City officials
for the record I'm Larry Nicholas
director of Community Development
Department
the resolution today is a status update
on a property that is both ruined in
dilapidation in a state of uninhabitable
condition
the basic side information on the
property is located at
4 30 South Main in Lomond basically a
closest intersection is Main and lumen
it's an unfinished and unsafe structure
that's based on inspections recently
performed
the Zoning for that property is a
commercial C3 zoning it's a very
broad-based zoning and allows for many
types of activities of professional
offices retail
things of that nature
it also is in the infield District which
gives us additional incentives for to be
developed
from a historical preservation review
it's regarded as a non-contributing
structure
a brief chronology starting back in 2010
through 2023 this property was issued a
building permit in 2010 for a tenant
Improvement for development for some
professional offices
but between 2010 and 2015
the project was initially began but then
stopped and there was no further
progress on the tenant Improvement
and site inspections and during that
period of time where there were numerous
city of police department service calls
they arranged there were
ranging from nuisances to
tries to
re-calls for service the same was
continued through 2015 and 20 although
at this point in time there was also in
addition to those with the structure was
unsecured from unauthorized entering
and the police department service costs
were were continuing along with code
enforcement
a
2020-23 we had word that the the owner
the developer and owner of that on that
property had inquired interest in some
activity being proposed for development
and finishing the structure and for it
to be occupied
those never came to fruition and the
property remained in its uh unsafe
unoccupyable state
and then 23 in a telephone discussion
with the owner I had spoken to him about
the abatement or demolition of the
property I'll give you more detail on
the 23 chronology for the abatement
process
uh in March there was a side inspection
called because the property was there
was Weeds debris
evidence of broken windows removal of
some of the boarding that was prevented
unauthorized entry
so we did a site inspection at the end
of that I posted a condemnation notice
to the property and to be an unsafe
structure
again in March I provided the owner with
a certified letter of the inspection
findings and then he was I did hear back
and and uh later on as a verification of
the notice that he had received that
certified mail and acknowledgment of the
notice of condemnation
and then there was a period of about two
months
that we were anticipating that the owner
would respond back to tell us what he
was going to do in order to Abate the
unsafe conditions at the property
however there was no remedial work
during that period of time
which caused us to go to the district
court and receive a
in a special order basically a search
warrant to look at the anterior premises
of the of the structure
and we did that and we've found several
conditions that were not only unsafe in
all but hazardous to any occupants that
may have been in that building
so then I had a telephone conversation
with the owner in July 15th a
conversation with the owner asking him
to what was he going to pursue to Abate
these conditions of this property would
he be continuing and Abate by finishing
the property
and finished the construction or
demolition
his word to me would that he would
pursue demolition
based on that information a demolition
permit was issued on August 10th to a
licensed New Mexico contractor
and on the 16th I've gone by and I
looked at that property and they have
begun to mobilize on the on the site to
pursue the demolition basically at this
point there but just as some of the
barricades fencing so they have access
to the interior
the contractors advised me that he will
start the demolition by removal of
debris and other items from the interior
and then they will begin to remove the
exterior framing that's unfinished and
exposed and then clamps the roof and
then the walls of the structure
the statutory Authority that the city
has
to impose a notice of condemnation is
supported by New Mexico statute
Authority chapter 3 article 18. and the
Mexico Administrative Code analyst
Cruces Municipal coach
the summary of recommendations
is that the the facility is substandard
it's unfit for habitation based on
multiple inspections and no remedial
work performed
it's a hazard to Public Safety and
Welfare
at the it's unsafe facilities due to the
fiscal condition both the exterior and
anterior of the structure and premises
and the structure is not in substantial
compliance with our municipal building
codes regulating habitable occupancy
and then further that the responsible
party shall abide by all permitting
requirements to obey the structure and
the property premises
I have also provided here a few
conditions of the blighted conditions on
the property that that we inspected in
not only in March but again in a month
or two later
you can see that there are some
unsecured broken fencing around the
perimeters of property trash weeds
and then there's weeds trash and a drug
paraphernalia that is scattered in
different locations of the site
the next slide shows that there's an
open trench in the interior
of the structure that had to do with the
plumbing um
when they were first talking about doing
something with the building
unscared fencing and again drug
paraphernalia scattered about
the unsecured panelists on the exterior
of the building those panels
provide what we call Shear resistance to
the framing and so with them becoming
unattached that framing is subject to
either collapse or a possible
uh injury to someone
in particular the electrical wiring
inside is exposed
during our inspections we were notified
the electric company and we have
disconnected the power to the building
at the Transformer we've also
disconnected the gas
service to the to the building at the uh
was what they call cut and capped so
that those hazardous conditions would
not be stumbled on on the person unaware
without and you see a picture there of
unauthorized occupancy on the interior
building and some trash and debris
again the blighted condition this is a
picture the first one is the unsecured
and exposed fiberglass insulation but
more importantly that is a result of the
roof leakage and the morphine membrane
not being intact
and again the unauthorized occupancy and
trash
the interior showing that several of the
lighting fixtures are hanging by the
electrical wiring that supplies the
power which would be a definite hazard
and then we have exposed electrical
wiring on the exterior of the building
that has below it a dry weed which would
be very if the power were energized a
very potential of having a fire at the
site
those concludes my presentation uh your
options are to vote Yes to approve vote
no to deny
vote no to amend or vote no to table I
concludes my presentations and I stand
for questions you may have
yes
yes oh no
okay
I don't know okay well I'm just gonna
keep talking my apologies
yeah yeah it's still doing it
okay Larry thank you if you can
there we go okay
yeah
okay
um first of all I just really want to
thank you and city manager ifo pili and
staff for what I believe has been very
good faith conversations with the owner
and everyone involved in the last year
but also in the last decade but
especially in the last year and so I
just really wanted to thank you Larry
for for for doing all of that work and
as well you city manager peely for
um you know taking our Direction on this
and really allowing staff to do what
they needed to do
Larry how long for the demolition permit
that was issued on the 10th I believe
you said how long is that permit for how
