I
[Music]
know true love
thank you
foreign
[Music]
twenty three it's approximately 1 p.m
before we rise for the Pledge of
Allegiance I'm going to ask if you have
a brief moment of silence for the brave
men and women of the United States armed
forces as they protect our interests
around the globe as well as the
courageous Men Women of the Las Cruces
Police Department and the Las Cruces
fire department as they keep our city
safe 24 7 365.
foreign
okay as we always start off our meetings
with our pets of the week
and Jennifer Martinez from our
Communications office will introduce
them
thank you
good afternoon mayor and Council I am
Jennifer Martinez with the city's
Communications office and today I will
begin our pet of the week with Riker the
cat Riker is a five-year-old who knows
how to turn on the charm no human is a
stranger to him as he will approach
anyone to ask them for pets and
scratches no matter what
this guy is f e l v positive with the
proper treatment though he can have a
very fulfilling life he's looking for a
new home with owners that can Overlook
that diagnosis and give him the life
that he deserves
and then we have sugar sugar is also a
five-year-old this girl is adorable fun
loving and was surrendered to the ASC MV
in September she has gotten used to
being on the leash and being taught
currently how to sit she's looking for a
forever home without children and is
looking forward to being taught so many
more things if you'd like to meet either
of these cuties you can call the ascmv
to make an appointment that number is
3820018 if you are interested PetSmart
has a national adoption week going on it
runs March 6th through the 12th there
are PetSmart adoption events that will
take place from 10 a.m to 1 p.m on
Saturday and from 10 a.m to 1 p.m on
Sunday March 12th thank you mayor thanks
Jennifer
okay now we're gonna go to the jobs of
the week and I believe Giselle paramares
from the New Mexico workforce
connections will be announcing those
jobs
afternoon Council
the jobs of this week city of Las Cruces
is hiring an art instructor that pays 20
an hour and that is open until filled
White Sands Missile Range is hiring a
budget Analyst at pays 69
000 a year and that closes on March 10th
Aya Healthcare Services Incorporated is
hiring a case manager RN travel nursing
that pays 55 000 and 78 000 a year
depending on experience and that closes
May 23rd First National Bank Texas is
hiring a bilingual personal banker and
that pays 30 000 or 38 000 depending on
experience and that closes May 22nd
rent a hill North America is hiring a
pest control technician and that pays 24
000 or 41 000 a year depending on
experience and that closes May 23rd
Praxair Distribution Incorporated excuse
me that pays 21
000 a year 21
dollars or thirty dollars depending on
experience and that closes on March 31st
and they're hiring for a counter sales
representative
for this week we are having the lucky
charm career throughout the Las Cruces
convention center from one to four on
Friday March 10th at uh there is free
bus fare and from 12 to 1 we'll be also
having a resume workshop for those who
don't have a resume they can go an hour
prior so that way we can go ahead and
create it for them and so as always you
can always connect to the New Mexico
Workforce Connection by calling them at
575-524-6250 or you can visit them in
person at 226 South Alameda Boulevard or
you can always go to
www.employment.com thank you mayor okay
thank you Giselle
all right so we have uh some
presentations that we'd like to make
first off I'm going to ask if Sharia is
here mulala Mulan Mala if you want to
come forward
and then we'll have you bring your your
guests here
so I don't know if anyone in the
audience remembers but about a year ago
we recognized you you're one of our top
teams right yeah and you started a
organization called tutoring by two
and we had
but did you also do tutoring by two yeah
yeah and so
um and so we recognize some of your
helpers and so today you're starting an
organization or you started one it's
called hand in hand and
Who's down
and um and so this is a new organization
kind of a spin-off off the tutoring by
two and I understand that some of these
students some of your colleagues
have volunteered
some as much as 200 hours
25 to 200 that's pretty incredible and
they don't get paid do they
you need to that no people know that
there are people who do work for nothing
you know for volunteer but because they
want to and they feel that this is the
right thing to do and so we want to
recognize some of your colleagues but I
wanted you to just say a little bit
about what this what you're doing here
and then we'll have you calm down and we
have some certificates to give them okay
hi so my name is
she started hand in hand around when I
was 14 years old and I started it as a
mirror service project and I never
thought it would grow as much as it's
grown today I started it by going to
read books to children at the hospital
and creating book drives for children at
La Casa and it's grown into as big as it
is today because of the members that
we're about to recognize so I want to
thank them and I want to thank the
governing body who take takes extra time
to plan the events that they do and I
also want to thank Community Foundation
of southern New Mexico for sponsoring
our cause and it is because of them
today that we're the first youth
philanthropic organization in all of
southern New Mexico so I'm gonna think
thank you
she's incredible it's uh
remember her name she's going places
she's going to be amazing and we're very
fortunate to have you as a resident in
Las Cruces so did you want to invite
your your colleagues your friends to
come forward
so I'm going to read the citation and
then
we're going to just uh they're all the
same except for the names and so I'm
going to start with this it's a mayor
Citation for community service presented
to Victoria Turner in recognition of
your commitment and dedication in
helping make Las Cruces A Better
Community dated the sixth day of March
2023 signed by myself Kim miyagashima
Victoria
[Applause]
we'll take a group photo after everyone
gets their certificates if that's okay
next is Joshua borst
thank you
Evelyn Dyer
[Applause]
Emily Curry
[Applause]
Xander Brock
[Applause]
Ellie Hurd
[Applause]
Landon Sandoval
[Applause]
Landon Schumer
[Applause]
Josh
Hughes
[Applause]
Kyler Leonard
foreign
[Applause]
Connor Coyle
[Applause]
Elizabeth devalion
[Applause]
Ethan mundu
[Applause]
what is an impressive group of young men
and women we're really proud of each and
every one of you thank you for
volunteering your time to help in our
other Youth and all of you are I'm sure
are going to just fly pretty high as you
as you get older and you move on to your
various challenges and uh
things that you want to do in life so
congratulations let's give everyone a
round of applause give them a round of
applause
and then we're going to get a group
photograph
you know I have to tell you this is so
impressive I'm going to ask my my
colleagues to join me down here maybe
three and four on each side
council members if you want to join us
this is uh this is pretty incredible
you know not only what you all what you
do to help but
you know you volunteer I think about
what I did when I was 14 years old
there's no way I was even close to doing
what you want what you do it's
incredible
thank you
I'm going to invite if anyone would like
to say a few words before you go back to
to your seats and onward back to school
yeah I'm sorry I could not give you an
excuse absence for today okay anybody
wish to say a few words
you're welcome too
hello my name is Connor Coyle I am the
vice president of hand in hand
it is an honor to be standing here
before you all I would like to thank the
city council and specifically mayor Ken
miagashima for granting us this award
I hope this award inspires these younger
members beside me to continue showing a
christ-like love to children that
sometimes feel no love at all
I pray that the rise of my generation
creates a dona in a county community
that helps every child regardless of
circumstance
it has been a privilege to stand here
and receive this reward in front of you
all and thank you for your time
foreign
I have to tell you we broke a lot of
Firsts today this is the first time I've
ever had certificates and everybody
showed up for the first time that the
city council took pictures with a group
as the first time you get a standing
ovation so
that's pretty cool
good job everyone thank you very much
I'm sure we have a list of your names
somewhere we're going to watch you as
you you Blossom you're really going to
just take those
take the World by storm thank you
[Applause]
okay so our next
Citation for community service
I want to ask if Naomi Vega would
join me and you're welcome to bring
whomever you wish
so
what's really neat about Naomi not only
is she a fantastic singer
but she sings for almost every event
that the veterans put on I mean we're
talking there there's a lot of events
that the veterans put on and some of
them are pretty early in the morning
and some in the late in the evening
and as true to the others she volunteers
her time
and so we can't thank you enough for not
only
singing the the national anthem
to our nation's Heroes but also doing
what you do and you do you do it so well
but I do have one question I have to ask
you
every time you sing you blow like a
little harmonica
yeah so tell me
to pitch white
okay I was just curious counselor Flores
asked me to ask you what that was for
so I said okay I'll ask you
oh she knew already no I'm it was for me
really I was I always thought that was
pretty cool
I figured it has something to do with
that but anyways I'm going to read this
to you
mayor's Citation for community service
presented to Naomi Vega in recognition
of your commitment and dedication Toby
make Las Cruces A Better Community
signed this sixth day of March 2023 and
by myself Ken miyagashima
[Applause]
I'd like to thank city council and mayor
miyagashima
I've been singing the National Anthem
here acapella for just about every event
you could think of for about 23 years
and I am very humbled and honored to
receive this I love our veterans I love
our men and women who are serving
chaplain Orvis sitting here in the front
I tell him he has his own personal
national anthem singer whenever he calls
I show up so and usually when I sing
there's no newspaper there's no
video crew there there's sometimes
there's only 10 people and I really
don't care who shows up I'm there to
sing the national anthem for men and
women and for the city of Las Cruces and
for this great country so I'm deeply
honored that I received this thank you
thank you
sounds like a concert where they're
saying sing something sing something
my name is Carol Gaines I am a veteran
I'd like to say thank you to Naomi for
showing up for all of those times
and as a singer
you're saying acapella and I admire you
mightily for that
our national anthem is our national
anthem and you sing it straight on as I
should be standing straight and Tall it
is our national anthem and not one
should be taken lightly nor one that so
many singers especially like at the some
of the football games and things when
they kind of make it their own little
song
and it is our national anthem thank you
for staying singing it that way
thank you
may we all pray
father we have the presentation of
recognition to Naomi Vega for she is on
our national anthem for so many years at
Veterans Park
and this coming 25th which is last
Saturday
of this month
she'll be singing the National Anthem at
the flag raising and a little bit later
she's going to be singing the National
Anthem with all of us
and only thing to make it better we like
to see all the views come
from eight in the morning to about two
we have a free cookout hamburgers hot
dogs everything sodas
and that'll be on the 25th of March now
the last Saturday of the month is which
is easy to remember
yes it's called The Welcome Home Vietnam
Veterans Day
thank you very much
okay that that was Lawrence Orvis
speaking
