that does is it makes the ordinance
immediately effective you still are
required to post the ordinance and
discuss it as you normally would
under the Open Meetings Act the proposed
ordinance authorizes the mayor or the
mayor pro-tem to take immediate action
through a proclamation the reasons for
making a proclamation would fit under
the protection of life and property the
preservation of public peace safety
health welfare and continuity of
government services in the event of a
declared emergency it also allows the
City Council as a whole the ability to
take limited action during the declared
state of emergency this would be done
through a proclamation the proclamation
would not require posting as you would
an ordinance it would require notice to
the public through government and public
media the term of the proclamation under
the ordinance would be for three days
but the City Council could extend the
term for up to 14 days after 14 days a
renewal proclamation would have to be
made and again it would only require the
that publication happened on city media
and public media
I will stand for any questions Thank You
Jennifer can you give myself and counsel
some examples of the difference how it
is currently and what you see if we were
to move forward in this it would bring
currently there you we have two separate
provisions one is section 2 point 11 in
the city charter which allows for
emergency ordinance that reads that upon
the declaration by the mayor that an
immediate immediate danger to the public
health safety and welfare of the
municipality exists the council may
adopt emergency ordinances which may
take effect immediately so you would
have to go through your normal process
to publish on an agenda a discussion
item the only difference would be that
the ordinance would take immediate
effect what we are proposing today for
this ordinance is just that that it
would take immediate effect pursuant to
that provision we also have kind of
interrupt you for just a second sir so
does it is it voted upon or is it just
is it just directed so like for example
if I was to pass if I was to make a
proclamation does that have to be voted
on or is it just no Marion council no
the proclamation would be there are
certain provisions if you look under
section 9 36 it lists a number of items
that would authorize the mayor or the
mayor pro-tem
to make a proper Proclamation underneath
that you have section 9 - 37 that would
require additional City Council
authorization so the mayor or the mayor
pro-tem could initially proclaim those
things however it would have to go back
to the City Council because they are
more long-lasting and they have more
impact on the entire community for a
longer period of time so for example in
a state of emergency the city manager
and the police chief may want to get
with the mayor because we for example a
a riot or something very serious you
need to make a state of emergency right
then and there the mayor could do that
it could be published on public media
and government media and some of the
things that could happen the mayor could
for example prohibit any person being on
a public street in the public park or at
any other public place during the hours
proclaimed by the mayor to be a period
of curfew another example would be to
prohibit the use of certain streets or
highways so those are the kind of
emergency actions that the mayor or the
mayor pro-tem could take underneath that
you have additional powers that the City
Council would have to authorize an
example would be prohibit other
activities the mayor reasonable Eve's
reasonably believe necessary to help
maintain life property health welfare
safety or public peace
that would be a more broad it's very
broad it gives a lot of authority but
when you hit one of those areas then the
City Council you have to go back to City
Council and they have to authorize it
it can happen immediately but then in
order for that to take place over the
maximum of the 14 days it would have to
be authorized by the City Council okay
so if I was to issue a proclamation then
does it go back to Council for
ratification at the following City
Council meeting at the next city council
meeting but only under certain
provisions you have sections a through G
which do not require City Council
authorization okay let me turn it open
for questions so sword comes to Bencomo
sorry I'm just used to looking behind me
Thank You mr. mayor
so you're saying that anything done
under section 9 - 37 must have approval
of the City Council mayor and council
yes initially the mayor or the mayor
pro-tem could take that action but then
it would have to come before the City
Council at the next available meeting so
for example number see in 37 there
require the use of available resources
of the of the of the city as reasonably
necessary yes so the mayor could not
take funds from the city coppers without
the City Council approval then a mayor
and council the the mayor could
initially do that in to take quick
action yes the mayor could authorize
that it would have to come back to City
Council at the next meeting
it's to make sure that it's extended
for that entire state of emergency
duration of time we have two weeks
between meetings is that timeframe gonna
work much like your Duke Marion council
much like you're doing now you can have
an emergency meeting and a meeting
requires the either the mayor to call a
meeting or a majority of the City
Council to call a meeting okay which you
could do it with an emergency meeting or
special meeting life yes okay just in
general here this whole ordinance was
this drafted from a template from some
other place like the state or is this
something we are you drafted yourself a
mayor and council this was its we used
the city of Santa Fe's as a template
however there is additional language the
language that was changed within section
935 am
we I added the health and welfare
provision we have the advantage of
learning from our situation with our
silent seekers and so I added in
language that would contemplate that
type of situation
I also separated out section 9 - 36 it
was an entire section I created section
9 - 37 which would require City Council
authorization city of Santa Fe has a
different form of government they are a
hybrid form of government with hybrid
strong mayor and so I separated those
items out that would likely should
require or City Council authorization
after a period of time the the term of
the proclamation section 9 - 38 I
changed some language in Section B and
the last sentence of section be unless
sooner terminated by proclamation of the
mayor or by a majority vote of the
governing body again we have a different
form of government so I added language
that would accommodate that in Section C
the last sentence I also added that we
could extend the period of time to run
concurrently with the state of New
Mexico declared state of emergency at
the time shall not exceed 14 days so at
any rate after 14 days there would have
to be a different non renewal of the
proclamation which is very simple to do
because it just has to be done to the
media sure
well could I point out duplication here
in Section B what you just read there
terminates automatically at noon etc etc
and that one is identical to section D
it is very similar I wanted to make sure
that it was very clear that the
governing body had a majority vote and
so it is a slight duplication okay just
make sure on purpose men yeah oh very
good
and then also section 41 I add
a definition for emergency declared aha
the emergency of that whole section that
whole section yeah okay all right that's
enough for now mr. mayor thank you thank
you I also Ben Coleman Thank You mr.
mayor
Thank You Attorney Vega Brown um
actually my question so this particular
ordinance then is it an effect report
for how long is this particular
ordinance in effect for does they have a
one mayor and Councilman once the
ordinance is approved it would be in
effect until it is repealed okay so in
its language it doesn't necessarily have
its three months a murderer's
demonstration clause
okay it is in effect until the City
Council at any time could repeal it is
is that on intentional no sunset clause
is that normal is that sort of counselor
it is intentional this is something that
should be in place permanently because
we can't predict when an emergency will
occur so I think what we're facing right
now is that the city did not have a
mechanism to do this and so as long as
we have it in place we should have
something if not there's something
similar that would allow the City
Council particularly the mayor because
you can't get everybody together at the
same time to take immediate action thank
you for clarifying that that makes sense
to me I have two specific questions
about a couple of the bullet points in
here in 937 C as well I think require
the use of available resources of the
cities of the city as reasonably
necessary I understand why some of this
language is vague and this one seems
incredibly vague so the use of available
resources and any resources $500,000 1
million dollars two million dollars
counselor it could mean money it could
also mean staff okay in buildings it
could
and anything that would be available
okay but any of this have to come back
to the governing body anyway correct
okay and then my other question that I
thought was interesting in Section E of
under the same section utilize the
services of non city personnel and
resources necessary to assist in the
relocation or return of non-us citizens
can you further describe that what is
I'm not really sure what your question
is if in for example in this situation
if we have a state of emergency and we
have individuals who are essentially
stuck here and they need they want to
get back home to their country of origin
we could assist in helping them return
okay okay I I think as I was reading
this I thought I certainly don't want
the city to be in the business of
deportation and that's not what this
means right we would not have we don't
have any legal authority to deport
anybody great I think those are all the
questions for me thank you can expand on
that one before I get to counselor
Alaska's so I guess there's about two
weeks ago there was some Las Cruces that
were stuck in Honduras
if if there was an opportunity to get
him back here does that work the same
way this one here was again get those I
guess other citizens out of of the US if
they need to go home what about those
that are stuck they wanted to come in
mayor and council that would be a little
bit trickier because again we still are
bound by the anti donation clause and so
we would have to be very careful under
certain circumstances perhaps we could
work with the federal government it
would just depend on the situation just
curious I'll certainly Bosco's thanks
for sword can you turn your all I'm
pointing Thank You mayor Thank You
Jennifer so I just want to clarify a few
things in the ordinance Jennifer so this
ordinance essentially allows us to allow
the mayor to declare an emergency
see declaration which is something that
we didn't have under city ordinance in
the past is that right correct
okay under the language of this
ordinance the mayor can declare an
emergency Proclamation essentially you
know unilaterally but it only lasts for
three days
is that right yes okay after those three
days council then has to approve an
extension of that emergency Proclamation
which can last up to a maximum of 14
days correct okay
so within those initial three days or
let's say 14 days 17 days the mayor has
granted certain powers under this
emergency Proclamation state including
using certain financial resources as
necessary but only during that period
right under which the emergency
Proclamation is active correct okay so
theoretically trying to connect this to
the situation in hand with a three-month
potential spending plan under this
scenario what we have to perpetually
