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[Music]
good afternoon everyone welcome to the
work session of Las Cruces City Council
today is Monday September 26 2022 it's
approximately 1 05 p.m before we begin
if you please join me in the Pledge of
Allegiance please
foreign
of the United States of America and to
the Republic for which it stands one
nation under God indivisible with
liberty and justice for
thank you
okay now we're going to have our
introduction of our pets of the week and
Jennifer Martinez from our
Communications office will be
introducing them
good afternoon mayor and Council I am
Jennifer Martinez with the city's
Communications office and today I would
like to introduce you to a new dog and
cat
if I can find them
there we go
I am going to start with tag
tag is a three-year-old he has a very
handsome sweetheart who would love to
make your home his home when he's
comfortable around you he loves to get
neck scratches he comes from a home that
had a few cats previously so he's not
opposed to trying a multiple cat home
again just let him adjust it he should
fit right in and then we have honey
honey is also a three-year-old a playful
sweetheart this girl is considered a
large size dog at about 60 pounds she is
wonderful on a leash and doesn't need
any special treats for her to feel
special around you all she wants is to
get pet all day long if you have a home
that can provide her a way to burn off
some energy please go get her today you
can meet either of these two kitties by
getting a hold of the Animal Services
Center at
3820018 make sure you look up their
animal number and for honey you can see
right here
41550 and for tag it's 52491
if you want to make a match this weekend
there are some opportunities to meet
these and other adoptable pets at
Tractor Supply from 9am to noon this
Saturday on Picacho they have an
adoption event or you can head to the
booth at the southern New Mexico state
fair either Friday Saturday or Sunday
thank you very much mayor okay thanks
Jennifer
okay now we're going to go to our jobs
of the week and Giselle palomares who
will be from the Workforce Connection
will be presenting
good afternoon mayor and Council for the
jobs of this week we have a senior
Wastewater collections worker for city
of Las Cruces that job pays 21.10 it is
open until filled we have a driver and
Warehouse labor with Monger water
service that job pays 12.50 an hour
closes at October 15th of this year
j29 Enterprises is looking for a
mechanic and that pays 17.21 an hour and
it closes on October 15th cell support
Specialists with Foxworth Galbraith
blumber that pays 14 an hour to 21 an
hour depending on experience and that
one closes December December 13th
U.S Renal Care is looking for a dialysis
patient care technician and that pays 23
000 to 29 000 also depending on
experience closes October 17th
and as always for any more information
regarding
um the jobs today or anything you need
when it comes to Workforce you can
always contact the office at
575-524-6250 and it's located on 226
South Alameda Boulevard and you can
always check out our app that is not
available on the App Store and Google
play thank you mayor okay thank you
Giselle
okay we have three items on the agenda
the first one is Animal Companions
relationship between veterinarians spay
neuter and Emergency Services
and I know Don Duncan is here I had a
chance to meet with Don a while back and
this this excuse me this conversation
came about because
if you have a pet and you're if there's
an emergency there is no emergency
hospital here the closest one being El
Paso and so what Don and her colleagues
have come up with was a pretty good idea
so I want the council to hear it and see
if that's something here that you wanted
us to work and try to get this worked
out with our various other
providers here in the city
I'm just
drive up by set slides ahead but
I'm not seeing that I couldn't tell you
always ready
okay all right
oh okay there we go
great thanks Christy appreciate it
okay and view slideshow there we go
so as you can see this is our mission
now before I go on is there anyone who
needs me to read slides I always want to
oh my God I just need you to state your
name for the record please oh sorry Don
Duncan founder and president of Animal
Companions of Las Cruces District Five
um
does anyone need me to read the slides
you can all see fine okay great so this
is our mission and it has been our
mission since we formed 13 months ago as
a citizen action group in January we
became an official non-profit under the
fiscal auspices for two years of the
Community Foundation of southern New
Mexico before we roll out and become our
own and that's my boy Barney if you're
so how did this begin well this dog is
my other dog furry Fergus our bigger
snail schnauzer mix both rescues had
cancer surgery in June 2021. we brought
him home on Friday and on Saturday
morning he began Bleeding Out
I immediately called Animal Hospital of
Las Cruces because the year before when
Barney the other dog had been attacked
by two pit bulls I was able to take him
there for surgery
that's when I found out that was no
longer possible I got the message that
many of us have gotten that he would
need to be taken to El Paso so we
quickly drove to El Paso you can imagine
that we were frightened he was bleeding
out and we were there for hours before
they even got him back on IVs I really
thought we might lose him they did save
him and it took a lot of work after but
I got home late that night we were there
all day and I thought this is not okay
we are the second largest city in New
Mexico this is not okay there should be
Emergency Care here why isn't there and
so my work began I'm happy to say as you
can see there that in the last 13 months
as we've worked worked worked with our
veterinarians in our community things
have improved Animal Hospital is now
open on the weekends from eight to four
less intake three but they still cannot
do surgery they don't have the staff to
do that okay and tornada is open till
seven at night Monday through Thursday
so those are some improvements
so
I was a professor for 29 years
so I don't go into anything without
doing the research first
so this data is really relevant for us
to understand where we stand and if it
is impo if it is possible to actually
create and sustain 24 7 Emergency Care
here
now our approach is to support all of
our Veterinary Services here
our executive board consists of five
members who use four different services
and we work with all of them making sure
that that as we introduce ourselves as
we tell them how we are here to help
them that they understand we approach
this positively and collaboratively
