Mhm.
Your life.
Well, good afternoon everyone. Welcome
to the city council meeting. Today is
Monday, June 1st, 2026.
It's approximately 1:00 p.m. I'm Mayor
Eric Enriquez. Before we start, I want
to mention that we have the American
sign language up in front as
interpreters available. They're [snorts]
here at every city council meeting.
We'll start with a moment of silence for
the brave men and women of the United
States Armed Forces as they protect our
interests around the globe, as well as
the courageous men and women of the Las
Cruces Police Department and the Las
Cruces Fire Department as they keep our
city safe 24/7 365.
Councilor Berkomo, if you'll lead us in
the pledge.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America,
and to the republic for which it stands,
one nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all.
We'll start with the presentations by
Councilor Berkomo.
Hello everyone.
Uh first up, we have a very special
presentation to
the Mayfield Champs softball team. If
you all want to come join me up here.
Yeah.
[applause]
Hey ladies.
I'm so excited to be the one to give you
this recognition. I love women's sports
and I'm a huge supporter of women's
sports, so I'm so excited to be amongst
champions.
The 2026 varsity Mayfield softball team
won the Southern New Mexico softball
invitational for the second consecutive
year.
This team won the District 3A 5A
championship and the 2026 New Mexico
Class 5A state championship.
They set a new state record for hitting
98 home runs on the season including a
5A state record for runs scored in the
state championship game when they
defeated rival Las Cruces High School 20
to 2.
The Lady Trojans finished with a school
record.
They finished with a school record of 29
wins becoming the first Mayfield High
School softball team to win a state
championship. One more round of
applause.
Coach, do you want to say a few words?
I wasn't ready for this.
Okay, uh on behalf of the Mayfield Lady
Trojans and Mayfield High School,
um we would like to thank the community
for all the support that we've had
throughout the season.
Um these ladies, they worked really hard
uh to obtain this uh state championship,
our first ever at Mayfield High School,
and we are very proud to represent the
city and the state as the 5A state
champions. Thank you very much.
Do any of you guys want to say anything
or anything?
I don't.
That's okay.
Okay.
Ladies, anyone want to say anything?
Are you sure?
Well, I wore the wrong colors today. I'm
so sorry. So, we're going to take a
picture now.
Can I have the shirts ladies in the
front, please?
I don't have any behind you since
someone is in blue.
[applause]
Come on, one more round of applause for
them.
[applause]
[cheering]
Thank you so much for joining us.
Champions.
Thanks, Mayor.
As you can see, Mayor wore exactly the
right colors today. So, he did he did
good.
Okay, now we have a proclamation for
National Automotive Service
Professionals Week presented to Mayce to
Mercedes
Tamayaco. And if we can have all of you
come down. See lots of you in the
audience, I know. I want you all to come
down.
While they're making their way, I know a
couple of you softball players are
daughters of a couple of our Las Cruces
family. Yes? Couple of folks who Yes,
can you raise your hand who you are?
Yes, hi.
[laughter]
Couple of their parents work for the
city, so we're very proud proud of them.
Don't be shy. Come on down.
I know it's hard to follow the softball
champs, but
we want to celebrate you all as well.
Okay, and the proclamation reads as
follows.
Whereas the city services team plays an
essential role in maintaining the
safety, reliability, and readiness of
the vehicles that support our our
organization's daily operations. And
whereas our technicians, service
writers, parts specialists, and support
staff demonstrate exceptional skill in
diagnostics, maintenance, and repair
across a diverse fleet that includes
light-duty vehicles, electric, hybrid,
and conventional heavy equipment,
emergency response units, and
specialized machinery. And whereas the
work of fleet service professionals
ensure that our employees can perform
their daily their duties effectively,
our operations remain uninterrupted, and
our community receives dependable
service. And whereas the rapid evolution
of automotive and equipment technology
requires continuous learning,
adaptability, and professional
excellence, qualities consistently
demonstrated by our fleet services team.
And whereas National Automa- Automotive
Service Professionals Week provides an
opportunity to acknowledge the
dedication, craftsmanship, and
behind-the-scenes contributions of the
individuals who keep our fleet safe,
efficient, and mission-ready. Now,
therefore, we, the mayor and city
council of Las Cruces, New Mexico, do be
hereby proclaim the week of June 8th
through June 14th, 2026, as National
Automated Service Professionals Week,
and extend our sincere appreciation for
their expertise, professionalism, and
unwavering commitment to supporting our
organization. This proclamation is is
issued with gratitude and respect for
the outstanding service provided by
Fleet Services. Thank you so much.
[applause]
Mayor, City Council, Mercedes Tomato,
administrator Fleet Services. On behalf
of the dedicated teams across our Fleet
Services, Transit Department, and Solid
Waste Division, thank you for this
proclamation recognizing National
Automotive Service Professionals Week.
We are honored to accept it on behalf of
the many dedicated individuals
who keep our city moving, literally and
figuratively.
Across Fleet Services, the Transit
Department, and the Solid Waste
Division, we are fortunate to have teams
of highly skilled technicians, service
writers, parts specialists, and
administrative staff who work tirelessly
behind the scenes.
Their work is often invisible to the
public,
but it its impact is felt every single
day.
Our fleet services team ensures that
every vehicle, from police units to
public work equipment, is safe,
reliable, and ready to serve.
Our transit technicians and support
staff keep buses on the road so our
community can get to work, to school,
and essential services. Our solid waste
division's maintenance crews make sure
that collection vehicles operate
dependably, supporting one of the most
essential services a city provides.
These professionals are problem-solvers,
innovators, and guardians of public
safety. They work in demanding
conditions, often at odd hours, and they
do it with pride, precision, and deep
commitment to serve our community.
This proclamation is more than
recognition. It is a reminder of the
value of their expertise, their
dedication, and their teamwork.
We are grateful for the opportunity to
shine a light on the people who keep our
operations running and our community
supported.
On behalf of all our automotive service
professionals, thank you for this honor
and for acknowledging the essential work
they do every day.
[applause]
[laughter]
Thank you. And that's it for today.
Thank you all so much.
Next on the agenda, we have the
departmental highlights. We'll have
community development come up first.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council.
Chris Favors, Community Development
Director for the record.
So, I just thought I'd take a few
minutes today to update everybody on the
progress with the short-term rental
ordinance that was adopted in December.
Um I know there were some questions when
we adopted it to get an update before it
goes into enforcement in July. So, I
thought I would um present a little bit
of information today. So, real real
quick recapping what exactly is a
short-term rental? Uh dwelling rented
out without the intent to becoming a
residence.
Typically listed on a third-party
website like Airbnb, booking.com,
Expedia, those types of websites. And it
excludes hotels, motels, and B&Bs.
So, since we adopted the ordinance in
December, staff has been working both
Community Development staff and the
staff of Visit Las Cruces to compile all
of the properties that have been listed
um as a short-term rental.
Through the end of 2025, there were 624.
And through the first few months of
2026, there's been an additional 101
properties.
And so, we've had about 122 register
with Visit Las Cruces,
about 72 register to get their business
registration, and then only about 35 who
have done both.
So, we have a lot of um
you follow-up to do. Uh staff sent
initially sent out um
letters to all of the property owners,
and now we're following up via phone
calls and emails to get people in
compliance.
So, part of that outreach, we have done
some uh social media initially when it
was adopted, and then communications is
now um going forward with another round
of outreach since we have about a month
left until the ordinance does uh go into
effect from the enforcement side of
things. There is a dedicated website, uh
excuse me, web page on the website for
short-term rental short-term rentals,
and then communications again added
short-term rentals back to the hot
topics on the homepage.
Um as I stated before, we initially sent
out letters to all of the property
owners, and now it's just a matter of
doing that follow-up to um make sure
that they received those letters, and
that if they're still continuing as a
short-term rental that they follow the
process uh to get um up to speed and in
compliance.
So, next steps, obviously um still
reaching out, um making sure that
everybody is in compliance, and then
working with Visit Las Cruces uh on
their registration process to um
indicate whether or not they have a
business registration before, and if
they don't, then they can redirect them
back to community development staff so
that we can get that done first, and
then they can proceed to register with
Visit Las Cruces. That way we don't see
some only doing one and not doing both
parts of uh what's uh required. Um I did
check with code. So far we haven't had
any, you know, major incidents or
anything reported specific to short-term
rentals. Um and then as we move for uh
closer to July and ready for
enforcement, we'll coordinate with them
on how we handle those types of
enforcement issues and concerns moving
forward.
So that's just a quick update.
I stand for any questions if you have
any.
Thank you for the update, Chris.
Appreciate it. Thank you, Mayor.
Next, we have Visit Las Cruces.
Good afternoon, Mayor and City Council.
I'm Liz Vega, event manager with Visit
Las Cruces. I have a couple of updates
for our America 250 initiatives for the
rest of this year.
Some of our upcoming events, uh this
week we have an article that's going to
be appearing in the Las Cruces Bulletin.
And that covers um some of the
highlighted events from the city and
county. And also has a special shout-out
for the Branigan Cultural Centers
exhibit on Land of People.
On June 24th and 25th, we're hosting the
New Mexico Hospitality Association's
Governor's Conference on Tourism.
Um another milestone this year is that
Route 62 Route 66 is turning 100. And we
are going to have the traveling uh
exhibit here for that conference.
And then ongoing, um on our website,
we're going to have a 250-year Las
Cruces timeline.
Uh so you have a little snippet of what
it's going to look like. We have a lot
of really cool
milestones.
We're also going to be participating in
the Great American State Fair.