renew this emergency Proclamation in 14
day increments in order for those
payments to continue being disbursed or
could the mayor for example allocate or
spend 4.3 million dollars within those
14 days for example like Anna grant to
nonprofit organizations for money to be
used over a period of three months city
councilor that type of expenditure would
have to go through a budget adjustment
anyway it requires a budget investment
you could take an emergency action to to
spend whatever resources you needed for
a few days if I'm trying to imagine the
kind of situation that we are in right
now if we needed to all of the sudden
house knock on wood sick people in a
temporary shelter for example that those
funds could be utilized however
eventually that has to come to city
because we cannot just spend money
without City Council authorization as
part of the budget process so there
could be and it says reasonably
necessary so I guess that would be up to
the City Council to if your example of
the expenditure of four million dollars
in the period of two weeks is that
reasonable that would be for you all to
determine if that's reasonable and is
that actually an emergency expenditure
an emergency is very clearly defined in
this ordinance so if you had a long term
plan to address other issues that were
affecting the community that could be
done through again it would have to be
done through a budget action and that
would be done through a resolution it
wouldn't be under an emergency action
because that's not an emergency okay
it's important and there's there's
urgency to it however an emergency is
when life is in danger when health and
safety are at peril so that that would
be an emergency Thank You Jennifer I
appreciate the clarification on that
trying to make the connection between
the mayor's proposal and then the
ordinance that were voting on today
because it doesn't seem that both are
both are exactly connected based on the
content of the proposal and what the
ordinance authorizes and so my
preference is that council gets a chance
to review the spending over a period of
time like you said to determine both if
it's necessary but if it's appropriate I
just wanted to understand the context of
the proposal with the ordinance because
I wanted council to agree on the
spending plan or on the emergency relief
plan before kind of providing a blanket
authorization that would allow for
massive spending over a short period of
time without council approval so that's
what I just wanted to make sure of today
considering we don't have another agenda
item for today's City Council meeting
the proposal that the mayor has put
forth and is something for this
that we will vote on as part of a budget
adjustment request or some type of
future ordinance is that correct it let
me interject if I may thank you for
reading that up councillor vasca so if
they've passed today this ordinance here
this what it was handed out to you is
going to be really if allowable subject
to discussion and I can assure you
regardless of what is passed here today
now this is me personally
yeah I'll still adhere to what the
council majority council wants so and in
speaking with Jennifer there may be some
things that we may or may not be able to
do based on the anti donation clause and
various things and keep in mind we would
have to conform and according to
Jennifer if we were to do some of these
things with a bid which makes total
sense so I think and I understand your
your questions and the great questions I
think the main thing is if there's a an
emergency
literally both of the harm of the of the
city or life and our residents we need
to move fast that's really what it's all
about but you're you're you're asking
very good questions and the fact that's
that's why I like the council-manager
form I've never really liked that strong
form I seriously I haven't because there
can be a lot of abuses one way or the
other I don't think you mayor appreciate
that clarification I know I mentioned
that the last City Council meeting that
which we had in ordinance like this so
that we could we could activate that
emergency response to protect property
life and health so I think in general
I'm you know agreeable to the to the
ordinance I still do want to discuss the
spending plan if that's appropriate
today because I believe while we're all
here you know I have I just saw it I
just saw the spending plan in the in the
Sun use two days ago saw the ordinance
last night and so would want to be able
to provide some input on that if it's
appropriate at this time or whenever
that time comes a mayor and council and
just two things that is why the section
41 was added as a very clear definition
it does authorize a great a great deal
of power to one or two individuals
because we are as the mayor stated a
council form of government that is why
the definition is very specific to the
type of emergency that can be declared
in addition I'm I would have to defer to
our city clerk but the there is only one
agenda item and so with with perhaps
limited discussion as to how it would
affect be affected by this ordinance we
might be able to speak about that
however it was not on the agenda we can
certainly post it now for an agenda item
as the earliest Monday thank you I would
appreciate that I do have some ideas I
know other councillors have have been
discussing this as well again
considering we decided a couple of days
ago so I won't discuss it then if it's
not appropriate or not germane to the
discussion for this particular ordinance
unless I can but but I would definitely
like to have just the reassurance that
monies will not be spent unless like you
said there's an emergency declaration
that requires the protection of life
health and safety that doesn't encompass
essentially the large amount of spending
that's in the current plan is that right
yes mayor and council I would I would
defer to the definition of the emergency
and that could that's left for your
interpretation and also as far as the
discussion goes I would defer to the
chair
thank you yes mayor I just if we have a
chance to tweak this on Monday or at a
future City Council meeting in order to
actually approve the spending on this
particular plan ready my preference I
appreciate that councilor I think what
what I'm going to signal from our city
attorney is that's really not on the
agenda right now only is this is this
emergency ordinance after its passed I
could probably say you know what I'm
looking at doing this and then it can be
brought to for a discussion that's what
I'm just guessing okay thank you I
appreciate it ma'am Thank You Jennifer
Thank You councillor FLOTUS Thank You
mr. mayor thank you
attorney Vega Brown so to call a special
meeting the 72-hour is
the minimum time required to post and
hold one counselor yes so okay so and
that's that balls within the ordinary
statute of the OMA or what we created
pursuant to the om agent can trip for
two second yes I believe counselor if
we're talking about a different type of
emergency emergency that could affect
the health well-being of the city or
those of residents I think it's four
hours is it not their mayor there is a
provision for a true emergency that that
can there are there are mechanisms to do
that you can call a meeting you have to
follow up within I believe 24 hours to
the Attorney General to let them let the
Attorney General know why that was
necessary it's something that could
certainly not be abused it would have to
be a true community okay I just wanted
to bring that out just in case we do
find ourselves in a situation yeah
because for any allocation of funds
there still has to be council approval
is that correct or is it in certain
situations under the the three-day
emergency you know that there's two
parts to this one gives the mayor or the
mayor pro-tem
three days to act on the emergency basis
and then the other part is for it to be
for 14 days that's correct it could be
extended for 14 days and the extension
would have to be voted on or able to
Council it could be done by Proclamation
it would come before City it should come
before City Council within that period
of time so that might be a situation for
the 24-hour emergency calling of an
emergency meeting I don't marry in
council I don't believe that that would
qualify as an emergency that could to
continue to carry things out that were
started you know that wouldn't qualify
as an emergency end or the Open Meetings
Act an emergency would have to be that
you have to take immediate
because there's some kind of catastrophe
happening around you so you had to take
an immediate action wouldn't a
catastrophe be when you have people who
can't be hospitalized to where we need
to take we would have to take emergency
actions to maybe I mean this is just an
extreme example but seize private
property
the only hotels or something to house
people in those hotels or excuse me set
up temporary hospital facilities that
wouldn't kick in Merrion counsel
certainly that would be and that would
be an emergency and I don't know if
there's any authority for a local
government to seize private property
that would certainly have to be
authorized by the state however yes
you're in that scenario that would be an
emergency mm-hmm okay so so we do have
that 24-hour notice that we can resort
to and then have to follow up with the
AG's office to justify that or to well
define why we held that meeting mayor I
in council I can I can follow up with
you on the specific provision of the
Open Meetings Act I'm not certain about
the 24 hours there there's there is an
emergency provision but I don't want to
say officer with okay I will follow up
but there is that's fine if you follow
up with all of us would be great to all
of us be on the same page so the other
question I have is or just clarification
for the public is that what we're voting
on right now it goes into effect right
now and then we're going to have to set
another meeting so that we can give
authorization for the spending I set
forth in mr. mayor's plan mayor and
council this authorization is for this
ordinance if you and any it would
authorize any declaration of an estate
of emergency subsequent to that any
spending plan is not part of this
ordinance that would be a separate
action taken yes thank you thank you
very much mayor if I could
concert protests and for the risk of
councilors inquiry - definition from the
office of the Attorney General for the
emergency it says for the purpose of
this subsection and emergency refers to
an unforeseen circumstances that if not
addressed immediately by the public body
will likely result in injury or damage
to persons or property or substantial
financial loss to the public body thank
you does it say how many hours you need
to inform the public 24 hours it says 24
hours okay mr. mayor yes I'm sorry
counselor
Thank You mr. mayor and I forgot to
thank attorney Vega Brown all her work
on this and their presentation getting
back to section 9 - 37 section part G
when the mayor exercises Authority in
accordance with this section 937 the
governing body shall approve such action
by resolution at their next available
property properly noticed meaning so
that's what we're talking about here is
it not yes okay and counselor if I may
that is specific to section 37 there is
still the action that can happen in
section 936 that does not require
authorization yes yes yes specific to as
it says there 937 I have a question
about what interim city manager Dave
David Maestas just said the last part
something about body would you explain
what you mean by the body
where the body the city councils the
body Oh mayor Custer say that's cursory
it does say the public body public body
okay I find that does that mean all the
people in in our city I would I would
not be able to give you an exact answer
for what that was I would assume but I
would not like to assume because you
know what happens with that I would
