You're live.
Well, good afternoon everyone. Welcome
to city council. Today is Monday, March
16, 2026. It's approximately 1 p.m. I am
Mayor Eric Enriquez. Uh before we start,
we want to mention our American Sign
Language Upfront or ASL. They're here
every council meeting and they're for
interpretation services. Thank you for
being here. Uh you all please stand and
uh 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.
Councelor
Karan, if you'll lead us in the pledge.
I alian to the flag of the United States
of America and to the republic for it
stands nation
indivisibley
and justice for all.
We'll start off with some uh
presentations and uh proclamations.
council. Correct.
I think uh Inspector General Tucker is
is on. Oh, right here. Sorry, I'm
looking out trying to find you. So, I
welcome you up to give appreciation for
the folks who have uh participated with
the Memorial Day event at Veterans Park.
So, please I turn it over to you.
Good afternoon, mayor, counselors,
citizens of the city of Los Cusus. My
name is Charles Tucker and I am the IG
for the city. One of the additional
duties that I have is I act as a liaison
for the veterans advisory board.
Part of my job in this capacity is I I
look at the activities that happen at
Veterans Park and I help facilitate
those. This year we had two events
during Memorial Day. We had a morning
event and we had an afternoon event. At
the morning event we did a garrison flag
raising, a mock funeral
um with a color guard, a wreath laying
for the fallen veterans who gave their
life defending our country and followed
by a 21 good salute and the playing of
taps. In the afternoon, we did a second
event the night, excuse me, we did a
second event which was a lighting of
candles that were placed on the memorial
wall for all the fallen veterans that
came from our county.
Today, we want we as a city would like
to say thank you to the citizens who
provided us services and um additional
um
who helped with the Memorial Day events
of that day. So, first off, we'd like to
start with Zia Natural Gas.
Do it here
and then we'll do it. We can do it
together. You have to say
I have three more certificates, but I'm
not sure if anybody else is here to
collect them. So, I'll start off with
Flowerland.
Oh, awesome.
Is there anybody here from Bakas Funeral
Home?
Okay. Well, they they helped as well.
And Los Cusus High School's junior ROTC
color guard. I knew they weren't going
to be here today because they're on
spring break. So, so, but thank you.
Okay,
please.
Thank you, Mr. Tucker. Next is
departmental highlights. Uh we'll have
quality of life care.
Good afternoon, mayor and council and
city staff. Carol Bray, director of the
quality of life department, and I have
just a few uh brief department
highlights to share with you today.
First, uh I would like to uh recognize
our senior programs uh for opening the
addition to the Mson Center. Uh this
ribbon cutting was held on Thursday,
February 26th in the afternoon, attended
by, as you can see there, our mayor, uh
councelor Mccclure, and also Capital
Outlay Bureau Chief Tasha Martinez from
the New Mexico Aging and Long-Term
Services Department, as well as Sonia
Sana and myself and a host of city
staff. And uh this 4500 square foot
edition offers a wide range of healthy
activities and programs for our seniors.
We're very happy to see this open at
last. Uh we actually did a soft opening
in January and since it's opened at the
end of January, we've had over well over
a thousand users now. So we believe it's
going to be very popular. We're holding
um all kinds of uh exercise classes,
dances, and other activities uh in this
space. And there is also exercise
equipment that people can come use free
of charge. So we're very excited about
the opening of that addition.
Secondly, I wanted to focus on Las Cruus
Public Libraries just a bit. Our library
system was chosen as quite an honor to
participate in ReadAcross America Day
held on March 6th. This was a a concept
developed by a librarian from the state
of Missouri and uh our libraries were
chosen by the New Mexico State Library
to be featured in a collection of photos
with other libraries from across the
nation. Uh our caption finished the
prompt, libraries are more than books.
They also provide and we said karinho.
Cardinho is the love, care, and warmth
that we as library staff and volunteers
put into everything we do. And that
photo shows some of our library staff
there with their favorite books. Uh
Friday, March 6th was the day we
celebrated ReadAcross America day at the
library. Library staff organized craft
projects for participants. We had 11
different community partners participate
that day. Uh and endgage brought their
mobile children's museum to the space as
well. And there was even a special
visit, I'm told, from the Los Cusus
Grinch. We had over 200 people attend
that program. Uh, I also wanted to
mention that the volunteer income tax
assistant is continuing uh, this month
at both the Bran Library and the Munson
Senior Center. We have close to 400 tax
returns prepared to date. So, we're on
track to beat our previous record of
over 500 completed. And this is free tax
assistance provided by volunteers in our
facilities.
Also would like to note that uh, last
Saturday we finished our annual
chalkwalk event at the Los Cusus
Museums. This event uh is co-sponsored
by the museums, the city art board and
public art. Uh and the artists, we had
10 artists that were selected to
participate. Uh they will be competing
for small awards from the foundation of
Las Cusus Museums. Uh we had over a
thousand people attend and you can see
there the photos here uh if you work
with me clockwise. Uh in the front is
one of our artists with uh her her uh
entry that she was completing. On the
the next photo is of a dog standing in
front of some butterfly wings that we
had posted on the wall for people to
have pictures. So that's clearly an
angel dog. And then the next photo just
shows the event. It was held in the
courtyard between Brandan Cultural
Center and the Museum of Art. So this is
our I believe uh fourth year now uh
holding this event and we're happy to
see how popular it's been. Our museums
are doing a great job of uh
collaborating with other organizations
in the city and we're starting to see
significant growth in attendance of
museum events. Uh for example,
attendance for the museums for the month
of February of this year was up over
10,000 compared to 6,500 in February
2025. So they're doing very well. And my
last slide is uh featuring the new five
public art pieces we've installed as uh
made possible by the general obligations
bond. So if we go clockwise again uh
from the top left we have forged in
service which is at fire station 6 a
very impressive uh a uh statue of a
firefighter in full gear. Uh we have
United in service which is the uh crest
or badge of the firefighters at fire
station one. We have fire centuries
which is our newest piece of public art
at fire station 9 that has not been
dedicated yet but uh is quite exciting
to see and and we will be dedicating
that. Uh then next is desert kinship in
Lab Buita Park. Uh these are um birds
that also look like cactus depending on
how you look at them. And then last but
not least are the dance of life figures
at the East Mesa Public Recreation
Complex. uh these last uh pieces have
not yet been dedicated also but they
will be once uh the newest part of um
the EMPRC is uh dedicated. So that is
our presentation for today. Uh I want to
thank you for your support and uh we
will be back with further updates in the
future. Thank you.
Thank you Carol. Carol, Carol, just
one one quick question on the uh tax uh
preparation assistance that you have at
the library. That's also for Spanish
speakers as well, right?
Yes, English and Spanish. And uh there
are different days that it's available.
You can see on our website uh both
Brandan Library and Mson Center. Uh we
often have a waiting list so we advise
people to get there early.
Thank you.
Next we have public works
Jimmy Moreno.
Good afternoon, mayor, counselors. Just
a brief
um update on public works and we're
going to highlight a project that we
recently completed which is uh the
Cortez road reconstruction project.
Uh this is between uh Porter and Dunn.
Gives you perspective there. Sage Cafe,
Community Center, and East Messa
Memorial u Park there for uh
for location.
Uh so Cortez Road before improvements uh
they didn't have curbs, sidewalks,
uh safe pedestrian or dedicated bicycle
facilities. So it was a typical road out
in the East Massa. what what was
historically left u from it being in the
county. Um there was some drainage
problems, inconsistent sanitary sewer
access and no adequate adequate street
lighting.
Uh some key improvements, it's uh nearly
one mile uh for the entire length. Uh we
did have a new roadway reduced the
driving lane wis for the addition of
buffered bike lanes also new sidewalks.
Uh we have a trail uh utilities, storm
water management including storm drain
uh green infrastructure and uh street
lighting. The total construction cost
6.1 million and it was performed by
Caliper Construction.
Uh this is the example of the green
infrastructure. You can see there where
we have an inlet that provides an
entryway into uh a drainage in essence a
drainage pond there to collect that
first flush of water. So in essence,
it's that first quarter inch of water
that falls. Uh it collects there and
that's typically the dirtiest portion of
water. So we'd like to capture that with
the green infrastructure. As that fills
up, it spills back into the roadway and
the clean water can then go down the the
the the drainage facilities. Uh we can't
incorporate this on every uh road.
Typically wide uh rightway is a
constraint. You can see here how wide
that is. Uh so we had some additional
rightaway there that we were able to
incorporate that. So where we can and
where it's feasible uh we incorporate
this type of infrastructure uh during
our designs and and construction.
Uh I also wanted to highlight that this
week is national surveys surveyors uh
week. Uh so our surveyors, we have an
in-house surveying team uh that provides
us data for all of our rightaway
acquisition, our designs, and it's uh
that data is is critical to make sure
our designs are are tying into the
existing infrastructure and make sure
they're they're built to grade and and
per plan. So we do have a couple of our
surveying techs. I'm going to put them
on the spot. Uh Mao Duran
and Megan Ortiz. uh they work in our in
our surveying department.
So, we'd like to thank them for their
efforts and acknowledge them uh this
week, but they're an integral part of uh
our public works team. So, there's not
any questions. Thank you all.
Thank you.
Next is community development. F
Good afternoon, Mayor Council. My name
is Chris Faver, the community
development director, and today I
thought I would give you an update on
the new system baitment team known as
NAT. It's been a few months since we
were up here discussing this and so I
wanted to share some of the successes
and the status of the the effort since
uh early last year.
So CDNAT team this is truly a a team
effort. Not only do we have uh building
official who's dedicated to NAT and
that's Kevin Doyle, we have a permit
tech too Eloy Jesus uh we have a
management an analyst Nancy Libby. We
have a GIS mapping support uh Lucas
failure. Um we have historic
preservation specialists because we do
have several uh properties that are in
historic districts uh that we are
working through the NAP process with.
But we also have great support from PD
codes, fire, housing, legal uh economic
development. So truly a team effort to
move this whole process forward.
Just a real quick um NAT by the numbers.
Um currently there are 166 identified
NAT properties and I want to stress
identified because we are working
through potentially about 600 more
vacant properties and we're trying to
determine if they qualify for NAT. So
that's part of what the team is doing
right now. But through efforts from our
team and from codes and PD and fire, you
know that we started with a couple
hundred properties and that's where that
166 comes from. And they are ranging
from level one which is the most basic
um owner in place low-level issues that
codes can deal with all the way up to
level three which is you know high
priority public safety issues or
structural uh issues that are causing um
you know potential issues for the
neighbors. We've condemned 21 properties
so far. Um, and so we're taking the
approach of condemning properties,
boarding and securing, and then working
with our legal team to foreclose on
those leans, try to get those properties
into the hands of new owners that will
either um upgrade the property or in
some cases demolish them and rebuild if
necessary. Uh, we've recouped about
$14,000 in one lean so far. Um but we
have about $151,000
um in leans that we'll be moving forward
with this year.
Did want to update you on um some some
next steps and what we're working on
right now. So like I said, we are
currently going through and evaluating
over 600 vacant properties. Uh and we're
using um a range of data that's
available to the city right now through
utilities and other means to identify
those properties and then going out and
actually getting eyes on them to
determine if they are um a nap property
or some other level of vacant property.
Maybe it's just in transition or it's up
for sale already um or if it's something
we need to keep an eye on long term.
And then again, we use the International
Property Maintenance Code uh as the
standard by which we are trying to hold
all property owners to to make sure the
property is safe uh and doesn't cause
problems for the neighborhood.
Um as we've discussed before, we are
looking at bringing forward a vacant and
abandoned property ordinance this coming
year and we'll be doing a work session
to discuss that ordinance in June and
hopefully get that adopted potentially
in July. And this will give uh the city
more of an opportunity to um set some
standards for not just the condition of
property, but if properties are sitting
and not being used, uh creating a
registry that we can help u move that
forward and get those properties um back
in circulation, whether they are
commercial or residential.