Um so every state is going to be
represented. We have a 30 by 30 space
uh and the New Mexico Tourism Department
is taking the lead on that. It's a
collaboration between a lot of different
state departments uh as listed there.
And Visit Las Cruces is going to have
our New Mexico booth staffed uh July 6th
to the 10th.
Uh it's an opportunity for us to connect
with thousands of visitors nationally
and internationally.
And then of course our 4th of July
festivities. Um I wanted to point out
that the Doña Ana County is having some
events at the fairgrounds starting on
Tuesday June 30th through Thursday July
2nd. Live music, vendors, and they're
also going to have a nightly drone show.
And this is of course free admission.
And then the City of Las Cruces, our
Parks and Recreation Department, uh
having our city electric light parade on
July 3rd. Um we're actually going to
have a float so that we're putting
together. It's a 20-ft float. And I
brought a couple of little examples of
what you're going to see. Imagine this
12 ft.
Um and then we're going to actually
repurpose our float and paint it uh
rainbow for the Pride Parade in October.
Um and then we're hoping to have the
float as well on Saturday July 4th uh
Sisbarro Park at NMSU uh for the
celebration concert there as well. And
of course 9:45 is when the fireworks
start on the 4th.
And with that, I'm standing for any
questions.
Sounds good. Thank you, Liz. Appreciate
it.
Next, we have pets of the week.
Amelia?
Good afternoon Mayor City Council.
Um I am Amelia Corrales for pets of the
week.
So this week we have Goober.
Um he is a goofy lovable high-energy
boy. His name kind of says it all for
him.
Um he has attended multiple off-site
events.
Um so come by, check out our off-site
events, but he is an amazing fun-loving
adoptable boy who is just looking for
his forever home.
Our second dog of the week is Trinity.
This sweet girl has been waiting far too
long for a family to call her own. She's
full of love, personality, and energy.
She would thrive with an active family
ready to help her channel her energy
into walks, playtime, tug-of-war, all
those lovely things that dogs enjoy. So
these are just two of our highlighted
pets of the week, but of course please
come down visit the shelter. We have
tons of adoptable dogs and cats.
Some of our long-term residents, um you
have Dobber there and Francesca.
Francesca's in foster, which is amazing.
So just a shout-out to our foster
parents, but if anybody's interested in
fostering, um gets the animals out of
the shelter for a little while into a
home, acclimated to a home instead of
the kennels, that would be super
amazing. Ebony and Playa are also two of
our other long-term residents that we
have.
Events. So this Sunday, June 7th at the
Field of Dreams, we have our quarterly
um vax clinic. We try to do three of
these a year, and so June 7th is our
next one from 8 to 12. It is a little
earlier. Normally it's 9 to 1, but
because of summertime and the heat, um,
make sure if you are coming to our vax
clinic, please bring water for not only
yourself, but your animals um, when
you're there. We hope to get all of the
animals that show up, um,
through the line as quickly as we
possibly can. On June 6th, we'll be at
Petco. On June 20th, we'll be at the
Village Hardware in Hatch. June 27th,
we'll be at PetSmart. And then on June
30th, we are attending a Cars and Coffee
Cars Coffee and K9s event on Main
Street.
Um, adopt, don't shop. Just a call to
action. Choose adoption, choose
compaction, choose to save a life. Um,
right now animals in our shelter are
waiting for someone to believe in them.
Whether you adopt when you adopt, you're
not just getting a pet, you're giving a
homeless animal a second chance at love,
safety, and a forever family. If you're
not ready to adopt, as I had mentioned
previously, you can make a huge impact
by fostering.
Gives those animals a break from the
shelter, helps them heal, and opens
space for us to save even more lives.
Um, just a call, you know, be the reason
tails keep wagging. Be the reason shy
animals learn to trust again. Uh, be the
reason a life is saved. So, I just
encourage everyone, adopt, don't shop.
Come by the shelter. We're really nice
over there, I promise. Um, we would love
to help you find your animal, dog or
cat.
And then for more information, you can
always visit our website at ascmnv.org,
our Facebook, Instagram, TikTok,
YouTube. And then I put up there the
foster information. If you're interested
in fostering, we would really love to
have you. So, you can email our foster
coordinator at foster@ascmnv.org.
And thank you so much again for having
us up here.
Thank you, Umito.
Next is a conflict of interest. Is any
member of the city council, city
manager, or any member of the city staff
have any known conflict of interest with
any item on the agenda?
None.
No conflict.
No.
Next is public participation. We'll
allow up to 3 minutes. No pending
litigation or items on non-consent.
Please state your name before you speak,
and Katrina will assist you
to the podium.
Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, and folks here
today, those watching online, I'm Lynn
Moore. The dearth of professionalism,
competence, and honesty with respect to
the utilities director and her staff
regarding compliance with the federal
lead and copper rule is negatively
affecting thousands of people in Las
Cruces who drink water from any of the
city's five water systems. Lead in
drinking water is a clear hazard.
There's no safe level. It's especially
dangerous for children, including unborn
children and seniors. This matters. When
our city finance director recently
discovered significantly incorrect
budgeting numbers, she brought it to the
city manager and the city council and
publicly recommended large budget
adjustments to address the problems.
Instead of equivalent professionalism
and honesty, we have a utilities
director who facilitates and or turns a
blind eye to countless falsehoods and
inaccuracies and the cover-up or
modification of inconvenient data. As
we've delineated at numerous previous
meetings, these dishonorable actions
include allowing or facilitating
falsified inspection reports regarding
galvanized piping, falsified consumer
confidence reports regarding exceedances
in lead levels, failure to prioritize
disadvantaged properties as promised,
falsely categorizing hundreds of
high-value properties as disadvantaged,
and leaving huge sections of the city
consisting primarily of mobile home
communities off the inventory. Comparing
utility staff to public agencies in
other states and regions, I've observed
Las Cruces utility staff and a city
councilor seem to have inordinately
large chips on their shoulders about the
city having to comply with a federal
rule. Several give the impression that
being required to comply is an unfair
burden, even though every other water
system in the country must also comply.
Utilities personnel use an inadequate
inspection technique, then claim we
don't have a lead pipe problem.
I've also observed an unhealthy close
relationship within the utilities
department and with city management.
Other people, including a utilities
board commissioner, have observed it,
too. They've noted, among other things,
that the utilities director has an
assistant city manager who acts as her
protector and hand-holder. The chip on
the shoulders is especially evident at
utilities board meetings, which have
many staffers present. In contrast,
city, fire, police, and public works
department personnel do not exhibit
these kinds of unprofessional traits or
complain about the work they must do.
Indeed, their behavior has been
professional and good-natured. These
factors support our call for an
independent, honest engineer fully
conversant with the federal rule, with
management experience, and with no
connection to New Mexico to do thorough
analysis and evaluation of the city's
compliance with the lead and copper rule
and as necessary recommend any
adjustments including changes to
staffing. We think the city could truly
benefit from this evaluation. Thank you
for this opportunity to speak.
Mayor, city council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. We're serious about expecting
utilities personnel to inspect water
pipes at disadvantaged properties
consistent with the promise they made to
the New Mexico Finance Authority in
order to receive $15 million for
inspection and removal of lead and
galvanized piping in compliance with the
federal lead and copper rule. This
action is necessary not only to keep its
promise to the authority and to the
public, but to demonstrate that it did
not intend to commit fraud by promoting
promising to do something important to
receive a big chunk of money without
actually intending to do that important
thing.
Handouts A and B
are two more lists of properties with
estimated values of less than two
less than $100,000 and $200,000
respectively.
These follow lists 1 through 5 in both
of these categories provided since
February. According to responses to
effort requests, the department has
inspected only three, three of the 208
low-value properties on the first four
sets of list. We again urge utilities
personnel to get to work inspecting
these fully disadvantaged properties in
order to show at a minimum that the
department does not intend to act
fraudulently.
We're also serious about expecting
utilities personnel to include all
properties within the inventory and on
the map and then inspect each of these
as well.
This includes every mobile home within
the five water systems for which the
department has responsibility.
Handout C
is the seventh map segment we've
provided since February that shows a
mobile home community without water
hookups and not found in the city's
inventory. This mobile home community in
the vicinity of South Main Street has
approximately 108 mobile homes without
water hookups on the map. At this point,
the total number of mobile homes in the
city without water hookups on the map
which have been left out of the
inventory total several thousand. Each
of these ignored mobile homes are no
doubt valued at less than $200,000
and rightfully can be regarded as
disadvantaged in addition to those
included on the six sets of lists we
provided.
We find it exceptionally unfair that the
utilities director allows or directs
that all of these clearly disadvantaged
properties and people who live in them
be ignored and not served properly as
compared to the wealthier properties and
the well-off people who live in them.
Moreover, the explicit terms of the
funding agreement with the state
requires that each of these
disadvantaged properties be prioritized
and served before the wealthier
properties are served. This means absent
an overriding reason, utilities
personnel should not inspect properties
whose estimated value exceeds 300,000
until all the properties valued at less
than 200,000, include all mobile homes,
are inspected. Thank you.
Good afternoon.
My name is Jack Eckman.
I say hi to the mayor and city
councilors.
I had the privilege and honor of sitting
on that dais myself, but not at the same
term as any of you.
Um
my wife and I chose
Las Cruces as our last best place.
This is a wonderful community,
and I'm here today to speak about
the financial system situation at the
city right now.
I was a hospital administrator.
Um I got used to budgets in the hundreds
of millions of dollars,
and so I was able to work through those
items, and I brought that to city
council with me.
Let me share what the audited financial
record shows,
plainly and without alarm.