defer to legal if there's a different
interpretation of that to me as mayor
pointed out the public body is you the
City Council here who makes the policies
and the determination is for what's best
for the community based on your
constituents concerns at the time and so
we're talking about the public body
being the City Council I would've heard
legal but I would say okay that is my
interpretation of it Marion council
without looking at that definition I
like to look at definitions and I like
to make sure we have definitions but the
public body I would think would in
encompass the City Council but this city
government as a whole
okay thank you I have oh yeah this this
letter we just got here as we sat down
here today from mr. mayor
I'm going to assume that none of this
thing the letter it is going to be part
of this ordinance at this moment in time
that's correct that's great okay I just
want to express some concerns I have
before we finish our discussion here
today I just don't want something like
this to exist exacerbate our panic we
have in the city here I'm sure all of
you felt it or seen it of course we have
to continue our physical separations
that's what they're calling social
separation now it's a physical thing so
no crowds of more than five or more
people
no more gatherings of five or more
people unless you have something like
this
the isolation staying at home we have to
do those things that's a given
that's the only way we're gonna nip this
pandemic in the bud here and have it end
sooner rather than later with a lot less
lives in danger but we have panic buying
in the city and we have hoarding in the
city
if this emergency thing can do something
about that mr. mayor that's what I'd
like to see because that's the
complaints I get from the public the
hoarding that goes on in a panic bite
there's been suggestions of have a much
orderly way to shop and of course the
couple three places I've been that now
they do limit the number of items you
can purchase at one time but that
doesn't mean a person can't come back an
hour later or the next day or the day
after that and get it get another order
more than they need yeah so that's the
complaint I get all the time if there
was something we could do to do that to
fix that I mean just a message by the
mayor and the City Council that I would
say is minimum we could do mayor and
councilor if you'll look at section 41
in the definition under be under civil
emergency the last sentence civil
emergency may include actions that
evidence mass panic which caused a short
of basic food water health and hygiene
products or other basic life necessities
I included that for the specific reason
that after some discussion with the
mayor and some of the concerns that are
occurring in the community so the the
proclamation could affect that yeah very
good I appreciate that a lot
I just want to make sure we all hear
this issue we have in the city now so a
message of calm along with that is what
I'm thinking of it reminds me I'm one of
the few people in the room here that
would
remember back in 1973 when the country
was under oil embargo from OPEC and
there was shortage of gasoline Johnny
Carson said in his Tonight Show one
night that there was a shortage of
Tortelli paper in the city in the
country there wasn't but he made a joke
it was just a joke yeah we even have a
shortage of toilet paper
not only gasoline sure enough there's a
shortage of toilet paper within days
after him saying that and of course
today what's happened is social media is
doing the same thing so that's why I'm
concerned about about this what's
happening here in the city and the whole
country in fact and I hope we can
address that somehow mr. mayor if
possible I had another comment or two we
in order to to to do things in this
emergency ordinance here we need to know
what we have and does anybody and the
city government know how many of the
people that have tested positive for the
corona virus have been hospitalized do
we know that does anybody want to shake
their head we don't know that we don't
know how many of those people are in the
hospital so far as we know maybe nobody
is there all at home caring for
themselves or their families caring for
them so I don't feel that this emergency
at the moment and as we know it can
change we've seen a change in a lot of
other places that can get worse and it
probably will but at the moment we
aren't there and it's good to be
prepared with an ordinance like this so
that should we get into the position
where we've been that we've been talking
about we can take action fairly fast I
like to remind just as we're speaking
today the House of Representatives in
Congress is voting on the Care Act to a
two trillion dollar package as part of
that package the large cities of 500,000
or more will get a direct payment from
the federal
government cities less than that size
will not the National League of Cities
lobbied for that but we they could not
get Congress to agree with that however
there was money put into each state
state government to be distributed to
smaller cities and and I was told in New
Mexico it's about 1.25 or one in a
quarter billion dollars I would expect
city of Las Cruces to get some of that
money I think we need to contact our
governor and make sure we are listened
to on and make sure we get a portion of
that our fair share but really concerns
me at all about and then we're talking
about money eventually here of course or
it concerns me a lot is what the city
government might lose in gross receipts
tax revenues I would like to have our
staff not now but at some point get an
estimate how much we might lose and
versus each debts and then we can decide
how we want to spend money so that that
is the main concerns I have and I'm
looking at my notes I don't see much
else here Thank You mr. mayor I'll as I
know Mayor Pro Tem
Thank You mayor thank you attorney Baker
Brown I appreciate you and your staff
and the staffs work on this I know there
was a lot of research put into this for
the most part I agree I think emergency
clause needs to be put in I am concerned
though and my question is from your
perspective decades to come and that new
attorneys and new mayor and council is
there any wiggle room here that we need
to be concerned about in terms of doing
something that like a the definition
that you've placed here for an emergency
to me is very clear and
line but some could be could think well
this is an emergency and for this
particular cohort of people I think
they're experiencing a hardship and so
giving authority to a mayor down the
line that and and I like the idea of the
three days and up to 14 days but I'm
concerned about just giving them
outright authority to to take money and
then it comes back to council at that
point what if we disagree in terms of
how the future mayor is going to handle
the the money if you will I don't feel
like there's a provision in there like
can only be up to a certain amount of
money like for example what is it for
the city manager needs to come back to
council up it's over $75,000 right am I
getting that correct so I'm I'm feeling
like maybe there needs to be a cap on it
initially as we move forward to give
everybody ample opportunity to view this
and really weigh in I understand about
the emergency and what needs to happen
you need some money to automatically get
things moving but it to give full
authority that way concerns me mayor and
council and i i i appreciate that and
that's certainly up up to you how you if
you want to add or change any language i
think it's important to note that what
we're experiencing right now is
unprecedented and there was no way to
predict what could happen in the future
what we have is that we have no
mechanism to take an emergency action
something very catastrophic could occur
when I was researching this ordinance I
found there are a lot of ordinances a
lot in the south we don't have natural
disasters we don't have things like that
but a lot of those cities do and so they
a lot of emergency provisions to quickly
enable the the mayor or any particular
person if you have for example there was
a there's a provision in in Louisiana
city in Louisiana that allows on there's
no limit on the amount of money because
the cost in protecting people from an
immediate flood could be exorbitant so
those are the kind of things that an
emergency has to consider if I think the
the point is to kind of balance the need
to take quick action with no limitation
what that might be and also balance it
with the kind of government that we have
where there is some you have to come
back at employ Allen says yes but if we
place too many limitations on it then in
the event that we have a catastrophe
occur it might limit it might limit the
mayor and the mayor or the mayor pro-tem
and then they can't take the action that
they need okay so I think it's it's a
balancing act I think when I was looking
at other ordinances especially the
ordinances that exist within this state
they certainly didn't contemplate things
like the asylum seekers they didn't
contemplate things like the rush on
hygiene products because that hadn't
occurred here before so we were able to
add that in something else is going to
occur who knows you know 50 years from
now something else could occur that you
would have to address this is an
ordinance that can always be changed it
can always be amended at any time we can
learn from this experience and and alter
this it should be something that changes
over time it should not be static we're
not going to be the same now that we
will be in ten years so keep that in
mind
I think the best thing to do is to for
an emergency ordinance like this for to
have the definitions specific these are
the things that we can take immediate
action and this is what is considered an
emergency an emergency is not that
people unfortunately and I don't mean to
be insensitive that people are losing
money
that is terrible and it's awful and we
need to address it however that is not
somebody who needs immediate health and
medical attention that is not the safety
of a human being that we're talking
about I think we have to determine what
the state of emergency can be and what
we intend it to be those things can flow
from this and they should because those
are naturally things that the City
Council has to consider for the better
of our community yes but in an immediate
emergency action we have to think about
life and health and safety thank you
miss Vega Brown um part of me my last
question is just so for example if I if
if mayor says okay $15,000 goes to the
manufacturer you know for example math
and and he delves out that money comes
back to council say Monday right to get
it approved formally are you saying that
that money needs to be used between the
three the 14 days that is allocated in
this Proclamation I guess I wasn't clear
about that when someone asked a question
about about the use of the money is it
within those three to fourteen days or
it's Marian counselor I don't believe
you would have to use that amount of
money in the 14 days okay you can
declare the emergency and then begin to
if you were I remember a few years ago
in Albuquerque where they there was
fires in the Bosque and the city had to
immediately mobilize
firefighters and it was very big so you
could you could declare that an
emergency and start using those funds to
fight those fires but you wouldn't have
to fight those fires within the three
days you it's
for the duration of that emergency okay
all right all right Thank You mayor
Jennifer Lee if I may so typically some
cities actually have this clause or
provision in their charter ours just
didn't does that correct correct
so to my colleagues I have that this I
have to say that after listening to you
all my suggestion would be a
recommendation would be and and I have
to say and earlier you heard me say I
like the council-manager form and I know