And lastly, just wanted to mention that,
you know, using uh condemning buildings
has been a great strategy. Uh when we go
in and sometimes we've actually
condemned properties with the um
permission of the owner because it helps
them keep trespassers out. We can work
with PD and codes to add extra eyes on
that property. So, uh it's been a real
successful tool for the team to be able
to um mitigate some of the issues we've
had on site.
I have a screenshot of of a little um
database that our GIS made. I'll show
you that real quick here at the end. But
this is a tool that we can search by
district and by type uh and allows the
team um sort of a real time uh way to
keep up with these properties and I'll
demo that real quick here at the end.
Also just wanted to remind everybody
that we do have a page on the city's
website for NAT. It's loss cruis.govnat.
There's a form where you can submit
properties that you would like us to
like take a look at and has FAQs for
other issues. Maybe you don't know that
you have a NAT property and find out
that there's an address on there and you
want to know what you can do to work
with us to get that taken care of. Uh
and so we have that map that's available
for all the current level two and level
three properties.
And then lastly, I wanted to end with a
couple success stories just to show how
this process can really work. So 195
Hogland, uh, that was reported to the
city on October 25th. Um, the building
code, uh, Kevin went out there and and
condemned the, um, or the building
official, excuse me, went out there and
condemned the property on October 29th.
A real estate management firm took over
in December. The property was listed in
January and it was sold in February.
This is an example of a property that
had went through the process from being
a a high priority net property all the
way to new ownership and and hopefully
can um you know return that to a usable
property in the neighborhood.
And then additionally 640 San Pedro.
This was a real high priority for for
codes and PD. There was a lot of illicit
activity happening continuously at that
property. Uh we were able to work with
the building owner uh to get that
building condemned, eventually got it
into the hands of new owners. Uh and
they are currently going through the
process of redeveloping that property.
It is in the historic district. So
they're working with um HPC and our
historic preservation specialists on
that process and they will actually be
going to HBC this Wednesday to get
approval for some of the redesign of
that property. So, just two success
stories on how this can work uh when
everybody works together to get these
properties um you know dealt with. And
then lastly, I was just going to show
you two things. So, this is the database
that we have. We can go in and search by
the districts and we can see
specifically um the properties in there
ranging from the different priority
level um to whether some have been
demolished. And this goes way back in
our database. It's not just recent
activity, but anything in our database
that, you know, that was, you know, that
fell into any of these categories. So,
it's a good way for our team just to
keep up with the different districts and
see um where the priority areas are and
some of those projects.
And then I just wanted to show the
city's NAT page. If you go to property,
go down to nuisance and abatement, it
takes you to this page which sort of
gives an overview of what NAT does, the
FAQs, and then it also shows the map of
where all the level two and three
properties are.
That concludes my presentation.
Thank you, Chris. Could you please uh
recognize uh the members of uh the NAT
team that are here?
Yeah. So, I have behind me I have the
NAT team right there. I got Caitlyn
Beasy who's the historic preservation
specialist. Next to her is Nancy. Then
Eloy, Kevin, and then members from from
co from codes is also in the audience.
So again, it's a real huge team effort.
We meet weekly and then we meet monthly
with all the all the departments
together. So it's a big part of what we
do in community development.
Councelor Bencom, you had a question.
Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much,
Chris, and the rest of the team. I think
this work is really important. I will
say that initially I was somewhat
disappointed that we wouldn't be hearing
back until June July for the possible
adoption. But throughout your
presentation it seems to me that because
we are raising the urgency of the
conversation even that there is movement
happening anyway without even the policy
being enacted yet.
Mayor Councelor Bencomo that is correct.
Part of that has to do with some of the
scheduling just for work sessions. We
have a busy work session schedule coming
up this spring, but part of it is we're
still vetting a lot of those properties
that we what eventually will be
approaching from the the standpoint of
that ordinance. And so we wanted to have
as much of that data done up front
before we had this ordinance in place so
we knew exactly how many properties and
who we needed to reach out to when that
when that ordinance comes into effect.
I appreciate that, Chris. Thank you. And
again, thanks to the rest of the team.
Thanks. Thanks, Mayor.
Next is pet pets of the week. Carol.
Good afternoon. I'm Carol Nelson,
digital sorry, content specialist for
the Animal Services Center of the Messia
Valley. This week, our dog dog of the
week is Dober 96758. While I may take a
little time to warm up, I'm a true
gentleman around humans. I can be quite
affectionate once trust trust is
established. I play the most gentle game
of fetch you've probably ever seen. I
still need guidance in my manners and
building my confidence, especially when
it comes to interacting with other
animals. But I do love to work for
treats, which really helps me learn my
manners and build positive behavior. An
experienced hand handler would be a
great fit for me. I'm eager to bond and
grow and know I can be a loyal
companion.
And our cat of the week is Luna 103802.
I've been a bit shy, especially with all
the noise from other cats, but I'm
already showing my true potential. I
adore head and neck scratches with the
special scratching tool that the staff
have been using. While I do get nervous
if I can't see you, I definitely let you
know how I feel. The more socializing I
do, the more comfortable I'm becoming,
and I've started to approach humans on
my own. With your gentle interactions
and lots of love, I know I can blossom
into a more confident companion. If you
think we'd be a good match, let's meet.
And as always, we like to highlight our
long-term residents. Uh, we like to
highlight them just because we want to
get the word out into the community to
hopefully find someone who can adopt
them because the longer they stay at
shelter, the harder it is for them to
thrive. Uh, Farah has been with us 362
days, so coming up on a year now. Lily
320 days, Rosa 228 days, Sheila 270
days. All have been formerly the pet of
the week and just really good options
for adoption as well.
Um, and we have several upcoming events
actually. So, a little bit new, we're
actually going to be at the Wednesday's
farmers market and also Saturday farmers
market. So, we're excited about that.
We'll be there from 10 to 1 both days.
Um, and then the following weekend on
the 27th and the 28th, we will be at
PetSmart from 10:00 to 1 as well. So,
definitely come out and say hi. If you
can't adopt, bring someone who is ready
to adopt. So, our pets would love to see
you. And for more information, feel free
to visit our website or follow us on
social media. Thank you.
Thank you, Carol.
Next is conflict of interest. Does 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.
None. None.
None. None. No conflict.
Thanks. Next is public participation.
Uh Katrina will help usher you to the
podium. We'll allow up to three minutes.
No pending litigation or items on the
non-consent.
Again, remember speak clearly directly
into the mic and state your name.
Thanks.
Yeah, I'm good.
Good afternoon, mayor and city council.
My name is Kathy Stark and today I'm
wearing my animal advocates for change
hat and I'm here to thank everybody
who participated and was involved in the
Billy and Nanny animal cruelty case with
the Bassets. First, I want to thank the
construction workers who saw Billy being
beat with a rock in the backyard where
he lived for videotaping that cruelty
and being willing to get involved.
Thank you to Lasus's Animal Control and
Lasus Police Department for their
efforts to thoroughly investigate the
situation to make a referral to the
district attorney's office for
prosecution under state law.
Next to Dr. Kalista and her staff for
caring for Billy and checking on Nani
and for getting over 175 signatures on a
letter to the court on the dog's behalf.
Then there were countless residents that
stood up and wrote letters to the court,
attended court hearings, expressed their
concern for the two dogs, and insisted
that the offender be held fully
accountable.
Thank you to the jury who heard the
evidence, rendered a verdict of guilty,
and to Judge Perea who imposed the
sentence under state law. Finally, thank
you to uh District Attorney Fernando Mas
for his prosecution and for keeping a
promise he made to us that he would
vigorously prosecute animal abuse and
cruelty cases. And I think he said it
best. The conviction reflects the
community's concern over animal cruelty.
We believe in our legal system reminds
us that animals are sentient beings.
When we act to protect them, we aren't
just enforcing the law. We are honoring
a shared commitment to basic human
decency.
Billy was lucky. He survived because
people got involved and the system
worked. Too many others aren't that
lucky. My hope is that other animal
abusers in our community will heed the
outcome of this case and stop their
inhumane treatment of animals if for no
other reason than to avoid an 18-month
sentence, one-year probation, anger
management training, and a $5,000 fine.
And finally, for the person or persons
who are torturing, mutilating, and
killing cats in the South Main area, you
will be identified and you will be held
accountable. The same people who stepped
up and spoke for Billy and Nanny will
step up and speak for those cats. So,
stop it. Thank you.
Mayor, Mayor Prom, Council, those here
today, those watching online, I'm Lynn
Moore are here to speak in support of
full compliance with the lead and copper
rule improvements, the federal rule that
requires that all lead and galvanized
piping requiring replacement be replaced
and requires, among several things, that
all of the folks in this city be
truthfully and timely informed about the
nature of their piping. Any ethical
attorney will agree that regardless how
hard it may be to understand or even if
you object to a law or rule, you have a
duty to comply with it. Neither
ignorance nor objection to the law is a
defense. Regardless of the size or state
of your ego, all council members and
city staff have a responsibility to do
what's right for all citizens. It's not
accept acceptable for any staff or
council member to lie or misrepresent
the facts on any subject. Whether it's
water sampling results, whether a
document exists, how the city is really
spending millions of dollars in funding,
what inspections of piping actually
reveal, or whether half the city has
been left out. Nor is it acceptable to
cover up the truth or hide from the
public nonsensitive information that
should be and used to be available
publicly, but was removed from the
public domain when citizens started
raising questions about that
information, which directly affects
their lives, their health, and that of
their children and unborn children, as
well as their property values. My
colleague Liz Rodriguez Johnson and I go
to considerable lengths to provide
factual information and raise important
concerns backed by solid indisputable
documentation so you and city staff can
be alerted to them and take re
reasonable actions to address them
honestly. On behalf of the many Los
Cusins we represent, many of whom you
know, we again urge you to put public
health and safety first. Unfortunately,
it seems clear that current utility
staff have neither the interest nor the
competence to address serious issues
implicated by the rule. A thoroughly
honest, competent, and independent
engineer with management experience and
no connections to New Mexico must be
brought in to tackle with broad-based
approach these farreaching problems that
are affecting Los Cusus water drinkers
right now. The consultant the utilities
board just hired is clearly not this in
many respects. What we need is someone
who is widely recognized as top in the
field of water engineering and
management and fully conversant with the
federal rule. Thank you for this
opportunity to speak.
Mayor, City Council, I'm Liz Rodriguez
Johnson. When Lascurus's Utilities
applied for the $15 million in funding
to assist it in carrying out its
responsibilities under the lead and
copper rule, it promised to prioritize
disadvantaged properties. The city is
obliged to repay just a quarter of that
$15 million based on its portrayal of
the city as severely disadvantaged.
The public needs to know that Lascus's
Utilities has classified $1 million
homes as disadvantaged.
drawn from a utility spreadsheet
provided to the state. Handout A
is a list of the properties in the San
Andreas estates and university estates
water systems that utilities designates
as disadvantage.
We have looked up estimated valuations
for the properties and incorporated that
information into the list. 75% in the
San Andreas system and 93% in the
university estate systems are valued at
300,000 or more. These are properties in
blue. The utilities department says all
these properties are disadvantaged. It's
preposterous because some of these
properties are valued at more than a
million dollars. Yet utilities
classifies them as disadvantaged.
This is just the San Andreas and
University estates list. Wait till you
see how high they go when the Los
Cruis's municipal water system
disadvantage list is finished. It's much
lar it's a much larger list and it's
also ludicrous. Note all the don't knows
on this list. This information was drawn
from the utilities own spreadsheet
documenting service lines in each of the
five water systems. Utilities personnel
don't know if any pipes that are now
designated non-LED were ever previously
lead. Utilities personnel don't know if
there are any lead connectors in the
piping. Utilities personnel don't know
if there is a lead solder in the service
line. Despite their claims to the
contrary, this shows that utility
personnel don't actually know whether
Lasus has a lead pipe problem.