When I served on this council, we worked
hard to build a financial cushion
that protected this city through
difficult times.
The unassigned general fund balance was
healthy,
above 40% of annual expenditures.
Today, it sits at 25.6%
and your own finance director has told
you
that without a course correction, that
balance will be exhausted by 2029.
I want to be precise
about what drove us here.
Because precision matters and because
some of the most common assumptions I
hear from my friends and neighbors are
just wrong.
This is not an affordable housing
problem.
The city's housing investments were
largely funded through voter approved
bonds,
federal ARPA dollars, and the Telshor
fund,
not the general fund.
Those were community needs met with
largely appropriate funding sources.
What this is fundamentally is a
personnel cost problem,
compounding quietly year after year,
budget after budget.
Each successive council
approved wage increases and new
positions at growth rates of 5% to 8%
annually,
while the gross receipts taxes were
rising at 2% to 2.5% annually. And so,
that has nothing to do but spread.
Every one of those decisions was
individually justifiable.
Taken together, without a multi-year
financial model to show where the
traject- trajectory led, they created a
structural gap that is now impossible to
ignore.
The Telshor fund, created from the lease
of the Memorial Medical Center to serve
the city and county's most vulnerable
residents in perpetuity, has run down
drawn down from 42.9 million to
approximately 14 million.
And I can't believe that was 3 minutes.
That was 3 minutes.
Thank you.
My name is Fred Huff.
Uh I've spoken several times recently
about wanting to thank the public works
department for doing a great, fantastic
job of cleaning up the Burn Lake area.
If any of you have not seen it,
drive by on the freeway and take a look
at it. It is amazing.
And as I've mentioned before, the start
of the year there was 11 illegal
encampments in that area.
And
the main my main concern about that, the
illegal encampments, is
they're basically uncivilized. They
don't know how to use fire.
And several years ago, there was
basically a colony down in the bottom of
the lake bed
that um
it had been there quite a while. It was
allowed to flourish. And they set the
lake bed on fire.
And we had to evacuate our house for
several hours. And we did not know if we
were going to have a house to return to
because of the fire in the Burn Lake bed
because of lack of maintenance and lack
of enforcement on trespassing.
So, at least getting all of this foliage
and brush and grass out of the lake
bottom has been tremendous.
I I'm sure that there are some people
that are offended by all the trees being
gone. You know, as as I look at my
before and after pictures, it's like
it is stark difference. But
we can go to sleep at night not worrying
about the lake bed catching on fire or
um the city having a problem with the
lake bed catching on fire smoke blowing
across the freeway
and causing a major accident cuz that
would be a huge liability to the city.
So, that's been taken care of.
And I really want to thank the public
works. They they've gone well beyond um
before they started the project, I was
picking on them in some of the emails
uh accusing them of
uh
grooming the Eslinger pond. That's a
little drain pond just above Burn Lake
where the floodwaters comes in and
settles
and then it goes into Burn Lake and I
accused them of grooming that like a
country club. And now Burn Lake is being
groomed like a country club and and I'm
really thrilled about it and and again
thank I want to thank them for doing
that. And I have and I don't know when
they're going to stop. They're still
doing it today.
Good afternoon.
[sighs]
Mayor, city council, my name is Eddie
Thomas.
I would like to address the elephant in
the room and talk about crime in the
city
and the disparaging remarks made toward
Chief Story and the Las Cruces Police
Department.
Basic fact,
you need law enforcement in any
modern-day society. That's just an
inescapable reality of life.
There are bad people in this world and
there seems to be a disproportionate
amount in this lawless border town we
call home.
The things I know about police is that
you always need more of them. You need
to train them well, and you need to pay
them well.
A police force is only as good as you
train them. You won't get top-notch,
grade-A performance from a poorly
trained police force. You need to pay
them a commensurate and competitive wage
to attract them and keep them. It takes
a special kind of courageous person to
be a police officer.
They navigate dan- dangerous situations
and have to make split-second and
sometimes life-altering decisions, and
their actions are often criticized and
held to a higher degree.
They have to be right 100% of the time.
Often, a weapon or a firearm is
involved, yet our expectation is that
they use measured and appropriate force
when dealing with the less savory of our
society. The policeman, however, is
exposed to all manner of violence. They
got to be ready for anything that
anytime, all the time.
Even off-duty, as the case often is,
like when the Walmart bicycle thief
pulled a gun on an officer and shot at
him when he gave chase, or the
hammer-wielding maniac at Chili's, or
the cartel drug dealer that also pulled
a gun in front of McDonald's. I could go
on and on. I'm glad when the bad guys
are taken out. It means the police are
doing their job.
There are three tenants of a law-abiding
society.
Legislative, which is the body that
produces the laws. Judicial, which is
the body that applies the law.
And law enforcement, which, as the name
implies, enforces the law. I think it's
clear to everybody here that the first
two are not working. That means the law
enforcement part of that equation has to
work double time to keep the peace.
That's why we have the high recidivism
rate.
Career criminals commit 80% of the
crime. Check me on that, Chief Story.
I like it when I see police in the
community. If I see one at a restaurant,
I'll offer to buy him lunch.
Libraries and parks are nice, but nobody
is going to feel safe going to one.
And just for the record, police are not
being trained to kill us. Contrary to
what certain delusional anti-police
activists say,
they're being trained to protect us. So,
please give it a rest. I would ask you,
Mayor Enriques, to channel your previous
profession of fireman
and put out the fire once and for all
that is crime in Las Cruces. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mayor City Council. My
name is Lucas Herndon. I'm here today as
a concerned resident who believes in
transparent, accountable government,
especially when it comes to armed agents
of the state like the police.
I'm here because the New Mexico
Foundation for Open Government has
exposed something deeply troubling. For
years, this city operated a secret
committee that made decisions about
police policy behind closed doors
without public input, without public
notice, and without public
accountability. Let me quote directly
from FOG's findings.
The select committee did not make
presentations or submissions of facts or
evidence, yet evidently engage in
activity such as drafting ordinances,
requests for bids on police auditing
services, and acted as a gatekeeper
vetting policy suggestions and drawing
parameters for public discussions on
matters involving police uses of force,
mental health assessments for officers,
law enforcement, gun safety, and more.
This committee wasn't just discussing
issues. They were drafting ordinances.
They were vetting policy suggestions.
They were drawing parameters for public
discussions about police use of force.
They did it all in the dark.
Meanwhile, during those same years, Las
Cruces police officers were involved in
multiple shootings that are that include
but are not limited to Jonathan
Strickland who was shot 12 times in 2021
during a car chase that in court
documents was called against procedure,
but ultimately those cops were
exonerated. Presley Etsitty, killed in
2022, his killer convicted for
manslaughter. Teresa Gomez, killed in
2023 and $20 million paid to her family
by the city in a settlement. And Amelia
Baca, a 75-year-old grandmother with
dementia killed in 2022, as of yet no
charges filed.
Where was public oversight when these
incidents were being reviewed? Behind
closed doors, in secret meetings,
without the community's voice.
This isn't just about procedure, this is
about trust. When residents ask for
police accountability, when families
demand answers after a shooting, when
advocates call for change and
accountability, we deserve to know that
policy decisions aren't being made in an
unelected group operating in the
shadows.
The Department of Justice may have
issued a disposition letter, but FOG has
presented new evidence that demands
action. And even the city has
acknowledged it may consider repealing
the ordinance to bolster public trust in
transparency and accountability.
So today, I'm calling on the city
council to do exactly that. Repeal the
select committee ordinance, end the
ability for any future committee to
conduct public business outside public
view, commit to open meetings, public
notice and genuine community
participation on all matters of
so-called public safety. And let's be
clear here, public safety has nothing to
do with violence workers like the
police. Public safety is public housing,
it's investment in public
infrastructure, and it's substantive
commitments to young people.
Las Cruces deserves better than secret
committees making public policy. Our
community deserves transparency. Our
families deserve accountability. And our
city council has the power to deliver
both starting today. Thank you.
Hi. Good afternoon, Mayor and
Counselors. My name is Chris Candelaria
and I'm a Las Cruces resident. I'm here
to present an argument regarding the
Upper Griggs water tank following my
recent op-ed in the Sun News.
The decision to restore the tank as is,
keeping the image of Juan de Oñate, is a
major step back for the city.
While some argue this is about
preserving a landmark, the truth is uh
public funds are being used to
rebroadcast the image of a man defined
by violence.
Oñate's historical record is well
documented. He was convicted of cruelty
by the Spanish Crown directly as a
result of his order of the 1599 Acoma
massacre. While some defenders argue
this is a response to the 13 deaths of
his soldiers, history shows those men
were there to extort the tribe's
essential winter food and supplies.
Oñate's retaliation was the slaughter of
800 men, women, and children
followed by the amputations and
enslavement of of the people.
Uh cruelties that shocked
even 16th century standards. These
actions established established a brutal
system that eventually led to the Piro
and Tiwa to flee the south to the south
to this valley as refugees,
making this a deeply relevant local
issue.
As a former student of Oñate High
School, I remember wearing that name as
a badge of pride, unaware of the horror
it represented. The community
acknowledged this failure by renaming
it. The choice was made to uphold the
principle that symbols carry weight. To
be clear, this objection is not an
attempt to sanitize history, nor is it
comparable to past debates like
secularizing the city's logos.
This is different. There's a massive
common sense boundary between preserving
local his heritage
and publicly depicting a convicted mass
murderer.
Treating this mural like a museum
artifact is short-sighted as it has
actually been redesigned more than once.