recruitment of more veterinarians to the
area is a top priority it is a
nationwide shortage and if we don't get
ahead of the curve other people are
going to be jumping in on this we've got
to solve this for our people our pets
now
that's why a lot of our funding will now
go to Recruitment and debt relief
scholarships as our young vets leave
veterinary school we know you know that
undergraduate through graduate there's a
lot of debt they graduate with an
average of three hundred thousand
dollars in debt
has a lot of debt to be carrying
so if we can sweeten their signing
bonuses because all all Veterinary jobs
come with signing bonuses these days if
we can sweeten that with debt relief
scholarships that makes us certainly
more competitive to get some of those
people to come here
we also need to deal with these
non-compete clauses non-compete clauses
were created for business and
development scientific development not
for medical care in 2015 our state did
away with non-compete clauses for
doctors of humans
it is time to do that for those who care
for our pets
veterinarians have one of the highest
suicide rates in the nation it is a very
difficult job
people will yell at vets when they won't
yell at their own doctors vets have to
take care of multiple species not just
one
so if they are unhappy in their job why
would we want them to have to stay
and if there's an uncompete Clause they
have to uproot their families and move
usually out of state right across that
border
and we lose them
so we need to deal with them
we have made
um
oh I want to go to the goals first so
our goals there's Fergus looking well
again right so our goals
um are really important as far as
recruitment but also
um getting rid of the non-compete
clauses I think I was off by one slide
sorry guys
um and then also um the television the
televit but we're also interested in
education we want to have a conversation
with doniana Community College we have a
great pre-vet program at New Mexico
state
so why not get a really good vet tech
licensing program at Dona Ana why not up
the ante here and really make us a
destination for Veterinary Care
um you may not be aware but vet tech
here have to be registered but they do
not have to be licensed and some of them
may not want to they may say we can't
afford to go back to school so let's
help let us help you with that Ryan
so our progress um we've been told by a
lot of people that we've made amazing
progress in this year that we've been
going but to me it feels slow because I
know how critically important this
situation is we have certainly worked
the media and I am very happy to report
that as of the last hour
that
amount of money that we now have
is tripled
we just had an anonymous donor give us
forty thousand dollars
she believes in what we're doing
and I hope you will believe in that too
so I want to talk about that last thing
because that was a major part of our
goals and something we've been
successful in already
vet triage
so we selected vet triage as our
television Partners after research and
after interviews with top candidates
and vetriage we were very impressed with
them because they are staffed only by
licensed veterinarians so that's who you
talk to that's who you see on the video
call and these are veterinarians who
formed this company because they had the
same concern we had
that there is an emergency crisis across
this nation
no charge
to join them as a vet clinic no charge
for us to join them so on our land we
have on our website a landing page to
vetriage so you can go and set up an
account for no charge you will only be
charged as a client if you make a call
fifty dollar flat fee right
so it's a win-win for our veterinarians
and for our pet parents
the good news is that 60 to 80 percent
of after hour calls do not require
surgery or IVs like Fergus did right
it's my dog ate chocolate I don't know
what to do you know something like that
they need guidance but not Hands-On care
so now that vet triage has been working
with us in these months and we're
tracking those things we know that there
are fewer people having to make that
drive to El Paso that stressful
expensive and sometimes not successful
drive right
so we would really love to see all eight
of our clinics here be a part of that
triage and have it expand in Southern
New Mexico it will be a huge help to all
of the Veterinary Services
if you have a pet I encourage you to go
on our landing page for them get signed
up because you don't want to be doing
that when the emergency arrives right
you want to have something in place
so how do we pursue this Well Veterinary
partnership and here I want to explain
something very carefully our original
idea was a Consortium
this is what I call the Fargo model
consortiums work across this nation in
fact at our fundraiser event just the
other night a retired vet who went to
pre-vet school here practiced in
California has returned said she was
shocked
that we don't have the kind of
Veterinary Community right now that
supports a Consortium
that's something we can tackle okay
so I found out after meeting with my vet
back in Fargo I moved here from
Fargo-Moorhead it's a University Town in
2005 he started the Red River emergency
hospital up there and in 2005 Fargo
Moorhead looked almost exactly
demographically like Las Cruces Messiah
almost exactly
same numbers University Town all of that
except it has snow so it was very very
similar and what they did was all the
Vets put in some money
they took out a loan
and in five years and they set up their
own Hospital right one that's a
standalone and in five years they had
cleared the loan and were in profit and
have built an extraordinary
extraordinary emergency hospital now
staffed by full-time emergency doctors
and they share in those Prophets
I found about the do not compete clauses
they can't work outside of their own
clinics
and there is
sadly
a lack of collaboration across the vet
community
it makes no sense in some ways I don't
understand the history but let's get
past the history of it
because remember those numbers back
there that we have about 24 000 pets
here
in just Las Cruces if you don't even
count Messiah there are 15 vets here
there's more than enough work to go
around so we should be working
collaboratively so our next idea was
okay well we'll start the hospital
and then we found out through research
how much that would cost
I went well well unless I win the
lottery that will now be happening
or unless you know somebody with a
deeper Pockets even than that Anonymous
donor right because we're talking
Millions
so partnership options so we took it to
our vets Carol kalista stepped up and
said I've been wanting to do this I need
help to do this I want to expand to 24
7.