long do they have to complete the
demolition project
the permit is issued for 180 days
and the anticipation from the licensed
contractor that took the permit
believes that the demolition come will
be completed much before that period of
time we'll be monitoring it okay repeat
the number again
pardon me can you repeat the number the
number of days you said
mayor Pro tem counselor Ben Como the
permit is issued for 180 days 80 180
180. okay thank you and so so we will be
monitoring what happens in the event
forgive me for my cynicism but of course
it's been 12 years so what happens in
the event that it is not completed in
those days
yes mayor Pro tem and councilor Ben Como
basically what you have the the action
you have before you today would enable
the city to step in and complete the
demolition if that the demolition was
abandoned by the owner
then we would the city would step in get
bids from a demolition contractor and
complete the Demolition and then file
lien on the property
thank you Larry that's I think important
information for the public to understand
um I was also you know as we were sort
of preparing for today I was thinking
about
um
just the general nuisance the general
Hazard that buildings like this cause
the public and the community and I I
asked fire chief Smith if he could give
me some data regarding
um fires that had taken place that empty
or abandoned properties in the last
couple of years and it's very initial
data so I want to read some of the
numbers but I may pretend I would also
love it if I if Chief Smith would speak
on just the danger that buildings like
this pose to Firefighters and The Wider
Community but in 2022 abandoned and
unsecured uh fire incidents abandoned
and unsecured locations were 16 and in
2023 so far abandoned and unsecured
there's been nine and so that's pretty
significant I mean you know perhaps in
the context of their overall service
calls it might not seem like it but 16
in 2022 and nine that's that's a that's
a lot of fires right to
um that have put our community at risk
but you know most importantly are
firefighters so I don't know Chief if
you wanted to add anything to to that as
I know it was very raw data that you
provided me
yes Chief Smith
uh thank you mayor Pro tem and
councilman Cohen fire chief Jason Smith
to give some context to the numbers that
we're speaking about that they can
unsecured building fires that we've
experienced looking back from 2018 up
until 2021 uh even as we were into the
pandemic we averaged just about 2.6 of
those fires so about three a year so to
have such a significant jump to 2022 at
16. I mean that is well above two
standard deviations so we're talking
um probably closer to what we'd expect
at being a very large outlier of those
Fires at the same time in 2022 we had a
a large increase over 50 percent of just
structure fires in general
so we are seeing more fire experience in
our community
with that though I definitely appreciate
the opportunity to talk about the safety
and the risk to our firefighters with
this topic of fire and risk reduction
the U.S fire service has one voice on
this on the challenges we face those
include our community safety and
building Construction and design as well
as firefighter health
our community and fire department as
well as the U.S fire service faced major
major challenges and reducing fire risk
Across the Nation
removing those like this Hazard here
that we're speaking about on South Main
helps protect the people in Las Cruces
but also our firefighters unoccupied and
unsecured buildings pose a significant
risk to our firefighters we don't know
what's inside those buildings the
contents trash debris we've found used
needles tires waste a lot of things that
contribute to fire spread and also the
risk to our firefighters
with that the number one cause of
firefighter deaths now is cancer so
every time we go into a fire whether
it's a dumpster fire a structure fire an
abandoned house
we're putting our firefighters at more
and more risk for cancer
even today our our fire marshal would
have been here but he's actually in a
follow-up appointment with the Mayo
Clinic as he is a cancer survivor
himself and that was uh considered on
the job injury for that
so the more and more we can do to reduce
these hazards it benefits our community
but also helps our firefighters that
they're not being exposed to this that
level of risk should only happen where
we're going to be able to save somebody
and the opportunity for that is
decreasing more and more the actual
deaths caused by structure fire has been
increasing in the United States so as
the number of fires overall has gone
down the risk to occupants has gone up
and that's because of the type of
construction we use with lightweight
construction and the type of materials
we put into our our homes we use
petroleum-based furnishings and now with
the introduction of Lithium-ion
batteries we're experiencing more and
more significant fires with less time
for people to escape
and what we need to be looking at now is
how do we design our buildings and what
fire safety protection do we put into
those
keep our people and our firefighters
safe and the most important thing we can
do is require sprinklers in all
buildings residential and commercial
moving forward
so with that I'm glad that we're seeing
this property here at South Main be
addressed and I hope that we can
continue this through the city
thank you so much Chief I really
appreciate that because I think on its
face this ordinance is about abatement
but there's so many layers to that and
you just spoke to such important ones so
I really appreciate you speaking on that
issue and then just lastly I'll say
um
you know I think there's a
surrounding this building and really
surrounding a lot of our Nat Properties
or neighborhood action team properties
homes that have been abandoned
um you know we're having a lot of
conversations about that and what it
means for property rights to be
protected right that's critical that the
government doesn't come in and take
something that you worked so hard to to
build and and to have in your name I
think that line is very clearly spelled
out I think on the other side of that
line is responsibility as a property
owner you have incredible responsibility
to yourself to your neighbors to your
neighborhood to First Responders to to
maintain to upkeep your property at a
a minimum standard safe and when you
fail to do that is when measures like
this have to be taken nobody wants to
see this happen absolutely not and but
to me it's a matter of responsibility
and it's a matter of
um
taking ownership for the decision to be
a property owner so I just really want
to appreciate you Larry and again and
and city manager pili for for really
getting us to to this ordinance today
thanks very important thank you
councilor bin Como anybody else on
Council
the public is there any public
comment
if you have public comment please come
down no okay see none Christine
yeah I'm sorry mayor
are you still with us yeah I'm here do
you have some yeah
any input mayor
not that I can say publicly no
we're good we're ready to roll all right
mayor sounds good
Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution
24-023 counselor beta yes
councilor Graham yes councilor Ben Como
yes counciloran also yes counselor
Flores yes mayor Pro tem yes mayor
motion passes thank you thank you again
Larry staff
okay mayor
thank you mayor bye-bye
okay next up 8.1 resolution number
24-021
motion and a second
so moved wait wait wait did you say
something conservate that I didn't hear
you emotion okay motion made by concert
Abate the second by concert binkomo
hi
Charlie hi there how are you I'm doing
well good
thank you
good afternoon Mr Mayor mayor
potemkandara council City management and
staff my name is Charlie Fierro budget
analyst with fiscal management here with