The city-owned billboard has a prominent
placement that makes what we display
there even more important. Artist Tony
Pennock
explained that the mural illustrates
Oñate leading the 300 families that
traveled to El Camino Real. But with
respect to Pennock, this is a historical
fiction as there is almost 100 years
separating the two accounts. There is no
need to look statewide for stories to
celebrate. A great example is of the
first settlers of this area
which followed the Mexican-American War.
A local tribe guided them, shared food,
and the knowledge needed to thrive in
this valley. This story is best
summarized by how the tribe
first greeted the settlers with the
words "Manzo si amigos" meaning peaceful
and friends by the native Manso people
whose very name today comes from this
welcoming gesture.
What better location to display a
powerful
entirely local
[clears throat]
greeting of peace and cooperation to all
those who visit and travel along I-25?
Since the repaint funding is yet to
happen, let's take this opportunity to
choose a design reflecting our local
heritage, natural beauty, and shared
identity like the other tank murals by
the talented Tony Pennock.
Thank you.
What?
Good afternoon.
Mayor, city council.
This is the first time I've come up
here, but
we have a
problem in our city and our
city parks.
Sir, can you can you state your name?
Oh, I'm sorry. Juan Gomez.
And uh
we've been battling these homeless
people and
people that stay there every night.
And you know, nothing seems to be done
about it.
But uh
trying to let you guys know that it is a
problem.
And uh
see if it could be addressed.
You know, they leave trash and they
urinate and do whatever they do there.
And
our children play
that at the park. It's a the Royal Park.
They recently found like uh couple of
syringes and
bunch of foil
stuff that they burn.
And uh
police have
gone there and they took care of a
house, but the problem seems to be going
on.
Cuz uh
they would uh
go and
bring stuff and I guess they would trade
for drugs and they would do them there
at the park.
And sometimes they get in the way cuz
the children
go every Friday and they meet there and
then they go to Vallejo walking.
And for them to find stuff like that is
not not right.
And uh
what else?
Yeah, that seems to be our problem
there. Let's see if
you guys could
do something about it.
Thank you.
Good afternoon Mayor, city council
members and the community of Las Cruces.
My name is Dr. Alfred Latrelle. I am
chief pharmacy officer at Memorial
Medical Center and I am a more recent
member of the Las Cruces um
community.
I'm here to talk about over the past
several months on some of the work that
we've been doing where we have seen the
toll of the opioid crisis directly in
our area as well as surrounding areas.
And as a pharmacist, I've seen a
disproportionate amount of pharmacist
involvement in taking accountability for
helping
our community members.
I know that some of our biggest gaps are
related to access to reversal agents,
opioid
disposal as well as our ER pharmacy
services. And from the past six months
at Memorial Medical Center, we have
actually implemented several programs to
help with that including 24/7 access to
a Narcan vending machine
so that bystanders can have access to it
and become life life savers.
Additionally, we have redeveloped our
medication take back program so that we
can reduce the number of accidental
ingestion of toxic
pharmaceuticals as well as reducing
overdoses before the first medications
ever taken.
We additionally have expanded our
clinical pharmacy services related to
toxicology approaches for our patients
that we see in the emergency department.
What I'm here today is I'm respectfully
asking for support and how we can
partner, grow and enhance these types of
programs and make sure that community
members have access to the resources
that we put in place.
I'm happy to provide contact information
after this meeting and I thank you all
for your support.
Tim Drinkins here.
I would like to address the crisis in
our city right now.
Many residents are frustrated and
rightfully so.
Over the last 3 years, this state has
spent over $500
addressing homelessness.
Yet, the conditions in our community
continue to deteriorate.
At some point, this council must stop
measuring success by the amount of money
by the amount of money spent and start
measuring success by actual results.
We were promised solutions.
Instead, we see more encampments, more
public drug use, more crime, and more
disorder in areas that families once
enjoyed.
Taxpayers are funding programs year
after year, but we are not seeing a
return on our investment.
We continue to hear this described
primarily as a housing crisis.
But, what many But, what many of us are
witnessing every day is a mental health
crisis and addiction crisis that too
many leaders are not willing to confront
honestly.
Housing alone will never solve the
severe mental illness in our community.
If we refuse to address these realities,
we will continue spending hundreds of
millions of dollars while conditions
continue to worsen.
The situation in our parks is a perfect
example.
The city alone has added 47 acres of
parks and spent thousands and thousands
of dollars on brand new equipment at
Valleyview Park.
Those instruments were made for our
children and for our families. Yet,
mothers and fathers couldn't even take
their children there because of all the
needles and drugs
and and drug drug paraphernalia and the
blood smeared all over the brand new
equipment Memorial Day weekend.
This is 100% unacceptable.
No parent should have to inspect a
playground for biohazards before
allowing their child to play.
No family should feel unsafe in a public
park that our tax dollars paid for.
Compassion and accountability are not
opposite.
We can care about those struggling with
addiction and mental illness while also
while also demanding safe parks, clean
streets, and respons- responsible
stewardship of our tax dollars.
I urge this council to focus on
outcomes, not spending tools.
The question is how much money has been
allocated.
The question is whether our streets are
safer, our parks are cleaner,
and fewer people are suffering on the
streets than they were 3 years ago.
If the answer is no, then it is high
time we change our course of direction
here. Thank you.
[applause]
Uh my name is Jim Hurst. Good afternoon.
Um,
homelessness
is not a local problem.
Homelessness is a national problem.
The homeless people come here because of
our climate.
They come here because they know we have
compassion.
Most communities deal with homelessness
by a night in a motel and a bus ticket.
They usually end up in Albuquerque or
here.
They form their own communities, their
own economies,
and
uh,
they live here off the land, as it were.
It's a national problem.
We should get national funds to deal
with it.
If other communities are going to send
their homelessness homeless people away,
there's really only three options with a
homeless person.
You kill them,
you move them,
or you house them.
That's it.
You have to do one of the three.
Most uh, jurisdictions thankfully don't
kill them, so that means they're going
to move them because they're not going
to spend the money to house them.
So,
Las Cruces ought to be pressing for
state and national aid to deal with
homelessness, unless it's a crime for
cities to move homeless people on to the
better climates and the more generous
cities.
That's the Southwest.
That's where we live. That's why it's a
problem.
Thank you very much.
Mayor Council, Juan Garcia. I was not
going to speak today,
but after listening to that gentleman
come up here and speak about the parks,
it it just bugs me.
Three of you, two of you on this council
have been hearing the same thing for at
least four years.
Maybe more that I've been coming here.
This gentleman that just spoke about the
drugs, the crime in the parks, and what
have you done about it?
I look outside when I got here
and I noticed
that that mound of trash, encampment,
garbage, whatever it is, right across
the street from your building that you
work at,
is still there.
It's still there. It's actually gotten
bigger.
I don't see humans there.
Of course, I don't drive by every day,
but there's no doubt in my mind that
every one of you,
when you drive home, when you drive to
to work, when you drive wherever you go,
you see the same trash and garbage that
we all see.
But collectively,
you don't want to do anything about it.
It's not about the homeless.
Some people are down on their time. I
got it. I just got a text right now.
The Little Caesars, the McDonald's on
Main Street is filled with garbage.
People walk by there. People see this.
You see this.
But do you really care enough to make
change and fix the problem?
I think the answer is pretty evident.
You don't.
Because for the four or five years that
I've been standing here talking about
this subject, very little has changed.
Thank you.
Next is the acceptance of agenda.
Move to accept.
Second.
This is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented. Councillor McClear?
Yes.
Councillor Matiz?
Yes.
Councillor Harris?
Yes.
Councillor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councillor Curran?
Yes.
Councillor Muños?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
First up is a public hearing required
7.1 resolution number 26-147.
Move to approve.
Second.
Take it back.
Take that back.
Thank you.
Take it back, too.
The public hearing is now open.
I'm sorry, the public hearing is now
open. It is 1:59 p.m. Is there anyone
here for or against the issuance of the
liquor license?
No.
Okay, the public hearing is now closed.
It's 2:00 p.m.
Now, we need a motion and a second to
move forward.
Move to approve.
Second.
Go ahead, Adam.
Thank you, Mayor. Adam [clears throat]
at Troy Community Development, just for
the record. Uh before you is a proposed
liquor license for what is known as NYP
uh NYP Slice House LLC, which is will be
located at 3290 Rinconada Boulevard.
[clears throat]
So, pursuant to uh pursuant to State of
New Mexico statute, application has been
submitted for approval of what is known
as a restaurant A beer and wine [snorts]
liquor license uh with on-premise
consumption and with uh patio service
for the NYP uh Slice House
uh alcoholic the ABC did send
preliminary approval to the city on
April 17th of this year. Uh request for
extension for the hearing uh was
requested by staff and approved by the
State of New Mexico uh just so we could
get it to this meeting here today.
Uh our reviewing staff really saw no
issues with the proposed application.
Essentially, this is just a new location
of NYP. They are moving
basically two lots down the street on
Rinconada. So, that that's essentially
what we're reviewing here.
Showing here that location for the NYP
uh Slice House.
And with that, uh your options tonight
uh today council is one to vote yes and
approve the proposed liquor license or
to uh deny recommend denial for the
liquor license. Uh the ABC will be
notified of the vote and the application
will continue through the process with
them. Uh and I stand for questions.
Councilor Mattox.
Uh could you go back I don't know if
it's slide three or
maybe two.
Um
I noticed when the alcoholic beverage
control they approved it April 17th
and then the time that it took between
April 17th and today is there a quite a
process that the city has to go through?