she's hoping this fall to get to 7 A.M
to midnight she's got some new hires
but we all know if you know anything
about Carol Calista and she's not my vet
so you know we work with everybody right
Carol has wanted to do this for a number
of years
so the question now is can we make it
happen
and if Animal Hospital wants to do it
can we make that happen
if juanada wants to do it can we make
that up we will work with all of them
I still would like to come back to that
Consortium idea though
so top priority recruit veterinarians to
come here
now
you might think well what can a
non-profit do
well all the veterinary clinics are
trying to recruit
but if they're putting in about 70 hours
a week now anyway and I'm not kidding
how do they have time to actually really
get out there and recruit
the two that are owned by corporations
those corporations recruit for all their
clinics
so they're doing a lot of General
recruiting
so we went to work we've created a
really really vibrant brochure we've
done the research to find every vet
every vet school in the nation when
their job fairs are who to contact and
we're going to get our material out
there some of those are in person many
of them are have remained virtual so
that's not a that's a cost-effective
thing right so we get into those job
fairs and we sell Las Cruces
I can tell you I grew up in the
southwest inner city Dallas I've wanted
to live in New Mexico since I was 17. I
finally made it if they'd had a job
opening when I finished my PhD I'd have
been here then
but I'm in love with this place
and I want to make a positive difference
and this is something I can do my group
can do so let's show them why this place
is fabulous a lot of people know nothing
about Las Cruces they may know Santa Fe
Talos Albuquerque right
Las Cruces I think has it all University
Town the Arts at the border which I
believe is kind of cool myself desert
and mountains and we can afford to live
here
so one of the things I learned as a
professor when I was talking to my
students about their first jobs
it don't just look at the paycheck
you have to know what the tax base is
you have to know if you can afford the
cost of living because if somebody in
San Francisco or New York City offers
you a big paycheck
and you go there guess how you're going
to be living
so let's show them the whole picture
and most these people are Outdoors
people
get them here and let them know there's
this Vibrant Community that supports
them
of course we are accepting donations all
the time so individually feel free to go
to our website and donate
so what are ways you can help
our city council our city leaders
this one I finally realized was a biggie
this top one
we have held a couple of webinars for
vets
and I would say that you know those four
veterinary clinics that I mentioned they
were very excited and all but two have
participated but we can't get them all
in the same room at the same time
I think you could
I think if you invited them to a meeting
of veterinarians to solve this crisis
and we could pitch the Consortium idea
we could make it work even right now
with non-compete clauses even when we
can't get rid of them because vet triage
can set up a phone bank that sends you
to the right clinic on the right day
night weekend with the right person
there's no reason that can't be done
you can help make that happen
you could also provide incentives I
don't know how it works how you do the
money that's you guys right
but if we could provide incentives to
our clinics here
to help them stay open longer by helping
them hire
just as we're going to sweeten that deal
with those scholarship thing debt relief
then I think that would go a long way
towards helping as well
but there might also be government
programs and grants you know about that
I don't know about or that we haven't
found
and we can work those I am very happy to
say that our mayor and mayor Nora and
macia have both been very supportive and
um the County Commissioners when I spoke
with them spoke before them also very
supportive some of our state legislators
are getting very interested in the
possibility of working on the
non-compete Clause so so if you think of
ways that we can work collaboratively I
only
work from a position of positivity and
collaboration
but I'm also highly determined
and we are going to get this done
so I'm going to just say to you we can
make this happen
there's no reason we can't
that billboard that says the emergency
hospital and why it is still open has
been wrong since 2018 people I don't
know who's paying for that but they
really need to take it down because it
confuses people
the need is great
and if we haven't learned this by now we
should have learned it during covid
during the pandemic that is or isn't
over and all that might come
animals make us better human beings
pets improve our quality of life so this
isn't just about pet owners it's about
our whole city
our region
and we matter not just the North
so I hope you will work with me and I'm
happy to take any questions or
suggestions that you have thank you so
much for your time
thanks Don that was an excellent
presentation I I couldn't remember
exactly what your previous occupation
was when you retired here but when you
said college professor it pretty much
made sense why you can deliver so well
how you can speak so well and you
probably did the PowerPoint yourself so
yes I did thank you counselor Graham
another PhD right here I'm sorry who did
you say oh that's me Council that's why
you were smiling at me
thank you mayor
um and at the top I just absolutely want
to express my support for hearing more
about this
for you know and I this is something
that I would care about even if I hadn't
been in the exact experience that you
were describing
um a couple of years ago we had to do
the back-to-back trips to El Paso within
a week one for a really catastrophic
diagnosis and then the next to say
goodbye and as difficult as that was we
my husband and I were at least in the
privilege of the position to being able
to afford it that's right to having
transportation to be able to drop
everything to go down there and I think
as hard as losing our boy was what was
worse was seeing people not having that
option in the waiting room because we we
were there for hours just like you
pointed out and
I saw so many people come in hear the
price to even get back through those
doors and that's nothing against the
Emergency Services I understand that
they you know they have to cover their
costs but we saw so many people
have to leave again or having frantic
phone calls or trying to get the money
together I mean and that's a whole
that's a whole other side of it
um
so just speaking speaking as an elected
speaking of somebody who cares about the
whole city and speaking as someone who
has personally been through this
heartbreak um I'm going to give you my
card and let me know how I can help
thank you thank you
okay anybody else
and I will say before April Anaya
stepped down she and I were working
together to allow for that funding to
include vet triage
because it's much more affordable than
for some people needing to make that
trip right
which they can't make so I'll walk over
and get your card from you in just a
second okay so the purpose of me asking
Don to present this presentation was a
couple reasons one to let obviously you
all know what what's being worked on and
two to explain that there is a a network
out there that's available for those who
may be in need in the interim and it's
possible
that maybe in the near future depending
on the different fundings and and such
you know we have we're building our new
animal services facility which is also
leaving our former one as well and I
don't know I mean I know there's some
I lose ideas as to what's going to
happen with that
but if we were to utilize a small
portion of that
and if we would somehow receive some
type of funding from from the state
legislature there could be a way that
because right now there's a there's a
program that the state has that if you
have
um if you were willing to do so much
service back to the state I believe that
they can help with tuition that's right
and if there's a way that we could work
that because veterinarians are high in
demand and if there was a way that we
could work that that this city could be
a catalyst to allow a one or two
veterinarians that after they graduate