Each of the sheets designated in blue on
the university estates list must be
removed from the disadvantage list. None
of these high dollar properties should
take precedence over properties that
valued at less than $200,000.
Handouts B, C, and D show more
low-income properties that should be
inspected first and whose piping, if
found to be lead or galvanized, should
be replaced first. To do otherwise,
would be a clear violation of the
commitment the city made to receive the
$15 million, of which they only need to
repay a quarter. We'd like to see some
clear progress. We want to see some
evidence that appropriate steps are
being taken to address these growth
inequities. Thank you.
Hello. Um I presented recently a packet
to the city council. It was in a
messenger envelope and it was addressed
to everybody. Ma'am, ma'am, could you
state your name, please?
Dorene White.
And the purpose of that package was to
show two things. A chronological history
and ongoing history. Several years ago,
I'll get my breath here. I was infused
with cameras and chips. I have a
decimeter over there that I can it for
some reason I can't get it. I have a tip
here, here, and four in the back. I have
several implanted in my body. And I and
not to mention legation, but I went up
against the state of Mexico. Judge
Martin said, um, it's not like they
didn't break any laws. there's no laws
to to charge them with. And in the
meantime,
those nuclear particles that was
implanted on me is a form of radiation.
And the sun radiation marries up with
the body and
and I probably lost about 60 pounds
since I left Missouri. Um, I'm incapable
of using social media, a cell phone. My
mail is interrupted. And this is the
Department of Public Safety, and I call
it the cell phone chip act because a
person can sit behind me with a cell
phone and violate me. Some they the
cyber minis that rotate around the
neighborhood or for military sometimes I
have 12 to 15 above my home
jelly suits in my trailer running up and
down the street next to my home in
Missouri my backyards wherever I live.
So there's a violation of first
amendment, fourth and 14th. And
so I'm here in front of you because the
stuff I'm dying from the stuff inside of
me. Um,
I have asked for restraining order
against
Well, when Judge Martin just dis
dismissed it, I said, "You just gave
every law enforcement agency the right
to discriminate me, violate my body, and
they could stop my heart."
And the coroner will say, "It's murder.
I'm at Wit's Ends
and I wanted to bring it to your
attention
and I gave you the package. I'm not sure
if you got the package because a lot of
my mail hasn't been received. I wrote to
Facebook, Google because they can do it
by RFD chip. Okay, Miss White, your your
time is up and Okay,
we'll follow up on that.
Would you do that?
Thank you. Have a good afternoon.
You, too. Thank you.
Good afternoon, council, everybody. I'm
here to read you an article, excuse me,
that was published in the Albuquerque
Journal yesterday.
Ma'am, that you state your name.
Oh, my name is Barbara Carell. Hello,
everyone.
Um, Yoli had an article published
yesterday that I'm going to read to you
from the Albuquerque Journal.
Memorial Medical Center is failing Los
Cusus most vulnerable. As a patient
advocate, I would like to begin with the
story of a Dona Anna County resident I
recently assisted. This 76-year-old man
was born and raised in Los Cusus. He
worked over 48 years at three local
lumber yards and with his wife of 56
years raised a family here. After her
death from cancer on May 30th, 2025, he
didn't even have time to grieve before
he was diagnosed with cancer himself on
August 7th. I knew this story because I
lived it with my parents. This man lost
his partner, was diagnosed with cancer,
and became a low-income resident in less
than two months. When his medical bills
became became overwhelming, his daughter
reached out to me. I provided I
contacted his provider, Memorial Medical
Center, to find out what financial
assistance programs were available. I
received no response. I then advised the
daughter to do the same. She too
received no call back. At a pre-appoint,
she finally spoke with the supervisor.
The supervisor said her father was not
considered indigent because he had
insurance, but offered a payment plan.
No brochures or paperwork were provided.
On November 28th, the man instead
received a statement from Care Payment,
a third-p partyy company. It wasn't a
detailed bill, just a charge amount and
a due date. I have since provided the
family with an attestation of indigeny
form per the patients debt collection
protection act to submit to MMC. In
November, I attended MMC board meetings
to publicly request their financial
assistance policies.
A request I have made multiple times
since 2021. MMC's 2024 community impact
report claims the hospital provided 46.5
million in charity and uncompensated
care. Yet, I cannot get a breakdown of
how that care was distributed. This lack
of transparency reflects deep-seated iss
deep-seated issues at MMC, including the
tr controversial closures of its
psychiatric ward in 2014 and 2022. My
advocacy led me to file inspection of
public record act requests. One document
I received was a 2014 email from then
CEO John Harris stating MMC needed to
chart a new course focused on aggressive
and immediate expense reduction and
revenue enhancement. Other RA documents
from the former chief financial officer
detailed revisions to the hospital's
indigent policy that limited care,
including the refusal of treatment to
cancer patients who couldn't pay
upfront. Thank you for listening. If you
want to read the rest, it's in the
paper.
Good afternoon, Mayor and Council. My
name is Lori English. First of all,
Mayor Enrique, I'd like to make a public
apology to you. There was a post on
Facebook a day or two ago about you
attending an event uh at a I think it
was a groundbreaking or something like
that. And I made a very rude comment
online in response to that. And I just
want to publicly apologize to you for my
comment because I misread the post. I
thought it was something that it wasn't.
So I just want to you know you'll know
what it is when you hear other people
talk to you about it, but I just want to
make a public apology to you for my
comments on Facebook. Second of all, the
flag I hold. Yesterday I went to uh
Golden Corral and on my way leaving
Golden Corral right behind McDonald's on
off of Avenue to de Msia there were a
group of homeless people and they had
three wheelchairs out there. Later found
out that one of the wheelchairs belonged
to Memorial Medical Center and one of
the wheelchairs belonged to uh Mountain
View Regional Medical Center. They were
using this flag as a mat. There are
footprints on it. You can tell they ate
quite a bit at McDonald's. There's
ketchup, mustard stains, and who knows
what. Uh, as a 100% disabled United
States Marine, I felt it my job and my
duty and also my privilege and honor to
stop, open the back end of my SUV. I
walked up, was very polite and
respectful. I said, um, is anybody here?
Because I couldn't see any people. They
were walking around. There's like six or
eight of them. Um,
one guy was drugged out or or drunk or
recovering from a good night. Uh, said,
"Yeah." I said, "Are you a veteran?" He
said, "No, I'm not a damn veteran."
So, I
opened the back of my SUV running. I
picked up the flag. I said, "I'm taking
your flag in the name of the United
States and the United States Marine
Corps." I picked the flag running and I
you've never seen a Marine run 70 a
Marine that's 78 years old move so fast
but I grabbed the flag ran to my car
tossed it in the back of my car jumped
in my car and left and then I called the
police on the way home and I went back a
couple hours later thank you chief story
your people are on the job they were
gone and that's how they got the uh
notice so just want you to know that
this flag is going to be surrendered to
the American Legion to be um disposed of
properly. And it was my honor and my
privilege and I wish more people would
pay attention to these homeless people
and what they're doing to our city and
our country with disrespect. Thank you
for your time. Thank you, Mayor.
Good afternoon, council everyone. My
name is Yoli Diaz.
I am not here as a mother or daughter
that I am. I'm not here to ask you to
feel the fear I felt when my oldest son
was diagnosed with cancer at the age of
23. I'm not here to ask you to feel the
pain, the loss, the trauma I felt
watching my father suffer and die from
cancer. I'm not here to ask you to
imagine what a cancer patient feels.
That's for another time. I am here
because I believe there is a basic moral
rule. We do not harm the sick, the
disabled, the elderly, or our veterans.
We help them. When anyone harms the most
vulnerable, they cross a line. Memorial
Medical Center has crossed that line
again. In September 2023, MMC failed to
assist a disabled woman enrolled in the
Donana County Healthcare Assistance
Program when she was diagnosed with
breast cancer. More recently, MMC failed
to properly screen a 76year-old
lifelong resident
born here. MMC created the problems that
followed, including exposing themselves
to a violation of the New Mexico's
Patient Debt Collection Protection Act.
Mount View Regional Medical Center was
sued in 2022 for this act and settled
for violating this same law in August
2025. MMC should have known and learned
from that. MMC's workflow, which you
have a copy right now and it's
highlighted in yellow, shows that if a
patient has any insurance, MMC stops
screening. MMC should screen for
indigency through the county's
Healthcare Assistance Program and the
Patients Debt Collection Protection Act.
MMC shows them in that workflow last.
Both are New Mexico statutes. MMC's
admin policy 8:15 contains no, I'm going
to use the word meaningful, but I don't
even see it. Charity care or community
benefit care. And despite their claims,
MMC and its corporate office have filed
the required annual reports under the
Patients Debt Collection Protection Act
showing only 110, 103, 127, and 133
indigent cases over the last four years.
shockingly low for lowincome, high
uninsured county. If MMC had reviewed
the resolution, which is on your next
page, that is on their website, they
would have recognized hardship
exemptions, including the death of a
close family member under CHAP. In my
view, MMC did more than fail morally
when they screened this 76 year old
resident. They violated New Mexico law.
And as I recall, the lease and asset
purchase agreement requires MMC to obey
the law. Your attorneys can confirm
this. It is past time to terminate
Lifepoint and bring an operator who puts
patience and community above profit.
Thank you all.
I wait.
Uh, good morning, city council. Uh, my
name is Yvani Ernnandez. Um,
I would like to say uh first of all that
um I appreciate the efforts of uh
members of this council and members of
the city of Los Cusus for their hard
work in making sure that we have um
sustainable infrastructure here um in an
everchanging environment. Um and so I'd
like to give them their flowers for
that. I would like to ask that we make
more real progress in taking into
account into account the voices of the
community especially young people who
live in Los Cusus uh on these things
like that. Um so very briefly I wanted
to mention that um and I unfortunately
have to take some time to address uh
Eric Enriquez. Uh last weekend, Eric
reaffirmed his allegiance to the ranks
of such despicable human beings like
President Vice Vice President JD Vance
by speaking at a Southwest edition of
the numerous of the murderous and
all-around anti-healthcare national
march for life which the vice president
did also on the 14th. Eric, I listen to
you and um actually before I give you
any more facetime, I'd like to set some
the record straight about what the Okato
Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare
Center is. It's a collaborative effort
of multiple organizations in the
community including the Planned
Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Bold
Futures, and many others um that
provides much needed reproductive
healthc care access to southern New
Mexico including STD, STI uh testing and
treatment, cancer treating screenings,
hormonal treatments, contraception, and
family planning support amongst many,
many other holistic wraparound services
that are desperately needed here. Eric,
I listen to you talk and and hear the
boring way that you align yourself with
anti-immigrant rhetoric. I hear you and
I listen to the way that you boringly
align yourself to anti-women
anti-productive healthcare spaces. And I
remember your vote of no last year for
the welcoming communities resolution.
Some news for you, Eric. As it seems,
you may have forgotten, we are both
brownskinned Latino men, and none of
your votes will save you from being
targeted by a racist anti-immigrant
federal government.
Thank you very much.
Good afternoon, city council. My name is
Lucas Hearn. And for the record, I stand
before you as a resident who believes in
Luke in Los Cusus, our families, our
neighborhoods, and our shared future. In
November 2024, you trusted voters with a
question. Should we invest in ourselves?
The answer was clear. Thousands of Las
Cruus' families approved the GRT
increase because they understand what
research now confirms. Safe communities
aren't built through enforcement alone.
They're built through investment in
place. The Brookings Institute studied
violence across American cities and
found something powerful. When you
invest in parks, libraries, community
centers, and streets, you reduce
violence. Not someday, now. The built
environment shapes behavior. A well-lit
park where children play is safer than
an abandoned lot. A community center
where youth gather after school prevents
more crime than any patrol car.
Meanwhile, the Center on Juvenile Crime
and Criminal Justice released
devastating data. Despite record law
enforcement spending nationwide, crime
clearance rates have dropped 41%.