a lot of Mayors and I know some that are
strong for mayor something to have the
hybrid some of the council manager and I
can assure you that those managers earn
their pay and deal with that with that
situation I can tell you that
theoretically nothing will change I
still would confer with legal and you my
colleagues but what my suggestion would
be as earlier you heard mentioned that
if we pass this it stays on indefinitely
my suggestion would be that it expired
as the mayor's term expires so that it
always and I think is actually a good
thing I think it's better that we don't
have it and that you can be at it
because you can also take it away
whereas if it's in the Charter if it had
been in the Charter you couldn't take it
away so this in many respects is
probably best I I wasn't there in 1980
when they were working on the Charter
revision I think that's when it was but
I have to say after listening to
discussion this is actually better
because you can put it when you need it
and you can take it back when you don't
and if you make it so that it it because
theoretically all of our terms expire on
a certain day and then you when you get
sworn in and you every news again so
that would be my suggestion that it be
expired at the term the expires one of
mayor's term expires and at the very
minimum we can change it any time you
want but I'm just listening to what you
all have to say I can really exist a
matter of
you're not gonna see me so if this was
the past okay we're I'm just gonna start
spending like crazy it's this if
anything this is still for discussion
this is why I gave it to you I mean it's
still gonna be basically the same thing
but really this is primarily for those
issues that Jennifer brought up as far
as yeah you know when you think about
that yeah I remember those why I
remember the fires almost alamos I mean
those those were devastating 250 houses
were just destroyed so you just never
know just never know Elster made the
studio
Thank You meryt and thank you attorney
Vega Brown for the most part my
questions have been answered
through my colleagues I just wanted to
make a comment that during this
situation you know I think we really do
need to be able to act in a very
responsive manner which this provision
helps us do I do have concerns about not
putting a cap on spending given the
layout that you've described a biga
Brown of being able if they're having
different clauses if there's actually a
true emergency having being able to have
a 24-hour notice I would think having a
cap on spending would be prudent of us
and then if it was a true emergency and
we needed that would require us to go
beyond that cap it could fall under that
lines and we could still be acting in
that responsive manner I am for this
declaration but I do think we need to
seriously consider that camp no sir
Bastas I can't tell you how tempted I am
to use that example on another tangent
but I won't as well yeah it's not a bad
thing I just want to share with you how
we could reduce health insurance
premiums because there's no cap that you
don't understand that that's where
actuaries they go crazy they don't know
how much discussed if you could put a
cap of 15 million rates will drop okay
anyways counselor glasses
Thank You mayor have some additional
questions on the ordinance language and
some comments as well
under section 9 939 remote meetings so
under the emergency declaration state if
the mayor were to declare it
theoretically council would be able to
meet and vote remotely via some type of
teleconference equipment my question I
just saw the city of Santa Fe recently
do that but so my question is are we
equipped to do that do we have staff
that could answer that question and is
this something that should be reserved
only for emergencies because in a
situation even like today where we're
not in an emergency declaration could
still see some value in use and us being
able to do that but I don't know if
that's something that has to be
triggered by an emergency declaration so
two questions can we do that with the
current software that we have and with
the scenario of meeting remotely via
teleconference be possible without an
emergency declaration mayor and council
that is up to your own rules I would
have to double-check
because you have several rules you have
rules of procedure in your Charter we
also have rules of procedure in the
ordinance and you have rules of
procedure by resolution so I don't have
to double-check it's certainly up to the
governing body and the chair to
determine whether or not you can meet
remotely the major part of that
provision is that in the event of an
emergency so if you have a situation
where the mayor had to take action and
and mobilize a lot of city resources
then you would have to have a meeting to
authorize that at some point sure if you
weren't able to if you weren't able to
come together because of the emergency
then you could meet remotely and a
quorum would only be a simple majority
of the people there after a good faith
effort to notify and get everybody there
you have to imagine the most
traffic event and I think that that
would be up to the City Council with us
to whether or not you would allow
everybody to meet okay I know I
certainly support this section of the
other resolution just thinking of a
scenario like today for example when you
know we just want might want to follow
us closely to guidelines of stay at home
kind of directives if we can avoid
meeting in person even though we're not
in an emergency declaration having the
option to do that would be good can
imagine that we ever really used to
accept in a situation like now but
having that option might be good to look
at in the future through the different
pieces that you mentioned there Jennifer
the other part of that was are we
equipped to do that I don't know if
staff has the answer to that mister
mayor Castro Vasquez since this
emergency began that's one of the things
that staff has been looking into we do
have the abilities for different types
of remote type meetings even if it were
to be just teleconference the biggest
concern with remote type meetings is
public input and the public section of
that we are in discussions on how he
would be able to adhere to that it might
be something that we would have to look
into how people can remote in but that
brings a lot of difficulties any of you
who have seen chat rooms in different
types of media you have to really worry
about the type of censorship and
potential for a First Amendment right
concerns so we'd have to really work on
that and again I would go back to what
mr. Brown said that really depends one
on the type of emergency that we have
and two more councilors perogative would
be on that because we might have to have
a meeting and we would limit to the
public here would be a limited public
forum mayor and council just to clarify
the public meeting the Open Meetings Act
only requires that the public attend the
meeting or have access to the meeting it
does not require the actual public input
that is something that is
the discretion of the chair at any
meeting it is it's not required by the
Open Meetings Act what is required is
the that we allow the public to view the
meeting to hear the meeting that's
that's the basic requirement Thank You
mr. Brown for the clarification and that
would go back to councils prerogative if
you deemed that having the remote
meeting was necessary and we limited the
input but you allowed public to view the
meeting or hear the meeting or then we
could proceed as such
thank you David Thank You Jennifer my
preference would be to absolutely have
the technology ready to go even if we
don't have the public comment mechanism
ready if it doesn't violate Open
Meetings Act especially in an emergency
so again I know the city of Santa Fe has
held their last City Council meeting
remotely via teleconference and so for
us to be able to do the same in the
situation maybe in the foreseeable
future honestly right would be a good
option for us to have the other question
I have Jennifer is under Section 940 the
the penalty section here during this
declared state of emergency
any person who would fail to comply with
the restrictions imposed by the
proclamation would be guilty of a petty
misdemeanor and I see that the
restrictions that the mayor can declare
are also are outlined in Section 936 is
that is that the whole of the
restrictions that the mayor can pick and
place on the public as part of the
emergency declaration or does he have
additional power to declare more
restrictions Marin councilor the some of
the language in in those provisions is a
little bit for is broad but purposefully
broad but yes that it is encompassed in
that section okay good so this gives us
some law-enforcement teeth then to
enforce the guidelines of a emergency
Proclamation through a citation through
a misdemeanor citation yes mayor and
council that's correct if they're if the
proclamation for example stated that you
could not have groups of five and in
this case we have to remember that we
were depend
on what the state and state mandates
because we didn't have this mechanism
under under this ordinance it would
allow the mayor to take quicker action
and perhaps limit those groups of five
in public places and in that case you
could cite people with a petty
misdemeanor if that were violated after
such proclamation
okay Thank You Jennifer I appreciate
that well overall I fully support that
the resolution I think this is something
any local government needs to have if
not in charter definitely by ordinance
and you know support also the mayor's
suggestion about this rolling over with
every mayor or at least having to be
reauthorized upon the change of mayor's
I don't see that as a huge deal because
I think that there's some checks and
balances here that I really like with
the three-day council approval to extend
the proclamation I think that that's a
good check and balance the 14 days after
that is another good check in balance
but I think maybe folks have more peace
of mind having it be have to be
reauthorized after a new mayor I would
support that if that's um somebody wants
to propose that amendment I'm not super
strong on it so I probably won't but
support that either way and then lastly
the cap issue yeah I struggle with that
one myself kind of 50/50 on it one yes I
think we would like to have as much
influence over the spending in an
emergency situation but can also imagine
when things potentially spiral out of
control quickly in a sort of terrorism
situation or some type of you know awful
natural disaster that would require
probably significant spending I don't
know what that might be right whether
it's five million ten million five
hundred thousand to save lives to save
property wouldn't wouldn't want to put a
cap on that because emergencies are so
unpredictable
but at the same time you know also
don't want to lose that control in that
power being able to choose the amount
and so so I struggle with that so I'm
not I'm I'm not going to suggest the cap
at this point because again I don't I
sell them imagine us using the powers of
the proclamation that that are outlined
in this ordinance so those are those are
my ending comments there mayor and
counselor one thing that I can do to
address that concern is perhaps come
back with language that would indicate
that the cat there would be a cap but
the cap would once you hit the cap but
then you're required to come back to
council within a certain amount of time
something that would require council
input after you reach a cap it wouldn't
bind the taking the emergency action
initially perhaps but what it would do
is make that necessary for authorization
I can with something like that I think
that's a good idea I think maybe that's
a good solution would that then happen
under that for our emergency meeting
notice under the emergency declaration
so scenario of like the cap is five
million mayor spends five million to