they come here and they they do their
four years or six years whatever
whatever the state says that they need
to do to basically get that type of
tuition reimbursement or however they
work it
I think if we can slowly build to that
level
I don't know if it can be done very
quickly you know in all fairness both
city and state and federal government
moves a little bit slow and there's a
reason for that but
um but I just wanted to tell you thanks
publicly thank you for what you're doing
and your team as well as to let the
public know that there is some a little
alternative and then in the interim if
we can move and if you want I know we
can try to bring the other parties that
you talked about together so we can have
a little bit more thorough discussion
and a maybe a more
a type of plan to futuristic plan that
figures out how can we do this in a
certain time period and sustain it yeah
yeah I did speak with Dr Wenzel who is
the he works with New Mexico state's Vet
pre-vet program former vet his son is
the vet now out in Deming and we talked
about
right now
Texas Tech's veterinary school
allows for 10 percent of the incoming to
be from out of state and they're all
coming from New Mexico state right now
every one of them and so we want to get
into that program get over there talk
with them and we also have an idea of
perhaps doing so if you set up an
internship for a student it's a lot of
work for the vet clinic on this end they
have to do an awful lot of work to be
vetted themselves to be able to do that
right but if they're two week
internships like working two-week
internships then they don't have to go
through all that and so we talked about
what would be the possibility of Animal
Companions we have over 80 volunteers
so what would be the possibility of us
providing among our volunteers free
housing for those two weeks right
because they can't afford it you know
the students can't afford it and let
them experience the different vet
clinics that might be one or two days at
different ones and entice them
host them entice them make them want to
come back here
um
so you know a lot of this
is is not just passion it's having the
right words in marketing who we are in
the right way
um but we also have to be honest and
true to that we have to if we're going
to say we're going to support them we
have to find ways to do it so I'm here
um and any other ideas you have you you
know mayor I'm very open to them and uh
and I work I am a worker I love it yeah
I'm sorry thank you I don't
procrastinate so mayor Pro tem has a
question or a comment thank you mayor
thank you Miss Duncan for your
presentation your excitement and passion
it just shows and it's really exciting
um I sit on the Animal Services Board
and we've been working on this issue for
quite not the hospital piece but but the
veterinarian please because we've had
one open for a year for many a few years
now yeah and have done various things to
try to engage people to come to our city
but I I want how are you working with
the director of the animal
um yes Animal Services Center and what
you know what kind of conversations
moving forward because I think that's
critical yes because we're doing sort of
some of that work and we when you and I
love you're speaking my language
coronation collaboration communication
of the three C's so I I want to make
sure that those of us that sit on the
board are speaking to him and making
sure that he's aware and working in
tandem with you Clint is very aware we
met for the first time at Community
Foundation I was leading a community
conversation among Animal Welfare people
um which wasn't what they thought was
going to happen that day so that was
interesting but um but since then we've
had we had a really good good meeting
and commissioner Ellens was part of that
as well
um Jerry Wheeler who's here today she
had invited me to a meeting with them
last week that I couldn't make but we're
we're well aware of one another and he
actually gave us the information on that
job opening uh when we went to court
we've already had enter go to Cornell
she was going out there anyway and she's
an Alum and took it to the vet school
but there's a difference between
dropping off information and really
recruiting I know absolutely yeah and so
um I think Clint is very in favor of our
help and very willing to work with us
um
and I know you know since moving here
three years ago two and a half of which
were kind of closed
um
I I hear all kinds of things about
animal services about the different
Animal Welfare about the different vet
and I just tuned that out
and I listen for so what are we going to
do that's positive what are we going to
do let's work what are we going to do
that's you know going to make a
difference and I'm very happy the way
he's working with me um and so yeah and
if uh if that group wants me to come in
and meet with them and and and not even
just present but work right sure let's
get a plan let's do the stuff let's do
it do it now so so we had a test first
specific to the Pol you know updating
policies the ordinances and such and
it's sort of gone on you know on Hiatus
and maybe it needs to be resurrected to
sort of help you know navigate
um that I'm not sure
um but we have several times pre-covered
during covid sent letters to our
veterinarians asking for that help
because we need so much to happen in the
center related to spayed and neuter and
you know all those things and and we're
just not getting the sort of responses I
think that when I'm not trying to be
critical I just know everybody is super
busy they're maxed and they're maxed out
yeah and and and we're we're giving
incentives
we really want to recruit people we're
talking about internships
apprenticeships those things
um and so I I just don't want us to get
sideways with each other no no that we
want we need to be like this that's
right for the coming and coming goods
and I will be I will be clear about one
thing with the veterinary services that
we all need to be aware of
um I think next door is one of the worst
social media for complaints honestly but
but I have to be on there um so um
they can't do any more
what they need is more people to do
and so they they can't I mean they just
cannot so we've got to get more people
here
um we too founded the center can either
I mean right right the population is
over yeah
so we do what we can absolutely do what
they can absolutely so it is really the
recruitment thing is crucial yes crucial
and
um I think
because they fear whether they're
getting it from you or from me or
somebody else that they're going to be
asked to do more
they don't respond or shout which is why
I think getting them all in the same
room at the same time
could be
incredibly helpful but we've tried to
attack we've tried to get meetings
together with them in it but but has the
whole city council said the city council
is going to host a meeting
yeah I don't know that we can but what I
what I am I'm supportive look up in any
way that I can
um maybe
um counselor Quran
um we might have a presentation specific
to the
um to our meeting our services meeting
and that you all in in the at the
executive level determine what the
agenda looks like that might be
something
um the other the only other method I
know of um mayor Pro tem is is for
if each of you have different vets
work your own vent
talk to your own vent
and tell them
we're not at least we aren't here to ask
for more we are here to to provide
something yeah to help yeah so for sure
and then lastly I'll talk about you know
we just had a big conversation and we'll
continue this conversation about
um having the 112th sort of budget
um
to to that we need to have
um as as a surplus and we don't have
that and it we're struggling we're
struggling as a as a center and as a you
know we think it's fiscally responsible
to do so so we'll continue to have those
conversations there are it's very clear
what the old Center is going to once we
get into the news center what the old
Center's role is going to be specific
for our community good um it's not
there's no loose we it has been very
clear what we want to do there and and
but we can't do it without the personnel
and that's really what's keeping us from
from moving forward and so
um uh anything you can give us beyond
what Clint has already given us for us
to help you
we'll take it but I love it I mean it's
a good time to go to speak to