thank you chaplain we appreciate it and
again Naomi thank you
I believe this concludes our
presentation so I'll get back up to
council dice
okay now I'm going to read the conflict
of interest statement this is where I'll
ask if any member of the city council
city manager or a member of the city's
manager staff has any known conflict of
interest on any item on the agenda
none
now we're going to go to public
participation this is where members of
the public can speak to council for a
total of seven minutes not to exceed
twice coming up
twice coming up to the podium although
we asked to state your name and did it
not be pending any discussing any
pending litigation and if you have a
comment regarding something that's on
the agenda if you could wait to that
item appears we would appreciate that if
you can't and you have to leave please
let us know and because that way the
council doesn't respond back to you
so I usually like to start on my left on
the first row and nobody's there so
second row
anyone no
third row
it's good to see mayor Pro tem Emeritus
and woman of the year I think Dolores
Archuleta good to see you
good afternoon my name is Diane Starbuck
I'm a member of Animal Advocates for
change
did you know March is National Pet
poison prevention and awareness month
yes and I'd like to commend Dawn Duncan
and her group Animal Companions of Las
Cruces for their efforts to bring
emergency vet services to Las Cruces and
southern New Mexico
I'd also like to commend Lieutenant Joy
wheeler
Gino camenes and all of the Animal
Control Officers for their efforts to
understand TNR Community cat funds and
for educating the public all right
that's this is usually who people see
when they have issues and they call
somebody so this is very important that
they get across the correct information
and
um
I know they've received criticism in the
past but I wanted to personally thank
them for their efforts and for going out
into the community and and giving out
this information
March 13th is National canine Veterans
Day
and also for the public Please spay and
neuter your pets thank you
sorry about thank you very much ma'am
Starbucks thank you for that and we
appreciate everyone's efforts to trying
to bring that 24-hour care for our
animals that's great and I know that
Carolyn's been she works with me she's
my policy analyst I know she's been
doing her best and I I hope things are
moving forward
thank you
okay that was the third row anyone else
on the third row
sorry I was almost falling back here
I remember years ago there was a
counselor named Steve Trowbridge I don't
know if he's watching but he fell back
he's like a turtle on his back and he
couldn't get up you remember that
counselor yeah
I didn't want to be a second one fourth
row
fifth row
this is let's ask the sun news reporter
to ask the question no I'm just kidding
just a sixth row
yes sir
Peter Goodman
finally got you I have 10 pictures of
you different
glasses not glasses hair no hair I've
got you
a Master of Disguise so does that mean I
don't have to say my name since you said
it
no you we still need for the record
for the record I'm still Peter Goodman
and you'll be shocked to learn I'm going
to talk about police accountability
um I do want to say first that was a
wonderful ceremony with those kids who
tutor and I rushed to get their contact
info to see if they wanted to talk on
radio with us about the good things they
do
having said that it was interesting to
watch the oir's report
clearly they are not doing and not able
to do all the things that should be done
in terms of police accountability it's
some of their Faults Are correctable by
contract and I commend you for as I
understand it I don't know which pieces
you're working on and how that's going
but you are going to expand their
contractual duties and I think that's
great it was also great to hear them
acknowledge that they work in tandem
with citizens police oversight
committees or commissions or whatever
you want to call them you know the
jurisdictions because that's how it
should be because some of the things
that should be done and that we need
done can't be done by Orr in terms of
Citizen being seen
the participation of citizens being seen
such as to
not only involve people citizens coming
to the meetings but to enhance trust by
the citizens
use of citizens as a conduit for
information that maybe people are afraid
to get up and talk to the police chief
about since it involves folks working
for him but also to help the police make
themselves understood better in the
community
so it really would be good to have both
I want to make real clear that those of
us who are involved in this and who
speak to you to the point probably of
exhausting you
aren't wedded to any particular concept
we can see I think anybody can see
police accountability needs to be more
serious here for a lot of good reasons
it was suggested that the best way to be
heard was create a draft ordinance so we
did that we're not wedded to the terms
of it but certainly there are some
Concepts that are necessity our
necessities for that kind of commission
to work and I look forward to the
opportunity to talk with you further in
a work session hear more specifically
your questions and concerns about such a
thing and perhaps bring in some outside
expertise to help us all understand the
issue better thank you
thanks Peter yeah you know Dr Ernest and
emailed me I haven't emailed him back
but I'm going to want to get together
with you and the other colleagues and
see exactly what this hybrid model
looked like and if it's something there
that
can be brought back to council for work
session then I'll do that but so that's
usually the first step Peter just
thought I'd let you know so I'll be
reaching out to him so the promise you
made of I hate to be impolite but the
promise you made like a couple of months
ago to have a work session on this is
now dependent on whether one person
approves of it in an informal meeting
so Peter we're happy to meet with
anybody anytime and certainly you sir
but uh yeah so what I like to do is get
together that group that was on the zoom
with myself and like I said meet and
have that that session to discuss this
this hybrid model that you or that was
brought up so and we'll just move
forward with that
and take a look and see how that works
well whatever you and the council decide
we'll do what we can to try to have the
issue heard but for the record I don't
think that's the right way to go about
it but
well there's four council members that
can override me if they choose to do
that they can do that but last time was
that it wasn't didn't have four or three
so
thank you
okay so that was uh sixth row anyone
else seventh row
my name is Rod guyeski I'm the adjutant
for Purple Heart
and I'm also a member of the mayor's
veterans Advisory Board and I just uh I
don't know I have here I don't know if
you've folks were made aware yet
yesterday at Veterans Memorial Park that
uh that there were tables that were
damaged that were the Ada tables they
were all bent
and damage they have to be removed
but they specifically removed or damaged
the Ada tables I have pictures of you
guys a few folks wanted to see them uh
Rod you you can email them to me I'll
send to the clerk and then she can send
them out yeah I'm hoping that the that
the the cameras were working at the park
at the Veterans Memorial Park because
this damage was pretty significant
and um you know I mean it's like uh I I
you know the police can't be everywhere
but uh hopefully the cameras caught the
people but it is pretty significant
damage and but it was just to the Ada
tables which are just you know they they
have the the disabled emblem on the
table and they they literally bent the
tables down
so
I just wanted to make you aware of that
okay thank you Rod no I was not aware of
it and um but if you can send those
pictures to me and then I'd get them to
the clerk so the council can took a look
take a look at that Parks and Rec is
already aware that and they're they're
working on you know mitigating the issue
but it uh
you know the tables are expensive uh
they take a long time to get
shipped in we've already had a damaged
table for a couple of years but it's but
it these are now they've they've damaged
over half the tables okay thank you okay
and thank you and thank you for your
service Rod as usual and is that Laurie
Grime back there yeah that's a long time
City director retired good to see you
Lori yeah Lori's uh son is one of our
chapter members and she's an auxiliary
member of the military order of the
Purple Heart also oh okay good all right
okay so that was a seventh row I believe
anyone else hey throw
last row anyone else on my left
okay so I'll move to the right first row
second row looks like staff third row
looks like staff so does fourth fifth
sixth row anyone
seventh
yes sir just raise your hand
cap on yes sir
hi my name is Lonnie Montgomery
and I'm a follower of Jesus Christ and I
wanted to thank the council
for getting things through the state
where we have all have a cannabis
Dispensary on nearly every corner in Las
Cruces New Mexico
that it uh
it really really works well here I think
because we can go in and who can get to
get our stuff and get on there and then
we could run down the roads of this town
wherever you want to go there are people
racing so if you have people going high
and going racing and that's just part of
me who's about the big news I'm worried
about is our whole country
you get the country depends on what news
you watch that where it's going to be
but overall we're not doing well
and I think we may be headed for down
part that God may be work coming to get
us like he did uh took Daniel to Babylon
and I don't know who's coming but I
think it's coming for us
because we're not following God if we
need to get back to him
and that's all I'll let you know we need
to do it and I don't know which country
is going to do it or how they're going
to do it or whatever else I'm not a
prophet
I'm just a follower
but uh you know if
if I were to make a prediction I would
say maybe we need to sort of uh
catch up on our Mandarin
that's and that's all I have to say
thank you
thank you Mr Montgomery okay anyone else
before we close the public participation
that I may have missed
okay seeing none we'll go ahead and move
on to the acceptance of the agenda
[Music]
okay who made the motion
counselor okay she's locked out
so so moved by Flores
second okay motion made by councilor
Florida second by councilor beta
that we accept the agenda as presented
Christine
this is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented counselor beta yes
cancer Graham
thank you councilor Ben komal yes
councilor Koran yes
counselor Flores yes councilor Gandara
yes mayor yes
okay so we're not gonna we're gonna move
now to item 7.1
to 1 34 PM the public hearing is now on
so is there anyone here who wishes to
talk either for or against the transfer
of ownership and change of location of
interlocal liquor license number 2628
with on-premises consumption and Patio
service
two big toasted mon 4 LLC doing business
as Chiba Hut toasted Subs located at 556
South Telshor Boulevard Las Cruces New
Mexico 88011
good afternoon
[Music]
representative on behalf of the
applicant
okay I don't think there's anyone here
to speak either for or against this so
I'm going to go ahead and close the
public hearing that's 1 35 p.m and so
with that I'll entertain a motion to
adopt resolution 23-1-01
[Music]
second by councilor beta Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution
23-101 counselor beta yes Council Graham
yes
councilor Ben komal yes counselor Korean
yes counselor Flores yes councilor
Gandara yes mayor yes
okay thank you
next item is 7.2 resolution 23-102
program second by counselor pincomo and
Natalie Green will be presenting
Natalie are you under
economic development now oh we are now
under the city manager's office City
manager's office okay
good afternoon Mr Mayor members of
council Natalie Green for the record
with the city manager's office the
resolution before you is the approval of
the creation of a pilot program for a