the city
and today I'm presenting a resolution
proposing an amendment to the FY 24
budget for the New Mexico Finance
Authority flood control infrastructure
and Street Improvement projects
I'll go ahead and start with the brief
recap of these two projects
on June 5th 2023 city council approved
ordinances 30 34 and 3035
Which authorized the city to receive two
nmfa Improvement loans
the city was ultimately able to close on
both of these loans and the loan
proceeds have been received by the city
the first loan is for three million
seventy thousand
this loan is secured through the city's
Fifth Quarter percent increments of
Municipal GRT gross receipts tax
this loan is set to be utilized to
improve flood infrastructure throughout
the city
our second loan is for five million
eighty thousand
this loan is secured through the city's
first quarter percent increments of
Municipal GRT
and this loan is set to be utilized to
improve the city road raise roadways and
public facility projects
this is part of the Relentless efforts
that are utilized to maintain the city's
major streets
now the following budget adjustments are
to establish an fy24 budget for loan
proceeds debt issuance cost
loan debt service transfers
and capital expenditures related to the
various flood control infrastructure
projects as well as resurfacing
reconstruction
and the major maintenance of the city
streets
we'll go ahead and start with a proposed
budget amendment as follows so for fund
4636 which is our 2023 nmfa mgrt fund
five million dollars five million eighty
thousand dollars will be set up in
revenue and 5 million will be set up in
expenditures for Street improvements
as well as the 80 000 for debt issuance
costs
this slide shows a proposed budget
amendment for our flood control project
this is also going to be set up in fund
three million seventy thousand will be
set up under Revenue
and three million will be issued to
flood control infrastructure
expenditures
seventy thousand will be issued to debt
issuance costs
and again this is for flood
this slide shows the proposed budget
amendment as follows
so we will be transferring one million
fifty one thousand three forty six from
fund 3636
which is our 2023 nmfa Street step fund
these monies are being transferred to
fund fifteen hundred which is our hold
harmless contingency fund HHR
this transfer will be to cover the loan
principle and interest payments for the
life of the loan
right below that we're transferring 774
with 15 dollars
from fund 3637 which is our 2023 nmfa
flood debt fund and once again these
monies are being transferred to fund
fifteen hundred our HHR contingency fund
and this is to cover loan principal and
interest payments throughout the loan
for slide 7 the proposed budget
amendment is as follows we're
establishing an expense line of 845 000
under fund 3636
which again is our 2023 nmfa Street step
fund this line will make up the loan
principal expenditures for Street
the next line is also an expense line
for a hundred and twenty four thousand
two sixty two
this item will make up the loan interest
payments for Street
finally this brings me to fund 3637
which is our an MFA flood debt fund
here we are establishing expense lines
marrying what we did for Street above
you have 625 as your 625 000 excuse me
as your expense for loan principal
payments
and 78 605 is an expense for loan
interest payments
now my final slide is a brief summary of
how this will kind of touch our existing
Capital Improvements program
the first line can be found on your CIP
in Page Six
this is touching our CIP bucket titled
resiliency
where three million dollars have been
allocated toward flood green
infrastructure improvements
the second line can be found in our cap
on page seven
this is touching our CIP bucket title
active Transportation where five million
dollars have been allocated toward
improving so Street bicycle facilities
and pedestrian safety improvements
this concludes my presentation
and it brings you to your Council
options
thank you Moya Pro Temp Mr Mayor for
your time
thank you Mr Fierro any questions
seeing none
from the audience any public comment on
this particular item
seeing none Christine
this is in the motion to approve
resolution
24-021 counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes councilman Como yes councilor
Korean yes
cancer Flores yes mayor Pro tem yes the
mayor's absent
thank you motion passes thank you thank
you
next up is a resolution number 24-022
second
motion made by councilor beta second by
counselor bencomo
hello Mr Moosh
hello mayor Pro Tem
let me pull this up
okay I think I have the right one good
and councilor Flores is so wonderful to
see
so mayor mayor Pro tem counsel before
you is a resolution that we are being
asked to do by the Department of
administrate Finance and administration
which we call DFA we did present this
briefly to our finance select committee
I think councilor Ben Como and the mayor
were at this meeting and we sort of
explained to them that DFA is just
asking for some requirements for us for
cleanup for FY 23 and also a little bit
of cleanup for fy24
foreign
so moving forward just to give you a
little bit of background that's also in
your Council packet the city is required
to report the financials and our budget
also to the state of New Mexico through
the finance through the Department of
Finance Administration which we call DFA
we do this quarterly and of course any
budget adjustment that we bring forward
to you we also report that to DFA as
well
and like I said DFA is requiring us to
make these various adjustments and this
is for their financial reporting system
so in order for us to make any changes
in their Reporting System we have to
bring a resolution to you that you can
approve so we're not really making any
big adjustments in our system our Erp
system in munis this is strictly just on
their side and they require resolution
for that
so with that we are making two budget
adjustments which I'll go over in a few
minutes the financial report which we
brought to you accounting brought to you
in July so we'll be we're updating that
they've required some updates on that
and then the offense summary for fy24 as
well
so the first adjustment is there are two
law we have a law enforcement retention
fund and then we also have a law
enforcement Recruitment and Retention
fund this first one that we'll be
talking about was in resolution
23-112 we brought to you the original
award which was a hundred thousand eight
hundred ninety six back in March of 2023
we were notified of an increase on that
fund and DFA is requesting that we do a
budget adjustment for the end of the
fiscal year for twenty thousand six
hundred and seven dollars to make it to
where we're even with them okay
DFA is also requesting that the city use
different funds in their reporting
system and our Reporting System we take
both of those funds and we put them
together we have them separated by
project number which is totally
acceptable for all auditing purposes and
also for DFA but in their Reporting
System they want one and one fund and
one and another one and unfortunately in
one of the the last report that we sent
to them we inadvertently put them in one
fund and not separate them so we're just
making that correction on their side
and that is the same with this one right
here the law enforcement Recruitment and
Retention fund we were originally
rewarded 5 million which by the way just
let you know that the police department
was able to use all five million dollars
I think made an Applause on that one but
DFA is requiring again just like I said
that they use different funds
in their reporting system
then they're asking for a little bit of
cleanup at the end of the fiscal year
actually the beginning of 23 we brought
to council resolution
24-004 this was our end of the year
budget adjustment for FY 23.