address a whole horrible chemical spill
on the track train tracks and on Main
Street or something and then it says we
need five million more it would then we
can then authorize five million more
through within four hours of a posted
meeting would that would that be how it
works mayor and council I can I would
need to I would like to have time to
think about that language I can bring
something back to you if very shortly
sometime at our next meeting perhaps or
I don't know they're so mean I can bring
something back to you so Jennifer if I
may so theoretically if this was the get
past could the council not also make
amendments to this later likes we got
following week absolutely okay so that's
that's that's one thing and I have to
tell you
and I appreciate your comments counsel
vastus but you know there's gonna be a
time where I'm a private citizen right
and so I would want it to expire on the
term I really would and and then and
then because you know you never know who
comes in next and you may not want to
give that person DISA thority because
when you give it to them they have it
for three days or at minimum so that's
why I kind of you know so I try to put
myself in both situations here and and I
know I'll be fine with this but you know
if I was a private citizen at night and
there's Joe Schmo here as mayor and I'm
like let me have that authority to do
that and be a little concerned so that's
why I when I made my comments that I
don't know if the designers of the of
the of the Charter did it this way I
don't even know what they keep record
I'm sure there's minutes there but and
discuss but I like this because it's not
part of the Charter it's not
automatically given because once in the
target you have to get board approval to
take it out this way here you can have
it take it put it in keep it there for a
few years
get out you know what I mean and so I
personally like it sure I would
especially suggest especially more to
that amendment I support that yes thank
you man I'm not saying that I'll be a
private citizen anytime soon and I'm
just telling you okay who's next
anybody all I ask is if there's any
members of the public might have a
comment Oh
former councillor Jack Eggman I'd like
to make a comment
there is no time limit today's Jax I
think as long as you want it all started
in a log cabin and never hi good morning
my name is Jack Eggman mr. Baer Mayor
Pro Tem very good decieved there and all
my friends who sit on the council
administrative staff I'm here today
disregarding my vow for social
distancing because I consider this to be
so important for the future of Las
Cruces and my recommendation would be to
for you to amend this ordinance as
proposed this is 2020 technology
technology is all around us
and so a legislature of seven people is
not the least bit cumbersome you don't
have a hundred senators and 435 Congress
people to deal with you have seven
people and if the city manager the mayor
the mayor pro-tem
all had devices where they could
instantly get a hold of the rest of the
council to discuss what is going on
the proclamation would be to talk about
meeting notice to talk about the records
that go out after your decisions are
made I personally feel that the
residents of District four voted for our
representative and we don't want that
representatives voice lost in any of
these circumstances because I think it's
very important you all have different
skills you all have different talents
you all come from different backgrounds
and to give all the decisions to one
person no matter how excellent they are
and I have the highest regard and
fondness for our mayor and Mayor Pro Tem
this is not about persons this is about
the type of government we have here in
the city of Las Cruces and I don't think
an emergency demeans or lowers
your importance in your viewpoint on
what is happening right now let let's
say there is a flood and you instantly
got in touch with each other and you
were told that a flood was here by the
acting city manager my you at all react
in a very positive way and it would be
boom and if you wanted to do this or
that or the other you could do it boom
but the idea that one person knows more
than seven people it it kind of goes
sideways with me so I'm thinking it's in
this day and age and some of these
things we're talking about giving the
bear the mayor pro-tem power are
actually administrative actions that
your city manager could well handle at
your direction so I would encourage you
to look at a way to amend this because
your your opinions are necessary your
opinions are necessary your opinion is
necessary yours yours yours yours I
think you could all reach the same goal
and maybe have even better decisions
if seven Minds came in talked with each
other
the higher the emergency the more
immediate the agreement is going to be
but whether it's an emergency or not I
think that's where your discussion
should be taking place so thank you for
the time I'm not going to discuss any of
the financial matters at this time but
I'll happy to be happy to if I have a
question or if you have something on the
agenda later thank you Johnson excellent
points but one thing that that probably
was left out is is the law says and if
we're going to pass something we have to
advertise it as such it has to it has to
be whether it's an ordinance and ask you
published and and things of this nature
so what you're saying absolutely makes
sense but this allows us to move
lifter quicker immediately and then come
back and ratify it that's that's really
the huge differences so that's why and I
know it's a difficult decision you know
all by by what my colleagues suggest or
or do but and I thought about this
Jennifer brought this up a few several
days ago and I called her Monday maybe I
said okay let's go ahead and look at
doing this because I had to mull it over
myself because I like you we're thinking
well you know I don't know this is
something we really need and then also
what counselors ferg said I don't wanna
I don't want to do this as a means of
elevating I mean this is a serious issue
what we're dealing with unprecedented
never seen anything like this in my in
my life but there are times and you
never know what we may have to move very
quickly and then they get back to be
ratified and and so that's that's really
what the difference is it was my thought
that the notice requirement goes with
the emergency ordinance but it be given
to the council it not be given to any
one person item I'm not sure that would
lose any effect that the remaining
notice and things otherwise could not be
given to the legislative body so I guess
that's up to Council and again what
you're saying makes total sense but we
all took oaths that we have to uphold
the laws of state of New Mexico state of
New Mexico has certain requirements when
I come to save mergency meetings when it
comes to regular meetings and we can't
just take it upon ourselves say wow this
is emergency that's why we did it and
and that by doing this I believe allows
us under our city ordinance to move
expeditiously and I think this is really
the only exception that allows us to do
so I guess I have difficulty wondering
how one person can do it in seven can't
but thank you so much
you know there may be a member cipo yes
Marcy you just state your name please my
name is Marcy dickerson I know I'm a
little out of order but I thought mr.
Eckman should go first I want to tell
you that I really don't have an opinion
and I speak for several business people
that I've been texting back and forth I
really don't have an opinion how you get
it done I just want to first of all
thank you for the willingness to dig
into the coffers from mattel shore fund
the willingness and the ability to see
the economic insecurity that we are all
facing right now we really appreciate as
businesspeople they appreciate and I
certainly appreciate the fact that you
guys are willing to do this and looking
at how to help us and help us quickly I
think the biggest piece of it is
whichever format you decide to use
whether it's all of you one of you
whichever the vote is is just that the
timeframe on it can be done quickly
because the hard part is you know if we
take too long in any of this of the
solutions then we're going to be looking
at you know in this particular instance
which we have you know economic hardship
we have problems getting medical
equipment not type of thing we have
things that unfortunately money can't
even solve some problems right now but
as long as however you decide to do it
that it's very quick that it is
responsive and that we don't end up with
an economic solution that requires if
you will you know an 800-page bid and is
overly burdensome to the people we're
trying to help but again thank you very
much for even looking at it thank you
for being willing to go you know to the
funds that you have to help the business
community I know that once this meeting
was announced and your statement came
out that people certainly felt a lot
better about a lot of things and that
you know had some hope that the future
some help would be coming with the
future and that we would all you know
hopefully get some immediate help
because the federal government helped
that's being offered certainly is
something that is very long-term and
it's not going to be anything to
immediately take care of problems so
thank you again for what all of you do
we really appreciate all your time we
know this is not easy for you and
was I had anybody else okay counselor
ruscus you have another question
yes Thank You mayor if there's no other
council comments I'm happy to move
forward with the amendment as well
however before that - councillor Ekman
suggestion I wonder if a compromise
there might not be that the council
approves the emergency Proclamation but
still grants the same powers to the
mayor within the emergency Proclamation
wondering if that's a possibility
Jennifer Mary and Catherine I'm not sure
I'm understanding so to declare the
emergency Proclamation as laid out in
this ordinance it states that the mayor
has the power to do that could we then
say that it would be the council that
decides the majority of council declares
the emergency Proclamation but the rest
of the ordinance essentially stays the
same in terms of the powers granted to
the mayor and the mayor pro-tem
Mary council the problem with requiring
the entire City Council to declare an
emergency and you can do that you still
have to follow the Open Meetings Act you
cannot call each other up and have a
discussion because that would be a
rolling quorum you cannot have separate
conversations because that's the same
thing that we're always facing were
you're unable to talk in a quorum and
make a decision it would have to follow
the Open Meetings Act even if it's in
within the 24-hour period so there's
always going to be some conflict with
the need to have a quorum to make any
decision making okay Thank You Jennifer
and that perhaps sets us back in the
intent of an ax murder of being able to
address an emergency expeditiously and
quickly so I think mayor I mean I think
councilor sorg had a comment so I won't
offer my motion until he comments Thank
You mr. mayor thank you um I just want
to make it clear I don't believe and
correct me if I'm wrong
I tell you to make a brown this
ordinance is not meant okay let me start
in a different way we have two crises in
this country we have a medical crisis
with this coronavirus we have an
economic crisis absolutely we have those
however is my understanding that this
ordinance does not address an economic
crisis it only addresses the medical
crisis that we have now is that correct
Marian counselor as as defined in the
ordinance itself it declares the
emergency includes the public health
emergency and civil emergency and those
are defined in Section 41 yes sir what I
said was correct correct okay thank you
I just wanted to make that clear mr.