legislature about capital outlay and the
things that your you know that Vision
you have and and whatever I can do to
help I'm I'm here thank you thank you
thank you very much all of you thanks
for your time and your attention and for
all the work you do so
oh I have one question so when you said
you spoke to Texas Tech was that
directly in Lubbock or does El Paso have
some type of uh that's that's the
Lubbock one okay the vet schools in
Lubbock okay just curious that's just
over the border and up so you know okay
all right well uh just stay in touch and
then we'll see how we can continue to
move forward okay thank you very much
okay thank you again we appreciate it
okay next item is going to be item 3.2
prisoner care director Brian Baker from
doniana County Detention Center
will be presenting
good afternoon mayor and counselors let
me see if I can figure how to work this
since I got to watch before me maybe I
can figure it out
okay my name is Brian Baker I'm the
director of the Dona Ana County
Detention Center I was asked to come out
and give a basic overview of the
Detention Center a couple of things uh
our leadership at the Detention Center
consists of myself the director I
basically planned the overall
scope of the facility and all the
functions of it I have three captains
currently only two but I will have three
captains coming up they do specific
divisions one's over operations one over
administrative services and compliance
and the other one would be over support
services that covers things like booking
Juvenile and stuff like that I've got 21
lieutenants they
cover smaller areas some of them are
shift commanders I have generally
between three two or three per shift
that are there 24 hours a day they
respond to Big incidents they make sure
we're in compliance with state
requirements federal guidelines and
stuff like that other ones are over
specific units like compliance safety
training policies they have one over the
juvenile facility I also have 24
sergeants they're kind of the first
level supervisor there over small groups
of people in the facility at all times
in addition to that I have about 176
officers that staff the facility 24
hours a day
uh the facility was built in 1995. it's
current capacity is 877 which looks good
on paper but with covid the real number
is probably closer to 600 620 because I
still have to operate Ama full bore
covid type setup because the CDC and the
New Mexico Department of Health have not
decided that in Corrections and
detention that covid has gone the way it
has in the community we're still
operating just as if it was kind of
middle of the pandemic so we still have
to have people come in they still get
evaluated for covid they still go
through quarantine just like everything
else I have eight separate housing units
they have between two and six day rooms
each of the day rooms consists of either
one to eight man cells and we assign
people to those areas according to their
you know specific risk factors we also
have the juvenile detention center that
was built in 2001 it has five day rooms
each approximately able to house 10
individuals
and same thing as the adult facility we
base their housing based off of their
various specific criteria and in all the
areas it's temperature controlled and
with high security features so that we
can hopefully not have as much damage as
possible even though they still are able
to occasionally do damage there however
medical and mental health services are
provided by yes care that was formally
Horizon Medical Services
they provide full-service medical mental
health treatment we have a full-time
psychiatrist on staff a certified nurse
practitioners in both medical and mental
health as well as a number of nurses
therapists counselors and generally
they're seeing the detainees almost
every day from five o'clock in the
morning till 10 or so at night
we also officer commissary Services
programs such as NAA sometimes GED
courses and stuff like that currently
they're on Hiatus because of covid we're
looking forward to the time that we
don't have to be under such covid strict
protocols because it's a problem
bringing in volunteers from the outside
not knowing anything about their
vaccination status or their current
testing status so in order to eliminate
some of the risks to the detainees
they're not allowed in
religious providers are able to come in
and visit during the attorney booths
when they're not filled up with
attorneys visiting their clients
visitation as part of covid when we had
to basically kill off visitation for a
short period of time we worked with our
visitation provider to get free video
visits before we offered free video
visits but it was a paid only service
and then if you wanted a free visit
you'd have to come into the facility
well that wasn't a solution for us and
it wasn't exactly something we wanted to
be for the community to say hey you just
can't visit anybody until the pandemic's
over so we worked with them and they are
now permanently able to get a free video
visit per week and unlimited paid visits
so now if somebody wants to see their
loved ones 15 times a week they can see
they're one free and they can schedule
the remainder on a as needed basis so
that goes through the tablets and the
housing units and we're still not able
to do on-site visitation because of
covid it's still through the video but
it's on site and they don't have to have
a smartphone or a computer but all of
it's available through smartphones or
computers anybody who has a video
operated device even a tablet can do
register and get those visits
uh for intake
it's kind of very basic the police
officers bring in our uh the restes and
from there we basically look at the
paperwork make sure they're suitable for
and legally committed to our facility we
do a pet search our medical staff does a
quick medical clearance to make sure
there's nothing pressing that would
require a trip to the ER
once that's done they start doing the
data entry for entering them into our
computer we do fingerprints we have a
x-ray body scanner much like you see at
the airports to control Contraband that
comes in
uh we also do an interview we basically
get all their demographic information
their next of kin and any employment
information that we need we make sure we
process and store their property and
they're fine their money that they came
in with they're changed out into a
facility uniform and they are eventually
housed in a booking housing unit until
they're classified at that point when
classification gets to them they review
their whole past history and determine
what level of risk they are because we
don't want to be mixing high-risk
detainees with low risk detainees
because you don't want somebody who's
only ever been arrested on a failure to
pay warrant in with somebody with a
violent history so we try to avoid that
at all possible
and so basically the main impacts on our
intake procedures is the covid initial
screening takes place right when they
arrive in the facility and then once
they're arrived we have to actually use
a lot more space because we it's not
just good enough to
house them based on their charge and
comportment we also have to split that
up by day of arrival so that way if you
arrived on a Monday you're not mixed in
with somebody who arrived on a Friday
because that just extends everybody's
quarantine and the length of quarantine
has been a big Source subject for a lot
of people because they don't get access
to the full services at this point after
10 days they are able to be moved to
general population as long as they have
a negative covet antigen test and they
don't have any existing coveted exposure
risk
so that's the basic rundown most of what
I have is anything you guys have
questions about it because there's too
much to cover
well thank you director Baker we
appreciate you coming here I think it's
fair to say that a lot of times members
of art you know especially new members
of council you know and current men
I don't know former ones that are
current ones may not know the whole
process exactly how it works and who
takes care of our prisoners of city of
Las Cruces just one thing before I turn
it over to council is
is it it used to be if if there was a
city resident that was held in your
Detention Center
First 48 hours were were not free but
was on was Gratis and then after that it
started
the clock started kicking and then we