unfortunately when we were given
um information on this budget it was not
um there was a little bit that was that
was not in the budget adjustment it was
a transfer from one fund to another fund
and unfortunately the original transfer
of where it was coming from was not
included and so it was a one-sided
budget adjustment so we're just making
some corrections on that in our system
and also in their system to make sure
that we finish up that correction and
that adjustment and so DFA is requiring
that we clean that up as well
and with this these are your Council
options if you have any questions I'll
be glad to answer them and I do have
staff here with me from accounting and
also from budget
thank you Mr Moosh any questions
counselor Flores thank you madam chair
and thank you Mr Moosh for your
presentation and so
it doesn't change the way we've been
doing our finances no ma'am just it's
just a change in terms of how it has to
be reported to DFA mayor council mayor
mayor Pro tem Gandara and councilor
Flores you're absolutely correct yes
ma'am great thank you very much for your
presentation
thank you counselor Flores anybody else
seen not to public
seeing none Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution
24-022 counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes councilor Ben komal yes
counselor Korean yes counselor Flores
yes mayor Pro tem yes and the mayor's
absent
promotion passes thank you next up 8.4
Council bill number 24-002
Sarah
hi I got a bit confused but no I'm
paying attention very good thank you
good afternoon yes
yes Sarah Gonzalez with Community
Development proof
sorry sorry mayor part-time uh motion
too I'm sorry yes yes motion
second Grant thank you motion made by
conservate the second by councilor
Graham I got a big ahead of myself
Sarah we're very excited to see you yes
very cool thank you before you is the
amendment to the University District
citizens design Review Committee this is
a board that currently reviews any of
the design elements for site Landscaping
architecture for any of our basically
redevelopments or new development in the
University overlay
currently they have regularly monthly
meetings the membership includes seven
people of which is the University
District counselor we also have the NMSU
architect one citizen with some type of
design expertise such as architecture
Landscaping we have three citizens who
own property within the overlay and we
have one NMSU student representative
we are requesting to change the
membership due to Quorum at this point
we do have currently two vacancies we've
had one vacancy for over a year and we
just lost one of our other members who
have been on the board for about 22
years and so with the two vacancies and
in order to ensure Quorum so we don't
delay development we are requesting to
maintain the University District Council
the NMSU architect but to change to
three citizens who either own property
own a business or reside within the area
that still ensures the investment and
the compliance with the university
overlay we're also requesting to just
have meetings as necessary we only meet
Whenever there are Design Elements to be
reviewed or approved and so monthly
meetings are not necessary
with that here are your Council options
and I stand for any questions thank you
Sarah any feedback concerns
the public
Cena Christine
this is on the motion to approve
ordinance 3044 counselor beta yes
councilor Graham yes councilor Ben Como
yes councilor Koran is absent counselor
Flores yes mayor Pro tem yes okay
mayor's absent motion passes thank you
thank you
next up 8.5 Council bill number
24-003 I need a motion move to approve
Graham second motion made by councilor
Graham second by counselor beta Natalie
you look very striking in red nightly
I think that's as tall as it's going
today
uh good afternoon mayor Pro tem Gandara
city council Natalie Green housing and
revitalization administrator with the
city manager's office today the
ordinance before you is an amendment to
chapter 13 Article 1 commonly known as
the city's fair housing ordinance
just a little background the original
fair housing ordinance was adopted in
April 1969 it was adopted just one year
after the federal Fair Housing Act was
signed into law by Lyndon B Johnson in
1968 so the city has a long-standing
policy around the protection of Public
Safety public health and general welfare
and ensuring equal
treatment and opportunity for persons
regardless of their protected class and
to prohibit discrimination in housing by
uh by any person
again some history The Fair Housing Act
has been amended over time
as changes have occurred one of the
biggest ones was in 1991 when the
federal government added protections for
families with children and persons with
disabilities as part of a revision to
the Civil Rights Act we've also added
protections over the years for ethnicity
gender identity sexual orientation
victims of domestic violence spousal
affiliation and then there's been
administrative changes as programming
has changed
so what this ordinance does
it continues to prohibit discrimination
based on again those protected classes
race gender ethnicity sexual orientation
um
ancestry it also adds protections for
lawful sources of income so it would
prohibit a landlord from rejecting a
tenant solely based on their lawful
source of income it does continue to
allow landlords to price their units as
they see fit and it allows landlords to
charge any necessary fees or deposits
that are allowed under the the state's
uniform
landlord tenant laws
what it does not do again it doesn't
prevent any landlords from vetting their
tenants so we absolutely encourage
landlords to have those tenancy
protections or tenancy requirements so
they are allowed to do criminal
background checks they can do references
they can charge security deposits it
does not prevent landlords from evicting
any tenants who are not paying their
rent it does not prohibit landlords from
interviewing tenants or having
application procedures it does not force
landlords to to set units at any
particular price again the landlords
maintain all ownership over their
property and so they can set their units
as they see fit so we're not forcing
landlords to to be below market value or
below fair market value
it doesn't prevent landlords from
Raising rent at the end of lease
agreements and it doesn't prevent any
landlords from being able to evict their
tenants
source of income definition so it's any
lawful form of payment could include
child support alimony it could be
annuities life insurance policies any
subsidy from a federal state or local
funding source such as disability
benefits housing Choice vouchers rental
assistance programming or public
assistance
um just some information around
implementation of this these types of
programs across the state again
Albuquerque approved their ordinance and
it was subsequently approved in
Bernalillo County we will be the third
local government to if this is approved
today to implement one of these
ordinances and then City of Santa Fe is
modeling their ordinance after ours
and so I suspect theirs will follow
shortly after our ordinance so I talked
to their housing director and she said
our ordinance was beautiful so never
heard it called that before
some next steps if this is approved
today is we'll be working
with our Communications team we have
some HUD funding to to roll out a new
fair housing awareness campaign so we'll
be utilizing that funding first and then
we'll work on some staff training not
just for the housing team but staff
around the city and then we'll start
looking at our revised programming as
you notice today it's an ordinance so
we're not bringing forward a budget
adjustment but we will continue to
evaluate any need for additional budgets