mayor thank you so much Telstra Bastas
apologizes yes thank you thank you being
here and thank you councillor Vasquez
attorney Vega Brown if we were to amend
this to require all actions to be
appreciated by full council
participation or vote with the 24-hour
notice be sufficient for the mayor or
the mayor pro-tem
to follow through or to have whatever
action they see fit and would a 24-hour
now to suffice under that situation a
mayor and councilor if if when I'm
hearing you say is that you would not
want declaration of an emergency a state
of emergency to occur unless the entire
City Council or a majority of the City
Council voted on that you would have to
wait 24 hours at least in order to
comply with the Open Meetings Act in
order to come together to vote on that
there is no mechanism that allows you to
do it any sooner than 24 hours so in the
event of a true emergency a catastrophic
event or something like that you would
have to wait to declare the emergency
until the entire if how I'm if what I'm
hearing is correct and if that's the
desire for the entire City Council to
vote on the proclamation itself then the
soonest you could do it is within 24
hours if it falls within the definition
of an emergency in the Open Meetings Act
so if we were to leave it as it is
the mayor would have 72 hours or the
mayor pro-tem
would have 72 hours to act and then
that's three days and then we do have to
vote on it again to extend it another 14
days correct yes the mayor and councilor
the mayor or the Mayor Pro Tem could
declare by Proclamation and a state of
emergency immediately all of the all of
this entire ordinance would come into
play at that point because the declared
state of emergency exists that would
last for three days and then it could be
extended correct but during those three
days given the way the ordinance is
proposed at this point decisions
financial decisions could be made would
allow for making that decision the the
use of available resources to address
the emergency as the emergency is
defined in Section 41 could be made
immediately during that during the
duration of the proclamation if it's
three days or if it's 14 days it would
have to come back to City Council at
some point in order to be ratified by
the City Council but the 72 hours kick
in immediately after the three-day
excuse me that
the 14 days kicks in after the 72 hour
expires and then if it's extended by
Proclamation we have to extend it by
Proclamation so we have to meet again to
extend that and then and then any
spending during that 14 days would have
any proposed spending by the mayor Mayor
Pro Tem would have to come back to City
Council for approval discussion and
approval marion council let me I'll read
that extension definition our section to
you
should an emergency be proclaimed the
governing body may extend the
proclamation declaring a state of
emergency for up to seven days or may
extend the period of time to run
concurrently with the state of New
Mexico declared state of emergency
but such time shall not exceed 14 days
so if the mayor declares a state of
emergency that is for three days the
City Council can determine to extend
that for up to 17 I mean for up to seven
days or if there's a state of New Mexico
state of emergency to run concurrently
with that but not more than 14 days so
the amount that can be spent during that
time I'm talking about the the caps
safeguards and really addressing I think
what some of my colleagues address was
abuse of power as far as spending and
allocations of funds would go that was I
think that was the issue that was raised
in so far as people saying caps and
checks and balances which we really
don't have built in so that's that's my
concern at this point and I think that
the clarification needs to be made for
the public so am I not making myself
clear
I'm sorry counselor I okay please help
me understand so this emergency measure
that we're taking today is going to give
the mayor carte blanche or the mayor
pro-tem carte blanche insofar as
Haitians of funds or steps that must be
taken in - what is it exactly if you
could just go through that again
counselor and and mayor I I do not
believe it gives the mayor carte blanche
I think that the definition is very
clear there there can be the mayor can
decide to use resources under section 37
under seve the proclamation of emergency
additional regulations approval by a
governing body when the mayor or the
mayor pro-tem determined that a disaster
or emergency exists in accordance with
section 936 of this article during the
existence of the state of emergency the
mayor or the mayor Pro 10 may by
Proclamation and then you go down to
number letter C require the use of
available resources of the city as
reasonably necessary at that point the
mayor mayor pro-tem come back to council
for to approve that proclamation is that
correct insofar as the expenditure of
funds because we have to make those
decisions if if that is done in order to
allocate resources to address the state
of emergency they would have to come
back to the governing body to have that
ratified this state of emergency exists
so the expenditure of resources is
necessary in order to address the state
of emergency it is not a cart launch
because it's defined it is limited to
certain things and that's in section 41
and the purpose of what we're doing
today is to expedite the process of
having to you to grant or to agree upon
the permanence of this ordinance and why
you're here today is because when there
was a state of emergency by the state of
New Mexico and we saw other cities that
were already putting limitations on how
many items people could buy in a store
or how many people could be gathered
outside or how public parks could be
closed this city Las Cruces did not have
a mechanism so that we could just have
the mayor or the mayor pro-tem say we
have declared a state of emergency you
cannot be in we're going to close our
public parks we're going to limit
gatherings of people up to five or less
or whatever that may be this city didn't
have that mechanism you saw other cities
like Santa Fe and Albuquerque taking
immediate action before the state of New
Mexico took that action we were we had
to wait for the state and for the
governor to take that action we didn't
have a mechanism to do that so this
allows the mayor to take an immediate
action so for example if this
catastrophe gets more it becomes I don't
want to I hopefully it won't happen but
if there's a need to take an immediate
action the mayor or the mayor pro-tem
could immediately say we need to do X Y
& Z in order to protect the health and
the safety of individuals we need to do
that right now in Las Cruces we don't
have to wait for the state of New Mexico
to do that we can take that action here
and now and those Street they say it's
these first three days they require no
council approval so there wouldn't there
have to be a proclamation thereafter I
thought that was just to shorten the
amount of time and so far as the OMA is
concerned the notice of no I mean I I
know there's substance here too but nope
I thought it was to facilitate the
calling of meetings and to make those
decisions by a bio body Marion councilor
I know I do not in my opinion that's not
the purpose of it the purpose of it is
to allow quick action is to allow the
city to take an immediate quick action
to protect the health and safety and
welfare of the citizens of this
community the three days is a limitation
you can take immediate at
and you can do these things but there's
a maximum you can do it for three days
after three days then the City Council
can extend that for seven days or to run
concurrently with the state the check
and balance is you're allowing the mayor
to take in a media action but you're
limiting the amount of time that that
can happen that's three days after three
days the City Council can say well we
need to extend this because there's this
is a real emergency that's going to be
more long-term then the City Council can
say we're going to do it for seven days
or we're going to do it for 14 days
after 14 days
another proclamation would have to occur
same process Thank You Attorney Baker
Brown mr. mayor I to segue from what
counsel Laura says even somewhat counter
Vaska said far as a meeting of the
council in our Charter are an article to
the City Council section 2.08 part a it
deals with meetings of the City Council
and it says there that special meetings
may be held on the call of the mayor or
four members of the council and whether
whenever practicable practicable upon no
less than 12 hours notice of each member
just half a day mayor and council that
is that OMA contradicts that and state
law prevails so we have to follow the
Open Meetings Act right but 12 hours is
wrong our Charter is not aligned with
the Open Meetings Act yeah it does go on
to say in that same section that we have
to apply to state laws and as I say
state statutes yes - and counselor it
could be that the the Open Meetings Act
has been amended several times it could
be that at the time that's what was
allowed by the Open Meetings Act
it could mean that there are provisions
with it like I said before I can make
sure that I research the Open Meetings
Act and that emergency provision very
carefully to make to make sure that
we're following
as far as our city charter goes you can
have an emergency meeting within 24
hours but that actually in the Open
Meetings Act is specific to an agenda
item you can we did that I think two
weeks ago we placed an item on the
agenda that was deemed to be an
emergency so we placed the item on the
agenda and then we have to make
notification of the agenda item later
the open meeting that is specific to
agenda item okay I would assume there's
an agenda item with a special meeting of
course yeah
and like I said before if something were
to happen and there was an expenditure
of resources it only it only requires
the that four of the governing body
request a meeting you can you can
request a meeting and have a meeting to
talk about that so we go to you or the
city manager to request a meeting it can
be done through the city manager okay
I'm just just for procedure purposes so
in other words if $50,000 was needed for
something we needed to do that we could
have a meeting within theoretically
within 12 hours to approve that
at 12 hours or more I'll happily I will
have research that my understanding of
the Open Meetings Act is that that could
not occur yeah well wouldn't be the
first time there's something wrong with
our Charter well the Charter that hasn't
been updated so you have to remember
that state laws get amended and updated
frequently and we have to keep up with
that okay well thank you for doing that
I appreciate that a lot
Thank You mr. mayor council roscas Thank
You mayor before I make the motion and
just want to say again I think that this
is as absolutely needed for local
government I think if you look at our