More officers, more budgets, fewer
crimes solved.
In 2024, only 44% of violent crimes were
solved. Enforcement heavy approaches
have failed. We cannot continue down a
path that costs more and delivers less.
Let me be clear, pouring more money into
enforcement hasn't worked. Real safety
comes from investment in our communities
where children have places to go, where
families can gather, where neighbors
know each other. When New Mexicans talk
about responsibility, we mean caring for
our neighbors. When we talk about
family, we mean ensuring every child has
a safe place to grow. When we talk about
fairness, we mean every neighborhood
deserves investment, not just wealthy
ones. Los Cusus's voters entrusted this
council with approximately 11 million
annually in GRT revenue. They didn't ask
for band-aids. They asked for lasting
change. They want their children to walk
to school safely. They want seniors to
gather without fear. They want small
businesses to thrive on streets that
feel like home. Here's what the
community is asking you to do. First,
prioritize GRT funding for community
spaces, parks, recreation centers,
libraries, and youth programs in
neighborhoods that have been overlooked.
Second, invest in infrastructure that
connects us. Sidewalks, lighting,
trails, and transit that makes every
street welcoming. Third, measure success
not by arrests, but by community
well-being. Fewer violent incidents,
more youth engaged, more families using
public spaces.
Las Cusus has always been resilient.
We've navigated hard times together. But
resilience shouldn't mean accepting less
than we deserve. We deserve communities
where family can thrive. The research is
clear and the voters have spoken. Now is
the time for the council to lead. Invest
in place. Invest in people. Invest in
Los Cusus. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Diane
Starbucks and I am speaking for myself.
Southwest Coalition for Life is a group
from Texas that brings Texans to New
Mexico to protest against a woman's
fundamental right to make her own
personal decisions about pregnancy,
contraception, and abortions. On this
past Saturday, they held a rally to
protest the new women's health clinic
being built off of Lmen. I was dismayed
to see the mayor listed as a featured
speaker. I feel that to speak at such an
event uh titled as mayor lends the
impression that the city is against the
opening of the women's health clinic.
With health care already in a precarious
state in New Mexico, why would you fight
against a new clinic?
Are you against health care for women or
just part of the patriarchy that wants
forced births?
Mayor, I support your right to practice
any religion you choose. However, I
strongly I feel strongly about the
separation of church and state. Using
your position as leader of Los Cusus and
speaking at religious rallies is a
misuse of authority.
Had I known this was your position of
dying medical care of denying medical
care to women of denying women the right
to make decisions about their own body,
I would have never voted for you. Many
women of Las Cusus and I are so
disappointed in your position and your
actions. We thought we were electing a
man who supported all his constituents.
Instead, we have someone who uses his
position to push his religious views on
all of us. In your speech at the event,
you stated, "I choose life." Well, so do
I. I choose the lives of women. If you
don't like abortion, don't get one.
Regardless of what you think your God
wants, you do not have the right to tell
half of your constituents what they can
and can't do with their bodies. Tell
your Texas friends they are not welcome
here. Women of Las Cruises do not need
men from Texas coming here and trying to
restrict our rights. In fact, we don't
need any man to tell us how to live our
lives. Do better.
Good afternoon. My name is Jim Hurst.
Mr. Mayor, I rise today to call for your
resignation.
Last Saturday, you spoke at a rally
sponsored by the Southwest Coalition for
Life. One of the objectives of of the
event was to stop the construction of
the woman's health center, commonly
referred to as the abortion clinic.
Given that the right to an abortion is
guaranteed in New Mexico law, affirmed
by New Mexico courts and aligned with
the clear majority of New Mexican
voters. That is a very difficult task
because there is no democratic path to
accomplish that goal. the so-called
right to lifers want to use an economic
boycott against all contractors and
suppliers providing services to halt
construction at the women's health
center. Mr. Mayor, your participation in
an event sponsored by boycott organizers
has signal signaled your support for the
boycott. Mr. Mayor, I recognize your
right to your beliefs about abortion.
You have as much right to your opinions
and the expression of those opinions as
I do mine. What you don't have to do
have the right to do, Mr. Mayor, is to
use city resources to leverage your
opinions. That is what you have done.
You should resign. Mr. Mayor, you have
placed yourself in an impossible
position. If you renounce your support
for the boycott, you will be perceived
as backing down on Right to Life. If you
don't renounce your support for the
boycott, you will have a conflict of
interest in the awarding of any city
contracts for construction services,
even though you may only have a minor
role
in awarding such contracts. Again, Mr.
Mayor, city resources and influence can
only be used in the city's interest. You
cannot they cannot be used to advance
your personal beliefs. That is why you
should resign. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Leslie Woods.
The office of mayor is not an easy one.
The actions of the mayor at the
Southwest Coalition for Life rally was
not acceptable, though. Opinions and
religious convictions are not the issue.
Your use of the office of the mayor is
the issue. As you know or should know,
the Southwest Coalition for Life is an
organization economic boycott against
contractors and suppliers for the
women's health center. The office of the
mayor should never be used in an
economic boycott without the city
council's approval. The mayor's
participation in the demonstration
showed the support of the economic
boycott.
If there was ever a case of religious
prosecution in our day, this is it. If
those who supported a women's right to
choose were organizing an economic
boycott against the right to lifers,
they'd certainly cry religious
prosecution. Yet, the right to lifers
are doing that very thing. You, the
mayor, also attempted to suppress the
counter demonstration against the
so-called right to life rally when you
told the counterprotesters to be quiet.
They had as much right to be there and
making noise as the right to lifers had
to be where they were and making noise.
Not only did the mayor try to suppress
them, but you did so under the color of
law by confronting the counterproduct
protesters while accompanied by three
police officers.
The public use the public of the
officials should not be engaged in the
suppression of freedom of speech under
the color of law. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Sierra Edmmyister. Um,
at a lot of these meetings, I've heard
adults complain about the delinquent
youth while only asking for harsher
punishments and more police. Um, this is
an ask backed by fear, not data. The
Center on Juvenile and Criminal Justice
says that this is a crisis of
operational inefficiency, not a lack of
funding. Incarceration rates per arrest
are higher today than in the tough on
crime 90s, even accounting for temporary
COVID related reductions. 20-year
analysis of California's 51 major cities
shows that increased law enforcement
budgets and personnel correlates with
worse clearance rates and more crime. In
New Mexico, specifically, despite 380
million in state spending since 2021 to
increase staffing, crime rates have not
substantively fallen fallen, we cannot
justify spending money on a strategy
that data proves proves is inefficient.
I also heard at the last meeting a long
list of all the roles officers have to
play that they're being held to the
highest standards, listing counselors
and crisis intervention specialists. I
think that was a really good point.
Police who are spread thin have an
increased likelihood of wrongful use of
force incidents. Police officers should
not be counselors. We should have
counselors show up to situations that
need a counselor. Inefficiency causes
erosion of public confidence in law
enforcement's ability to protect
communities. If the police want to have
a better relationship with their
community, they need to ask the hard
questions on what would actually make
the community feel safer. Anyways, our
youth are our responsibility. Juvenile
crime does not just happen
spontaneously. There are real
intersectional issues that need to be
addressed. I think that we should view
cases of juvenile crime as a check
engine light for us that something here
isn't working. Instead of funneling
funds into a carceral system that would
cancel our youth, telling them that they
are not wanted and that we will not
explore real solutions to these
problems, we need to invest in actual
solutions. And I hope we continue to
invest in actual solutions. More funding
to police is not an actual solution. We
need to reject the notion that that more
spending will equal more safety. Um, I
took the time to go to the meetings for
the GRT and go bonds, the the ones with
the stickers and the boards. Um, I tried
to go to as many of those as I can and
so did other communities. I saw those
boards. I saw the stickers on the
boards. There are pictures of the
stickers of the boards. Um, and what the
community community members want. Um,
so it can be hard to know what the
general population wants at like these
meetings specifically because they're
during the work week, during work hours.
um it's really hard to make it to these
meetings, but like especially those and
anytime we hear about big decisions
being made, people really try to turn up
to have their voices heard. Um so it can
be a real slap in the face to see the
narrowed down list of proposed projects
for the funding and see what ended up on
that versus what the stickers um showed.
So please do not vote to funnel money
towards expanding in any way a system
that is statistically failing to solve
crimes. reject the notion that more
spending equals more safety. Let's put
funding to programs that support our
youth and address the root causes of
crime. Thank you.
Good afternoon. My name is Spencer
Taylor. I'm a former 15-year professor
at New Mexico State and a current master
of social work. I'd also like to speak
on our plans for the use of the GRT
funds. Um, first and foremost, you have
to listen to what the community has
said. You did the work, and I appreciate
that, and I think we all appreciate
that, to go out and listen to what we
said in terms of what we want done with
that money. Um, and we said that we want
community third spaces. We said that we
want resources, uh, better water.
Um, we did not say that we want extended
spending on police training.
Um, and if that is not enough for you,
uh, I would like to speak on, uh, some
of the data. I've done some extensive
research on what, uh, impacts spending
on police training does for communities.
Um, among them, one that stood out to me
is a one source that stood out to me is
a article that was published by Jessica
Kottenstein in the journal for cultural
anthropology on a study in which he
states, "I argue that scenarios instead
scenario training for officers." Uh,
translate fear through what I call
officer safety time. The hegemonic
temporal regime encourages police to
quote think threat first read danger in
the subjunctive mood and inhabit a
heteromasculine inhabitance of state
power. I argue that scenarios deploy
temporality and hail police as
simultaneously threatened and
threatening and more broadly cultivate
the temporal orders of state violence
and police while immunizing them against
substantive reform.
If what we've asked for isn't enough, if
the data isn't enough, we can ask, have
the police earned this spending or or
earned uh the spending that's being
considered.
Um I will say that personally as uh
someone who's politically leftleaning,
um a lot of us who are politically
left-leaning have uh had reason to be
afraid of our law enforcement in this
community over the past few years. Um,
first of all, I witnessed some of uh
some students, including some of my
former students at a peaceful
demonstration at New Mexico State
University, um, have police officers
from LCBD, throw them to the ground on
the concrete. I witnessed this. This is
fact. I saw it with my own two eyes 5t
away. No exaggeration. Um, we've had
police officers point scoped rifles at
our community during left-leaning
protests, safe, peaceful protests in
front of the library. Um, we've had our
police chief attend politically aligned
meetings and encourage uh the transfer
of our citizens over to the federal
government, which we know is a major
threat to our citizens currently. Um, so
I would like to ask you please take the
GRT money and use it for public
resources. Thank you.
Hello everybody. My name is Jeremy
Armstrong. I live in district 2. Uh
mayor, mayor prom, city manager, and
counselors. Uh thank you for giving me
some time today. I initially came up
here to speak about how we're going to
spend the GRT money. But before I do
that, I wanted to say thank you to the
mayor, to the police chief, and to
everybody else who comes up here and
represents your community. I've seen
many of you at events, some that I agree
with, some that I don't, but at the end
of the day, you represent everybody in
this community, not just people that you
agree with. So, I appreciate you showing
up to all of those meetings.
On to the money. Um, Chief Story, Chief
Daniels, I think you're both doing a
fantastic job. I think remember back
when this GRT increase was proposed, it
was proposed specifically to increase
public safety. And I think by dedicating
the funds where they've been talked
about. I think we are doing that. You
know, I I agree with a lot of these
people. I'd love nice parks, you know,
I'd love more things for our youth to
do. I think that's great. But I would
urge you not to spend another dollar on
a park until I can take my son to a park
and not have to explain to him, don't
touch the foil, don't touch the needles,
don't mess with the guy that's sleep
under the slide. You know, we need to
fix those problems before we worry about
where we can send these people. Because
right now, it's not safe for me to take
my son to the park unless I drive 30
minutes way out to where
none of the vagrants will
go hang out and sleep because they can't
get what they need out there. But I
appreciate you all for your time and I
appreciate you all for everything that
you're doing. I know a lot of people
that feel the same way that I do and
they don't have the opportunity to be
here. you know, they have kids, they
have jobs, they have things going on,
they couldn't attend the work sessions
or the other events that you had because
they have kids that are in sports. They
have kids that they're actually doing
something productive and as much as they
would like to be here, they can't. So,
I'm here to speak for them and I hope
you all have a fantastic day. Thank you
for your time.