construction loan financing program
uh just a little bit of background the
construction revolving Loan Fund would
be funded from the affordable housing
trust fund which is uh was created in
2010 the affordable housing trust fund
is a dedicated and restricted source of
funding to be only to be used to finance
affordable housing projects through
either grants or loans it is an eligible
use under the state uh affordable
housing act and then the city in Chapter
13 division two has the affordable
housing General oversight ordinance and
that General oversight ordinance is the
overarching guidance on any affordable
housing program implementation this
pilot program was presented to the
affordable the housing policy Review
Committee in November
the pilot program would start with seed
funding of a hundred and five hundred
thousand that funding would be loaned
out at one percent interest rates
are the proposal or staff's
recommendation is to work with Terra Del
Sol who is a non-profit affordable
housing developer and they are a
qualified grantee under the state Act
and the city's ordinance we have to
certify anyone we work with for
affordable housing as qualifying
grantees and that is a process that
means we've reviewed their their
financials their audits their mission
statements we've reviewed the projects
and uh Tara del Sol's most recent
certification was December 2022 and they
were certified by both the city and the
New Mexico mortgage Finance Authority
we are proposing to Target the Metro
Village Park area there's 39 lots that
are available to be built on right now
there's 55 pre-screened applicants on
the home ownership waiting list for the
city of Las Cruces
and all the clients would be
pre-screened and uh I'm sorry
pre-approved before the construction
starts and we're looking to Target
clients up to 120 percent of area median
income which is in alignment with the
city's ordinance
the individual uh construction loans
would be secured with a mortgage and
security corresponding security interest
instruments that includes a promissory
note
a deed of trust and then the loan
agreement and the loan agreement
outlines the the actual stipulations
right at what point they can draw down
funding
all the funding is paid back with
interest at closing on the client's
permanent mortgage
sold between 100 and
that price can vary based on the family
size of the floor plan and then the
average interest savings would be about
twenty eight hundred dollars it's
actually probably a little bit higher I
was told that construction loan rates
went up today so they're anywhere from
seven and a half to nine percent for
construction loan
just some Elevate alignments that we
wanted to include that we are our
benchmarks that we're meeting is that we
will continue to monitor housing Trends
and meet Market demands to ensure that
we're working on that affordable housing
stock
that we are locating housing in a
dispersed manner across the city to
avoid over concentration of low-income
districts and then that we're
identifying public and private
Partnerships especially to include
affordable housing and new housing
developments
I included the income chart again where
for home ownership it's a higher
a higher range of the low to moderate
income range so anywhere from 60 to 120
percent of area median income and these
numbers change on an annual basis
some some information about Terra Del
Sol again they are non-profit affordable
housing development group their mission
is to improve the quality of life for
persons in their service area and
Empower them through economically
politically and socially through home
ownership employment training and access
to financial resources they are a
certified home buying counseling
organization they've been in existence
for approximately 50 years and have
developed well over 5500 units of
affordable housing in the area
and they're also in the audience should
you have any questions today which will
stand for your standard Council options
before I go to my colleagues let me just
ask you real quick Natalie you know I'm
supportive of this program the one
percent where is the money coming from
a Housing Trust Fund there is some
funding that was already in there that
hasn't been earmarked for anything
um so we want to start the the pilot
program with with that funding so this
will be the very first time that we do
that
so we from the affordable housing trust
fund correct okay Mr Mayor we
traditionally do permanent loans and
those loans are amortized over a longer
period of time and get reimbursed to us
this would be a short-term loan to Terra
Del Sol to build the house and then it's
paid back right at closing so it's like
an eight month 12 month loan that was
the reason why I was going to ask is I
just wanted to be consistent because I
know that the interest rate that we've
charged other Community Partners is a
little bit higher but you explain this
okay thank you that's always my only
question so counselor Quran mayor Pro
Tem
thank you thank you Natalie and thank
you for all this information to answered
a lot of the questions I initially had
I'm just wondering if you can talk a
little bit about
um so I understand the process of tear
Del Sol building selling to folks who
are qualified as part of the
the existing program
I I so what are the conditions on their
their ownership and do those carry
throughout the life of a mortgage how
does that work because I know in this
area which is in my district and why I'm
extra excited for there to be more
affordable housing there the average
home is probably about 315 000 so
immediately folks have a lot of equity
which is great A great part of home
ownership but I think
the idea is that those folks wouldn't
immediately necessarily transfer that
into sale of the home
Mr Mayor counselor Quran it depends on
the other funding sources as well but
there is within embedded within the
oversight ordinance what's called an
affordability period and that
affordability period varies based on the
amount of financing in the individual
projects and then the other sources of
funds so depending on the dollar amount
that's that's in the financing
package so to speak they would have to
maintain ownership of the house anywhere
from 5 to 15 years and it can just vary
again if there's home funds it's likely
it'll be 15 years or more if there's
maybe something just like impact fee
waivers then the financing would be at a
lower amount but again these are
low-income low to moderate income home
buyers who otherwise would not have the
opportunity to achieve home ownership so
we see very little turnover in that
affordability period thank you I
suspected as much I just thought it was
it would be good for folks to know so
that they have a sense of how long these
will remain affordable for folks so
thank you I appreciate it that's all the
questions I have
thank you thank you Natalie I was not at
the meeting on the 29th so I'm I feel
like a little behind so sorry for the
questions that I've asked but
um Natalie you said they're pre-screened
who did the screening
or who will do the screening
will screen all of the clients and I
believe their home buyer counselor is
here
you have to come to them and so they are
screened uh or pre-approved so to speak
so they'll verify their income they'll
work on figure out their front end and
back-end ratios and they'll
um depending on a lot of times they get
down payment assistant loans through MFA
so they have to go through home buyer
counseling throughout that process but
this is
Rodriguez and
um I do the pre-qualification for all
our clients
my co-worker Olga Diaz does the
homeownership counseling
um so pretty much the list of clients
that I have they started applying since
2020 when I I moved from banking to the
organization so a lot of them are ready
now things can fall apart but we always
have plenty of clients that can move up
and I'm being fair to move them up
according to date of application and
there are screen as far as you know debt
to income ratio their scores because the
financing has to go through a banking so
okay thank you thank you for that so
they're also you also providing the
counseling yes now you mentioned that if
Things Fall Apart so in the event that
they can't manage
I know that once they close the money
comes back to us right but
is reimbursed correct yeah the payoff
but what happens
with in the event they cannot pay over
the life of the of the loan
it's going to be treated and what I
meant when they fall apart I'm saying
like the list of clients that I have if
I go back because I'm going back to 2021
or 2020 I go over everything that we
discussed in the past to get them a
prequel but if they turn around and tell
me Well we just bought a new car then I
have to refigure things and then if they
don't qualify then I have to work with
them and tell them okay this is what we
need to do that's what I'm in now as far
as not paying the house
I it's just gonna be treated as any
foreclosure correct um Mr Mayor mayor
Pro tem Gandara Natalie Green for the
record
s are sold to a primary
mortgage company so like a Bank of
America or whatever mortgage company
they if they were to like foreclose the
bank would go through that process and
any lien that was left from either us or
MFA would would go through the
foreclosure process as part of the
permanent financing but in this
particular programming again we get paid
back at closing so our construction loan
obligation terms are met
but I can and I'm going to look at Jan I
Can Only Imagine
zero foreclosures in our
in the 50 years so that you've that
you've done this okay okay well Ontario
del Sol's history of 50 years they've
had zero foreclosures okay all right
that's good to know now do you have a uh
through all the various
um
things that you're asking for Tierra Del
Sol to do or provide do you have a call
back measure and I think you know that
we've had some communication with our
attorney that asked us to
um to really think about these things
and I'm hoping that you're going to
address those issues specifically that
she brought up because they were of
concern to me
correct I think there was some confusion
again the city has a general oversight
ordinance which mandates all of those
Provisions a callback ordinance an
affordability period and all of those
would be included in the promissory note
okay deed of trust and the loan
agreement that's something so we do have
those Security Instruments in place okay
I do want to note that uh we can only
use our funding for affordable housing
to use it for anything other than any
affordable housing would not meet the
state's anti-donation exemption so this
we will never build like market rate
housing right it's always going to be
affordable housing that's compliant with
the state Act and the city's General
oversight ordinance thank you Natalie I
appreciate that I I think this is a
great opportunity something different in
our toolbox and I appreciate you
bringing both both John and Natalie and
staff I appreciate you bringing this
forward I'll turn it back over to you
mayor thank you thank you councilor
Graham councilman Cuomo Council Flores
cool thanks uh no questions just thank
you Natalie for presenting this and as
councilor Koran mentioned providing a
lot more context and detail for the
program and just a quick comment I think
particularly as we went through the go
Bond cycle there was there were a lot of
narratives floating around kind of
shrinking what affordable housing can
mean for our community and I think it's
so great to see yet another example of
empowering single-family homeownership
in addition to all of the other things
that you and your team and we as a city
are trying to advance so just thank you
for showing us how wide-ranging
affordable housing is in Las Cruces
thank you mayor
thanks mayor thank you so much Natalie
yes absolutely I don't
um Natalie you're presenting very like
monotone today I just I don't want to
dismiss how big can you not hear me Oh I
thought it was very loud
um I just want to say no I said Natalie
was presenting very monotone today which