as we revise that programming
um and so you have your standard Council
options and I'll stand for comments or
questions
thank you Natalie yes counselor Grant
thank you mayor Pro tem thank you
Natalie
um I'm just going to repeat a couple of
points I made when we first saw this I'm
really excited to see this ordinance
come forward to us today
you had already mentioned Natalie some
of the places in state that have similar
ordinances at the time that I looked
this up which was a couple of months ago
22 States had a source of income
discrimination points in their
ordinances and more than 100
municipalities so this is not out of the
norm I like seeing that we're still on
the Forefront in the state but this is
definitely not out of out of Norm of
standards of municipalities trying to
address the housing crisis
I'd also at the time you and I discussed
um you know concerns that maybe the
inspection standards would be
overburdensome for landlords
um you were able to point us to the 13
key aspects of Hud's housing quality
standards and point out that they are
actually pretty minimal for livable
housing things like water supply
lead-based paint smoke detectors so
definitely nothing nothing too fancy or
you know forcing people to make
to make burden some upgrades to their
rentals and finally one question if you
could go back to your fun oh perfect if
you could go back to your final slide or
perhaps the slide before before our
options
in evaluating the need for additional
budget one thing that we had also
discussed was education or assistance
for landlords who are wanting to move
into
um you know I think we had talked about
Section 8 housing is that something that
we could consider wrapping into
additional budgets so assistance for
landlords as they're navigating
changes
counselor Graham that's part of our
revised programming so we're looking not
only locally is there a landlord risk
mitigation fund already rolling out the
state had a very successful pilot
program for a landlord incentive risk
mitigation Fund in collaboration with
CYFD and they're going to roll that out
Statewide so we want to make sure those
those go out first and that we're
complementing their programming and then
if we need additional funds to to stand
those up a little bit more here in Las
Cruces we'll we'll do that and bring
that forward
great unsurprised to hear that you're
again thinking ahead of me and I
appreciate it as always thank you mayor
Pro Tem
thank you counselor Graham anybody else
seeing none on the Dias hubba public if
please if you have comments please come
down to the
front and
sir if you want to make your way down
here please do
we'll give you two minutes and please
state your name for the record
thank you my name is Fred Huff I am not
a landlord
but the one concern that I have about
this and and I understand
people need housing
I see the tents all over town it breaks
my heart uh visited with the homeless
lady today we gave her some money to
help her but
my concern is
on on forcing these landlords to use
vouchers
most of these tenants in my experience
of what I've seen as I visited and gone
around town
is a lot of these people don't respect
property
and they don't take care of it
I was over at Desert hope the other day
and I saw a police officer look like he
was kind of staking out the joint so I
approached him and asked him what was
going on
and he said that they had just evicted a
tenant from Desert hope
and this is a city run project as you
all know and and now this this officer
is not a contractor but he estimated
that this tenant had done over ten
thousand dollars damage
my concern
is if landlords are forced to accept
tenants basic strictly on voucher proof
of income lawful income as you say
where's the guarantee or the help that
if they destroy their apartment are you
all going to
I don't see that in the ordinance where
you're going to help pay for the damage
why would they want to do that
if they may lose more money than they
gain by renting it out
in some of the documentation concerning
this and you never did start your timer
I still see it in three minutes
um
but anyway one a person by name of Lee
had had put some some information in the
attachment
and this person Lee said adding the
burden of requiring landlords to accept
Section 8 vouchers will cause even more
landlords to sell their rentals thus
reducing the number of available
affordable rentals even more
so I'm wondering if this might create
more of a housing
shortage than increasing it thank you
for your comments thank you thank you
good afternoon my name is Beth Bardwell
and I'm making public comment today on
behalf of the League of Women Voters of
southern New Mexico
the League of Women Voters of southern
New Mexico supports passage of this
ordinance to provide source of income
protection to individuals including
those that hold housing vouchers the
housing Choice voucher program is the
federal government's largest rental
housing assistance program and the
program serves a disproportionate number
of families with children racial and
ethnic minorities and persons with
disabilities here locally the Messiah
Valley public housing authority provides
more than one thousand families and
individuals with housing vouchers in
HUD did a study at five sites Nationwide
and they showed clear evidence of
outright denial of vouchers as high as
67 percent
denials occurred more often in census
units with higher income households
sites that had fewer landlord denial as
low as 31 percent had laws that provided
source of income protection suggesting
that these ordinances this ordinance
will be effective
given that the current supply of
affordable housing units is very low and
rates for rentals and homescapes home
sales have skyrocketed the league
supports amending the fair housing law
to ensure
low-income families the elderly and the
disabled have an equal opportunity to
Access housing regardless of the source
of their lawful income thank you thank
you Miss bartwell
good afternoon cancel my name is Aaron
Boyd I am I work with Messiah Valley
Community of Hope I just wanted to come
and make public comment that I am in
support of amending this ordinance I
have been housing
um individuals that are experiencing
homelessness through Community of Hope
for almost 10 years now I'm working with
different vouchers from the HUD Section
8 vouchers to other HUD funded vouchers
and what's been great is that we've
really been able to collaborate with
different landlords in our community
however the need for additional
landlords that will accept vouchers is
high we've retained these very few
landlords for numerous years and
although yes there is some instances
where there does end up being some
damage but creating that
how we had talked additional funding for
Latin law retention and things like that
are super important however
that landlords that we do work with
appreciate that having a voucher also
guarantees
um
rent each month from the voucher
a lot of times too it comes with support
So through our agency it's having that
additional support system monthly home
visits different things like that and so
there are definite benefits but by not
allowing individuals the opportunity how
do we know whether they're going to be
successful or not we're creating bigger
barriers if we continue to have
ordinances as such that discriminate
against those that are of low income or
disabilities
thank you thank you
good afternoon Council my name is
Elizabeth Rodriguez Johnson and I'm also
here to vocalize my support for this
ordinance I will
tell you just a quick story as to why
this is so important just recently
my husband and I went to a grocery store
before that I had done my routine it was
in the morning and I'm sure I looked