For the record, my name is Donna
Striker. I want to say thank you, mayor.
I want to say say thank you to Chief
Daniels and Cherry Story. I'm a member
of the citizens academy right now. The
chief of police um has a program where
citizens are randomly chosen for if they
apply. I've never learned so much about
the law in my life. Makes me really sad
for our officers how much they have to
know. They practically have to be an
attorney in order to be a police
officer. I don't agree with everybody
and everything they say. But I do agree
with the fact that everybody gets to
have an opinion. I think it's very um
disrespectful
to take all their feelings out on the
mayor. Right, wrong, or indifferent. He
represents the city of Las Cusus. Just
like it's disrespectful if someone is
ugly to any of our counselors or our
chief of police or city manager or a
city clerk or city attorney. We're
adults. None of you has a easy job. Did
you know when you signed up for it what
kind of job this would be? Did you
really understand how ugly and hateful
and spiteful that people could be?
Probably not because you were thinking
the best about humanity. I'm going to
continue to think the best about
humanity and about our elected
officials, whether I maybe like them,
don't like them, agree with them, or
not. Thank you.
Hello, Mayor, council members. My name
is Indira Castner and I'm an NMSU
student and I'm here to support my
fellow NMSU, you know, cohorts, you
know, staff and people to really kind of
come from a different direction. I am a
little bit more in the middle. I can
sometimes be conservative in my views.
So I'm a perfect example of how it's not
necessarily always leftleaning that has
concerns about the GRT.
So that was brought to my attention and
my key thing is optics are everything.
That seems to be the buzzword in
politics nowadays. Optics, optics,
optics. And despite any other topics and
issues, I think what's super clear here
is that there was an opportunity for the
community to speak out and express their
desires of what they feel is important
for the community
and there was some added focus from I
think it's the council that decided to
allocate funding towards you know police
or other I think there was an extension
of Elks or Del Rey one the large
boulevards in our community and that
initially was not voted upon by the
members of the community as important.
So my key thing is really about
explaining you know why did we make this
decision as a council as a mayor to add
these two items. Um I have military and
police in my family so there isn't
really a me against them situation or
rhetoric. It really just boils down to
clarity, complete clarity as far as why
those funds were allocated to something
that appears that the community didn't
vote for. So, I'm a maybe a small
demographic um of students that we just
want to understand what the process is,
why the council decided what they did
because it appears that it's going
against the people's voice and choice
and decision. And um that's really all.
So I I appreciate civil service. I
appreciate the opportunity to speak to
all of you and I hope we can get some
answers. So because if not then the mob
starts to get created and the pitchforks
start coming out and it could just be
misunderstanding. So that's what needs
to be clarified here. Thank you.
Good afternoon, Mayor, City Council. My
name is Fred Miller, and I'd like to
provide a counter to the public comment
just made by Lori English.
Flag code is not law.
Each individual citizen has a right to
disrespect the flag, to step on it, to
spill food on it.
What matters more is what that flag
represents. My right to disrespect that
flag is part of what that flag
represents. And when the flag itself
matters more than what that flag is
supposed to represent, I see that as
idolatrous.
So when she took somebody's flag, I see
that as simple theft.
I don't think she had a right to do
that. And I hope more people understand
that it's about principles and ideals
and not about physical things when we
respect or disrespect the flag. And what
we really want to respect is the ideals
rather than the piece of cloth itself.
Thank you.
Uh, good afternoon. My name is Josh
Sutton. I've been living here in this
beautiful town since February 10th,
2021. I retired from the Air Force this
year, and about a year ago, I opened a
small retail and sports shop called Ka
Skate Shop. I've been skateboarding for
25 years and I've learned that the
diverse collective of kids and adults
who play with this stupid wooden toy are
my people and I can count on them in
every corner of the world to let me in
and make me part of their family. Uh
when I drove here, the literal first
stop that I made was at the Los Cruus
skate park. Uh when I got there, it was
400 p.m. on a Wednesday and I found
there was a good mix of 20 kids, teens
and adults all commuting together,
rolling around, having fun, engaging in
skating, but also just hanging out. A
few days later on a Friday, I went down
there and the park was literally at
capacity with kids waiting outside to
get in. Uh people were there because it
was a free and accessible place for them
to go practice their individual craft
while hanging with friends. No coaches,
no tea times, no mandates on team size,
just an open, well-lit, safe space for
kids, teens, and adults to exist and be.
Uh, since February of 2024, the 150 plus
skateboarders in Los Cruus have been
without our central meeting location to
practice kick flips and to show support
and love to each other between attempts
and to organize events like our now five
times annual Christmas donation event
and summer contests. What is happening
with the park at 165 Walnut Walnut is
tragic, but I applaud and appreciate the
work Steve Bingham and his team at the
parks department is doing to hold Spawn
Ranch accountable for the subquality
work they did in rebuilding that
location. It's the right thing to do,
but in the meantime, we are without a
home and have been for over two years.
The skate park at Soma Springs is
wonderful and well-built. However, it is
not accessible to many of the atrisisk
youth that would most benefit from it
and it does not accommodate enough
participants. At most, the park could
support 15 to 20 simultaneous users.
I've been listening to these public
input meetings for a few months now, and
the thing I keep hearing is that
juvenile crime is a big problem. And
heck yeah, it is. Let's give these kids
more free, cool, accessible things to
do. Uh studies across the nation over
the last 5 years show a direct
correlation between access to skate
parks and a reduction in juvenile crime.
As they say, idle hands and I guess in
our case, idle feet do the devil's work.
There are no less than 10 10 tennis
courts, 25 basketball courts, 20 soccer
fields in this city and only one skate
park. It only addresses 10% of the need
that exists for the skaters in Los
Cruus. I have one ask which is a call to
action. Please, in the uh coming year uh
coming fiscal year, allocate around $2
million uh to build a large regional
skatepark for the city and then smaller
skate parks across the districts that
would be accessible to kids that don't
have the ability to commute to a large
central location. The park at Snowma
Springs cost about $400,000 to build and
took about 120 days to do it. With $2
million, we could create a large
state-of-the-art facility that could
draw in tourism and support the types of
events the old Central Cruis's Park used
to and create more parks across Los
Cruises that are accessible, free spaces
for kids to congregate and stay out of
trouble. Thank you.
I'm a little shorty. Hi, Stephanie
Vargas. Um, I wasn't planning on
speaking today. I was really here to
show support for the skate kids. Um, as
you, some of you might know, I am a
former city employee with parks and
recreation, but that's where my heart
lies is with the youth and them being
able to be accessible to things that
they can do and afford. Um, I see you
guys, you know, listening to the public
comments, and I'm going to be honest,
this is something I probably miss, um,
is hearing that the people can come up
and speak to you guys and tell you what
they're passionate about. Um, but I also
feel like it's an opportunity for you to
actually listen and not check your
emails or your phones or your messages
or the things that you're doing, taking
notes. Um, these people have some
important things that they want to
share. But I do want to support the
skateboarding because I'm not a kid that
gets on the skateboard at all. Um, but
Compa Skate Shop has been um, really
something that I have seen our youth um,
tag along with these kids, you know, and
these adults that are showing them all
these cool tricks and stuff. Um, I
normally focus out in the county area
and I'm seeing how those small skate
parks are being used and this is
definitely where the city can jump in
and help the youth out a little bit. So,
I just want to show support for the
youth programming and what we need to do
for the kids.
Um, hello everyone. Uh, my name is Bryce
Sards and I am a Los Cruus skateboarder
and educator. I graduated at NMSU last
year after completing a residency at
Centennial High School. And while I've
been seeking employment, I've been
working as a substitute teacher in the
district every day. And it has given me
a ground level look at what kids are up
to and what they would like to be doing.
And one thing I've noticed is that kids
who are not involved in one of the main
sports have very limited access to
activities that challenge them and
involve them in a community the same way
that conventional sports do.
Skateboarding is a great activity for
this. However, kids need facilities that
they can all meet up at in order to
build their community. And access to a
skate park in Los Cusus, as the
situation is now, is difficult. The old
skate park has been closed for two years
now as of tomorrow. and some of the
younger skaters that I know are able to
go to skate in the new Sonoma location
once a week if they can get a ride. When
we first started advocating for a new
skate park facility, I was 16 years old
and I remember skipping sixth and
seventh period in order to come down
here and deliver a statement. I'm now 24
years old, graduated college, and could
now be teaching juniors in high school
with the original skate park remodel
project still not being completed. It's
been tough seeing how slow the progress
and support has been from the city
compared to other places in the region.
But I'm very grateful to have gotten the
that we have gotten the ball rolling
since then and look forward to seeing
what can be done within this next fiscal
year to support skateboarders in Los
Cusus. Thank you.
Good afternoon everybody. Um I wasn't
planning on speaking either but um my
name is Cass Hulberry. I'm a student at
NMSU. I'm a junior. I'm actually
encouraged to come here by New Mexico
Dream Team, which I think is a little
bit in the back over there. Um, I'm also
a skateboarder. So, it looks like this
is a very, you know, like proof that
there is community here. I'm a well, not
well known, hopefully not, but um I'm a
very active member of the community. I'm
at the library probably five times a
week. So, the youth delinquency, we are
at the library. I don't know I don't
know where the delinquency is, but um I
skate to the library. Um I'm active with
the NMSU school system and I try and
advocate. So, if you see me around at
protests, um I'm sorry in advance. I'm
very vocal. Um, I'm not very aware with
everybody in the seats, but it's nice to
speak with everybody and it's good to
see that the community is real people.
And I love to see that everybody is here
today. I would also like to mention that
um, can I adjust this slightly?
Sorry.
that um I noticed that the homeless
population was brought up quite a few
times, especially in regards to vagrancy
and disruptions in the community and I
just like to say those are real people.
I know from experience with talking to
them and asking them their name and
taking them food and sorry I'm wearing a
chest compression. I can't breathe. But
um
yeah, they're real people and it's 30
seconds of time usually is enough at a
red light to stop and give them food.
Ask them how they're doing. Hi, I'm
sleeping under a bridge tonight, but
you're the best part of my day. So, I
don't know. I don't really see them as
vagrancy. My Sorry, I really can't
breathe. I have uh personal experience.
My girlfriend was homeless. She came
from New York. She is now here. She now
has a New Mexico library card, which I'm
very proud of because I influenced that.
Um, yeah, we're all at the library. So,
I'd love to see the I believe it's the
GRT to at least go to some community
projects and I'd love to see it go to
the community. And I don't know, there's
not a lot of uh teen vagrancy, so I hope
to see less cop action and more
community-based projects, which would be
so lovely. I'm also with New Mexico
Dream Team as well. So if you see
anything from us, it's probably all of
us. But thank you so much for your time.
It was nice to speak with everybody.
Mayor and Councilman. Um, thank you for
allowing me to speak today. My name is
Christine Casillas. I am the lead
organizer for the Messia Valley Balloon
Rally. Uh, we started this couple years
ago. Our
conservative numbers for the first year
are around 6,500 for the whole entire
weekend. This past year, we
tripled our numbers. They there was a
lot of attendees and we expect to
continue to grow through this next year.
Uh we are going to be at capacity at
Field of Dreams um for this year. Uh we
are looking at how to mitigate a lot of
the safety issues that were brought up
not only by the uh fire marshall and um
also by spectators. We are going to see
what we can do to safely accommodate
everybody at Field of Dreams this year.