was wild because this is a really big
deal
I feel like this kind of pilot program
is innovative it's getting at something
we've been talking about on this Council
for a really long time which is Building
Wealth for people for low-income for
families and homeownership is as we just
heard at our budget Retreat further and
further away for so many new Mexicans I
don't I bought my home in 2019 I don't
know that I would be able to afford my
home this year to be quite Frank and so
this kind of program working with folks
trusted organizations like Tierra Del
Sol developers that often are not at the
affordable housing table is just such a
big deal and I want to honor I want to
honor you I want to honor your team
because it it's just I know I keep
saying it's just a very big deal I do
have just a couple questions I during
our PRC we um when they presented which
was incredible we also talked a little
bit and you may can you expand more on
the down payment assistance as well
because I think that at every step of
this there is support and assistance for
families so that they can come into this
house and be able to thrive
Mr Mayor counselor Ben Como thank you
for the question
so the down payment assistance is
usually provided by the New Mexico
mortgage Finance so there's a a
secondary
qualification process and a lot of times
what they do is they do a
it's their primero Loan program and they
have some other loan instruments that
they would work with the financial
institution that would lower that down
payment so rather than a 20 down payment
on the house it's a 500 down payment but
they have to go through the home buyer
counseling
which is a pretty extensive process and
then work with the development providers
and uh and the the different loan
products vary
um because each family is a little bit
different right their credit scores are
different their household makeup are
different so it's one of the reasons why
we didn't get into such specificity
specificity between in the ordinance
because it's each one's different and
they're and like uh sokoro alluded to
things change so even though they're on
the wait list in 2020 they could have
had a baby or a child could have aged
out and moved out they could have bought
a car and their credit score going down
so each one is is really different and
that's why we're doing those individual
loan agreements and promissory notes
because it's going to change even from
when they start the house to the closing
table I can't tell you how many times on
the private side I've seen people who
are getting their buying a house go out
and buy new furniture and no longer
qualify for their loan oh my gosh and so
that's the importance of the Loan
program we are partnering we partner
with New Mexico mortgage Finance
Authority and so they're rolling out
some additional
home buyer assistance programming
I don't know that I've seen it yet but
they're subsidizing a much larger
portion of the first mortgage than you
would traditionally see
and so I think they're doing somewhere
between 25 and 40 000 grants wow and so
that's why you'll see the the
construction notes they're not for the
full value of the house they're usually
80 loan to value and then uh
and then
um
other financing mechanisms will kick in
so I know uh you'll see some home
funding that we're we're moving to this
subdivision to also help with some of
those construction costs as well and
you'll see that in one of your next
Council meetings thank you for that
Natalie I really appreciate and thank
you Socorro for your work do people call
you Coco
that's my late grandmother's name so it
is Coco
um and then Natalie today I know that
we're voting on the approval of the
pilot program as a whole I imagine that
there's many things that come up to this
very in the weeds that just is not in
the authority of council right and so
one what happens next and two how do we
how do we I really want us to like build
a story from this Natalie that is public
that because I again it's a big deal and
I want this to be
as you move through the steps there's
many steps that we just won't see after
this like how do we get to a place when
the homes are done when families are
moving in that we can really package
this as a beautiful story to tell the
community
Mr Mayor councilor benkomo we will work
with our Pio office one of the things we
like to do and you should be getting an
invitation soon too is like our ribbon
cutting so we'll make sure those get
advertised and that you guys can be
there when we open the first home other
things that we're going to work on is uh
well there's 39 Lots obviously 500 000
is not going to construct all 39 so
we're looking to build on those initial
successes that we anticipate coming and
do an expansion of the program
we have selected Tierra Del Sol just
because they're that experienced
developer to work with but we'd like to
see this open much broader and build
that capacity across the Continuum but
we'll make sure that we're working on
that story thanks Natalie thanks mayor
thank you counselor counselor Flores
thank you mayor and thank you Natalie
for your presentation and Socorro fun
my question is is how far down on the
lien holder listener is the city
Mr Mayor counselor Flores we would be
the first lien because we're providing
the construction note oh okay and then
as soon as they close on their permanent
financing our note goes away we're paid
off with interest if there's other
financing Tools in then it just depends
so if we have like home funds we're
usually in second position so at this
point there's still a need for a builder
that will come forward is that correct
Mr Mayor councilor Flores Tierra Del Sol
would be the the construction would be
the construction would be dealing with
all the contracts and whatnot okay and
um and once um once that property is
sold and the money comes back to the
city of their plans to continue
to develop more affordable housing Mr
Mayor councilor Flores this would be a
revolving flown fund so we would I put a
picture graphic right so we'd loan the
money they would construct the house and
close and we would get paid back and
then we could reloan that same amount of
funding to a new house and how long have
we had that fund since 2013. the the
trust fund itself was created in 2010
however the the construction loan
revolving Loan Fund is new that's would
be today's action well that's new so
that's why that money did the money sit
there since 2010 or how does that work
um Mr Mayor councilor Flores we have
never
allocated money directly out of the
trust fund we've done some projects but
they're usually out of the Telstra fund
we've received regular like hundred
thousand dollar investments from past
councils but it's never been large
enough to to sort of build a program off
of so that's why it's never been tapped
until now correct we've used it for very
small stuff like impact fee waivers you
guys as Council authorize an impact fee
waiver program at about 25
000.
one of my suggestions is to do a work
session on the trust fund and the
oversight ordinance and sort of all the
programming in one big
session with you guys so we can talk
more in depth on how this and to what
end would that work session what would
be the end result that you're seeking in
that work session just provide some
general information around affordable
housing development and how those
programs uh work would that facilitate
creating more affordable housing by
going that route
okay because that's pretty much what we
need to achieve thank you very much Miss
green thank you Mr Mayor
is there anybody else any questions
members of the public
can you see none Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution
23-102 counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes councilor Ben komal
enthusiastically yes Christine thank you
councilor Koran similarly
enthusiastically yes
Flores
that was a yes thank you thank you
councilor Gandara excitedly yes yes yes
it's a priority for us
and mayor yes yes
okay
oh yes all right now we're in 7.3
resolution 23-1-03
I need a yes motion
proof
okay motion made by counselor Quran
second by counselor Ben Cuomo
and Larry Nichols would be presenting
good afternoon mayor in Middleburg city
council and city manager Larry Nichols
community development director
a few introductory comments regarding
the resolution that we're considering at
this time
over the past five years or so the
Community Development Department has
been going back and looking at several
resolutions and ordinances that needed
to be updated and we've done a number of
those I could have good examples would
be the resolution of establishing the
Elevate Las Cruces our comprehensive
plan
another would be some of the several of
our building codes that the energy code
the existing building code and we
currently are under undertaking the
updating and Improvement of the uh the
zoning code known as Las Cruces realize
Las Cruces which will be coming before
you uh in the next few months
this resolution was brought forward
because we had Dentures from the council
to have it guidelines to be updated and
also it's a resolution that's over 40
years
uh old and so that's probably a good
time to be doing updating
with that I'll introduce Mr Dave Ware
and he'll give you the specifics of this
resolution
good afternoon David Weir Community
Development Department
mayor and city council this item is a
resolution as Larry said to update the
addressing and roadway naming policies
and procedures
just to give you a little bit of
background on that currently the
policies and standards that the city
follows are dictated by resolutions
8337 and 8338
um they're
each of the ordinances one dress is
addressing one dresses roadways at the
time
addresses are assigned it's typically
with a building permit or upon request
of a property owner roadways are
typically named at the time within a
subdivision approval or again there may
be a request to the city to either
change a name or to name a property
exactly the reason we're going forward
with this amendment at this time is one
is the age of the resolutions they're
over 40 years old so it's probably a
good time to look at it and probably the
other reason was because a lot of the
recent discussions on how the city
handles the renaming of streets and the
requests and how they come forward to
city council so it was an appropriate
time to look at those and bring forward
recommendations to you
the Amendments and the updates
themselves one is to combine those two
resolutions into one and be replaced by
this the two we created a new
a purpose statement and basically it's
to identify a practical approach for
addressing and Street namings and also
promoting safety efficiencies and basic
Place finding there are new graphics if
you go through our old ordinances they
are very much a reflection of their time
so we wanted to have new
graphics that clearly convey some of the
ideas of the guidelines
there was also clarification in the the
criteria that's followed basically we
have General guidelines that would
address any address or roadway naming
and then there are some criteria
specifically to addressing guidelines
and specifically to roadways
one of the other things that we updated
or proposed update with this is to
clearly Define what can be approved
administratively what can be approved by
the plane zoning commission and what
comes forward to the city council as far
as new guidelines
there are two amendments proposed that
are changes to the guidelines and both
of those are to make sure that we name
streets in appropriate Manner and if
there are streets that are deemed to be
inappropriate that we have a process to
address those
and that's a very quick summary of that
but um with that you have your typical
actions that you can take on this and
I'll be happy to answer any questions
you may have
thanks David counselor Flores counselor
thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Mr Weir
and thank you Mr Nichols for bringing
this resolution to city council
so how
um do you act on Street change the name
of us how do you approach that or what