shuffled and my hair was muffled and I
probably didn't even match but we went
into the grocery store I put a couple of
limes in a bag handed them to my husband
he picked some other stuff up because
we're really in a hurry and we went we
go through the checkout and we check out
and we proceed to walk out and I got
stopped and accused of shoplifting
and my husband who's not a Hispanic was
there the whole time I mean with me the
whole time he didn't accuse I got
accused and I proceeded to March myself
in speak to the manager then call the
regional office and everybody of course
apologized but the fact is that a lot of
people this day and age still make
decisions on based on what you look like
and it's still a problem
and these folks you know the vouchers
are legitimate they should be able to
use them thank you
thank you Miss Rodriguez Miss Rodriguez
do you have a question for you up here
did you tell them that you're a PhD and
we're a consultant to the dod and that
you have Pentagon clearance did you tell
them that I know what I told you should
have I when I told him I was I I'm a
retired mathematician I said but I have
a lot of girlfriends who are retired
attorneys and I hope one day you accuse
them of the same thing because they look
just like me I said they'll have your
butt in court you know quicker than you
can Pat your eyelashes so great that's
what I told you good thank you Miss
Rodriguez
sorry for your Misfortune yes cancer
bingomo thanks mayor Pro tem I actually
did think of a follow-up question for
Natalie just in terms of getting the
word out Natalie to landlords about this
recent change what is
um the plan for that do you have the
necessary resources for all of that
councilman come on we do we have some
fair housing funds that we set aside
every year for awareness activities it
comes directly from the U.S Department
of Housing and Urban Development so
we'll be rolling out those funds as part
of the education campaign and then we'll
we'll start to work on our other needs
and then we'll bring those back as
needed thank you and then just uh an
addition I was I wish officer Rocha was
still here and he was here earlier from
codes for how we you know enforcement
and really working on enforcement from a
education standpoint right not a
punitive standpoint and so can you speak
to that a little bit correct so that's
part of first of all roll out our
awareness campaign we have some new
marketing materials that we want to push
out then we'll work on our staff
training since this is becoming sort of
a Statewide initiative we'll be working
with the other municipalities on that
training
again it's very much an incentive and
and awareness campaign the last thing we
want to do is be punitive to landlords
that's that's definitely not our intent
as I mentioned the state of New Mexico
is rolling out not only landlord
incentives and retention funding they've
also rolled out a landlord like support
hotline and so we want to make sure
we're modeling their program and and
working with their programming
and then as as we determine what
complementary services are needed to
both the local programming out of the
the various voucher providers and the
state will will come back if we need
additional budget thank you for
repeating that on the on the landlord
mitigation funds in case folks hadn't
heard that when you asked some of those
questions counselor Graham so I
appreciate that so much Natalie and
honestly I just really want to
appreciate your team I know that Jan
um honestly she gets lots of calls about
this right about people who have the
funds but cannot find places that are
being turned away and so I just I can't
imagine the kind of phone calls that Jan
has to field every single day but I just
I really do just want to thank your
staff yeah yeah thank you all staff is
in a call rotation so
528-3022 and we do get multiple calls
and emails all day long about
water issues air conditioning issues we
saw a 600 rental increase last week and
so they're all extremely difficult calls
to take so the staff is really amazing
thank you councilman concert Flores
thank you madam chair and thank you
for bringing this to uh
to counsel we've been waiting for many
years to get this done
I I just
besides the mitigation and working with
landlords what are the penalties or what
is it were the teeth or exactly
I mean the education mitigation yada
yada but where where's the teeth on this
Flores so as part of the municipal code
there is an enforcement piece through
again through municipal court so it's
subject to up to 500 fine so it's a
ticketing process just like any other
violation of the municipal court so is
there
information going out to the public so
that people are aware that they have the
right to
um well well that they have the right to
use their lawful funds
to secure housing
correct mayor Pro tem counselor Flores
so as part of our first steps assuming
this gets adopted today we'll start with
that awareness campaign about the
changes to the fair housing housing
ordinance both the rights of the tenant
and the rights of the landlord and will
push that information out
um are we we typically hand out
landlord-tenant handbooks to both
landlords uh and tenants and then we
also have some other flyers so we want
to update all of that and then staff uh
regularly provides training on Fair
Housing awareness both to members of the
public and then to All City staff as
part of new employee training so we'll
be revising all of that training
material as well well that's excellent
um have you considered or maybe the city
should consider having a forum here in
Chambers for the public to attend
and and also is is all this going to be
distributed in different languages and I
mean I I don't know I know Spanish is
prevalent but I think that there are
other communities that have grown
who would benefit from having
interpreters
at at such a meeting has that been
considered
mayor Pro tem Gandara counselor Flores
as part of our HUD programming we have
inter a Spanish interpreter at all
meetings and we translate everything
into Spanish and then we also have
notations as part of our Outreach
campaigns that if they require
um other languages or other formats we
are mandated by law to do that so upon
request we can absolutely translate to
those other languages the federal
government is really great about pushing
out fair housing material in all
languages so we have access to those
resources well that's wonderful but um
so Mr peely it'd be great if the city
would sponsor or whatever the word is
have a meeting here to call in the
community and make them well aware
because I think the word would trickle
out if you know if you have one person
that person is going to talk to five and
the five will talk to five more and so
on and so forth and I think hearing it
in person has an impact more so than
just receiving something in in print I
mean not that that isn't important but I
think it'd make a better impact thank
you madam chair yes
great okay start planning thank you
thank you counselor photos on the dice
okay see none
this is on the motion to approve
ordinance 3045 counselor beta yes
councilor Graham yes councilor Ben Comal
yes councilor cran is absent counselor
Flores yes mayor Pro tem yes and the
mayor is absent
motion passes
um step board appointments I see none
and notice a proposed ordinance his
Council bill number
24-005 ordinance number 3047
Bring It Forward Bring It Forward
next up city council member board
reports and comment
okay
um I was asked by mayor to sit on a
coalition of sustainability Coalition of
Mayors for sustainability last week I
found it very fascinating it is a
Statewide group
and we I was educated on the the three
bills that they helped bring to fruition
one was a legacy fund a renewable energy