However, if we continue to experience
the kind of success that we have had
with this, if the trend continues, we
will need to find another place to hold
this. Uh some of our plans for expansion
include include having more um booths
and vendors that address a lot of the
problems that um we see around town. Uh
there's a lot of great organizations out
there that need a place to go out and
say this is what we do. There is a lot
in Los Cruus for kids to do. There are a
lot of resources for people and I would
like to have this particular venue be a
a a meeting place for for those kinds of
of uh organizations.
The other thing that we're planning on
doing is including more schools for our
Friday morning ascension. So that way
more kids who are not able to go to
Albuquerque can see hot air balloons up
close. Um let me see what else. There's
just so much we're we're going to be
doing and expanding this year. But I
just wanted to let you know that I am
very grateful to be a citizen of this
wonderful, beautiful city. It's my
hometown and I'm very proud of it. So I
want to say thank you.
All right. Thank you. Next is the
acceptance of agenda.
Move to accept.
Second.
This is on the motion to accept the
agenda as presented. Councelor Mccclur.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes.
Councelor Harris.
Yes.
Councelor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councelor Karan.
Yes.
Councelor Munoz.
Yes.
Mayor,
yes.
First one is item 7.1 resolution number
26-114.
I need a motion.
Move to accept.
Second.
So now I'll need a motion and a second
to suspend the rules to listen to items
7.1
through 7.6
concurrently.
Move to suspend rules.
Second.
This is on the motion to suspend the
rules to listen to items 7.1 through 7.6
concurrently. Councelor Mccclur.
Yes.
Councelor Matise.
Yes. Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Good afternoon, city manager, mayor, and
council. My name is Blair Flores, and
I'm with the city of Los Cusus's
economic development department. And
today, I'll be presenting on the tax
increment financing, or TIFF, for the
city's metropolitan redevelopment areas.
The t tax increment financing is
authorized under New Mexico statutes.
The tiff allows the city to reinvest
future tax growth within a metropolitan
redevelopment area back into the same
area to support redevelopment projects.
Importantly, the tax rate does not
increase. Instead, the city captures a
portion of the new tax revenue generated
above a baseline
um as the amount of development occurs.
Under New Mexico law, cities are allowed
up to 75%
uh tax increment be dedicated for up to
20 years to support these redevelopment
activities within an MRA.
There are several important principles
that guide how tiff works. First, tiff
does not increase taxes. Second, it does
not take existing tax revenue from other
entities.
It does capture tax growth above the
base year from property tax and gross
receipts tax.
They also I'm sorry um the base revenues
are protected meaning t taxing entities
continue receiving the same baseline
revenue that they received today. They
will also retain at least 25% of any new
tax growth. Finally, once the tiff
period expires, 100% of the tax revenues
will return to the city, county, and or
state.
Some key distinctions between
TIFFs and tax increment districts or
TIDS within MRAAS is the range of
eligible uses. TIFF funds may support a
variety of redevelopment activities
including public private redevelopment
projects, housing development, including
affordable and/or mixeduse housing, land
acquisition and site preparation,
business rehabilitation and support
programs, community and economic
development initiatives, and
infrastructure improvements.
Today you will see two variations of um
two tiff requests. The first group will
include the MAS which are two that have
adopted redevelopment plans. The first
of these is the El Paso and South Solano
MRA. The boundaries for this area extend
from East Lman Avenue to the north,
South Main Street to the west, East
University Avenue to the south, and
approximately one block east of South
Solano Drive.
Over the past six months, our department
has been working closely with the New
Mexico Tax and Rev Department to collect
and verify the gross receipts tax data
for each MRA boundary.
The tables shown here are the exact data
tables that were provided to us by New
Mexico Tax and Rev. Looking at the
table,
the first column lists the month over
the past 12 months. The second column
shows the average gross receipts tax in
total generated within those MRA
boundaries. And the file final column
shows the portion of the revenue that
goes to the city of Los Cusus.
These figures represent the average
monthly collections.
And so with these two MRAs, the Alpo
being the first one, we are asking that
city council establish the baseline for
the ALPO and South Solano MRA as the
$41,882
as uh as the monthly baseline. We are
asking that city council designate up to
75% of the tax increment for 20 years.
And lastly, we are asking that an
internal fund be created specifically
for this MRA to receive the GRT from New
Mexico tax and rev.
The second MRA that has an adopted plan
is our West Picacho and Motel Boulevard
MRA. Again, the data shown in this Oh,
I'm sorry. Um, the boundaries for this
area extend from Toshiro Drive and
Mccclure Road to the north, the Rio
Grand River to the west, West Hadley
Avenue to the south, and the railroad
tracks to the east.
Again,
the data shown here is the same format
provided by New Mexico Tax and Rev,
representing the average monthly GRT
collections over the past 12 months
within this specific MRA boundary. Our
request today again is that city council
set the baseline for $24,48028
per month and again asking that 75% of
the GRT tax increment um be in place for
20 years and lastly that an internal
fund be created specifically for this
MRA.
Now the next format um that we're going
to present today are the four remaining
MAS that do not have adopted plans and
those locations are Apadaka and Lifup
area the east of Solano neighborhood MSK
and lastly Amodore Proximo and South
today we're just asking that for these
MAS baselines be established um because
they do not have an adopted plan.
Using the same New Mexico tax and rev
data tables, we're requesting that the
Apadaka and Lifup area baseline be set
at $19,52846
per month.
For the east of Solano neighborhood, we
are asking that the tax baseline be set
at $41,650.38
per month.
For the MSK MRA, we are asking that the
tax baseline be set at $5,334.19.
And lastly for the Amodore Proximo and
South that the tax baseline be set at
$18,5642
per month.
Council, the voting options for today's
items are shown on the screen. I thank
you for your time and consideration and
I'm happy to stand for any questions.
Thank you, Mayor. Uh, councelor Parrots.
All right. Um, thank you, mayor, and
thanks for the presentation. Um, I guess
my first question is on a lot of those
except for the Apadaka liftup area. Um,
every month was exactly the same. Want
to explain a bit more why that's the
case?
Thank you for the question, uh,
Councelor Harris. Yes, we we noticed the
same. Um, so again, these are m month
monthly averages that were collected. Um
the
the data kind of aligns with the fact
that we're not seeing economic growth
monthtomonth. They're pretty much the
same. Tax and rev um did remove some
points of data to to come up with those
numbers. So one-time um project expenses
that don't truly show the monthly
baseline across a year. They also
removed the highest month and lowest
month again to come to a true median and
what a baseline would look like.
Okay. Um, thanks for that. Um, and then
I guess when we're talking about setting
the other baselines for the non-adopted
MAS, is that to save time in the
eventual MRA process? Like we're we're
going to start collecting the baseline
now or, you know, what's the what's the
goal of doing that ahead of time?
Uh, yes, Councelor Harris. So part of
the reason why we are only allowed to
set baselines for unadopted plans is
because without an unadopted plan the
only thing we can do per MRA um code is
set the baseline. So again we worked
with tax and rev to um collect that data
over six months for all of them but also
by setting the baseline now any growth
that happens because of simply the
awareness that it's an MRA that economic
growth will be captured when we are able
to begin the tiff. Also the 20-year
timeline of collection does not begin
until we have submitted a resolution and
an adopted plan to tax and rev. Got it.
Um and then the 70 so our 8 point
whatever GR rate GRT rate um
the 75% of the increment is 75% of the
absolute increase. So the state is
giving up some of its share and the
county is giving up a little bit of its
share. So where we are right now,
councelor Harris, is we are coming to
the city to to discuss our portion. This
is kind of the first initial step. So
once we have this resolution, we provide
this to New Mexico tax and rev. They
will start working on the city's portion
of the GRT increment. Our next step will
then go to county and begin working with
them on the property taxes and then we
will be requesting a portion of their
GRT. The state just updated their
requirements for requests for GRT. Um,
that is a little more complex. We are
going to determine how to attack that,
but yes, in theory, we can as well ask
for up to 75% of the county and state's
GRT as well.
Cool. Um, that's all I got. Thanks.
Thank you,
Councelor Currant.
Thank you. My questions were kind of
similar. Thank you for presenting and
it's good to see you guys here. Um,
thank you for presenting. I'm excited
about this except I I just sort of to
follow up on what councelor Harris was
asking. I don't completely understand.
So if the revenue I in my mind am
assuming a like like you don't have to
think about you don't have to go down
this path with me but I'll get to a
point at some point but in my mind the
the
revenue steadily increases over time.
The rate of increase might be varied but
inflation a myriad of things affect how
we take in GRT but pretty consistently
it goes up barring any terrible things
happening. Um,
are we if we use the baseline of this
point in time right now, are are we at
all disadvantaging ourselves like maybe
it would be a little bit more the next
year, right? You you know what I mean?
If we used this year's
data,
um, instead we're using the time period
that you got from the tax and revenue
folks, which I understand. Um, also very
suspicious of the fact that it's the
same all the time. I would hope we don't
have to have a we're not like, "Oh my
god, we're behind. Oh my god, we're
ahead." It's because we used an average.
Um, but is is there any disadvantage to
us saying at this point in time we're
basing these on this? Like the baseline
could be higher next year? I would say
the mosquite one is the one that's most
interesting to me and it's it's such a
low amount which could be dramatically
changed by some one economic change or
one large business moving into the area
and opening and creating new GRT
revenue. Are we shorting ourselves in
any way by setting the baseline now when
in perhaps in a year that might be
different or can you talk a little bit
about what what the timing of setting
these baselines is as it relates to the
potential future income I guess is what
I'm asking
of course thank you for the question
councelor Kran um so one thing to
consider is that each MRA is very
different from the other so um for
example if we're just using mosquite
that's a very different um area in
comparison to El Paso, number one in
size, but number two in industry and the
ratio of commercial verse residential.
So, it's hard to compare apples to
oranges in that sense. Um and then also
there's different industries in those
areas. So, some create more revenue for
GRT than others. But in terms of setting
the baseline, I actually think that
setting the baseline now before any
additional economic development happens
benefits the tiff and and the city. Um
because right now it's stagnant so to
speak where as we spread awareness that
there's opportunities to come in these
areas that's very attractive for new
development. I hope that answers your
question.
It it does. And so then I then we we
will be recouping the 75 hopefully up to
the 75% going forward. So the the lower
than perhaps what it will ever be in the
future baseline doesn't harm us. So
that's correct. Okay. Thank you. I just
wanted to get clear on that and I
appreciate your your insight and
expertise. So thank you.
Thank you
councelor.
Thanks Mayor. Thank you so much. This
I've been anxiously waiting for this
data. So, it's so good to finally see it
today and thank you all your team for
the work that you've put into this. I I
really am so grateful and excited. You
know, I had a very similar question to
this and I'm curious if the downtown TID
ever like if in the years it's been
established if the baseline was ever
changed or once it's changed is that
forever and the reason I ask is
similarly I was wondering right like the
hope is that in 5 10 years we're
building so much new GRT activity that
that could potentially change and so I
am just curious about the downtown Ted
and if that ever saw it it stayed the
name the whole time.
Um actually um councelor Beno I am not
overseeing the TID. Um I know that Chris
Favor um was a huge part of that and
continues to be a huge part of that.
Would you like him to
Here comes Elizabeth. Actually
Elizabeth as well. Thank you.
Good afternoon. Mayor, city council
Elizabeth Teters, economic development
director. I've actually talked to tax
and rev about this about the potential
of turning the TID into an the MRA like
switching the TIFF out TID to a TIFF in
the future and they said we can use the
same baseline whenever that happens
that's already established
right but my question is did it ever
change the baseline that was established
for the TID
sorry now I'm going to defer to Gotcha
just kidding
Mayor, councelor Ben Como, Chris Favor.
Uh, no, the baseline was set, I believe,
2006 or seven, and it's remained the
same since.
Okay, that's interesting. And it's never
really been, if any, I mean, the TID is
doing great, right? I mean, I don't
think that's been necessarily a negative
thing.