is the mechanism that propels the street
renaming
sure the way streets get currently named
it typically happens at the time of a
subdivision a developer will propose a
names and is a part of our regular
review various staff look at those and
decide if those can go forward the plan
zoning commission approves the final
plat and when that's recorded the street
names become effective the way the
guidelines have been changed for
existing names is that if there's
somebody along a street that would like
to have it changed if there are
two-thirds of the property owners along
that segment of Road they can sign a
petition submit it to the city and then
depending on whether the street name was
in a subdivision that was Prior was
approved after 1987. it would go to the
Planning and Zoning commission if it was
approved prior to that it would come
directly to the city council and then
city council would decide whether they
wanted to
rename the street and then just as a
side note typically when we have those
petitions or if the city creates a
petition to rename a street we take a
survey of the property owners and see if
they have any recommendations to change
that
in the past we saw this most often
happen in the late 80s and 90s because
we had the large annexation of the East
Mesa and so we had streets that had the
same names of some streets that were
already in the city and so those
councils saw a lot of street name
changes to
create that to eliminate that
duplication of names and so it was
easier to find I'm guessing at the time
that 9-1-1 came into effect there was
another review to make sure that it was
easier for Public Safety to get to to
properties
uh Mr rear I I think that my question
wasn't clear enough
how does the city go about changing an
existing street name
um I think that that's the part that is
at issue I'm sorry man thank you mayor
and Council Flores the council
themselves if there's a consensus
reached by that they could direct staff
to present a name change to you if you
have identified a particular street that
you wanted looked at you could possibly
do a work session to have that reviewed
and then have it placed and staff would
prepare a petition or excuse me a
resolution basically changing that
street name and then if four of you
voted for the name change it would take
effect
counselor for it to be on calendar or do
you need a consensus there as well to
get it on calendar
mayor and counselor Flores I believe
that if there was a counselor had a
particular street that they wanted
changed that they could propose that and
then
whether at a work session or just
they're dealing with City management you
could decide to put it on
that would be the be the case
so uh would it be appropriate for me to
make that request now
I think you could do that at this time
yes my request is
that we proceed on the renaming of
squall Mountain
Street I don't know if it's Avenue or
road
but that is my request that was the
intent of the changes
to the naming of streets and whatnot
that you've just presented so as a city
councilor I'm hereby requesting that the
city manager move and do whatever is
appropriate to assure that that comes to
city council expeditiously
mayor and counselor Flores I believe
that you need to act on the guidelines
today and that yes and then your
requests will have to be dealt with in
another fashion that's
okay well then I would like to
have the comments I just made
to be appropriately stated
perhaps in in the comments but this is
on the record at this point so I believe
Mr Weir that this request the request I
made now
um
is
yes yes
procedurally you're absolutely correct
it would have to be after this is
approved so I'll make the request in my
comments
thank you very much for your
presentation and thank you Mr Weir and
Mr Nichols for moving on on this and
yeah I'm glad I was sitting when I was
waiting for it but thank you
councilman come and mayor I actually
heard counselor about this
um might come on before me so I'm going
to let her okay counselor
thank you mayor and thank you David for
the presentation
um thank you counselor Flores for
bringing up your comments I do note on
page 12 in Section 3 3.4 there is
consideration for name change that will
eliminate roadways deemed derogatory
discriminatory racist or vulgar
um and then I was going to ask one other
item that you had about changing names
one was for those that fall under those
guidelines another one was about
um on page nine
number
number six a new roadway name shall be
reasonably straightforward and easy to
pronounce and I'm curious with the
context of us in a kind of Multicultural
Community how that determination is
going to be made
mayor and counselor beta as you're
probably aware a lot of this is kind of
subjective as you go through a lot of
common sense by staff needing to take
place but earlier in some of the general
guidelines there's direction that the
staff when they review these requests
for names that they'd be aware of the
meaning in English and the meaning in
Spanish so that there's not confusion
from that there's also desire I believe
there's an example of
oh shoot I forget what it is now is like
uh Fur Street and a first
if it was somebody's name like first
where the pronunciation is very similar
and so what the desire is just to try
eliminate those and uh the city has a
master file of all street names and so
as we do these reviews of these names we
need to check it against that list and
and kind of do a drive-by I believe that
that's why there's provision so that if
we do something does get through the
cracks there is the ability to go the
plane Zone commission or city council to
correct that but it's it's based on
staff catching that and then having
safeguards or do pro or processes to try
to caption if we do make an error
thank you I was
PRC one
of
um I think educational opportunities
we've been given is that of the history
really of the different indigenous
cultures here in Las Cruces too perhaps
that is also a lens to be put on when
we're looking at meanings of words and
then I would say we do have a lot of
experts in the area that can help I
think staff out when looking at all
those
but I am you know just conscientious
that when we are looking at these names
when we are trying to consider what's
reasonable
um that's also a bias on who we are as
individuals and so I want to make sure
that we have systems in place that make
sure that we are able to kind of filter
out that bias so that we can have that
well rounded view because what we've
ended up now is in a situation where
somebody had a bias and now we have it
named that is blatantly vulgar you
wouldn't want me be saying the word in
the English context on the microphone
I'd be censored I'm sure and so we just
need to kind of look through those
frames and like I said I'm just
hopeful that we'll have those systems in
place to remove that bias thank you and
thank you Mary
thanks mayor thank you councilor beta
that was beautifully stated and thank
you Mr Weir for the presentation but
really thank you and Council Flores for
working on such important language to
bring this our these guidelines to
update uh four years ago is a long time
many things change in society and the
way we use language and the way we
relate to one another and
um that should be looked at every once
in a while so I really appreciate this
and
I apologize sort of in advance because I
want to read a couple of emails that I
received in regards in support of this
resolution from a couple of folks who
were involved last year when we first
started talking about a particular name
a particular street that really I think
is what led us to here today I was going
to wait for my Council comments but I
think it's appropriate even though I
will be making some similar Council
comments at the end but I do want to
read these because they're very
important
um I
I'm going to read this the first one
dear Las Cruces City Council and honored
members my name is Chantel Yazi Martin
and I am a member of the Navajo Nation
tribe who now resides in Las Cruces New
Mexico in Pedro mantotiwa tribal lands I
cannot be with you in person but
graciously agreed to share what I would
like to say regarding the new guidelines
and criteria for the street names in Las
Cruces
Council to vote in and adhere to the new
guidelines and AD processes and criteria
to prohibit and eliminate derogatory
discriminatory racist or vulgar roadway
names as presented in current resolution
the indigenous Community both who reside
here and from afar are in support of
changing names that dishonor groups of
people and continue to keep them in
stereotyped and derogatory timeline
Frozen and unchanging
when I first began to advocate for the
name change specifically the name of
squash Street we were given pushback
related to the residents that lived
there that lived there stating the name
change would impact their address and
would be an inconvenience indigenous
women have had the inconvenience of
being stereotyped sexualized and given
lesser concern when it comes to justice
system as indigenous have the highest
amounts of missing and murdered
indigenous women I understand the
concern however this inconvenience of
changing an address has never
contributed to the mass murder and
kidnappings of a group of people
all this relates to the name that was
given through Hollywood to depict an
image that was defined for us which
continues to impact many of our women
today the city council has a chance a
chance to move Las Cruces forward with
making the change and standing with our
indigenous women in the city like myself
and Beyond I encourage you to continue
to do to research and the background and
evolution of the word and support
this resolution to passing and provide
an opportunity for indigenous
communities to feel welcome here as well
as uplift and Empower our native women
both locally nationally and
internationally
the next one I'm going to read is from
Mia hammersley my name is Mia Montoya
hammersley I am the member of the pedo
Manzo tiwa tribe I write in support of
resolution number 23-103 and
specifically in support of the adoption
of New Mexico roadward guidelines number
five which prohibits roadway names that
are
comical derogatory discriminatory racist
or vulgarian intent
last year I submitted a letter to city
council signed by Allied individuals and
organizations from across the state in
support of the proposal to change the
name of a road currently named after a
derogatory and harmful term for
indigenous women place names can carry
powerful historical significance and the
use of discriminatory language or racial
slurs represents a traumatic history of
racism and colonization which continues
into the present day for example New
Mexico is the state with the most cases
of missing and murdered indigenous women
to con the continued use of slurs that
devalue and dehumanize us are linked to
this epidemic of violence I support the
passage of this resolution because
everyone deserves to feel safe and
valued in our community the last one I
will read is from Dr Donald pepion
all right Donald D pepeon hereby
respectfully appealed to the city
council of Las Cruces to establish the
new guidelines
I passionately believe that the street
name squat needs to be changed because
it's meaning over time evolved to
connotate the subjugation and demeaning
of Native Native Native American women I
believe overwhelmingly evidence of
missing and murdered indigenous women in
the United States reflects a social
problem related to normalizing these
kinds of racist terms the city council
now has an opportunity to demonstrate to
True leadership by initiating social
justice justice instead of perpetuating
continued subjugation of racial
minorities let us continue to be part of
our diverse Society in New Mexico by
taking a stand for those voices that are
repressed due to their low population
numbers
thank you mayor
anyone else
I just have one question I'm supporter
of this and would will be voting for it
however I just want to point out and I
think if I read it correctly so if
hypothetically the council changed the