Is that why it's
all of May and
I Councilman Teague's Mayor, uh there is
a process. There are set deadlines that
we need to meet uh not only from a state
statute standpoint from a city
standpoint as well. Regulations where we
have to advertise a minimum of not only
15 days before a meeting but 30 days
before the meeting as well. And
typically they give us a 45-day
um
time frame to get that done as what the
state gives us. Uh in this case we
needed an extension since the 45 days
would have put us on uh
believe it was Saturday. So I don't
think y'all wanted to come in Saturday
so we got an extension to today. Uh
that's the essential of the process
here. It's it's a timing
uh and then just meeting set goals for
advertisement and noticing.
Okay. Well, I'll drink to that.
I thank you Adam. Christine.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-147.
Councilman McLarren.
Yes.
Councilman Matice.
Yes.
Councilman Harris.
Yes.
Councilman Bonhomo.
Yes.
Councilman Cran.
Yes.
Councilman Munoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Next is item 7.2 resolution number
26-148.
Move to approve.
Second.
Good afternoon, Mayor, counselors, city
staff,
community members. My name is Gabriela
Prats. I'm the city's grant manager.
And before you
[snorts]
is a resolution
um to
to
approve a budget adjustment for two
grants um being res
being uh
awarded to the fire department as well
as IT.
[snorts]
The first
is the fiscal year 24 new firefighter
equipment reimbursement grant.
The New Mexico Department of Finance and
Administration awarded 29,000
or so dollars
to reimburse the cost of certain
equipment required for new firefighters.
Um we were reimbursed these 29,000 plus
dollars for six firefighters
um that were uh
hired from
Academy 37 and 38.
The second grant is made to the in
information technology department
through uh from the New Mexico Office of
Broadband Access and Expansion in the
amount of a little more than 1.4 million
dollars.
This is to construct, expand, replay and
replace
core high-speed broadband infrastructure
used to provide services across city
facilities.
Um this is a great opportunity for us to
upgrade and IT will be upgrading pretty
much
all systems.
Here are your council options.
And I stand for questions.
Councilor Curran.
Thank you. I'm sorry, you sound like
you're
I'm getting over bronchitis.
Okay.
Um this is
just I I'm I just want to throw some
appreciation to whoever
uh made the Wi-Fi go out today as we
consider voting on a broadband up
upgrade. Brilliant brilliant political
scheming there on on whoever's part that
was that that had the Wi-Fi go out
today. So, congratulations. Uh good job.
Good job.
Uh coincidental?
I don't know.
But hopefully the new systems will
prevent that from happening
in the [snorts] future.
All right. Seeing no other, Christine.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-148.
Councilor McLarren.
Yes.
Councilor Matiz.
Yes.
Councilor Harris.
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councilor Curran.
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Next is item 7.3, resolution number
26-149.
Move to approve.
Second.
And Cynthia.
Okay. Good afternoon, Mayor and City
Council. My name is Cynthia Lamillo,
capital improvements program manager.
And today I have a few amendments for
your review and approval.
There are three type of amendments or
adjustments I'm bringing you forward,
and this is because we're either
adjusting or allocating funding to
specific capital infrastructure
projects. There are three type of
amendments. The first one is those that
reflect available funds given the
project progress.
We have
an amendment for a new grant funding,
which is the item that we just recently
approved. And then we are presenting the
projects for the previously approved GRT
funds.
We have three street projects that we
are reallocating some of the funding.
So, the project are Melendres and South
Main where we're reducing the funds, but
those funds will be reallocated to the
Telshor Spruce intersection improvement.
All three projects are moving forward,
but public works is prioritizing the
Telshor Spruce intersection improvement
so they can complete that.
The second is a second type of
amendment, which is to reflect the new
grant funding that you previously
approved. This is for the broadband
access project and we're putting the
funds into
CAP in this cycle.
Third type of amendments, these are the
ones that will reflect the projects that
we'll receive in the recently approved
GRT funds for the pay-as-you-go. Just as
a comment, the pay-as-you-go funds are
those that remain from the first
batch of GRT funds.
We first have surveillance and access
controls. This will be for tentatively
for the Frank O'Brien Center and we're
allocating 50,000.
We have a deferred maintenance
projects for 90,000. This will be for
various small maintenance projects that
need to be completed.
150,000 for park restroom repair and
rehabilitation projects across the city.
360,000
for the completion and continuation of
the park drinking fountains and also
throughout the city.
We're allocating 60,000 for the Valley
View Park Hesby Garden lighting
replacement project.
540,000
100,000
in a various projects related to city
wide preservation and rehabilitation of
roof projects. And this are small
projects that could be anything from
overlay to treatment to extend the life
of of roofs.
725,000
for various facilities and firm
maintenance projects.
And this could be a various list of
projects that public works has
identified in order to keep up with the
deferred projects.
Lastly, we have 510 for downtown parking
lot three and four, which are the ones
next to the plaza downtown.
We also have 200,000 for city wide
parking lot rehabilitation projects. And
again, this could be
we'll be addressing small projects
throughout various city parking lots.
80,000 for the Frank O'Brien Center
parking lot rehabilitation.
60 600,000 for the Macfield parking lot.
1.5 for the Castaneda building re-roof
rehabilitation. This is a project that
has been on the CAP for quite some time
now.
110 for the security security and fire
alarm projects. We're tentatively
looking at Camp Hope and the municipal
court to upgrade the fire alarm.
And then we have 360 for the Academy
roof rehabilitation.
So with that, we have your council um
council standard options for this set of
amendments for the CAP.
Thank you, Cynthia.
Do you have any questions?
Cynthia, can you go to back to that last
one?
When it was the
Academy roof rehabilitation, what what
facility is that exactly, which
building?
Um I don't have the address. I wonder if
Chief can help me with this.
Yes.
Uh Mayor it's uh Jeremy Story, police
chief. It's the double wide on Hermosa.
So, 360,000 to replace the roof of a
double wide.
Talk to yourself and the fire chief
about it.
Yeah, we're working on that building.
The It's 300 Hermosa is in it. I think
the address
300 North Hermosa.
They also includes the mat room, but
that's a a relatively small metal
building.
Okay, thank you.
Thanks, Cynthia.
Mayor?
Can I
follow up on your question?
Go ahead, Counselor Harris.
Thank you. Um
yeah, so
can can we explain why it cost $360,000
to replace the roof of a double wide
instead of buying two brand new ones?
Uh Mayor and councilors, I I don't I
can't explain the number cuz we're not
involved in that process. It goes
through facilities, but the roof does
need to replace be replaced. We still
utilize that facility until we have
something new, but I mean that is kind
of a shocking number considering the
value of the building itself.
Yeah, I guess
if anything, I mean, I would entertain a
motion to not do that until we have a
good number cuz that sounds a little
All right, I would I would present that
as an option.
Go ahead, Jim.
Uh Mayor and council, Jimmy Moreno,
assistant director of public works. Uh
at this point these are very rough
numbers.
And in fact, that's why we put a line
item for general roof projects
because as we look into these projects
including the Castaneda building, once
we start looking at it, we're looking at
different options as far as overlays,
cheaper options as well. So, there's
going to be quite a bit of shifting
because this is deferred maintenance and
it's there's a lot of unknowns for each
of these projects. There's a lot of
unknowns, but if if if the amount of
cost exceeds what that building is worth
in terms of um
overall cost or what its usage is,
we will pivot and and shift those funds
elsewhere as well.
And does that require
coming back to council and
saying, "Hey, we're going to change
things up. We only need a hundred grand
or
we're just going to replace the building
for 360 grand." I mean.
Mayor, counselor Harris, yes, however,
we could go ahead and because we have
the options with the additional program
amount
that's in there, we can we can pivot
internally and then Cynthia could come
back at a later date to to adjust those
those amounts as we get better amounts.
Okay.
Um
I guess I'm still a little
uncomfortable. It It seems like we have
a line item in here that is
for general.
Do we have a line item in here for
general roof replacement? And like, why
Why do we have a separate item for the
academy and a separate item for the
Castaneda building
when it sounds like we're just going to
pivot and do whatever's best? Like, why
aren't those rolled into the general
one?
Yes, mayor,
counselor Harris, Cynthia Lemieux. That
is one of the challenges and that is one
of the roles of the CAP. We want to make
sure that the use of infrastructure
funds that we know that is limited, we
can communicate how they're going to be
spent. So here what we decided was we
have the option for those smaller
projects where we have the city-wide
preservation and rehabilitation roof
projects. For those smaller projects
that really
it'll be
challenging to quantify and to really
spell out. But for those significant
projects that we want to the community
to know that we're working on those
because they're a need, we do spell them
out which are those two projects that we
have for the roofs. Castañeda building
roof and the police academy roof. So we
we work with estimates the best that we
can. As Jimmy mentioned, one of our
challenges with the firm maintenance is
that we might get a few surprises as we
start working with the project. But we
also want to make sure a good job that
we estimate and that we communicate, you
know, out of the limited funding, only
two projects we can do out of the many
that we have pending.
So as we have more funding, we can
identify more projects to complete, but
we also have the flexibility of that
city-wide, so we can address maintenance
issues versus major projects like a
rehabilitation or a re-roof.
Okay, I I get that, but
I'm personally deeply uncomfortable with
allocating that much money to, as the
chief said, re-roof a double-wide. I I I
completely understand that it needs to
be re-roofed and I'm
in favor
if that's how much it costs to re-roof
it, I would much rather
we like buy a new one.
Um and and just have a completely new
facility because it's a double-wide.
Um that that seems
seems absurd. So
I don't know, is there
Is there an action we would take to
indicate that to you? Like, do I make a
motion to change this plan?