Mayor, councelor Ben Ko. Yeah, in in
recent years, we've seen a real uptick
in revenue. I don't know that there's
ever been discussions about readjusting
that baseline. Um, but to this point,
no, we haven't. We haven't,
but not because it's not allowed.
Mayor, councelor Brinko, you can always
go in and reook at that at any point in
time, and there were some discussions
early on, but ultimately there was never
any real attempt to, but we certainly
probably could if we wanted to. Sure.
And I'm not suggesting it. I'm just very
curious about um just FYI, I'm not
suggesting I'm just curious about seeing
this today. Obviously, I was not here
with the TID and so seeing this today, I
just had the same concern that councelor
Corin had about um and that's not really
a concern. It's mostly just curiosity.
So, thank you.
Sure,
Mayor Pro.
Elizabeth Selena Blair, thank you very
much for putting this together on page
11. I'm still trying to understand the
um the flat line.
Um
maybe you're the one before.
Yeah. Okay. Um
so I think
counselor Harris might have alluded to
this, but explain to me again January is
it 25
9 and then February on is 19528.
So that anomaly is that um seasonality
that's that's kind of why that's
different.
Mayor Pert Munos, thank you for the
question. So we spoke to um New Mexico
Tech and tax tax and rev and we actually
looked at this area specifically um
because we are in the RFP process for
this particular area. So this will be
our next um area going into planning.
Yes, they accounted um for the holiday
season for that. Um, again, they they
were pretty diligent in digging through
the raw data. They did send the raw data
to us. Um, it was a lot of information,
but we got to see the industry
breakdowns of of how these numbers came
about. And um, this area in particular,
they went through and um, there was some
invoices that were paid for con minor
construction and they were like, that's
really going to affect the baseline when
it was a one-time expense. So they
pulled that out, but they did keep in
January and that had a lot to do with
the holidays in that particular area,
but then the remainder of the year
pretty much looked just about the same.
Okay. Thank you,
Council Har.
Um, thanks. I have one other
clarification just to to clarify it for
everybody. So it is
when we're
when we're taking our 75% of the
increment, we're getting 75% of what is
above the baseline in the future and
we're putting it into a special fund to
do stuff in the MR. So I just want to be
clear that it is to our advantage to
have the baseline as low as possible and
to not ever adjust it upwards. Councelor
Harris, that is correct.
Okay. Yeah. Just wanted to
Thank you.
Thanks.
Okay. Seeing no further questions, uh
we'll vote on each one individually.
We'll start with uh 7.1.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-114.
Councelor Mccclure.
Yes. Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Okay. Now, we need a motion and a second
for each item um going forward. 7.2.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-115.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Need a motion for 7.3.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-116.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Motion and a second for 7.4.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-117.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Need a motion and second for 7.5.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-118.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Need a motion and a second for item 7.6.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to approve
resolution 26-119.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
And mayor,
yes.
Okay. Thank you, Mike.
Thank you so much.
Next is board appointments. Uh these
I'll read into the record. Councelor
Mccclure reappoints Scott Kaiser to the
planning and zoning commission.
Councelor Harris reappoints Janet
Augusta to the planning and zoning
commission. Councelor Karan reappoints
Kent Thirsten to the planning and zoning
commission. And councelor Harris
reappoints Jessica Streer to the library
board.
Now I'll need a motion and a second.
So move.
Second. Wait, I've got to name the for
the board appointments. Let me let me
read the new appointee.
Michael Massusi. Uh, new appointment to
airport board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Michael
Msuchi to the airport board. Councelor
McClair.
Yes.
Councelor Matise. Yes.
Councelor Harris.
Yes.
Councelor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councelor Karan.
Yes.
Councelor Munoz.
Yes.
Mayor.
Yes.
The next one is David Moffett. Mat
Moffett. I'm sorry. Sorry. Dave. David
Moffett. Uh, new appointment to airport
board.
Move to approve.
Second.
Moffett.
This is on the motion to appoint David
Moffett to the airport board. Councelor
McClure,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is Paul Nielsen. A new appointment
to the airport board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to appoint Paul
Nielsen to the airport board. Councelor
Mccclure,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is Wesley Baker. Reappoint to the
airport board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to reappoint
Wesley Baker to the airport board.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is Kelly Brooks. Reappoint to the
transit board.
Move to approve.
Second.
This is on the motion to reappoint Kelly
Brooks to the transit board. Councelor
McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Bencomo,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is Michelle Carbajal. Reappoint to
the transit board.
Move to approve appointment.
Second.
This is on the motion to reappoint
Michelle Carbajal to the transit board.
Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes.
Councelor Beno,
yes.
Councelor Karan,
yes.
Councelor Munoz,
yes.
Mayor,
yes.
Next is the notice of proposed
ordinances. There are two
council bill number 26-017,
ordinance number 3109,
an ordinance amending chapter 24
procurement code of the Losus Municipal
Code.
Move to approve.
Bring forward. I mean, excuse me.
The next one is council bill number
26-018,
ordinance number 3110,
an ordinance authorizing the issuance
and sale of the city of Los Cusus
for New Mexico gross receipt tax
improvement revenue bonds.
Bring it forward.
No. Okay, we're good. Next is city
council member board reports and
comments. Council Mccclure. Thank you,
Mayor. Uh, I have two items and I just
want to say that um I agreed with I
believe it was Miss Castner who talked
about the education process that we
should be doing as council and I feel
sometimes remiss about that myself but I
think during the budget process and
given that that wasn't um filmed you can
listen to it if I remember correctly.
There was a really good one on CIP and
how many ongoing projects we have and I
don't think the public in general knows
that that we are still working and
building finding funding for a lot of
projects that have been going on for a
while since some of us even got here. So
when the public wonders you know how do
how do we make the decisions on what we
choose to give funding for that a lot of
it is with outside kind of our control
because those things have already been
going on. Uh, some of them are, you
know, utilities projects. Some of them
are I, you know, I don't I'm hoping that
others were struck by the fact that one
mi less than a mile of road with $6.1
million. So, a lot of those things when
we think about what that looks like, I'm
wondering if we can get her to give that
presentation here. And I also want to
say that the the department updates are
really helpful. So, I appreciate that a
lot, too. The other thing that I want to
talk about is that uh councelor Beno and
I had a really good meeting with uh CYFD
and um our YDD program at the at the
city, the youth uh development and and
uh diversion program. And CFD kind of
maintains the monies for the continuum,
the juvenile justice continuum. There's
$83,000 for a possibility for a gun
violence program and initiative. So we
kind of council and I kind of
investigated what that looked like in
Bernal Leo. And it might need to be
something different for Los Cruus. So
how do we do that? Kind of like what we
do with roads. We have to I know it
sounds terrible. It's we're going to
have to do a study. We're going to have
to do what the needs assessment is for
that here in Los Cruus. But most
importantly, we need to get the youth
involved. They're here. They're showing
up. But we actually need to hear what
this looks like. I I was encouraged by
one of the gentlemen who said, you know,
I'm a substitute teacher. I'm hearing
things that I never thought and how can
we involve them in this. So, what I'd
like to see if other counselors would be
interested in not only matching but
seeing if we can get $100,000 to make a
good healthy needs assessment for this
program so that that programming is
something that works, something that's
realistic, how it influences young
people's lives, but also the realities
of being around guns, gun safety, you
know, how can we involve LCPD in that
way? How can we involve other
stakeholders? But stakeholders is always
feels very empty. It has to be the
youth. So I'm just going to challenge my
other counselors to say, would you be
interested in supporting that that we
can be able to do this through the
continuum and make some change happen.
So thank you.
Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Chief.
Uh thank you. I I just needed some
assistance or help from maybe Chief
Story or codes animal codes in the
Franco Papen area. That's where the
district two
Kathy Stark mentioned almost 40 cats
have have been terminated. So I'd like
to see if there's a possibility if we
could have maybe camera surveillance or
something put into that area, maybe
increase patrols and see if we could
catch the uh hate, you know, I'll use
the word cat killer. I sounds crazy, but
um that's quite a lot of animals that
have been been abused in in in that
area. So, if any help that you could
offer
G story, I'd appreciate it on the
support for what Cassie brought up on
gun safety. Uh I would I would
definitely support something like that.
And thank you for bringing that up, Miss
McCclure and Council Ben Como.
Thank you, Councelor Harris. Um, thanks.
So, I have a a handful of things. Um,
one, I'd like to to thank the state
legislature and the governor for passing
and signing SB40. Um I think once again
Los Cusus has served as a model of our
policy around uh data collection and the
state has taken that up and largely made
what what Chief Story and Los Cruus have
already made in our policies into state
law. Um I I am still concerned about
specific systems that we run and how
much we can trust them to actually abide
by those policies and how much control
we have to to force that. Um, so I think
that's an ongoing conversation. Um, and
then different topic. I I am personally
highly in support of new medical
services and I'm glad to see um, Okato
finally starting to get off the ground
with construction. I know that the state
um, that was a big a big push from the
state. We got a lot of money um
allocated to it and I'm happy to see it
getting off the ground even though it's
not it's right next to district 3 um and
badly needed services. Um also we went
on a tour I went on a tour with uh mayor
promos of the the Amadore to see that
restoration project. It was very
interesting to see all the history there
and and get that presentation. I'm glad
that that organization is chasing all
the grant funding that they can get. Um
and it will be exciting to see it
completed. Um I I would also like to
echo my support for um gun violence
prevention program. Uh I think that's
excellent and very sorely needed. And uh
yeah, it'd be great to see the
presentation on our CIP projects kind of
in a in a more public
format. and and maybe formatted and
presented a little more for for public
consumption. Um, we saw it very good.
Um, and I think that's a great education
piece that that we could see. Um, the
department updates have also been
excellent. I like that that new format
to the meeting. Thanks.
Thank you, Council M.
Thanks, Mayor. I have a bit of a list
today, so come along on this journey
with journey with me, but I do have
notes, so hopefully it'll go by fast.
March 31st is our District 4 meeting at
6 PM at MacArthur. I really want to
thank our constituent services team,
Scott and Katrina, for helping me set
this all up. So, just to reiterate,
March 31st, District 4 community meeting
at MacArthur Elementary Community School
um at 6 p.m. We'll have different um
departments there. Obviously, I will be
there, but you'll uh folks can come and
ask questions and have a conversation
with myself and any of us that will be
there. Um, thank you councelor Mccclure
for, you know, um, starting us off on
the $100,000 ask for the gun violence
intervention program. I think as a city
if you know because we are talking a lot
about juvenile crime and you know youth
involved in crime that we really have to
also have a commitment a strong
commitment to what it looks like to
provide alternatives to detention um
evidence-based programming and frankly
you know if you colleagues if you
haven't visited our youth diversion
program please go visit them they're
doing magic over there with their
limited resources and I know that they
can't do it all. And that's why this ask
is really to supplement their work. I
think they would be incredible leaders
in helping um to create what this design
and exploration model can look like if
if we get this passed in the budget. Um
but they're doing incredible work and
and I'm really excited to be working
with Councelor Mccclure and um all the
folks that we've been um in
conversations with about this. So um
thanks everyone for naming their support
for that and certainly hope to see that
in our budget as we move forward.
I wanted to bring um some concerns that
from the Los Cusus's utility board to um
this council and certainly to our city
manager. Um you know at the last at our
last meeting last week we had some
conversations regarding a couple of
things that we want to bring concerns to
you all about. Um we know that there has
been a cost allocation audit conducted
between the Los Cruus's utility which is
an enterprise fund that lives outside of
the uh general fund budget which is
another in terms of education. I think
this is a really important piece to
educate the public but some staff as
well. I think um staff in the city,
finance staff about how Los Cruus's
utility operates and um I think just
having a more clear understanding about
the challenges and barriers um and and
how you know we're a partnership like
public utilities should be protected at
all costs and so we should really be um
a partner. The cost allocation in the
past um that the Las Cruz's utility has
provided back to the GRT has been about
$5 million already. So, we want to make
sure that um we're having, you know,
uh fair negotiations, if you will, about
what that can continue looking forward.