had to pay
is what can you tell us the process now
it is governed by contract if it is
somebody who is arrested on a municipal
charge and that's the only thing
outstanding then the billing starts I
believe after the first full day not 100
sure if they are arrested on a Magister
court case even though it's a city loss
crew system a City Las Cruces resident
you guys are not built so I don't
necessarily know what the past practice
was you know five years ago 10 years ago
because that was before my time but
that's the current process so bulk of
individuals that come in usually come in
with magistrate court or District Court
charges only a very small subset of
individuals come in on just city of Las
Cruces charges
I wonder why no I I know why and then
I'm just kidding I'm councilman Coleman
and counselor Abita thanks mayor thank
you remind me again
a brain
do you have a title director director
Baker okay I'd like to call People by
there
the titles they were I I answered to
most things
um thank you so much for the
presentation
um you know I had been asking for this
presentation for quite some time as my
third year on the council and given that
you know we have a pretty significant
budget item with the county it's
obviously run by the county but you know
the city has
um a stake in it as well right I wanted
to better understand some of these
questions I was hoping that part of this
presentation would include a
presentation by Horizon
given that they're the health providers
currently there correct well it's no
longer cries and it's now yes care so
the prior
uh Health Service administrator he has
been promoted so he's like a regional
vice president and we have a new HSA
that's Heather brella is yes care that
is the new company I don't exactly know
what went on it's a private company so
right one private holder switched to
another holder and now they have a
different name and a different so it's
branding it's not it's more branding the
in terms of the performance and the
services they provide it's virtually the
same okay that's interesting and the
reason I say that is because
um I think Horizon Health has a pretty
substantial
bad track record for prisoner care
across the country
I don't know I've heard that Across the
Nation but in terms of our facility
they've not been nothing but great I
mean they provide probably some of the
best medical and Mental Health Services
in our area because they're on board
they're 24 7. the detainees don't have
to worry about whether they can afford
it there's not a you know if you're a
private citizen and you need to go see a
psychiatrist on the outside you call up
a psychiatrist and say I really need to
get seen and they're like okay we have
an opening in January that's not going
to happen at the Detention Center if
you're in crisis you're going to get
seen probably within 24 48 hours at the
maximum if it's a routine follow-up it
may be two weeks so they get much better
responsive services at the Detention
Center than they could ever get in the
community
um yes that's good to hear
um I I also you know I we often talk
about Mental Health on this diet and you
know I think it's I still think it's
pretty shameful right that the donana
county jail is the biggest provider of
Mental Health Services in the county
that is not okay
um I will say though that I think my
concern stemmed from a couple of stories
in the news in the last year or two and
I know you can't talk about lawsuits but
I know that there are a couple of
lawsuits again against the jail and
Horizon
um that have allegations of serious
complaints on on people's Health right
people who've been denied care care that
has been prolonged and so people
um ended up dying and so I know those
things
are out there right and do exist here in
our community
um I mean I have my con concerns about
private
facilities as care providers in general
um but I did want to ask you about
um and you mentioned some of it I'm you
know right now we're seeing a lot of
issues with folks in the community who
are experiencing who may have committed
crimes but are also experiencing severe
mental health illness and or substance
abuse I'm curious once you have someone
in what what the treatment is for folks
like that are you providing treatment
for substance abuse and then you said
you have one psychiatrist in the
facility I'm just curious about what
kind of support you provide for people
specifically suffering from either or
both of those
well right now if you're currently on
medication assisted treatment for opiate
abuse disorder we'll continue you that
on that protocol we are working to
expand that to induction so that we can
actually start people who come in with
an existing history of abuse and start
them on mat therapy because while we
have them if we can get them started on
it then it will have a higher likelihood
of being able to be continued in the
community we have a lot of community
support for that with a lot of the
different providers it's just a matter
of getting it started I mean it's cut
it's
quite costly so we're working on how to
phase it in and to get it built up
to where we can actually get it running
and stable
in terms of mental health I mean we have
a psychiatrist mental health
practitioners counselors and therapists
I mean they triage them when they come
in if they report any kind of issues
they are triaged as to whether they're
an emergent case just in need a routine
follow-up or whatever a lot of the names
that you see in the media when they you
know are reported that this person's a
problem in the community because they
have a mental health issue we're able to
get them in we get them stabilized the
problem we have is they get released by
the courts and they get put back out
into the community the community
resources are not there you know we give
them we let them go they have a supply
of medication that they're given when
they leave when that elapses and they
can't get into a mental health provider
for two months three months four months
who's writing them the script even if
you can get a med compliant on the
outside when no one's handing them their
meds like we do three times a day
they can't get it filled yeah so it's
the community that needs to have much
more support to be able to release it
right now we're working well with the
crisis triage Center a lot of those
individuals we release we try to get
them to go into the crisis triage Center
to be connected to Community Resources
to hopefully prevent a lot of that
falling through the cracks only some
individuals take advantage of it I mean
they see the outside and they're like
I'm done with this I'm tired of anybody
telling me what I need to do and they go
on their way so if we can build up
Community Resources I think we'll have a
much
better success rate than we have
currently yeah I complete I completely
agree with you thank you for making
um that comment
um I was going to ask you about the
triage Center as well do you keep data
on how about how many people utilize the
triage Center as soon as that is not
done through the Detention Center that's
through the health and human services at
with the county so they could probably
get you the more specific data our role
is only we try to help facilitate people
who need some type of service upon
release we try to get them connected
with that okay thank you so much
um your third do you have a third party
provider that does the phone calls that
provides the the
um phone or visit the visitation comes
through GTL okay
um
there's actually those are all my
questions thank you I I mean I just
wanted to note Ray Circle back on that
point around community services and the
fact that you know
everyone can go to jail if they commit a
crime but if at the end of the day they
get released and they don't have
Community Services or Community Support
we're going to be stuck in the same
situation right and so I feel like
that's actually pretty relevant to the
kind of conversations we've been having
here so thank you I appreciate you
coming to present today
thank you councilman Como I'm gonna I'll
Circle back to that after councilor beta
has her she has a comments
question about uh on the County website
does have reports quarterly reports for
restrictive housing as I was just trying
to do research before this they seem to
end in 2021 with just one report in
January and there isn't any sort of