If that's even a thing, you know, if I
don't know.
Yeah.
I might be the only one who's concerned
up here.
No,
Counselor Harris, I think
I'm I'm feeling the same thing as like I
I'm in favor of approving what's been
presented with the exception of this one
and looking at
for further investigation. I realize
that several years back the transit
facility that was operating in a mobile
home, the roof uh it caved in and they
replaced it with a new one, which was a
lot less than replacing the roof. I
mean, ideally, I'd like to see a new
training facility. That's the whole
goal, but in the meantime, it's like,
can we
make an amendment to approve with the
exception
of the Las Cruces Police Academy roof
rehabilitation to be further
investigated?
Would that work?
Um okay, I'll
I'll make a motion to approve this with
the amendment that we remove the LCPD
Academy roof rehabilitation.
Second. I'll second that.
This is on the motion to amend
resolution 26-149
to remove the LCPD Academy roof
rehabilitation.
Councilor McLeroy.
Yes.
Councilor Matías.
Yes.
Councilor Harris.
Yes.
Councilor Bencomal.
Yes.
Councilor Curran.
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Yeah, seeing no other questions.
Interesting.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-149
as amended. Councilor McKleroy?
Yes.
Councilor Mattox?
Yes.
Councilor Harris?
Yes.
Councilor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councilor Curran?
Yes.
Councilor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
Thank you, Cynthia.
Next is item 7.4 Council Bill number
26-022
Ordinance number 3114.
Move to approve.
Second.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council,
staff. Celina Morales, Deputy Director
for Economic Development. Today I'm
proposing an ordinance amendment to
section 2-1313
related to appraisal requirements for
real estate transactions.
The purpose is to amend section 2-1313
of the Las Cruces Municipal Code, which
will extend allowable appraisal time
frame from 6 months to 12 months, which
will improve flexibility in real estate
transactions. Property negotiations can
often take 6 months or longer based on
existing appraisals, so requiring a new
and midway can create unnecessary delays
and additional costs.
In the current code, appraisals are
valid for 6 months. New appraisals
require even required even in stable
markets, and this can create delays,
additional costs, and extend ongoing
negotiations.
The proposed code is to use um
appraisals valid for up to 12 months,
which allows the use of existing
appraisals, and this will improve
transaction timing and efficiency.
Why the change? Market conditions often
remain stable beyond 6 months. Redundant
appraisals increase transaction costs.
Updating appraisals has caused delays in
acquisition and sale transactions
already in progress. And this provides
staff council additional administrative
flexibility, which supports more
efficient real estate processes
citywide.
The same standards within the the
amendment in the ordinance stay the
same.
City Council and staff may still obtain
updated appraisals at any time. Um and
qualified licensed in the state of New
Mexico will still be required.
So the impact of streamlined real estate
transactions, reduced redundant
appraisal expenses, improved
administrative efficiency, greater
flexibility while maintaining valuation
standards. So the recommendation is the
approval of this ordinance to amend
section 2-13-13.
Just to give you kind of an idea of um
appraisals and their costs. So for a
vacant parcel, it costs around $3,500.
For commercial,
I'm going to use Shug as an example cuz
we just did that appraisal. That one was
4,200.
And the Big Chile Inn was about 5,200.
Also the time frame
to get those vacant land takes about 3
weeks after a PO has been issued. And
for commercial, it's 5 to 8 weeks. So
for Shug, we just got it today. That
took 8 weeks. So it really extends that
time frame and the amount of money if we
have to keep
using them
updating them after 6 months.
So here are your stand-out council
options and I stand for questions.
Councilor Traub.
Thank you. And I appreciate you all
bringing this forward and highlighting
those
things that are exist that exist in our
process right now that lead to us
spending extra money. And there's
negligible difference between the
the things. And I I also just wanted to
clarify that
if there is a if there is something that
dramatically changes over the course of
time while we're in these in these
conversations,
my understanding is that staff could
also just identify the need for an an
appraisal an additional appraisal if if
there's some kind of catastrophic or or
really marked change in either the
market or the conditions of the
property. Staff at any time could also
just say we think that this appraisal
might need updating and I just want to
make sure that that's there just in case
Yes, that is correct. So that that is a
plan. This is mostly also if we're just
in the middle of negotiations, it always
takes more than 6 months. So if there is
any time someone's uncomfortable or
we're not sure about the market
conditions, then we'll just order a new
appraisal.
Okay, great. Thank you. I just wanted to
make sure that that was still there in
the in the process. So
thank you.
Mayor pro tem.
Mayor Selena,
I appreciate you and your team
looking at this. This is quite a bit of
a just comment. It saves time. It saves
cost. And I would encourage you to
continue to
to look through your processes to make
the entire
experience
a little bit more user-friendly. And so
I appreciate your your work on this.
Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor pro tem.
Kirsten.
This is on the motion to approve
ordinance 3114. Council Aguilar.
Yes.
Council Matice.
Yes.
Council Harris.
Yes.
Council Bencomo.
Yes.
Council Duran.
Yes.
Council Muños.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
Next is the board appointments and this
one will be read into the record.
Councillor McClure appoints Cecilia
Evans
de Noriega
to the senior programs advisory board.
The next ones will require a motion and
a second.
Raymond Madsen
new appointment to the senior programs
advisory board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Raymond
Madsen to the senior programs advisory
board. Councillor McClure?
Yes.
Councillor Matice?
Yes.
Councillor Harris?
Yes.
Councillor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councillor Curran?
Yes.
Councillor Muñoz?
Yes.
And Mayor?
Yes.
The next one is William Jessie Morain
new appointment to the ADA advisory
committee.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint William
Jessie Morain to the ADA advisory
committee.
Councillor McClure?
Yes.
Councillor Matice?
Yes.
Councillor Harris?
Yes.
Councillor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councillor Curran?
Yes.
Councillor Muñoz?
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.
The next one is Eliza Ann Kretzmann new
appointment to the city art board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Eliza
Ann Kretzmann to the city art board.
Councillor McClure?
Yes.
Councillor Matice?
Yes.
Councillor Harris?
Yes.
Councillor Bencomo?
Yes.
Councillor Curran?
Yes.
Councillor Muñoz?
Yes.
And Mayor?
Yes.
Next is the notice of proposed
ordinances and there are none, so we'll
go to city council member board reports
and comments. Council Mr.
Yeah, just a couple of things. Um
I feel like in my district in specific
um
the
the reports of crazy traffic has um
uh spiraled in um pretty heavily lately.
Um
Uh I myself had to dodge someone the
other day, saw seeing them in my
rearview mirror and let them go do
whatever it is. I try to give grace and
think they are a pregnant lady heading
to the hospital.
But maybe not all of them. So I was
hoping that we could in the next couple
months um given that we have funded the
GRT for some traffic calming. What could
that look like? Um I was hoping they we
they could share
um some some of the projects that might
um
be helpful immediately.
[snorts]
Um I was um getting help from PD in
getting information about a specific
area on Spitz.
And strangely enough, you know, I've had
lived experience of seeing speeding and
they said, "Well, you know, actually in
the majority of that area they're
driving 10 mph below the speed limit." I
was like, "No, I can't believe it." Um
so that kind of information of sort of
what what does different areas look
like? How can we do that? And then I
also that officer had a good
conversation about roundabouts, what
that can look like, but also future
development. Part of it is going to be,
you know, if
if we do what we do with Angler and Elks
is going to become even more dramatic
than it is right now. Um so I I'd like
to see if we can talk a little bit about
what those projects could look like so
that we can carry that back into our
districts and say
"Hey, some of these things might happen.
It might make an actual difference."
Um the other thing I had was um I think
it's a good time to talk about what pub
public art looks like in Las Cruces in
various ways. I know there's always a
component of funding for things like
that, but I applaud people coming out
and asking the question of if we we a
chance to make a change what that what
that could look like for things like
wells.
Um lastly, as much as I still love
meetings,
you'd be surprised that I still do after
all these, but um
I don't like secret men. So, I would
also like to say that we should probably
repeal the select committee ordinance.
So,
if anybody else is down for that, see if
we can do that. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman Matice.
Thank you, Mayor Council. I I just have
a few
things to repeat from
comments from my people who live in my
district. There there seems to be a
lot of loose dogs. So, if maybe
suggestion maybe we could do it on on
the utility bills or wherever
that you need to keep your dog on a
leash.
They seem they seem to be
I I must get four or five calls a week
and I I think we had one dog uh
we had an incident that loose dog
bit a child. So, if if we could if we
could do that maybe through PSA notices
and educate the public that the dogs
need to be on leashes.
Um
I'm getting complaints
mainly on Espina, some other streets
that when somebody occupies a a place
whether it be a
you know, building their own tent or
panhandling and all,
it'd be nice to get that trash removed.
I I I don't know if city manager
can help with that. Maybe if if if I
report the trash, I'll I'll gladly do
that and maybe we could remove it as
quickly as possible so that it doesn't
look, you know, like our city's being
trashed out.
And I don't know if are there fines for
trashing? Are there still fines when you
trash? No?
Maybe.
Um there's also political signs. You
know, everything's about lawless I mean
lawlessness and and obeying the law. Um
there's political signs all over in city
right-of-ways.
And you know, I don't want to offend any
candidates and I really don't care. Uh
but, you know, they they need to put
their signs on private property and not
on on city like Spruce and and uh
the Trevise, you know, that that's a
city right-of-way.
And there's um I don't know if that
ordinance still holds. City Clerk might
know that or
maybe the county, somebody can enforce
the political signs to be removed from
from city property.