office and special district act they
spoke in addition they spoke to
community solar I'm really trying to
move forward especially around the
equity piece which is really important
how do we encourage you know that in our
low income and so looking forward to
hearing more about what that is going to
look like for folks that can't afford
that
um
let's see I attended we had our I'll
just say that I attended our community
um
schools meeting that concert Graham
facilitates does a great job it was sort
of a part two of our
strategic planning and there's some real
exciting things that are that are
happening related to
um
moving into how we
incorporate
obviously other schools but mostly the
the safety care and belonging of our
youth and youth voice and choice I think
it was a great opportunity to get
feedback we always
hear from the number of community in the
schools it's really exciting what
they're able to do
in such a short amount of time so I'm
happy to be a part of that
um
and then lastly I wanted to address
a couple of public comments specifically
to the Animal Services the letter that
was sent out I have not seen that letter
I know folks were concerned I did
receive a couple of emails related to
asking our veterinarians
specifically about helping with spade
and neuter and whatnot at low income low
cost and or no cost
quite frankly I don't I agree I don't
know anybody that would do something
like that at no cost at all and some of
the dialogue that I know our executive
team is having with
our
with Clint Thacker is you know providing
a stipend of sorts so we're throwing out
a number of ideas just to entice our
veterinarians to
um
to participate in helping being part of
the solution and so I'll I'll I think
efo probably has an update on that
and I'm looking forward to hearing that
but again
I think there was a miscommunication
I'd like to believe that when we do ask
that it it won't be for nothing but we
have a huge issue everybody knows that
our our Center is filled
and we are working towards trying to
come with viable Solutions and
strategies and then last I would say
that our mayor's task force Suicide
Prevention task force is
um
putting together recovery Night
Celebration it'll be September 7th 8th
and 9th it's a three-part a three-day
event September 7th will be the
Southwest Summit we will at that time
have a opportunity to speak to our
legislators very specifically about
substance abuse and addiction services
that we think need to
that we think we need to have
specifically in our our city So speaking
to Juan Garcia and some others about
um
those those conversations that allegedly
haven't been had they have been had
we've had two bills two bills
specifically for Game Changer strategies
addressing substance abuse and addiction
we've had Communications and a
particular agenda item on our health
policy Review Committee addressing Los
Amigos project or program I know that
staff is diligently working on
addressing that
so just wanted to
put forth that information
also September 8th we'll have a youth
Summit which will be really exciting
inviting hopefully a hundred plus youth
in our city to participate
in in
um
just giving a giving the adults
information about what they're
addressing in school and how we can help
be more cognizant of and aware of what
they're dealing with at schools related
to mental health and substance abuse and
addiction particularly after we heard
some very incredible data related to
Youth and vaping and tobacco such a huge
issue for us and we want to be a part of
that solution as well and then finally
recovery night it's happening on
Saturday it'll be at the Plaza De Las
Cruces if you want information please
reach out to me and with that I'll turn
it over to counselor Flores
thank you madam chair first of all I
want to apologize to my district 6
constituents and residents of the entire
city for my prolonged absence I broke my
foot and I was on crutches and then I
fell again on those crutches at any rate
the doctor took the boot off on
Wednesday and I'm in physical therapy
and I'm able to get around with minimal
well there's still pain but it's not as
bad as it was six seven eight weeks ago
whenever it was
and I want to thank the constituents I
want to thank
I want to thank our people
our staff Adrian Widmer from Department
of the director of utilities David
Seville Public Works director and
um
who else oh I want to thank mayor Pro
tem for taking my place I mean I'm
irreplaceable I know but but thank you
no I want to thank you for doing that
and thank you Katrina for
um
for organizing this working with me to
get the topics uh for our constituents
uh in District Six and uh Christine
Rivera our city clerk who is there to
explain the redistricting issue and
ranked Choice voting and
um so I just I I know I'm missing am I
missing anything else Katrina
yeah no I mentioned David yeah uh what
else oh yes oh okay okay so I want to
thank everybody and um also I think that
it shows how
um wonderful our city is and I
especially want a doctor uh or engineer
Whitmer to let people know what a
fantastic water system we have in the
city I read an article some months ago
and I brought it to Adrian widmer's
attention that Chicago was the only
water that did the only city that
reads something with water I can't
remember what it was and so I asked
Adrian and she explained very carefully
I think there was a distinction or a
difference but maybe you know a
distinction without a difference type of
thing
the city of Las Cruces is really in the
Forefront of really taking care of our
water and recycling our water and I know
that it's recycled because I walk by
well I used to walk before I broke my
foot by the
the golf club on on Golf Club Road the
golf course and you can smell that it's
there's a certain smell to that water
um so I just uh I want to thank
everybody for you know I I think and I
sent an email or a text to
um to my fellow counselors and mayor
mayor potem and and ifo our city manager
feeling that um my absence in spite of
my absence that that City would carry on
beautifully and um and it did it
probably carried on better because they
didn't have someone talking here all the
time
um and uh I just uh I I just want to
make sure that you all understand why I
was not uh here it also put through a
wrench into my plans to travel to visit
my uh
my son who lives in Europe and his
children's birthdays and baptism I
missed out on that and it was almost as
bad as missing out on not coming to city
council yeah right anyway thank you
madam chair
thank you cancer blood is counselor bin
Como thank you mayor Pro Tem
um
a couple of things I want to
congratulate everyone at Casa de
peregrinos and everyone involved in that
project including City staff and really
the whole community and our state
legislators for coming together and
helping build this new Incredible
facility their ground opening was last
week yeah last week it was outside it
was very hot but it was an incredible
turnout just I think it's a testament to
you know how how much people love
um love the work that is done at the
Community of Hope campus and you know
obviously we're there to celebrate Casa
de peregrino so huge thank you to all of
them for having us and for ifo for
speaking there as well
um
we the city Natalie and the housing
department are working with project
Moxie a consulting firm that is going to
be helping us with our housing
investment
strategy as now that we have the go Bond
money and all of that and they presented
at our housing PRC last weekend they're
really incredible they're just so
knowledgeable and Innovative and so we
actually had a joint meeting with the
um that new housing committee that we
created that's going to think about how
to spend no six million dollar uh go
Bond go bonds and so if they reach out