function and what we're tasked with
doing
detecting the public this is something
we should have available as a tool in
the in the in the tool box in case of a
catastrophic disaster and times are
crazy right like we're experiencing
unprecedented events both economic and
and health-wise and and with climate
change you know on the brink of changing
perhaps entire ecosystems around the
world I mean we just we need to have
something like this I think available so
I think this is a cornerstone of being
able to protect our public and while I
do understand the concerns of councilor
Ekman and the councillors I share those
concerns as well I think having this
rather than not having it in its current
form is better and coming back and being
able to amend it at a later time is also
an option that we have including the cap
that I think we all agree needs to be
looked at a little bit more so with that
I do it did want to put forward and make
a motion to amend this ordinance to add
an ordinance termination section that
states that this ordinance shall expire
at the end of the declaring mayor's term
here in Council if I could that would be
somewhat confusing to use declaring
mayor I would say the current mayor okay
that sounds good
I will then retract that motion and make
a new motion to amend this ordinance to
add a ordinance termination section that
states that this ordinance shall expire
at the end of the current mayor's term
second a motion made by council vasca
second by councilor Flores the amendment
that the this declaration would expire
at the end of current mayor's term moved
in a second any questions on the
amendment seeing none Christine this on
the amendment this is on the motion to
amend ordinance 29:21 to add an
ordinance termination section that the
ordinance will expire at the end of the
current mayor
councillor a-beta studi yes counselor
Busta's yes counselor Bencomo yeah color
stork yes come through Flores yes come
through gondola yes mayor yes okay now
we're back on the main motion any
questions on that
councillor Costas Thank You mayor I do
have to ask the question of the day is
there plans to declare an emergency
Proclamation following the passage of
this ordinance in the next in the
foreseeable future the next few days
great question that's resident asked
Jennifer so if we wanted to discuss any
proposals in the near future do we need
that do we need to declare that
emergency so that this can at least be
discussed because if we don't then it
would be subject to just like any other
ordinance or any other resolution and we
have to wait until the agenda to put it
on there or work session so that would
have been my next question actually ask
of Jennifer so I don't know if you were
reading my mind or seeing my notes but
so do you understand did you understand
what he had asked mayor and council if
your if the if you declare an emergency
subsequent to the passage of this
ordinance the state of emergency would
have to fit under the definition of the
state of emergency and the allocation of
resources would have to be to address
those emergency circumstances if what
you're talking about is the expenditure
of funds for other that would impact the
city for economic development or for any
other reason that would have to be a
normal agenda item because it isn't
directly tied to the state of emergency
as it's defined in the ordinance and
that is very specific to public health
emergency and a civil emergency so if
I'm a councillor Bosca so Jennifer I I
think you got receive this copy last
night and in my opinion it does respond
to health care workers and first
responders or does pertain to and then
as also
to provide access to food and service
for those in need and separate sleeping
facilities for workers exposed daily to
the virus so on this specifically in
order for us to discuss this after if
this should be passed what I have - I
think what Kelso Vasquez saying and I
would like to know do I have to declare
this as a bad as an emergency which
would allow me to start discussing this
it's mayor it's my opinion that it would
be best to place it as an agenda item at
the next meeting if we begin to expand
the definition of what the emergency is
we have to have evidence that the
emergency axe actually exists so for
example if you're talking about health
care workers and the need to have
emergency housing for health care
workers I'm not I don't know if there's
evidence of that exists and so in order
to stay within the spirit of an
emergency declaration we would have to
demonstrate that that actually exists or
if you're talking about a long-term plan
because we are anticipating an emergency
I think that's a little bit different
and we can place it on an agenda item
and you can talk about that so let me
ask you this so what if we were to and
get listed back to being able to
participate either telephonically or
through zoom or Skype are we allowed to
do with first are we allowed to do that
as a council a mayor and council I think
the Attorney General has issued
guidelines for that as long as those
that meeting that you have is accessible
by the public so it could be by
teleconference it can be online there
are any number of mechanisms for that to
occur that it just has to be accessible
by the public so theoretically if I
wanted to discuss this I could call a
special work session next week mid week
let's say within as long as I stay
within 72 hours so we can then discuss
this
and other proposals perhaps mayor yes as
I said earlier the we could do it as
early as Monday if we posted that today
okay thank thank you mayor yeah that was
going to be thank you for following that
the the question there my preference
would be to discuss this as a special
work session I think that there's some
things that we should discuss especially
on the economic development piece that
may not be germane to the language
included in the ordinance for the
emergency Proclamation and wouldn't want
to wear those lines too much to make
sure that people know that we're not
abusing the language in in the emergency
Proclamation for anything other than
emergency so be fully supportive of
coming back on Monday to talk about the
proposal and in a work session and then
followed by a vote as soon as we can
after that Thank You mayor okay I
appreciate that okay that would require
two meetings the work session and then
the regular council meeting - no not
really I mean not a regular council
meeting by the council to make the room
we can decide if it's special meeting
that can be obviously March session and
a council meeting we can place it as a
discussion item on the next agenda let's
see what I guess what I was trying to
get it is if we were to call a special
work session on Monday right and have
various items for discussion we can
discuss it and if that's what the
consensus of the council moving in one
particular direction could I not then
move forward with that instead of having
to effort eyes it for the following week
or two weeks whatever and and and direct
staff to move in that direction meri and
Christine can correct me if I'm wrong
and you can do it one of two ways you
can add it to the already agenda for the
next meeting or you can have a work
session for that you can do it either
way
but correct we don't have a meeting on
next Monday
I don't think following so we could do
it as soon as Monday or the next okay
yeah yeah I think it's just I think
Council wants to discuss various options
and and I as do I so but I was also
wondering if to practice social
distancing we have some of you stay at
home and participate through the
telephone and what we still have at
every table feed live to to share with
the public so they can hear the comments
you made that's what I'm just gonna I'm
just and we're at a point of
clarification would you like if it if
it's going to be advertised for Monday
would you like that to be a special
meeting so that a boat could be taken if
necessary or a work session I would
prefer that a special means mr. mayor
yes counselor sort thank you um well
hold on just saying counselor Florida
sorry you you were done with your
comments yes sir Thank You Telstra sorry
we want any mindful of our staff that
they are able to have enough time to
gather the information we're gonna need
for a work session and an information
we're gonna need to pass anything
there's a lot of information that we may
need for this thing so perhaps because
today is Friday Monday May a little
short of time maybe our maybe our city
manager might be able to shed light on
that
mayor concepts org all of it will depend
on what it is it you think you're going
to need information for if it's funding
that we have right now with respect to
potentially tell us how our funding or
what the city funding is at least half
is ready for that they are here today
for if there was going to be discussion
on that obviously we we don't have that
right now because it is limited however
they are available for that we also have
staff in CDBG who can be ready for
questions if you might have with respect
to funding from that aspect as well for
resources I can give with our
operational sections so they have been
working
what additional resources that we have
had to come up with with the changes of
our operations so I'm confident that we
could be ready but I can check with them
and if we are well then we will get the
meeting notice out to the mayor and
having enough time based on the number
of hours that we have to have before the
special meeting notice and the meeting
takes place I'm also talking about
information concerning the state of the
crisis since Las Cruces all the
information we can possibly get as far
as the state of the crisis that means
all the testing that's being done or the
positive test who's in the hospital etc
etc sure and if I could address that
comes first or there's some information
that we're not going to be able to get
due to HIPAA requirements so with
respect to a number of people in
hospital we might be look at some of
those numbers with respect to where they
are at in some cases we don't get that
we're only told that there are certain
numbers in the county and that's again
because they're protecting the identity
of the people who who are affected but
we can we can work to get as much
information as possible from exactly I'm
not expecting it everything very good as
much as possible thank you
it's also been cool Thank You mr. mayor
I you know personally I don't want to
have another discussion I think we need
to act I think we need to do this
quickly I think if if we wait for there
to be some sort of outbreak then it's
too late
I think we need to be acting as if there
was already an outbreak I think the
governor has proved that kind of
decisive leadership is works and we need
to follow that frankly I I don't
necessarily think it's important to know
who's been in the hospital and who
hasn't
we have 136 cases in the state and 16