name there's nothing that prohibits the
residents because I think I read where
if they have 75 percent who wish to
change the name back they could do that
so that's what I at least that's what I
thought I read in there is that this is
that was your understanding 75 of the
residents at two if they want because
think about it Council changed the name
and then the residents they bring a
petition and they bring a petition and
75 or Morris says we want the name that
you know this name
mayor and city council currently I
believe it's 80 30
338 allows 75 percent of the people to
submit a petition and then Council
decides whether to Grant the name change
or not this changes it to just 77 67
percent can petition But ultimately it's
the city council decides whether or not
to change the name just because they
have
that percentage saying they want the
name change is not a guarantee that they
would receive it um
do you get the the opportunity to to
name the street okay so 67 I thought I
thought I read 75 so you're saying 67 so
that's two-thirds yeah earlier it was
the current resolution has the three
quarters of people on the street this
change guideline lowers it to 67 I see
okay
thank you mayor David then
when should this be adopted
if a resident did want to come back with
any sort of street names they would also
need to adhere to the guidelines of
these principles so a name change that
would want to revert back to say
something like
uh wouldn't be allowed because it would
fall under the guidelines of vulgar and
offensive and so it would deemed
inappropriate right away anyways that's
correct staff probably would not support
the name request okay thank you thank
you mayor
okay if there's nothing further any
members of the public who wish to speak
about this yes mayor Pro tem Archuleta
emeritus
thank you dolorescenta I stayed behind
to listen to this resolution
and of Interest was the street Squall
and as a Native American I'd have to
listen to this as well
it was well covered and it's not going
to be easy but it was well covered and
you are interested in doing the right
thing now when I was in the council we
had and this is something that that
needs to be addressed first do we have
streets in Las Cruces
spell different but pronounced the same
or the other way around and my district
three
we had that case
the ambulance was called the the
constituent had a heart attack and the
ambulance was was called
and they didn't specify where that
street was it was just sounded the same
as the other one and then they went to
the wrong house
unfortunately that was that did not end
well so think about those kinds of
issues that we might have to and it's
and thank you all for bringing this up
like I say as a Native American we do
have other names that we could use
in place of school thank you
thank you anyone else
I'm saying none Christine
this is on the motion to approve
resolution
23-103 counselor beta yes counter Graham
yes councilor Ben komal yes councilor
Koran yes counselor Flores yes councilor
Ganda yes mayor yes
okay item 7.4 resolution 23-104
in motion second
move to approve corn second Abita
it's been made by Council Quran second
by councilor beta
and looks like Barbara de Leon will be
filling in for Sergio
okay
that's right good afternoon mayor and
Council yes Sid here is out today so I
am filling in for him bringing this
resolution to you for a support for a
covid-19 memorial and I believe we also
have someone on the line who might be
able to answer any questions you might
have as well after we're done presenting
so as you know uh since 2020 covet has
certainly impacted millions of people
across the world and in New Mexico alone
more than 8 000 lives have been lost
during that time we had many folks step
up to provide critical Services protect
our communities and save lives in some
cases they sacrifice their own health
and safety
local and state governments even stepped
up Health departments public servants
all took bold actions to protect protect
residents during the covid pandemic
with that in mind there is an effort led
by a non-profit organization called
marked by covid-19 to establish
memorials in very across the U.S there
are quite a few States already signed up
to raise funds for these memorials uh
what we're asking today is for the city
council to support a Statewide covid-19
Memorial that will be established in
Bernalillo County in honor of those
who've lost their lives or who have been
marked by covet 19.
and I believe you have a packet each one
of you has a pack with some more of the
the details and information about the
actual Memorial it's currently being
scoped out as a two million dollar
project funded by federal funding and
private and public donors the Bernalillo
Parks and Rec Department is the fiscal
sponsor and the current proposed site is
on one acre of land on public trust land
and um I have just a brief snippet from
the uh handout that you have with
respect to the location of the memorial
and the conceptual design that includes
um a a pilgrimage or a walk some Gardens
and some other vertical structures and
there's also some virtual
interaction as well planned for this
Memorial that we'll talk about in just a
little bit
um
each life lost to covid-19 matters covet
left a hole in the hearts of loved ones
and our communities and this
organization marked by covet actually
has a link on their website that allows
people to upload pictures and stories of
those who have lost their lives or been
marked by covid that will be integrated
into the memorial into the virtual
aspect of the moral that I that I
mentioned earlier that's detailed in
your packet but again today the the
action being requested of you is to
provide some support for this effort
Statewide effort for the covid-19
memorial thank you and I'll stand for
any questions you might have
okay thank you Barbara
councilor beta
thank you mayor and thank you Barbara
um with this resolution I am curious you
said that they are looking at
um you know private and public donors
[Music]
um with this type of approval are we
going to be expected to offer any sort
of financial support for this Memorial
thank you mayor and councilor Abita at
this time there's not the expectation
but certainly the support helps with
fundraising and with Grant applications
as well and so that's what's what's
being asked today and certainly you know
if there is some initiative by the
council at a later date for support that
could be considered separately but today
we're solely just looking for a
resolution as I said I think that will
help with the various grants and
fundraising that this group is is
initiating thank you I absolutely am in
favor of doing a resolution to support
obviously I
am very grateful for all of the medical
professionals First Responders
that helped during this time and you
know I do think it's great to honor
um the situation that everything was in
I do have a kind of caution about us
offering any sort of financial support
in the future just because this is
located in Bernalillo County and would
not be easily accessible to our own
community
in the future so thank you
thank you any other comments
you know I I just want to thank you for
the presentation Barbara I just want to
take a moment you know obviously I've
been kind of reflecting back on this
year since it's my last year and I and I
think about uh when we were deep when we
were dealing with covet and many of us
here on the dice and um and I agree
councilor uh abatea I was thinking about
you know our police our fire our EMS our
doctors our nurses our nurse assistants
the ones who cleans the hospital uh this
was uh this was really a challenge you
know and I think because we were just in
it we were just doing what we need to do
to get through things and and make
things work and so I want to take and
then of course our staff here that you
know I I often in all how during that
time they still were getting working on
the projects uh that the voters had
approved and and I think it's you know
this is I I am supportive of this I I
think that all of us have lost someone
probably from our own families to
friends to this
Dreadful virus but nonetheless you know
I think it's I just want to take a
moment to for those that may be watching
especially on TV for if you had a hand
in this to to keep our fellow residents
and citizens alive you know I just want
to tell them thanks so I I forgot who it
was that emailed me on the council to
bring this forward but thank you for for
sending it to me because this is
something here this that is uh I'm very
supportive of it
okay any members of the public who wish
to speak
Christine
motion to approve resolution
23-104 counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes councilor Ben komal yes
councilor Quran yes counselor Flores yes
councilor Gandara yes mayor yes
okay thanks Barbara
now we're going to go to we have a
couple of appointments number one first
one is Vanessa Porter District Five
appointment to the Planning and Zoning
Commission
and then next is going to be to the
Capital Improvements advisory committee
Zach gree
frillioni a new appointment I would need
a motion and a second for this
appointment so moved
second oh she made my counselor Florida
second by America Christine
we know to the Capital Improvements
advisory committee councilor beta yes
councilor Graham yes councilman Como yes
councilor Korean yes councilor Flores
yes councilor Gandara yes mayor yes
okay so now we're going to go to
propose ordinances there'll be no public
discussion Council may ask staff for
clarification or proposed ordinance and
we have 9.1 Council bill number
23-022 ordinance number 3028
bringing forward hey bring It Forward
okay number next is the council member
board reports and comment
you know I always think I don't have
anything and then I think of something
later so but right now I don't have
anything so America
thank you mayor
um we had our lift up meeting last week
it went really well there's lots of
positive energy and awareness about the
number of resources that have been
expended there and and and those that
will be to include streets renovation
rehabs sidewalks
um
one of the things that folks do have
specific issues
um is with our community cats are feral
cats in the area there seems to be quite
an increase I know I'm seeing that in my
particular neighborhood and so ifo I was
hoping that we can have not only codes
but animal codes go out and maybe do
some service sort of awareness and
looking at not only cold violations but
specific to animals as well bring you
know information to the neighbors about
sort of the well the ordinances and how
to follow those if they need specific
issues we're still seeing a lot of
illegal dumping that's happening in that
Alleyway that I have pointed out several
times right now there's several
um
carts and a maybe a old chair or small
recliner that's been out there I've
actually used as Las Cruces to
um
put put my concern out right to inform
them that that's an issue and still
after a couple of weeks it hasn't been
picked up so we can address those two
issues and then specifically
um the neighbors are continue to be
concerned about the Madrid complete
reconstruct there and would like to see
a complete streets and concept to reduce
speeding to have more trees
and we'll we're working specifically
with the neighborhoods program I think
that's a cute name but uh mayor if you
know Craig finnske has
um is working on bringing
um 50 plus trees to plant and they'd
like to plant in that lift up area
and we're looking at having a work
session or not so much a works but a
presentation I'm specific about the
neighbor Woods trees and so
I'm hoping that as as the plans are
being rolled out or developed to design
specific for Madrid
David Mr sidile that I know we've had
one meeting and that didn't go quite so
well not very many folks from the area
came to that first meeting but as we're
looking at sort of unveiling that that
that we consider what it would look like
to have something very specific specific
like we have on Telshor with the the
full of beautiful Greenery and
shrubs and bushes and those things kind