follow-up so I was curious about that
they will be uploaded we try to get them
frequently but it requires us getting
them together and getting them over to
the I.T to get them uploaded in general
we don't do restrictive housing it's
kind of goes against my personal
philosophy and actually the philosophy
of my captains we don't think that we
should be confining people to their
sales for extended period of times the
law is very
relaxed and far as far as I'm concerned
as long as you're out of your cell with
you know sustained meaningful human
contact for more than two hours you
don't fall into restrictive housing so I
mean that's a really low bar to not have
anybody so if you're reporting a whole
bunch of people you're basically saying
these individuals never come out of
their cell and they never talk to
anybody that goes against most of our
philosophy so we generally don't have
that happen we did have a couple
instances at the start of the covid
pandemic because it was like well we
can't get this person out they're
coveted positive they're in isolation
what do we do so we had to figure out
ways to get them the interaction that
they needed so they didn't decompensate
or anything like that and we were able
to work through that so for the most
part generally we don't have anybody
that falls into the state criteria for
restrictive housing okay thank you I'm
glad to hear about your philosophy on
that I think I was just curious about
that transparency process and that was
something that was getting held up on
the I.T side then yeah I gotta follow up
with my staff because we've just been
busy because we're a little bit short
staffed so I got to make sure that that
information got over to it so it can get
uploaded to our website we just recently
went through a website redesigned so
I'll figure it out and I'll get it up
there within a day or two fantastic
thank you then thank you mayor
thank you director Baker I have a just a
couple questions so
I think the way I understood the crisis
triage I think there was uh there was a
lot of people who were thinking that if
there was a way to not put people in the
Detention Center that needed Mental
Health Services crisis triage was that
was the answer because there's only so
many limited funds that was used the
Medicaid and so and I have to give
really a lot of credit to Chief
Dominguez and his Department because I
think the majority of law enforcement
that uses crisis triage a County
facility is the city and and I I call on
my colleagues to ask Sheriff to
[Music]
Steward to really because I don't think
they use them and and that would just
help reduce the number of people that
that that could use some some type of
services I mean some is better than
nothing and and I think that and then
that also helps uh reduce the population
there in the detention center but I just
wanted to just point that out that
that's what that I was the understanding
is how they you know helped fund the
crisis triage
and the second thing is
and I'm not advocating this I'm just
going to tell you I just received just
one email
and it was pertaining to the fact that
apparently and this is credit to you and
your your team I guess her son had been
in the Detention Center he was a
substance abuse person and
um we actually got pretty good care
there and then lately when he got picked
up they just let him go and he's on the
streets and she's she's just frantic I
just wanted to let you know that here's
normally you would have someone
criticizing the detention center but
here's someone who said that she wished
that her son had been put back into the
Detention Center because at least she
knew where he was she knew he was
getting fed whether he ate or not and
she knew he was getting some medical
attention so I I just wanted to let you
know about that yeah hopefully at some
point we can get the Community Resources
built up enough that
that's not the
primary focus or if we can get them here
then we know he's taken care of if we
can get a good place that they can go
locally
without going through the red tape of an
involuntary commit because that's a big
deal you're taking away somebody's right
to bear arms and stuff like that so
that's a real dodgy thing to do when
you're going to go that route to get
them forced into care it'd be nice if
you had something local and then we
could eliminate the stigma of mental
health issues if we can just get rid of
that and realize that that's just a
medical condition like diabetes high
blood pressure
a lot of people have the same issues I
think she made it she made it sound like
she's for the last 15 years had been
working trying to give him help and he
just refused I mean you can only do so
much I mean she did say that the time
that he spent there in your facility was
good I appreciate it Council just had
one more question on the contract with
Horizon or yes care
um is that approved does it get
evaluated on a certain yearly basis
every year every year by the County
Commission the
the contract is approved for whatever
duration seven eight years and then
every year it's renewed uh we do the
evaluation of it and then it gets
approved by the county manager the
original contract it goes in front of
the boccc but okay the evaluation is
done you say we do you mean the
Detention Center Staffing your team okay
thank you
okay anyone else
oh you have a question yes I do I'm just
curious
[Music]
um
how what is the longest time that you
know of that people are detained there
I mean does the average length of stay
which is really
misleading it's usually around 20 no
more than 30 days because we have so
many people come in and they're out
within a day or two they get seen by a
judge they get released uh during my
time at the facility I've seen people
there as long as seven years
and most of them are awaiting trial or
legal most of them are the ones that are
there the longest are usually they're
facing murder trials or really complex
uh criminal sexual penetration usually
with minors and so there's a lot of
continuances both from the state
initially and then usually it's the
defense attorneys that request a lot of
continuances great that's like that
thank you very much thank you mayor
okay well again thank you very much we
appreciate you coming here and
explaining to us how the Detention
Center works and um
keep up the good work all right thank
you okay
all right the last item is 3.3 the Geo
Bond quarterly update
and looks like Tony Trevino
is from public works and
unidentified gentleman that I don't
remember his name so
good afternoon mayor to my left is Mr
kylo Ren he's a new engineering
administrator for the public works
department so he will be uh joining me
today
Kyle what was his last name Karen
yeah yeah Kyle arnd
Lauren yeah a-r-e-n-d
oh okay
yeah I just passed on to him because I
always mess it up
all right
okay
so again welcome everybody uh Tony
Trevino deputy director of public works
for the record
um today we're going to be going over
the quarterly update for the Geo Bond
2018 projects not to be confused with
the upcoming 2022 projects
uh question one has uni that Park
here is to the right of some photos what
they have of the restored Twin Towers
the new bathroom that was added to it
with the showers and that kind of funky
circle thing with a little bit of
concrete will be the splash pad that's
under construction right now
um up to date we are 81 complete and we
are have
the revised completion date due to some
of the materials coming in is
October 10th 2022. just a few notes
below it the restroom structure is
complete to the roof partitions doors
and floor of the restroom are all
completed the splash pad and the pump
house uh
is what is we're currently working on
when we get to the funding kind of graph
in the back you'll see there's about a
28 and 18 to 20 percent kind of gap
before we finish paying off the funds
where that's all going to go to and the
Landscaping is 75 complete after talking
with Communications we are planning a
ribbon cutting for late October so that
is on the schedule and you all will hear
some more about that as we move forward
here is the chart up on top with the
graph of the percent complete Billings
to the time you can see we're about 80
percent to 80 80 to 88.5 percent on time
to Billings then again on the right
shows that 20 that I was talking about
for the cost of this Flash Pad and the
pump house to get that 80 to 100.