I raised the concern that uh council a
couple of weeks ago voted to reduce the
funding on the in the Griggs and Walnut
Grandwater Plume Super Fund. Um the rest
of the board at the Los Cuses Utility
Board expressed similar concern that um
you know that funding was cut in half
and the importance of that being fully
funded is imperative to the public
health of our community. So I want to
make sure that um staff, city
management, staff, council, we're all
looking at um the possible implications
of that and perhaps revisiting them. I
had also raised concerns um about the
utilities being asked like many other
departments were asked to budget up to
their FY25.
Um you know the Las Cruis's utilities
can't do that. Uh you know we the Los
Cru's utility has to budget to capacity
to be able to provide services to our
customers and ensure that we have a well
functioning utility. So, I just want to
make sure um again to the city manager
and staff that there is just a fully a
full comprehensive understanding of how
the utility works and why we must
continue to um protect our public
utility. Those are just a couple of
things um that I wanted to share from
the utilities board last week. I also
have two more things. The last one is a
bit so boxy, but you'll um hopefully
allow me to have it since it is Women's
History Month. And I'm going to end with
some um a little bit of history and
where we're at currently regarding
women's rights. Um but before that, I
wanted to mention publicly that uh
Dennis Knox from MNC emailed everyone on
the city council and the county
commission asking for individual
meetings. I responded. I included uh
Mayor Enriquez, I included our city
manager, I included the county manager
manager and the chair of the county
commission in my response that I think
this request is actually incredibly
inappropriate and should not be
happening. Obviously, you can all do
what you wish, but I do think it's
incredibly inappropriate for MMC
leadership, lifepoint leadership to be
meeting individually with members of the
governing body and doing individual
negotiations. I I do not think this is
appropriate and my ask would continue to
be that MMC and lifepoint leaders come
to public a public meeting and give us
all the same information um at the same
time. So that is uh just something I
wanted to note here today because I
believe um strongly that that is an
inappropriate ask uh from MNC to meet
with individual members of the governing
bodies.
Okay,
my last thing since it is the last
public meeting where I can share council
comments before Women's History Month
ends, um I just I want to I'm sure many
of you know this, but I promise I have a
point. In the last 100 years, these are
some of the things women have won. In
1920, the 19th Amend amendment was
ratified, giving white women the right
to vote nationwide. In 1963, the Equal
Pay Act made it illegal to pay women
less than men for the same work, though
we of course know that continues to
happen. 1964, black women especially
were vital to the passing of the Civil
Rights Amend movement. 1965, the Voting
Right Rack, the Voting Voting Rights Act
gave people of color and women of color
the right to vote. In 1973, Row versus
Wade recognized the constitutional
protection for abortion rights. 1974,
Equal Credit Opport- 1974, which is 14
years before I was born, Equal Credit
Opportunity Act allowed women the right
to obtain credit and loans without a
male co-signer. In 1994, the Violence
Against Women Act was adopted. Federal
legislation addressing violence against
women. Uh, skipping forward to 2018, a
record number of women are finally
elected to Congress. In 2021, Los Cruus
elects an all women city council. In
2024, New Mexico becomes only the second
state with a majority women legislature
in the country. Women hold majority in
both chambers with the strong
representation of women of color, making
it one of the most diverse in the
country. Yet, in 2026,
I have less right than my mother, and my
stepdaughter is about to have even less
rights than I did. Major gains for women
over the past century, like voting
rights, reproductive autonomy, workplace
protections, and educational equality,
are currently being challenged by
legislation, court rulings, or policy
proposals. The proposed SAVE Act is set
to rewrite voting rights protections as
we know them. One major provision will
disproportionately affect married women
whose names have changed because their
current name may not match their birth
certificate. Row was overturned in 2022.
21 states have subsequently enacted bans
placing political control over women's
bodies. A roll back a roll back in Title
9 protections for how sexual harassment
in is handled on college campuses. And
there is now legal challenges to
pregnancy accommodations. So to repeat,
the current political landscape is
seeing a wave of policy battles
disproportionately impacting women and
parents. All while for over four decades
now, more women than men are voting in
elections nationwide. Wages have
remained stagnant, even worse for black,
indigenous, and Latina women. Child care
is more expensive than ever. Violence
against trans women is on the rise. Rape
kit testing backlog is at more than 600
in New Mexico alone. An estimated 1,400
kit rape kits um have passed the 180day
testing target required by law. Maternal
mortality rates in the United States are
shamefully high with one of the highest
mortality rates among wealthy nations.
New Mexico has even more alarmingly high
rates, higher than the US average. 80%
of maternal deaths are considered
preventable in New Mexico with
indigenous and black women facing higher
risks. There are maternal and parenting
care deserts all across New Mexico.
So, uh,
this all made me think of that great
quote that says, "If you're not
outraged, then you're not paying
attention."
Enter the Okatoexual and reproductive
healthc care center right here in Los
Cusus. An ongoing and innovative and
comprehensive reproductive healthc care
center serving serving southern New
Mexico working to increase access to
quality health care in our region. I'm
I'm proud to support the Okato Center uh
because frankly we deserve we deserve
that kind of care and really grateful
for the coalition of organizations that
made it happen. In a in a time where the
well-being, the political power and the
health of women is being threatened
across the country. I would hope our
colleagues, our husbands, our partners,
our friends, our allies would be as
outraged as we are. Regardless though,
we will keep fighting as our mothers did
and their mothers before them. Thank
you.
Thank you, councelor Kren.
That was fire,
councelor Beno. So,
I second I second both her outrage and
her
ongoing and perpetual support for
women's rights and trans and non-binary
folks rights. I admire you wildly. So,
thank you for speaking out today. Um, I
also support councelor Mccclure and and
councelor Venomo's efforts to think
about youth and gun violence. I think
I've heard from constituents that
they're worried about their
grandchildren in a lot of cases,
children and neighbors in who are who
are sort of in this environment in a in
a new world of of
um communication access to guns and uh a
number of things that are sort of
they're struggling through in our
community. Um so I support that that
effort that you all are taking in. Um
I'm going to pi quickly pivot to
a gratitude to city staff who helped put
on my um
community meeting last week related to
uh traffic safety. It was really well
attended. I think only about half of the
people were people that I knew
personally and the other half were
people that um came as a result of uh
Katrina Gonz and Scott Rogers excellent
work in doing uh community outreach for
this for this meeting and organizing a
group of city staff and other staff
Andrew Ray Katrina Pveni from the
Metropolitan Planning Organization who
presented really interesting data about
the most dangerous intersections and
dangerous places in District 5. very
powerful um information to share with
folks. Uh Lieutenant Austin from LCPD
who shared some of the new things that
that the force is doing to uh address
traffic safety in community.
um Jimmy Mareno and Vanessa Morales
Romero from public works to who talked a
lot about ways that we're thinking about
making streets safer from an engineering
perspective and Chris Faver who was
really talking about community
development and the ways that we're
moving forward and thinking about how
our community continues to grow. So
those staff u put it out out there in
the evening um last week and I really
just want to express my gratitude and
being really impressed uh and proud to
to work within the city and folks who
really bring their their agame and care
about community and what the community
is is thinking about. So, thank you to
everyone who worked on that and and
those of you who organized it and the
folks who attended um for your great
inputs and participation. Um
I'll
let councelor Ben Ko's good words carry
for the rest of the day. Thanks.
Thank you, Mayor Prom.
Thank you, Mayor. I uh wanted to take
this time to thank the uh community
Chris and the community development team
for uh the tour and support that we had
this last week. Um appreciate the the uh
process improvements uh and the hard
work that you and your team are um
providing to the citizens of of Los
Cusus. So, thank you. Also wanted to
thank as uh councelor Harris and I um
attended the u um Amador Hotel uh a lot
of history there and it's very important
uh I think iconic um piece of lost
cruises you know I know that there was
heavy lifting when the pyramids of
Mexico or and central and south America
um when the coliseum the coliseum in in
Italy was was being uh restored there.
There is heavy lifting. That's part of
that's part of history. And I hope that
we encourage u the Amidor team and
encourage our city um employees to also
help out as much as we can so that 100
years from now, 300 years from now,
generations understand from where we
came and how Vas Crisis came to be. the
u story of Martin Am Amalador is very uh
it's very interesting very interesting
uh and speaking of that I also wanted to
thank the city staff for uh their hard
work in putting together letters and
proposals for federal funding those are
resources that our city needs and wanted
to thank the city team for doing that as
well. Thank you mayor.
Thank you mayor prom. Um a few things
that I want to mention. Last week I was
in Washington DC. So uh got a chance to
meet with uh Senator Heinrich, Senator U
Luhan, good conversations, dialogue
about uh things that we can do in
southern New Mexico and also requesting
and looking for funding for our young
park, uh septic tank removal, mobile
cameras for police, and the
rehabilitation and remodeling of fire
station one. Uh those were some of the
items that were on our list of
priorities to get funded and uh had some
good uh like I said discussion and
dialogue with them. Um I do want to
answer uh on Saturday's event, it was a
March for Life event that took place and
I was invited to that. No different than
I was invited to career day at Colombia
Elementary and other things that I get
invited to. Um I'm not going to deny my
faith or belief. It it is and my script
has not changed. I'm for public safety,
economic development and quality of
life. So yes, I choose life. But the
issue and the reason I was there was to
update and uh share with them the
incident that we had at at Burn Lake
where
um an infant was born and fire uh
recovered from the portaotti and what
are we doing now? How are we moving
forward? And one of the things that
we've done, and it's state funded, is a
safe haven baby box. And that'll be
located at fire station one. Um,
and hopefully we'll get it in later June
or in July. And that safe haven box is
one that if somebody does have a child
and they the or has a baby and does not
want to keep it, they can they can
surrender it uh legally to the hospital,
to the fire department, to law
enforcement, but this baby box is a safe
haven. There's no blame, there's no
shame, and there's no names. So, it's
just a way of of what we're doing in
this city. And that's what I shared with
that group as I was invited to speak at
that at that event. Um the other thing I
just want to say on gun violence and and
the youth, I'm all in support of that as
well as March 21st will be our year
since the Young Park shooting uh where
it was detrimental and tragic to our
community. Uh, one of the things though
I want to congratulate is our Los Cusus
public schools for getting $3 million
and thank the governor for for
allocating $3 million for the CTE
program. That's a career technical
education uh program that vocations if
education isn't for everyone there's
vocations but we need our our kids to go
to school. Uh we need to protect them
from violence and things of that nature.
So I'm also councelor Mccclure. Thank
you. I'm on board with that and anything
that we can do for our community and
we'll continue. And with that, I'll turn
it over to the city manager.
Thank you, Mayor Enriquez, Maya Munos,
and city council. Just one item. Well,
real quick, I just want to make the
announcements that our police department
completed our on-site Kalia assessment,
which stands for commission uh
commission accredited law enforcement
agency assessment. This is a gold
standard in the nation. Um about four to
5% of police agencies are accredited and
this is something that um is is a high
honor uh to have. So, I just wanted to
share it pushes everything that you
would expect from a police department.
The last step before receiving our
accreditation is to appear before the
Kala commissioners in July and answer
questions during an oral assessment.
This process has been underway for over
three years and we are very close to
achieving our accreditation goal and I
just wanted to give kudos to our team
working on this accreditation and to
Chief Store and the crew. uh thank you
for your hard work on that and we'll
keep you posted uh and let you know how
this assessment uh finalizes and and
gets uh gets going through that. So,
thank you mayor. That's all for me.
Thank you. Uh with that, I'll look for a
motion to adjourn.
Move to adjourn.
Second.
This is on the motion to adjourn the
meeting. Councelor McClur,
yes.
Councelor Matise,
yes.
Councelor Harris,
yes. Councelor Bencomo.
Yes.
Councelor Karan.
Yes.
Councelor Munoz.
Yes.
Mayor,
yes.