of in the in the middle as you're as
you're driving both both sides
and then as people I hope people are
aware it March is women's History Month
and in the last two years I've I've
honored
um women that have been important in my
life both professionally and personally
and in the first year I started with my
very first teachers which were my mom
and my grandmothers
and so this year I'm I'm looking at
folks women specifically that
um
are are have provided mentoring and just
who have been
great
advocates for the different things in
community that make communities such as
youth mentoring and mental health and
access to
the various survival and thriving
services so if you're not
watching them I'm posting it on Facebook
and Instagram
and I'd like to say
specifically how grateful I am to serve
with the ladies the women in this on
this diocese I think what you do and
continue to do every day even though
sometimes it's hard
is is very honorable and I I see you see
you
every day and the things that you do and
I know it's not it's not easy so kudos
to all of you we're I think there was an
email by Eileen van we inviting us to
the opening at doniana Arts Council on
the 8th
in honor of women's history month so
please watch your email and and try to
get over to that um
our art installation I think it I've
heard fabulous things about it
and Owen Yvonne is Whispering over to me
it requires an RSVP
and
I I do want to
[Music]
um
mayor to cancer flotus's comment about
changing the name to that's
changing the name the street from
squaman to something more appropriate
I'd like for staff to work on that and
work on that diligently and quickly and
bring it back if I remember correctly
it's it's been several years now that
counselor flood is at that street being
specifically in her District I believe
has been working on that and although I
appreciate the work that it took to to
have an orange resolution specifically
to address the street names and numbers
and all the various things that come
into that I I think that that's
something that I think needs to come
very quickly to council
and with that I'll I'll turn it over
back over to you mayor
thank you mayor pretend I know what I
was going to tell you so I haven't
forgotten about my state of the city
address and I was going to have it but I
think it was during spring break so I've
decided to since my last one I'll honor
my father whose birthday is March 30th
so I'm going to have it on March 30th so
it's a Thursday
yeah yeah he was my probably my biggest
supporter
and I would always get all these
signatures and he didn't do so good in
fundraising though he could fundraise
for the Special Olympics he was their
number one fundraiser for that but
he was uh he was he was my number one
campaigner so counselor
cram oh no I'm sorry counselor Flores
sorry I'll skip that movie it's quite
all right
um I don't mind being confused but
thank you
so I just want to
um actually it was
the name Street that's so offensive was
actually brought up by councilor Ben
Como and I did thank her when I
initiated the move to proceed to remove
the uh that street name I think that we
were way cited or whatever the word is
derailed
when the petitioners actually
uh natured the the
the residents on that street actually
took the affirmative action to
to not have the strength change and and
then it just so it took quite a while to
get those wheels of
progress to turn and and I do want to
thank Mr Nichols and and again Mr Weir
for redrafting the 40 or how many year
old how how many years yeah 1980 40
years yeah because his 1980 was the that
resolution that allowed the residents to
to keep the name
but based on the revision
they won't be able to
um succeed should they reject the new
name or this process so I want to again
iterate the
the request of Mr peely to move the city
forward as expeditiously as possible to
assure that we do have a change of name
for that part of the city and if it's
possible well it is possible but also
it would be great to review the the
names of other streets and um
and I would also would like to suggest
to the Community Development Department
to consult with people who speak Spanish
or French or whatever the name is going
to be to consult with anybody who knows
any any modicum of Spanish like
callahita Street
I mean don't have my own break as a
French would say but um anyway I I just
want to
um
also say that it is a women's history
month and the Dona Ana Arts Council is
honoring the month it's this Wednesday
these RSVP
um and I think that it's also wonderful
that we had that resolution on covid
I had to travel internationally
a few times during that time
and I'll tell you in one way it brought
a lot of people together usually when
you travel you go into an airport you
sit there and wait and there's never any
conversation you pick up a book a
magazine or you take a nap during your
flight you know you're waiting for your
flight connections or whatever but
people were actually talking I mean it
was amazing it's like yeah well maybe
we'll keep in touch type of thing
so but yes it was a terrible time and I
hope we
I think we all suffered psychologically
in many ways
that
anyway thank you that's all thank you
thank you councilor Koran
thank you just a few quick announcements
I do I'm very excited to go to
a class of NMSU students did an
assessment of public art across the city
I think I only have one public art item
right now in my district but I'm still
gonna I'm a little pouty about that but
the Animal Services Center will add one
more but I'm curious I hope that folks
might consider coming to support the
student
the students from Dr samaniego's class
and it's Thursday at 9 00 a.m in Davis
Dolly Hall which is probably one of the
most beautiful buildings in the city of
Las Cruces if you haven't if you haven't
had the opportunity to go there and and
see it so I hope that my fellow
counselors will will join me there to
support the student and the students in
talking about our public art and some of
the needs that are that are a part of
that
um
uh other than that we had the pleasure
of seeing having a budget presentation
for the Animal Services Center on Friday
and I'm really excited about
how that's moving along and I think I
look forward to the new center opening
which is on on its way and coming soon
and and increasing the sort of public
space and services that folks can
participate with there and so please be
on the lookout for that grand opening
including the dog park and then I just
want to go to the last to the to the
item related to name changes when I
first joined city council I came with a
very intent hope to to get rid of the
racist name and counselor flores's
district and I quickly learned how
systemic racism works and so I just want
to point to the idea that 40 years ago
this Council looked different 40 years
ago folks made different rules
today I I would just like to point out
that we have the opportunity to do
something better and more thoughtfully
and I'm so glad to be here with you all
to be doing that and so I'm very excited
about the opportunity to address that
and I would also just like to say we're
coming for you next Pistol Pete whether
people like it or not that's what I'm
gonna say so that's it for my comments
thanks
now I'm gonna have a tough one with that
one so
counselor
[Music]
you say I would also like to see a
resolution regarding that particular
Street move forward I think I was really
disappointed last time around when the
only thing at our disposal was to go to
a ask a bunch of non-indigenous people
if they thought this word was offensive
um and here we are so I would like to
see that I add my name to the list and
would like to see that come forward
two things right before the meeting
started Elizabeth Teeters or economic
development director told me that the
MRA legislation passed unanimously the
senate floor which is such a big deal
and now it goes to the house and
hopefully to the governor soon so we'll
definitely be I'll definitely be making
my calls to our folks to continue to
support that so thank you a million
Elizabeth for for leading on that effort
and then the other thing I was going to
say regarding the state legislature and
the request from local citizens around a
work session regarding police
accountability police oversight right
um I mean the session's almost over but
if in the event that there are pieces of
legislation that are passed that will
impact
our municipality I think we should have
a work session to discuss those things
and potentially other
policies that we would like to see move
forward here in the city I continue to
reiterate that I don't support
basically another bureaucratic process
that would be a citizen's oversight
committee it's what I believe it would
ultimately do and honestly
the Albuquerque city council just a few
weeks ago voted unanimously to abolish
the existence civilian police oversight
agency and instead create a new civilian
police oversight Advisory Board making
that board inherently less have less
power and fewer members than the
previous one and I believe that happened
probably because it
they don't work and they just create
more bureaucracy and
um and I don't when I say that I don't
want people to hear me say you don't
care about bringing better policing that
is not what I am saying I am simply
saying that if we are going to spend
time resources and effort that we bring
something that is Meaningful but I would
mayor I do think it's important that we
have a work session
um and I'll maybe I'll what I'll do is
in order for it to be more specific once
the session is over if there are any
pieces of legislation Statewide that
pass ask for a
work session on those and any other
things that this Council may want to see
thank you thank you counselor and what I
was inviting Peter Goodman to do is just
to meet with me and and I'll meet with
his group just so I can understand and I
just I emailed him earlier so he can
find out from oir how a Hybrid Works and
I just want to you know in all fairness
to himself self and a few of the others
I just want to at least I don't want to
just shut the door on anything I want to
just hear what that what it is what it's
about and and how it works and I'm sure
um oir if they did participate would
charge so
counselor Graham
this one oh there oh you're pretty
special I are you going to sing for us
I know I'm gonna
I'm gonna no but if I have
the super gonna use it so thank you
people in the booth when my mic was
failing me
um
also adding voice of support councilor
Flores thank you for your work moving
this forward so please add me to that
tally although I do feel a little
personally attacked today because I keep
hearing about how things that are over
40 years old really need to be updated
codes councils apparently me I was like
oh boy yeah but it's true just
just two quick comments uh first of all
uh recognition and a comment about our
amazing City Clerk
can I get a round of applause
Kristen what doesn't Christine do and
actually that's exactly where I'm headed
um our city clerk has so many different
jobs takes care of this Council and the
city in so many different ways but one
of those jobs is not making sure that
boards committees and commissions have
all of their vacancies filled and there
has been some confusion about that
recently that is not the city clerk's
role so boards committees and
commissions that have vacancies that is
incumbent upon those of us who have
those vacancies or other members of the
board to recruit full membership but
Christine for the other 12
000 things that you are assigned to do
and do with such Grace and expertise I
thank you
um
second comment uh I'm going to talk a
little bit about journalism and and it
gives
just give me a sec here
um not you Justin don't don't worry
um no and I'm I'm referring specifically
to reporting around uh the monoi mono
program that has been floating around
and I want to make it clear at the top
that I am not in any way criticizing
residents who have reached out to me as
a result of this reporting
um I understand because I think that the