um the contract time the other contract
amount was 1.86 million and to date
we're at 1.5 million dollars spent
you can see on the contract up here up
on top
you can see yeah on the time frame
there's a delay there's a construction
we had a tender than July this year but
just due to materials you can see that
little block of delay that will be done
in October so just wanted to call that
out
the next one the exciting one is East
Mesa public rec complex
um 37 complete on this one we're still
have a completed estimated data of
February 6 2023 the Earth Works 98
complete the pickleball courts labs are
ongoing utility line installation is
wrapping up and the plumbing for the
restroom is being completed now which
you can see in that picture on the left
of the other two pictures
here is the kind of Billings to time you
can see the buildings is kind of low to
the time however right now it's just
been more of a dirt work it's been kind
of more of a huge uh sandbox moving dirt
around so now I want to start getting
started we'll start pouring some
concrete doing some of the
infrastructure to get those buildings
caught up and that would be thrown on
the right side also that graph
we the contract amount is for six
million dollars and the total spent is
2.2 million dollars
before I move on just wanna
mention that we did get that uh three
million dollars of arpa funding that is
going to be toward the Landscaping
which has kind of blown my mind of how
much Landscaping has gone up the past
couple months what was supposed to be
about a three million dollar job not got
a bid for four and a half five million
dollars so staff has uh took a step back
and realized it had been the city's best
interest to re-bid the landscape and get
some more contractors to bid on that
cost so we can see if we can get that
lowered and be more in the favor of the
city for this and still have the intent
of finishing in the spring of 2023 so
that is where we're moving on as a group
the dog parks
um 82 complete now remember these are
part of the animal service center
project the building so this media
completion date is February or February
uh 12 8 22. that's the same completion
date as the Animal Service Center we are
talking and we are seen with the parks
and rec if some of these can be open
ahead of time since they are being
complete uh the Rinconada dog park which
is right behind the facility the
restroom Plumbing roughly is complete
where we're able to add the restroom
with the arpa funding and the chain link
fencing is still ongoing
the burn Lake Dog Park shade structures
park benches it's all installed and I
believe this week they are having the
final walk through so that might be one
of the first ones that we're going to
try and open up before the December date
as we work with Parks and Rec
here's the Animal Service Center again
same percent completion is 82 percent
December 8th the site concrete is 95
done
the eiffs of all buildings is 95 done
that is the exterior kind of seating the
stucco of the insulation and all that
good stuff the drywall inside the
building is complete painting a 70
complete the mechanical electrical and
plumbing about 98 complete and the solar
PVA steel structure is complete in the
back
landscaping and irrigation is ongoing
yeah so that revised completion date is
of 12 May 2022 so we can uh some of the
materials a lot of the the hardware is
what's being delayed right now for the
interior
here are the same graphs I've shown
before the buildings is at 81 percent
and time is at 82 percent
so we can see those are pretty uh close
as you go to the right side where we
have time complete in Billings we will
be catching up here as we finish up
these dog pods and get that solar stuff
installed so with the finishing touches
of the building they'll be caught up by
December
in this one fire station three I have
great news that we haven't received the
access control it is getting installed
the final adjustments and this one
finally be able to be closed out they
have been occupying it since January but
just waiting on some Access Equipment we
haven't been able to fully close it out
with that we're also getting the
decommissioning and the commissioning of
the lead certified structure so that
report now is being completed so we can
get that lead certification
and there's a few pictures that we've
all seen and the access control being
installed on the very right side
so here pretty much done on the 99 on
the buildings on the left side to the 96
on time
um again the actual revised contract
amount was 5.1 to date we spent the
5.078 and we'll be able to finalize that
out here
very shortly and get that closed out
the walking jogging and biking trails 99
complete the Messiah drain our mijo
drain Chow those are all complete the
Las Cruces chain show there's some final
walk-through items that are being
addressed they are they have been
completed however with some of the
monies that were left over in the
project for this question because the
funding from this question can only be
used in this question
uh I said question a lot
um the additional money Parks and Rec we
went and ordered some additional benches
uh trash waste stations pathway stations
and waste baskets so as you can see even
for some of that material we're delayed
to December 2022 just to get that new
equipment in so um that'll allow us to
kind of better fit these trails get more
equipped but they'll still be done and
completed before the December 31st
deadline for the Geo bonds so
here is the same same graphs 99 to the
88 80 for the Billings to time that will
be closing out here soon the contract
amount of the 2.49 to 2.45 that we spent
to date
um the graph on the right we've uh tied
up made up very nicely and awaiting that
delivery of that equipment so you can be
installed and close it up by December
here is the overall budget that we share
that kind of shows some of the
additional funds we put in there how
it's broken down from all our fees so
this is similar to see every every uh
update from us
and here's a program schedule where
on the very right you can just see at
the end of
2022 December 2022 the only project
going to exceed that is the e-space rec
complex however that is going to be
involving the heart of funding only not
the Geo Bond funding solve all Geo bond
funds will be spent before December 31st
as required
and with that here's the overall
progress
83.46 of Billings compared to the 91.64
time but within the next couple weeks of
the East Basin Sports Complex and the
splash pad and pump house if you need
that that'll jump us up drastically to
tie into that graph and meet up
again uh you can see the numbers our
original bond amount was 35.6 million
and so far we've spent 30.1 30.07
and with that any questions
very good Tony
Council Flores thank you Mr Mayor thank
you so much Mr Trevino can you go back
to
um Paige yeah that
um
well let's see maybe so well my question
is
um
oh 14 try 14. yeah you well you
indicated that there there was something
that was going to be done at the East
Mesa
um in the East Mesa Park area that
wasn't going to be covered by the Geo
Bond
money so where does that money come from
to complete or why isn't it Go Bond
money
so mayor council photos
with the original goban money and when
we begin to get the cost coming into the
project the Landscaping was value
engineered out so we did receive three
million dollars from the first chance of
the arpa funding and that has been put
toward that landscaping for the East
Mesa Sports Complex
oh I see and
um
so did the arpa money come in well then
that was a windfall
yes
okay he said how did you budget that oh
thank you so much thank you Mr Mayor
the questions
so I have to Tony I know this was the
first time we used a consultant I think
we used them out of El Paso that's been
working out okay
mayor yes sir he has been of uh ECM
International it was the consultant we
have on board and they have been a great
help to us and they have actually went
to our RFP process and they are the
Consulting managers for the transit
facility also for the federal funding
and um I'm just amazed at where we are
now I remember when we first did this it
was right at covid and you and your team
just kept working through it and you
know here we are almost finished so
congratulations my hair was down here
yeah I know that's a good job okay thank
you okay thank you very much
okay well it looks like uh he looks like
you said quite a bit there Kyle but uh
just kidding
so if there's nothing further entertain
the motion to adjourn so moved
that we adjourn Christine
this is on the motion to adjourn the
work session counselor beta yes
censor Graham yes councilor Ben komal
yes councilor Koran yes counselor Flores
yes councilor Gandara yes mayor yes okay
we're adjourned it's 2 18 p.m and we do
have our agenda setting meeting so if
you're welcome to stay
okay this is the agenda study meeting
for our October 3rd 2022 city council
meeting number one consent one consent
two non-consent two non-consent three
consent three consent four non-consent
for non-consent five non-consent five
non-consent six non-consent six
non-consens seven consent seven consent
eight consent eight consent nine
non-consent nine non-consent and
non-consent ten non-consent
11 on consent Eleven on consent
thank you
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