to you please respond meet with them
they're meeting with stakeholders
they're meeting with a ton of folks in
the community and we'll be getting a
plan back to us I think in three months
so it's going to be really exciting
um which leads me to my next point and
this really I think is for City
management but really everybody you know
this is my fourth summer on Council and
I have never gotten
as many emails or social media you know
people reaching out to me regarding
hot conditions in their Apartments
there's a big apartment complex that
didn't have air conditioning for several
days if not a week or so
and the tenants just didn't even know
what to do there have been multiple
emails I've received from
kids of their elderly parents worried
about it's 108 degrees and my elderly
mom's home the landlord doesn't want to
change the AC or doesn't want to upgrade
the AC and so there are significant
issues regarding heat and as we think
about
summer is getting hotter and hotter I
mean this globally record heat right and
so as we think about how that's going to
impact vulnerable communities in the
southwest this is one of them and so I I
know that housing was thinking about
creating some sort of funding source the
photo to help folks in these conditions
and I just want to
you know put sort of my name behind that
and just really the urgency around
working with folks who are most
vulnerable and experiencing these kind
of conditions and I know that I've been
talking to you know my colleagues here
counselor Gandara and Flores because
they've been working on a unified
unified housing code for a very very
long time and so we're you know really
working to push that through that as we
know Natalie presented not too long ago
about air conditionings not being a
requirement in in apartments and and
that's just a travesty just like in the
summer in the winter time we have
moratoriums for people's heat to not be
shut off we should be just as concerned
with the dangers of heat in the summer
time and so I just really wanted to lift
that up because like I said
um I promise you no other summer while
I've been here I've gotten this many
concerning emails or phone calls from
people worried about their loved ones in
in unliving conditions
um so I just wanted to lift that up
before I know that you're probably
talking to Natalie about some of the
plans that they had but I'm hoping that
either that comes to council soon or if
it doesn't have to that that is that is
moving forward so thank you so much
thank you councilman Goldman cancer
Graham
thank you mayor Pro tem
um just two small updates both bicycle
related thanks to Velo Cruces George
Pearson Ashley Curry and some others for
inviting me on their monthly visibility
ride I did that last week so kind of
riding riding major streets during rush
hour commute traffic
it's a little scary I had some Choice
words for some drivers again nothing
that I'm going to put on the record
similarly on September 16th
the annual mayor's bike ride I wish
mayor were here so I could diss them a
little bit but I guess he is he is
stepping down from his annual bike ride
so it's going to be a city council bike
ride and I know uh I know we're going to
miss it I heard that he used to do some
sick tricks like wheelies some rant no
oh no no just kidding
um but yes myself and I think a couple
of you will be joining me on the council
bike ride looking for looking forward to
that mayor pretem I'm going to make sure
you have a helmet
gonna be great
but no thank you to thank you to Bello
Cruces and for others in the cycling
Community for always being such engaged
community members I really appreciate it
and that's all I have thank you
thanks councilman I am looking forward
to it
counselor beta
thank you mayor Pro tem I have a few
report outs to give the first oversight
committee did meet last week we were
able to go over the monthly hotline
complaints we had 10 that came in five
were on customer relations three on
safety one on product quality and one
for potential substance use and so we
overviewed those we also saw that four
completed oir reports came in
and the committee itself talked a little
bit about the presentation that we heard
about audit there were some questions
that came up on the ethics survey and
the numbers that we saw on that so that
is one item and in the future we are
going to look at issues regarding just
the ordinance itself as you know it is
still a newer ordinance and so just
making sure that it's aligned for the
needs and looking at that of the
Inspector General now that we have one
and we're meshing in how that
contributes to the system as a fool
we I also went to our Juvenile Justice
Continuum meeting however there was no
Quorum there so we were not able to meet
and this kind of speaks to another issue
that I know
um we have been seeing adjustments to
boards and committees to make sure that
we're having full and meaningful
participation this is also another board
that I think needs to have some change
is a very large board and so getting
Quorum especially during the day where
most of these individuals have other
employment is difficult so I do want to
say thank you to Christine for already
looking at some of those items and
making adjustments like we saw here
today with our University
design review board
next week I will be absent from Council
as I will be at the annual conference
for the municipal league in Farmington I
know that we have a few staff members
going to so thank you I will be
moderating a panel on the new green
hydrogen project in Cuesta and also
performing other duties as needed
and I think that is awesome thank you
thank you councilor beta Mr peely
thank you member of time
uh first thing I just want to express my
deepest apologies to uh to you Council
and and um residents and also especially
our military veterans that was on me the
flag flying me and my staff
apparently was torn in the wind last
night and I know it should be removed
immediately
and so it's been taken down but I just
want to express my apologies for that it
won't happen again
um
another just for clarification the
the letter that was sent out
Barbara just sent me the clarification
here so Animal Control we sent that
letter out but the whole purpose of that
was to just
see what what capacity is available out
there there was no intention of asking
the veteran veterans veterinarians to
perform this work for free it was
between the County Animal Services all
looking into a program you know there
was a proposal earlier about mandating
spay and neuter and so a program that
would allow
some type of funding but we couldn't do
it without the capacity of the
veterinarians
and so this letter was just to reach out
to see if there's anybody willing to
participate in a program that would
offer it not necessarily having them
do it for free or even even subsidize it
it was it was more so that it would be a
joint effort with the county to do that
so just wanted to clarify
for for anybody about that and then I
don't have anything any other
reports from our
for my staff
Council I just want to express my
appreciation to you all
um
my contract is uh
it's been three years I appreciate the
trust you you have in me and renewing
that and
look forward to
do some great things ahead
I just want to tell you that it's
irrevocable you cannot
break that
contract
very good thank you ethos so much thank
you we appreciate you and look forward
to many more years serving with you yes
okay I need a motion to adjourn move to
a journey second by Flores motion made
by counts Lara beta second by counselor
Flores Christine
this is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes councilor Ben Cuomo yes
councilor cran is absent counselor
Flores yes mayor Pro 10 yes and mayor is
absent