cases in Dona Ana County while many will
recover there are the ones who won't and
while people perhaps are not ill people
are already being laid off that is
already happening and we need to act
quickly and decisively this virus is
unsuspecting it's being framed in the
social media as the flu
and I think that's what caused confusion
and that's what's causing panic people
both aren't taking this seriously and at
the same time are hoarding basic
products and I think that's because
they're confused and if we act
decisively on emergency orders if we
need to come together as soon as
possible to sure some certainty as much
certainty as we can that people aren't
being left behind and that we aren't
thinking about them
I've we've been thinking about this for
the last month and we need to make some
actions quickly I you know I I would
hope that we would be I was prepared to
talk about the proposal today and in
fact bring in new proposals that have to
do with the health and safety of people
and but if we can do it today that's
understandable I really think we need to
have something to act on on Monday okay
thank you yes sir
long-term mayor pro-tem and kelsey
Vasquez thank you Mary
I appreciate that counselor Bencomo I
think we need act swiftly as well I'm
prepared with my own proposal I
I have spent essentially the last two
weeks everyday talking to many
nonprofits using my 30 years of
experience as a social worker calling my
state cYFD Protective Services offices
my contacts at Department of Health and
and perusing you know facebook and other
things I'm very well prepared to talk
based on information that I'm receiving
from places like the Boys and Girls Club
like us
cYFD Department of Health one thing that
I would like to suggest is that we have
callin from our EMS
present when we have this conversation
he'd be able to answer a lot of your
questions councillors org as it relates
to numbers and and what not to include
that those that from the hospitals both
hospitals and such their Cove in
nineteen on our website that is being
updated regularly you will see that our
people are meeting once a week that
should be meeting every as it relates to
this emergency and you can get a lot of
information out out of out of that
specifically I mean it's urgent when I'm
hearing from Community Action Agency
that they're people kit the people that
they serve and and in over five hundred
people that cannot locate diapers
formula just a basic means lacasa going
through fifteen gallons of milk a day
and limb goes to the grocery store and
limits you know to two gallons of milk
when they're at capacity and have 36
children mamas and baby's mama and
children and a local hotel because
domestic violence is on the rise child
abuse and neglect is on the rise they're
filing cases left and right in our
county and and so I'm very prepared to
have this conversation because I've
spent many hours communicating with lots
of different people about the state of
emergency the state that our people are
having to deal with with the hoarding
and the panic and so as fast as we get
this Proclamation going we can start
doing the work that we need to do to
take care of our vulnerable Thank You
Vera Thank You mayor pro-tem councillor
boxes Thank You mayor yes I want to just
echo councillor been Como's sentiment
that we make some decisions on Monday
whether it's through direction to the
Tony Manor or city manager or the mayor
through a special work session if we
can't do that we're gonna have to ratify
some budget adjustment requests actually
authorized the expenditure of tell short
fund monies then we should figure out
how to do
as soon as we can if it's not Monday it
should be as soon as we legally can
because similarly I have some proposals
that hopefully help to alleviate some of
the especially economic hardships of the
working class in the city and so I would
like to bring those forward as soon as
possible because rent payments mortgage
payments are coming up and so some of us
have the luxury of being able to still
be employed during this time and we can
get over to the next month but I know it
would really help if not just the mental
health and psyche of our people but
financially just our folks out there who
are wondering what they're going to do
in this situation and so as soon as we
can we can make some decisions whichever
way we can as soon as possible I support
that as well thank you mayor well so Ben
Coleman I just one more thing to add
regarding this sort of lack of
information that counselors org is
perhaps experiencing I mean I've been
doing a ton of research and making a ton
of calls as well and there's plenty of
information for us to make decisions
just the New Mexico Department of
Workforce Solutions are 17,000 new
claims for unemployment and as of last
week I spoke with secretary McKinley and
he said that loft cruises was had the
fourth largest number I am assuming
that's going to change right given that
we're the second largest city and so I
just want to put that out there because
I think it's important that we act oh I
agree I agree with everything counselor
when Cuomo has said councilor Vasquez
and mayor pro-tem ganda I thank you all
for your information there pretend I
know that we advertise that we would be
showing this on YouTube and live
streaming it I'm thinking that there
might be some comments that people might
have for us and I like if we can I don't
know if you were planning on on reading
those or how we were going to address
people's
comments and questions from that
particular YouTube channel and live
streaming do we have those comments
mayor Mayor Tim as I mentioned earlier
we had talked about how we go about and
allowing the potential for people to
comment on chat lines like YouTube but
one of the biggest concerns on that is
worrying about censorship and First
Amendment rights sometimes you have to
be very careful about some of the
comments that people make and if we go
through that process we would have to
have specific rules we would probably
have to come before council with the
resolution on how we would address
limiting those comments through a
limited public forum or how we would
even have them passed on to council who
would be the person that does that would
be the chair or city clerk and we have
not completed that analysis here right
now we are just sticking with we have
the ability for people to view what
we've talked about and then in the
future if we can get to some kind of
forum that way we come forward with the
resolution first thank you David do we
have a time frame in terms of if we're
gonna move into doing this remotely we
need to defer my perspective give our
public the opportunity to ask questions
and and whatnot I have had several
people emailing me or texting me with
their comments about you know different
items and I feel better if we had a time
frame in terms of when you think that
resolution could come to us so that we
can continue I don't see this changing
in the foreseeable future I think we're
going to be doing a lot of things
remotely and we need to take care of
that particular measure
mr. mayor Stice sure okay thank you for
that I'm actually I'm glad you brought
up emails and such one of the other
options that we have is to give notice
that we're having a meeting and people
can view it and they can
and in the question in the comments
beforehand that it's a sometimes that
appears that might be an easier approach
because we get them in beforehand and
then they can be read off again either
by the church city clerk with respect to
the timeline I want that resolution I
would have to get back to you on that
as I mentioned staff has been looking
into it but I could tell you one we
would come forward with that with
anything else or especially in this case
with these type of emergencies yes we
want it to be sooner rather than later
but I'd have to get back with you on a
specific time Thank You mr. masters okay
I think that takes care of pretty much
comments as counsel any of the public
okay so this is on the main motion so
Christine this is on the motion to
approve ordinance 29 21 as amended
councillor abeita Stevie yeah come for
about this yes tom sermon Comal yeah
councillor sorg
yes counter flooded yes councillor
gondola yes mayor
yes okay before we adjourn so let me ask
you something
Jennifer the let's say we would have a
meeting at 2 p.m. on Monday this coming
Monday March 30th how do we structure it
if after listening to the proposals or
ideas of counsel and and granted of
course you has to be vetted through the
City Attorney's Office to make sure one
it's legal - how would we proceed but
how can we structure that or is there a
way to structure that so that whatever
the the you know comments or ideas that
are that some of them have actually
brought today you know like for example
I emailed you yours and and the city
manager and Mayor Pro Tem and they and
then the rest of the council just got
theirs today so is there a way to do
they just email it to David so that we
don't violate any ruling quorum and then
and then he can just have a list and
then it'll be advertised this but it can
be discussed not saying we're gonna take
action on them but at least have the
items
that are discussed like an actual title
of a particular item and then done
mayor and council are you proposing to
pass by resolution an action plan or
well whistle by resolution well okay so
of course my my idea that I have been
working on with you for a few days is to
help you know let's just take this one
here for example two separate sleeping
facilities for workers expose it daily
to the virus well that includes hotel
rooms so how to get that on the agenda
and then if that's something there that
council is supportive of doing then we
just say okay well you know because my
original proposals that calls for the
city to have certain blocks of room set
aside for health care workers that feel
they might have been exposed things of
this nature how can how can how does it
need to be advertised so that that can
be discussed and then I see work Mayor
Pro Tem Ron data has maybe some
emergency monies for a local nonprofit
here that deals with Messick violence
and so how to do that so that we can
discuss it and say okay that sounds like
we need to and we'll just move forward
with it
Mary council I think if you advertise it
as a community response plan okay then
you can all contribute to that it sounds
good
and then on Monday we can discuss it and
then if the you know if council the
majority of them wants to move in one
direction then we can just direct staff
to do that okay yeah okay did you have a
question for us okay nothing else we're
good okay if there the motion to adjourn
then so moved second a motion made by
councilor Vasquez and second by Mayor
Pro Tem Rhonda that we adjourn all those
in favor signify by saying aye
I suppose we're adjourned it's 11:20
8:00 a.m. thank you