Uh
on crosswalks,
maybe the PSA, maybe again in the
utility bills, you know, we we have
these crosswalks, but it seems like no
one's using them.
And so, maybe maybe we could do an
education uh PSA again. You know, if
you're going to cross on Missouri, if
you're going to cross on on busy
streets, you know, like University uh
today, University Avenue, we I had a two
ladies, they
crossed in
mainly by the highway where you enter
and exit from the the highway on on
University Avenue and they should be
using crosswalks.
And back to traffic calming,
uh
Councilman Clora, if if we could get
some calming done on McDowell McDowell
Road, I'd appreciate it. It looks like
people are really uh
speeding down McDowell, so.
That's the comments from the people that
put us here. Even if it wasn't a lot of
votes, I'm still going to listen to
them. Thank you.
Thank you, Councilman Harris.
Thanks, Mayor. Um
I have a uh several things. Uh first, um
since Councilman Matiz brought it up, um
I witnessed a Mano a Mano um crew last
week uh uh cleaning up trash at at a
site and they they did it very
professionally um
and
so I just wanted to echo that that's a
great program. Um it gives people a job
to do and it really helps clean up and
beautify our city
um
and and they did a great job.
Um I am I would also be in favor of this
of repealing this select committee
ordinance or studying that that stuff
happened long before my time for sure.
Um but you know I I'm also committed to
transparency on this council and in
government in general.
Um traffic calming I'm also would love
to see a presentation from public works
about
things that they have planned um
thoughts that they have and and have a
discussion amongst ourselves about what
um what low cost rapid traffic calming
projects can look like. Um I think we've
we've got a lot of studies and stuff
that have kind of sat on the shelf and
and with this GRT maybe we can move some
of that forward.
Um finally before I get to my relatively
long thing uh board appointments we just
did some board appointments and there
are some district three slots available
on various boards. So if you live in
district three you're interested in
being on a board let me know um
I'll check with Christine and get an
updated list and um hopefully we can
fill some of those seats.
So finally
um I've got a lot of questions recently
in the last couple months about Flock
and surveillance stuff and so I have
some updates to share and uh many thanks
to uh Brad and Chief Story for answering
my questions and and being very
transparent about stuff.
Um so
in no particular order some updates.
Uh our legal department is attempting to
work with Flock to change our contract
to eliminate provisions for some things
that we found objectionable. Um and I
talked about these in previous meetings.
Um, emergency sharing with other
agencies.
Um, training of their own algorithms.
And review of our data and use in sales
demos uh and stuff like that by Flock
Zone employees. Um, we we definitely do
not want that happening
with our data um as it has in other
cities.
Um, we've gotten some other questions
about what what kinds of cameras and
stuff we are operating.
So, city operates a a few different
kinds. We have two different models from
Flock. We have the Condor, which is a
fixed camera. It looks in one direction.
Fixed focal length. And um it does do a
live feed. Um,
we have 22 total cameras. Um, most of
them are Flock branded ones. Although
they do have some um
of our of the city's own cameras and
these all go into the real-time crime
center. So,
city does own some cameras. Flock has
some cameras. Real-time crime center has
access to
all of these cameras. Um,
and and Flock is is a vendor that helps
make the real-time crime center run.
Um, we do have LPR cameras. These are
the ones that everybody's probably most
familiar with. They sit on the streets
and look over the streets. They can
identify cars based on license plate,
based on the color, make, model of the
car.
Um, and then we also have you know, we
just approved some money for uh in the
capital improvement plan for security
and surveillance of city buildings and
public spaces.
Um,
these are not necessarily integrated
into the RTC. They're they're not Flock
cameras. Um, these are the city's own
system and LCPD does have access to
them, uh but they do have to log in
separately uh to these systems to to see
them. And and the data is not shared.
Um also, relatively recent development
at the request of of LCPD, um
Representative Vasquez's office reached
out and said, "Hey, we've got an
opportunity for a Department of Justice
earmark in the upcoming funding bill.
Um what do you want?" And so, the city
requested
um
a gunshot detection system and asked for
$500,000 to fund it. And both
Representative Vasquez and Senator Lujan
put it into their earmark request, so
it's been submitted from both sides.
Um
and it's similar to a request that was
funded for Bernalillo County Sheriff's
Office um by Vasquez. And
it's money when it actually if and when
it actually gets uh approved through
Congress, then there would be a process
to go out to bid on it, you know,
actually
decide where they're going to be put. Um
gunshot detection systems, I I should
add,
most cases, of course, Flock spoils it
for everybody. Um they're looking for a
very specific type of acoustic signature
that's just a pressure shockwave from a
gunshot. Um
so like ShotSpotter, you've probably
heard of, um that's like what that
technology is looking for.
Um
Flock, of course, makes their own
gunshot detection system and naturally
last year they were like, "Hey, we're
going to roll out a software update and
now it can detect human voices." Which
is maybe not great. Um so, I do want to
make sure that we have
good policies and oversight into
if we install systems to do one thing,
that they don't start doing another
thing later because of a software update
or
you know, hey, we already have
microphones um that were installed for a
very specific purpose, but now they can
do something else. Um that's not great
and it doesn't doesn't
do good things for for trust.
Um also remind wanted to remind
everybody that the state did pass some
limitations on LPRs specifically. Um SB
40 goes into effect July 1st. And
there's various restrictions on data
sharing.
Restricts um LPR users from selling or
providing data to non-law enforcement
agencies. And it institutes some
reporting requirements on LEAs, uh law
enforcement agencies that use these
uh technologies that have to report to
the state.
Um
and
another question I got was do uh do some
of the private people who have Flock
cameras on private property share their
data with LCBD?
Um Lowe's does. Home Depot does not. And
as private companies you both have they
both have to comply with the SB 40. I
don't personally know of other private
Flock deployments, um but those are are
certainly
visible and people ask about them.
So, yeah, that's my update on Flock um
cuz that's one of my issues that I've
been tracking. And again, appreciate um
appreciate legal and PD for for their
relative transparency and uh and helping
us understand what's going on.
Thanks. That's all I have, Mayor.
Thank you, Councilman Como.
Thanks, Mayor. And thanks to Councilman
Harris. Also appreciate your
uh expertise on this. So, I think it's
very good that you're asking all of
these questions. Somebody recently said
the only safe data is the data that's
not collected and felt very like it
resonated with that.
Um just a couple of echoes. I also would
love to have a conversation about
traffic calming, uh the strategy uh
regarding that given that is one of the
main issues in District 4 as well. And I
have felt very similar to you,
Councilman McClour, about a particular
road that gets um a traffic study and
they're like, "It's actually under the
limit." And And so, it just feels like
it it's a little funny, but it also
feels like there's a disconnect between
what, you know, residents are telling us
and the concerns that they're seeing,
and then like the data collection.
Obviously, the data collection is
important, and we should trust that. And
we should also listen to the lived
experiences of people in in those
particular neighborhoods that happen to
have a lot of uh speeders.
Um as a long-time and very public critic
of the Public Safety Select Committee uh
when it was in place, I also would love
to see that repealed.
Um and then I think just other I
sometimes I debate on, you know, how
much to respond to
public comment um because sometimes it
feels like
facts
won't penetrate opinions. Um
but I I do think it's important to
talk about
the very serious approach the city has
taken to issues of homelessness, to
issues of addiction.
And I mean, I also wish we had a I also
wish we had a magic wand, and that we
lived in a utopia where everybody's
needs were met, um and there were no
people struggling. And the reality is
that we have taken a very serious
approach in this city. And an approach
that has been
very diverse, actually. It has been a
housing approach. It has been, frankly,
a law enforcement approach. We've also,
you know, the majority of last council
criminalized uh acts of certain unhoused
folks. We've done, you know, the
real-time crime center, park rangers, um
you know, the opioid
uh
advisory committee is, you know, finally
putting out those dollars. And
I think
often it feels like sometimes it's a
very disingenuous conversation being
had. Um
and
you know, I think it's
if we came to the conversation with
honesty and a desire to actually
make a difference, we'd acknowledge all
of the different ways that it that the
city has been attempting to address this
issue and will continue to.
Um the state has provided the city $11
million and that got deployed
immediately and I think things have been
neglected like prevention to
homelessness. So, you know, ensuring
that people aren't being
um evicted out of their homes. I think
it's also quite
sometimes I think it's quite um
convenient to forget or not recognize
that in the last year
life has gone very expensive for many
people. Rent has gone up, utilities have
gone up, groceries have gone up and
wages have not. So, I think it's
important to recognize that in addition
to all of those things, additional
barriers have been put in place for
people to be able to access for example,
care for their addiction because they're
losing Medicaid or
um those kinds of programs are getting
harder and harder to for people to keep.
So, I just I want us to have a genuine
conversation continue to have a genuine
conversation about this because
um there are in fact a lot of people
actually working to
address this issue and um it's
disingenuous to assert otherwise.
Um I also hope I the gentleman who came
here I I did not catch the park uh that
he said, but you know, hopefully I'm
sure Natalie is listening and we can
help deploy Manu Mano to
um the park that folks are talking about
because we do have resources in place.
Um whether people know about them or not
is a different story and you know,
that's up to us to, you know, give out
that information so that people are
aware of it, but um,
there is a very a serious strategy to
address the issues that we have in our
community and I just want to make sure
to uplift those once again. Also, happy
pride. Um, sorry to look at you directly
when I say that, but also happy pride.