way that it was framed was specifically
to broker outrage
um a local an Area Regional I'll stay
media Outlet carried a story about
manoimano back in January and it didn't
really seem to get a lot of traction I
was aware of the story I know that
members of City staff and amazing
Council colleagues had response to it
but I guess it didn't get enough
attention because the story was recently
recycled and republished and then
added a little a moral Panic to the mono
imano program and it appeared to be that
the reporter was just quoting themselves
about the possibility of dangerous
people being turned loose in our
community
and I realized that click bait is
certainly not
limited to any one media outlet but to
me it just smacks of lazy journalism and
I wanted to mention that because I think
we have a lot of
of really proactive reporting around
here and I want to distinguish between
those qualities
um I also want to say and I think this
has already been stated by colleagues
and City staff that I remain in complete
support of the mono imano program if
shouldn't have to be said but crews are
supervised throughout their shifts so if
you read reporting that's saying that
uh you know people are being potentially
dangerous people are being turned loose
in the city it's not true and
um
instead of helping to lift up a program
that I think is has been a real a real
Boon to the community
um yeah just didn't appreciate seeing it
framed that way obviously I support
you know support pre-journalism go first
amendment I'm not saying anything about
that but I just wanted to
say a little bit about that
and that's all I got and can I have this
forever
can I when I'm doing counselor comments
gonna wander around a little bit
thank you so much
why don't we get you those that new
microphone that just kind of
kind of yeah yeah that comes out of the
yeah I I think we should get one of
those for you then you can that way
though you don't have to hold it you can
just walk around talking
yeah I'm sure yeah I'm sure we can take
that out of counselor Flores budget
my three cents the millions that are in
there
councilor beta
thank you mayor um I actually have quite
a few updates
to give out this Thursday we will have a
utilities board meeting it will begin at
two a little bit early because we'll be
having a work session that will look at
our budget and then we'll lead straight
into our regular items the second last
week we did have a public safety select
meeting where we had a report
from La Casa as we continue to look at
um
the different cases that we see about
domestic violence and how it's impacting
our community we got a little bit of
information from this agency and the
different types of programming and
counseling that they do and what type of
coordination or collaboration might be
needed in the future
I will be having a district meeting
April 4th from 6 to 7 30 it will look at
our budget Public Works and Public
Safety this is a good time because there
are a few items that are happening in
the district including today we'll have
some lean closures on University Avenue
between turentine and El Paseo we have
the University Avenue waterline Mill and
overlay project that will start also on
March 13th there'll be some closures
around South Valley in my district for
fiber optic pathway installation
and then I am excited to be attending
the national league of cities on March
25th through 29th so I will be I believe
missing a council meeting for that but
we're going to also coordinate with our
federal delegation at the same time so
bringing up some needed information
mission
and in your email you should have
an item from the municipal League there
is a membership survey I probably have
announced it at least once but since I
created it I'm going to announce it
again please fill out the survey
as we are looking to develop a strategic
plan one hasn't been done with the
municipal pool week before and we are
trying to get some pre-information from
all of the membership
and lastly I just want to say thank you
to all staff who attended the budget
Retreat we really appreciate I know the
time coordination and effort so that we
can get the needed information
to help us make better decisions as we
go into budget review so thank you mayor
thank you
thank you were you going to say
something I do I am sorry thank you
counselor Abita for bringing up the
public safety select committee I promise
I'm going to start putting things out
there with a very interesting
presentation from La Casa and I I want
to just mention if I think I I always
have trouble hearing you from way over
here
but I want to remind Council that we are
looking at lifting that moratorium of DB
cases
um and legal is in the process of hiring
an attorney to be able to handle the
number of cases that will be
that we will be addressing and we will
be doing it in conjunction with the
numerous services that la casa is is
providing and I'm glad that
we had that it was something that we've
been working on for some time and then I
just want to say good luck to the
women's NMSU Roadrunner basketball team
they play tomorrow
in Vegas and I hope that they
win
Mary you gotta honor them and say
something you say about the men's
we got to say about the women absolutely
well good luck to them so I know I I
think coach Adams has done a fantastic
job and so I wish we're sure well and
her team
okay so city managers people
oh yes oh yes sorry uh mayor uh one more
item that I'd like to bring is the
possibility for training for Council and
or staff on parliamentary procedures
mayor I think you've been released
steadfast with your leadership on here
and I believe that it would be great for
all of us on Council to get a little bit
of a course at our utilities board
meeting we got to hear of their new
legal department and all the services
they provide and they brought up that of
parliamentary procedures and it's used
heavily on that board and so I thought
that might be a great opportunity for us
on Council to get some either a
refresher or just extra knowledge thanks
I don't know how to take that
you're great to teach us too but to
teach it here oh okay you could teach us
as well but if we bring in it are you
saying that after I leave you guys are
going to need help I'm saying that
we are great but it's never a bad idea
to get a little bit of training and
they're sticklers so they'll hold us to
task
well as far as parliamentary procedure
goes uh Robert's Rules of Order are used
but they're only guidelines so anything
that just isn't
um extremely out of order or if it's not
consistent with your agenda should fly
so I'm sorry to hear that your utilities
board is having that problem but none of
my boards are having that problem
because I just alert them to Robert's
Rules of Order is it's not a lot I mean
if you anything that just violates the
agenda or someone being terrible
terribly out of order is pretty much the
rule but oh well those are Yvonne's
rules of water not Roberts seriously I
also want to add something
do you want to say something
since we're running pretty good on time
I want to share a funny story with you
why I had
learned the Oma pretty good
so I would go back to my very I did I
already told you oh the very first
meeting as a county commissioner in 1993
we were electing a chairman that was my
very first meeting and one of the
Commissioners said hey let's just do
this and secret ballot so I thought well
that's pretty good so I voted and and
then the Attorney General found out and
basically reminded us that you you had
to go like to class to learn the open
meetings act and so we read the whole
thing and so
yeah it was either that or something
else so we and we had to re-vote again
so that's why you know I we had to learn
that really well
all right people
thank you mayor
so I've asked Barbara to have a standing
maybe legislative update throughout the
session and I know I don't think there's
much update but I just want to turn some
China Barber to see if there's anything
she'd like to to share
thank you so much ifo and mayor and
Council
um if I was right we're sort of in the
last frenzied week with legislation
we're we've been tracking over 190 bills
but at this point just 40 that have
advanced either from the Senate to the
house or from the house to the Senate
was mentioned earlier about our
MRA changes which we're very pleased
that they according to Elizabeth about
passed unanimously last week and and
moving on so that's very good news for
us and our Economic Development toolkit
the tax bill House Bill 547 was heard
this morning and the good news is that
the portion that dealt with excluding
certain Professional Services from
taxation has been removed that would
really be detrimental would have been
very detrimental to us and to other
municipalities so very happy to see the
form that it's in right now so tracking
those two things we're still waiting on
the final State Appropriations from
Junior bills and capital outlays Larry
should be providing that report to me
this week I'm hoping so that I can share
that with you next week as we reach the
final week of the legislative session so
that's about it for now ifo thank you so
much for the time thank you all
thank you Barbara and then just a couple
of things I appreciate councilor Graham
bringing up the money mono article
um you know you give a 45 minute
interview and you you can't choose which
parts they pull out and what what they
choose to share and so I appreciate you
saying that another thing and this is I
think this is in a different uh
tone here with our affordable housing
um the art of the code that came out and
this isn't you know I know the Sun News
published this and I don't think that in
fact I know the intent wasn't to incite
in this but the way it's being
interpreted out there
is at the city council did not issue
bonds for affordable housing and did not
prioritize that so I just wanted to make
since we're clarifying articles that
have come out I know we've been trying
to answer emails and we've reached out
to trying to try and clarify but for the
record please make no mistake that that
is a high priority and all that has to
do with is is timing on the projects
trying to time up the projects with the
financing so that we're not paying
unnecessary interests so because it's a
taxable Bond and because we have
projects in the queue we're just trying
to make sure the timing lines up but we
are not
delaying that we're not
prioritizing it less than the other
projects but just wanted to clarify for
the record again we've been
we've been trying to respond and trying
to help that interpretation be correct
out there and so it just sits constagram
reminded me of another instance where it
can be misinterpreted
and then just just uh update with our
oir discussion
contract we did talk a little bit about
that in our Public Safety what we're
doing
we have taken consideration what the
council has talked about
um
we're proposing it'll come as we as it
takes form a little bit more in the next
couple weeks but we've talked about more
community outreach
um expanding the scope a little bit
further to address some of the issues
that were discussed and so that's going
to be coming
forward
I think we should have a proposal here
in the next couple weeks
and then the only other thing uh just a
reminder I will be taking my two weeks
and will be out from March 13th to the
26th
just to align with with my kids spring
break and um and so the next two Council
meetings or the work Centennial Council
I
I won't be here but I'll leave
the economy as acting City Manager for
those two weeks
thank you man
so 50 50 raises and everybody gets a few
days off economy I said is that what it
is
okay
there's nothing further in a motion to
adjourn move teachers
is there a second
second motion made by Council Florida
second by councilor beta that we adjourn
Christine
this is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting counselor beta yes councilor
Graham yes
yes
Council for Graham yes counselor Flores
what yeah yes should I say yes yes okay
yes cancer Canada yes mayor yes
okay we our journey is 307 PM thanks