So, Corrine. [laughter]
Um, there's a lot of
organizations in our community that are
working to um, protect
uh, and celebrate the lives of queer and
trans Las Crucens and just want to lift
those up, you know, support them in
June, in October and Southern New Mexico
Pride, but also year-round like Equality
New Mexico, the Trans Queer Block Party,
um, the
um,
Singing Out Las Cruces, Transgender
Resource Center of New Mexico, Southern
New Mexico Pride, PFLAG of Las Cruces,
many great opportunities to support our
trans and queer community. Thanks.
Councilor Craig.
Thank you. I I am a bummed that I didn't
get to go first in Pride Month. It feels
like No, I'm just kidding. No, thank
you. I appreciate I feel you looking at
me and and I would add to that uh,
may as may we all remember that Pride
was a riot. Yeah.
Um, the first one. And so, happy pride
to everyone who's out there rioting
right now. Um, I have a few
I have a very specific ask actually that
I have to look back to my colleagues to.
Um, the State Land Office has asked that
the City of Las Cruces support them in a
BLM related land swap um, with a letter.
This is not the land swaps that have
gotten a lot of garnered a lot of
[snorts] attention. This is really a BLM
State Land Office direct swap um, that
is not within the city limits, but the
part of their package they would like to
have the support of the City Council of
Las Cruces, so I'm hoping that we can
have that on the next June agenda for
consideration a resolution supporting
that
state land office BLM
thing and I ask all of you to see if
there is a majority of counselors who
might consider supporting that putting
that on the agenda for for next time. So
that's my first ask and then I have
other things to say but I have to
officially say look down and I don't
know.
Yeah, Christine would request or we
would request thumbs up if
Thumbs up for what? The state land
office.
Thumbs up.
Okay, thanks.
There were like five five-ish six-ish
thumbs ups.
So that's formally I just wanted to make
sure that we could get that in the
hopper to be considered at the next
meeting.
I also support I also
was
considered myself a select committee
critic and to be frank none of the
people on this dais were were included
in the letter as directly named folks
from the foundation of open government
and I think
but I do think they did give in
something for us to do and that's
repealing the select committee part of
our charter
which is I think in chapter 7 or
something like that I already have
I support my colleagues in getting
repealing the select committee part of
our charter.
I also support the idea of a traffic
calming conversation and frankly
counselor McLaur Elks is the single
still remains the most
hated street that's not even in my
district anymore or sort of is but I
share it with you and I still get get
calls and it's still at the top of my
list of places that people complain
about but I have my own places that
folks are clamoring for traffic calming
conversations about and and that
includes everything from you know people
really want us to put giant 3-ft tall
speed bumps on their own personal
street. Um Um, but I I think that's
probably not
the entirety of what we might
be able to do. So, I'm hoping we can
have a conversation to see what all of
those things are um
that we can that we can really
meaningfully do to calm the traffic
including on Elk. So, I again want to
support you for that
uh particular street.
Um, [clears throat] and
then the last thing that I just wanted
to mention, a lot of folks often ask us
about capital improvements. Cynthia has
been doing a really good job of
telling everyone what our capital
improvements plan looks like, but there
there is a really
um complicated, convoluted,
ever-changing process to ask for capital
outlay from the state.
Um, the city navigates that every year,
but
uh Representative Rubio and Senator
Hamblin will be having a capital outlay
project workshop here um this Thursday,
June 11th from 10:00 to noon. And I say
this because a lot of community
organizations say things like we would
like to be part of a capital outlay
conversation, how do we get GRO money,
which is the new name for I think junior
I don't know it's had 20 names.
Um, but this is how to get money from
the state and this is really outlining
the process that any organization can
use
um or cities or people uh involved in
those spaces to get on the capital
im- capital outlay lists and go through
those processes. So, that again that's
Thursday, June 11th from 10:00 to noon
um here in City Council Chambers. So, I
hope folks will consider joining that.
And uh to the to the pride, we don't
have a ton of pride related things
happening. We we've somewhat moved our
pride to October
um when we'll have our parade because
it's too hot, but there are things
happening. Um,
I do want to just mention that in in
Albuquerque this weekend JoAnne Ferrari,
one of our local elected is getting a
legacy award from Equality New Mexico.
So, that's a really exciting um
development. And then, June 20th uh at
Klein Park, PFLAG is hosting a dress
your pet up for pride and dress up
yourself for pride event. So, if you
don't have uh enough
pride garments right now for your dogs
and or cats, I hope that you find some
at a local business and prepare for that
June 20th at Klein Park um when people's
uh
rainbow pets will be taking over. So,
that's one of the fun events that's
going to be happening here this month.
So, thanks again for the pride
shout-out.
And I will see you
there at the park for sure. I have a lot
of
pet-related apparel
to
[laughter]
All right, thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.
Thank you, Mayor. Um 3-ft speed bumps
worked in Salt Lake City, so do not let
me try it.
Um that's uh you need to fact-check me
on that. Maybe it's not true. Um
but speaking of traffic, so I I don't
know um Chief Story, maybe it's a
phenomenon. It seems like every
counselor talked about that today. Uh
I've been head getting some calls on
Sonoma Springs uh loud mufflers, racing
2:00 3:00 in the morning. So, maybe it's
young adults out of school wanting
something to do. But, uh definitely
something to be aware of and uh join my
voice in
in looking at uh traffic calming just
for the safety of of everyone involved
and also um not to wake up folks at 2:00
or 3:00 in the morning.
Um
Counselor McClure mentioned uh how we
talked about public arts.
I again, this one I'm I'm not sure. I
need to research this, but um from what
I understand, there was a Native
American on the water tower um
that was removed years and years ago
prior to our our coming here.
Um, that's part of our legacy, part of
our history if if that's the case as
that art goes back up and it's similar
to what it is today.
Um, I would like um, representation from
uh,
a Native American or Americans on that
water tower.
Um,
so we talked about transparency and I
think that's important. I know that um,
for for trust it's important to fix
things. You know, we are
imperfect um,
in a imperfect union, but it it it
matters how it's fixed when it gets
fixed and that it is fixed. So,
um, I know that we will will get to
that. With that
comes trust uh, and trust develops
through access.
One of the things that I would like to
do if there's no objections um,
from my colleagues and um,
would really
you know, ask the the staff to to help
me with this and the city manager is I
would like for us to consider
evening session or evening session maybe
twice a year or once a quarter where we
have a different cohort or different set
of of residents who have access to us,
who are able to provide public input or
who are able to see how city government
works. Um, with that another
consideration would be
um, that that um,
maybe we look at different parts of town
uh, for access as well. You know, is is
it easier to walk to, drive through,
spend a little you know, a little less
money on gas getting to a city council
meeting where there is there is access.
Um, and
um,
I know this is a lift for for the staff.
You work long hours during the day and
asking you to spend another three, four
hours depending on public comment, maybe
five with us
in in the city session, but I think it
would open us up for access and trust
with the community. So, I appreciate my
colleagues and city manager to consider
evening sessions, maybe once a quarter,
maybe a few times or couple times a
year, and then look at different parts
of the city.
Thank you, Mayor.
Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem.
Um
Yeah, I know it's been requested several
times. I really don't have a problem if
we meet in the evening.
Uh I'll get with the clerk and see what
we have to do and see what we can
schedule. The other thing is the offsite
is one that I would ask the city manager
and staff to look at cuz I know of the
live streaming and other capabilities
that always created problems in the
past. So, that's something that we'll
have to look at, but I'm not opposed to
having meeting sessions. So, we we can
look at that. As far as the select
committee, I'm in agreement as well. Uh
since I took office, we have not had uh
policy review committees, and we have
not had any select committee meetings.
So, ne- never was I in favor of those as
well. So, our job is to repeal it, and
we'll get with the legal and the city
clerk to make sure that gets repealed.
And uh city manager, we'll go ahead and
start scheduling a work session for the
traffic calming so we can move forward
in that direction.
And that's all I have. City manager.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez, Mayor Pro Tem
Muñoz, and city councilors Seki Kanani
Tama Pio. Just a few announcements.
Um in a
addition to what Mayor had mentioned, uh
there was a park complaint. It was
Valley View, and I appreciate David
getting with the gentleman in the back.
Um
it was a PSA on Facebook. It was
complaint that was forwarded over to
Parks and Rec, and within an hour our
staff was responsive and was able to
clean up the the complaint, and it was a
wipe down of certain equipment, and
tossing and throwing away some of the
paraphernalia that was on the ground.
So, I I appreciate staff and the
responsiveness
in addition to other duties
that they're doing at the current time.
Kudos to Manny Manno. Counselor Matthis,
you had mentioned that if there are
areas that that need to be cleaned, I do
appreciate Manny Manno. That would be
the group we reach out to. Counselor
Matthis.
And so, I just wanted to mention that to
to council. Again, kudos. Appreciate
Natalie working closely with them and
and to
Nicole and and to the
the nonprofit and for the campus working
with them. They It is a as
as Counselor Harris mentioned, we're
we're blessed to have a group
to to do the job that
it's it's difficult for staff and
full-time part-time staff to do. So,
Manny Manno really picks up
the workload on that. And as Mayor
mentioned, traffic calming, we will get
that done and bring it to you as
council. I'll get with staff on that,
and then
repealing the ordinance, I appreciate
staff
to my left. They'll they'll work and get
that done as mentioned. So, thank you
all. That's it, Mayor.
I thank you, Connie.
So, I'll look for a motion to adjourn.
Move to adjourn.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting. Counselor McLaurin. Yes.
Counselor Matthis.
Is absent. Counselor Harris.
Yes.
Counselor Ben Como.
Yes.
Counselor Cran.
Yes.
Counselor Munoz.
Yes.
Mayor?
Yes.